P2- TV Drama

Todorovs's Theory

Evaluate the relevance of Todorov's theory of narratology to long tv dramas. [10 marks]

Todorovs Theory of narratology suggests that TV dramas follow the same structure as films and other media. Homeland is a TV drama and so follows most of the conventions of this theory. However it does have some limitations for example TV dramas do not end with the new equilibrium because typically they end in suspense. A typical TV drama will end with a disruption because they want you to watch the next episode to see what happens.

 Homeland began with a equilibrium the equilibrium in Homeland is the setting of Baghdad. She is used to the busy surroundings. However it quickly becomes problems as there are disruptions that may cause issues later on in the narrative. For example the woman takes bipolar medication and is now no longer in Baghdad. Which is her happy place, so this is the first disruption. This is set post 9/11 which focuses on how good homeland security is against terrorist threats.

Apply Todorov's Theory to Homeland

Equilibrium - In baghdad getting intelligence. 

Disruption - Bipolar medication, no longer in Baghdad. An agent has been turned, an American agent (Brody). Brody has a wife and best friend, they are having an affair. Brody's daughter smoking a bong. He was throwing up either with PTSD or he was nervous.

Homelands Race Representation and Americanisation

We are prisoners of American Capitalism. Most people in todays world have or has used an American product. From drinking CocaCola, eating in a McDonalds or even using an Apple product like an iPhone or iMac.

• Males are typically favoured by Hollywood films however there have been more and more females that have been favoured over men so there is always inequality in gender roles. - Homeland breaks some gender roles as the lead role is a women however it does still follow some conventions as her boss is a male and so is the 'American Hero'. There are still many stereotypical gender roles in this season.

• White people are always favoured in films as the hero. - Homeland Follows some race stereotypes, for example the main character the CIA agent is white and so is the American Hero, however her boss is black which is not a typical race role in American TV dramas.

• Higher class are the most important and always the hero

• Straight catholic/ no religion who typically are a capitalist to allow them to gain more money

17th April 2020

Media Language: How TV Drama communicates meaning through codes and conventions and technical and narrative techniques.

Representations: How events, issues, individuals and social groups are portrayed in TV Drama.

Industry: How the TV industry processes of production, distribution and circulation work.

Audiences: How TV Dramas target, reach and address audiences and how audiences interpret and respond to them.

Context: The economic, social and cultural contexts surrounding specific TV dramas.

Defining the Genre

• Long-form TV drama normally consists of an in-depth, lengthy narrative.
• The story normally unfolds over a 10 episode period, allowing for plot and character development.
• Long form drama describes the recent shift of interest towards TV series of high quality that many people consider to have replaced the cinema for adult entertainment. Unfolding over many episodes, hours or even years, the TV shows are seen to provide a content, often dark and difficult, and an innovative style that strain against the typical conventions of a cinema as well as network TV. It also attracts some of the best and most innovative writers, directors and even actors.

Flexi-narrative represents a complex story telling form with the following features;

1. Central characters whose motives develop with them
2. A main storyline with interwoven sub-plots
3. A combination of complex characters that are ambiguous or enigmatic, creating tension and questions for the audience

Luther

Within the storyline of Luther, there are central characters whose motives develop with them. These include the 'Hero' and the main 'Villain', who are Luther and Alice. As the storyline develops we see more and more that Luther wants to take Alice down, Alice (the villain) killed her parents and Luther knows she did it however there was no evidence and therefore Luther couldn't do anything about it. Throughout the whole series Luther becomes more and more frustrated with Alice. While this is all going on in an underlying case there are multiple cases that Luther solves along the way, these are usually solved within the same episode but sometimes is stretched between a couple of episodes to increase tension. Luther and Alice would also be the most complex characters in the series. As we already learn from the first 5 minutes into the series that Luther will do anything to get revenge or justice in his eyes. We start to ask questions, will Luther do this? Do that? Along the way this adds a feeling that we are solving the case with the characters. Which creates tension along the storyline and makes the audience ask more questions.

Research into Homelands

• The series was developed by SHOWTIME - a cable satellite TV network.
• Fox 21 Television Studios produced the show
• Season 1 won the 2011 Golden Globe Award for best TV Drama Series.
• The first award that homeland won was the Primetime Emmy Awards.
• Homelands was post 9/11 terrorist attack so this attack impacted the development of the series.
• Homelands achieved a huge 2.8 million views on Channel 4 with the first series in the Uk, and in America on the same channel and the same series Homelands achieved a total of 3.15 million people on its first showing.

          Homeland Genres;

• Serial
• Drama
• Mystery
• Thriller
• Suspense
• Psychological thriller
• Spy fiction
• Political thriller

Homeland Narrative

21st April 2020

Main Narrative Quest / Conflict Set Up

The initial problem that was set up was 'a prisoner of war has been turned'. This has suggested to have been Brody. Brody is then under surveillance to find out if the previous sentence was true or not. This will carry on throughout the series, and will drive the series as this is the underlying problem, there should be smaller problems along the way as well.

Enigma Codes and Individual Character Narratives 

Brody is seen to be looking up at the White House while having many flashbacks to when he was a prisoner of war, it is shown to be Brody beating another soldier to death. Questions are created for the audience to wether or not Brody has been turned and that he is a terrorist, and a couple other questions. Will Brody find out that his family is breaking down, wife having an affair, the daughter smoking etc. The main question would be is the agent who is surveying Brody going to hold it together? This is also linking in with Individual character narratives, many of the questions that will need to be answered are also there to help set up the character narrative. Such as the agent investigating Brody taking medication, probably for Bipolar, this question set up is that she might not be stable, but this also gives context to the extreme obsession with finding the truth about what happened in Baghdad. There are many questions that the audience will want answering, many are only slightly hinted in the storyline.

Industry & Context

24th April 2020

LO: To explore the production social and political context of set production

• I didn't really like the first episode, mainly because I'm not interested in this genre, however I feel that the episode gave enough story lines and context in the beginning that we have an idea of what the rest of the series is going to be about. There is a lot going on in the first episode, it is a lot to keep up with the story line. However this pace of episode has allowed to set up some of the most important underlying storylines for the rest of the series.
• I felt that the narrative was overwhelming with the amount of information that was being thrown at the audience, this fast paced episode has allowed the audience to develop an understanding of the characters and if the character is good or bad. We understand flaws that each of the characters may have or there was a suggestion of one of the characters flaws.

Industry Context

• TV video on demand (VOD) systems can either be streamed through a set-top box, allowing viewing in real time, or download it to a device or computer.
• Showtime, as a cable TV-based provider offers both VOD streaming and free content.
• Homeland is a great example of how a successful cable TV show has been distributed as VOD using digital convergent devices, and it shows how the internet provides a wider and global reach to online audiences.

Political Context

• September 11th 2001 still stands as one of the most shocking, dramatic and traumatic days of recent history.
• Attacks were targeting symbolic locations in America (Twin Towers, Pentagon and the White House) They were symbols of political power.
• The loss of life and the physical scaring of the city and the realisation that the USA was not 'untouchable' had a devastating effect on Western Culture.

The impact of 9/11

• There was impact on individual lives
• Internal and international security legislation
• Declaration by America of a 'war of terror'
• Subsequent conflicts in the Middle East 
• Feeling of fear and unease caused by the unforeseen attack. 
• Religious/Cultural dimensions including racism, religious intolerance and fear of the outsiders and other people too
• At first, apart from on the news, American Media tended to ignore the event and several mainstream media texts set in New York show this.
• The producers of Spiderman (2002) withdrew its promotional trailer as it featured the Twin Towers
• The biggest sitcom 'F.R.I.E.N.D.S' (1994-2014), made an active decision not to include references to that specific event.

I feel like the producers of these shows decided to leave it out because the event was so traumatic to the people of America, another reason of cause would be that they didn't want to present America as a venerable country, which is why the biggest shows of all time have decided not to include this event in their shows. I feel that this decision was just, but I also think that if they included it we would remember the event more often and remember those who lost their life on that day.

• Midway through the decade, there were attempts to deal with the events of 9/11 in films such as United 93 (2006) and World Trade Centre (2006) were 9/11 drove the narrative of the films. 
• Then in 2007 and 2008 the films 'Legend' and 'Cloverfield' showed New York as a post-apocalyptic location.

A decade on... Homelands

Homelands was based on an Israeli programme called Prisoners of War, Homelands took the story of the return home of a long term prisoner of war and located it in the post 9/11 American Context. Although Bin Laden had been found and killed earlier that year, it had already been written and filmed.

Homelands have managed to tap into the post 9/11 theme by using the idea of a terrorist, the prisoner of war told the Agent, 'An American prisoner of War has been turned'. After 9/11 the world was on high alert, even now we still have major terrorist attacks. There is a general fear of terrorism in the world, when Homelands was produced and broadcasted there would have still been this fear of War of Terror. This idea relates to the idea of a terrorist plot against America, this is further backed up when Brody was looking up at the White House in an aggressive way. This makes us assume that Brody is planning a terrorist attack on the White House, the centre of America. This stimulus a fear of an up and coming 'war of terror' is the same idea that was used when the World Trade Centre was hit. This shows that the idea of terrorism is a key storyline within Homelands, and this is how Homelands have tapped into the anxieties of the American people. 9/11 context is very important in Homelands as otherwise the terror attack wouldn't be as significant, this is because the biggest terrorist attack in America and even the world was the attack in 2001 on the World Trade Centre, the thought that this has happened before heightens the anxiety and tension of the storyline. If 9/11 didn't happen then this story line wouldn't give their audience the tension and suspense of what might happen next, 9/11 context has been used in such a way to show that this has happened before and last time the country wasn't ready but the country has made that mistake once already they won't again, Carrie is the voice of America within Homeland, this is because America does everything it can to prevent attacks in the future, which is very similar to what Carrie does, this gives the idea that America is now more prepared to deal with and fight any threat to the people of America. This is all because America like Carrie will do anything in their power and more, to protect America and the American people from a war of terror attack. After 9/11 the whole of the world immediately heightened the security protocols for planes and secure events. Not only this but post 9/11 security cameras and home security became very popular, Governments invested heavily in public security cameras and other heightened security for the general public along with additional protection for World Leaders. 

Homeland: Characters, Carrie Mathison

28th April 2020

In the image Carrie is shown to be looking for the truth, this is shown by the word truth written on the wall next to her eyes. This shows she is a determined character and just wants the truth, whatever that may be. Sargent Brody is shown in the background, he is slightly faded, this could suggest the old Brody is ghost like and doesn't exist anymore, because 'an American prisoner of war has been turned'. The faded figure could also show Brody trying to be discreet, while planning something. Carrie is looking directly at the camera, showing she is confident. Whereas Brody is looking at Carrie, this shows that Brody is watching his back, making sure he is not going to be caught.

Carrie Mathison

• Is the lead protagonist in Homelands, our first encounter with Carrie with her shows that she was in the field in Baghdad.

Carrie in the scene was very determined and was running with a time limit, she had a limited time slot to do what she needed to. She abandoned her vehicle, suggesting whatever she was trying to do is more important than anything else at this point in time. She paid off a soldier to get what she wanted, once she started talking to the man who was being executed, the officers came to arrest her. In this short space of time the fear and anxiety is growing, will Carrie get what she wanted? This is a post 9/11 fear as these characteristics and actions links to the stereotypical terrorist, do anything to get what you want, let nothing stand in your way.

• Carrie is presented in an active and dynamic way, arguing with an authority figure and attempting the persuade a prisoner to pass on some information. This makes her fearless, determined to get what she wants and will go to any length to gain the truth.

In the opening scene it shows Carrie trying to get to the prisoner, before he is to be executed. It shows that she pays off a soldier to get what she wants, she try's to speak to the prisoner and he doesn't want to give any information, eventually after some persuasion the prisoner starts to talk but during this the officers came to remove and arrest Carrie who was trying to talk to the prisoner. Carrie in this opening scene is presented as a strong willed character who would do anything for the truth, even if it is illegal. During the height of the scene, the tension was at its height, the shot types were very close, above the characters, this suggests that the people watching are superior as they don't break the rules. Before this however the shot types were at eye level or lower. This shows that the characters are the 'goodies', this is of Carrie trying to get to the prisoner before he is executed. The middle east is presented as a battle field, a place of conflict, this is because of the army that seem to be everywhere. There is also barbed wire in the streets, in a civilised and a peace ground this wouldn't be here, so this shows that Baghdad is a place of war and conflict. It is also very dusty which shows that it is very hot, these conditions add to the tension, as you can see that it wouldn't be a very nice position to be in if we were Carrie, or in fact any other character is the opening scene. There is alot going on in the first scene, the camera is shaking, which shows pace. There is fast paced editing which furthermore backs up the point that Carrie is under a time limit to get what she wants.

