CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: Crime Drama

Our last lecture in the contextual studies sessions was about crime drama. We started by watching the one of the first episodes of The Bill (1983-2010). The Bill was set in a fictional London police station. It is the longest-running UK crime drama and originally they were twelve 60 minute episodes in a series. Then from 1988-2005 it became a year-round, twice weekly serial.
Peak audiences of 11m viewers in 2005 rivalled Coronation Street. 

What is the crime drama genre?
- Evolved from literary detective fiction.
- In TV often police procedural sub-genre - 'realistic' investigation of a crime by law enforcement teams (CSI).
- 'Whodunnit' - enigma to be solved.
- 'Howcatchem' (audience know whodunnit; pleasure is process).

Crime drama - Technical conventions
- Editing: chase scenes, montage, flashbacks.
- Single camera.
- Camera movement - either handheld mockumentary style or Steadicam, dollies and cranes.
- Visual devices: ECUs for tension or reveal tilted, low and high angles. Slow motion CG recreations (CSI) Graphical text (Sherlock).

Crime genre narrative conventions
- Episodic format - typically 60 minutes. Usually self-contained closed narratives.
- Repetition - relies on returning central cast (team) and location (police station). Conflicts in policing methods often intrinsic to the drama.
- Resolution - the very nature of detective/crime genre demands crime is resolved by setting up a mystery. (Film and TV guidelines demanded that 'crime must not pay'. 

Crime genre - Symbolic conventions
- Lighting - low-key. Many crime dramas use light-dark contrasts in costume, setting and lighting (e.g. use of flashbacks)
- Authenticity - props, costumes, settings
- New conventions - detection via computer. Lighting and exposition.