Red+Riding+-+Group+1C

Red Riding is a documentary drama. It explores the real life events of the Yorkshire Ripper through a fictional medium. The series consists of three films, 1974, 1980 and 1983.

=__**1974:**__ Was directed by Julion Jarrold, director of Brideshead Revisited, Becoming Jane and Kinky Boots.=

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__**Overview:**__ After a local girl goes missing and reappears mutilated, journalist Eddie Dunford searches for a link between her and two other girls. As he investigates he gets thrown into the world of sleaze and corruption that is Yorkshire during the 70s and 80s.======

=__**1983:**__ We decided that it could not be an anthology because although the episodes are= ===self contained, in that they focus on a different central event and on a different main character, the episodes are linked by other characters and events both from the show's previous episodes and historical events, for example the flashback of the camp of caravans being set on fire is covered in 1973, and viewers who have not seen that particualr episode wouldn't neccessarily understand what was going on.===

It couldn't be a soap opera as soap operas tend to be aired several times a week and have a never ending plot. Not a comedy as Redriding clearly is not a comedy. The fact that there are 3 installments means that it is not likely to be a telefeature as they tend to be one off productions. The narrative is relatively self contained. Each episode contains its own story which is resolved at the end. For example 1983 focuses on a fourth missing girl and the hunt for her abductor. The episode is resolved when John Piggot finds the girl and the true culprit is killed. Some of the characters, such as the preist, BJ and the corrupt police officers appear in all 3 episodes. High production values, with aspirations of being a feature film. Conclusion: Red riding is a high end series.

• “Some narratives force you to do work to make sense of them, while others just let you settle into the couch and zone out...” (Johnson, 2005)

Red riding is a prime example of a show that forces you to do work to make sense of it. It follows multiple threads in a complex and demanding narrative that if your attention lapses can often make you confused. For example, sometimes the plot will follow different characters, and also there is a series of flashbacks related to events form the first episode. Viewers are required to analyse as well as remember events because of the show's "whodunit" nature. You're constantly thinking what siginificance does that have? and is this who commited the murders?

" • “This is the difference between intelligent shows, and shows that force you to be intelligent.” (Johnson, 2005)

=Intelligent shows contain all the "intelligent" information for you, ie jargon whereas Red Riding is a show that forces you to be intelligent: you have to put the work in to analyze what is going on.=

How much is real?
"On the one hand, the apparently factual stuff doesn't have to be accurate- because this is fiction. On the other, the fiction can gain extra resonance by seeming to be true. Either way it means you spend quite a lot of time wondering not merely how much of the dark conspiracy stuff is true, but how much is supposed to be? " (walton 2009)

Red riding is based on a series of novels by David Peace. It is a piece of fiction. It is not supposed to be real, yet as it is based on true events, it is believable.

Story Editing
like other docudramas, Red Riding relies on dramatic structure to drive the story forward. This is seen quite often in the portrayal of the police, in particular when they beat up the journalist at least reporting it in his newspaper. However, this maintains the tension in the film and without it the docu drama would have been far less engaging for the audience.

Sources: Johnson, S. (2005). //Everything Bad is Good for You: How Popular Culture is Making us Smarter.// Penguin.

Walton, J. (2009, March 5). //TV Review: Red Riding (Channel 4).// Retrieved December 3, 2009, from Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4944616/TV-Review-Red-Riding-Channel-4.html