Eduqas A Level Media Studies - The Bridge (2015) PDF

AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet The Bridge (Season 3 Episode 1, 2015)  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet The Bridge (Season 3 Episode 1, 2015) Section A: Television in the Global Age (A Level) PART 1: STARTING POINTS – Media Language...

AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet The Bridge (Season 3 Episode 1, 2015)  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet The Bridge (Season 3 Episode 1, 2015) Section A: Television in the Global Age (A Level) PART 1: STARTING POINTS – Media Language The codes and conventions of media forms and Focus Areas: products, including the processes through which Media Language media language develops as a genre. Representation In its simplest terms a genre is a type of media Media Industries product, but it is more complex than that and also Audiences provides a way for producers to communicate Media contexts messages to audiences. Audiences need to be able to recognise genres and the codes and PRODUCT CONTEXT conventions are established over time. The The Bridge (Bron/Broen) is one of the A Level audience have expectations regarding genres and options studied for Section A: Television in the establishing the genre is key to the effective Global Age alongside Life on Mars. The set marketing of the product. product is the first episode of Series 3 which was Crime dramas have a recognisable repertoire of broadcast in the UK on BBC Four at 9pm on 21st elements, these may be specific to a sub-genre, November 2015. for example a psychological crime drama. These The Bridge is an example of a Scandinavian sub- conventions have evolved over time and genre of crime drama – Nordic Noir. The drama is developed to reflect social and cultural change set in Sweden, the title refers to the Oresund and the needs and expectations of audiences. Bridge between Denmark and Sweden and is a However, these dramas share similarities which metaphor for the collaboration between the two place them in the crime genre including: police forces which commenced after a body was Narrative: this is usually based on a crime that discovered in the middle of the bridge in the first needs to be investigated and solved. episode of the first series. o Structure. Crime dramas may use a range of The crime drama was a co-production between different narrative structures. They may Filmlance International and Nimbus Film. conform to Todorov’s theory where the The Bridge followed on from the success of other structure is linear from the initial disruption Nordic Noir crime dramas broadcast by BBC Four through to a resolution, or non-linear where including the highly successful The Killing and time and space is manipulated. Inverted Wallander. There were four series between 2011- narratives show the crime and the 2018. perpetrator at the start and then may have a Series 3 opens with the murder in Malmo of a non-linear structure including flashbacks. prominent Danish gender campaigner and owner Other examples of the genre create a of Copenhagen’s first gender neutral pre-school. restricted narrative in which information is Swedish detective Saga Norén is assigned a new withheld from the audience and they are Danish colleague Hanne to help with the involved in solving of the crime alongside investigation, but their relationship does not get the police. In The Bridge there are elements off to a good start with feelings still running high of a flexi-narrative. The characters are after Saga’s involvement in sending her previous complex, storylines interweave, and the Danish partner Martin to jail for murdering the audience is challenged through enigma and man who killed his son. engagement with complex characters. o Narrative disruptions occur that change the course of the story, these can be events that happen or revelations that are made by characters. Sometimes the audience are in a privileged spectator position whereby they  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet know more than the characters within the crime. Often the pairing of characters are binary story world. opposites, and their relationships contribute to o Binary oppositions function as a narrative tensions within the narrative, this is the case with element including good vs evil, police vs Saga and firstly Hanne and then potentially criminal as well as, in the case of The Bridge, Henrik. the cultural differences of Sweden vs Setting and locations. These will become Denmark, Saga vs Hanne, the nuclear vs the synonymous with the programme and the brand non-nuclear family and illusion vs reality. and will relate to characters and the sub-genre. The resolving of some of these binary Some settings will be typical of the genre, for oppositions within the story world may have example the police station, the post-mortem lab an ideological significance, for example evil and urban crime settings, others become iconic, being punished and justice prevailing in a for example the bridge. crime drama (Structuralism: Levi-Strauss). o Plot situations are included that are typical Theoretical Approach: Narratology - Todorov of the crime genre. For example, the All narratives share a basic structure involving discovery of a body, an arrest, an interview movement from one state of equilibrium to with a suspect or the denouement where another, separated by a disequilibrium. The the perpetrator of the crime