Scene 2

Carrie is presented as a busy, self conscious female, who has suspected bi-polar, according to the medication that she takes. She has no attachment to her ring, which shows she is single, probably recently separated I'm guessing according to all of the moving boxes around her house and that there isn't another person in sight. There is a lot of close up shots of the actions that she is taking, bruising her teeth, getting dressed and taking her medication. This shows that she is confident, she doesn't care what others think and that she is strong willed.

• Carrie represents a non-conventional and highly flawed hero, she has a medical disorder.
• Not only is she a female who represents authority, a role usually taken by a male, she is also very independent and has grit, determination and is happy to ignore the chain of command. She is a maverick who is her own worst enemy, she doesn't listen to her boss when he tells her to stop what she is doing.
• This alienates her from authority male figures within the CIA. Such as her boss and the surveillance men which are helping Carrie illegally.
• Carrie alienates herself further by refusing to follow procedure and lying to her mentor, all in the name of her pursuit of the truth, she pays off a soldier to get what she wants, she refuses to follow orders that are given by her senior.
• She has an obsessive attention to detail, such as when she see's Brody trying to signal someone via live TV.
• Also she has a medical disorder, bi-polar shown by her medication, which she gets confronted about further on in the episode.
• Carrie makes several decisions within the narrative that cause the audience to question her judgement, such as paying off the guard and setting up illegally a surveillance of sergeant Brody.
• As a women she is represented as highly emotional. She cares about the truth and will do anything to get it, including using her emotion and strong willingness to get what she wants.
• She uses her sexuality as a tool, she dresses to please those around her, to get what she wants.

In Homelands, Carrie isn't your typical hero, she is a highly flawed individual, this is what is used to make us the audience question some of her judgements, such as partaking in illegal activity to gain the truth about a character, we know from the first few scenes about her mental health. Which is further shown at the end of the episode where people she is working with finds out about it, such as her boss and the surveillance men. We learn that these mental health issues are actually bi-polar, which then makes the episode make more sense, we then realise that the fast paced editing style that has been used is also representing Carrie as being very flustered and annoyed due to her mental health   not just because she is under a certain time period. However she is also very confident and will do anything to get the truth, this breaks typical gender stereotypes, usually women would be presented as vulnerable and needing to be saved by the man, usually the hero. Carrie breaks these stereotypes as she is very confident and strong willed, she doesn't need help by anyone, she will do it by herself, even if it's illegal. This is also shown within the narrative, that she will do anything, especially when she thinks that she is right. This shows, she is very passionate about her job and about protecting her country from any impending attacks. She is searching for the truth and according to the narrative so far, 'An American prisoner of war has been turned', Carrie seems to think that it is the recently found American prisoner, Sargent Bodie, while the rest of the nation sees a hero Carrie sees as a threat. So she will do anything to get the truth about Sargent Brody.

Homeland: Characters, Nickolas Brody

The antagonist is always a character who has opposing goals from the protagonist.  An antihero, on the other hand, is always the protagonist in the story. Even if the audience does not agree with her or her actions, the audience is supposed to understand the antihero's motivations and sympathise with this character. I think in this case Brody is the lead antagonist and Carrie is the anti-hero.

• Marine Sergeant Nickolas Brody is the lead antagonist in Homelands. Brody is clearly disturbed by his experiences as a prisoner of war and the programme parallels his struggles in settling back into a normal family life.
• We first see Brody at 5.22 mins, being 'rescued' by the armed forces from apparent captivity for the last 8 years.

From the cam footage from the soldiers we see bombs exploding, lots of rubble and they say there is a padlocked door, when the soldiers enter they throw a flash grenade, then enter, the room is very dark and there is more rubble everywhere. Brody also has a long beard and long hair, he also looks very dirty, this is all mise-en-scène to make it look more like Brody was a prisoner of war.

• As a man and a soldier, he would be the most traditional character to play the 'heroic' role.

However we see him very much from Carrie's perspective;

• In this scene we see Brody's family reunite, they get to meet their dad from 8 years ago. They finally meet their dad, they have a big hug, eventually, after this Brody has a TV interview infant of the army and the nation to thank everyone for their support etc.
• The Vice President is presented as higher class, but also with a humorous side of him, he is smiling the entire time that we see him, this would by typical as the Vice President has to put on a show for his people. the Vice President shows his gratitude to Brody both in private and online TV.
• When the family is reunited the family are presented as shy, especially the boy, he even puts out his hand to shake hands with his dad, and calls him sir. This shows that the boy doesn't remember his dad, because he has been away for so long. Brody is presented as unsure of what to do, like he is ashamed of himself, he is happy when his wife goes to hug him. He is presented as just like any other dad who is returning home. Like he doesn't know about his Mum dying either, he seems to realise what has happened and he totally understands too.

Exam Question

Brody is presented as a hero during his return home from being a prisoner of war. He is shown to be thankful of the help and support everyone is showing, this is in the eyes of the entire nation. He is shown to be humorous and as a hero, the nations hero that survived being a prisoner of war. He is shown as hero by using a low camera angle, this then makes the scene more realistic, he is stood on top of a podium, while standing next to the Vice President. During his family reunion he is shown to be unsure of the situation, but is overwhelmed by when his wife starts to hug him, he starts to cry at this moment. This shows Brody as an emotional character who cares about everyone around him. In most of the scenes Brody is shown by using a low camera angle, this not only shows him as a hero, but also his actions and how is presented makes the audience yet again question Carrie's accusations. On TV he shows his gratitude to everyone who has supported him throughout these difficult times. This is not the stereotypical hero that we usually see, Brody breaks the stereotypical 'hero' figure, as hero's tend not to be emotional, they tend to save people not be saved by others etc. However Brody seems to be the opposite of this stereotypical 'hero' character. 

This could mean that he is not a 'hero' that we all may see. As I said before he is the opposite of what the typical 'hero' figure is normally represented. However we may still think that he is the hero. But in the views of Carrie, he is the villain. This could be very well true, as he has the opposite characteristics of the 'hero' stereotypical figure. The opposite of a hero is the villain, this means that Brody may well be the prisoner of war who has been turned, that Carrie has been told about. But he in some ways also fits the traditional role of the hero, this is by him being a soldier and a man, however by saying up the characteristics, I feel that this is just a front, to cover up the fact that Sergeant Nickolas Brody is in fact a terrorist. 

• Carrie rejects the view that Brody is a hero, and whilst the audiences see him as a hero in episode 1, they do not see enough of his behaviour to join Carrie into being suspicious.
• So the audience have to reject the reassurance a conventional hero can provide. As an audience we are positioned. We are shown certain viewpoints and given enough information to see him through a specific perspective. 
• Sergeant Brody's Islamic 'turn' is presented as a precursor to becoming a terrorist. While Islam my provide Brody with therapeutic comfort, he is a Stockholm, syndrome convert, coerced into his Islamic faith and its association to terrorist politics.
• Homeland exploits the viewers initial surprise associated with seeing a white US marine worshiping Allah in his garage by anticipating and refuting the stereotypical assumption that Brody's faith is evidence that he is a terrorist.

1a) We see Brody taking normal human actions such as sex and him spending time with his wife and kids. This makes us believe that Brody is more of a normal person than Carrie tries to make out. 

b) These actions make the audience believe more in the fact that Brody is a hero, he is just a bit overwhelmed about being back home. It also makes us think that Carrie is in the wrong by watching him doing everyday things around his own home which should be private, it starts to show that Carrie is a bit crazy or obsessed over trying to find Brody of being a terrorist. 

2) Brody is shown more and more throughout the episode that he is a caring normal, family man, who just so happens to be a soldier and thus makes him the hero in the storyline. 

3) There a a few flashbacks that Brody has, these include the fact that Brody beat up is work mate, the soldier that he says was killed by the Islamic soldiers, was actually killed by him. We also see him being beat up and hanged up naked, dropped to the floor just to be given some water, most of the flashbacks are of when Brody is lying to someone. When he lies we see what actually happened and what is going though Brody's head at the time of him lying to the people around him. this makes us believe that Brody is guilty, and is actually in fact a terrorist and he is doing his best to try and not make it obvious, but we get to see his flashbacks so we gain a bit of context to the story, the characters in the story don't know about this information which further makes us believe that Carrie is correct. 

• There are a few mice-en-scène choices made by the producer about how the interrogation should be represented, it is fairly dark and is very similar to an interrogation room, however its not classed as that because Brody is a hero. There is quite harsh lighting on the faces of the characters but the background is usually dark, which makes the audience focus more onto the character and what they are saying. 
• The shot types are mainly of mid to close up shots, this is to show the conversation more clearly, it lets us know who is talking at what point and how each character reacts, this allows the audience to take part in the interrogation, allowing the audience to weigh up what is happening helping them to draw their own conclusions about the situation. 
• There a a few flashbacks that Brody has, these include the fact that Brody beat up is work mate, the soldier that he says was killed by the Islamic soldiers, was actually killed by him. We also see him being beat up and hanged up naked, dropped to the floor just to be given some water, most of the flashbacks are of when Brody is lying to someone. When he lies we see what actually happened and what is going though Brody's head at the time of him lying to the people around him. this makes us believe that Brody is guilty, and is actually in fact a terrorist and he is doing his best to try and not make it obvious, but we get to see his flashbacks so we gain a bit of context to the story, the characters in the story don't know about this information which further makes us believe that Carrie is correct.
• Carrie is presented as strong, however when answers are giving which she thinks are not true, she gets confused and a fit flustered, this makes her ask the same question again. It shows that she is confident that Brody is a terrorist and it also shows that she is strong willed to get the truth out of him.
• Brody is also presented as confident, he is putting on a brave face in-front of the people who are questioning him. We see his flashbacks so we know what he is saying is not true, this makes us agree more with Carrie.

Homelands: Representations

• Sherlock Holmes - 'High functioning sociopath', who struggles with drug abuse. 

Carrie's mental health:

• Shown that she admits to her mental health issues, shows that she doesn't really care about her mental health. 
• She gets quite emotional and annoyed when her ability to execute her job is questioned.
• She controls herself by walking away from the person questioning her ability.
• She is trying to keep it together to save her country as she made a mistake before and doesn't want it to happen again.

Representation: Mental Health

• Carrie's mental illness - her bi-polar, makes her amazing at investigating. She obsesses over details so much that she gets to the heart of the matter every time. She knows before everyone else does!
• This is a growing trend in dramas - using mental illness as a link to investigate brilliance. e.g. BBC's Sherlock Holmes.
• Carrie's illness manifests itself in obsessive attention to detail, inappropriate sexual relationships and frequent hysterical outbursts.
• Mise-en-scene: Extremely wide open eyes, quivering lip, screwed up face and raking her hand through her hair to express her frustration with her inability to fully protect the US Homeland.
• Carrie represents a familiar construction of a professional woman whose personal trauma underpins her role as a truth seeker and law enforcer.
• The audience understands relatively early that Carrie is right to be suspicious of Brody, but the show withholds diegetic recognition; indeed her interest in pursuit of Brody, which merges personal obsession and professional responsibility, begins to undermine her status as a trustworthy character.
• Initially the show uses Carrie's illness to question her reliability - to her family, her profession and even herself. The combination of being certain and then being proved wrong is what drives Carrie to seek electroshock therapy, as the closing sequence of season 1 ends. But the audience know that she isn't wrong.

Representation

Area 1 - Carrie is shown to have no present relationships, which makes her extremely focused on her work, but this might also means that she overthinks her work as well due to her mental health. Brody's wife is shown to be cheating on Brody with his best friend. Further backs up how long Brody has been away and missing for. This also shows how the family is falling apart due to Brody being MIA. 

Area 2 - Poster Below

Area 3 - There is a lot of violence within this episode, most of the violence is conveyed through Brody's flashbacks. The flashbacks are from when Brody was in Iraq as a prisoner of war, most of the flashbacks happen just before or just after Brody has lied to someone. These flashbacks allow the audience to see what Brody is thinking, which allows us to judge the character and the situation before the rest of the characters know what actually happened. This is called Dramatic Irony, which is present in most Drama series and films. The violence is shown by fast paced editing and a dark and dingy mise-en-scène. There is also a lot of blood present and very close up shots of both Brody and the person he was made to beat up.

Area 4 - Surveillance is shown to be very effective in Homelands, such as when we see the body cam of the soldiers rescuing Brody and the screens which displayed this in the CIA building. Surveillance is also shown as a very dangerous thing, such as it is illegal to survey someone without a warrant, because of privacy. So it is very heavily restricted as well, but Homeland also highlights issues of rogue agents, such as Carrie who would do anything for the truth, even breaking the law, which also shows how it is fairly easy to gain access to surveillance, even if it is in an illegal way.

