Three minutes in a TV Drama can hold so much without anyone realizing. From make-up to location to verisimilitude and more, I had the challenge to watch and analyze Spooks in an episode of 'Talking Him Down' as they were investigating terrorism. The three main aspects I am going to focus on is mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and how the people, places and location constructs all which makes up the representation of MI5 and terrorism.
It opens on what looks like a rooftop, surrounded by buildings in London. Also, is the surroundings there is a Mosque which connotates terrorism and religion and a Church spiral which connotates peace. The mise-en-scene is closed and forceful; the terrorist and MI5 spook are caged in which links in to the terrorists phrase ‘you have treated us like animals’. His accent is foreign which meets people’s stereotypes of a terrorist. Furthermore, the mise-en-scene of the terrorist costume is what an audience may interpret like his scruffy hair, he is unshaven which shows dirt and also his eyes look puffy and exhausted. There is then a contrast when the terrorist is in a close-up shot holding his rifle gun and a cross on the railings behind; the connotation of this is that the cross symbolizes Jesus which then links into religion, hope, love and peace which is the total opposite of a gun being used for murder. There is then a two-wide shot of both the terrorist and spook. The lighting on the spook is more bright which connotates hope and the contrast on the terrorist where he is constructed to be dark. The digetic sound of wind creates a sense of realism at this moment which is verisimilitude.
On the rooftop, we saw a spook that was ethnic and young however, this is not the typical spook and audience may have pictured. In a scene there is a two-shot of a close-up of an expected spook that is bald, male and middle-aged and a woman standing further in the distance. It dennotates this spook is giving the order but he is not in fact the boss. In the background there is a woman standing strong with her hand on her hip which connotates that she is a leader and powerful; so in actual fact the woman is giving the man the orders. In this scene there is only one piece of non-digetic sound of dialogue, ‘shoot him’. After he says this, the non-digetic sound of hopeful music starts to slowly come in. The mise-en-scene is dark, the light mainly focusing on the man. This scene connotates that the MI5 is secretive and confidential because also the camera frame is tight and doesn’t expose MI5 offices.
The mise-en-scene changes; the costumes are black and are swat team outfits, the location looks as if they are in a block of flats standing in the corridor, the lighting turns blue which connotates the scene of cold and sad however, the props of holding guns stays the same which anchors the meaning of killing and revenge. The shot is high-angle from the waist up, showing a member of MI5 in the middle and two other members besides (just half their bodies are shown which illustrates that they are not as important). The spook in the middle is shot and stood with power and connotates that he is higher in authority; he is also an experience spook unlike the one on the rooftop. As he speaks also, the camera slowly moves towards him to show that he is in charge. He commands where to shoot and with a dolly shot the guns fire and the steady cam moves into the other room where the audience views a man getting shot. There is a slow motion exaggeration of sound of the non-digetic gun shots. Afterwards, there is a extreme-close-up shot of the spook with a stern, determined and emotionless look which dennotates that he has been successful. Throughout this short amount of time, there is sound of glass shattering and chains which dramatizes death to make it even more exaggerating.
Non-digetic angelic music is mellow in the background as the terrorist gets ready to shoot. This gives an implied meaning that maybe some hope is coming. When his son speaks the music gets louder and the sun becomes brighter which definitely connotates aspiration. Even though at the beginning the mise-en-scene had the feeling of being trapped and caged in, the sun rising helps make it less claustrophobic. At this point the terrorist unleashes a whole different side because of his genuine, teary-eyed and emotional facial expression it illustrates that he is a father and he cares and loves his son. The audience engagement would have been at maximum here as many parents can sympathize with losing their dear child and the hope of their child being found would be so spectacular and finally the worry would be over.
In this sequence the representations of MI5 and the terrorist mostly conform to the stereotypes however, there are a few aspects that challenge this. The MI5 has the stereotyped middle-aged, British male which conforms to the representation. On the other hand, he is not the boss in fact the woman is which would challenge the stereotype of the man being in charge. Also, the spook on the rooftop is neither middle-aged nor British, he is ethnic and young. So overall the representation of MI5 is different and does not conform to the stereotypes of them. The terrorists costume and accent conforms to the stereotypes; he looks like he is from and ethnicity, his accent shows he is foreign, his presentation is scruffy, tired and looks as if he is unwashed. Furthermore, his attitude and determination is quite malicious and nasty as he is preparing to murder someone. When is son starts to speak however, he softens up and his eyes are tearful. This challenges the stereotypes of terrorists as it shows that he is still human and cares and loves those who are special to him. Overall, Spooks conforms to some of the stereotypes but represents them by challenging the construction of the characters too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epS3M3PpH4c
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