Bernard’s Watch “A Bit More Time”

Codes and conventions

The series Bernard’s watch is a children’s TV drama aired on ITV in the 1990’s and is about a typical young boy called Bernard, who is always late and wishes for more time, and one day his wish comes true by being given a special watch with the ability to stop time.

Bernard’s watch, “a bit more time” is the second episode of Bernard’s watch. It’s about Bernard in school, and starts off with him in school struggling with his maths test and using his magic watch to stop time and help him with the test, and ending up using it in other activities during the day.

The main setting was Bernard’s school, which is good setting for a children’s drama and it is relatable setting to children as it’s a place that children experience themselves, and the other setting was Berard’s house. These are both good setting as it would be on a low budget and they are both places that children experience and can have an understanding of. The style of Bernard's watch is quite old fashioned, around the 1990's style so the style of it was the style of the century it was created. The family house is fairly big and at the same time it's an average house with nothing out of the ordinary, quite wooden and well decorated, it’s a nice big house but it’s on an estate so they’re not really posh or rich, so already looking at the house before seeing the characters you get an idea of what they are like. All in all it looks like the family made an effort to make the house welcoming. The community centre is also average, like most community centres, white wood panelling and plain on the inside with big rooms. The style of clothes are plain are quite stereotypical towards e.g. the dad was wearing a suit, showing he’s probably a business man. The boy is dressed pretty averagely for a boy his age, wearing plain coloured clothes and a plain hairstyle. But all the characters looked unique which is important to a children’s drama because it influences a child to be unique.

From watching the opening credits, I noticed it’s very bright and colourful and grabs the target audience’s attention. The music is very basic with the use of flutes and is very calm, nothing like the opening music from children’s dramas today, e.g. Tracey Beaker, which uses more pracussion music and is very in your face with all the flashing lights and bright colours. The first camera shot is a tilt long shot, looking up at Bernard, this is an important and good first shot for the drama as it shows he’s superior to the watch, but the watch is also vital to the series as you can also see the watch in the shot.  From watching the opening credits, you notice that the main character is a child, this is an important code for a children’s drama, as having child actors is relatable to the audience and they can understand and believe his diegesis more as they are children themselves and experience similar things in their world. It’s also important showing Bernard in the opening credits as it shows who that there is a main character is the story wish is an important part to a children’s drama as the children can get to know the characters and understand it better. The new version of Bernard watch is similiar in the way the opening credits have both Bernard and the watch in, with the use of clocks in one part in the background before the series starts, however the opening credits again are more modern to fit in with children's dramas today. The music has the use of more pracussion than slow calming instruments, and shows all the characters in the series, instead of just Bernard and the watch. The setting of the start up is in school, which is good because it shows straight away where the series is being held, where as the old series start up credits are set in a green field.

Children’s dramas have certain conventions that it needs to follow. It was a fairly unrealistic storyline, having a boy who can stop time is imaginative, but it’s good thing to have in a children’s drama as it needs to have some excitement in it to keep the viewers attention and if it’s too realistic the children may get bored and not watch it all the way through. Bernard’s watch also has problems that occur. The problem in this episode is that firstly his teacher sets his class a maths test and Bernard isn’t good at maths and struggled to answer the questions. Problems are usually a big part of a children’s drama, because they are usually minor problems and are useful as children can relate to them because Berard’s problem with struggling with maths is what children usually struggle with, and there for can understand what he’s going through. Afterwards the problem is usually resolved and everything is fine and there is usually a happy ending. Bernard resolved the problem by using his watch to stop time, to give him extra time to help him solve the questions his teacher asked. The happy ending in this episode is where Bernard’s parents are proud of Bernard for doing well at school and he is happy. It’s important to have a happy ending in a children’s drama because you don’t want the audience to be upset after watching the episode. The problem that occurs shouldn’t be too difficult for children to follow, as if a child is confused they won’t carry on watching it.

Another code to a children’s drama is evil adults. You expect to see evil adults in the children’s drama and it’s good because children usually have a clash with adults and so it is relatable to the audience. An example of this is the headmaster of the school, for testing Bernard more maths after he just got top marks on the test, all because he didn’t believe Bernard could get full marks on a test. It’s good to have evil adults in children’s dramas, because children usually have a clash with adults and so it is relatable to the audience.

During the episode, there are close up tilt shots of Bernard’s watch when he clicks it to stop time, facing down towards the watch. This is important as it gets you into the frame of mind that the watch is a big part of the story but also not as  important as Bernard as we are looking down at the watch, not up and that he is about to use it. Without the Bernard the watch is useless. It’s also a way of showing Bernard’s hidden power, which is another convention of a children’s drama. There are other basic camera shots such as medium long shots and medium close ups, point of view shots, zooming shots and tracking shots. There is a zooming shot at the beginning, of the camera zooming into Bernard’s house to set the scene. And after there is a tracking shot of Bernard walking down the stairs to go out the front door, and as you follow him down the stairs it goes into a medium two shot with him and his mum. And an example of a medium close up is of Bernard outside his house when he realises he has his slippers on. They use these shots as they are simple, so therefor they are easier for a child to watch, whereas other shots like panning shots, may not be as good to use in a childrens drama as the shot may move to quickly for a child to follow.