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TV IN GLOBAL AGE a level media Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

peaky blinders and the bridge a level media equdas

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

NORDIC­/SCANDI NOIR

Sub-genre of crime drama
Originates in litera­ture, but extended to film and especially TV
From and set in Nordic or Scandi­navian countries
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland etc.
Influenced by film noir
Film noir often deals with…
Violence or murder
 
A sense of dread
 
Moral complexity or ambiguity
Revolves around crime – usually murder or theft
Narrative structure:
Story told through voiceover narration
 
Often structured around a flashback
 
Plots can be very complex
Charac­ters:
Male protag­onist
Often a detective
 
Tough and cynical
 
Dry wit / sarcasm
 
Heavy drinking and smoking
In some way weak or not in control
Victim of circum­stances beyond his control
Visual Style:
Film noir uses low-key lighting
 
This creates striking shadows
 
(Chiaro­scuro) There is a high level of contrast between light and shadow
Iconog­raphy:
Venetian blinds
 
Set in cities, often at night and in the rain
 
Trench coats and hats

THE BRIDGE INTRO

named after the Øresund Bridge
Connects Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmo (Sweden) by road and rail
Main character Saga is Swedish and a homicide detective in Malmo
She works with Danish police in Copenhagen
Cultural differ­ences between the two countries are a running theme in the show

THE BRIDGE - NARRATIVE

Important narrative arcs of set episode**
Helle Anker’s murder
 
Mysterious introd­uction to Henrik Sabroe, leading up to the revelation that he will be Saga’s new partner
 
Lise – first her child being bullied, then the revelation that she is an anti-trans vlogger
 
Rikkard – cleaner at Lise’s flat; steals her necklace, keeps scary pets!
 
Aleks – released from prison, paranoid. Goes looking for buried money
 
Saga’s family problems
 
Binary opposites examples in TB
Sweeden v Denmark
 
Past v Present
 
Light v Dark
 
INTROD­UCTION TO HENRIK
In later episodes it is revealed that Henrik’s wife and children went missing years earlier
The family we see on screen are in Henrik’s imagin­ation*
SHOT 1
Long shot
 
Lots of empty space
 
Suggests loneli­ness, lack of company
 
An empty house
 
Asymme­trical – there seems to be the perfect space for another person there
SHOTS BUNCH 2
the camera’s view doesn’t match the wife’s eyeline
 
Audiences might not consci­ously notice
 
But there is a sense that something is not quite right in this exchange
SHOT 3
His children barely acknow­ledge him – they look at each other
 
He doesn’t really talk to them - almost to himself
 
Blocking – a large worktop separates Henrik and the children
 
This literally puts distance between them
BED SCENE WITH HENRIK AND WIFE
Tight, close shot
 
Intimate setting (couple in bed together)
 
The dialogue seems at odds with the scenario Why would he tell his wife about another woman whilst they lie in bed together?
 
When Henrik wakes up, his wife is gone
 
Her side of the bed is perfectly made - as if she was never there
Emil, the art gallery assistant
Killer of Henrik's family
 
There is perhaps a pleasure for the audience in waiting for reveals like this
 
The narrative ultimately rewards your patience
 
Flexi Narrative
Complex, challe­nging narrative
Multiple characters
Level of importance and connection to the narrative is unclear to the audience
Multiple plot situations involving compli­cated scenarios.
Plot twists
Narrative enigmas throughout
Unresolved narrat­ives.

SHOT 1

SHOT BUNCH 2

SHOT 3

  

TODOROV NARRATIVE ARC

1. Equili­brium
2. Disruption of Equili­brium
3. Recogn­ition of the distru­ption
4. An attempt to repair the damage
5.New Equili­brium
repeat

THE BRIDGE AUDIENCE

David Gauntlett
the idea that the media provide us with ‘tools’ or resources that we use to construct our identities
Henry Jenkins
conver­gence in media industries
he also talks about fandom
- fans are active partic­ipants in the constr­uction and circul­ation of textual meanings
- fans construct their social and cultural identities through borrowing and inflecting mass culture images
- fans are part of a partic­ipatory culture that has a vital social dimension
 
who is the audience of The Bridge?
- fans of nordic noir
- intell­ecutals
- willing to invest in complex narrative
 
- willing to watch subtitled TV shows
 
- perhaps seeking fulfilment
- culturally aware and curious
- seeking or mainta­ining status
 
Set episode of The Bridge had just over 1.8m viewers when broadcast on BBC4
- considered high for a foreig­n-l­anguage drama
In Scandi­navia the show has a larger audiences share
 
Genre and audience
- The idea of Nordic noir as a distinct genre only works in an intern­ational context
- The idea of Nordicness is a British construct
These shows would be seen as products of their own distinct nations
British crime drama is similarly attractive to Scandi­nav­ians!
WHY?
 
Seemingly everyone is very middle­-class
 
British eccent­ricity
 
Tradit­ional settings – British countr­yside, village pub etc
 
Quaint
Roland Barthes might call the above ‘myths’ of Britis­hness
Connot­ations of Britain that are repeated so often that they act like denota­tions
Incomplete / oversi­mpl­ified images of the comple­xities of British life
 
Percep­tions of ‘Nordi­c-ness’
- cold but beautiful
- stylish
- affordable
- food
- hygge
- socially and politi­cally progre­ssive
 
POSTMO­DERNISM - Baudri­llard
media create hyper realities based on a continuous process of mediation
what is encoded as ‘real’ (and what we decode through media products) is not ‘real’ but instead a ‘simul­acrum’ which offers us a hyperr­eality
that we accept as real because we are so consis­tently exposed to it.
media images have come to seem more “real” than the reality they supposedly represent.
 
