The texts I am studying are The Edge, by Dick Francis (Novel), and Stingers (TV Drama). The Edge is about an undercover agent working for a Jockey Club. His job is to rid the racing world of its biggest villain. The agent goes undercover on a racing train as a waiter. The episode of Stingers I refer to is titled “Payback”. The main character, Peter Church, is investigating the murder of a man. He goes undercover as a “personal assistant” to a man who is working for a prominent businessman and also the main suspect of Peter’s investigations.

These texts are both based around crime, with the familiar themes of ridding the world of corruption, and also the triumph of good over evil. I chose these texts because they both present an insight into the minds of an undercover agent and the procedures and processes they follow to stay undetected, which I find very intriguing. The link between these texts is their themes. They both attempt to rid the world of corruption and make good triumph over evil. I chose this link because it comes through very strongly in both texts. They both centre on their themes and the processes and techniques that are used by the characters.

Describing my views on this link become easier because it is the themes of the texts. I believe that a lot of troubles of the world would not come about if there were no corruption in the world. Things such as corrupt police officers, and even whole police forces in some countries, make the running of society a harder job for the people responsible for the smooth running of a society than it already is. I believe that evil never triumphs. Anyone that goes down the path of evil will never go far. There will always be something to stop them eventually. Journal A – TV Drama: Stingers Episode 119 “Payback”.

Directed by Kevin Carlin Stingers is a TV drama about a group of undercover agents. They disguise themselves as a particular identity to go into a crime group and found out inside information on the group. Plot Outline In this particular episode, Peter Church, the main character, is investigating a number of suspects involved with the killing of a man. Peter is sent in undercover as a “personal assistant” for a man named Rick Tyson. Peters’ jobs involve doing personal deeds for Tyson. On one occasion, his job is to take a briefcase full of money to a man as payment for trying to kill someone who was not doing as Tyson asked.

The man, named Conrad, told Peter that he was a rich businessman named Stig Endquists hit man. All through this investigation, Peter has had suspicions about his Head of Special Investigations, Detective Harris, but has never been able to figure out how he was involved. Peter later figures out that there is a circle of people involved, and they all revolve around Stig Endquist. Tyson is Endquists personal messenger, Conrad is his hit man and Harris is using his position in the police force to keep Endquist out of trouble. The plot is continued into the next week’s episode, so this is all that has been discovered for the moment.

Generic Techniques There are a few techniques used in most TV dramas to help shape character. In Stingers, there were techniques such as camera angles and the most obvious technique of dialogue. Camera angles can be used to show emotions and feelings visually, while the dialogue can get those feelings across verbally and elaborate for the viewers. In some cases, setting can also help to shape a character. If they are seen in a particular place with certain surroundings, it shows viewers a little bit about their attitudes and life. For example, in this episode, Peter is seen a lot in a quiet local pub.

This shows me the viewer that he is a quite, personal man that likes some casual time to himself or with a partner. Themes and Values I believe that the themes of this TV drama are based around ridding the world of corruption. All the episodes are about stopping the criminals of society and keeping society safe. The main example of this theme is Harris. He uses his position of power to help the criminals. This is corruption within the police force. This is what the undercover agents in Stingers aim to rid society of. Television Drama Essay.

The episode of Stingers “Payback”, directed by Kevin Carlin, explores the themes and values of ridding society of its corruption and letting good triumph over evil. Peter Church, an undercover operative for the Australian Police, goes in disguise to gather inside information about crime groups and use the information to rid society of the groups’ evil deeds. In this particular episode, Peter is gathering information on suspects that may be involved in the killing of man. Every text, no matter what form it may take, will always have some theme or value behind it. No text is ever just a rambling, which has no meaning behind it at all.

With the use of camera angles, setting and dialogue, the characters in this drama present the values and themes of the drama. Camera angles are the most prominently used technique in any visual text to show certain things within the text. Close ups, long shots, low angles and high angles are all examples of how the camera angle is used. In the episode of Stingers, all these are used at some point, especially to help display the themes and values through the characters. Peter Church is the main character, so he would be the one that the camera angles are concentrated on most of the time.

He has a range of emotions throughout the episode. At times he’s confused, others angry, and others quiet. But one thing that he is always is working as hard as he can to solve the crimes and stop the corruption. Peter is a very determined person, and the camera shows that in one scene with a close up. He is studying the whiteboard with a list of suspects on it. The camera closes right in on his face and the viewer can see the concentration and determination on his face as he tries to make some sense of the information on the whiteboard. In another scene, Peter is delivering a briefcase for his employer while he is undercover.

While doing this, he meets a man who killed his former partner in a previous episode. He confronts the man and is on the brink of shooting him and ridding society of another villain. The camera gets a close shot over the villains’ shoulder of Peters face as he is close to shooting him. His face shows anger at the villain who caused so much harm to an innocent person. This anger and emotion that is shown from the use of the camera angles in the drama has helped to let the viewers know how determined the character is to solving the problems of corruption in society.

This can have an effect on the viewers because it will show them that the text stands for something and is not just a bit of dialogue and a few actors thrown together to make a TV show. Setting is another element of a TV drama that can show values and theme through characters and is also shown through the camera angles. Setting helps to show a lot of things in any form of text. It is a lot easier to show things with setting using a visual text as there is less description needed. Setting helps to show values and themes as well in some cases. In Stingers, it is shown quite easily.

Being an undercover police unit, most scenes are shot in the offices, so there are always things around the setting of the rooms showing the theme of ridding corruption. For example, in the main room where Peter does all his planning of the cases, he has things such as boards with suspects pinned on them, certificates showing the achievements he or a member of his team have made while stopping crime in society, and police uniforms, which all give the viewers the impression that the characters are supporting the themes and values of the drama. The other main setting that is used throughout the drama is out at the “battle scene”.

This setting will usually show a contest between good and evil (police and criminal) and a majority of the time, it will be the good that comes out on top, and once again, backing up the view that the corruption of society is slowly diminishing due to the works of the characters. While setting shows the themes and values visually, dialogue can be used in conjunction with setting to show viewers verbally. Dialogue is obviously a very important part of any text whether it is print or non-print and probably the easiest way to get a message across, or in this case, show a theme or value through a character.