is revealed by opening of The Bridge establishes an initial the detective. These situations are made equilibrium, Martin is now in jail, Saga is focused slightly different in The Bridge due to the on work and Pettersen and Lillian are married. incongruencies in Saga’s character. For The disruption to this equilibrium is the discovery example, in the interview with the victim’s of the body of Helle Anker. Enigma codes are then wife Saga has to be prevented from showing established as a key element of the narrative in her the crime scene photographs. the attempt to find the killer. o Story arcs and narrative strands occur in A series of story arcs are established which episodes and across the series of a crime interweave across the episode. drama. In The Bridge, as this is the first As this is an example of an episodic drama there episode of a new series, there are several would not be a resolution at the end of the first complex, enigmatic narrative strands, some episode, instead there is a cliffhanger with an new and some carrying over from other explosion where Hanne is seriously injured and series, which will be interwoven across the the introduction of Henrik as Saga’s new partner. episodes in this series, including: The audience has been placed in a privileged ▪ Saga’s past and her involvement with spectator position regarding Henrik’s situation Martin, her role in this narrative and which foreshadows possible future narratives. how she relates to others, her past and her mother How genre conventions are socially and historically ▪ The partnerships and team dynamics, relative, dynamic and can be used in a hybrid way for example Hanne Thomsen and Although genres have never been stagnant, it is Lillian and the tension with the Saga increasingly the case that they are more dynamic and the Swedish team and seek to challenge audience expectations. The ▪ The crime – who killed Helle Anker? genre now is a starting point to target the The enigma of the murder scene set audience and then surprise them through up as a nuclear family. hybridity and intertextuality. ▪ The additional storylines including the Some programmes, for example The Bridge, role of Alexsandr and his place in the challenge and subvert genre conventions, in this narrative case through the narrative, the characters and ▪ The character of Henrik, his drug reference to other genres. The Nordic Noir crime dependence and the enigma dramas demonstrate their hybridity through surrounding his family. The reference to the conventions of film noir many, expectation of how he and Saga will but not all of which are evident in The Bridge: work together. o A dark, pessimistic tone and mood Stock characters usually including a hierarchy o Chiaroscuro lighting and shadows with a boss, a detective, a sidekick, and other establishing enigma codes and a bleak characters, for example a victim, a range of melancholy aesthetic suspects, the perpetrator of the crime and experts/witnesses who help in the solving of the  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet o A sexually attractive femme fatale Nordic noir/ Film Noir elements functioning as a strong protagonist, until the Elements of the action genre, for example the end chase scene o Disillusioned, flawed anti-hero (detective), Horror conventions, for example the build-up of often with a past tense music, audio codes suggesting supernatural o Claustrophobic and menacing setting; closed elements, slow turning to camera and the frames to connote entrapment; canted execution of the crime angles suggesting disorientation Elements of the psychological thriller, for example o A slow pace the murder scene, the slow pace, and the use of o Moral decline and ambiguity with a focus on silence/ lack of dialogue the darker elements of life Gender representations – there are stock o Themes of corruption, greed, obsession, characters and representations we expect in a duality, isolation crime drama, but strong female roles challenging o Strong awareness of mortality and irony of expectations. Saga is an unusual heroine, she is human existence flawed but central to the narrative, with o Complex narrative and convoluted plot unpredictable and interesting behaviour traits. o Iconography – bars created by shadows Setting and aesthetic, intensity of mood and dark, through blinds, cigarettes, neon, rain, unsettling themes alleyways, trench coat and trilby. Technical codes which reference film noir, for example the low-key lighting, the use of Theoretical Approach: Genre – Steve Neale torchlight, profile shots and intense close-ups and Neale asserts that genres may be dominated by frames with isolated figures repetition, but they are also marked by difference, The unique setting, the bridge, represents the variation, and change. Crime dramas have a ‘other-worldly’ which links cultures but is neither recognisable repertoire of elements that place one place nor another, shots of the bridge are them in the genre, but to appeal to audiences used throughout the episode they need to display something different to set The narrative of the stylised murders referencing them apart from other examples. Difference is “art” and notions of the surreal. essential to sustain a genre, to simply repeat the codes and conventions of the form would not How the combination of elements of media language appeal to an audience. influence meaning. Consider: In The Bridge, the Scandinavian setting, locations, Visual