Area 5 - The American dream is represented as a myth within Homeland, this is because Homelands shows Brody's daughter taking illegal drugs, Brody's wife who is having an affair. It also shows Brody's house as fairly small, which is the opposite of the 'American dream' where the American dream allows for all Americans and others to live the life of prosperity, the full definition of the 'American dream' is; The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. Although this could have been true if the family stayed strong, it didn't which shows the 'American Dream' is just a myth, the family also encountered many barriers which would mean they could have achieved the dream, however the last part of the definition is definitely not true for Homelands storyline.

Area 6 - Carrie represents a non-conventional and highly flawed hero, she has a medical disorder.
Not only is she a female who represents authority, a role usually taken by a male, she is also very independent and has grit, determination and is happy to ignore the chain of command. She is a maverick who is her own worst enemy, this shows that Homelands follow the stereotype of women as they present women as the flawed characters within the storyline, such as the mental heath, or the ability not to follow orders from her seniors. However she is also a hero, which rarely happens, she is still surrounded by male characters who are not flawed, and some of them are in a much higher position than she is, but she is still a hero, a flawed hero but still a hero, which does break some stereotypical representations about women.

Area 7 - There is still a fear of terrorism post 9/11 as the war of terror still continues. Homelands have managed to tap into the post 9/11 theme by using the idea of a terrorist, the prisoner of war told the Agent, 'An American prisoner of War has been turned'. After 9/11 the world was on high alert, even now we still have major terrorist attacks. There is a general fear of terrorism in the world, when Homelands was produced and broadcasted there would have still been this fear of War of Terror. This idea relates to the idea of a terrorist plot against America, this is further backed up when Brody was looking up at the White House in an aggressive way. This makes us assume that Brody is planning a terrorist attack on the White House, the centre of America. This stimulus of fear of an up and coming 'war of terror' is the same idea that was used when the World Trade Centre was hit. Even today there is still a big stereotype around Muslims, most people assume that all Muslims are terrorists, which is definitely not the case, only some extreme Muslims would ever think of committing a terrorist attack, and they are a small minority of people. This fear has been created ever since the start of the 'war of terror' began in 2001 on the World Trade Centre.


Representation Task:

Area 2:

The Killing

15th May 2020

LO: To Explore the Narrative, Theme & Characters in a Set Episode.

• The series was created by Soren Sveistrup and co-produced by DR.
• Veena Sud (American television writer)
• Produced by Fox Television Studios and Fuse Entertainment.
• 38th Saturn Awards for best supporting actress in television (Michelle Forbes) and 64th Directors Guild of America Awards for outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Series (Patty Jenkins)
• DR1 is the flagship television channel of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951, BBC also was the first tv channel in the UK, and is the flagship of TV in and around the UK, not only this but BBC is also a worldwide TV channel as well.
• 1.7 million on DR1 and 500,000 on BBC 4
• Netflix released the complete 4th season of the Killing on August 1st 2014.
• The first season covers the first two weeks of the investigation and has three main storylines: the police investigation of Rosie's murder, the attempts of her family to deal with their grief, and the fluctuating electoral fortunes of a political campaign that becomes embroiled in the case.

Character Profiles

Sarah Lund is perhaps the most iconic characters to ever come out of Danish television. Not only is she prominent in her work as a detective but also as a woman willing to risk anything. Lund is portrayed by acclaimed Danish actress Sofie Gråbøl in the  Danish series The Killing.

Jan Meyer is a major character in the first season. He is played by starring cast member Søren Malling. He is a Detective Chief Inspector in the Copenghagen Police Department Homicide Division. He is new to his post and is working in partnership with his predecessor Detective Inspector Sarah Lund in investigating the murder of Nanna Birk Larsen.

Troels Hartmann is a major character in the first season. He is played by starring cast member Lars Mikkelsen. He is a politician and a candidate for Mayor of Copenhagen. He is in a relationship with his advisor Rie Skovgaard.

• LF TV Dramas often have complex narrative structure, a main narrative arc that spans over the whole series and a number of minor narratives that may only last one or two episodes.
• The main narrative will often has several 'strands' which come together over the course of the series.

To begin with in 'The Killer' series we see a woman being chased by a person, this leads us to believe that there is that to be a crime committed. After this first scene we find out more about the other characters such as the detective and the rest of the family and friends. Further on in the episode we understand that a schoolgirl has gone missing, fast paced editing techniques are used to create a dramatic entrance for the main conflict set up. Throughout this episode we get a further understanding of who this character is who may have been killed. At the very end of the episode the use of mise-en-scène and pathetic fallacy which basically means that the weather reflects the mood of the scene or person that is involved. It has been used in this case to reflect the mood of the father of the daughter who has just been found dead. We don't instantly realise that this is the girl, all we know is that they are lifting the car out of a river, we start to think but this maybe be the way that the killer disposed of the body. This whole set up will drive the rest of the series with this underlying problem that the detective is facing, normally there is going to be some struggles to finding the truth, such as the criminal covering his tracks, or red herrings that take the detectives off the trail of the crime.

There are several Enigma codes that are set up in this first episode, this is to make the audience want to keep watching to discover the answers to the questions that they have. Such as is the politician related to this crime at all or is this a red herring to draw the detectives off the scent of the actual criminal. The audience may also want to find out who is going to become the next mayor, the audience might want to find out about the other characters such as the friends of the person who was killed. These questions are raised to the audience to make the audience want to discover the answers which will influence them to keep watching to find out more. 

There are also several individual character narratives which are set up during this episode. Such as we find out about detectives and relationships they have family and friends, we also find out that the father has bought a house for them to all move into. So from this we know that the father has a stable relationship with his family and his wife. This could relate to people who might be watching this series as well you may have lost a loved one in the past. Individual character narratives are set up to allow the audience to gain an understanding of what they are going through and it also makes us sympathise with the characters. Which also acts as an Enigma code to raise other questions that the audience may have, which will again influence the audience to watch more to discover the answers to their questions.

The killing - Industry & Context

19th May 2020

The first episode of the killing had many Enigma codes to help set up the rest of the series, I actually quite liked this first episode as I felt that the episode was fast paced, which is one of the stereotypical techniques used in this genre. The only thing I didn't like about this episode was that at the beginning I felt that it is slightly confusing but they go and 'solve'a murder which we first leave is the girl that was running away from the man in the first scene.

I felt that the characters were set up in an understanding way, which makes the viewer understand the circumstances that each of the characters are going through. The characters are quite normalised in the killing which is the total opposite of the narrative, which creates tension for the audience.

• The killing is a great example of European long form TV drama produced under and grown out of a strong public service remit. It says the conventions of the commercial form for example Homeland, but is also concerned with the wider social political and moral issues.
• Each 15 minute episode covers 24 hours of the investigation, with the first series consisting of 20 episodes! It shows the economic context of a small, publicly owned national broadcaster that could only finance one long form TV drama per season. (only 5% of Danish drama is financed by the Danish license fee)
• DVD box set sales and a number of international coproduces, the BBC being one, and distribution agreements have aided the success of Danish dramas.
• By 2013 Danish drama had become very popular as context on multi-platform online media like Netflix, shows the recognition of the quality and the significance of the series.

Genre

• Nordic Noir is an umbrella term to describe Scandinavian crime fiction, genre that has become very popular in the last few years.
• It is a hybrid police procedural drama with elements of family drama and melodrama. This mix was intended to attract both male and female audiences.
• The term defines the stylistic and narrative elements that the genre has employed.
• The killing has a visual style that relies on open, forlorn Spaces where it is often cloudy or raining, and interior shots with muted lighting and monochrome colour design creating a distinctive look.

TV programs/Nordic noir

• Trapped - Since 2015
• Deadwind - Since 2018
• The Bridge - 2011 – 2018
• Bordertown - Since 2016
• Marcella - Since 2016
• Wisting - Since 2019
• Modus - 2015 – 2017
• Fortitude - 2015 – 2018
• Follow the Money - 2016 – 2019
• Borgen - 2010 – 2013
• Arctic Circle - 2018 – 2019
• Before We Die - 2017
• Fallet - Since 2017
• Below the Surface - 2017 – 2019
• Gomorrah - Since 2014

Nordic Noir - Conventions

• Partly because of it's PSP remit, Danish TV drama consciously incorporates into its storytelling a cause and affect narrative, covering crime and a broader socio-political contexts in this case.
• Part of the conventions is to weave intricate characters and plots that converge and diversify to encourage audience interpretation and reading of events.

During the title sequence of the killing there was a lot of background lighting, which means we see silhouettes of the characters, we only see the face of the person who is running away in a brief second where a plane is flying overhead. The sound is very dramatic there are deep drumroll bass, which creates tension for the audience. Most of the shots are very low, they are mainly worms eye view, there is also a mixture of longshots and close-ups. These help to create tension for the viewer, this is also done by using fast paced editing techniques which further enhances the viewers experience.

Context

• The killing is set in the capital of Copenhagen.
• Copenhagen is the cultural and political centre of the country and the series is the product of the Danish public broadcasting network DR, which dominates Danish programming.
• The majority of Homeland is set in America, Washington DC to be exact. Washington DC is the centre of everything that happens in America. From where the President lives, to where the politicians work, everything is centred around the city.
• Danish society is renowned for being a rational and civilised society. The murder of Nanna Birk Larsen is framed as a shocking and anomaly to this.
• American society in homeland is represented as the flawed American dream. Not everything provides Americans with the prosperity that the American dream offers them. However, Americans also celebrate victories, such as the return of an 'American hero'. America is also a civilised society, precautions have been put in place to prevent any future terrorist attacks, and so post 9/11 America has been renowned for being a safe place for people to live.

Social Context

• 'Crime'is one of a number of indicators of social decay or at best decline.
• In Forbrydelsen, the impact on Denmark of the recent financial crisis which was raging as the writer/director scripted the programme. A stressed social context in which, as he perceived it, people reacted by looking after number one.
• "When it opens' as Sveistrup put it, "Sarah Lund is actually doing pretty well... Not caring about the crisis" and instead "trying to make a life for herself".
• But we see how this creates a conflict between public and private lives.
• Even though she begins as a woman who plans to move to Sweden with her fiancé and son, she is emotionally and professionally committed to this case, she cannot abandon them to a colleague Jan Meyer, and this brings personal sacrifice, which we see when Bengt, her fiancé, finally leaves without her.

Social Context

• We also register the economic struggle of the Larsen family which reminds us of the broader societal context. Theis runs a successful business which includes a number of workers but the Larsens still have trouble finding money to fix the dishwasher, they struggle harder what's the cost of the funeral are added.
• The crime occurs in a notable 'familiar' setting, distinguished by the "extension of a sense of biological family to other groups'.
• In Forbrydelsen, we see the 'familiar'represented across the different narrative strands, specifically by the Larsens, by Lund and the reconstituted family that she is neglecting.
• The tight political circle around Troels Hartmann (candidate for mayor), acts as an aspiration for 'uncle' Vagn, who clearly wants to belong to the Larsen family, yet whose racist outrage at Nanna's Secret love affair with an Asian boy, it's so intense that Vahn rapes and kills her.

The Killing shows the opposite of the renowned safe city of Copenhagen. The storyline comes to a surprise to everyone who lives in Denmark, the murder of Nanna Larsen, is a shocking anomaly to the everyday lives that the people of Copenhagen are used to. During the time that this series was written, there were several problems in society but none of which included high levels of crime. Copenhagen is one of the safest cities in the world, so it comes as a surprise to all that the writer decided to base the series in this city. This surprising decision creates a sort of a mirror image of what Denmark actually is like, while including scenes of the actual city itself. I feel that this decision actually creates tension in itself, as if it depicts Copenhagen as a dangerous city, then what else will the writer decide to make an opposite reality. It creates questions to the reader by using Enigma codes, these Enigma codes is what drives the rest of the series and creates the tension and suspense that it requires to keep the audience attached to this series.

The Killing - Characters

This medium close-up shot of Sara Lund suggest she is confused and she wants answers. This shot also shows that she is determined to find the truth. She is a very similar character to Carrie Mathison, the way she is looking around and the way she is dressed shows she is not willing to fast track this investigation, she wants to stay out in the cold on what looks like moor land until she has the answer that she has been looking for.

The sound over the footage is very dramatic with bass and drums every now and then, the footage has been edited in such a way so that anything dramatic or that is a tension builder happens on this change in beat. Most of the camera shots are of close-ups and extreme longshots, this make sure that the audience does not get a clear vision of both characters, the only visual of the girl running away is when a plane flies over. This then confirms to the audience that it is a young girl running away, the dark and grungy background and mise-en-scène, represents the mood of the characters, this is also known as pathetic fallacy. The mise-en-scène used shows that there is a crime that is about to take place. This first scene gives the impression that the rest of the content of the series will include many plot twists, a lot of drama and a lot of crime. 

