Series - Serial - Single Drama

1. SERIAL: The Pacific

	DETAILS
DEFINE	Single narratives (of various characters) told over a finite number of episodes which concludes in a final instalment.
YOUR TEXT	The Pacific
Narrative	The Pacific like Band of Brothers follows soldiers during WW2; however, this serial takes place in the Pacific Theater of Operations within the wider Pacific War. The serial covers major military operations during this period and the actors are playing soldiers who were actually involved with these battles, therefore being a true story.
Technical	Partly Single-Camera. The serial has many cinematic moments, and as Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are producers of the serial they have made sure that many of the gritty camera work used in the WW2 film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ are used here to create the same immersive effect putting the audience in the position of the soldier by using POV shots etc.
GENRES	Historical War Drama – True Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. SERIES:Spaced

	DETAILS
DEFINE	Series of television programmes rely on a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion.
YOUR TEXT	Spaced
Narrative	Daisy Steiner (Jessica Stevenson) and Tim Bisley (Simon Pegg) are two London twenty-somethings who meet by chance while both are looking for a flat, having both broken up with their partners. Despite barely knowing each other, they pose as a young working couple in order to meet the requirements for an advertisement for a cheap flat. In this flat there are other odd characters that the two main characters interact with. The narrative of the series follows the surreal adventures of the couple, and the romantic tension that builds between the two.
Technical	The show was shot using a single camera set-up. The director Edgar Wright shot the series in a cinematic style and even ‘borrowed’ shots from certain films in order to pay homage to them as the series makes multiple references to other films.  – Edgar Wright – Director
GENRES	Comedy, parody/homage

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. DRAMA: Dirty War

	DETAILS
DEFINE	Same as a film – a single self-contained story, usually between 60-90 minutes.
YOUR TEXT	Dirty War (2004)
Narrative	The film follows a terrorist attack in London; the events of the attack are shown from multiple perspectives; the government, police and the emergency medical services.
Technical	The film uses a single-camera set-up to show the perspectives of the characters in a realistic way; the camera is very shaky and is used in a way that represents the frantic nature of the attack. Examples of shots include; extreme close-ups, POV, over-the shoulder shots.
GENRES	Thriller/Drama