Cuffs And Avengers Flashcards
(20 cards)
What type of drama is cuffs
A police procedural drama
What type of show was cuffs
A police procedural crime drama
What type of show was the avengers
Espionage crime thriller
Iconography
the pattern of signs we associate with a particular genre.
3 parts of cuffs iconography
Uniform, cars and setting
How is a narrative conflict established in the beginning of cuffs
Jake/Dad (key convention of drama), Close up and shot/reverse shot in opening scene
What about cuffs suggests a younger target audience
Saturated primary colours, upbeat non diegetic soundtrack
What does the cuffs opening scene suggest
Upbeat opening titles identify setting, cut against characters suggesting a linear, multi stranded narrative plus ensemble cast. Split screen identifies setting and character relationships (Soap opera conventions)
Example of police procedural jargon in cuffs
“Rookie”
Diversity in cuffs
•Diversity – two black Police officers (outside of London)
Star marketing in cuffs
•Star marketing – Ashley Walters
Mise en scene in cuffs that emphasis procedural police drama
•Mise-en-scene in squad room - bureaucracy anchors procedural aspect – filing cabinet, crisps, desktop
Why does cuffs have so many two shots
Several two shots – character relationships, hierarchy
Significance of reverse shot of jake and ryan in car park
Underground car park – day to day Policing (vehicle check), Shot/reverse shot Ryan and Jake - conflict
Representations in cuffs - jake
Jake represents a diverse gay, male protagonist but as a rookie cop is dominated by his patriarchal Dad, the Chief Superintendent – gender and sexuality
Representationsl significance of casting ashley waters
•The secondary persona of Ashley Waters positions audiences (So Solid, Bullet Boy, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, Top Boy…). Like Idris Elba he is a successful, aspirational black actor
Representations in cuffs - family
•Stereotypical notions of family challenged – Ryan is a widower with a young family. In the clip he is a dominant alpha male
Does cuffs reinforce or challenge stereotypes
Cuffs both reinforces and challenges stereotypes
Criticism of cuffs
tried too hard to be diverse on too many levels. Tiger Aspect defence – like a Soap Opera (which it isn’t) they wanted exaggerated characters audiences identify with
Significance of ds jo - representations
DS Jo attends scene (female Muslim Police Officer behind Police crime line) – strong female representation, having an affair with Chief Super but lives alone with her dog….
