TV and Drama
Cuffs: Series 1, Episode 1 27-6-19
L/O: To analyse the narratives and characters constructed in an episode
Expect to see maybe 3 main characters that will most likely be in the series till the end.
Expect to see the start of the of the storyline unfold.
Expect to see a setting that will become familiar as the series goes on.
Expect to see a tone that is set that will be the same throughout the series.
Character Names:
PC Ryan Draper
PC Jake Vickers
DS Jo Moffat
Chief Super Robert Vickers
DC Carl Hawkins
DI Felix Kane
PC Donna Prager
PC Lino Moretti
TV Industries and Audiences
L/O: to research the history , companies and regulators in the TV industries
-Publicly Owned TV ChannelA = TV channel that is funded by the government & license fees for the public. BBC
-Commercial TV Channel = A TV channel owned by privately owned corporate media funded by advertising-
-Convergence = When new technology makes old technology obsolete, joining lots of technologies into one.
-Watershed = The time after which programmes that are regarded as unsuitable for children are broadcast on television. 9PM - 5:30AM in the UK
-Segmented Market = Dividing a market of potential customers into groups so you can target the audience appropriately
-Mainstream = What is regarded as normal, mass audience
-Self-regulating = Able to broadcast anything without the use of third party bodies or industries
-Franchise = License from company if a product to use ideas
-Channel Surfing = Switching to different channels frequently
-PSB = Public Service Broadcasting: regulators demand channels fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to
broadcast
-TV License = A payment required to watch TV. Funds the BBC
-Scheduling = Organising the broadcast of TV programmes on a channel
-Conglomerate= A company that owns several smaller businesses whose products are very similar1.
Television was introduced to the UK in 19362. in 1965 there was 2 channels in the UK, they were BBC1 and ITV3. The channel ITV started in the UK on the 22nd September 19554. The channels that follow the Public Service Broadcasting remits or PSB are BBC, ITV, STV, UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C5. Ofcom regulates TV6. In the 1960's the BBC was self-regulated however the ITV was regulated by the ITA7. There is colour now, There is more tv shows and channels now, more households now have televisions.
L/O: research the 1960s in terms of social, historic and political climate of the decade; research the TV Show The Avengers
There were 3 main groups in the 1960s the Hippies that wore bright coloured clothing and also consumed a lot of weed. There were also the mods and the rockers that were rival gangs and the mods road scoters whereas the rockers rode motorbikes.
The contraceptive was introduced in 1960 which means that it was easy to prevent a pregnancy, however the first pills had too much of a certain hormone which meant that when someone wanted a bay it would have major defects such as no arms or legs.
Computers where also improved in the 1960s, also the internet was also kind of invented around the 60s. As well as this the first laser was invented in the 1960s
-beatles dominated music industry in 1960s
-drugs were being used a lot in the 1960s especially by the hippies.
-men were still dominate over other races and women
Avengers:
producer-ABC television
first ep: 7 january 1961
target audience: people below age of 35, mainly couples
seasons: 6
last ep: 21 may 1969
budget for series 4: 1,456,000
viewers:
TV 1960s
The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies that developed after World War II. This hostility between the two superpowers was first given its name by George Orwell in an article published in 1945.
Youth groups: Hippies Mods Rockers/Punks
Science developments: Space Race
All About 1960s UK:
-In the UK, the most famous bands were The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. This is different to previous decades where famous bands were very R&B, however in the birth of rock occurred in the 1960s.
-In 1965s the Labour Party was in power for the first time in over a decade, the Prime Minister was Harold Wilson.
-The main three youth groups were The Hippies, who very all for peace and freedom. Absurd coloured clothing and drugs were part of their culture. The Mods were very stylish and modern and listened to all the modern music. The Rockers were the punks of the era.
-There were fears of large scale drug use, however hippies smoked cannabis.
-The contraceptive pill was introduced in the 1960s, this changed women's lives drastically as it is used to prevent pregnancies.
-In the UK, people protested against involvement in The Vietnam War, Gay Pride, Civil Rights and Women's Rights
-Historical events that occurred were the election and assassination of JFK, The Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Martin Luther King, first man on the moon, the rise of the IRA, and The Cold War
-Wars that were being fought around the world were the Vietnamese War, The Cold War and The Bay of Pigs invasion to over throw the communist government
-In the 1960s it was made easier for women to have an abortion, the contraceptive pill was introduced which helped prevent pregnancies however it was still a male dominant society as women were still seen to stay at home and do housework. For people of certain races there was a big change in cicvil right movements to allow them to have equal rights.
