mise-en-scene

During Cuffs, mise-en-scene does occurs quite regularly. At the very beginning of the episode when the head police officer is giving his speech to the knew people in the department, we can see his importance through the use of everyone who is looking at him looks interested (they have straight backs, giving eye contact) however if they did not look at him with importance we would get the impression that he doesn't mean anything to them and isn't treated well. We also know that the speech is important as they are all dressed in proper uniform and have white gloves on which wouldn't be worn unless something special is occurring. Finally, we can see it is located in the Police Head Quarters which signifies its importance once again.

Next, on the beach as the police officer walks towards the drunken stag due and the nudists, the stag due men are wearing a lot of props to show that they are drunk and not serious. They were all wearing matching viking hats which shows that to them they think they can rule the police officer and the nudists, they also all have matching football or rugby tops on which shows that they are very close with each other and come us one. Interestingly, they also have a human sized play doll which one again shows they are there for a bit of a laugh. The nudists cover up with there towels immediately when the officer arrives and the audience are almost waiting for the towel to drop which would be quite humorous.

Something to do with location is that when the police arrived at the troubled mans house, the first thing the audience see is alcoholic bottles all of the place, the room was dark too which shows he has no pride over it and doesn't care at all. 

exam q1- camera work

Different camera works are being used in Cuffs in series 1, episode 1. For example at the very beginning of the episode there is an establishing shot of Brighton, this is showing the audience where the series will be set, what is happening there and to see what the weather and scenery is like. These are normally high angel shots as it shows you everything quickly and clearly. Another time where there would be an extreme wide shot or just a wide shot is when the police cars are chasing a certain something, these shots also tend to either slowly zoom out and go into a different scene or zoom into the actual police car and show what is happening in more detail.

However, Cuffs does also have a lot of camera shots where it is an extreme close up which is sharing peoples emotions so the audience can connect with them. When the fictional character PC Ryan Draper got punched by the people on the beach there is an extreme close up of his face while he wipes the blood of his nose, this is there so we will sympathise for him and can clearly see his anger and pain.When the man is wanting to commit suicide, the camera zooms in and becomes an extreme close up shot of his arms and we see all the cuts on them, this shows the audience he isn't in a good mindset.

There are times when they are using a hand held camera for the effect that they are running of trying to escape. This is used in scene when the police are chasing people or trying to track them down, this gives the impression that the camera being used from the polices point of view.

Exam q5

The Avengers- explain how social contexts influence television programmes

The social contexts influences television programmes quite a lot in today's world. In the Avengers, we very quickly begin to understand that it was set quite a while ago, in the 60's, from the way the characters speak and the words they say, for example Piggy Warren says to John Steed ''ah, hello boy'' and ''didn't think so boy'', this shows that in those days people referred to men as 'boys' oppose to their name. Also, in the same scene, we are able to see how humor in shows has changed. Steed lights the mans beard on fire very naturally and calmly however now a days, something humorous is very different to that.

We are able to see that the people still care very much about war and that it is still often on their minds because the man in the pub just quickly grabbed a riffle gun, however, now in England, it is completely illegal to have a gun without a reason. Also, we see a squadron bunker which looks very run down as all the beds are rusty and the walls are practically gone! This shows that war was a while ago as everything is destroyed but no one will knock it down as it is a memory of the soldiers and air force from war.

They talk about afternoon tea in the Avengers which is very posh terminology for someone to say now. A very old line that they said would be 'sugar or tea?' which referring to what they want in their cups of tea. Another example of it being set many years ago is their outfits. Mrs Peel wearing leather from head to toe, with a few white accessories here and there while Steed also has a bowler hat on which he uses to threaten people by throwing it and hitting them with the steel part.

exam q2

Analyse how far the extract depicts the polices point of view rather than the criminal’s point of view:

 In the series Cuffs, at the very beginning of episode 1 they use a voice over to aware the audience on what the police have to do. This effects the audience as it shows the police as heroic people and it tells us that they have to work really hard to get where they are now. From the voice over we begin to quickly trust them as they seem to have a lot of experience, we see Ashley Walters stride across the beach with confidence while the voice in the background explains what a life as a police officer is like.

On the beach, the police officer is very outnumbered, this makes us feel very sympathetic for him, especially when the Stag Due punch him. He is trying to fix a conflict resolution, he's there to diffuse conflict not escalate it. Although, we are shown that the stag due's aren't criminals they just happened to commit a crime of punching the police officer. The police officer doesn't touch or hurt anyone until they go out of line or start hurting him. This creates an image that the police are really there to fix problems not make them worse.

When the two officers show up at the door of the man (who is a potential criminal), even though he is threatening them with a knife they know he truly is very vulnerable so they are kind and allow the man to trust them. The officers voice comes across very gently and the soft music in the background that is cutting in makes him seem even kinder and respectful.

The audience soon realise how difficult a police officers job is, we see an innocent man just stopping at the shops to grab so food and then he gets randomly murdered. This is the kind of things the police have to deal with which shows them as very admiral.

exam q1

The sound in the episode of cuffs is used in a way where if there is an action scene they would use very loud and fast music. Different types of music is used for different types of feelings and emotions so if there was tension it would be fast and most likely high pitched music but if it was a sad scene (when the man commits suicide on the pier the music is very slow and dramatic). In a scene were it is a wide zoomed clip of a beach or in the car for instance, just by adding some music that relates can really show the audience how to react to what is going on.

The use of sound effects is very effective too, in Cuffs they use gun sound effects when needed to make it more exaggerated and intense. When only we can hear a sound effect of sound it makes it effective because it was added on later when editing.

In Cuffs, the music and sound effects added has made it a lot more relatable and enjoyable for the audience to watch.