STORY-TELLING UNIT: Research - British TV Drama - Glue (2014)

Glue (2014) written by Jack Thorne.

Synopsis:

- "When the body of a local teenage boy is found under the wheels of a tractor in the quiet (and fictional) village of Overton, the lives of his friends are thrown into the spotlight and suddenly come under more scrutiny than they can handle." [1]

Glue is a 2014 British Crime Drama that focuses on finding the killer of a local teenage boy, Cal.

The writer of the series Jack Thorne described the series as "Broadchurch meets Skins" and revealed that aspects of the storyline were based on his own teenage experiences in Berkshire.

Review:

Storyline:

I thought the storyline for Glue was very creative. There was the main narrative (finding Cal's murderer) but there were also side stories as well such as Rob being blackmailed, personal conflicts and tension between the local community and the Romany community.

Each episode ended up on some sort of cliffhanger, making the audience want to watch the next episode. The multi-narrative structure really enabled the writers to keep throwing in plot twists that were compelling and still believable.
e.g. episode 5 ended with the reveal that James could have a motive for killing Cal - however, this was simply revealed through the plans of selling a race horse called Blackout - the reveal was believable and therefore made the story more realistic and interesting for the audience.
Cliffhangers are a great tool for creating suspense and keeping an audience interested - I will therefore try to work a cliffhanger into my trailer in order to create suspense and enigma, making the audience interested and excited about the piece.

The different narratives also enabled the main narrative to be dragged out without becoming boring. The side stories meant the audience's attention could be focused on these whilst occasionally diverting their attention back to the main story. This enabled the series to stay constantly fresh and exciting for the audience. This also prevented the story from becoming too predictable. If each episode focused on the main narrative, too much information would subsequently be given away, meaning the storyline may become predictable and boring for the audience.

I also liked the way that Cal's character was used as a sort of hallucination of James'. This allowed the character to reveal to both the audience and the character James information that the other characters didn't know. This made the storyline much more exciting as the audience had access to information that some of the characters didn't know - this left the audience to wonder how and when the other characters would find out this information.
e.g. it is revealed that James and Cal actually had a romance. This was unknown to the other characters, leaving the audience to speculate about when the other characters would find out.
This narrative technique is very useful as it makes the audience eager to keep watching in order to find out how all this information they know is revealed to the characters.

The use of a hallucination within this drama was of great interest to me as my short film revolves around the character John and his hallucination Kyle. I liked the way that they still kept the hallucination / character's actions realistic yet still added clues that he wasn't real.
e.g. in one scene in the woods, Cal is there one minute and gone the next. He is gone quicker than a person can run, suggesting to the audience that he wasn't there in the first place.
I aim to use a similar technique in the scene in the doctor's office in my short film. The doctor will turn away from John and Kyle to grab a couple of leaflets, when the doctor turns back it will just be John sitting there.

Characters:

Rob - Rob is conveyed as a bit of a 'bad boy'. He doesn't stay faithful to his girlfriend Tina and ends up paying the price for it by being blackmailed by an anonymous person.

James - James is quite a quiet character throughout the series, yet he is one of the most important. He had a secret romance with Cal (Eli's younger brother) before he Cal was murdered. James ends up getting arrested on suspicion of murdering Cal.

Cal - Cal is the teenage boy who is found dead in the first episode. The main plot revolves around finding his murderer.

 Ruth - Ruth is a half Romany policewoman who has to decide between protecting the travelling community and aiding the police investigation.

Tina - Tina is unconventional and unpredictable. She is Rob's girlfriend, however, upon discovering his cheating decides to pursue a relationship with Eli.

Eli - Eli is Cal's brother. His dad is in jail and his mother is dead, leaving Cal being his only real family. Once Cal is murdered, he has no one.








The main thing I liked about Glue was the way they attempted to produce more realistic characters rather than the typical usual teen clichés. None of the characters fit the typical stereotypes of teen dramas, there is no 'popular one' or 'nerdy one'. All the characters are unique and complex, making them something the audience can relate to more. The more relatable the characters, the more likely the audience is to sympathise with them and keep watching to see what happens to the characters that they have become attached to.

The writer of the series, Thorne, believes that Glue is the 'first British drama to place an accurate representation of Britain's Romany community on screen'. I really liked Glue's representation of the Romany culture as it shows them as having much more of a wholesome / community attitude than other programmes have previously shown. It challenges the representations of traveller life conveyed in programmes such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding by trying to show a more realistic perspective. The actress who plays the half Romany policewoman revealed that they learnt about the Romany culture to be able to work out how the characters would react to the situations they are put in during the drama series. [2]

Mise en scene, camera work and editing

Everything about Glue is strong; the characters, the storyline, and the mise en scene, camerawork and editing do not disappoint. It is very clear that the quality and originality of the way the series was shot was of great importance. This is even evident in the trailer:

https://vimeo.com/106974358

- The use of the colour red helps to connote the danger within the series.
(e.g. the red flares, the red flames, the red blood dripping)

- The use of low key lighting helps to create a sense of mystery which is what the storyline revolves around.
(e.g. the shadows cast on Tina's face & the shadows on Ruth's face at the end)

Conclusion

Overall, I think Glue was a very strong British drama series as it was unique, original and compelling. The multi-narrative structure enabled the writers to keep the series interesting and the audience entertained. The strength and realistic nature of the characters kept the story interesting as it shows how normal people react to surreal situations. The series is also supported by what I found in my additional research around screenwriting. The writers took unique characters and unusual storylines and told them in a conventional way - this made for a great drama series.

Bibliography:
[1] Attitude, 2014. TV Pick Of The Week: Channel 4's 'Glue' [online] Available at: < http://attitude.co.uk/tv-pick-of-the-week-e4s-glue/ > [Accessed on: 22/11/2016]
[2] The Independent, 2014. Glue: E4 drama exposes 'rotting despair' of English countryside [online] Available at: <http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/new-e4-drama-glue-exposes-rotting-despair-of-english-countryside-9732854.html> [Accessed on: 22/11/2016]