-Gender equality changing: Mrs Peele having more responsibilities.
-Patriarchal society:
-Youth movement in fashion, art, music:
-Changing attitudes to sexuality:
-Fear of the Cold War, invasion:
-Civil Rights:
-Traditional British Values, traditions:
The Avengers was sold by the BBC to american company ABC for £2,000,000.
Town of No Return Avengers
The Todorov's narrative theory:Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.
Equilibrium- Mr Steed and Mrs Peele and flirting in her apartment, then he asks her to join him on a secret mission
Disruption- The man that they went to the town with gets killed, they realise that theres a lot of people missing from the town, Peele captured then saved by Steele, they go underground and take out the bad guys
Resolution- They take out the invasion mission and save the UK
New Equilibrium- They get on Peele's scooter and ride off
The characters:
- Patrick Macnee as John Steed (Series 1-6)
Steed was very posh and his weapons consisted of an umbrella and a bowler hat that was partially made of metal. Steed is in his 40s. He appeals to the older female part of the audience because he is a very stereotypical 1960s man.
- Diana Rigg as Emma Peel (Series 4-5)
She was a master of martial arts and often helped Steed when he was in need, she was sexualised a lot throughout the series. Peele is in her 20s. Peele appeals to the younger male part of the audience because she is attractive and young.
Links to social and cultural context(the mid 60s):
The episode demonstrated typical attitudes towards the female gender by overly sexualising Peele, however you do see Peele defeat a man in the episode which would have been unusual.
nationality
war paranoia
audience appeal
TV Ownership
L/O: To explore the history of ownership in two key channels
TV in 2010s
L/O: To research the 2010s in terms of social, cultural and political climate of the decade; research TV usage in 2015.
-General election in the Uk in May 2015
-Conservative party won majority election
- ISIS attacked Paris killing a total of 130
-Refugee crisis hit Europe
-Ireland legalised same sex marriage
-Social media grew massive
-Knife and gun crime grew
-Campaigns like blacklivesmatter
-Conservative party was in charge, david cameron
-Large wars; Afghanistan, Iraqi civil war, Boko Haram insurgency and syrian civil war
-Protests in UK, against syria airstrikes
Police Drama:
In 2015 the gender representation are a lot different then in 1965, in 1965 there would be no women on the police force because they were thought to be weak and not capable, however in 2015 there are women in the police force as women now have a lot more rights and are thought to be equal to men.
TV : Media Language
L/O: To revise and research key terminology for use with audio-visual analysis
Cuffs Cast:
-PC Ryan Draper (Ashley Walters)
He is one of the main character of the show, he is represented as a typical police officer in 2015. His job is difficult due to government cuts which is what people were protesting about in the UK in 2015. He is also seen as a mentor throughout the series of the captain's son who is a new recruit.
-PC Jake Vickers (Jacob Ifan)
He is represented as the weakest officer, he is new to the job and doesn't know what to do. He is the chiefs son, which soon becomes annoying and his mentor, PC Ryan Draper watches his every move and how he reacts to upcoming situations.
-DS Jo Moffat (Amenda Abbington)
She is a talented detective, and diligent and organised. However her personal life isn't so good. She is a single woman and divorced. She represents a lot of struggle which would have happened in the police force, like not having funds for certain cases and struggles with solving cases like not getting an interview
-Chief Super Robert Vickers (Peter Sullivan)
Father of Jake, Robert is the head chief of the police force. He organises most things and presents cases to the media. He is a great representation of the struggles of the police force and budget cuts which happened in 2015, he has to present mistakes to the media which could have been solved via better communication or a higher budget.
-DC Carl Hawkins (Shaun Dooley)
Carl is a detective constable on the police force, he beliegs everything will eventually turn out okay.
-DI Felix Kane (Paul Ready)
Felix is detective inspector on the police force, he has always been a loner however is diligent and organised on the job.
-PC Donna Prager (Eleanor Matsoura)
Donna is another one of the leading officers, she is haed working and always up for the job. Her and Lino are best mates and always up for the job.
-PC Lino Moretti (Alex Carter)
Lino is again one of the other leading officers in the job, he isn't the most hard working or up to scale on fitness but him and Donna are a good duo in fighting the crime.
HW Cuffs
Characters
The characters in Cuffs are all well thought out, they all have interesting personal backgrounds. Also integrated is how this affects their job, for example, Ryan's son is always skiving school, so Ryan has to deal with his son being a single dad, slowing down how does his job.
Performances
The performances of the characters are excellent, not much can be said to criticize. For example when Jake first goes out on the job he messes up trying to calm down Nathan, Ryan intervenes and the continued actions and gestures really show Jake's emotions.
