FORM AND CONTENT

#formandcontent

Aim – A report on the conventions of the genre (form and content)

Conventions are what you expect to happen in a television series or film. The codes of a film or TV series are what you expect to see for example you expect to see a villain in a children’s drama. The children’s drama “The Sarah Jane Adventures” is a science fiction children’s drama that that made its on screen debut in the 1^st January 2007 on the CBBC channel. The series is about a journalist called Sarah Jan Smith and a group of children investigating aliens on earth and saving the world from the evil ones. This show is a spin-off of the extremely successful science fiction series Doctor who. Conventions like cliff hangers, simple story lines, saving the world and something going wrong are all included in this television series. This essay is based on series three episode one.

The opening sequence is very important because they draw the audience in. Music is a great way to intrigue people and draw them in especially children. It is effective because music can change a Child's mood which can make a child want to continue watching the episode and even the series. “The Sarah Jane Adventures” is an example of an up to date and upbeat opening sequence. The electronic sounds more magic and mysterious which children love. The science fiction or computer like background which also gives and magical and mysterious feel to the show. The writing on the opening sequence are in two different fonts one is a hand writing font and the other is type writer font. The hand writing font says “Sarah Jane” which indicates it is a signature and the second type writer font is used to show she is a journalist as they use that font to type up their stories.

In “Sarah Jane Adventure there are mostly simple story lines. For example Rani’s parents trying to get more work by visiting a large corporation building. The larger storyline is that Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani are trying to send The alien Androvax back to jail by helping the Judoon captain to re-capture him which is a pretty simple storyline and easy for children to follow. There are also some reoccurring story lines In this particular episode they are not present which again can keep the episode simple and stop new viewers from becoming confused. On the other hand having reoccurring story lines can keep continuous viewers watching and make them feel they know what’s happening throughout the series. Having simple story lines are used because children can’t work out things too complicated. For example adult science fiction shows like the other doctor who spin-off Torchwood has some slightly more complicated story lines and plots. This is OK for adults and older teenagers because they have a more complex understanding of story lines and can understand multiple plots and story lines at once. Where as if a show is too complicated children will just stop watching, so the use of simple story lines are successful because if its target audience.

Another convention that is included in every drama is something going wrong. In this particular episode the problem is when the Judoon jail ship crashes and Androvax escapes. They do this to create a problem that satisfies the science fiction genre and is in the diegesis of the series so that it makes sense to the audience. So keeping inside these boundaries makes if successful by keeping the children interested and wanting to know what happens.

Another thing that keeps people not just children interested is using cliff hangers. Cliff hangers are a great way to get your audience to continue watching the series because they want to know how the story ends and interreges them. In this episode of “The Sarah Jane Adventures” the cliff hanger leaves us wondering whether they will stop Androvax from destroying the world by using the nano-bots and whether he will succeed in creating his ship.

In most children’s drama’s they use child and teen actors. For example in “The Sarah Jane Adventures” they have Luke Smith who is played by teen actor Tommy Knight, Clyde Langer portrayed by Daniel Anthony and Rani Chandra played by Anjli Mohindra who are also teen actors. The creators do this because children relate more to children their own age. Also because most children feel like outsiders and when the actors and characters and play outsiders they can relate more and will enjoy the series more and continue watching.

One convention which is quiet important in most science fiction television series and “the Sarah Jane Adventures” in no exception. Every episode includes saving the world in one way or another. This creates an unrealistic twist because know one especially children go out and save the world from aliens. But for children that’s good because they use their imagination. In this particular episode Sarah Jane, Luke, Clyde and Rani try to stop an escaped alien by the name Androvax from destroying earth and get him back to the Judoon and jail. This is in effect saving the world.

Evil or bad adults are also something you expect to see in children’s dramas these adults are normally played by parents or teachers. In “The Sarah Jane Adventures” these adults are mostly played by aliens or aliens in human forms. There are a few examples of this. The first is when the alien Androvax possess a little girl who is playing on an old council estate. We don’t fine this out until Sarah Jane’s watch detects an alien presents. The second example is Sarah Jane herself which we find out immediately because we see it happen. This creates a mystery about him because we don’t know who is going to posses next. This is made successful because of the way they hold back certain information in the story. They do this because most children don’t relate to adults and class them as alien and this series talks that literally. This plays on children’s imagination and want to keep watching There are no directly bad adults in this particular episode but there are some adults that act evil because of reasons beyond their control. An example of this is Sarah Jane when possessed by Androvax. However it could be argued that having evil adults can have a bad effect on children because they begin to have less respect for them and act differently towards adults and even parents.

In this episode there is no use of magic or powers as such but most science fiction dramas us futuristic science and aliens. This could even come in the form of alien technology. For example the weapon the Judoon uses and the super computer Mr Smith. This is all made successful and relatable by basing it on already existing technology.

In children’s drama there is almost always a group of friends that act as the hero's of the show are the main characters. In “The Sarah Jane Adventures” the main characters in this television series are Sarah Jane Smith who is the adopted mother of Luke Smith. Luke's group of friends include Clyde Langer and Rani Chandra. The main characters of “The Sarah Jane Adventures” are children because the target audience are children and this is successful because children can relate more to people their own age. Most of the series is set on Banoman Road and mainly number thirteen. This is where the character Sarah Jane and Luke Smith live. This creates a home like and even safe feeling. The most well known room and where most of the problems are realised is the attic which contains their super computer Mr Smith. This is believably in a science fiction program because in real life there is no such thing as a super computer which there for agrees with the codes and conventions of a science fiction children’s drama.

The most popular camera shot used in “The Sarah Jane Adventures” is a mid shot. A mid shot is used to shot body language and usually includes more than one character. This helps the plot progress and show a lot more in one shot than for example a close up. Another shot used in “The Sarah Jane Adventures” is the close up. A close up is used to show emotion and feeling in a characters faces. A close up only includes on character in focus. Overview shots are used a lot in “The Sarah Jane Adventures”. It shows what the characters are seeing from their point of view and usually includes a shoulder in the shot. Establishing shots are used at least once in every television show or film. An Establishing shot is when you show where the scene is set for example in “Friends” they show the outside of “Central Parc” before entering and in “The Sarah Jane Adventures” they show the outside of Sarah Jane’s house before they go in. In the action scene they us a tracking shot to show the pace of the scene by running alongside the characters .

There are many codes and conventions in children’s dramas and most of them are met in this series. As a Doctor who spin off the show had a very high standard to live up to and it met those standards and more. The use of characters and setting allows the young audience to use their imagination and believe that anything is possible and that is very important in a children’s drama and what I think has kept it going over the years.

#formandcontent