The Killing

Language:

The use of a noir visual style, conventions of the police procedural and multiple narrative strands.

Narrative:

Use of narrative conventions of the crime genre – enigmas, binary oppositions, restricted and omniscient narration – position of the audience? A narrative approach to crime drama could include analysing the appeals of the structure as reassuring and predictable – even when dealing with a difficult subject matter.

There are focuses on multiple plot lines related to the central crime.

Todorov

Genre:

Conventions of the TV series – The killing has three series which have links but can also be stand alone-series. The way in which this form is used to appeal to audiences, how it is distinct from, but related to series and serials.

Steve Neale

Popularity of Crime dramas

Representation:

The Killing feature representations of gender: The woman as a police detective, representation of marriage and gender stereotypes.

Feminist debates – Violence and the representation of gender. This could include the controversy around using violent crime against women as popular entertainment.

Representation of national identity – Denmark including issues of multiculturalism – conveys values of beliefs around the world.

Stuart Hall, Bel hooks and Van Zoonen

Industries:

The Killing was the catalyst for the wider distribution of foreign language crime programming on UK television, its unexpected success influencing BBC4’s scheduling but also that of other UK channels. The Killing was produced by the Danish national public service broadcaster DR, providing the opportunity to study PSB in a different national context.

Regulatory framework of contemporary media, focusing on PSB

The Killing provides a study for media production, distribution and circulation within the transnational and global context. The Killing personifies a successful transnational, contemporary media product with long duration – it was broadcast for nearly 5 years in the UK after its success in Denmark – has been shown in its original form across Europe and been remade by Turkish and US TV

Hesmondhalgh

Audiences:

The production, distribution and circulation of the Killing shows how audiences can be reached, both on a national and global scale, through different media technologies and platforms, moving from national to transnational through broadcast and digital technologies.

Different audience interpretations reflect social, cultural and historical circumstances – often linked to gender and feminist theories.

New types of characters to construct alignment for the audience/audience positioning

Advertising campaigns (trailers and websites for both home and abroad) demonstrate how producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences.

Audience behaviour in response to the series – interest in Scandinavian culture and lifestyle.

Gerbner and Hall

Social, Political, Historical and Economic contexts:

The Killing is part of a cultural phenomenon of the early 21st century which for the first time saw a TV series not in English language become part of part of mainstream UK broadcasting. That these series were dominated by the crime genre which became clear for exploring social contexts – particularly changing gender roles. It was also a key factor in the surge of interest of Scandinavian culture in the UK. The Killing utilises crime genre to explore contemporary contexts of multiculturalism and debate the effects of immigration. The economic context can be explored through patterns of ownership and production and how the product is marketed nationally and globally.