Plotlines
Just like the characters, all the stories and narratives are excellent. The narratives for just one episode are great and the prolonged personal narratives intended to last over episodes are also. Exactly the same with characters though we are bombarded with narratives and plots so a bit less of them or more time for them to be explained would make them great.
Tone
Personally, the tone of the series is great. For example when Jake punches and knocks out the murderer from the start of the episode, it's a serious situation as the murderer could have seriously injured Ryan, but when he punches and a moves his hand around in agony we get a sense of a humorous tone as he doesn't go to arrest him straight away he just does a funny act.
Suitability for BBC1
The programme is perfect for this type of channel, it is full of crime dramas and different soaps making it an excellent fit. However, due to it being prewatershed many moments which should have that more gory or explicit tone don't, which makes it a bit out of place on the channel.
Audience appeal
In general, the audience appeal would definitely be for 15/17 year olds up, the humour and lack of any gory moments makes it suitable for a younger audience to watch it, and the more serious moments and moments that push the line for what is acceptable would appeal to older audienceinto this genre of programme.
How is 'Britishness' represented in this scene in terms of mine-en-scene?
In the 1960's show The Avenger, britishness is represented as very posh which is shown through the carriage that they are sat in and how everything looks very high end and tidy. It is also shown through the clothing that the characters are wearing, and how they look like their upper class and have expensive clothes such as bowler hats and suits.
How is war paranoia/racism represented in this scene through miss-en-scene?
The absence of any other race throughout the series represents the society at the time and how they felt towards any other race, this could be because of the war that had happened and people were afraid of invasion.
What stereotypes were used in ep 1?
There are only white characters.
Women were sexualised during the episode a lot.
Women were though to only be able to look after children and stay at home.
How was the context of the 1960s shown in the different representations used in ep 1?
Females were sexualised a lot throughout the ep especially Emma Peel, in the 1960s females were thought to be only good to stay at home and look after children. However Emma Peel was ahead of her time because of her persona and how she was her own individual without a man controlling her.
Ethnicity was a very controversial subject in the 1960s, because of the sudden amount of foreign ethnicities going to England. In the Avengers there are only white characters which could show the attitudes towards the foreign ethnicities.
In the 1960s if you had a same sex affair you would have been arrested because it was illegal, this is because religion was a very big part of the community in that time. This is shown through the only affairs being male and female.
In the 1960s class was also a large part of society, where lower class people would work in factories, middle class people would own some land and work 'normal' jobs and upper class people wouldn't work at all and would definitely own land.
How is media language represented in the extract to display gender and sexuality in the 60s?
In the 1960s, society was dominated by the changing stereotypes of genders and sexuality.
In the start of this extract camerawork is used to create a sexualised environment, in the first couple of scenes a close up shot of Mr Steed is used however the camera is angled below him, this could represent his class. Also in the 1960s of you were filming a politician or a person of higher class you would have to film them from their shoulders up which would represent that they are 'better' then other people.
The sexualised environment is created through props and actions such as Mr Steed poking the door bell and then the camera angle pans across to the large eye, this eye has traditional 60s makeup on which shows the stereotypes of beauty in the 60s. Also the sticker on the door bell says 'Mrs Emma Peel' this shows that she is married however she says to Steed that the door is open which is unusual because if she is married why would she leave her door open to random men.
The series of shots that show Steed and Peel having a sword fight present a their sexual chemistry, during the fight when Peel dominates Steed, a medium pan shot is used to show Steed looking at Peel's backside, however she always keeps her eyes on his face which shows that she has respect to him but he's objectifying her.
The Avengers: The town of no return 17-1-20
L/O: to explore the narrative, characters and context of series , episode 1
EP Notes:
-Seaside opening, stereotypical fisherman lobster pots
-Filmed on location shows more money from american company.
-Peele's apartment(furniture, art and design) and outfit shows the modern side of the 60s-upcoming movement of art and design. Younger and modern generation.
- Steed represents 60s patriarchal society. Older/ traditional generation.
- Peele represented as indépendant, physically able.
-Touching backside shows gender inequality
-Represented as partners but steeds always calling shots, shows male dominance
-Train scene shows britishness
-Typical British pub, beer, darts, overly cheerful landlord, local villagers not welcoming
Cuffs: Series 1, EP1 24-1-20
L/O: to analyse the narrative and characters constructed in an opening episode.
Cross cutting is used to show opposite sides of the police force(political,nudist beach stag doe)
Nepotism, Jake Vickers.
Ryan called Jake a 'bed wetter'.
