The episode I am going to collect information and collate is Doctor Who. The episode is from Series 6 called "The Doctor's Wife". I picked this one because it is one of my favourites from the series of Doctor Who.
FORM AND CONTENT
The genre of this show is Children’s Drama but it also Sci-Fi/Fantasy however a lot of people like to ask “Is Doctor Who really a Children’s Drama?” Most people would say no because it can be frightening but that doesn’t stop kids from watching it since the time slot for the show on BBC 1 is between 6 -7 pm running for 45 minutes. So in a way it is and in a way it isn’t.
I also think it's Children's Drama as there are no bad language, no nudity and most of all, the Doctor doesn't believe in killing and violence. There maybe a few scenes where there be an occasionally sword fight or laser beams from Daleks or Cybermen however what the viewers see the most is the Doctor's weapon of choice isn't a weapon at all - a screwdriver than proves to be more useful than any other weapon in the universe from being a scanner, lock picking, to all sorts. I think parents can be at ease with that and therefore even though the CGI graphics may have changed to make it a lot more scary, it is far from violent otherwise the time slot would have been different and kids wouldn’t be able to see it at all.
This is a Diegesis format since it is created in a world that the characters themselves experience in through space and earth and making new creature out of space are endless since in real life no one has really seen any aliens. It then progress more than a Children’s Drama as scarier creatures came by but when you look back the costumes and the graphic were not as “CGI” as it was back then but to the audience it was close enough as it was the first unexpected them they ever thought they would see and that’s one of the best things about this shows – the surprises never stop coming as well as the storylines.
It is suit for both adults and children as sci-fi or anythign out of this world is very appealing and very exciteding that it'll make anyone sit at the edge of their seats.
The opening credits starts with a sound effects that has becomes the sign that the openin sequence is about to start and then as the scene changes so does the music that is the main theme
Because at the time slot and the fact that children are watching, some of the angles are shot differently ad edited so that kids are not total scared or as some would say "gross".
Like for example when the Doctor finally meets the TARDIS woman they edited and used cutaways on a couple of things that appear – biting and kissing or at least filmed those at a different camera angles so that kids don’t have to see what they would call “gross” and the parents won't complain accuse the filmmakers that they are not considering the audience that may be watching including children.
The way it is filmed, the screen shots are quite fast pacing but not too quick to make the audience dizzy.
FORM AND CONTENT
The genre of this show is Children’s Drama but it also Sci-Fi/Fantasy however a lot of people like to ask “Is Doctor Who really a Children’s Drama?” Most people would say no because it can be frightening but that doesn’t stop kids from watching it since the time slot for the show on BBC 1 is between 6 -7 pm running for 45 minutes. So in a way it is and in a way it isn’t.
I also think it's Children's Drama as there are no bad language, no nudity and most of all, the Doctor doesn't believe in killing and violence. There maybe a few scenes where there be an occasionally sword fight or laser beams from Daleks or Cybermen however what the viewers see the most is the Doctor's weapon of choice isn't a weapon at all - a screwdriver than proves to be more useful than any other weapon in the universe from being a scanner, lock picking, to all sorts. I think parents can be at ease with that and therefore even though the CGI graphics may have changed to make it a lot more scary, it is far from violent otherwise the time slot would have been different and kids wouldn’t be able to see it at all.
This is a Diegesis format since it is created in a world that the characters themselves experience in through space and earth and making new creature out of space are endless since in real life no one has really seen any aliens. It then progress more than a Children’s Drama as scarier creatures came by but when you look back the costumes and the graphic were not as “CGI” as it was back then but to the audience it was close enough as it was the first unexpected them they ever thought they would see and that’s one of the best things about this shows – the surprises never stop coming as well as the storylines.
It is suit for both adults and children as sci-fi or anythign out of this world is very appealing and very exciteding that it'll make anyone sit at the edge of their seats.
The opening credits starts with a sound effects that has becomes the sign that the openin sequence is about to start and then as the scene changes so does the music that is the main theme
Because at the time slot and the fact that children are watching, some of the angles are shot differently ad edited so that kids are not total scared or as some would say "gross".
