TV DRAMA: GREY'S ANATOMY

EXAM WORK
Textual analysis of TV drama: extract from Grey's Anatomy.
The extract is on the school's Google Classroom.
Practising analytical skills for successful exam technique: how to identify a technical code (that is, an example of media language such as camerawork, editing, mise-en-scène or sound) and explain how it is used to create meaning.

For example:
The establishing shot is a bird's eye view wide shot of the harbour and busy city of Seattle. This situates the scene of the drama and reflects the tone of the whole piece which is set in a modern hospital with the dynamic cast of a busy. team of medics and surgeons. The rapid hard cuts combined with the upbeat, fast-paced non-diegetic sound track establishes the city as a bustling modern hub of activity, the centre of action. 

Dr Bailey is introduced by the camera tracking back in the hospital corridor as she walks her toddler son. What is unusual about this scene is the disjuncture between what the audience sees and what they hear: we see a calm mother silently guiding her tiny child's first steps and his radiant face in close up, full of the joy of achievement and the promise of discovery. However, the soundtrack is a voice-over monologue of an absent female adult speaker describing her frustration: she aspires to be a first-class surgeon but bemoans her inability to focus as she is held back by a love affair that she cannot forget. The effect is to spark questions in the audience: we are intrigued by the intimate confession, the promise of dramatic complications and the visual metaphor of the toddler at the start of his life's journey, as Grey is at the threshold of hers. The parallel but different paths excite our curiosity.

Bailey is witness to the next major trigger of the drama and tension of the extract when her boss Dr Webster triumphantly pins a news bulletin about a prestigious award to the staff noticeboard. In the two-shot of the pair, close-ups of Webster's face showing smiling satisfaction contrast with Bailey's impassive and guarded reactions. 

The brief verbal exchange between Dr Bailey and her boss Dr Webster that follows this generates more tension and drama for the audience as it is made clear though a series of close-ups of their faces, with reaction shots, that the news that Webster brings about the award will affect Dr Christina Yang badly. Bailey's clipped  response "Yes, sir" deflates him. This lets the audience deduce at the same time as Webster that the award will cause problems not just bring honour to the hospital. Webster's face crumples and he sighs. By contrast, Bailey is presented as more tough and realistic about the event. She takes the information in her stride, but she shows better knowledge of the team.

Of central importance in the narrative is the intense scene in the therapist's office in which Dr Meredith Grey confesses how her fantasies about a fellow surgeon obsess her. The mise-en-scène reflects the confidentiality of the situation: a sofa with plump cushions, low level lighting and soft furnishings contrast with the clinical atmosphere outside the therapist's haven. The narrative is delivered through a series of close-ups on Meredith's face as she confides her concerns and shot-reverse shots with the therapist who leads her to the conclusion and self-revelation that she must face reality without Derek. Diegetic sound dominates this scene to allow the audience to focus on Meredith whose body language is tense as she leans forward. She is represented as driven by the ambition of becoming a top surgeon but is also characterised as someone who suppresses her emotions. She comes across as taut and earnest, demanding 'tools' to deal with her fantasies. The medical jargon positions her as a medic with a perhaps desperate faith in professional intervention.

By contrast, the object of her affections Derek is constructed as easy-going, self-confident and romantically successful in the scene where he encounters his new conquest, Rose. The sexual tension between the couple is depicted through the two-shot in the elevator despite their complete avoidance of physical contact. For the audience, the promise of future romance is delivered through the dialogue in flirtatious undertones with smiles playing on lips. The light-hearted non-diegetic mood music creates the meaning that their new love affair is fresh, easy and going well.

A key scene in the narrative about the impact on the medical team is set in front of the notice board. The four-shot of the interns who swivel to hide the notice when Christina arrives is comedic in framing but also fraught with tension. Christina's head is shot from behind in the centre of the frame. It blocks the audience's view of the notice, generating our curiosity. as the identity of the winner is still withheld. Christina's reaction is conveyed in the close-up of her set face as she turns away: she is abrupt but outwardly stoical. Her ambition and self-control are made clear but also her deep disappointment as she cannot stay or confess her upset. Her friends' loyalty in their efforts to shield her feelings position them as a close, supportive team.


PRACTICAL
Additional activities:
How to use Fuzel collage tool to create composite images including animated photos (and choose the template, fill, text)
How to upload photos to Blogger, position, caption and delete them.
How to add a hyperlink.
How to add items to the side bar (add a gadget > blog), name them
How to add the search engine
How to customise the main background and the photo behind the title.