codes: and the enigmatic character of Saga proved novel Codes of clothing: The connotations of characters’ for audiences. clothing and appearance create meanings. The Bridge demonstrates that genres change, Clothing is a rapid way of communicating develop, and vary as they borrow from and messages in The Bridge. Saga’s versions of the overlap with one another. Some contemporary same outfit and colour scheme contribute to the crime dramas are less easy to categorise as they enigma surrounding her character and her are hybrid genres and this variation consequently behaviour traits. Clothing worn by the other enhances audience appeal. The Bridge as an detectives is informal and functional, unlike UK example of the Nordic Noir sub-genre, borrows crime dramas clothing does not connote a conventions from film noir. hierarchy within the police force. Genres exist within specific economic, Gesture and expression: non-verbal institutional, and industrial contexts. The communicators are quick ways of constructing recognisable codes and conventions of crime meaning. The Bridge frequently uses close-up dramas make them easy to market to audiences. shots of characters to communicate meaning and However, subverting and challenging these many of the expressions are serious, anxious, and conventions by introducing more novel elements fearful, reflecting the dark themes and as in The Bridge can also ensure commercial melancholy aesthetic. Saga’s passive expression success. rarely changes, and it is only after the explosion and in the final scenes of this episode where she is The Bridge demonstrates typical elements of a police confronted with her mother, that she is seen to be procedural crime drama, but also, as Neale has disconcerted, confused and afraid. suggested, incorporates differences illustrating the Iconography and Setting: props, backgrounds and dynamic and socially relative nature of genre settings work together to construct the narrative. conventions and the hybridity of the genre:  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet The settings in The Bridge clearly establish realism programme and creates expectations of the style and the film noir elements of the genre and also of programme to follow. The tense music at the employ the typical Scandinavian elements of the start of the episode has intertextual references to cold weather and the dark. The vast Nordic the horror genre building audience expectation of landscape creates a sense of isolation and the macabre scene that unfolds. alienation. The iconic image of the Oresund Bridge Diegetic sound: the clicking of the crime scene features regularly in the series. Many of the investigator’s cameras at the start establishes settings create a sense of entrapment including generic realism. The sound of the cans at corridors and dimly lit locations, for example the Morten’s cabin is both unsettling and on the warehouse crime scene. second visit, an action code for the explosion to follow which is then followed by a disconcerting Technical codes silence. Camera shots, movement and angles work together to Dialogue: some of the dialogue is conventional of communicate messages and ‘show’ the narrative. The a crime drama and is related to the investigation Bridge has high production values and a distinctive and police procedure and as such advances the style which is used to convey information without the narrative. Other elements of dialogue serve to use of dialogue. develop characters and relationships. Saga’s Close-ups advance the relationships between clipped, at times forced, dialogue contributes to characters and establish tension and a dynamic. her idiosyncratic character. She is very literal in This is evident in the conversation between Saga her understanding and her responses are and the other characters. Often the close-ups refreshingly honest. When the owner of the site show the profile of the character or are in where the victim is thought to have been silhouette, the opening introduction to Saga in the murdered asks her ‘Could you hurry up a bit?’, she lift combines both to construct her enigmatic replies ‘No’. The conversations between the character. detectives and Helle Anker’s wife create a back Tracking shots are used to introduce both Saga story and possible motives for her murder. Saga’s and Hanne, constructing both as powerful women mother’s reference to ‘your crime’ in relation to with a job to do and are also used to involve the Saga creates an enigma at the end of the first audience as part of the investigative process as episode and provides some insight into Saga’s they follow the characters. past, this is particularly intriguing as Saga has Establishing shots are quick ways of stated earlier in the episode, ‘I don’t like my communicating information, the bridge is used mum’. regularly to indicate changes of setting between Sweden and Denmark and bird’s eye view city PART 2: STARTING POINTS – Representation shots are used similarly. These shots also serve to Consider how representations are constructed create a sense of cultural verisimilitude through a process of selection and combination. establishing a real city in which the characters All representations are constructed and are not function, so reinforcing their believability. ‘windows on the world’. Representations are The film noir technique of shooting through constructed through media language, the information windows, or behind