Repertoire of elements = these are the key elements of a film/TV series that are consistently repeated through a specific genre.

Corpus = A collection of language samples that are either written or spoken example of words, sentences, phrases, or text.

Hybridisation = it’s a term that is used to describe a type of media convergence, where a new mode is created that includes elements of combined media

Historic Specificity = it is the elements that are needed to define modernity and traditionalism in particular events and moments of time.

Repetition and sameness = Repetition is when you, more than once, repeat something over and over again. Sameness is when you compare two things and identify how they are similar to each other and can be seen as a contrasive to repetition.

Variation and change = variation are signs that can signify a change in the social world and is when you rotate between different elements. For example, a TV series might variate and change their camera angles, to create suspense and to make the programme more interesting than if it was just filmed still, with no camera motion.

Narrative Image = Narrative images are used to tell a story in a non-verbal, communicated way. The narrative is important as it identifies the plot of the story being told, therefore in TV series, narrative images are important to set the scene.

Expectations and Hypotheses = A hypothesis is a theory that the audience makes, with limited evidence and serves as a starting point for further investigation. Expectation is when you believe something should happen, based on the information you are given.

Suspend disbelief = Suspend disbelief is when you temporarily allow yourself to believe something which actually is not true.

Generic regime of verisimilitude = verisimilitude is the lifelikeness of a piece of fiction, which actually isn’t based on a true story, but appears to be due to its lifelikeness. Generic regime of verisimilitude is when all different elements obey the rules of a generic system, thus making it realistic, even though the piece of media might actually be fiction.

Conventions and rules = Conventions and rules are the elements that the piece of Media has to follow, and this applies to all media that falls in the same category. For example, in music videos, the conventions and rules are that all the music videos uploaded must not have any work that has been copyrighted by other artists.

Sub-genre = this is the subcategories you get within a specific genre. For example, the academic mystery is a sub-genre of the mystery genre.

Hybridity = it refers to mixtures and is the cross between two separate races, genres or cultures. Hybrid means ‘mixture’, therefore hybridity is the mixture of something.

‘Genres of order and integration’ (Thomas Schatz) = Schatz said that there are 2 types of genres, one is used to tell the stories about the enforcement of gender, whereas the other type of genre is used to describe the integration of community.

‘Genre as cultural category’ = these are groups who co-operate together and use negotiation to solve the problems which had disrupted the equilibrium and that the problems disrupting the equilibrium could be integrated into the wider community.

CATEGORY	SIMILARITIES	DIFFERENCES	THEORY
CHARACTERS	the detective who has a ‘natural’ instinct for law and order the victim is young and a female, which emphasises that the younger generation are more vulnerable then the older generation the storyline focuses on a female detective and her story as the hero investigating a murder.	the Killing, “The Missing” has the main detective as female, whereas males usually take on a detective role as it is seen as a more masculine job.	PROPP
NARRATIVE	the first episode often introduces a lot of different characters the narrative also sets the scene, as shown by the pathetic fallacy of the rain signifying darker elements of the plot and sunshine signifying the more happier elements of the plot.	“The Killing” starts with an episode that dives straight into the dilemma that will be resolved in the series, whereas the first episode of TV series, it is usually just to set the scene	TODOROV
THEMES	the use of binary oppostions around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice.	there is a setting of both an urban and rural area, thus emphasising thatb the rural areas are dangerous, whereas the urban areas can be seen as a place of safety.	LEVI-STRAUSS
REPRESENTATION	reactionary representations of police, family, law and order, urban/rural. through the way a female is used as the victim, it shows the vulnerability of females	“The Killing” represents all minorities in the modern world, which attracts a wider audience and shows inclusion and diversity. the use of a female going against the dominant ideology represents females as equal to men and shows that they too are able to have some power and authority.	SEMIOTICS
TECHNICAL CODES / LANGUAGE OF MOVING IMAGE (music, setting, props, lighting, use of camera, editing etc)	opening montage sequence that often gives clues as to the whole series – themes, locations, characters, events etc. this Tv series follow the rules and conventions of the mystery genre, as suggested by the use of a detective and clues that are left, as well as the detective using the account of witnesses and close family members in order to solve the mystery of this murder.	there are a lot off “over the shoulder” camera shots, which makes it feel as if the audience is in the scene and is living like they are in the TV programme.

Q: Is this the first non-English language TV programme or film that you have watched? If so, how did you find this experience? Were you able to follow what was going on? How much did you rely on the dialogue / script / sub-titles?

For me, this is not the first foreign language film/TV that I have watched as when I was revising for my Spanish GCSE, I watched film and TV for revision. However, it was a little bit easier for me as I knew some basic Spanish and could identify what they are saying through my own knowledge. However, this was my first TV series I have watched without having any prior knowledge of the language it is in. Personally, not knowing the language and having to rely on subtitles was quite scary as you didn’t know exactly what they were saying and the emotions of the characters in the TV series, for example, when someone is angry, they might raise their voice. As I do not know Dutch and how they communicate facially, it was very confusing as I was unable to identify the emotions of the characters in the TV series.

Personally, I have never learnt Dutch or know any Dutch apart from the greeting “Hallo”, so watching this TV show, I had to rely on the English subtitles at the bottom of the screen. I found it was quite hard to analyse the mis-en-scene and the camera movements of this TV series because the subtitles were quite deceiving and my eyes were more focusing on the changing subtitles, rather then what was actually happening in the TV programme. I didn’t really like relying on the subtitles as it was translated from Dutch and there were some Dutch words that were not translatable into English, so the subtitles would show sentences that weren’t making sense, thus making me as the audience confused because it wasn’t translated properly into English for me to know and understand. It was also quite hard to follow on with the plot as they spoke relatively quickly, and it was hard to read the subtitles before they changed and the character spoke another line of speech.

I feel that if we watched an English version, it would be a lot easier to follow the plot as you do not need to focus on the subtitles to understand what the character is saying. Also, as we naturally speak English, we can identify emotions and the type of person a character is, so if we had an English version of this show, you’d be able to identify emotions and actions through their voices and physical actions.