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Coursework Unit 1: Sitcom DVD Covers: Key Concepts: Audiences and Representations Unit Aims

This document provides an overview of a coursework unit on sitcom DVD covers. It outlines the unit aims of understanding the appeal of sitcoms, studying different types of sitcoms and their audiences, and the purpose of DVD covers as marketing. It then discusses key concepts around sitcoms, including definitions, history and conventions. It identifies common elements like regular characters, settings and situations. It also examines stereotypes and archetypes commonly used in sitcom characters. Students are tasked with analyzing characters from Fresh Prince of Bel Air and providing an example character from another sitcom for a homework assignment.

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1K views

Coursework Unit 1: Sitcom DVD Covers: Key Concepts: Audiences and Representations Unit Aims

This document provides an overview of a coursework unit on sitcom DVD covers. It outlines the unit aims of understanding the appeal of sitcoms, studying different types of sitcoms and their audiences, and the purpose of DVD covers as marketing. It then discusses key concepts around sitcoms, including definitions, history and conventions. It identifies common elements like regular characters, settings and situations. It also examines stereotypes and archetypes commonly used in sitcom characters. Students are tasked with analyzing characters from Fresh Prince of Bel Air and providing an example character from another sitcom for a homework assignment.

Uploaded by

MEDIA AT CHFS
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Coursework Unit 1:

Sitcom DVD Covers

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Key Concepts: Audiences and Representations

Unit Aims:
1. Understand the appeal of sitcoms and how they are
constructed
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2. Study a range of different kinds of sitcoms considering the
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way they appeal to different audiences


3. Understand the purpose of DVD covers as marketing
4. Design and construct a DVD cover for a new sitcom

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Lesson Aims:
1. Understand what a QuickTimeª and a
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sitcom is
2. Learn the basic
conventions of a
sitcom
3. Identify common
character archetypes
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used in sitcoms.
Four Important Things to
Know About Sitcoms
• Situation Comedy is defined as: A humorous radio or television series
featuring the reactions of a regular cast of characters to unusual situations,
such as misunderstandings or embarrassing coincidences.

• Sitcom’s style of storytelling is very old, examples of it can be seen in


parts of Ancient Greek Theatre, Italian Commedia Dell’ Arte and
Shakespeare as well as being a successful genre in the radio era.

• Sitcom with conventions as we know it came into existence with the rise
of television in the 1940s.

• Modern sitcoms often combine sitcom with other TV Genres such as


Drama (Scrubs) and Reality (The Office). For the purposes of this unit we
will be mainly studying sitcom in its most conventional form.
The Basic Conventions of Situation
Comedy
1. A regular set of characters
• family, group of friends, co-workers
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1. A regular simple setting


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• Homes, schools, workplaces

1. A Situation
• A reason for all the characters to be
“stuck” together - eg. Stuck in a…
• Family - My Wife and Kids
• Workplace - Scrubs
• Apartment Block - Friends
• Prison - Porridge QuickTimeª and a
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• Spaceship - Red Dwarf


The Basic Conventions of Situation
Comedy
4. Storylines
• Reflect the concerns and values of their target
audience
• Simple and usually resolved in a single episode
• Doesn’t affect the overall situation. In sitcom QuickTimeª and a
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5. Comedy
• Mostly dialogue/character driven
• Misunderstandings and confusion very common
• Some Slapstick/physical comedy

6. Actors
• Have to be reliable and respected comic
performers
• Don’t always have to be famous but this often
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helps sell a sitcom
Stereotypes and
Archetypes
• A Stereotype is simplified view or opinion
about a group of people.
EXAMPLES:
All Australians wrestle crocodiles
All English people drink tea
All Evil people wear black
All Good people wear white
All Teenagers carry knives QuickTimeª and a
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• An Archetype is the fictional perfect


example of a stereotype.

• Media texts such as sitcoms both:


– USE stereotypes/archetypes to help us
understand characters
– SUPPORT stereotypes/archetypes by using
them again and again. Mr Men and Little Miss characters
rely on simple archetypes to tell
their stories.
What Archetypes could be
connoted here?

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Sitcom Archetypes
• The Square
– Often protagonist
– Most “Normal” Character
– May still be funny but keeps the
story realistic

• The Wisecracker
– Always has something to say
– Makes a joke out of anything
– May annoy or irritate some other
characters
Sitcom Archetypes
• The Bully
– Not usually mean but very rude
– Will pick on weaker characters
– Often wound up by the wisecracker

• The Precocious –
– “The Cute Kid”
– Always friendly
– Designed to make the audience
go “Awwwww”
Sitcom Archetypes
• The Dork
– A Hollywood Nerd/Geek.
– May not look geeky but is much
more so than the other
characters
• The Goofball
– Wild and crazy
– Does the unexpected
– Social misfit
– Usually has a “heart of gold”
Sitcom Archetypes
• The Stick
– Uptight and loves rules
– Spends most of their time
getting angry when rules
are broken

• The Sage
– Older character
– Provides advice to others
– Usually not part of main plots
Task 1:
• Watch the start of the
first episode of Fresh
Prince of Bel Air and
identify each
characters Archetype.

• Give at least TWO


examples of how this
character is
represented as their
archetype.
Homework:
• Use the internet to find an example of a
sitcom character who you can identify
the archetype of.
• Give information on one PowerPoint
slide including their:
– Picture
– Name
– Sitcom they are on
– Archetype
– Important representations that let us know
what kind of person they are.
• Email to your class teacher by 7pm
Tuesday night.
Homework Example:
Sitcom Archetype Case Study:
Name: Bender
Sitcom: Futurama
Archetype: Bully/Wisecracker
Representations:
• Always makes a joke out of every situation
• Is very selfish and only ever looks after his
own needs
• Destroys things and offends other
characters
• In this picture he is scowling and is often
angry

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