Media Studies Blog

Narrative Codes Appropriate Genres  STEAVE NEALE Steve Neale’s theory of repetition and difference. Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre. This is shown in The Killing when it follows the genre of Police Procedural dramas, but doesn't follow all the conventions as it borrows them from other genres such as Film Noir, like having a dark setting.  TZVETAN TODOROV He believed that all films followed the same narrative patterns. They all went through the same five stages. There are five stages the narrative can progress through: 1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.) 2. A disruption of that order by an event. 3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred. 4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption. 5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium. This is shown in The Killing when Lund has her job and is having a normal life whi...

The  police procedural , or  police crime drama , is a subgenre of  detective fiction  that attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a  police force  as they investigate  crimes . Although traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police  procedurals  frequently depict investigations into several unrelated crimes in a single story. Traditional mysteries usually adhere to the convention of having the criminal's identity concealed until the  climax  (the so-called  whodunit ), whereas in police procedurals, the perpetrator's identity is often known to the audience from the outset (the  inverted detective story ). Police procedurals depict a number of police-related topics such as  forensics ,  autopsies , the gathering of  evidence , the use of  search warrants , and  interrogation .\

GLOSSARY Disequilibrium -  a loss or lack of equilibrium or stability, especially in relation to supply, demand, and prices. Enigma -  a person or thing that is mysterious or difficult to understand (puzzle). Equilibrium -  a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced. Genre -  a style or category of art, music, or literature. Iconography -  the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these. Intertextuality -  Reference within a a film to another film, media project, work of literature or piece of artwork. Mise en scene -  the arrangement of the scenery, props, etc. on the stage of a theatrical production or on the set of a film. Narrative -  A story that is created in a constructive format. Framing -  The selection of elements such as characters, setting and iconography that appear within a shot.

Nordic Noir Genre It is a genre of  crime fiction  written from a police point of view. The language is simple and deliberately avoid using metaphors, the settings have bleak landscapes, and the mood is dark and morally complex. Some critics attribute the genre's success to a distinctive and appealing style, "realistic, simple and precise… and stripped of unnecessary words". Their protagonists are typically detectives worn down by cares and far from simply heroic.

THE KILLING STRAUSS- Binary opposition drives a narrative forwards. In the first episode of THE KILLING  the main character is introduced as a female detective who is planning on moving away with her son to meet her boyfriend in Sweden from Copenhagen. However on her last day of work, she is introduced to a missing girl case. They find the girls underwear and a film card that belonged to her father, after looking for her they find a car in the nearby river, with her body inside the boot. The genre is film noir, with elements of other genres, such as thriller. As it has a classic detective mystery, with a generally dark atmosphere, it also contains drugs and alcohol. However it doesn't contain a voiceover The themes are crime, murder mystery.