Quote

'After the frightening and chilling chase through the woods, Shown by the mise-en-scène of the scene, such as the dark setting, the fast paced editing techniques and the sound, we meet our brunette female good-cop protagonist - waking up from a disturbed sleep, tired and worn out, staggering around the house in her pyjamas, shown by the dark setting and the close up shots of her face, the camera is also shown to be stumbling around, like the camera is Sarah Lund. checking on her teenage son who is sleeping in front of a static-filled television screen. A single mum, we soon meet her Swedish partner, also in his pyjamas, Who comes to check up on his partner Sarah Lund also waking up tired and worn out, stumbling through the dark amidst the boxes of her and her sons belongings, all packed and ready to move to Sweden for a new life. Our protagonist, Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) smiles warmly shown by the warm light which is shining on her face to allow us to see who it is, when we are sure that everything about the move will be ok, but we can see her relief the fear and vulnerability that she carries with her; her anxiety and tension, the complexity and disarray of her domestic circumstances. Shown by the close up shot of them both hugging among all of the boxes ready for them to move to Sweden. None of it is glamorous, none of what we see establishes her as anything other than a real person who, like everybody else out there, has to deal with the demands of real life.'

• Sarah Lund is the main protagonist in the killing.
• The saga starts off as Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lund is preparing to withdraw from the Copenhagen police force and transfer to Sweden to be with her fiancé. That soon changes though after the discovery of a raped and murdered body of a 19-year-old girl.

Sarah Lund is presented as a normal person within society, just doing her job and getting on with her life. She obviously has doubts to moving to Sweden with her fiancé. This could be because she is moving her son away from all of his friends, which we find out later in the episode. Sarah Lund has been normalised in the series. This has been done by her checking on her son, walking around the house in the middle of the night, cuddling her partner and just getting out of bed tired and sleepy also shows the mortality of her life. This has been done by the mise-en-scène of the apartment, such as the boxes, the TV and the bedside table which has a clock on it. But is also done by the filming, such as the use of mid shot which show enough of the apartment to understand her position but also to mainly keep the attention of the audience on her. The camera is moving, it is moved in such a way it looks like the camera is mirroring the movements of Sarah Lund, which furthermore shows that she is tired as she is stumbling around her apartment.

In this scene Sarah Lund, is called in because there is a crime that has been committed, the reason this has no relevance to the plot in episode one at all is because it was a prank from her colleagues. However us as the audience, Believe that it is the girl that was running away from the first scene of this episode. I love it because it's a prank we think the first episode also has no correlation to the rest of the storyline however we would be wrong in thinking this. In this scene Sarah Lund, goes down into the basement to investigate. She finds a bloody axe and what looks like a body being hung. The mise-en-scène suggests that this is a crime scene, in which makes the audience think the worst.

Sarah Lund and Carrie Mathison are very much similar characters, I think this because both characters lead pretty normalised lives, such as they go to work and come home no problem, they also both have flaws. Such as Carrie has bi-polar, in which she takes medication for, Sarah has a fiancé that she has quite easily abandoned. Both issues however don't get in the way of their work, both characters work is prioritised above everything else, Carrie won't rest until she finds the truth about Brody and in the first episode, Sarah isn't willing to give up the search for Nanny until she finds out where she is. This shows both characters are dedicated to their work. However there is also some contrasting characteristics of the characters, such as Carrie is willing to break the law, whereas Sarah isn't, however this brings up another similarity between the two characters, they both don't listen to their senior, (their boss) Carrie sets up surveillance even though she knows its illegal and that her boss has already said no, Sarah also didn't listen when her boss said to drop the case and to come back to the office. This shows that these characters are very much alike, this is done by deciding that the character will have flaws but they are also dedicated to their work, these characteristics are building the next type of hero within dramas. 

The Killing - Context

2nd June 2020

LO: To explore the social issues represented, specifically gender.

I feel that Carrie from Homelands has been portrayed through her looks to use her sexuality to manipulate and to get her own way in the sea of male colleagues that she works with. Whereas I feel that Sarah Lund has been represented through the use of her hair and clothes to be a hard worker, she works for her achievements and doesn't exploit her sexuality to influence her work colleagues this shows that she is highly respected in her workplace whereas Carrie isn't, mainly because she exploit her sexuality and that she blatantly refuses to follow orders from her seniors.

Reflecting Social Attitudes 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/28/sweden-denmark-politics-immigration

Money ran out for both economies, Denmark and Sweden. Which created a rush of refugees from the Balkan war, there was a lot of tension between the two countries. Once the crisis passed tensions were still present and refugee immigration continued. Most went to towns which were on the outskirts of big cities.

Both countries are represented in this scene as united, there is a lot of patriotic symbolism in the scene, including flags, national food and viking helmets too, this shows that the 2 countries are very similar even though they may have underlying tension. The characters at no point during the scene bring up the tension between the countries which shows that it's not necessarily that important to the people of Denmark.

• Denmark has always been seen as internationally progressive in terms of gender equality.
• In 2007, (Date of first series) they were ranked 8th in the world for this (Sweden was 1st)
• In 2020, they rank 14th in the world (Sweden 4th).
• In 2011 the United States was ranked in 17th place.
• In 2020 the United States is ranked in 53rd place.

I feel that Sarah Lund is more respected in her field. Her colleagues respect her decisions and also help and back her up along the way. She is represented as a hard working individual within her team. Whereas Carrie has to exploit her sexuality in order to get what she wants, this immediately shows the difference in the gender equality between the 2 countries, Carrie is just as smart and almost always gets things right, even when everyone is against her. I feel that she is forced to go against her seniors because otherwise her investigations would never reach an outcome and so she takes matters into her own hands and this is all because there is a lack of gender equality in the United States. 

• Lund's professionalism reflects societal issues surrounding the sexes.
• Nadia Reich, Head of fiction at DR (their version of the BBC), States that Scandinavia's recent insight into gender, careers and society are reflected within the stories and characters we see on TV.
• She adds, "It means something that women in Denmark were early onto the labour market to carve our careers, and that our children have been looked after in daycare centres. It helps us to tell stories which have both a political dimension and relate to the dilemmas that exist between family and society. 
• Lund's professionalism comes at a cost and the relentless demands of her job, as well as her patriotic duty, means that she lacks the ability to commit fully to relationships - both professionally and personally.

Gender Issues

• Forbrydelsen questions many traditional female characteristics with its lead Sarah Lund. Society has changed and there is no longer the demand or desire for depictions of domesticated women.
• There is more desire for career driven women who struggle with the traditional demands expected of them. Characters, like Lund, become more layered and complex and they resist any attempts to shoebox their roles.
• The Killing challenges traditional gender roles by depicting the parenting skills of a woman driven by a professional code. Sarah is motivated by a juxtaposition of male and female traits.

There is a lack of gender equality within the storyline of Homelands, this is shown by Carrie being forced to go against the orders of her seniors which are whom are male. Every female character is surrounded in dominant males who are giving orders, even with Brody's wife, is always surrounded in males who tell her what to do. There is a lack of equality within American society which is clearly depicted within Homelands.

Mental health is also shown as a weakness within homeland, which is shown when other characters in the storyline find out about the mental health issues that Carrie struggles with, as soon as they find out they question Carries ability to work and to think clearly which is obviously very wrong in todays society, however is still an issue that people have to struggle with. Mental health shouldn't be seen as a weakness in todays society, we should all be treated equally no matter what medical condition that people suffer with.

Gender equality is represented within the workplace in homelands as non-existent there is clearly a lack of equality between genders, this is shown by how Carrie is forced into exploiting her sexuality to get what she wants, especially when its work related, this should be a given, Carrie shouldn't have to do this if there was equality between genders within the storyline of Homeland. Whereas within the storyline of The killing it clearly depicts that there is a higher level of standard when it comes to gender equality, this means that Lund is respected within her field and her actions are not questioned as frequently than Carrie is, Sarah's seniors respect her choices and does not question what she does, this shows the level of equality and trust that she carries within her team. This clearly proves that Denmark has a much higher level of gender equality as depicted within the series of The Killing, than America does. Carrie wears a suit or mainly revealing clothing for when she wants something, mainly in the hope that she gets what she wants to solve or close a case that she is working on, whereas Sarah wears regular clothes in which cover most of her body, mainly to keep her warm but as she is more respected there is no need to exploit herself to her males colleagues. Carrie has outbursts because she has mental health issues, which she takes medication to tackle this, it is further made worse by the constant demeaning by her colleagues by not believing her, not trusting her because of her gender and then furthermore by questioning her ability to work because of her bi-polar. American series normally focus on the idea that women need male help and focus more on the desire for depictions of domesticated women, whereas in Denmark they focus more on the depiction of the parenting roles of a women, does the work come before the child, in this case no it doesn't, instead the move for her partner becomes more important than her child and also which is slightly backwards is the fact that her work actually meant they remained in Denmark and the child could stay with his friends for a bit longer. However it does seem that her job comes before anything else, even her partner, which shows she is addicted to her job she always wants to help and is very passionate over it. This also shows that the series is not demeaning her as a successful women in society due to her job but rather focuses on the lack of attention to her parenting of her child, which has almost become worse than not being taken seriously in her professional life, her ability to parent her child now gets questioned by the the viewer. It just goes to show that women cannot win in society, when they are good at a certain thing people start to criticise her ability to do other things such as parent, or to be able to commit to something without work getting in the way.

The Killing - Analysis

5th June 2020

LO: To analyse a variety of scenes using accurate terminology

Sarah is presented as frantically packing up her belongings, she is on the phone to someone who we have to assume is her partner. During the conversation, we know that he is dropping off the keys and finalising the last of the move. Sarah tells her partner that she is going to say goodbye to her mother before they leave. She is shown to be fairly confident about the move to Sweden here. Jan is presented as very masculine, this is shown by the way he enters the room, fag in mouth, carrying a box with his belongings such as a builders radio, to further indicate his masculinity. In this shot the camera angle is almost eye level, showing equality between the two characters. Once Jan has entered the room, Sarah behaves very differently. At first she acts confused to who this person is, very soon after this we learn that this is the person replacing Sarah. When Jan is in the room she finishes the conversation via the phone very quickly. This suggests she doesn't really want to make conversation with Jan, this is expressed further when she doesn't immediately invite Jan on an investigation, in which she says 'Don't you want to unpack?' There are many different shot types used but the most common shot type would be close ups of the characters face, this allows the audience to see their facial expressions when something happens, such as when a. character is being asked something or they are talking about leaving. It shows that these characters have to know everything, they are detectives and its in their best interests to know everything, so earwigging on other peoples conversations comes with the job title, this creates a sense of normality within the characters lives, nothing out of the ordinary is going on, Sarah is focussed on the move to Sweden and Jan is focused to settling in for his new job. Sarah is used to working alone so the sudden change within this norm creates unsettlement on her conscience,  she doesn't need the help from any man, she is an independent women, who can do everything herself without the help of anyone but her team. She is shown to be familiar with being in control, she likes to lead from the front, which also shows that she doesn't really want it all to change, this may be why we see her in the opening scene uneasy, getting up in the middle of the night is not her norm, but she doesn't really want change and thus she feels worried.

There is a mixture of different shot types used, these include close ups, of Lund's face and of what she is doing, such as looking at the evidence. There are also some medium long shots, showing the surroundings as well as what the characters are doing. These all indicate that she is observing the scenery and trying to put together a picture of what could of happened. There is sound over the top of the image of a plane flying over, this makes the audience believe that they have started to investigate the scene that we saw at the very start of the episode. There is the sound of wind as well to further add suspense to the scene. She is also very confident around her colleagues, asking if they have searched the area, but then Jan asks to investigate further when she dismisses the case and then eventually agrees with him and they both walk off, this shows that though she is independent she does still take suggestions from her team. Which shows that gender equality is very much important in Danish society.