Like for example when the Doctor finally meets the TARDIS woman they edited and used cutaways on a couple of things that appear – biting and kissing or at least filmed those at a different camera angles so that kids don’t have to see what they would call “gross” and the parents won't complain accuse the filmmakers that they are not considering the audience that may be watching including children.
The way it is filmed, the screen shots are quite fast pacing but not too quick to make the audience dizzy.
NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERISATION
Anyone who has been following the series will know the latest characters very well: The Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams and of course the TARDIS. The TARDIS itself is a mascot, an icon that presents itself to the nation as well as the sound it makes whenever it travels through space and time. Looking at Vladimir’s Narrative Theory, I have carefully looked at all the characters in this episode and below shows what I think each one presents in this theory.
The Doctor – Hero
The Doctor will always be the hero no matter what he does as in the end, he’s always saves the world and help human kind from being destroyed or destroying themselves.
Idris/TARDIS – Donor, Helper, Dispatcher
This is the first time and maybe the only time where we get to see what the TARDIS would be like as a human being. Before the Doctor realises this he only sees her as crazy who can predict the future or “mad-bitey lady” as he calls her when he confronts her. In time though she is proven to be all the things I have said above, a Donor because she gave predictions about the future and information about the villain eating the TARDIS energy. She’s also a Helper as she helps the Doctor building a temporary TARDIS and a Dispatcher when she gives Rory a mission and password to bring down the barriers of the stolen TARDIS.
Amy – Princess, Hero (maybe)
Rory – Princess, Hero (maybe)
I don’t know what is it but it always seems that the companions are forever getting themselves in danger and the Doctor is forever worried for them and saving them. This episode – Amy and Rory are princesses since in the middle they get trapped by the villain and all they do is run and complain while the villain is playing very nasty mind tricks, especially Rory when he’s ages in the speed of light and Amy hadn’t aged at all so emotions are running sky high for them both before trying to help the Doctor. I say that they are a little bit of a hero as they do try to save the world with the Doctor as best as they can from the villain.
The House – Villain
There’s no doubt that is character is a villain even though this appearance is never shown, his voice over is played by Michael Sheen – best known for the Twilight Saga and Tron Legacy however his voice isn’t normal since I’ve seen a few of movies with him in it, the editors lowed the voice tone to make the House a lot more sinister and a special kind of microphone that’s’ used when filming but out of sight. The editors do this as well whenever Daleks are involved.
Auntie – False Hero
Uncle – False Hero
Nephew – False Hero
I wasn’t sure what to place them as, the closest I can get to was False Hero since Auntie and Uncle didn’t anything villainous but in the end they were willing to accept the body parts of the other Time Lords and they didn’t want to die but they did later on. Nephew is definitely False since he tried to attack Amy and Rory under influence from the villain by his glowing green eyes.
Anything I have noticed is that the narrative depth of this program is Subjective Character Identification – we see the story in other’s points of view, so while the audience know that the woman possesses the TARDIS’s soul, the Doctor doesn’t know until about 15 minutes into the episode and the main characters won’t know about the villain’s intentions until 13 minutes into the story. It is also Episodic Narrative since it is a series and even though some episodes aren’t part of the storyline, sometimes they added a side story just to fill in the gaps and make it more fun.
CAMERA ANGLES AND MUSIC
In this show there are a lot of camera angles throughout, however there are not a lot of close ups or any close ups at all let alone the extreme close up shot. The music is composed by Murray Gold and has composed music for the new series since the show began again in 2005.
The music definitely puts the viewer into mood of what about to happen – wherever it’s creepy or cheerful or danger ahead. For example when Amy and Rory are trapped in the TARDIS, outside unknown to them there is green smoke circling both them and the TARDIS, music already is beginning to build. As soon as Amy says “This is bad, this is really, really bad!” and Rory replies “Yeah, I think it properly is” – the music builds up further as if to say “DANGER, DANGER!” and suddenly as soon as the scene changes – the dramatic music stops immediately – setting the pace again to the next scene and that makes the viewers go “NO – don’t stop there!”
