Macro and Micro Analysis on Teachers

The TV Drama Genre (Macro)

• Teachers seems to be a hybrid drama, because it is reality, fantasy and imagination
• Could be seen as a comedy drama
• It is suited to TV comedy drama more than a film because as you get to know the characters better, you find the programme more funny
• Aimed at young adults, possibly real teachers?

Camera Shots, Angles, Movement, Framing (Micro)

There are a lot of different camera angles in Teachers. There are a lot of two shots, mainly between Jenny and Simon, especially in the conversation where Simon id trying to appologise to Jenny.
When Simon arrives at School, every day there is always an establishing shot with the same background of the students. This gives the viewers the impression that Simon is late every day and that he is the ultimate unproffessional teacher.
When Brian, Kert and Simon look in on the staff room at Jenny, the camera is behind the window, which gives the view of the three men that are looking at her.

Women

Women.

• Camera angles
• - Superiority of either men or women, according to the angle (looking down over a mans shoulder towards a woman below would belittle a woman)
• - Indication of where the power is
• - Camera follows a womans behind show a possible "male perspective"
• Editing
• -The speed of cuts can show people as important, in "teachers" when the head teacher is in the scene, the camera cuts abruptly to her every time she speaks, showing her authority
• Sound
• -Sound can represent people as evil/good , and many other qualitys, An example shown in "teachers" where jenny pokes simon and the sound of metal quenching is played, this suggests that jenny is "hot" in an evil way.
• Mise en scene
• -Clothing also has the power to show people as either Professional or "lazy", Jenny in "teachers" wears formal clothing and represented as a bit of a busy body, unlike susan.

Exam Criteria

• Level 1

1. Explination, analysis, arguement (0-7 marks)

• Shows minimal understanding of the tasks
• Minimal understanding of the way that technical aspects are used to construct the extracts representations
• Of minimal relevance to set question

2. use of examples

• Offers minimal text evidence
• limited range of examples
• minimal relevance

3. use of terminology

• bad spelling
• barely used

Level 2
1. explenation/ analysis/arguement

• basic understanding
• basic understanding of technical aspects
• some relevance

2. use of examples

• some evidence
• some range
• examples with some relevance

3. use of terminology

• some terminology
• some simple ideas

Level 3

1. explination/ analysis/ arguement

• really good understanding
• really good understanding of technical aspects
• mostly relevant to the question

2. use of examples

• consistent textual evidence
• range of examples
• examples that are relavant

3. use of terminology

• accurate use

Level 4

1. Explanation/ analysis/ arguement

• Excellent understanding
• Excellent Knowledge
• Clearly relevant

2. use of examples

• Frequant textual analysis of the extract
• Full range of examples
• examples clearly relavant

3. Use of terminology

• Accurate and relevant

Women

• Camera angles can indicate where the power is, make women seen as naggy and bossy.
• Editing can make some women seen as laid back and lazy.
• Sound can help you understand the womens personality.
• Mise en scene. The props and lighting can determine how the viewer looks at a particular character.

Notes on the programme 'Cracker'

The scene first begins with an establishing shot to set the scene of people gathering around a car. After the establishing shot, the camera suddenly zooms in, which makes you fell that there is a sense of panic inside the car. The camera then switches to shots of people in the car.
When the police were running out of the police station, the camera was on a crane and did an interesting 360 turn to see them running out towards the mobbed car.

Media Representations

By definition, all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us.
Gender
the basic category we use for sorting human beings, and it is a key issue when discussing representation. Essential elements of our own identity, and the identities we assume other people to have, come from concepts of gender - what does it mean to be a boy or a girl? Many objects, not just humans, are represented by the media as being particularly masculine or feminine - particularly in advertising - and we grow up with an awareness of what constitutes 'appropriate' characteristics.
Race
Race, ethnicity and colour, like sex, comprise sets of genetically defined, biological characteristics. However, as with gender, there are also cultural elements in those defining characteristics.
Age
After gender and ethnicity, age is the most obvious category under which we file people, and there are a whole range of judgements which go along with our categorisation. We quickly deem other people too old, or too young, or criticise them for being immature or fuddy duddy. We criticise mature women for going about as mutton dressed as lamb, and young girls for tarting themselves up as jail bait. Film stars who start to show signs of aging in their forties are swooped on with cries of horror by gossip columnists.Disabilites
Semantically, the word "disabled" causes much debate. The 'dis' suffix is a negative one, implying reversal, and disabled heads a list in the dictionary of many negative words - disappoint, discard, disconsolate, discourage, disintegrate, dismay, disrepute etc etc. That same dictionary defines the word "disabled" as meaning "Made ineffective, unfit or incapable". Quite rightly, those members of the population who find themselves labelled thus feel tarred with a distasteful brush. The word implies that they are unfit for anything, that they are incapable of effectiveness in any field.