Primary Research - Questionaire.

Questionnaire
Please x the correct answer.

1.Which age category do you fit in to?

11-15 [ ] 16-19 [ ] 20+ [ ]


2.Are you male or female?

Male [ ] Female [ ]


3.How many hours do you watch television a day?

0-1 hours [ ] 

2-3 hours [ ]

 3-4 hours [ ] 

4+ hours [ ]


4.What genre/type of television is your most watched?

Science-fiction [ ] 

Action/Adventure [ ] 

Comedy [ ] 

Educational [ ] 

Sitcom [ ] 

Teen Drama [ ] 

Reality/Real Life Documentary [ ]

5.Do you prefer cartoons or 'real people' in television programmes?
Please type your answer on the line below.

….....................................................................................


6.Do you like fast paced background music or slow paced?

Fast paced [ ] 

Slow paced [ ]


7.What attracts you most to the television shows you watch now?

Music [ ]  

Character(s) [ ]

 Narrative (storyline) [ ] 

Actors/Actresses [ ]


8.What's your most watched channel for Teen Dramas?

BBC One [ ]

Channel 4/E4 [ ]

Channel 5/Fiver [ ] 

MTV [ ]

Living TV [ ]

9.Do you prefer young characters (e.g. between 5 and 10), teenage characters or older characters?

…......................................................................................

10.What's your favourite television show?

…......................................................................................


I will gather around 20 responses to the questionnaire.

By creating this questionnaire for my primary research, I am able to gather information on the type of Teen Drama I should go for, and what it should contain. What's more, I can establish the target audience and what that audience want to see in production pieces. Moreover, by getting the responses to these questions, it can help me distinguish what appears to be the most popular genre, which can help in my production; Science-fiction, Action/Adventure, Comedy, Educational, Sitcom, Teen Drama, Reality/Real Life Documentary this can help with my choice of location, characters, narrative and so on.

My final decision and the research to follow.

After some strenuous thinking i have finally come to a decision, and decided that i am going to focus on

'The representations of teenagers in American Teen Dramas and how they have changed over the past 20 years.'
By choosing to focus on teen dramas, i hope to develop some new skills as it is a lot different to my coursework project for AS which was print based. Thus, as i haven't studied American Teen Drama's before it is essential that i research the genre ; including textual analysis, codes and conventions, representation, and audience before i begin to decide on the attributes towards my production piece. Looking at the generic codes and conventions is a vital asset; From this i can establish whether i am going to comply with these or go against the somewhat 'traditional methods' and start something nouveau.

Useful websites : 

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/The-Clicker-Acknowledges-The-Evolution-Of-The-Teen-Drama-Series-415.html

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TeenDrama

http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/article.aspx?id=15432

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1222

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0145115520080701

From the early days of 'Beverley Hills, 90210' which has previously been dubbed the 'original' american teen drama. It is noticeable that the archetypal teen drama has been brought forward throughout the years and spawned many contemporary teen dramas. One question i seem to ask is, are the representations of the teenagers within these dramas authentic to the youth of there day and age. Over the past few years we have been reinforced with goverment statistics on how rates of teenage pregnancy, drug & alcohol abuse, crime, obesity and so on are evidently increasing. However, are these changes being represented through the media in comparison to what they were in the 90's? 

Most teenagers of the modern day take American Teen Drama's for granted. For most of us we are only a click away from turning over to a show filled with eclectic, and somewhat inspirational teenage characters facing the trials and tribulations suffered by many of the youths of today. It was only in the last 20 years or so that television networks began to realise the huge demand demographically for teenagers craving shows that they can relate to. This is where the epidemic of the teen drama started.

For the first 45 years of television existence Teen Dramas were unapparent. It wasn't until the early 1990's that there was a sudden boom in the market for this niche. These TV Dramas began being shown live, and some examples of early productions are 'Beverley Hills, 90210', 'Fifteen', 'Sweet Valley High', and 'My So Called Life'.

Youth orientated television stations such as 'Fox' and 'The CW' launched the most successful teen dramas. Whereas the least successful shows typically aired on 'The Big Three' networks such as, 'CBS', 'NBC', and 'ABC'. With the launch of cable television, teen orientated channels such as 'Teen Nick', 'MTV', and 'Boomerang' also featured a number of popular teen dramas. 

