The Returned Flashcards

Question

(The Returned) audio codes - diegetic sound

Answer 1

Panicked breathing as Camille is walking home is unsettling. Thunder is a conventional audio code which creates a sense of unease and fear. Camille’s scream when she finds out Lena is now older than her suggests her grief and confusion. Disturbing noises from Julie’s horror film acts as a warning and contrasts with Victor’s apparent innocence.

Answer 2

Group meeting - adds to backstory and highlights tensions between characters (Jerome and Pierre) Questioning by the undead of the living - reinforces the strangeness of the situation and their confusion (e.g. Simon asking for Adele at the bar)

Answer 3

Main aim of a television programme is to make the audience feel as though the representations created are real (even if the narrative is out of the ordinary e.g. supernatural) Generic verisimilitude - codes and conventions are adhered to and fulfil audience expectations so the audience will believe what they see (this is done through the domestic drama in The Returned) Cultural and social circumstances makes it seem more real - it was made in 2012 so there will be more traditional gender representations which is clearly shown in the show (women are emotional, men are rational and dominant) and there is the reference to the issue of the migrants in France

Answer 4

Claire’s representation as a maternal figure positions audiences to empathise with her on Camille’s return. Victor as the innocent child allows us to sympathise with him and his enigmatic situation and Julie’s initial response to him.

Answer 5

There is a range of different representations of women but they are all generally represented as passive and emotional and they perform roles related to nurturing and domesticity: - sandrine announcing her pregnancy (she is the only woman who speaks up in the meeting) - Claire (welcomes the return of Camille without question) and Julie (tends to basic needs to Victor even though she doesn’t know him) are both carers - Adele is first seen in a wedding dress (traditional female role) and then is emotional and hysterical - Lucy is seen as an object of the male gaze - Lena is over-sexualised However, Camille breaks away from the passive stereotype as she is seen as active, resourceful and determined.

Answer 6

Pierre - dominant, rational and in control of the community and Claire turns to him first after Camille’s return Jerome - challenges stereotypical representation of men and women is presented as more emotional and unable to cope with his loss and grief. This is shown through him believing that Lucy can communicate with Camille (vulnerable) Simone - represented as ‘other’ and an outsider. He remains looking into the life he once had with Adele.

Answer 7

Stereotyping tends to occur when there is an inequality of power e.g excluded groups are constructed as ‘other’: - the undead are feared by the living in the same way that French people feared the impact of migration on their communities

Answer 8

‘Feminism is a struggle to end sexist/patriarchal oppression’: - men are seen in dominant positions (rational, efficient and unemotional) - Pierre is the one who tries to rationalise the situation and talks to Camille - women are seen as passive and weak and maternal - Claire is domestic and a mother and she turns to the men in her life for help

Answer 9

‘The meaning of gender varies according to cultural and historical context’: - it was made in 2012 so there has been little change in the roles of men and women which function as binary opposites which reinforces the patriarchal system ‘The display of women’s bodies as objects to be looked at is a core element of Western patriarchal culture’: - Lucy is sexualised and is an object of visual pleasure for the audience and male characters and at the end of the episode she is murdered by a man and seen as disposable

Answer 10

To cater for minorities and encourage innovation. Their slogan in 2013 was changed to ‘Born Risky’

Answer 11

Channel 4 has been at the forefront of broadcasting non-English-language programmes and The Returned was the first fully subtitled drama programme to be broadcast by the channel in over 20 years

Answer 12

Channel 4 is a publisher-broadcaster (no in-house production): - commissions content from UK production companies - co-produces with other companies The Returned was originally broadcasted by Canal+ (premium French cable channel owned by multi-media conglomerate Vivendi)

Answer 13

Channel 4 is publicly-owned and commercially funded 1993 - third largest broadcaster in Britain and the largest investor in the BFI and major investor of British Screen Finance LTD Self sufficient business that reinvests all profit back into programmes at 0 cost of the tax payer (“payed for by advertising, owned by you”) The Returned received funding from regional agencies including The Rhone-Alpes Regional Fund and the Central National de la Cinematograpahie

Answer 14

Multi-platform campaign which created a social media buzz focusing on the recognisable genre: - trailer (‘no.1 french thriller’, ‘when the dead return’, ‘history resurfaces’) underscored by haunting soundtrack - merchandise (targets fan community) - innovative/interactive website - 360 virtual navigation of the town on multiple platforms