physics

Procedural drama

Procedural drama is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Procedural drama rather than just read about it. In short: A procedural drama or procedural is a cross-genre type of literature, film, or television program that places emphasis on technical detail. A documentary film may also be written in a procedural style to heighten narrative.

Key takeaways

Procedural drama belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Procedural drama to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Procedural drama from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A procedural drama or procedural is a cross-genre type of literature, film, or television program that places emphasis on technical detail. A documentary film may also be written in a procedural style to heighten narrative. A popular subgenre is the police procedural. Some dramas include a lab or high-tech conference room where the main characters meet to work out the problem. Television shows usually have an episodic TV format that does not necessarily require the viewer to have seen previous episodes. Each episode typically has a self-contained, stand-alone plot that is introduced, developed, and resolved in one episode. The procedural format is popular around the world. In 2011, the director of a TV consultancy said, "The continuing trend is for procedurals because they use a predictable structure". Due to their stand-alone episodic nature, they are more accessible to new viewers than serials. Self-contained episodes also make it easier for viewers to return to a show if they have missed some episodes. In general, procedural dramas can usually be re-run with little concern for episode order. Procedurals are often criticized for being formulaic. Procedurals are also generally less character-driven than serialized shows; however, some procedurals have more character emphasis than is typical of the format. Some may occasionally feature a storyline stretching over several episodes (often called a story arc).

Types of media

Television

Fiction The priority, therefore, is for some central character or group of characters around whom incidents can be created week after week after week. Marcus Welby, M.D., the most successful show on American television in 1970-1, fitted this bill perfectly. Dr Welby is a general practitioner and the trials and tribulations of his patients revolve around him. "The concept is very simple," said Dick O'Connell, co-producer with David Victor, "Dr Welby is a nice man. He is presented with a problem each week and he accomplishes it. The general practitioner is the ideal format." So, too, are policemen, lawyers, surgeons and cowboys. In television, "procedural" specifically refers to a genre of programs in which a problem is introduced, investigated, and solved all within the same episode. These shows tend to be hour-long dramas and are often (though not always) police or crime-related. The general formula for a police procedural involves the commission or discovery of a crime at the beginning of the episode, the ensuing investigation, and the arrest or conviction of a perpetrator at the end of the episode. Modern examples of this genre are the Law & Order, CSI & NCIS franchises. House is an example of a non-crime-related procedural.

Procedural dramas are generally very popular in broadcast syndication because the lack of long-term storylines makes it easier for viewers to tune in for just one episode without feeling lost. Procedurals are sometimes noted for their lack of character development, with little attention being paid to the lives of the recurring characters outside of their jobs.

Non-fiction Non-fiction science procedurals such as the PBS Secrets of the Dead series and Court TV's Forensic Files take a viewer step-by-step through an investigation, much like a fictional procedural.

Film There are examples of movie procedurals, such as The Void (2001). Another is the film The Dam Busters, 1955, which was called a war procedural by Richard Gilliam in Allmovie.

Literature Police procedural: the best-known variety, a large subgenre of mystery fiction. Lawrence Treat's 1945 novel V as in Victim is cited as perhaps the first "true" police procedural. Military procedural: a term used by Publishers Weekly in 1989, referring to Ralph Peters' novel Red Army

Television examples

See also Crime fiction Hard science fiction Legal drama Murder mystery Police procedural Serial (literature) Serial (radio and television)

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Procedural drama

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Procedural drama claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Procedural drama before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Procedural drama ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Procedural drama

In research: Procedural drama appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Procedural drama in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Procedural drama is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drama, Literary genres, Television genres, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Procedural drama outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Procedural drama in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Procedural drama means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Procedural drama out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Procedural drama in simple terms?

Why does Procedural drama matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Procedural drama?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Procedural drama.