Single Camera Formats-Children's Drama-convention of the genre

An report on the convention of the genre (form (structure/layout) and content) (what's should be involved in the show)

Within an episode of The Sarah Jane Adventure, I have notice that the way the drama started was done using letters that swirled around, like it is being sucked in to a hole, showing that this drama will involve magic, making the genre sic fi like. However I personally think that the opening was done like that to give children the feeling of mystery and adventure, having an excitement or thrill towards the drama. For an example making it more adventure and mysterious like, such as they used a theme tune that sounds similar to the Harry Potter theme tune.  Children will know Harry Potter as it is a very well-known film and the theme tune is so well known that it is like the 20^th Century Fox theme tune, (easy to hum to and also it is catchy).

However from the way they started the episode is by showing quick scene of the episode and other episodes to recap the story, giving children’s subjective character identification. For the first 30 second they shown a lot of action to make it look like a lot is happening and a great amount of tension is being created. They ended that part with Clyde saying “always ready”, to start the story. Giving restricted information to grab the children’s attention and hook them up, making them feel that they are with Clyde in the adventure. From that it leads to the opening of the episode. The fact that they used two different fonts for the title of the film, such as how “Sarah Jane” was written in a font that gives out a magical feel towards as it enters in by a beam of light spelling it out, to show that she is the main character within the series. The word “The, Adventure”, are written in a font that is very suitable for script writing and it is also the font that is continue used for the credits, saying who was involved with the production of this drama.

At the start the episode (The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet), they automatically have gone straight into the action, where the characters are in the lab already and they found something that is not quite right (they found alien energy). They slowly build the pace to create tension, such as in the beginning the problem is something small but as it goes on more problems occurs. Creating the atmosphere around that the fact that everyone in the world is gone, is a shocking news and scary. From the way they did it, it will keep children’s hanging as they would be egger to know why it happen and how the problem is solved. As children’s do not have much common sense, the story is kept simple so they would understand it clearly. Such as in a serious situation where they were trying to figure out what is going on and suddenly Clyde says he needs food to think straight. Which are things that children’s can relate to, for example many children’s nowadays have single parents or not allowed to have girls in their room. From that children’s will know how it would feel and get into the series more as the story is not completely fiction. They would know how Gavin will feel and would want to see what happens to him at the end. Since it’s a children’s drama, a happy ending is 100% compulsory. So children’s would not have bad thoughts or having it affects them in anyway. Such as if Gavin had a bad ending, children’s that go through similar to what Gavin does, will have bad thoughts such as there is no hope for them in life. It may even lead them to depression and maybe even suicide.

Nevertheless this also appeals to children’s more as the episode have cool alien technology along with placeless that are simple but have different names such as Clyde used the café as their headquarters. It appeals to children’s that way as children’s have creative minds and always imagine things and play, pretending that they have cool gadgets. Also how children’s tend to have crushes easily, to make this episode a bit cheery they put some scenes that indicates some romance feel towards it. Creating cute sweet scenes, such as when Rani and Clyde found each other and they hugged, along they said that they phoned each other first. It’s sweet since they are not best friends, as within the café they said they have other friends that they use to be with along with the fact that they only met because of Sarah Jane. It also appeals to children as the episode does not drag on much, as each scene something small happens, even though it is small problems it still keeps the audience wanting to know what is going to happen next and maybe even want to see some aliens appear.

Like most children’s drama this episode has a meaning/ messages (morals), such as the fact that nobody is ever alone so children’s should not think that way. Along being nosy is not a good thing, it tends to lead you into something big and you may regret it. This episode also teaches children’s not to steal. Such as when Clyde got food and drinks from the café, he left money on the table to show that he is not stealing the food and that he actually paid for it. Which sends the message that children’s or anyone should not take any advantage of any situation where nobody is around.
The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 1
The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 2