The Larsen family is represented as a very fun and loving family, shown by the photos of the family around the house, but also shown where the quick fix on the dishwasher goes wrong they don't argue but rather dance together in the water and laugh. Which shows a hard working family, but the quick fix on the dishwasher also shows that money is tight, as he doesn't want his wife to call a plumber. This presents the economic issues at the time as hard for all, money is tight but because they have such a good relationship with everyone they don't worry about it and they pull together as a family to help out, to get through these difficult time that everyone is Denmark was facing. Theis fits gender stereotypes by his attitude and the way he looks, he is wearing overalls, suggesting he is in the labor business, he steps in to help and fix anything that goes wrong, this is very typical 'the man comes to the rescue'. This is how he fits the gender stereotype for a masculine male. The home of the Larsen family is shown to be slightly dated and quite small, which further backs up that money is tight, because of the economic struggle at the time. This is quite the opposite to Brody's home is Homeland, their home is quite small however they have the money to do up the house, the furnishings are modern and the house looks like it is taken care of. But the point about Brody's wife who is having an affair with his best friend is doing up the house also shows that there is still a limited cash fund. Hence the do it yourself attitude in both series, as it saves money rather than hiring a professional. There is also another similarity with both series and this is the idea that the masculine characters have to do the labor jobs around the house, for example painting the house in Homelands and then Theis fixing the dishwasher, both characters are male which shows a slight weakness in gender equality in both countries.



Local politics in The Killing are presented as fair, the politician work hard to do what's right for their community. Until the ending of the scene, where we see the current mayor trying to bribe his competitor, this does show a corrupt system, however the competitor doesn't agree and walks away. Which makes the audience believe that he is the rightful mayor, but we will find out more on this later on in the narrative. Troells is represented as an emotional character but also a hard working, confident genuine local politician. Which is shown by him refusing the bribe, and genuinely working hard to make his community a better place. With the bribe given at the end of the scene, it does show that politics is a game, who gets the power and who doesn't, some will do anything to remain in power and some will work as hard as they can to beat the opposition. Politics isn't really shown in homelands, we see who the Vice President is and how he puts on a show for the people of America, but we don't see politicians as such.



This scene represents Sarah as an attentive, and very calm detective. Sarah keeps calm as Jan is being shouted at by the mother. While this is happening Sarah has a look around the building, looking for anything that could be significant, in which she finds a photo of Nanna. She then asks do you have a daughter, Sarah has linked the dots and is prepared for the worst, as she says 'I think you should call her'. The shot types used are a mixture of close ups, medium long shots and establishing shots. The close up shots are used when Sarah is looking around. Mainly focused on looking at Sarah, so we can observe her facial expression, the realisation of what could of happened. The long shots are mainly of the mother loading the car and walking around with Jan and of Sarah roaming around the building. Jan asks a lot of questions, he is quite dominant and takes over the investigation, whereas Sarah walks around the building quietly, this clearly shows a imbalance of gender equality, Jan takes over the questioning, because he is a man. Very similar to homelands, where men are always trying to overpower Carrie, demean her and make her point of view irrelevant. Carrie is shown to be tech savvy, she uses resources she has or that she can get to monitor the situation, whereas with Sarah she is more hands on, she goes to the scene and tries to figure out what happened using her common sense. This shows that Carrie has been told by her boss to not go back into the field, after what happened last time in Baghdad, Sarah, because she is highly respected in her field, is hands on, she works out what happens, she isn't afraid of what she finds, she is quite an emotionless character, whereas within homelands we know that Carrie can go through her emotions very quickly and suddenly, this is related to her mental illness.


The tension is built up in this scene by Mitch Larsen cycling towards her husband, very worried she throws the bike to the ground and immediately hugs him and starts to explain what's happened, the sound used plays on the audiences heartstrings, delicate music normally means something bad has happened, playing this music before we truly know further increases tension, it positions the audience in such a way to make us think what would we do if that was me? Mitch's facial expression shows that she is really upset, she has tears rolling down her face, she is presented to be very worried about her child. Gender's are very stereotyped in this scene, as it shows the women has a problem and come running to the male. The man doesn't show much emotion apart from anger when coming to the end of the scene. The is very stereotypical because it presents the man as the 'hero'.



The scene was set in the car because it allows the directer to include pathetic fallacy, this is where the weather reflects the mood of the scene. In this case it is raining, so it suggests that the move is not as fun and exciting as it should be, it shows that there is something playing on the mind of the characters, such as on Sarah's mind she is thinking about her case, which is further backed up by her saying she has something to do before they leave. For her son, he is annoyed and sad about missing his friends party, and he is shown also to be upset about moving to Sweden with his mothers partner. The car represents a passing of time in the scene, when we think of a car we think of getting to A to B but also think of long journeys which take a lot of time. Which is why this is used to show a passing of time. The conversation the two characters have show that there is a bit of spite about moving to Sweden. That the son is not happy about his mothers new partner, this is shown where the son turns around and tells his mum that she always forgets what the name of his ice hockey team is called. This whole scene shows the societal issues in Denmark at the time, it shows even though they have very good gender equality, that then it means everyone is focused only on their work and doesn't pay much attention to their children,  which has an impact on their lives because their parents don't take how they feel into consideration when making big choices, such as moving. This is very similar in homelands because it shows that the mother struggles to keep her kids under control and that she doesn't pay much attention to them, the one constant here is not the jobs, but that their father has gone, which leads to the wife struggling to do everything by herself. In both series the children are sort of abandoned either physically (Homelands) or the mother is too focused on her work to pay attention to them (The Killing).



Sarah in this scene is shown to be confused, the trail suddenly ending without any trace anywhere else. She starts to think and comes to the decision for the team to search the area again, she seems confident that something has happened to Nanna and that Sarah wants to find out what it is to give closure to her parents. There is tension between Jan and Sarah, this is shown by the conversation they have, where Jan says 'We are wasting our time, there is nothin here', once Sarah has made the decision to search the area again it becomes clear to us that Sarah has disregarded Jan's opinion which is shown where Jan says 'Did you hear me?'. This shows there is definitely a power struggle between the two characters and that Sarah has to be very dominant and overpowering to get what she thinks is right done. Her expertise is highlighted by her looking around, asking what is around this area, is further proven correct when the dogs find a 'very positive trail'.  Her instincts where correct and is proven when over the radio a man says 'we have found another trace', which further adds mystery to the investigation and indeed to the storyline.



Close up shots are used to represent Sarah observing the scene, going through possible scenarios in her head, long shots are all used to show when she is looking at something, this tends to zoom in on the object in another shot not long after she notices it. Medium shots are used when looking at Sarah to show the realisation, which also comes in and out of extreme close ups, of her eyes, to show that she is looking at something significant. Sound is very tense, gradually building up until they start to pull the car out of the water. The sound creates tension, for the audience within the storyline, making us want to find out what she has realised. She directs members of her team with confidence, asks very short questions with the answer only consisting of one or two words. This is similar to homelands, Carrie asks questions to Brody with authority and confidence, the questions tend to be straight to the point, allowing no time to think, which means what is said is more likely to be truthful. I feel that Carrie's job in to prevent future attacks on American soil and which is why she is not in the field, whereas Sarah is a detective, she finds out what has happened in the past, these different job roles change how each character will behave and what they have to do. But there is still a clear inequality between how each of the characters are treated at work.



This scene is filmed with multiple shots, however these shots are quite lengthy, to show the in-depth investigation that has just began. Most of the shots are of close ups, which makes sure that only specific parts of the scene is shown to the audience, such as the confirmation of there is a body, or the realisation, the worry on Theis's face. But there are also many long shots, mainly of when Sarah walks up to Theis. Which allows the audience to see more of the setting, makes the scene a lot more realistic, as it shows the police tape and the blue lights and the crane, which means there is an investigation going on, which shows that something bad must of happened. Tension is built up through Theis, the further the scene goes on the more Theis struggles, this shows that the Larsens are getting more and more worried. Cross cutting is used to show the emotion on each of the characters and also to show why they are upset and what they are looking at, this creates an emotional response from the audience as the begin to think what if this was us? How would we react? This scene plays on the viewers heartstrings as it is a very emotional scene. So much so, even the detective is trying to hold back her emotion, let alone the Larsen family.

The Killing: Analysis

12th June 2020

LO: To analyse key areas of the set products

Starter: 

The detective throughout episode 1, does get quite emotional, this could be the pressure and stress of moving and emigrating to another country, or it suggests that she is an unstable character. The mayoral character is also shown as a damaged character, this is because the first time we see him, he is looking at a grave and is quite emotional, this shows that he has lost someone close to him. Which could mean that he is a very unstable character, the Larsen family is obviously presented as damaged because they have a missing daughter. As the plot goes on the parents get more and more worried, until the climax of the episode, where the police have found Nanna dead in the back of a car. They characters are shown as very emotional here, which they should be as they have just lost their daughter.

Viewpoints and Ideologies

There isn't much individualism in the killing in my opinion, as the characters are very close, they work together to get through hard times, this is mainly because of the economy of Denmark at the time. Many people were struggling and they all had to work together and pull together not only as families but as communities as well. Which means most of the characters were not self-reliant. The only person I think fits into this ideology is the detective, Sarah. I feel that even though she has a partner within her social life that actually she is self-reliant within her work. She is the boss, she tells members on her team what to do. But it is her instincts which give the final result, this is also shown as she is willing to put everything on hold with her partner and the move for her work. Which not only shows that she is committed to her work but that she is self-reliant. 

I feel that consumerism is presented as a bad thing within The Killing series, this would make sense due to the current economical climate that Denmark was facing, it shows the opposite of consumerism, which suggests that simple living is a more sustainable, cheaper lifestyle and which is better for the environment, even though the series doesn't explicitly say this there is definitely a minimal sign of consumerism due to the economy at the time.

 I think that patriarchy is very much a big part of the series, even though Denmark is one of the best countries for gender equality, the series, I feel doesn't show this enough. This is because all of the members in episode 1 of government politicians were male and then PA was female, this follows the stereotypical format of a patriarchy. The men are more powerful than women, and that the women run around after the men, coming to every beckoning call. This is also shown within the police force, even though the main character (Sarah Lund) is a female, she still has a boss which is evidently male. Within the Larsen family, the husband is shown to be the hero, very little emotion, always on hand to help his wife, but also tells her to stay where she is when he goes out looking for Nanna. Which suggests that his character doesn't feel that Nanna's mother would hold it together no matter the outcome.

 Ethnocentrism is also shown within the series, such as when Sarah's colleagues surprise her and give her a leaving party. She is moving to Sweden, very well know for the Vikings, which is why they are all wearing viking hats. They keep asking are you sure you want to go, which shows that either she was a really good detective, which she is, and that Danish people feel that moving to Sweden is a bad decision. This is also shown where Sarah meets Jan, Jan turns to Sarah and says that a relative used to live in the middle of nowhere and it drove him to insanity, which further shows that Danish people feel that Sweden is strange and that there is nothing there, that they are inferior to Denmark.

1. She doesn't use her sexuality to get what she wants because she has confidence in her intuition and ability. This is conveyed in episode 1 by her being extremely confident with her team, I also feel that she doesn't have the need to use her sexuality as her team members and other Danish people respect her because Denmark has a very good gender equality statistics, which means that many people respect and trust her instincts, this is shown where she is questioning the mother of Nanna, where she comes to the conclusion that somethings happened to Nanna. Everyone believes her without question and instantly begins a missing person report and a search party to find her. 
2. Her female sexuality is not focused on. I think that her gender has no influence in Danish society to how others treat her apart from the exception of Jan. But I think that her sexuality is not focused on, she is treated like everyone else within the series, she is even presented as confident, she is very strong willed and that she gives a lot of orders, even when Jan doesn't agree with her. 
3. She is presented to us as a maternal figure. I don't partially think this is true, she doesn't seem to take her Childs feelings into consideration when making big decisions, she doesn't even remember her sons Ice Hockey Teams name, she says FCK and her son turns to her and says 'KCF, K-C-F, you always forget.' Which doesn't scream embodying the perfect parent figure, if she always forgets the biggest hobby of her sons life. So no I think she isn't presented to us as a maternal figure. She is too focused on her work than her personal life. 
4. As Lund becomes involved in a murder investigation, her professional life takes precedence. Yes, this definitely happens, first of all she halts any more plans and she refuses to leave with her partner and move to Sweden while this case is underway, she does however say she will come at a later time. Which clearly shows that her personal life doesn't matter as much to her as her work does. This is the main point that shows that her work is more important, she can just drop everything for her work, she puts her work before her partner and even her own son. Because she is so well respected I feel that the series doesn't present this as such a large decision, a decision which could change the rest of her life, not moving, not being with her current partner. 

I feel that there are a lot of stereotyping within The Killing, to start with the series shows politics as corrupt, which is very stereotypical, for example it shows that politicians take and distribute bribes to opponents to get what they want. I think that Swedish nationality is also stereotyped due to the helmets that they wear during the leaving party of Sarah Lund, Vikings is a very stereotypical figure which is heavily related to Sweden. The Larsen family, are also presented as a stereotypical family, such as the father fixing everything, refusing defeat, such as the dishwasher scenario, where he fixes it with duck-tape, rather than getting someone in to fix it, he is also shown to be the hero within the family, anything that ever goes wrong, he comes to the rescue. Which is not only a stereotypical format for a family but follows the patriarchy as well. I also feel that within the last scene of episode 1, the police are also stereotyped, due to the brunt force that they use and that the police men, men I may add, are also emotionless. Even when Lund walks over and gives the bad news, she is calm, however the police men are still using force to stop the father from getting through.

