Unit 22
Understanding The Features Of A Single Camera Production
TV Formats
By Joshua Curran-Kelly
TV Formats
▪ Serial
▪ Series
▪ Single Drama
Serial Definition
▪ Serials typically follow main story arcs that span entire television seasons or even
the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from traditional episodic
television that relies on more stand-alone episodes. Worldwide, the soap opera is
the most prominent form of serial dramatic programming.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_(radio_and_television)
Example
▪ A soap opera is an ongoing drama serial on television or radio, featuring the lives
of many as examples, EastEnders focuses on the tough and grim life in the east
end of London
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera
Series Definition
▪ A group of episodes of a television program broadcast in regular intervals with a
long break between each group, usually with one year between the beginning of
each.
Source: http://www.yourdictionary.com/tv-series
Example
▪ Sons of Anarchy is an American crime drama television series created by Kurt
Sutter that aired from 2008 to 2014. It followed the lives of a close-knit outlaw
motorcycle club operating in Charming, a fictional town in California's Central
Valley. SOA aired 7 seasons
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sons_of_Anarchy
Single Drama Definition
▪ A single drama is broadcasted but only once, it provides a presentation of real
life. It is often based on topics or issues that are more appropriate for television
than in contrast to cinema based. Second bullet point here
Source: http://singlecameratechniques-mb.blogspot.com/2012/10/task-1-formats-
serial-serial-is-show.html
Example
▪ An example of a single drama is My Murder; this is based on true events. The single
drama was released in Tuesday 17th April 2012; it was aired for 1 hour. The main
character of my murder was Shakilus Townsend. Dirty war is another example of
single drama which is about a terrorist attack on London. This was released at the
later dates of 2004.
Source: http://singlecameratechniques-mb.blogspot.com/2012/10/task-1-formats-
serial-serial-is-show.html
TV & Film Genres
By Joshua Curran-Kelly
Tv & Film Genres
▪ Period
▪ Drama Doc
▪ Crime
▪ Soap Opera
▪ Comedy
Period Definition
• The term Period drama refers to a work set in a past time period, usually used in
the context of film and television. It is an informal crossover term that can apply
to several genres and is often heard in the context of historical
fiction and romances, adventure films, and swashbucklers.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_period_drama
Example
• Peaky Blinders is an English television crime drama set in
1920s Birmingham, England in the aftermath of World War I. The series, which
was created by Steven Knight and produced by Caryn
Mandabach Productions, Screen Yorkshire and Tiger Aspect Productions,
follows the exploits of the Shelby crime family
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaky_Blinders_(TV_series)
Drama Doc Definition
▪ A Drama-Doc or documentary drama is a genre of radio and television
programming, feature film, and staged theatre, which features dramatized re-
enactments of actual events. On stage, it is sometimes known as documentary
theatre.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docudrama
Example
▪ Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 American Drama Doc written, produced,
directed, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Moore
suggests are the primary causes for the Columbine massacre in 1999 and
other acts of violence with guns.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_for_Columbine
Crime Definition
▪ Crime fiction is a genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals, and
their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres
such as historical fiction or science fiction, but the boundaries are indistinct.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_fiction
Example
▪ Baby Driver is a 2017 action film written and directed by Edgar Wright. The plot
follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a music lover who is coerced to work as a getaway
driver for kingpin Doc (Kevin Spacey).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Driver
Soap Opera Definition
▪ A soap opera is an ongoing drama serial on television or radio, featuring the lives
of many characters and their emotional relationships.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera
Example
▪ Coronation Street is a British soap opera created by Granada Television and shown
on ITV since 9 December 1960.The program centers on Coronation Street
in Weather field, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. In the show's fictional
history, the street was built in 1902 and named in honor of the coronation of King
Edward VII.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_Street
Comedy Definition
▪ Comedy is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humor. These films are
designed to make the audience laugh through amusement and most often work by
exaggerating characteristics for humorous effect. Films in this style traditionally
have a happy ending
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_film
Example
▪ The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy directed
by Martin Scorsese and written by Terence Winter, based on the memoir of the
same name by Jordan Belfort. It recounts Belfort's perspective on his career as a
stockbroker in New York City
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_of_Wall_Street_(2013_film)