The camera
shot example is when the Doctor finds out about the TARDIS being trapped in a
humans’ body. There are different camera angles all over the place but mostly
mid shots and there’s a mid-shot but filmed within a cage as a foreground to
make the camera shot look interesting – and it works. It’s almost like a point
of view shot except the Doctor isn’t looking at the camera. There’s an
interesting zooming shot that as you get closer to the Doctor’s face, the more
you will see the expression and emotion on his face as realisation kicks in which
it shows the viewers how important that moment is.
In Children’s
Drama is it always good to see all kinds of camera angles if all the scenes are
all mid-shots then how can we see the true extent of emotion on the character’s
face, the location around of the characters and to get at what the characters
are saying to each other.
For
example long shots are best used to establish the location of the scenes so the
viewers are see where the characters are, the over-shoulder shots are a good
convention for dialogue scenes and is often mixed with the long shots so you
can see the location and all the characters that are speaking to one another. One
as such is when the TARDIS says “Oh! We are now reach at the point of the
conversation where you open the lock”
is a bit of a combo of camera angles because you see both characters and the
location but you also looking over the
Doctor’s shoulder.
Even
though in this scene there are no close ups – they are very good for showing
the emotion on the character’s faces so the viewers will get what they are
feeling.
Here is a clip - it's when the Doctor finally realises that the woman is truly the TARDIS. It's also the best scene of the whole episode, for me anyway.
The music work within this scene as when the lady goes as she stand up “It’s me - I’m the TARDIS” music starts off and yet somehow it’s creepy as if to say “are you sure?” and that’s works because Doctor questions, not believing at first and when the Doctor realises she is telling the truth, the music changes that matches the mood exactly and just like quicksilver it changes again to light and musical as the Doctor lets out the TARDIS out of the cage. It bizarre how the music changes nearly all and it works – or at least for me.
However despite all this there are a few editing errors that the production team have either forget or they were the only film shots they had at the time or they couldn’t do anything it change it after the filming and too late:
· When the Doctor realises that his companions are in trouble, he reaches for the phone in his pocket to call Amy and Rory, the camera is facing his back. In the next shot, however, when the camera is facing his front, he reaches for his phone again!
· Right before the Doctor lets out the TARDIS out of the cage, the Doctor is fidgeting slightly and when she finishes talking, he’s quick to action but in the next shot however the Doctor is standing still.
· In the scene where the Doctor catches Idris/the TARDIS as he nearly faints, the camera shot is showing the Doctor’s face and Idris’s back shows her hand near his underarm and the next shot when it flips to Idris’s face and the Doctor’s back, her hand is on his shoulder and then when the camera angle shifts back again her hand is clearly not there.
· When Amy finds the aged Rory it is obvious that his arms and hands are still those of a young man with no make-up or appliances were added to age them and for this scene to work, it should have done just that.
THE LIGHTING FOR THIS EPISODE
The lighting in this episode is set at the end of the universe or as the Doctor puts it “A plug hole and we’ve fallen down it” which could also mean a black hole. Therefore since the edge of the universe or the black hole is dark, the setting has to be dark as well with minimum lighting so you can still see where you are and what the viewer is seeing. If it was brightly lit it wouldn’t work at all as the storyline would less believable that the place is dark and creepy and there’s a graveyard for the all the other TARDIS
In the scenes where Amy and Rory are trapped within the TARDIS, the power is gets turned off and along with the music, it makes a very realistic cat and mouse game to the viewers, it’s almost like a very child friendly horror slasher movie except the stalker is the TARDIS itself.
CODES OF PRACTICE
It is in the interest of the UK television audience that there is a competitive and thriving independent production supply market The BBC has a role as the nation's principal public service broadcaster to help stimulate and support the development of the independent production sector. The intention of the Code is to ensure that relations between the BBC and independent producers are conducted on a fair and transparent basis.
No children were acting in this episode however even if that's the case the actors both adult and children still have rights by law and data protection. Some actors may have other projects and so may have a tight schedule and have to work around the hours to film the episode.
