1.2 Key concepts and terminology in television criticism
4 min read•august 16, 2024
Television criticism is all about breaking down shows and figuring out what makes them tick. It's like being a TV detective, looking for clues in the story, characters, and visuals to understand the bigger picture.
This section covers key terms you'll need to know, from to . It also dives into different types of shows, storytelling techniques, and the nuts and bolts of how TV is made.
Key Terms in Television Criticism
Foundational Concepts in TV Analysis
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- Television criticism analyzes, evaluates, and interprets TV content, encompassing artistic and cultural aspects of programming
- Auteur theory examines creative vision and stylistic choices of showrunners or directors as primary authors of TV series
- explores relationships between different texts or media, including references, allusions, or influences within TV shows
- Mise-en-scène encompasses visual elements within a frame (set design, lighting, costumes, actor positioning) crucial for analyzing televisual aesthetics
- refers to fictional world of TV show, including all elements existing within narrative universe presented on screen
Narrative and Representation in Television
- describes ongoing, episodic nature of television storytelling
- Includes concepts like , , and narrative continuity across episodes or seasons
- Examples: Breaking Bad's multi-season character arcs, Lost's cliffhanger-driven narrative
- examines portrayal of social groups, identities, and issues on screen
- Considers accuracy, stereotypes, and cultural impact
- Examples: Orange Is the New Black's diverse cast, Transparent's exploration of transgender experiences
Television Genres and Formats
Genre Classifications and Hybrids
- Genre categorizes shows with similar themes, narrative structures, or stylistic elements (drama, comedy, reality TV, science fiction)
- blend elements from multiple established genres
- Create new subgenres like dramedy (drama + comedy) or sci-fi western
- Examples: The Mandalorian (sci-fi western), Fleabag (dramedy)
- encompasses range of subgenres
- Includes competition shows, docusoaps, and social experiments
- Each subgenre has distinct conventions and audience expectations
- Examples: Survivor (competition), Keeping Up with the Kardashians (docusoap), Love Is Blind (social experiment)
Television Format Structures
- Formats describe structural organization of TV shows
- Includes , , , and
- feature ongoing storylines developing across multiple episodes or seasons
- Contrast with procedural dramas typically resolving plots within single episode
- Examples: The Wire (serialized), Law & Order (procedural)
- (situation comedies) categorized into multi-camera and single-camera formats
- Each format has distinct production methods and comedic styles
- Examples: The Big Bang Theory (multi-camera), The Office (US) (single-camera)
- Anthology series present self-contained stories each season or episode
- Often united by common theme or creative team
- Allows for diverse storytelling within single show concept
- Examples: American Horror Story (seasonal anthology), Black Mirror (episodic anthology)
Elements of Television Production
Visual and Audio Techniques
- includes shot composition, camera movement, lighting techniques, and visual style choices
- Contributes to show's aesthetic and narrative
- Examples: Breaking Bad's use of wide angles and unique perspectives, Mr. Robot's unconventional framing
- encompass continuity editing, montage, cross-cutting, and scene pacing
- Crucial for maintaining narrative flow and viewer engagement
- Examples: 24's use of split-screen editing, Sherlock's visual representation of deductive reasoning
- incorporates diegetic and non-diegetic audio elements
- Includes dialogue, ambient sounds, music, and sound effects
- Enhances viewer's immersion and emotional response
- Examples: Twin Peaks' atmospheric soundscapes, The Walking Dead's use of silence and ambient noise
Production Design and Visual Effects
- creates visual world of TV show through set design, props, and location choices
- Establishes atmosphere and supports narrative
- Examples: Game of Thrones' elaborate set designs, Stranger Things' 1980s period details
- Special effects and (VFX) create fantastical elements or enhance realism
- Particularly important in science fiction and fantasy genres
- Examples: The Mandalorian's use of LED wall technology, Westworld's futuristic interfaces
- and color correction in post-production establish mood and maintain visual continuity
- Enhance overall aesthetic of TV series
- Examples: Ozark's blue-tinted color palette, Better Call Saul's vibrant desert scenes
- versus influence visual style, pacing, and production process
- Evident in contrast between traditional sitcoms and more cinematic series
- Examples: Friends (multi-camera setup), Modern Family (single-camera production)
Narrative Structures in Television
Episodic and Serialized Storytelling
- presents self-contained stories within each episode
- develops ongoing narratives across multiple episodes or seasons
- Story arcs span single episodes (A-plots, B-plots), entire seasons, or complete series
- Create layered narratives engaging viewers over time
- Examples: The X-Files (monster-of-the-week episodes vs. mythology arc), The Good Place's season-long arcs
- occurs gradually, allowing for complex, evolving personalities
- Characters respond to events over extended periods
- Examples: Walter White's transformation in Breaking Bad, Piper Chapman's journey in Orange Is the New Black
Advanced Narrative Techniques
- add depth and complexity to TV narratives
- Includes flashbacks, flash-forwards, and parallel timelines
- Examples: Lost's use of flashbacks and flash-forwards, Westworld's multiple timelines
- Cliffhangers and plot twists create suspense and maintain viewer engagement between episodes and seasons
- Examples: Game of Thrones' shocking character deaths, Stranger Things' season-ending revelations
- allow for multiple storylines and character perspectives
- Create rich, interconnected narratives typical of contemporary TV dramas
- Examples: This Is Us' multigenerational family stories, The Crown's exploration of various royal family members
- provide unique perspectives and add layers to storytelling
- Includes voice-over narration or documentary-style interviews
- Examples: How I Met Your Mother's future Ted narration, Modern Family's mock documentary format
Key Terms to Review (30)
Anthology Series: An anthology series is a television format that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each episode or season, allowing for varied narratives within a single show. This structure not only offers creative flexibility but also facilitates thematic exploration across diverse genres and styles, enabling fresh storytelling approaches with every installment.
