Criminal Minds - Police/Crime drama

Series 5 - Episode 11
The first opening shot is dark but we can see a light which highlights a figure which the audience can tell is a person. The dark lighting can be a form of pathetic fallacy, this indicates that the dark lighting represents a dark atmosphere. This contributes to the audience feeling on the edge of their seat and it immediately builds tension. A combination of the dark lighting and the music; which is both non diegetic and diagetic music; creates an atmosphere which is stereotypically what the audience would expect. The music is a mixture of heavy breathing and a melody that causes the audience to understand that there is a chase.
The scenery is a forest and is stereotypical for a police show. The audience will understand this is where people like to hid or keep things away from the things they don't want to be found. The audience will understand this as they follow the show and as a person who watches this show, it is easy to understand what is happening.
Throughout the sequence the audience becomes aware he is running away and hes trying to hide. He then hides behind a tree, using a point of view shot we see flashlights and people searching for him. He begins running again, and to build tension when he is running, the first shot is of his feet and then his legs and eventually his whole body running away. This was done on purpose so that the audience feels the suspense and the music begins to get faster which also builds tension and creates a fast paste atmosphere. There are a range of close ups on his face so we are able to see his expression which the audience can read as guilty but scared and worried. The large range of long shots show us that hes running and trying to get away.
He gets caught and there is a specific shot of the 'FBI' on a main characters vest. Followers will know who this character is due to his characteristics of knocking the man over. This is Derek Morgan and he is main character. This is the first moment which we are introduced to other characters. When Emily Prentiss comes in she says the iconic phrase
"Dale Schraeder you are under arrest. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say will be used against you in court." This is very iconic and is used in every police show and with the use of handcuffs he is then lead away into a police car. This scene is very iconic and re assuring for the audience and the music is non diegetic and is softer and comforting for the audience. They feel more relaxed but then wonder what will happen in the rest of the episode. This is the use of enigma codes from Roland Barthes; the idea of answered questions which keep the audience entranced and captured from the start.

Monday 3 May 2010

shameless opening

The first shot in the opening of shameless begins the same. Its is an establishing shot so that the audience is able to understand where they are and we are able to develop an understanding of there background. In the editing phrase, they used a variety of shots using quick changes to zoom into the appartment. We learn that they have a low income from the surrounding area, as there are tower buildings and this would stero typically we would assciate with working class men. We see a snap shot of the playground which represents innocence of the children. This then contrasts with next shot which is drunk man.
We then hear an over voice of a man which descirbes himself and his family. We see as he looks in the mirror and we can see he isn't clean or stable. We see him falling and bread falling which is comedic and entertaining. As he falls in the shot we see that there are people standing around them. We don't feel pity or empathy for the main character as nobody else seems to care. As they don't care we don't care either as we can then assume that this happens often. There is a good shot where he is lying on the floor with the bread next to him. This is entertaining for the audience and they used a mid shot on the floor lying next to him so the audience feel next to him. As he speaks, we learn about the kids and there is such a range of shots which establish character. The boys are running away and the audience doesn't know what from. The different shots use mise en scene to create character, the condom in the picture sets the age and also in the theme. The camerawork explains characteristics of the children, so the audience is able to understand without watching any other shots.

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Shameless

Shameless