obstacles is used, positioning in the previous section will therefore be relevant the audience as looking in on the scene or the when exploring representation in The Bridge. Media lives of the characters as an outsider. The sense of products are constructed through a process of entrapment created by this filming in some cases mediation to communicate meanings using elements suggests their isolation or that they have of media language including: something to hide. For example, the audience Technical codes. Camera shots, angles, often views Saga from behind glass or another movements and editing combine to construct barrier and Henrik and his children are first representations and to position audiences in viewed through the window. relation to those representations. The post-production editing creates a desaturated Audio codes: diegetic and non-diegetic sound colour palette which contributes to the dark, including a soundtrack, mood music and dialogue melancholic feel of the programme. contribute to the construction of representations. Audio codes Iconography: clothing, particularly in relation to Sound and music are effective in communicating the cultural context, contributes to the meaning in this programme: construction of representations and will have Music: the haunting track used for the credit been a key consideration of the producers in sequence foreshadows the slow pace of the creating the characters and their roles.  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet How representations may invoke discourses and ideologies and position audiences Representations carry ideological significance and reflect the time in which the product was made. There is ideological significance to the way in which representations are constructed in The Bridge which positions the audience to look at social groups and issues in different ways, reflecting cultural shifts. For example, this episode explores the growing contemporary interest in gender and how it is more fluid and changing than in the past and is a subject for discussion. All aspects of this character are pared back to the The Bridge, through the ways in which it minimum including her clothing, dialogue, and constructs representations, constructs a feminist relationships with others. She responds very discourse that challenges sexist, patriarchal ideas, literally to situations and in conversations which and values: creates humour at times. o Women are not marginalised; they are Interestingly, whilst her representation is active and central to the narrative constructed as a powerful female, there are o Women are not sexualised characteristics of Saga that are more masculine, o Women are not portrayed in a domestic role suggesting this has helped her to survive in a or defined as carers or nurturers patriarchal world. Her stance and walk are o The women in the programme challenge masculine, she is active and dynamic, moving and/or subvert the typical social norms about a lot, she is unconcerned by related to gender behaviour. conventionality, for example she is not worried The representations in The Bridge are influenced about changing her t-shirt in the middle of the by contemporary attitudes and debates, and office. Her clothing is masculine, for example, the consequently audiences are positioned to leather trousers, military style overcoat and consider how representations have changed over neutral t-shirt. time to reflect changes in society. Her passive expression has become iconic and is shown in close up particularly when she is The effect of social and cultural context on attempting to process several pieces of representations information and inter-relationships with The effect of historical context on representations colleagues. An example in this episode is when, late in the day and absorbed in the case, she asks Representations of gender: Women/ Femininity John to find a map for her, Hans suggests that There are several representations of women in The John needs to go home, this confuses Saga who Bridge which subvert and challenge the more typical replies, ‘he’s recently divorced and his ex-wife has representations of women in crime dramas. Whilst the kids this week’, illustrating her inability to the victim is more typically female, in the detectives comprehend anyone who has a life outside of the the representation of women is strong reflecting shifts job. Saga continues to work through the night and in society, culture and audience expectations. These the audience is rarely shown aspects of her life women include: outside of work. Saga: this character breaks away from the more Saga’s construction allows the programme to typical representation of a detective. She is often explore a character who does not conform to compared to the ‘flawed’ detective of film noir social norms, but in doing so effectively but could be more accurately described as represents a particular under/mis-represented ‘different’. Whilst the actor and programme’s social group. Saga struggles with social situations, creators have avoided attaching a label to Saga, in she knows how she should behave, but finds this constructing this character more challenging, challenging, for example when she attempts to complex behaviours are explored. She is described make small talk with Hanne. She also lacks on the BBC website for the programme as ‘a empathy and does not read sensitive situations hardcore investigator who is socially challenged.’ well; she thinks rationally and says whatever (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/l9K occurs to her at the time with limited awareness PrlQqjCN9lrtLSPGq9N/characters) of its appropriateness. However, she is shown to  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet be vulnerable and afraid at the end of this episode when confronted with her past in the form of her mother. Henrik is portrayed as a flawed, vulnerable character with issues. It is the men, rather than the women who are Hanne Thomsen is another example of a strong presented in domestic roles, Henrik cooks and female character who is also a positive cleans and appears to be nurturing his children, a representation of an older woman who is well- role usually given to female characters. Lise has a respected, experienced, and good at her job. Like male cleaner, Rikard who fulfils a domestic role. the other women in The Bridge, she is not objectified, her clothing is functional and her grey hair and serious expression aid in constructing her representation. She also exemplifies the cultural differences between Sweden and Denmark, ‘From their first meeting hostilities begin to mount with Hanne showing her prejudices bordering on contempt for Swedish political correctness’ (www.bbc.co.uk). She can barely disguise her disdain when interviewing Anker’s wife at the idea of a gender-neutral pre-school, she describes her as ‘a bit Swedish’. Lise Friis Anderson is powerful in a different way, Theoretical Approaches: Feminist theory - bell hooks she is middle class, the wife of a wealthy and Van Zoonen businessman. Her views are right-wing, and she is bell hooks assertion that feminism is a struggle to end an opinion leader through her blog displaying her sexist/patriarchal oppression and the ideology of views of what constitutes a family which is in domination can be explored in relation to The Bridge: direct contrast to those of Helle Anker. She has no whilst patriarchal representations of gender are qualms in teaching her daughter to react with still evident in crime dramas, the constructions of violence when bullied. representations of women in The Bridge largely challenge bell hooks’ concept of ‘the ideology of Representations of gender: Men/ Masculinity domination’, reflecting changing ideologies and The representations of masculinity in The Bridge engaging in a feminist discourse. challenge the idea of inequalities of power between Saga and Hanne challenge the norm of women in men and women. The representations are not typical the police force as does Lillian who is the Danish of crime dramas as the female characters are active Police Commissioner in Copenhagen. and central to the narrative. representations of the family also challenge Whilst Hans is in a hierarchically powerful stereotypes. Helle Anker is an LGBT spokesperson position, he does not use this in an oppressive offering a positive representation of acceptance way and is understanding and supportive of of lesbian marriage within society. Saga those who work for him, traits that could be introduces Hanne to “Hen” as a gender-neutral said to be more typically feminine. He has an pronoun reflecting changing attitudes to gender. equal relationship with his partner Lillian who men in The Bridge are also constructed as less is a strong woman. He is also a positive dominant; Hans is gentle and caring, a father representation of age. figure for Saga, and Henrik is vulnerable and coping with his own demons.  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet however, patriarchal domination is reflected in The global distribution of television products. the crime where the victim is a woman with There are now the means in place in the television liberal views suggesting that when patriarchy is industry to distribute products worldwide. challenged women are targeted. The way in which Nordic Noir has gained global popularity her body is displayed representing a more regardless of the language barrier. Contemporary traditional nuclear family, is relevant in audiences are more accepting of sub-titles and reasserting stereotypical gender roles. BBC Four has been at the forefront of establishing Non-English-Language programmes as part of Van Zoonen’s assertion that gender is constructed their schedule. Crime dramas including The Killing through discourse and that its meaning varies and The Bridge have become an important according to cultural and historical context can be element of BBC Four’s brand identity with trailers applied to The Bridge: reinforcing it as the home of Nordic Noir. The construction of representations in The Bridge The BBC Four Service Licence, issued in April 2016 reflects the changing roles of men and women in states: ‘BBC Four’s primary role is to reflect a society and challenges typical stereotypes of range of UK and international arts, music and gender. The creation of Saga’s character reflects culture’. Part of its remit is to ‘offer international the interest in society in the changing ideas and and foreign language feature films and a range of viewpoints regarding gender, reinforcing Van foreign language dramas and documentaries… Zoonen’s assertion that the meaning of gender Foreign language output should regularly be varies according to cultural contexts. subtitled, including in peak-time, to allow people In The Bridge, contrary to Van Zoonen’s claim, from around the world to be heard in their own women are framed