Is The Bridge postmo­dern?
Relies on audience unders­tanding of crime drama, specif­ically Nordic noir, to decode it
The diegetic “world” of “The Bridge” is a hyper-­reality – it is Sweden­/De­nmark re-pre­sented from a mediated perspe­ctive, linked to stereo­typical national traits and cultural values . Consider how this is constr­ucted
Based on our cultural perception of an instit­ution (the police force) that is itself a constr­ucted ‘simul­acrum’ rather than experi­enced first hand
Shares simila­rities of style with other “Nordic noir”
There are other intert­extual references
 
The image of Scandi­navia we get from Nordic noir is a simulacra
 
Simulated images which no longer refer to anything real
 
Attractive to middle class British viewers
 
But offers no “real insights into the complex and changing Danish or Nordic social realities” (Jakob Stouga­ard­-Ni­elsen)

THE BRIDGE - REPRES­ENT­ATION

Does Saga follow typical Feminine repres­ent­ations?
1. Domestic
NO
- Saga seems to live at work
- eats at work
- changes at work
- stays when others go back to their family
 
2. Sexualised
NO
Saga’s clothes connote toughness
Milita­ry-­style trenchcoat – might remind us of the film noir detective archetype
Big leather boots
Neutral colours – kakhi, grey
She wears no make up
Scar on her face – stereo­typ­ically masculine, connot­ations of violence
Matter­-of­-fact attitude to her body
 
3. Nurturer
NO
Saga’s lack of emotional awareness prevents her from being nurturing
 
... so how is Saga repres­ented?
Saga has dominant narrative positi­oning
Episode opens on her driving over the bridge
We frequently follow her – tracking shots, close-ups
BUT we do see things that she doesn’t
Saga is very direct
Clipped, abrupt style of speech
Wastes no words!
Acts and thinks quickly
Saga’s unemot­ional approach makes her clear-­thi­nking and intuitive
Her ration­ality makes her good at her job
Even if others find her hard to work with
Saga is a very quirky, rounded, flawed character
Defies easy stereo­types
 
Van Zoonen defies 3 types of feminism
*1. Liberal feminist8
This position is closest to Van Zoonen’s own perspe­ctive
Reductive stereo­types about the “suppo­sedly natural” role of women account for women’s position in society
Media “teach” people about gender roles
Media repres­ent­ations of women reflect patria­rchal values
Women should seek equality and be more powerful in society
Media can contribute to this change by challe­nging establ­ished gender roles
 
2. Radical feminist
All men oppress all women
Mass media is dominated by men, so can only benefit patria­rchal society
Media encourages men to oppress women
And encourages women to accept their oppression
Radical feminism rejects establ­ished media
Women should commun­icate through their own, non-hi­era­rchical means
 
3. Socialist feminist
How class and capitalism shape women’s position in society
Capitalism relies on women’s unpaid work in the home and with the family
Women should take up paid work, but the workplace should adapt to accomm­odate women’s needs
Media as ideolo­gical instru­ments – interested in how feminism is constr­ucted in media
Women should produce separate, feminist media
But establ­ished media should be flexible to women’s needs

Applying feminism to the Bridge

Liberal feminist
Saga defies stereo­typical repres­ent­ation
She is a woman in a position of authority
The Bridge reflects progress in women’s position in society
And promotes further change by challe­nging establ­ished gender roles
 
Radical feminist
might reject The Bridge as a product of patria­rchal mainstream media
However the Helle Anker storyline is relevant:
- Anker’s non-tr­adi­tional family has no patria­rchal figure
- But is portrayed as loving, supportive and healthy – Saga’s “nuclear” family is a mess
- Anker’s death could be seen as a violent reaction of patria­rchal society against those who live altern­ative lives
 
Socialist feminist
- the text challenges establ­ished gender stereo­types
- Media often uses women’s bodies to appeal to audiences
- The Bridge it is not ‘sold’ on the sexual­isation of women – Saga is not object­ified
 
REPRES­ENT­ATION OF MEN
1. HANS
Gentle, patient – a father figure to Saga
 
In a loving relati­onship with Lillian, who is also a chief of police
 
Meaning they are both associated with the world of work – neither of them associated with domest­icity
2. HENRIK
Henrik is set up as a potential villain
 
Once you have seen the whole series, your perception of what we see in this episode changes
 
He is a sensitive, emotio­nally vulnerable character
 
Van Zoonen also says...
The meaning of gender varies according to cultural and historical context
The creation of Saga’s character reflects the interest in society in the changing ideas and viewpoints regarding gender
 
Judith Butler Theory
We are assigned our gender and that we conform to societal expect­ations of what it is to be a man or a women.
We act out or perform our gender like actors.
Perfor­mat­ivity is the idea that gender is the perfor­mance
Gender is a series of performed rituals – beyond the perfor­mance, there are no ‘natural’ charac­ter­istics attached to gender
Applying this to the Bridge...
This way of thinking about gender is highli­ghted within the narrative
Helle Anker’s activism and gender neutral preschool
Lise’s criticism of Anker’s views in her video
The episode presents this as a debate
The episode presents this as a debates
Notably Anker and her wife are sympat­hetic; Lise not so much
 
The fact that Saga is associated with tradit­ionally masculine traits can relate to Butler
 
We could interpret this as an affirm­ation that gender is performed, not natural