Single Camera Formats-Bibliography and information trail

-A bibliography and information trail

The information that is used and founded is here, for those people that would like to find out more about each section.

The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 1-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYMwJ1gAw80

The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 2-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S614gdGuD2A&feature=related

The guardian, tells Glee situation in more details-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/aug/19/no-glee-for-disabled-people

 Character profiles information for the Glee cast-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_of_Glee

It gives information about some symptoms and the outcome of it-

thttp://www.bettermedicine.com/article/emotional-symptoms

Telling people about the CRB in better details-

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Startinganewjob/DG_195809

Code of practice information and other code of practice that has and have not been mentioned within my reports-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines/

Single Camera Formats-Copyrights and health and safety issues

-Copyrights and health and safety issues

From the way the episode is being told, Clyde said that they are near Heathrow (British Airport) and the fact that within the empty town there is real places like Bonmarch’e. Using Betfred as an example, Betfred is a real betting/gambling place, for this episode (The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet) they would have to ask Betfred for permission, due to copyright. Also the music that has been featured within this episode, permission for it is also necessary or else the company (BBC) may get sued.  

Within the BBC editorial guidelines, in section 18 it tells about the copyrights and the law. Also in the opening where the letters swirl around, the BBC logo appeared to let people know it is a BBC production. So if they have further issue such as complaints or want more information about that drama, they would know which company to look for. The copyright also refers to the book, Great Expectation. As it is a real published book, they will have to ask the publisher if they can feature it within this episode, or else they won’t be able to use it.  Which can be quite a shame since Great Expectation is a book that is well known to be read in school, so it is a necessary book considering the fact that Rani and Clyde are still school children and they have read it for class (something children’s can relate themselves to as well). The branding of the clothes is also important such as if Clyde wore Fred Perry BBC would need to ask for permission to use it along with putting it down in the credits.  

As for the health and safety it is important to note down the hazards and prevent them from happening or IF it happens they would need to know how to fix it. In the code of practice section 6 number 6.4.31 they mention that they should not put people at risk, so they have to do a check up on them such as their fitness. For example in The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 1, in 3.46 seconds, the scene you see Clyde on his desk drawing with only a spotlight and the rest of the room is dark (his mum is hard to see and the light represent night time). As the room has very little light, this can affect Clyde eyes physically.

 Along with the crew that is behind the camera, the studio may have to have low light as well to capture the shot. It is a hazard, as the crew members may find it harder to see where they are going. Which can causes chances that they may trip up because of the wires that are around. Nevertheless costumes wise it is also important, such as the robot costumes. They can cause a lot of problems such as the person inside the costume may not be able to see where they are going, so during filming they may find it hard to see and maybe even find it hard to walk.

 As the costume material looks very plastic and stiff to move in. Judging by the way the material looks, it seems like the layers are quite thick, which may cause the person inside to be quite hot and dehydrate. To prevent the person inside end up being unconscious they have to double check if they can get enough air in the costume for the person to breath. Along after each shoot they have some water to drink to keep them hydrated. Even though it is only a simple episode, a lot happens within it and a lot of health and safety issues that they need to care about.

Single Camera Formats-A Relevant Code Of Practice

-Relevant Code Of Practice

For The Sarah Jane Adventure episode The Empty Planet, the code of practice they have to follow is mainly from Section 9-CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE AS CONTRIBUTOR. Since this drama is based for children and people that are working with children. People who work with children’s have to get a CRB (Criminal Record Breuer) check, before they are allowed to continue on with the production of the drama. However they must obey this section 9 mainly. Such as under the The Impact Of A Contribution, number 9.4.23, it talks about how children should not be harmed on what goes on within the story. Such as in the drama the child parents are abusive and in real life the child parents is actually abusive, it may affect the child. The child should not be put in risk in situation like that or other similar problem. As it can emotionally affect the child, since there is chances that it would remind the child about the treatment they go through and it may cause them to have a break down. Such as it may cause them to be anti-social in the future or end up having the character they are playing as locked in them. Turning them self into that character for life, creating thoughts that are not true and think one sided. It may even cause them to over think, making it lead into a misunderstanding, it can ruin their life.  

                                            

  Nevertheless before they produce the drama they must get the child parents’ consent for legal documents, according to number 9.4.14, as younger the child the more protection they need since they would not know much and be vulnerable or gullible. However if the parents refuse to give consent the child may still be able to speak for their rights. Such if the child got interview for something and the parents refuse to let it be broadcasted yet the child wants it, the child may win. According to number 9.4.17, it says if situation like that happens the proposal would be sent to the senior editorial.