- Start of Brexit
- Radio chatter non diegetic
- Cross cutting between different scenes
- Shows lack of respect from the public.
- 1 main narrative in Avengers. Cuffs has multiple.
- Camerawork has developed
- The genre is 'police procedural'
- Covers the day to day actions of British police and insights into the characters personal life's
- It was intended to be a replacement for Waterloo road
- Variation of race and ethnicity
- Women in authorities
- Different races
- Still patriarchal society
- Stabbing represents racial tension
- Teens represented as rebellious
- Accusations of police brutality
- Not enough police
Television Industry: 2010s 31-1-20
L/O: to explore the TV Industry in 2010s and the effect on TV shows and audiences.
Changes in TV industry and Production
Changes in TV Industry and Audience
Cuffs = Police Procedural
Gives inside to police work as well as the lives of the characters.
What elements did the producers choose to include and why
They included tense moments, e.g. the police chase through the country road or the bottles smashing. Also they included shots of the main characters to always doing something to suggest that it's a busy job and that their overworked. High intensity non diabetic music to suggest fast pace action.
How have they represented police life?
It is presented as a busy job and there are not enough police, there are many dramatic moments like the police chase or the arguments between Ryan and Jake. There is also the more formal side of police life like the cross cutting at the beginning of the trailer.
How have they represented personal dramas?
Family life is shown between Ryan and his son not going school, for the older audience also more teen problems like relationship problems or arguments with friends.
How have they used Media Language (editing, sound, Mise-En-Scene camerawork) to make it appeal
to the target audience?
Loads of cross cutting and quick transitions to create tension and to make the audience want to watch the series. An aerial shot at the start to present the police life a stressful and all ways on the go and loads of close ups on the main characters to present the main characters to the audience.
1. Passive audience watch a show without questioning, take everything in that the TV says and not engage much however an active audience engage more, won't just believe whatever they hear on the TV and choose shows that they want to watch.
2. The avengers audience would have been more of a passive audience as the time when The Avengers was airing there was very little choice to choose from in terms of TV channels and shows, however The Cuffs audience would be more of an active audience as in modern times there are hundreds of channels to choose from.
3.
They used a common male comedic character to target the younger members of the family.
they used a range of ethnicities and cultures to portray to the younger audience how they maybe not treat people that do not look like them.
They used authentic locations to make the episode more relatable to the family in general and more realistic.
They included exciting police chases with intense music to intrigue the who family audience.
Cuffs and social values 7.2.20
L/O: to explore todays social values and analyse how these are represented in Cuffs.
BBC has to represent the UK as a whole, through their shows and what they portray in their shows.
PSBs(Public Service Broadcaster) are funded through TV licenses, that people pay for.
Commercial companies are funded through paid partnerships, Ads, product placement, etc.
Before watershed, restricted on explicit content.
The fact that Cuffs was on before watershed meant that they could not show content such as stabbing or violence because children might be watching, this means that they had to restrict what they could show to the audience. In cuffs there was a variety of ethnicities, which portrays the UK racially diverse. In cuffs genders were varied throughout the series as well as sexuality as a developing gay couple are represented.
Cuffs and PSB remit
L/O: to evaluate how how effectively the BBC meets the remit
Cuffs informs the audience about the daily struggles and obstacles that the UK police face on a daily basis, as well as educating the audience about the Police it is also an entertaining series.Similarly Cuffs educates the audience about the races that are portrayed and how they are treated on a day to day basis by the public because of stereotypes, this is shown in the scene when the shop owner is being questioned and he complains about how his muslim family are treated terribly by the public. Cuffs also reflects the impact that the police have on the citizens of the UK basis, which is shown by the stabbing in the store and how that affected the muslim society within the community. Cuffs provides the audience with multiple perspectives from Offices like Ryan and Jake to DI Felix, this provides a large generalisation of the lifestyles the individuals of the Police force have to live with.
How are camera work and editing used to create meaning.
Jake is focused, when Jake looks at Ryan he is focused then focus switches back, shows the first contact that Jake has with the real police life. Represents Jake as being nervous with this first contact.
Blurred shot to suggest that the people in the party are maybe drunk or on drugs.
Hand held camera in the house to make the audience feel like they are with them.
Long shot of them entering the house to distance the audience from the police to which could create the effect of the police being brave.
Slow motion closed up shot on Jake to suggest that he doesn't know what to do, shows his inexperience.
Cross cutting with the party and the police, represents the contrast between the two side and to create tension leading to the breach of the party.
Camera work Editing
Great notes Victor. Thank you for putting them all on one page!!
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