Realism is constructed within episode 1 of the Killing by using different events, such as incorporating school life within the story line, and the types of things teenagers get up to. Another event would also be voting for a new local mayor and the corruption with it, and the father of Nanna buying a new house as a surprise to his family, yes not every family does surprises this big but surprises is a huge part of realism. The characters are also relatable and in such help construct the idea of realism within the series. Such as normality incorporated within the characters lives, that is until it all changes when there is a missing person. The different ideologies also help construct realism within the series by relating to those in Denmark, equality, but also typical family formats and relating to the economical issue at the time by having a lack of consumerism. Having a missing child is any parents worst nightmare, as such uses the everyday concerns of ordinary people to create tension within the Long form TV drama. The issues brought up by the Killing are real world issues, so the use of social realism, relating to the audience, creates the tension and suspense that a drama needs, it uses the fears of the audience to further make a point on some things such as corrupt politics, which needs to be addressed.

LFTVD: Exam Practice #1

LO: To plan and write an effective comparative essay

16th June 2020

Why do long form TV dramas represent social groups differently. In your answer you must:

• Consider the context in which LFTVD's representations can be understood
• Explain how media contexts may have influenced representations in the set episodes of the two set texts
• Make judgements and reach conclusions about the reasons for the differences in representations between the two episodes

Notes:

Paragraph 1:

• Introduction, talk about how the two countries are very different, brief understanding of gender equality and how post 9/11 may have effected the world's security measures. 

Paragraph 2:

• Not very many different social groups, they all treat her roughly the same, but not equal to themselves. Explain how the different characters interact with Carrie. Her boss, how does he treat her and how does she treat him.
• The IT experts how come and help, how do they treat her before and after they find out her mental illness, how does Carrie respond?

Paragraph 3:

• Many different social groups, how do the characters interact with Sarah? How does her boss treat her? How does she treat him?
• How does Jan treat Sarah, how does she treat him? THIS WILL BE CONTRASTING AGAINST HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER BOSS, WILL BE SIMILAR TO HOMELANDS.

Paragraph 4:

• Explain media contexts within homelands, link to lack of gender equality, link to 9/11. How the series was based on the fears that were created post 9/11. How this influences Americans views on safety. How mental illness can be seen as a weakness.

Paragraph 5: 

• Explain media contexts within The Killing, Gender equality. How Denmark has one of the lowest crime rates in the world. How this would of shocked their Danish audiences. Show Denmarks relations with other countries, such as Sweden. Explain the economic crisis at the time.

Paragraph 6:

• Conclusion, Different countries represent social groups differently, according to how the country acts, is their a lot of racism, gender equality? It also changes according to the crime rate, low crime rate within Denmark, high in the US. LFTVD, represent social groups differently by using key events, how each character is represented, Sarah has no mental illness, thus shown as a strong character, which is the opposite to Homelands. 

Exam Answer:

The killing is set and produced in Denmark, Denmark is one of the safest, equal countries in the world. Acknowledging gender equality is one of the greatest points which is different within both series. In 2007, (Date of first series) they were ranked 8th in the world for the best country with gender equality. Whereas in 2011 the United States ranked in at 17th place. This clearly shows that each country is different regarding equality. Post 9/11 the world is a much safer place, regarding the technology advances to allow for monitoring and studying of future terrorist attacks, this increase in security throughout the world has allowed Long Form TV Dramas to represent social groups differently, they have done this by representing each character in such a way that they are shown to be a 'good' guy. Which is not always the case.

Within Homeland, there are many social groups, however they are all very much the same. Most of the character have the same sort of attitude towards women and mental illnesses. This is clearly shown by how Carrie's Boss is presented and how he treats her. Within the first few scenes in episode 1, we can see that there is definitely a lack of gender equality between the characters, she has to do what he says no matter what, some may argue that this is just what a Boss has to do. However, it is the idea that a man has to tell women what to do, and then the women just has to get on with it, however Carrie doesn't conform to this stereotypical nature of patriarchy, where the men hold all the power and women are excluded from it, she does this by ignoring any instructions from her Boss, as she wants to do what's right, this case she is trying to stop a impending terrorist attack on American soil, We hear Carrie say a little later on within the episode, "I don't want to miss something, like I did last time', this shows that she made a mistake last time and now she is persistent that she doesn't make the same mistake again, she will do anything she can, legal or not to find the truth, whatever that may be. Having a black man as the Boss is a step in the right direction for equality for all Americans, however there is definitely a clear lack of gender equality, not just within work for Carrie, but this is also shown for Body's wife as well. She is presented in such a way that we think that she needs a man to take care of her, she cannot be alone. Hence when Brody is missing, she gets with another man, which is constantly helping, such as painting the house and taking care of her. When Brody gets back, Brody then takes care of her, this very much conforms to gender stereotypes, which show a clear lack of gender equality within homeland and America. Mental health is also shown to be a weakness for Carrie, we see how the IT experts change their attitude and so does her colleagues when they find out, as most people around her are largely male, this further adds to the idea that women need a man to be looked out for, which is clearly not equality for women, where their lives are ran by men.

Within The Killing, there are many different social groups. However unlike Homelands, they are very much different. Her Boss is still male, which may conform to the idea that the patriarchy is still a thing within Denmark. However I feel that the Boss is still very much a person who supports Sarah and her decisions, sometimes she has to go against her Boss, like when Sarah wants to have another look for Nanna, her Boss tells her to come in and she says no, but her Boss is understanding and doesn't argue and supports Carrie. This clearly shows already how Denmark is very different to America with regards to equality for all. These characters are presented as a functioning team member, who helps others, instead of arguing. This is very much a different story compared to characters within Homelands, there are many camera angles used to also back this point up, these shots show Sarah as being a very confident member of the team, her detective instincts are also clearly shown with these shot types, such as lower camera angles, close ups of her eyes, showing the process where Sarah comes up with the ideas, whereas within Homelands Carrie is shown to be very flustered, Sarah is shown to be very professional, these characteristics of her and her team, where they support her choices, and follows all instructions that Sarah gives, allows for the team to find what they were looking for. The shot types help back this up as we are given an insight into how she comes to her conclusions when its happening and not after like with homelands. Jan however, which is the newest member of the team doesn't have all these views yet, he is shown to be a supporter of the patriarchy, he thinks he is right and that Sarah must listen to him. Sarah most of the time ignores him, and only takes his opinion into consideration some of the time, he also seems surprised when she turns out to be right. This shows that Jan has been presented with contrasting characteristics to the rest of Sarah's team. This makes him more of an unlikeable character to begin with, but as it goes on we see Jan becomes more and more supportive of Sarah. 

Homeland was made with the fear that September 11th 2001 gave to the world, this was the date that the War on terror began, it is still one of the most shocking, dramatic and traumatic days of recent history. The attacks were targeting symbolic locations in America (Twin Towers, Pentagon and the White House) They were symbols of political power. The loss of life and the physical scaring of the city and the realisation that the USA was not 'untouchable' had a devastating effect on Western Culture. Homeland was created on the idea that this could happen again, it uses the fear of terror to gain more tension within the series, post 9/11 we have all seen a dramatic increase in security protocols across the world, security at airports and the vast progression of technology which allows for added security, makes it a lot easier to predict and to stop future terror attacks of American soil. The reason why this context is so important is because Carries job is to prevent future attacks. This is made difficult by the lack of equality within the workplace, this series highlights important issues that people within the workplace face and the dramatic consequences of this as well. We already know that Carrie doesn't want to make the same mistake that she did last time, showing because of the lack of support that she is given within the workplace, mainly because she is a women, prevents her from doing her job as efficient and as effective as possible, however the series shows this as a weakness on Carrie's behalf, which is further made worse, when her colleagues have the discovery of Carrie's mental illness, which further disadvantages her within the work place in America. This is a huge problem which needs to be fixed.

Within the Killing, we can see that Denmark has very good equality for all, the series reflects the data which supports that at the time Denmark was in 8th place for the best gender equality in the world. The context at the time this series was produced clearly influences the storyline and how each character is presented and how they interact with other characters, so the social groups would change depending on the country, the series present them differently by the use of camera angles, which show each character in a different way, such as a low camera shot would suggest the character is powerful and confident. However even though characters such as Sarah are presented as equal to men, the series does question her traditional female characteristics, society has changed and there is no longer the demand or desire for depictions of domesticated women, there is now more of a desire for a career driven women who now struggles with the traditional demands expected of them, such as depicting Lund's parenting skills of a women driven by her professional code, Sarah is motivated by a juxtaposition of male and female traits, this is clearly shown where her work comes before her child, like she doesn't remember her sons Hockey team name. There are now new challenges that women have to face, as they are now expected to do their old roles, with now the work load of a man as well, which doesn't necessarily show equality for both men and women as women are now shown to be incompetent of looking after their child now, which has somehow made it worse, as it depicts women in such a way that they still need a man in their lives to help them, which still supports the idea of patriarchy.

In conclusion, I think that the main reason that social groups are presented differently across the two series is because both were set in different countries, each countries have their own set of morals and rules, Danish morals shows that everyone should be equal, no matter what they look like or what gender they are. Whereas within America this is very different, there are still people having to campaign for their rights, for gender equality. Which is not right, it is shown through Homelands, there are many issues that it presents which also need to be resolved but the main thing is to get gender equality throughout America, to allow both men and women to work to their best of their ability to complete the task at hand, without constant barriers that they have to get through to get the job done. LFTVD's use camera angles and the context at the time to make the series more relatable to the audience, to make the character struggling with everyday problems to be relatable, such as Sarah or Carrie. These problems that the character have to overcome are also the LFTVD trying to present real world issues evolving around equality, in this case. They have done this, to hopefully make these issues known, and to try and get something done about it, to resolve the issues, to put something in place so that there is equal pay for both genders and that women aren't disadvantaged in the workplace because they have to get through so many barriers to get what they need to done.

Notes

• Series do not normally have designated time slots, especially with Netflix
• Many people want to watch the new series in one day, like stranger things, which in total for season 2 was 8 and a half hours long
• Autoplay was a new innovation, to make teens to binge watch new series
• Video recorder was available in the 1980's, which was the start of the new era of TV
• Some series can be with very few episodes, slightly longer episodes, more of a movie format but with parts 1,2 and 3
• Some people argue that TV has been made by streaming platforms like Netflix to watch in solidarity, even though it is available whenever you want it
• It has expanded the geographic and age of the audience watching
• Twitter and other social media platforms are now used to understand viewer feedback
• Allowed viewers to become critics of new programmes
• Some people think that twitter data isn't accurate and shouldn't be trusted, producers should wait for the accurate data to come through and not get impatient and resort to twitter comment s
• New formats of TV make it more interesting, modernised by flagship companies such as BBC, Netflix and Amazon

Homelands revisited

Summery

Carrie Mathison, a CIA officer battling her own demons becomes convinced that the intelligence that led to the rescue of Nicholas Brody, a United States Marine Sergeant who had been missing and presumed dead for eight years, was a setup and may be connected to an Al Qaeda plot to be carried out on American soil.

Carrie gets a "surprise" visit from Saul, who goes ballistic over her unauthorized spying on Brody. Without any evidence, he cannot condone her actions. Carrie lets her mentor know that she'll do "anything" if he lets her continue her work. He's disgusted by her ill-played seduction and tells her that she'll need a lawyer. Facing down the possible end of her career, Carrie seems to opt for a self-destructive route, intending to hook up with a causal colleague. But as they're about to leave the bar, Carrie sees something: coverage of Brody being interviewed. Every time he's on camera, his hands twitch as if he's tapping out some kind of code. She summons Saul, who is inclined to agree that the possible hand signalling is enough to authorise the continuing surveillance.

Early the next morning, Brody is out on a run, during which his mind flashes back again to the savage beating Walker endured. Only this time, he remembers that it was he who beat his friend and fellow captive to death. He stops his run in full sight of the White House, eyeing it. This makes the viewer believe he is planning an attack on the White House, especially due to the low angle shots of Brody and the White House, this could be the start of the planning of the next 9/11.

Homelands

17th March 2021

LO: To explore the narrative, theme and characters in set episodes in relation to theory. 

Todorov's Theory of Narratology

Definition

Todorov's theory is that in a film or story, the power is in a state of equilibrium. The theory states that as the story progresses the state of equilibrium can change, giving one person more power or authority over another throughout the plot, keeping the audience entertained.