Children can be very influenced by what they see, hear and read and these kinds of behaviour are likely to be imitable by children in a manner that is dangerous, must not be broadcast before the watershed or on radio when children are particularly likely to be in our audience or online when content is likely to appeal to a significant proportion of children especially the use of domestic objects (such as knives, hammers and scissors) in violent acts. Therefore it is important that the adults get clear information on which to judge whether content is suitable for themselves or their children.
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| Writer Neil Gaiman (Who wrote this episode) Suranne Jones and Matt Smith |
The filmmakers will need to balance the range of public attitudes and behaviour with the danger of encouraging potentially damaging or illegal behaviour, particularly amongst children. In this show there is nothing "adultery" however the display of sex between under-16s and adults is illegal and must not be not be shown under any circumstances in Children’s Drama. This is also the same for drinking alcohol, taking drugs, smoking, bad/foul langauge and abuse towards others. The content for our audiences, including children, as they are the most likely audience which the producers take to an account of the time and day on which it is available, the nature of the service and the nature of the content.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
When it comes to acting with children, the filmmakers must always always get permission from parents/guardians as at the end of the day once the production of the child is released, there is no going back and the impact can either effect the child in a good way or bad which is why is in their best interest to have someone familair to the child to safeguard them from anything that could affect them long term.
The BBC have a policy called the "BBC Child Protection Policy" which is to safeguard the welfare of children and young people in its care. Here are a few things from the policy that shows when it comes to working with children:
From what I can see the episode is most likely to have been filmed at night so one of the things that the directors have to think about is not having their actors getting cold especially if it’s filmed in the autumn/winter time. to the number and type of accidents and incidents that occur at work. The Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 set out minimum standards, though it is desirable to aim for higher standards:
- Children and young people should be treated with care, respect and dignity.
- Those working for the BBC will be perceived by children as trusted representatives of the BBC
- Employyees should act responsibly with regards to physical contact with childre which may be necessary for work or health and safety reasons or under supervision
- WHen a child or young person needs to be licensed to take part in a programme the necessary steps must be taken in accordance with the information on the Talent & Rights Negotiation Child Licences Guideline on Gateway
- Managers offereing work experience placements must be compliant with the BBC Work Experience Policy
- While all under 18s are covered by Children Protection law, for the purposs of the Editorail Guidelines a "child" is someone under the age of 15 years and "young people" are those aged 15,16 and 17. For futher information please refer to the BBC Editorial Guidelines and Ofcom
It's often said that making screen narratives is all about ‘smoke and mirrors' - if this is true then there is no excuse for the number of unnecessary accidents that occur in the creative media industries. In a studio or on a set, there will often be lights, water, animals, actors, pyrotechnics, crew, cranes and children, all in the same space. The potential hazards are enormous. If these risks are not properly assessed and managed, mistakes can be made which could cost thousands of pounds worth of damages - or worse, cause injury or death to the cast and crew.
Health and safety is taken seriously in the creative media industries, particularly by production staff and also by Heads of Department as they feel responsible for the staff in their teams. Nevertheless, this responsibility is every professional's first priority to themselves and everyone else in the workplace and must ensure the full and proper CCTV recording and reporting of all workplace health and safety related incidents, such as dangerous occurrences, accidents, diseases and near misses. Employers must set up suitable procedures for the proper reporting of health and safety related incidents in the workplace and employees must be encouraged to report all such incidents towards both the cast and the crew.
COPYRIGHT/LEGAL
The Doctor Who series and characters are all copyrighted by the BBC. The term "TARDIS" is trademarked by the BBC. The Daleks are trademarked by Terry Nation and other characters appearing in the Virgin Doctor Who adventure novels are copyrighted by their respective authors. The content of copyrighted websites are the property of their respective creators. All contributors are expected to refrain from submitting copyrighted work without permission or which exceeds the definitions of fair dealing (UK, Australia, and Canada) or fair use (United States) provisions of copyright law.
The trademark of this programme is the Tardis, an icon that has over around for years. Another thing that is iconic is the theme music, even though it has been upgraded over the years, it's still recognisable to the fans of the show.
