American Drama

Dexter

Suits

Breaking Bad

Game of thrones

24

The Sopranos

The Walking dead

Bates Motel 

Lost

Ray Donovan

Suits opening sequence

The Suits opening sequence is a very fast paced opening sequence and this type of editing is used to represent the pace of the show and it won't be like your typical drama which is usually slow. Also this show has shots of the city making it look like a big city and this is shows  that it is not going to be like everyday life and this is because the shot it has of the city is of big corporate buildings which most people in the world do not work in. The music is not that of a typical drama the music is very vibrant and happy and cheerful and this shows how the the tone of the show will be most of the time but it is also fast paced show how the pace of the show is going to be. In this show they also include the actors names that play the main characters this tells us that these are the main characters we need to keep an eye on but also the characters that are going to effect the story. The editing is unusual it is like it is building blocks building someone's life and it shows that we are going to be following these two people across their adventure of building a better a life for themselves. When we see Harvey in the big city in his fancy car and very fancy expensive suit the screen is blue showing that he has a very good and rich life that is not really dramatic but is happy all the time. Then we come to the other main character of the show Mike Ross and in all of his shots we have a juxtaposition to all of Harvey shots and this is because in most of his shots apart from two the screen is a dark orange colour and this is to show that he does not lead a life that is as perfect and calm and that his life is actually quite dramatic. Also to show he does not have a good of a life as Harvey it shows that he lives in a one bedroom flat, that he rides a bike, takes the train, that he does not have an expensive of a suit as Harvey and also that his hair is normal not perfectly done like Harvey's. But when Mike is seen outside the office by himself his screen turns to blue showing that he is making a life for himself and that when he is at the office he is on a level playing field with everyone else. Also when Harvey and Mike are walking together right into the office the screen is blue and the distance between them is very slim meaning that they are exactly as good as each other and that they are on a level playing field.

Format American dramas

American dramas are big in this world and these Tv shows basically rule every Tv station in the world we see them on Sky 1,2,3 atlantic FOX e.t.c. and these shows all run in a series usually between 12 and 24 episodes per series depending on what is better for the Tv series they use this format as they type of Dramas are made like this to make sure there is a conclusion because this is what Tv shows rely on an amazing conclusion to a series that the show has been building up to since the first episode of the series. the format of this is to also allow other shows to make a name for themselves because once one series finishes another one starts at exactly the same time the next week. These shows are usually on at the height of prime time so this is between 9.00pm and 10.00pm and this is because a lot of people like these type of programs so this is on when most people have free time.

Appeals 

There are a lot of appeal to American dramas and one of the reasons is that they can be unconventional and by this I mean the story is not usually so plain old repeated story if you want to be successful American drama you have to stand out from the crowd so most dramas decide to do this by making their story and feel unique to their show. Also with American dramas they usually have a very high production value and this is to make sure they have a very slick feel to them and also a very good look to the show. Even though these shows have pretty unconventional stories the characters themselves are usually very relatable so that the audience are able to connect with the audience a little bit easier. meaning that the audience are able to connect with the characters in the show form the get go meaning that it will be easier for the audience to stay intrigued and interested in the shows.

Target audience

These shows target audience are usually broad and one of these target audiences is the explorer and the reason I believe that this is one of the target audiences is because these dramas touch on things that are not normal day life things. An example of this is the show Breaking Bad and this is because this show follows around an ex high school student and a high school teacher and watches them as thery progress through the drug world becoming richer and more powerful as time goes by. I believe the aspirer is involved in this because these shows usually show people getting rich or already having a good job and a good life I believe these shows go for the B-E sections in the lifestyle categories as these shows show what sort of life people have when they are rich.

Characters and representation

In this clip of Ray Donovan we see the main character Ray Donovan getting angry with his father for getting his children drunk at a party. As usual we have the typical stereotypes Ray Donovan is the very strong male taking control of the situation and threatening to kill his father. We have the women who stand back and watch what is going on because they are too scared to intervene. We have the weak socially awkward brothers who are not able to do anything because they are too scared to get involved with the situation.

Setting 

The setting of TV shows are usually very expansive and look very slick and stylish and this is because these shows have a very big budget and so they are able to rent,buy,make locations that they are able to use all the time to make the tone of that they want for the show. But most of the time these big budget TV shows are not set i a studio and this is because this would en up making the program feel cheaper than they need to be. Every setting can be different even in American drama because we have fantasy and crime American dramas e.t.c. For Game of Thrones an American drama which is a period drama and also a fantasy drama this drama is a drama which is set in a lot of places which could be a forest a village a massive city it is set in a lot of places and in this TV show has a massive budget which means they are able to go to different locations and build sets that look exactly like a period village. So what the producers would do is find a rural area and build the buildings around it and if they cant build them find rural areas that already have the buildings they need also it is set in urban areas and they are usually in castles that are set in urban areas so when in a castle the show could represent power and loyalty and also betrayal. in the scenes like in the castles the producers would of definitely filmed on location to make sure they got the feeling they needed to make the show tense and satisfying to the view for the audience. The rural areas are supposed to show peace and equality because they are in the middle of no where surrounded by forest or nothing meaning that there is supposed to be no violence or disease out in the rural areas. Where as in the cities it is always hectic and crazy where it is full of diseases and violence with beat up houses

TV narrative     

TV narrative is what every TV show depends on and this is because without a narrative every show in the world basically cannot exist. Every TV show needs a start, middle, end and this is because TV shows narratives can be expansive but overall they need to be linear for the audience to make sense of the story so that is why TV shows has a start, middle and end. But the directors of the TV shows are able to use a lot of narrative devices to make sure the audience see the show in a certain way but also that the audience can enjoy the show as much as they can. The narrative devices that the directors are able to use are voice over, visual signifiers, captions, montage, flashbacks,forwards and sideways, multi strain narrative, twist and parallel narratives all of these devices give the directors a lot of options on how they want the narrative of the story to progress.

With American dramas they like to use a lot of these devices also a lot of American dramas like to have a single narrative in which the main characters have to go along on a single narrative. An example of a show that does this is Breaking bad this show has one main narrative about a two men making it rich making drugs and all of the bad things that come with the business they are in hiding from their families and trying to avoid the people that are trying to take their business away from them. In this show they use a lot of enigma codes to make sure the audience keep thinking on their feet on their feet it is a rare show that does not treat the audience as stupid people. Also the visual editing in the show is great because it edits the show in a such a way that it can go from being a slow paced show into a fast paced show in mere seconds. This show uses a wide variety of narrative devices and one of the main ones is the twists that they add into the show and these usually come at the end of the season where the biggest and best twists in TV shows usually come

Technical codes