Theory Applied

Homeland began with a equilibrium the equilibrium in Homeland is the setting of Baghdad. She is used to the busy surroundings. However it quickly becomes problems as there are disruptions that may cause issues later on in the narrative. For example the woman takes bipolar medication and is now no longer in Baghdad. Which is her happy place, so this is the first disruption. This is set post 9/11 which focuses on how good homeland security is against terrorist threats.

The disruption in Homelands is connected with the bipolar medication, that we see Carrie taking in one of the shots, she is no longer in Baghdad, this there is no longer an equilibrium, it has been shifted. An agent has been turned, an American agent (Brody). Brody has a wife and best friend, they are having an affair. Brody's daughter smoking a bong. He was throwing up either with PTSD or he was nervous. This is all connected to the disruption, which is apart of the Todorov's theory of Narratology.

Neale's Theory of Genre

Definition

Neale believes that films of a certain genre, like romance or horror should include features that are similar, so the audience know it is a horror film or romance, but also include features that are different, to keep an audience interested. This is his theory of repetition and difference.

Theory Applied

This theory can be applied to most elements of Homelands, this includes the constant suspense of an imminent terrorist attack within the season, this was built up and shown by the statement 'An American agent has been turned' this then gives the viewer the impression that Brody is that agent that has been turned, this constant suspense of an imminent threat, shows that specific genres will have specific features which are specific of that genre, in this case, a thriller/mystery drama, this has been made clear by the specific features of Homelands.

Is America Seen as Strong? America is seen as strong, we see this by all of the additional security America has now put in place post-9/11, by the films and series that they produce, which always present America to be strong, they hardly ever talk about thew weaknesses of America, however saying that there are some exceptions, such as Homelands, where they are creating tension and fear in the viewer, due to the imminent threat of terror on the country. 

Homelands, creates contexts and links their own series to the terror attack of 9/11, they have done this by subtly hinting that there will be a terror attack in America in the not so near future, they have done this subtly by using mise-en-scene, showing a terror, war stricken country of Baghdad, of which they also show a shot of Brody in what looks like a bunker, these war aspects of the series, creates suspense and tension within the storyline. All of which subtly hints to ISIS, and the 'war on terror' that the world is currently being put through. 

The media is known for their over exaggerations of events, so with this, the media is no different. They have always shown and over exaggerated events, which have turned into nothing, such as the recent departure from the EU, Biden taking power and most importantly it is shown that the media over exaggerates many news stories, which is shown through this Covid-19 pandemic also. Audiences are known to react with different texts in different ways, depending on certain factors. Audiences may react in different ways to different events in the series.

How has Homelands represented the context of the time in their opening episode?

Homelands have managed to represent context at the time, through the use of flashbacks from Brodie, we can see a war stricken area, with a real threat of terror attacks, this is reflecting how America is at war with terror and also reflecting the fact that when the first episode was being filmed, Bin Laden was just killed, so it goes to show that these major events in history have influenced the production and content of Homelands.

Barthes Theory of Semiotics

Barthes' Semiotic Theory broke down the process of reading signs and focused on their interpretation by different cultures or societies. According to Barthes, signs had both a signifier, being the physical form of the sign as we perceive it through our senses and the signified, or meaning that is interpreted. (Denotations and connotations)

Denotation, we see Brodie looking up to the White House, with a low camera angle of Brodie and then of the White house. The connotation of this is that Brodie is planning a terror attack on the White House, this is because we see Brodie, by the use of the camera angle, as a dominating character, then when we finally see what he is looking at, we can see he is staring at the White House.

Levi-Strauss Theory of Structuralism

Structuralism is an approach used to analyse culture, he believed in structuralism, Levi-Strauss said that the human mind classifies things through binary opposition, the contrasts between two opposite things. It is this binary opposition that leads cultures to think in terms of good and bad.

This is shown through Brodie, Brodie is in our eyes, bad, however Carrie, who is supposed to be good, is seen breaking laws and dismissing commands from her superiors, not only this, but we also see that she has a mental illness, which further invalidates her as the 'goodie'

Gilroy's theory of ethnicity and post-colonialism 

Gilroy argues that for Black people forms of culture take on a heightened meaning in light of Black persons being excluded from representation in the traditional political apparatus. As such, Gilroy argues that culture is the mode through which Black persons should aspire to liberation.

We can see that the west is presented, in Homelands, to be more superior to other nations and such people of other races, this is show through a mainly white cast, the idea that those who are the main characters are white, which shows that there is an imbalance of power and equality between those from the westernised world and people who are further east. 

Homelands

Van Zoonen: Feminist theory

Ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performance of these roles.

Gender is what we do rather than who we are and changes meaning depending on cultural and historical context.

The concept of patriarchy may be applied to the current ownership and control of TV, the recruitment and ethos of TV professionals and the representation of gender.

Applied

• Intersectionality refers to the coming together of gender, race, class and sexuality to create white supremacist capitalist patriarchy which dominates media representations.
• Women should develop an oppositional gaze that refuses to identify with characters that reinforce patriarchal ideology and politicises the case.

Carrie Mathison

Carrie goes to the prison, to try and strike a deal with a prisoner who is being sentenced to death, tries to get intel on an imminent terror attack on US soil.

Carrie is represented as a strong, independent, fearless women who will do anything to get the truth. 

Carrie Mathison has a varied representations from scene 1 to scene 2, this is because in the first scene she is shown to be a strong independent women, who will do absolutely anything, to get the truth. However in scene 2, she is represented as a weaker individual, this could be down to her loosing her motive from the first scene in Baghdad. When we see Carrie in scene 2, she is shown to be unorganised and extremely frantic, this is shown by the use of editing techniques, such as the fast paced editing, this is to speed up the overall scene, to make it feel more frantic, we also see Carrie taking medication, which represents Carrie as Physiologically damaged. We see all this detail, in many close up shots, which only allows us to see what is going on with Carrie, we are forced by the editor to only see certain things, such as her hand when she is holding the tablets. In the scene where she is at home, she is being represented as unorganised, this is shown by her rushing around her house, she is shown as weaker than the previous scene, this is because she is shown to be coming back from a night out, with minimal responsibilities. In the first scene, Carrie refuses to conform to the expectations of a women, as she takes charge to find the truth, this means she doesn't conform with Bell Hooks' Theory of Femininity Whereas in the second scene she is shown as weak, planting the idea that she needs a man or someone to keep her on the right track and to become better as she 'needs help', so her representation has changed in this scene, to support the idea of her conforming to the usual expectations of a women.

Nickolas Brody

Brody is represented as a dominant character, he is confident in the way he walks and the way he is introduced in front of the crowd. He is so confident that he even starts to make jokes within his speech.

Gauntlett and identity:

The media have a complex relationship with identities.

There are many diverse and contradictory messages that individuals can use to think through their identity and how to express themselves.

Hall and Homeland

Homeland attempts to creates a dominant meaning through the use of ideology of East Vs West to support the preferred reading of those in power (US)

Looking at Carrie, her representation is created through a lack of elements in her characterisation, closeness, compassion, success outside of her job.

Looking at the stereotypes of Carrie and the Middle East that are created, what does this tell us about the ideology that is created within the programme and wider industry.

Lighting?

The scene is very dark, dark backdrop, creates a sense of darkness and interrogation.

Shot types used?

Many shot types are used, many close ups, OTS shots, many mid shots, allowing to see several reactions to questions, while keeping the main character in focus and in shot. Close ups of the camera, which is recording Brody. Seeing Brody twice, only in focus on the camera, blurred background.

Flashbacks giving information to the audience?

These flashbacks allows the audience to know that Brody is currently lying, keeping the information to himself, this makes us feel like Brody is a negative and more secretive person than he first lets on.

How is Carrie Represented?

Carrie is represented as a strong women again, however she is shown to be confused when Brody starts to lie to her. She is confident she knows that he isn't telling the truth and that actually Brody is a soldier from war that has been turned.

How is Brody represented?

Brody is represented as confident with his answers to begin with, he seems to be a very strong individual, however this quickly fades when Carrie asks very intrusive, detailed questions. 

Brody Analysis

Brody is represented as a very confident, strong individual, this is shown through his facial expression, which was very neutral throughout the interrogation. It was also shown through the use of camera angles and shots, such as most of the time that we see Brody he is in focus, whereas other characters were out of focus, the shots of Brody shows him in a very formal light, his responses from the questions were very short but also straight to the point, which further shows him as the dominant character in this scene, even though he is the one being interrogated. These short worded answers to the questions being asked in the interview, shows that Brody conforms with the idea of Hall's theory, which states that representations of characters are presented by what is present but by also what is absent, this shows that because he is stating his answers confidently and that they are short answers, it seems like the interview had been practised and it was scripted, meaning the reason why the answers were short was because he is lying to the interrogators. 

Homelands - Representations

31st March 2021

Baudrillard - Postmodernism

• Is the idea that society has moved beyond modernism, either as a sense of art and culture or belief of progress, which dates back much further
• He argued that, as modern societies were organised around production of goods, postmodernism society is organised around simulation, the play of images and signs.

Homelands establishes a real world with its audience, covering a variety of real world events, such as 9/11, local politics and mental health (which is shown through Carrie).

Audience theory

It is an encoding/decoding model, media producers encode with a preferred meaning. 

Dominant Reading - Accepts the preferred meaning and ideological meaning

Negotiated Reading - some of the decoded message is accepted but the audience disagrees with parts of it and so changes it to fit their experience and values.

oppositional Reading - both the preferred reading and any ideological assumptions encoded in the product are rejected. 

Applying to Homelands

Shows the power of the audience in questioning Carrie and her representation of mental illness. Also highlights which perspective those in power perceive representations of mental illness, race and gender. 

Carrie's mental health

Carrie is represented as out of control, she is being put down, she is being told what she has done wrong, she has outbursts of anger, sudden mood changes.

How is Mental Illness presented in Homeland?

Mental illness is presented through the character Carrie, she is shown to be unable to control her emotions and has sudden outbursts of anger. She is shown to raking her hand through her hair to express her frustrations, this is not only with the inability to fully protect the US, but is also because she has just been caught, doing something illegal to get the truth, which shows she will go to great lengths to gain the full truth and to protect the US Homeland. In this scene, she has also been discovered, by the other characters to have a mental illness, the other characters believe she is incapable of doing her job for the US. These negative representations of mental illnesses, reinforces negative connotations of having a mental illness, it tricks us into thinking the 'Dominant Group' is the ideal model of how we should look and act. However, it links in with Cultural Contexts, this is because those in the West are more likely to understand and accept mental illnesses. However, within this scene, mental health is represented as negative, which means these representations of specific characters and issues, are then shown to the audience, which then may influence how the audience also understand these issues, at the time, mental illness was seen as a problem, today we see mental health as something we can learn by, we can understand more about how people are feeling and also how others can help them, so this context also backs up the point that people were still learning and understanding what mental illness is and how it affects people. These issues, such as mental health is shown and understood through Gauntlett's theory of representation, which can be understood through the connotations of mental illnesses, they are shown through Carrie and how she behaves, how she acts with this mental illness. Homeland offers representations of mental illness which link in with international audiences, because they conform to the idea of middle east and US representations, this helped make Homelands so successful as an international series. It shows how media conglomerates do indeed help shape culture and identity and also shows us that what audiences watch and read, can affect how the audience behave, how they treat people with mental illnesses and how they are overall are presented within TV series and society as a whole.

Bandura: Audience theory

The media influence people directly

The media can influence directly or indirectly through related platforms such as social media, so we can become influenced by the media without being exposed to them. 

Curran and Seaton

Patterns in ownership and control are important in how the media functions

Media industries are capitalist and aim to increase the concentration of ownership, which leads to narrowing of opinions represented in the press.

Owners pursue profits at the expense of quality or creativity.

Hesmondhalgh: Cultural Industries

Cultural industries follow a capitalist pattern of increasing concentration and integration so production in owned and controlled by a few conglomerates

Risk is seen in terms of loss of money. Risk is high because of production costs are high

Livingston and Lunt - Regulation

Consumers are individuals who seek private benefits from the media and require regulation to protect them. Citizens are social, seek public or social benefits from the media and require regulation to promote public interest.

How is gender represented in Homeland and how does this reflect social and cultural context?