I found and read an article dating back when the fourth series came out when David Tennat was the Doctor and Catherine Tate as the companion. It was the first episode of Series 3 named "Partners in Crime" when BBC sees a fan selling knitted characters on eBay of the alien characters on the episode, causing them to take legal action.
Here is a few pieces of the article that I found and find it interesting:
At first glance it is hard to tell what they are.
But these knitted blobs have landed one unsuspecting Dr Who fan in hot water with the BBC.
The woman, known as Mazzmatazz, created step-by-step patterns to making your own Dr Who monsters.
After her Dr Who patterns were discovered on the internet, Mazzmatazz was sent a letter by the BBC demanding she remove all the designs from her website. The wrangle has caused consternation in the world of knitting, where it seems a surprising number of knitters are also Dr Who devotees. A quick search on the internet reveals that the Adipose design in particular went down in a storm.
It was when copies of her free patterns, and some knitted creations, ended up for sale on internet auction site eBay that the BBC stepped in. They sent Mazz a letter, stating: "We note that you are supplying Dr Who items, and using trade marks and copyright owned by BBC. "You have not been given permission to use the Dr Who brand and we ask that you remove from your site any designs connected with Dr Who.
To the disappointment of her knitting circle of fans Mazz has removed the patterns. On her website, now stripped of the alien designs for fear of legal action, she said: "I'm just an ordinary fan, who happens to like knitting and Sci-fi, and everything has just gone a bit crazy." She added: "The patterns I created, inspired by Doctor Who, were never for sale - they were shared under Creative Commons licenses, to prevent resale, so that other fans could enjoy and share the fun too.
"All I want is for the BBC to be fair...To single me out for breach of copyright seems more like an act of making an example than a good faith defence of their copyright."
And on a later note there was one sentence that properly says a lot.
"Copyright owners should be careful not to antagonise their fans, they are the ones who keep shows running.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND INFORMATION TRAIL
Here are two more videos but instead of one clip, there’s a few in one video showing more of episode. The only thing bad about theses is that the screen seemed to have flipped over as you can see from the BBC one logo on the top right corner.
This website below is a spoiler-free synopsis of the episode.
http://news.drwho-online.co.uk/64-The-Doctors-Wife-DWO-Spoiler-Free-Preview.aspx
"The Doctor's Wife" revisits mythology elements regarding the Doctor and the TARDIS established from the original run of the show and continued into the new series. Idris, as the TARDIS, says that the Doctor left with her, a type 40 TARDIS, to flee Gallifrey more than 700 years ago, and the TARDIS' history of unreliability is explained as her taking the Doctor not where he wants to go, but where he needs to be. The Doctor has mentioned that the TARDIS is alive in previous episodes, including in The Five Doctors, and has referred to 'her' as "old girl" many times, and as "sexy" occasionally in his Eleventh incarnation, both of which Idris indicates she likes.
This is a small part of an article from Wikipedia explaining more about the episode. To read more about it look up on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doctor%27s_Wife
http://news.drwho-online.co.uk/64-The-Doctors-Wife-DWO-Spoiler-Free-Preview.aspx
"The Doctor's Wife" revisits mythology elements regarding the Doctor and the TARDIS established from the original run of the show and continued into the new series. Idris, as the TARDIS, says that the Doctor left with her, a type 40 TARDIS, to flee Gallifrey more than 700 years ago, and the TARDIS' history of unreliability is explained as her taking the Doctor not where he wants to go, but where he needs to be. The Doctor has mentioned that the TARDIS is alive in previous episodes, including in The Five Doctors, and has referred to 'her' as "old girl" many times, and as "sexy" occasionally in his Eleventh incarnation, both of which Idris indicates she likes.
This is a small part of an article from Wikipedia explaining more about the episode. To read more about it look up on:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doctor%27s_Wife
I found these while looking up about Health and Safety
http://www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/library/77
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/howwework/policiesandguidelines/pdf/child_protection_policy_0511.pdf
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/howwework/policiesandguidelines/pdf/child_protection_policy_0511.pdf
I found this while I was looking up on more information about Codes of Practice
I found a website that has to do with copyright for the programme itself:
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