Keywords

Hesmondalgh

Vertical/horizontal integration

Conglomerates

Mergers

Pastiche

Postmodern

Todorov

Equilibrium

disruption

New Equilibrium

Deustchland 83

Aired in Germany november 2015

Aired janueary 2016 Channel 4

Spy infiltrates west Germany military .

Germany split into west and east. West is capitalist, modern and owned by UK. The East is communist, owned by soviet union.

The destruction of Berlin wall 1989 – the berlin wall, while dividing political standpoints was also a symbol of power.

American novelist Anna Winger and German TV producer Joerg Winger created D83. they carried out extensive research from experts of both sides of germany.

Having a german and American company produce the show positions it to exploit the national and global market. The series was offered ad-free subscription in U.S.

D83 was the firdt German-language series to air on a US network.

The public service remit for channel 4 must demonstrate innovation, creativity and appeal to a culturally diverse audience

Channel 4 is publicly owned but commercially funded. free content with ad-breaks.

Could be seen as an attempt by German media to take advantage of new openness to foreign products.

companies which are vertically and horizontally integrated (RTL–>AMC). using popular genre and conventions series already released in 2 countries ‘the killing’ success as foreign film. streaming products.

pastiche of popular cultures (80’s nostalgia)

Equilibrium-established job, ideology, family

Disruption-state kidnapping

New Equilibrium-ongoing status as spy.

Capital

Reflects change in Britain-diversity

Multi-stranded narrative

TV – No Offence and The Killing

No Offence	The Killing
– produced by abbott vision – distributed on channel 4 – publically owned but privately funded – channel 4 remit – ‘to create change through entertainment’ – 2.5m views when first aired – broadcast on national broadcast channel France2 – 5.5m viewers – boxset available on All4	-Consumed on DR1 – brought to the UK on BBC4 in 2011  -DR1 is a PSB  -‘BBC4’s primary role is to reflect a range of UK and international arts, music and culture’  -nordic noir genre – bleak setting, violent themes, progressive attitudes towards gender, sexuality, female lead, flawed protagonist, political corruption  – Over 120 countries purchased first 2 series – US series made by AMC in 2011
tripartite structure quest narrative stereotypes encoding/decoding diversity resonance agenda setting pluralism socialisations	tripartite structure quest narrative stereotypes encoding/decoding PSB globalisation resonance agenda setting socialisations
Todorov: condensed equilibrium – disruption begins when Dinah starts chasing the suspect lack of new equilibrium = conventional of TV series Bathes: action code – Dinah sees suspect and chases him enigma code – running away of suspected criminal at end of ep cultural code – exploitations of down’s syndrome people – suggests its an issue in wider society Neale: hybrid – police procedural/ comedy Hall: subverts traditional stereotypes by representing women in dominant position – promotes female empowerment however, stereotypes disabled people by representing their harsh treatment in society – however, used to draw attention to inequalities rather than exploit it Gerbner: does depict mild violence as well as social realism – therefore narrative could make audiences prone to ‘world syndrome’ may encourage violence towards down’s people Hall: producer encode – subvert harmful stereotypes, create a light-hearted crime drama audiences decode: – preferred – interprets what the producer intended – oppositional – could view the victimisation of down’s syndrome people as demeaning	Todorov: condensed equilibrium – disruption begins when nanna is first suspected of being missing lack of new equilibrium = conventional of TV series Bathes: action code – when nanna, unknown at the time is running from someone enigma code – audience questions who she is running from Levi-Strauss: binary oppositions between police and politicians – represents politicians as suspicious, evil = conventional od nordic noir binary oppositions between detectives – one is serious, one is more light hearted = heightens tension Neale: hybrid genre of police procedural/ thriller/ nordic noir Hall: subverts traditional stereotypes by representing women in dominant position – promotes female empowerment however, representation a sexually exploited girl is conventional of female represntations – however by drawing attention to in equalities rather than exploite them Van Zoonen: does not represent women’s bodies as an object – lund is represented with ‘rationality’ and ‘individualism’ of a man whilst nanna’s victimisation can be seen as possessing conventional weakness of feminimity, the plot point is used to draw attention to violence against women rather than encourage it hooks: but televising the issue of female violence, TK aims to educate and expose patriarchal oppression of women, however does not represent divisions other than feminism eg racism, classism Hesmondhalgh: star formatting to appeal to ready made audiences – EG Lars Mikkelsen – Sherlock, House of Cards – brings more culture to English TV  Gerbner: does depict mild violence as well as social realism – therefore narrative could make audiences prone to ‘world syndrome’ may encourage violence towards women Hall: Preferred – innovative and engaging Negotiated – innovative but dragged out due to long form TV Oppositional – boring/ too dark

“A group of police officers try their best to keep the streets of Manchester free of crime. When all else fails, they decide to use unconventional methods to teach the perpetrators a lesson.”

• The genre of the show is multi-genre’d/ hybrid genre. It is a drama/ police procedural/ dark comedy

Feminist culture –

Van Zoonen – Van Zoonen believes the media portray images of stereotypical women and this behaviour reinforces societal views. The media does this because they believe it reflects dominant social values (what people believe in) and male producers are influenced by this. [Word Press]

This relates to No Offence as recent advancements in feminism and the increasing culture of women empowerment and empowerment of different cultures creates a countertype to usual conventional media ideologies by casting a mainly female cast where women are in positions of power which goes against patriarchal society norms.

Toril Moi – According to Professor of Literature Toril Moi, feminist theory has become so abstract that it no longer says anything about ordinary women’s lives. Concepts like intersectionality have become so overtheoretical that they no longer apply to people’s actual experiences. [Kilden]

Judith Butler – Sex is a biological category; gender is a historical category. Butler questions that distinction by arguing that our “gender acts” affect us in such material, corporeal ways that even our perception of corporeal sexual differences are affected by social conventions. [Source]

Witnesses S1 E1

episode 1

Summary: In northern France, graves are desecrated, and dead bodies have been dug up and left in show homes. Around the bodies are family photos, one of Paul Maisonneuve, a legend of the northern France police force, who will be forced to return to duty.

French Public Service Broadcaster: France 2

Distributed in the US, Australia, and Europe

UK viewing figures: 1.01 million

Director: Hervé Hadmar

The Missing S2 E1

"Come Home"

Summary: In 2003 Alice Webster is abducted in Germany, where her father is stationed on a British Army base. In 2014, just before Christmas, a barefoot and traumatised Alice re-appears in the same town, suffering from acute appendicitis. She claims that she was held captive with a French girl, Sophie Giroux, who went missing around the same time. Retired French detective Julien Baptiste, an expert on the Giroux case, investigates. He suspects that she may not be Alice.

UK viewing figures: 9.20

Director: Ben Chanan

On Rotten Tomatoes, the second series has earned a “Certified Fresh” score of 100%, with an average rating of 8.55/10 out of 15 reviews.

Language

Media form – TV

Moving Image

Genre / Type – Crime Drama

Steve Neale ‘Corpus’ ‘repertoire’ + elements

Similarities + differences

Levi – Strauss

‘Enigma’ – Bartes

Todorov / Freytag pyramid

Audiences

Exposition

End – cliff hanger

Propp

• Victim
• Princess
• Hero

Production

David Hesmondhalgh states that media is a ‘risky business, so to reduce risk The Missing and Witnesses use well-known plot devices and tropes which appeal to a wide audience.