In the year of 1995 'The WB' network helped to launch a entire new era for teen orientated television. This was the creation of teen-targeting. With launch of 3 highly successful teen dramas, 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer', 'Dawsons Creek', and 'Felicity' they acquired a large teenage fan base. However after a few successful years for teen dramas it became noticeable in the early 2000's that reality t.v shows such as 'So You Think You Can Dance', 'Americas Next Top Model', and cartoons such as 'Family Guy', and 'The Simpsons' were drawing in a much wider teenage audience. By 2003, a new set of teen dramas had arrived. 'One Tree Hill' premiered on 'The WB' while 'The OC' premiered on 'FOX'. While the latter started rather slowly, they outlasted the former with 'One Tree h

Hill' currently heading in to it's eighth season on 'The CW'. MTV were also inspire by the avid popularity of 'The OC' they constructed a reality show 'Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County'. This show was structured as an 'unscripted' serial drama, akin to 'The OC'. 

Teen dramas are often broadcast after the 9pm threshold. this is due to the fact that some of the issues referred to within the shows maybe to severe to a younger audience. Many of the shows shown for teenagers have redefined the verisimilitude of their narrative and focus, starting in the mid-60s with such programme as 'Never Too Young' 

chronicled the lives of a group of teens and their parents. this was developed into more modern shows, like 'Beverley Hills 90210', 'One Tree Hill' and 'The Oc' which highlighted high school life. At the same time examining a wide spectrum of adolescent issues from pregnancy to drugs, eliciting outraged responses from parents and teachers. These teen dramas provide adolescents with an insight into the dangers of life and social situations that may one day will have to face, or might have already. Hence, teen dramas are created for adolescents who already have a few years experience and wider knowledge presumably between the ages of 14-25.

Therefore, there are many different types of teenage dramas- sub-categorised in to genres from science fiction right through to comedy. The research that i have collected has given me an insight in to the variety of teen dramas and some vague ideas on the type of drama i would like to produce. For example, i could choose to add an educational, social purpose or simply a piece entirely for entertainment.

Introduction to coursework.

During our first media lesson we were outlined with a brief of tasks that would enable us to create the constituent features need to cover MS3.

The tasks are as follows ;

• Research Essay. 1400-1800 words.
• Focus on key concepts. Representation, Narrative, and Genre.
• Provide evidence of genuine research. Use both Primary and Secondary resources.
• Quote sources of research. Footnotes, Bibliography, and Websites
• Define Key Concept under consideration.
• Establish texts . 2 or 3 (MAX) Comparative dialogue.
• Detailed deconstructions.
• 3 production pieces elaborated from research essay.

With such a wide area of choice for coursework it is imperative that i choose a form of media that i already know well, and can relate to. However i must assure that i do not take the easy route. I must challenge myself to develop and learn new skills, also whilst building on the skills that i have already attained.

So far i have managed to pin point my initial ideas down to three prospective projects. 

My prospective choices ;

1. An investigation into how the representations of teenagers have changed over the past 20 years in American Teen Dramas. The foundation of this investigation would be to choose a text from two different eras. At this point i wish to compare an early 1990's teen drama such as 'Saved By The Bell' or 'Beverley Hills:90210' to contemporary teen dramas, such as 'One Tree Hill' , 'The O.C' , and 'Smallville'. From this investigation i feel i could emulate 3, successful production pieces. Production pieces that i could elaborate from this investigation are advertising posters, DVD cover, Website with brief character info, merchandise, CD Mixtape for the series, and book series.
2. An investigation into the Narrative of reality t.v shows and to what extent should they be perceived as authentic or feigned. For this investigation i would research contemporary reality t.v shows such as, 'the Hills', 'The City', 'Jersey Shore', "Laguna Beach: The Real OC', and 'Over The Edge'. Production pieces that could be produced from this investigation are similar to that i mentioned in '1.'. The reason that they are both similar is simply the fact that they would both from television. Ideas for production pieces include, advertising posters, DVD cover, Website with brief character info, merchandise, and book series.
3. This option is a mere last minute thought, a wildcard as some might say . However it is almost becoming the dark horse. Whilst pondering for ideas i closely realised between points '1.' and '2.' there were two incredulously similar texts that derived from each other. 'Laguna Beach: The Real OC' was fabricated from the teen drama 'The OC'. It could be possible to do either an investigation into the narrative of both series and see how they replicate each other. Or, alternatively an investigation into audience and how they responded to the reciprocal t.v shows. Production pieces for this idea would be the same as previously mentioned ideas in '1.' and '2.'