The clip shows a crime/police TV Drama. The three types of convention- form, story and genre- support this fact. Credits appear at the beginning of the clip as to how most TV Dramas begin. In terms of story convention murder is part of the plot and there is the involvement of the police as evident by the characters in police costumes and there is also public awareness as shown by the numerous amounts of reporters. In connection with genre convention is the death of a loved one this being the daughter of the grieving parents. The theme of injustice is evidently shown through the question asked by the victim’s father, “Why was this man released from parole when he attempted to murder somebody else?” who speaks in front of the press. Thus, this calls for justice urging the police and investigators to take action against this murderer. This would be considered the third step of Thodorov’s narrative theory known as realisation.
The Core Representations represented in this clip includes gender, age, regional identity and romance/love.
GENDER:
A key element of story convention being character construction is being slowly revealed to the audience. From the beginning of the clip, the mystery is created and anticipation is built up in the audience through concealing the character’s appearance. There is an extreme close up shot, which shows the eyes of the character and a limited scope of their face. It is only when the camera zooms out and a wide shot is taken from inside the car that the audience sees the character’s physique showing they are a male. The rearview mirror signifies awareness and caution. The audience is given the impression of secrecy as shown by his cautious manner in which his eyes flicker numerously onto the mirror as if he was checking for something suggesting he was nervous and had done something wrong. The prop of the car shows him controlling the steering wheel which parallels him having control over the female victim who had not been given a position in the seat of the car.
A low angle shot of nature conceals the appearance of the victim to the audience. Though the audience is unable to see the appearance of the victim through the dialogue,” help me”, the audience is offered some information. Firstly, the sound of her voice gives the impression that she is young and her whimpering shows she is frightened. The female victim is unable to fight the male and loses her life. The audience knows her death when they hear the female draw in a sharp breath before there is a stabbing sound effect followed by silence. This stabbing sound effect is symbolic of the weapon that had been used. The diegetic sound of the grating from the body being dragged across the concrete is disturbing and gruesome despite there being no graphic imagery. Instead, the camera is focused on the screen of the car, therefore, the audiences are made to conjure up this imagery in their heads. The main idea about gender is that males are strong while females are weak and vulnerable. An alternative view of the male gender is using strength for good. For example, the closeup shot focusing on the camera shows policemen walking into the building with a sign ‘metropolitan’. These policemen can be associated with the idea of safety and protection. Also, it hints the setting of the TV Drama is in the metropolitan area of London.
AGE:
Track movement is used showing the man walking to the end of the car. A wide shot of the man confirms he is male and he is old given by his grey hair. There is a pleonastic sound of thumping from within the car sounding loud but hollow suggesting the source of the sound is from a confined space. A click sound reveals a female person was locked inside the boot which confirms the audience theory of the person being kidnapped. This makes the audience question why the girl was inside the boot in the first place. It portrays young people being innocent or intimidated easily. Also, confined spaces are an iconography of thrillers.
REGIONAL IDENTITY:
The clip begins with a tilt movement. The camera scans the sky moving vertically down focusing on the bushes of trees. This setting indicates that it is away from civilisation and suggests a rural location. The diegetic sound of the birds chirping creates a peaceful atmosphere this is contrasted with the dialogue in the radio saying, ‘ You can imagine the shock and devastation’, which although at this point the audience doesn’t know much about what is happening, a feeling of alarm is created by these words. Also, it is ironic that this place which is a sanctuary for birds becomes the place of death for the victim.
The spoken language on the radio, “BBC, London news’, explicitly tells the audience where the setting is. Continuity editing is used, within the framing, there are trees and bushes which emphasises the point of the setting being out of town. A cross-cutting camera technique is used and switches focus between the car and leave suggesting similarities between the two being life and death
The dead leaves are an iconography. Unlike the green leaves which give the impression of health and life, these leaves symbolise the opposite. In the background, low sounding music creates a sorrowful atmosphere reflecting death. When the man stops driving there are props of objects lying around in the background implying it has been discarded and is junk. This prop is used as
a tool to foreshadow how the man will treat the victim’s life. In the metropolitan area of London, there are many flashing cameras suggesting a high level of public awareness, unlike the countryside where things go unnoticed. Therefore, the regional identity of the two settings is represented in a contrasting manner.
ROMANCE/LOVE:
The audience finds out the victim was a daughter through the parent’s speech. Immediately the status as a ‘daughter’ implies a close connection between the grieving parents. Furthermore, it confirms the fact she had a family and suggests she was loved. This makes the audience feel sympathetic; the use of grey colours and non-diegetic music enforces this feeling. A reverse camera shot shows many reporters listening to the speech highlighting the importance of what the parents have to say. It is clear by the parents mourning the death of their daughter that paternal love is being presented.
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