Thursday, 28 April 2022

SUMMER EXAM PREPARATION: CUFFS; MIS EN SCENE AND OTHER ELEMENTS

Mis en Scene in Cuffs

  • Always use the Jenny Triangle (the biggest details first, get smaller as you go on)
  • Look at how the characters present themselves, establishing shots
  • Describe visual attributes of characters, settings, and props
  • Look at emotion and representation of emotion
Other Elements
  • Close-up shots display the emotions of Jake
  • Propian Theory: Stock characters, can these be identified in Cuffs?
  • Sound is used to portray a sense of terror in Cuffs, can be used elsewhere
  • Cuffs has to toe the line between terror and gross violence due to it being a pre-watershed show.
05/05 - Revision

        Q1: TEE (repeat 3 times for Q1)
        
        Terminology: Identify an aspect of the scene relating to the question (e.g for camera                 work: aerial shot)
        Evidence: Describe further what you see/have identified
        Explain, Analyse, Argue: Go into depth as to what the evidence could mean/portray

        Cuffs: Police Procedural
        Avengers: Crime Drama

END OF UNIT ASSESSMENT: THE AVENGERS: 'TOWN OF NO RETURN'

1.) This is a POV zoom shot.

2.) Steed's constructed to appeal to the target audiences in the UK and USA through his outfit, a professional outfit that a gentleman in the 1960s would wear such as his bowler hat, shit and tie, and trench coat. His politeness and respect towards Emma Peel, a woman in the 1960s, show that he is upstanding and professional to a 1960s audience. The actor who plays Steed was also well known which adds to his potential positive reception from the audience because he was an RAF pilot who served in the war.

3.) Steed's duty and sense of British values are exemplified in the airfield scene where he sees the graves of fallen soldiers. With the war not having been more than 20 years prior to the airing of this episode and the actor who plays John Steed having served in the RAF during the war the emotions he feels throughout this scene are felt very intensely. This intense emotional response, including how he solutes fallen soldiers invites a British audience to reminisce with him and makes it all the more understandable to the audience how aggressive he was towards Piggy Warren in the later Pub scene with his umbrella handle being coiled around his neck.

4.) Emma Peel is depicted as a modern young woman through her stylish and practical outfitting, her leather catsuit allows her to have freedom of movement and independence, a defiance of the Propian theory in which a female would be a 'damsel in distress' making Emma Peel an anti-stereotype. Her cool and calm mannerism when she is confronted by The Vicker and held at gunpoint shows how independent and strong she is, this is a representation of young women in the swinging 60s. Furthermore, her own independence at home displays how she is capable of making a living for herself, she has her own apartment, income and has traveled the world, this remarkable show of independence in the 1960s may have even polarised audiences due to the generational gap between ideals, some older people criticized women who had their own occupations as they "should be caring for children."

5.) This POV shot allows the audience to understand that John Steed realises  Piggy Warren is lying and that something bad may have happened to Emma.

6.) By having Emma Peel standing at the front of the room as if she were the teacher and Steed in a small toddler's chair and school table reverses gender roles in an anti-stereotypical manner making Emma seem as if she is the more dominant woman in control.

7.) In this scene, Emma Peel is presented as both a woman of the swinging 60s and the older generation, we learn this through the way Steed treats her in this scene. Immediately, John Steed assumes that she will go on the spy mission with him to Little Bazely, he has even bought her a ticket without considering her answer. He asks for cream and she tells him it is in the kitchen without getting it with him and she fights with him at an equal level in their impromptu fencing match.

8.) The diegetic voiceover/dialogue that Chief Vickers says at an important talk is overlaid in the audio of Ryan on the beach, who cannot hear this speech but his sense of duty is exemplified by what is expected of him as a police officer. The way he is injured by the Naturists on the beach shows a lack of respect for him and juxtaposes the values Vickers sets out for policemen and the general population.

9.) Chief Super Intendant Vickers

10.) Jake, who is Chief Vickers' son, is described to have "jumped queue" allowing him to become a trainee police officer without going through the proper training or being placed on a waiting list. Audiences may consider this a display of nepotism in the police force.

11.) The diverse representation of gay, black and other people of colour in the police force shows how this show is set in the 21st century as opposed to the 1960s setting of The Avengers in wish this would not be seen.

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