Analysing a TV Drama- True Blood.

1. Analysing a TV Drama - By
Millicent Holmes 6CSP

2. My Chosen TV Drama
My chosen TV drama is the American series, True
Blood, produced and created by Alan Ball that is
based on ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ series
of novels by Charlaine Harris. It is about the co-existence
of vampires and humans in Bon Temps, a
fictional, small town in north-western Louisiana.
The series mainly centres on the adventures of
Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic
waitress with an otherworldly quality.
 The series premiered on September 7, 2008, and
concluded on August 24, 2014, comprising seven
seasons and 80 episodes.
 Genres: Supernatural drama, Fantasy, Comedy-drama,
Horror, Dark comedy, Southern Gothic.

3. The Characters / Actors
- Sookie Stackhouse (Anna
Paquin) -Eric Northman
(Alexander Skarsgård)
- Bill Compton
(Stephen Moyer)
-Jason Stackhouse
(Ryan Kwanten)
-Lafayette Reynolds
(Nelsan Ellis)
-Tara Thornton (Runtina
-Jessica Hamby Wesley)
(Deborah Ann Woll)
-Sam Merlotte
(Sam
Trammell)

4. Ratings it received
These are the ratings that a very popular TV
and film reviewer gave True Blood.

5. Does it Reflect the Zeitgeist ?
This show is represents the zeitgeist
because you can see that they use a
house phone to represent that the
Drama is set in the 21st Century.

6. Mise- En- Scene
Through the use of mise-en-scene, the character
Lafayette is presented as feminine. Lafayette is
wearing a hair wrap, a vest top, make up and big
hooped earrings which symbolises womanhood.
Also these symbols convey the conventional
stereotype that homosexual males are more in
touch with their feminine sides than heterosexual
males.

7. Camera Angles/ Shots
Pans right-to
follow
her
expression.
Close Up- to show the
intensity of the character.
Two shot- to show their
relationship.
Long shot- to show
their surroundings.
Shot/ reverse shot- to show a
connection/ conversation.

8. Gender
Both femininity and masculinity are explored in True
Blood. Female and male characters are presented in a
variety of ways; some are true to life, and some are very
much ‘twisted’ and unrealistic. Regardless of how these
characters and concepts about gender are explored,
there are certainly messages about gender in True
Blood.

9. Thank You for Watching