Today’s drama if they do not feature an Asian or colour person, the audience may say it is racist. Or not giving a person a fair chance, such as the issue brought up not long ago about a Glee cast. Actor Kevin McHale played as Artie Abrams, the disable role, yet in real life he is not disable. This caused a lot of problem for the show and people, as they gained a lot of complaints about it. For people who audition for that role and that are actually disable, they can use the code of practice, section 4 IMPARTIALITY, Contentious Views And Possible Offence number 4.4.18. For not giving people a fair chance in taking part of the show when they are suitable for that role. However if problems like that are to happen for this drama ( The Sarah Jane Adventure) the audience can complain to the company about it, following section 19 ACCOUNTABLITY, Feedbacks And complaints number 19.4.2. It tells the audience how they should complain and how it all happens. For example some people may use a lot of foul language when they are complaining, according to the section it recommends that when forwarding a complaint it should be treated politely and with respect.

 In my point of view the reason why is that the audience complaint send out a different message and the people who are in charge of taking care of the complaints may ignore or would not take it seriously. For an example for complaining is that, such as in (The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet) part 1at 1.39 second, it shows Sarah Jane walking away from the computer (Mr Smith), with her back to Clyde and Rani. Yet in 1.44 second, at the back you can see Sarah Jane legs yet Rani is facing towards Sarah Jane talking, which does not make sense since the computer is not made from reflective material. 

However I do not expect children’s to point that fact out or parents to, since they may not think it is a big deal even if they notice it.  Overall within the website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines) there is a lot more to read from to make people more aware on what the company has to care for, to produce a drama. However if people want to know more about the code of practice for children’s drama then the category they may want to see is Accuracy, impartiality, harm and offence and children and young people as contributors, as the few mains one.   

Single Camera Formats-Children's Drama-Narrative and Characterisation

-A report on the narrative and Characterisation used in an episode of a children's drama of your choice.

Within this episode (The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet)  the chain of events that was created kept children’s hooked on, as more problems comes and there is no answer for them making it make no sense. I personally think they done this as children’s tend to have a lot of questions to ask and would want to know everything that goes around them. From that some children’s might get involve with the story in trying to figure out the problem, making it fun for them. Along giving them a shock and thrill, for an example the times were Rani walking on her own outside her area and it was silent. Creating tension for the sudden smash sound, with a dog running pass afterward. It would scare children’s as it is something they would not have seen coming.The story started with Rani and Sarah Jane finding an alien energy, but it seems to be nothing that big until the next day when everyone is gone. Even Sarah Jane is gone, yet the animals are still there. Leading on from that, nobody is harmed, which does not make much sense on why everyone is gone and there is no harm done. 

It leaves children’s wondering as they would not have thought about why there are no crashed car and the fact that animals are still there. From that it has created a twist on what is going on.  To create the atmosphere that Rani and Clyde are alone, within the scene in the café they showed what people were eating such as showing plates of breakfast and half eaten toasts before they vanish. Just when children’s think Clyde and Rani is the only two people in the world, a kid called Gavin appeared to create more mystery. Yet it gives out more clues on what is going on (similar to Scooby Doo, more clues as the story goes on), such as the first clue would be there is no signal at all. Though from time to time there is a sudden sound and the you can hear it, a sound that sounds like alien signal, to make children’s feel that time is running out and they need to solve the problem as soon as possible or everyone would die. It Causes children’s to panic a little. It stops children’s focusing on one thing at that moment by giving out that sound so it when the sound stops the children’s will be like “right, quick where were we?”. Such as the time where Rani and Clyde found Gavin and chased him to his house (from 2.44 second onward in part 2), where they started talking to him about what is going on then suddenly the trumpet sound was heard. Giving Gavin time to run away as he has no idea on what is going on, but from that information it can be scene in two different ways to the children’s.

 One idea would be the fact that he is scared and think Rani and Clyde are aliens, while idea two would be the fact that he planned it and he is up to something bad (could be accused as a villain but turns out to be false villain). Also from the fact that Clyde wonder about him and along you see quick scene of him riding pass when Rani and Clyde went into town to find him but only end up being trapped by two giant robots. The robots seems like they are after them and want to kill them but truly they just want to scan them to see if they found the right people that they are after. From this information it tells it clearly tells that Rani and Clyde is the Hero’s.  Even though Sarah Jane was only shown in the beginning I personally think that she is the Donor, as she was the one to provide some information in the beginning and has gadgets in her attic for Rani to take with her (the lipstick).  

Moreover this episode follows the Tzvetan Todorov narrative theory but leaving the fifth step for the next episode, making this current episode a cliff hanger. Giving children’s a dying feeling and making them impatient since they have to wait a while for the next episode to know what will happen. Nevertheless this episode used Anachronic, as the beginning they showed clips of the robot so (flash forward) so children’s would know what to expect to see later within the episode.  Children’s can also relate themselves to Rani and Clyde because they are normal school students who wears normal fashionable clothes, do normal things yet the only different between them and normal children’s that they just fight aliens. Clyde is like a typical male that think out of the box, such as in part two he says about him and Rani are the new Adam and Eve, in a serious situation which is not very appropriate. While Rani is a smart girl who portray a typical innocent school girl in front, yet her secret is fighting aliens with Clyde and Sarah Jane.


The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 1
The Sarah Jane Adventure-The Empty Planet part 2   

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