Auteur theory: Auteur theory is a concept in film and television criticism that posits the director as the primary creative force behind a work, asserting that their personal style and vision are evident throughout their body of work. This theory highlights how a director's unique artistic fingerprint shapes the narrative, themes, and visual aesthetics of the productions they helm, allowing critics to analyze television texts with an understanding of the director's influence.
Character Development: Character development is the process by which a fictional character undergoes growth, change, or transformation throughout a narrative. This evolution enhances the storytelling by making characters more relatable and complex, allowing audiences to connect with their journeys and experiences.
Cinematography: Cinematography is the art and technique of capturing visual images for film and television, involving the use of camera angles, lighting, shot composition, and movement to create a desired aesthetic and convey narrative meaning. It plays a crucial role in storytelling by enhancing the emotional impact and visual style of a production.
Cliffhangers: Cliffhangers are storytelling devices used in television where a story ends at a suspenseful moment, leaving the audience in anticipation of what will happen next. This technique is particularly effective in keeping viewers engaged and invested in the narrative, prompting them to return for the next episode or season. By creating unresolved plot points or dramatic tensions, cliffhangers heighten emotional stakes and enhance the viewing experience.
Color grading: Color grading is the process of adjusting the color, contrast, and brightness of footage in post-production to enhance its visual appeal and convey specific moods or emotions. This technique plays a critical role in storytelling by influencing how viewers perceive scenes, characters, and overall narratives, connecting to broader concepts of aesthetics and emotional resonance in visual media.
Diegesis: Diegesis refers to the narrative world of a film or television show, encompassing everything that exists within the story, including characters, events, and locations. It distinguishes between elements that are part of the story's reality and those that are merely presented for the audience's perception, like music or voiceovers that aren't heard by the characters. This concept helps analyze how stories are constructed and experienced in visual media.
Editing techniques: Editing techniques refer to the various methods and processes used to assemble and arrange footage in television production to create a coherent and engaging narrative. These techniques play a crucial role in shaping the pacing, rhythm, and overall storytelling of a program, impacting how viewers perceive and connect with the content.
Ensemble casts: Ensemble casts refer to a group of characters in a television show where no single character is the sole focus, and multiple characters share significant screen time and story arcs. This structure allows for diverse narratives and character development, enhancing the storytelling by interweaving various plotlines and relationships. The dynamic interactions among characters create a richer viewing experience, emphasizing themes of community, conflict, and collaboration.
Episodic series: An episodic series is a type of television show that presents standalone episodes, each with its own plot, characters, and conflicts, while still being connected through overarching themes or character development. This format allows viewers to jump in at any point without needing extensive knowledge of previous episodes. The episodic structure is significant in understanding how narratives are crafted in television and how production teams approach storytelling across seasons.
Episodic structure: Episodic structure refers to a storytelling format in television where each episode functions as a self-contained narrative, allowing viewers to understand and enjoy individual stories without needing extensive knowledge of previous episodes. This structure is significant because it facilitates easy entry for new viewers and encourages diverse themes and character developments across episodes.
Hybrid Genres: Hybrid genres are television genres that combine elements from two or more distinct genres, creating a unique viewing experience that often defies traditional categorization. This blending allows for greater narrative complexity and audience engagement, as it enables creators to explore themes and storytelling techniques that might not fit neatly into a single genre. By mixing genres, hybrid shows can appeal to diverse audiences and create new conventions within the television landscape.
Intertextuality: Intertextuality refers to the relationship between different texts and how they influence, reference, or echo one another within a cultural context. This concept highlights how texts do not exist in isolation; instead, they are interconnected and shaped by other texts, which can deepen meaning and engage audiences.
Limited Series: A limited series is a television format that typically consists of a predetermined number of episodes, often telling a complete story within that span. Unlike traditional series, which can continue for multiple seasons, limited series are designed to be finite, allowing for a more focused narrative arc and character development over a shorter time frame. This structure encourages creators to develop concise storytelling that can stand alone, providing a unique viewing experience distinct from ongoing series.
Mise-en-scène: Mise-en-scène refers to the arrangement of everything that appears in the framing of a shot, including sets, props, actors, costumes, and lighting. This concept plays a crucial role in visual storytelling, influencing how viewers interpret a scene's mood, meaning, and emotional impact.
