My TV Drama Analysis on Spooks!!

Essay Question: Analyse the ways in which the following techniques are used in the extract from BBC Drama 'Spooks' to construct a representation of M15 agents and Terrorists:

In this essay I will be exploring all of the possible representations of Terrorism and MI5 agents in the hit BBC TV Drama Spooks, in the episode "Talking him down". Representation normally means the way something such as a character, symbol, or something else along those lines, is expressed or designated, and in media terms 'constructed'. This is exactly what I will be looking at throughout my essay to explain just how all of the details of this episode drew us in and created a sense of verisimilitude. I will be doing this through the 3 key areas of Mise-en-scene, sound and cinematography, I will point out through denoatation and connotation why all of those key terms were used and to what effect? I will layout my essay explaining each term in the order that the three Locations appear on the screen e.g. in their linear narrative sequence.

The first part of this scene is filmed on a rooftop somewhere in London, the Mise-en-scene shows us that there is very little light on this terrace especially on the terrorist this shows us his dark and brooding side. The very little terrace is made to feel even smaller because it is surrounded by fencing this gives us the trapped and caged in like a wild animal feeling and makes us more scared of this raging terrorist. In the background we see the sun slowly rising as if a sand timer. This adds to the tension because it makes us wonder whether the sun will come up and things will be OK or he'll shoot before then and it will still be dark all around. With props such as a very huge and intimidating gun that looks like the sort that should be seen in an very important military situation, being used by this terrorist is just the sort of thing to make him look scary to anyone. This is why they used it to show that he is in charge also to have the very young MI5 agent standing talking on his mobile getting advice from his boss shows us just how in experienced he is. This gets you scared thinking how this terrible situation is handled by this very young man. Their costumes show us just what type of person they are the MI5 agent fits his stereotype of being very clean cut, shaven and seen in suits and expensive type materials. Where as the Terrorist fits his stereotype perfectly too, by his dark and very casual scruffy type clothing shows us that clothes are the last thing he cares about, he doesn't care what people think about him and that he can get his point across without having to look very fashionable. The costumes show us a great contrast in the characters. The sound in this scene is given the simple and natural feeling because all you can hear in this first part to the scene is digetic sounds for e.g. the wind and the dialogue between the actors. This shows us that this is an important and tense situation, but with the wind kept in naturally gives it a sense of reality to show us that it’s really happening. Also they use Non-digetic sounds they use a very edgy music that dies down throughout the dialogue but it stays throughout and it also gives it that sand timer feeling and makes you feel rather uneasy. The cinematography to this first part shows us through close-ups, mid-shots, long shots and other the shoulder shots shows us the situation more clearly. Also through the use of shots like the two shot to show us the chemistry between the two characters and there actions towards that person in that situation. These shots all help us to understand more these characters states of mind and the emotions that are over taking them. You can see in one close-up of the Terrorist that there is a cross on the fencing in front of him which could give some religious tendencies also the camera next shows the view from his gun where there is yet another cross but this cross looks more like a target. These shots also help us to see the situations the characters are in "Everyone is lying; I was told this was a country that received people in help. I was told my family would be safe here, you have treated us like animals" not only does he refer to them as animals which is shown in the use of Mise-en-scene but it also expresses social realism in this beginning part because all of what I have spoken about so far shows us that the terrorist is foreign and from a poor background and that something had to be bad there for them to seek help in our country and the quote I gave above and the Mise-en-scene, sound and cinematography all show his desperation because of some economic and injustice hardship.

In the flat scene the mise-en-scene shows us another tense and dark situation. They use a blue light that feels like a thick layer and makes the situation feel cold and creepy but you can barely make out the people's faces. This is to show they are mysterious and that something terrible is about to happen. They use large guns just like the terrorist, which shows us that they must be part of the MI5 and that they are trying to kill someone. They did this to higher the tension and make us wonder "who are they about to kill?" Their location is in a block of flats which shows us that this is someones home they are about to wreck and the fact that they are in a block of flats could also be trying to relate to the viewers to show that terrorists hide anywhere we don't notice them easily they can walk around just like normal everyday people. There costumes are quite basic requirements for SSR (Special Reconnaissance Regiment) bullet proof vests dark blue trousers and tops basic,comfortable and protected. The sound is a mixture again of Non-digetic and digetic, they use the same non-digetic music but its just a light whisper under the dialogue and the bullets sound very fake because they echo and you can hear them bouncing off of things. They use diegtic sound by the glass actually breaking and you can see this in the clip and i think they chose to show the glass actually breaking to give more enthesis on death to give across that the mans life being shattered apart also the sound of glass breaking is something regular to people but its something that always makes you jump this is why they did it to make people jump and because it gives a dose of reality because its such a common noise but they use a lot of glass shattering so it amplifies the sound and would make people more jumpy. The cinematography in this location is at its best they use close-ups, mid shots, and semi low angles not to mention they go through a thick wall to show whats really happening in the flat. In the begging we see this man standing tall in a semi low shot they did this to give him a superior feeling and it also makes him look very dangerous and cunning. Then he says "No bullets below 4ft there's a kid in there" which heightens are fixation to the TV and makes the man seem very much more in power and experienced then the younger man on the roof terrace. Then they go straight through the wall which is a more slow and impressive shot to the room rather than just cutting it from one room to another this is why they did this. Then is goes to muddled up close-ups of peoples reactions to these gun shots, this helps us see more peoples emotions with a close-up. Then straight to a close-up of the older MI5 agent this helps us see his emotions a lot more easily to and his facial expression seems to be some kind of joy from his success because hes done his job more people will live through this one person dying you can see this a lot in his eyes this is why they distinctively show an extreme close-up of his face to highlight his eyes. Then the camera cuts to more mid-shots of people this helps us see peoples distinctive body language to an incident like this happening they show this very well with the other who is holding her child protectively against her in a motherly instinct.

The camera goes straight back to the roof terrace and the tension builds again. Times running out you tell by the sun because its much higher up than it was before and because both the terrorist and the young MI5 agent are in the light this could be to show us the situation is changing. The same music is beginning to get louder and it sounds much more haunting than before. The camera goes straight to an high up MI5 office it does this to capture anxiety, and to show us who really is in charge. They use cinematography to show who's in charge by a close-up on the old man who must be very high up in MI5 but you can tell that hes too old to be trying to capture the terrorist himself, but the interesting part is that the angle does not show him as in charge they highlight the woman behind him as the leader, the one giving the orders. This is because of her body language she has one hand on her hip to show inpatients with the man and the mid-shot highlights the fact she is standing and makes her look a lot more taller and powerful over the man. The camera cuts back to the roof terrace to see the young MI5 agent and the terrorists reaction to this change in mood the camera does this by close-ups on both of the characters faces, which are two very serious faces the next thing us viewers see is the view through the terrorists gun and its the target on his victim again they do this to make it seem like the situations changed hes had enough hes going to shoot. Whilst this is happening the music gets higher and more angelic and then you hear the sound of the terrorist sons voice on the phone a close-up is used yet again on the terrorists face to show shock,relief and desperation. We see his son in the flat with the MI5 agents and this teamed up with the music shows us that his son will be OK, this turns are attention back to the terrorist and it seems clear that hes a normal human being his love for his children over write any stupid action they want to commit and with the sun bright on his face and the music getting more angelic shows us that the lightness has conquered the darkness.

In conclusion i believe that this episode of spooks makes MI5 agents and Terrorists look like their stereotypes for e.g. the suits for the MI5 agent and the scruffy clothes for the terrorist. I think they do this to confirm those sterotypes only to show us we are wrong through there use of dialogue and cinematography which challenges these perceptions.