Television in the Global Age

What Television in the Global Age covers

Television in the Global Age is examined in A2 Unit 3, Media in the Global Age. It covers genre and the television crime drama, camerawork, mise-en-scène, editing and sound in crime drama, narrative structure and ideology in television crime drama, constructing representations of crime, gender and place, the global television industry: ownership, funding and regulation, television audiences in the global age, Y Gwyll/Hinterland, S4C and Welsh-language television, The Bridge (2012), Denmark and Sweden, The Killing (2007), Denmark, The Disappearance (2015), France, Arne Dahl (2015), Sweden, Prime Suspect (1991), ITV, Touching Evil (1997), ITV, Morse: 'The Way Through the Woods' (1995), ITV and Cracker: 'To be a Somebody' (1994), ITV.

The 15 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Genre and the television crime dramaGenre in television, steve Neale and why a completely repetitive crime drama would fail commercially.Open →
• Camerawork, mise-en-scène, editing and sound in crime dramaWhat continuity editing is designed to achieve, what is meant by shot/reverse shot and sound bridge and why is it used.Open →
• Narrative structure and ideology in television crime dramaEnigma in narrative terms, difference between a series and a serial and narrative closure.Open →
• Constructing representations of crime, gender and placeRe-presenting the real, three processes by which a representation is made and what Stuart Hall means by stereotyping.Open →
• The global television industry: ownership, funding and regulationS4C and why was it created, co-production and why is it attractive to broadcasters and how technological change has altered television distribution.Open →
• Television audiences in the global ageNRS social grades, niche audience and fan audience and what distinguishes it from a general audience.Open →
• Y Gwyll/Hinterland, S4C and Welsh-language televisionWelsh crime drama set for study and the episode specified, representation of DCI Tom Mathias and how the drama represents rural Wales.Open →
• The Bridge (2012), Denmark and SwedenTwo lead detectives and visual style of the series.Open →
• The Killing (2007), DenmarkCentral crime of the first series, lead detective and describe how she is represented and three narrative strands of the first series.Open →
• The Disappearance (2015), FranceRecall questions on the broadcast details, the event that begins it, the setting and the length of the series, how a missing-person premise differs from a murder, the technique that sustains uncertainty, the representation of the family and of teenage girls, and why French drama reaches British audiences on a specialist channel.Open →
• Arne Dahl (2015), SwedenPolice unit is at the centre of the series, three social and political issues the series investigates and source material for the series.Open →
• Prime Suspect (1991), ITVCentral character of Prime Suspect and central conflict of the first story besides the murder investigation.Open →
• Touching Evil (1997), ITVPolice unit does Touching Evil follow, two lead detectives of Touching Evil and describing the series as dark in tone.Open →
• Morse: 'The Way Through the Woods' (1995), ITVTwo central characters of Morse and give their ranks, function of Lewis within the partnership and audience did ITV target with the series.Open →
• Cracker: 'To be a Somebody' (1994), ITVRecall questions on the broadcast details, the profession and representation of the central character, why an outsider consultant suits the genre, the real event behind the offender's grievance, the racist violence and how the audience is positioned, the death of a regular character, and masculinity in 1990s Britain.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Television in the Global Age further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Nordic noir vs Celtic noir

  Nordic noir: a Scandinavian strand of crime drama set among bleak northern cities and landscapes. Celtic noir: applying the same style to Welsh, Irish or Scottish settings and languages.

• Format sale vs Programme export

  Format sale: licensing the right to remake a production with a local cast and setting. Programme export: selling the finished production to be shown subtitled or dubbed.

• Distribution vs Circulation

  Distribution: the business of getting a product to broadcasters and platforms in each territory. Circulation: how the product then moves and is talked about among audiences.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is meant by genre in television?

   Model answer

   Genre is the classification of media products into recognisable types by their shared codes, conventions and expectations. It gives producers a template to work from and gives audiences a way of predicting what they will get.

2. 2

   Name four iconographic elements a viewer expects to recognise in a television crime drama.

   Model answer

   Typical iconography includes the warrant card or police badge, the incident room with its evidence board, crime scene tape and forensic suits, and the mortuary or autopsy table.

3. 3

   What does Steve Neale mean by describing genres as marked by repetition and difference?

   Model answer

   Neale argues that a genre is not a fixed list of rules but an ongoing process that repeats familiar elements while also varying and changing them. Every new product both confirms the genre and shifts it slightly.

4. 4

   Explain why a completely repetitive crime drama would fail commercially.

   Model answer

   Audiences take pleasure in recognising conventions, but total predictability removes suspense and gives no reason to watch a new series rather than an old one. Producers need variation to make their product stand out in a crowded market.

5. 5

   Define the term repertoire of elements.

   Model answer

   A repertoire of elements is the pool of settings, characters, narrative situations, iconography and stylistic devices that a genre draws on, from which any single product selects a particular combination.

6. 6

   What is genre hybridity?

   Model answer

   Genre hybridity is the blending of the conventions of two or more genres within one product, such as a crime drama that also functions as a family melodrama or a political thriller.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Television in the Global Age revision questions

What does Television in the Global Age cover in WJEC A-Level Media Studies?

15 subtopics: genre and the television crime drama, camerawork, mise-en-scène, editing and sound in crime drama, narrative structure and ideology in television crime drama, constructing representations of crime, gender and place, the global television industry: ownership, funding and regulation, television audiences in the global age, y gwyll/hinterland, s4c and welsh-language television, the bridge (2012), denmark and sweden, the killing (2007), denmark, the disappearance (2015), france, arne dahl (2015), sweden, prime suspect (1991), itv, touching evil (1997), itv, morse: 'the way through the woods' (1995), itv and cracker: 'to be a somebody' (1994), itv. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Television in the Global Age organised?

By the WJEC 603-1976-8 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.