In this scene, men and women are both treated fairly equally, up until Carrie starts to speak, Carrie is treated as clueless, when she is interrogating Brodie, her boss turns around and shuts Carrie down, putting her down while she is doing her job, this goes to show that women are not represented as equal within society, this is all shown through how the men treat Carrie, the men end up making Carrie have to explain herself, where the men are not made to explain themselves, this shows that there is an imbalance of power between men and women within Homeland. Women are represented as weaker, and so need the support from their male colleagues, however in everyday life, this is simply not true. Women are as capable as men to do a job, gender does not affect someones ability to complete a task. These negative connotations of women within this scene reflects how media conglomerates shape the audiences understanding and treatment of women, in everyday life. These conglomerates are often mainly men and they typically fit the 'Dominant group', this dominant group shapes our understanding of certain issues, this is to fit their opinions on the issues, when media conglomerates do this, it creates a narrowing of opinions within the media, as mentioned in Hesmondhalgh's theory of cultural industries. This narrowing of opinions within the media, means that it reduces 'risk', risk is particularly high in the cultural industries because of the difficulty in predicting success, there are high production costs and low reproduction costs, this means that if there is concentration within the media, then there isn't much risk to the investor, unfortunately this means the audience suffers, this is also shown through social context, this narrowing of opinions means that within society, the views of these media conglomerates will be the dominant understanding of such issue, in this case, if women are presented as unequal and lower down than men, then people will think that this is acceptable, which it certainly isn't.

The Killing Revisited

The conflict that we see during this episode is that there is a missing girl and then a body is found. There are multiple enigma codes, including how she died, why her friends are so mysterious about Nanny, what happens with Sarah Lund, what happens with the Larsons, political struggles and who is releasing information about them.

Larsens, how does their lives change? What happens with the moving houses?

Troells Hartmen who was linked to the car that the body was found

Mayor is corrupt.

Jan and Sarah- Does any relationship form? Do they become friends and work together on more investigations?

Sarah - does she move? what happens with her family and her son?

How is genre introduced in the opening episode of the Killing? (Genre theory Neale)

Genre is introduced in the opening scene by using jump shots and fast passed editing techniques, this creates suspense within the opening scene of the Killing. This is shown where we firstly see a girl running through the woods, we have been given no additional information, but we can start to put together an idea of what is happening and that she must be running from something. The overall scene is very dark and gloomy, this allows for a technique used called pathetic fallacy, this means that the weather and the overall look of the scene reflects the mood and actions of the characters, this is to further add suspense to the scene. Multiple mid-close ups are used to show parts of the girl, such as right before a place flies over we see her face, which has blood all over it, like she has been in a fight or fallen badly. The genre of the Killing is a nordic noir, which is otherwise described as a detective drama, and that is exactly what it is, the scenes are dramatised to create suspense, this is done by the multiple techniques mentioned above. There is a clear inequality shown in the first scene, this is because we can see, what we believe is a man chasing a women through the woods. My point is backed up by Neale's theory of genre, which states that films of a certain genre like romance or horror, should include features that are similar, so the audience know it is a horror film or romance, but also include features that are different, to keep an audience interested. This is his theory of repetition and difference. It means that the audience needs to know what the genre of the Killing is by just watching it as there will be many similarities and differences between genres, for example, this crime drama should have similarities with other crime dramas, this is shown by the fast paced editing involved in the entirety of the episode. Such as when the body is discovered, conflict has been introduced, as well as when we find out whose daughter is missing. We find this information out by the similarities that this crime drama has with other crime dramas, which is not only the element of suspense but also the different stages of a crime drama, such as the climax, the 'resolution' which is in fact the incorrect resolution, and we find out more as we watch more episodes. 

The Killing: Industry and context

LO: To explore the production, social and political context of set products

Danish society is renowned for being a rational and civilised society. The murder of Nanna Larsen is framed as a shocking anomaly to this.

Van Zoonen: Feminist theory

Ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performance of these roles.

Gender is what we do rather than who we are, the representation of gender can be manipulated and applied to the ownership and control of TV.

Bell Hooks

Refers to the coming together of gender, race, class and sexuality, which creates a white supremacist capitalist patriarcy which dominates media representations.

Gauntlett and identity

The media have complex 

The crime scene.

What happens in the scene?

Sarah is leading an investigation into a murder, which turns out to be a prank, however we can see that she is very confident in the scene and uses her skills to work out what happened, these same characteristics are showed during the real investigation in the search for Nanna Larsen. 

How is Sarah represented?

Sarah is represented as a confident character, she shows no fear when partaking in investigations which are apart of her job, she is showed as a very masculine character which has the ability to take lead in investigations. 

Why is this scene significant?

This scene is significant as it shows what Sarah Lund does, her job role and that she enjoys doing her job too. It sets up the rest of the series.

Which theorists can be applied to representations in this scene.

Van Zoonen

Is the way that Sarah Lund is treated in the work place different to the way Carrie Mathison is treated in the workplace in Homeland?

How does this link to the different countries stance on gender equality?

Sarah is treated differently in the work place because the series is based in different countries. This means that the social context changes, people see equality and have a different outlook on politics in different countries, this is because of the way we have been brought up, Sweden and Denmark have been at the forefront of gender equality in terms of ranking for a long time, compared to the US in which they are a far way down the list. This is why Carrie and Sarah are treated differently in the workplace.

How does this link with Van Zoonen and Butler?

Butler says that gender is foregrounded, women's body's are represented and made for display. This reinforces how characters are masculinised.

Van Zoonen also believes that gender is constructed to make characters more or less masculine or feminine.

Hall

Through stereotyping, those in power, 'fix' the meaning of a representation to a preferred reading, that suggest that there is only one true meaning.

Meaning is created by a representation, but it is what is present and absent that create the representation.

Stereotypes and how they are constructed should be pulled apart to identify what they tell us about ideology.

How are the lead protagonists in Homeland and the Killing used to reflect societal issues?

Lead protagonists in the Killing are used to reflect societal issues such as financial struggle within Denmark at the time the Killing was being made. This is shown through the Larsen family, people were struggling in Denmark for money at the time and characters such as Birk Larsen and the Larsen family as a whole. This is shown buy when the family are all living together, we gain hints from dialog from the discussion between Sarah and the mother of Nanna Larsen. We learn that Birk had not had a holiday in 10 years. Not only this but we see that when the dishwasher breaks and the Larsens kitchen is flooded and it is fixed with Duck Tape, this shows a small insight into some of the economic issues at the time, these economic issues normally have a link with societal issues. This is because it can steam into violence and also shows that in some countries there is a huge pay gap between women and children.

The Killing overall is breaking some of the stereotypes of typical gender roles, this is shown through Sarah Lund. She is shown to be a very masculine leader, she takes charge in the first scene, she has power over DCI Jan Mayer. She is the one leading the investigation, she is the one who makes the link between a daughter of the Larsen family and a missing girl. She is normally shown through close ups of her face, to show how she is inspecting and that she is actively involved in an investigation. But she is also shown through low camera angles, this is to show how she can assert her dominance and take charge, she is a fearless character, which is shown through the first scene in the Killing. This is where Sarah is investigating a 'crime scene' which in the end turns out to be a prank, however when the lights are turned out she doesn't shy away from the challenge, instead she shows her assertive, dominant and almost masculine side of her. This can be applied to Van Zoonen's feminist theory, which states that gender is what we do rather than who we are, this changes depending on cultural and historical contexts. The Killing is based in Denmark, and also mentions Sweden, both of which rate highly on equality between genders. Danish people will be used to the fact that women are in controlling roles and they can accept the fact that women are just as capable about preforming in these roles.

Overall Sarah is represented in the workplace just as any other man would be, she is presented as equal to her work colleagues, who are male, so much so, that they can all have a laugh with each other and play pranks and no-one is offended and everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves within the workplace. 

On the other hand we have Homeland, which is set in the US, now the US doesn't rate so highly in equality between genders, so we can assume that Carrie will be treated differently compared to Sarah. This is in fact true, we can immediately see from how Carrie's male co-workers treat her that there is inequality between genders in the workplace. We can see men think she is incapable of doing her job and that she needs the guidance from her male colleagues in order for her to be successful, and this is simply not true. Not only this, but when her colleagues find out that she also has mental health problems, this just creates a reason for this injustice and inequality. She is treated very differently compared to Sarah, as Carrie is shown to have to report to her Boss and ask for permission to complete tasks, whereas Sarah is shown to have free reign over her own investigations and that actually she can call the shots to allow for an investigation to progress, whereas Carrie does not have this privilege and this is reflecting the idea that the US does not have total gender equality and that in fact there is still a lot of sexism happening in workplace. This is shown also through the camera angles used to present the character Carrie, most of the shots of Carrie are normally from a male perspective and are usually looking down on Carrie, this shows that Carrie is not equal to her colleagues. The character Carrie does in fact reflect the societal issues in America through the series Homeland and shows how the different series, made in different countries show different cultural and societal issues

5th May 2021

Barthes

Denotations and connotations

Denotation is the word dog denotes a mammal that barks

Connotations may be a bulldog symbolises britishness.

The family are presented as very poor, this is shown through the duck tape and the dishwasher. The Larsen family represent what is going on at the time with the economic issues that many people were facing in Denmark.

Theis fits gender stereotypes because he is shown to be the one who rescues and tries to fix any situation, such as the broken glass at the start of the scene.

Their home is represented as small and  outdated, this also shows how there is a lack of money due to the economic issues Denmark was facing at the time.

Barthes can be applied to this scene, this is shown by the dishwasher, the wide turns around and says that the dishwasher is broken and then Theis says the Duck Tape has come off again. This is the denotation. The dishwasher has been temporarily fixed by Theis with tape, the connotations of this scene, is that the Larsen family doesn't have the money to fix the dishwasher properly, so Theis is saving money by just using tape.

Individualism - Sarah solves the mystery by herself, she puts her work before her family, her personal life.

Consumerism - Theis is shown as a well known character in the storyline, he offers to knock the damage caused by his worker off the bill, this is shown for him to be helping everyone out, links in with patriarchy and Theis is stepping in to save the day again. Theis also buys a house, goes to show and reinforces the idea that to be happy and successful you have to have nice things.

Patriarchy - Theis is shown as a stereotypical man, stepping in to save the day, man goes to work and women stay at home. All of the politicians are men and there secretary's are women.

Ethnocentrism (Belief that your own culture us normal and natural and that other cultures are inferior and strange) - When Sarah Lund is leaving for Sweden, there are conspiracies to what it is like over there and the characters say why she should stay in Denmark.

Stereotypes

That the victim was a young, vulnerable female.

That the politicians were all male, reinforces the 'Dominant group' this shows that men are the ones who bring the money home and supports everyone around them while the women stay at home.

Jan was a stereotypical cop, he was shown to be jokey and cocky. His first line was 'lets go catch some bad guys'.

Is shown as strange, backs up the idea of Ethnocentrism. That other cultures are inferior to your own.

Family is shown to stick together and to be happy no matter what. This is shown in the entire episode, even when the bad news reaches her mother, she breaks down in tears, like you would expect. But at the start of the episode, the family is shown to be happy, the Larsen family represent how a family 'should' operate. 

Jenkins: Fandom

Strengths:

Applies to the range and diversity if representations offered by LFTVD to textual poachers who wish to use these products to create their own culture in fan sites.

Many LFTVD achieve cult adding to their value for fans.

Weaknesses: 

This optimistic view of the power of audiences, underestimates the power of the oligarchy of media conglomerates in shaping and controlling the media produced.

Evaluate the relevance of Todorov's theory of narratology to LFTVD. 

Todorov's theory of narratology can be applied easily to films, however when it comes to LFTVD's it is slightly harder to use, this is because the theory would have to cover multiple episodes, for example an equilibrium is shown in the killing, this is of a happy family, however before hand we are shown footage of a chase, the start of a murder. This means that the equilibrium is shown after the disruption, the theory states that an equilibrium is introduced and then the disruption. However, if we forget about this, we can use the theory. This is because the disruption to the equilibrium is not introduced to the other characters, until later in the episode. This disruption however comes after the recognition of the disruption, the characters do not realise the disruption as an issue until after they recognise and draw conclusions of what may have happened. But that is all that is shown in the first episode, due to the typical way that LFTVD's operate, they use cliff hangers at the end of every episode to keep the viewers interested. This theory does not work effectively with long form TV dramas, due to the fact this theory has to applied over a number of episodes and even then because of the episode format of LFTVD's the theory is applied in the incorrect order, this is because the producers have to find a way of instantly attracting viewers. This is why the disruption is shown first, to create a sense of mystery within the drama. 

This is also the same with Homeland, because it follows the same format as the Killing, it means that the entire order of the theory is messed up. The producers have had to find ways of keeping the viewers interested in the drama and to do this the traditional format of films, which this theory can be applied to perfectly has had to be changed due to the technological advances, meaning more and more people are streaming videos to watch and even 'binge' at home, with no need to go out of the comfort of their own home.