Multi-camera setups: Multi-camera setups refer to a production technique in television and film where multiple cameras are used simultaneously to capture different angles and perspectives of a scene. This method is particularly effective for live broadcasts, sitcoms, and other formats that require rapid shooting and quick edits. By utilizing multiple cameras, producers can enhance the visual storytelling and maintain a dynamic viewing experience without the need for extensive reshoots.
Narrative framing devices: Narrative framing devices are techniques used in storytelling that set the context for the main narrative by providing a perspective or framework through which the audience experiences the story. These devices can establish the setting, introduce key characters, or suggest themes, and they help shape how the audience interprets the events and messages within the story. In television criticism, understanding these devices is crucial because they influence the viewer's engagement and perception of the series as a whole.
Non-linear storytelling techniques: Non-linear storytelling techniques refer to narrative methods that do not follow a straight chronological order, allowing the story to unfold in a more fragmented, layered, or associative manner. This approach often involves flashbacks, flash-forwards, and multiple perspectives, making it possible to explore characters' motivations and emotions in a richer way. By disrupting traditional linear narratives, these techniques can create suspense, deepen thematic exploration, and engage viewers by requiring them to piece together the story themselves.
Procedurals: Procedurals are a genre of television programming characterized by their focus on a structured format, typically revolving around a specific profession or procedure, often featuring crime-solving or investigative narratives. This genre is known for its episodic nature, where each episode typically presents a self-contained story, allowing viewers to follow the characters' work while exploring various themes related to justice, ethics, and morality.
Production Design: Production design refers to the overall visual concept of a television production, including the design of sets, locations, props, costumes, and the overall aesthetic that creates the world in which the story unfolds. It plays a crucial role in shaping audience perceptions and enhancing narrative by visually representing themes, time periods, and character traits.
Reality Television: Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents unscripted real-life situations and features ordinary people or celebrities as they navigate various challenges and situations. This genre has evolved over time, influencing and blending with other formats, while also shaping perceptions of identity and cultural narratives.
Representation: Representation refers to the ways in which various groups, identities, and issues are depicted and portrayed in media, particularly television. It plays a crucial role in shaping perceptions and understanding of social dynamics, influencing how individuals view themselves and others within society.
Seriality: Seriality refers to the narrative structure in television that involves storytelling across multiple episodes, creating a cohesive and often complex plot that unfolds over time. This format allows for deep character development, intricate story arcs, and viewer investment, making it distinct from episodic television, where each episode stands alone. Seriality enhances the viewing experience by encouraging audience engagement and speculation between episodes.
Serialized Dramas: Serialized dramas are television programs that tell a continuous story across multiple episodes or seasons, allowing for character development and intricate plotlines to unfold over time. This format encourages viewer investment, as audiences become emotionally attached to characters and their journeys. Serialized dramas often explore complex themes, providing a richer narrative experience compared to episodic series that feature self-contained stories in each episode.
Serialized structure: Serialized structure refers to a narrative format in television where storylines unfold over multiple episodes or seasons, creating a continuous plot that requires viewers to watch from the beginning to fully understand the developments. This structure allows for deeper character development and complex storytelling, as opposed to episodic formats where stories are self-contained. Serialized structure often builds suspense and encourages audience engagement through cliffhangers and ongoing conflicts.
Single-Camera Productions: Single-camera productions involve the use of one camera to film a scene or segment at a time, allowing for greater control over lighting, framing, and composition. This technique is commonly utilized in television shows, particularly in comedies and dramas, where a cinematic look is desired. It often leads to a more intimate storytelling style, as the focus can shift dynamically with each shot.
Sitcoms: Sitcoms, short for situational comedies, are a genre of television programming that focuses on a consistent set of characters in a fixed setting, often revolving around humorous situations and everyday life. This format typically emphasizes comedic dialogue and character-driven stories, showcasing interpersonal relationships and the absurdities of daily living. Sitcoms play a crucial role in understanding humor in television, genre classification, and the evolution of comedic storytelling.
Sound Design: Sound design refers to the creation and manipulation of audio elements in television and film, including dialogue, sound effects, and music. It plays a crucial role in shaping the overall narrative and emotional tone of a production, enhancing storytelling through auditory experiences that complement the visual components.
Story arcs: Story arcs are the overarching narrative structures that span across multiple episodes or seasons of a television show, showcasing the development and evolution of characters, themes, and plotlines. They allow for deeper character exploration and can create emotional investment from the audience as they follow characters through their journeys. Story arcs contrast with episodic storytelling, where individual episodes often stand alone without a continuous narrative thread.
Visual effects: Visual effects (VFX) are techniques used in film and television to create imagery that cannot be captured during live-action shooting. This can include everything from digital manipulation of backgrounds to the creation of fantastical creatures and environments, helping to enhance storytelling and immerse viewers in a narrative world. VFX play a crucial role in shaping the aesthetic of a program, influencing audience engagement and emotional response.