RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

still be considered relevant It has assumed its place in the patterns of television drama which аге topical and suitable now. 6 When television expression began to be created, the technical aspect dominated the production side of the drama programme. Some aspects of the technical character of teievision activity were emphasized. Drama programmes were broadcast Uve before the appearance of video tape, i.e. they were shot and broadcast at the same time. Therefore, television drama from this period can be considered as a form of theatre drama. The difference between a theatre and a television drama lay in the following: a television drama possessed available studio cameras (two or three) which filmed the action. The second difference lay in the fact that a television drama did not have its public. However, continuous television drama directed actors towards a theatrical form of dramatic expression in which the advantage of television inherited from the cinema was not used. This advantage, the close-up, had to be avoided on purpose in order for the action, to be foliowed in continuity. Therefore, the early period of television drama can be considered an extension of the theatre. Theoreticians of the new medium try to convince us that "television cannot and must not be just a mechanical broadcaster of some other medium, especially not the broadcaster of theatre. It is not just a technical toy but a special form of expression and a part of the new surroundings of our century: it includes us in the processes which it shows and tries to do so in a completely convincing way”. 7 Due to such reasons, the early period of our television drama can be described as a period in which one medium was put in the service of the other media, while fully unaware of it, because there was no experience or theory which could have directed it towards a better solution.

6 Especiallv when television series are being discussed such as: humorous, drama, entertainment, etc.

7 Igor Mandić, "Mvsterium Televisionis”, Split, Mogućnosti, 1972, p. 23.

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