and constructed in a similar voices’. way to men. Women are active, not passive, they http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/ are not objects of the male gaze and it is they who pdf/regulatory_framework/service_licences/tv/20 drive the narrative forward. When Saga takes off 16/bbcfour_apr16.pdf her t-shirt, the gaze between Hanne and John is The Bridge was originally broadcast by SVT in intra-diegetic, in bewilderment at her action, she Sweden and DR in Denmark. The settings, cast and is not objectified by the camera. crew taken from both countries reflect the economic context in which The Bridge was Theoretical Approaches: Gender performativity – produced and helped to shape the programme. Judith Butler The UK broadcaster was BBC Four. Butler’s assertion that identity is performatively The main distributor was ZDF Enterprises, and The constructed and that there is no gender identity Bridge was distributed to over 150 countries behind the expressions of gender can be explored in worldwide. relation to The Bridge: A range of marketing strategies including posters, Through the programme’s inclusion of Helle trailers and a website were used to attract and Anker’s narrative regarding gender identity, a maintain audiences focusing on: discourse is opened up and debated within o In the UK, the BBC Four branding connoting the programme focusing on the nature of recognition of quality gender. Hanne states regarding Anker, “she o The team of detectives establishing a sense was very active in the gender debate, LGBT of community and an ensemble, but in some issues. You know, there’s not gender, only of the marketing products with Saga in the humans”. forefront Saga subverts and challenges the accepted o The character of Saga as the troubled anti- social norms regarding gender behaviour. The hero construction of her character through, for o The Swedish/Danish setting with the iconic example, clothing, expression, and behaviour, image of the Oresund Bridge challenges the typical representations of o The Radio Times used a front cover image of female characters in this genre. Saga in her recognisable overcoat with the anchor ‘Hot Scandinavian dramas for cold PART 3: STARTING POINTS – Media Industries winter nights’ Processes of production, distribution and circulation There were international remakes of The Bridge by organisations, groups, and individuals in a global illustrating its success, these included the context Anglo/French production The Tunnel and the US Television is now a global industry and this version The Bridge set on the US Mexican border globalisation has had a significant impact evident in: and produced by the FX network.  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet branding; trailers employed the marketing The significance of economic factors to media strategy of grouping together programmes under industries and their products this new brand, including The Bridge, Borgen, The Alongside the increasingly global nature of Killing and Wallander, describing ‘A world of television there has been a rise in the number of flawed heroes and dark criminal minds’ (‘Nordic international co-productions. These are attractive Noir & Beyond Trailer’ as the collaboration means that economic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paEDB- responsibility can be shared and the more 337eA). This enabled audiences to anticipate what contributors, the bigger the production budget. to expect and used inheritance from previous The way in which a programme is funded can examples of the genre to maximise audiences. influence production, for example to qualify for Whilst containing an enigmatic narratives and funding production companies usually have to complex, challenging characters, The Bridge also guarantee that they will film in a particular contains typical codes and conventions of a crime location, employ crew members from a particular drama. Once the programme was established, the country (both Swedish and Danish crews were marketing materials used the recognisable employed in the production of The Bridge) and characters, setting and iconic opening soundtrack work in collaboration with other international to engage with audiences. companies. The Bridge was co-produced by Filmlance PART 4: STARTING POINTS – Audiences International, an independent Swedish production How media products target, attract, reach, address company and by the Danish company Nimbus and potentially construct audiences Film. It also received financial support from The programme attracts the more niche, less European public service broadcasters. mainstream BBC Four audience who are targeted The third season of The Bridge also received through their expectations based on the brand funding from: identity of the channel. In broadcasting Nordic o The Copenhagen Film Fund. This co-funding Noir, BBC Four established that sub-titled stories resulted in more Danish crew members could reach a British audience. ‘BBC Four's being employed on the third season than on primary role is to reflect a range of UK and the previous two because of the financial international arts, music and culture. It should support of the CFF. provide an ambitious range of innovative, high o €1 million grant was received from Creative quality programming that is intellectually and Europe MEDIA for Series 3 and helped to culturally enriching’ (www.bbc.co.uk). support and maintain the programme’s high The programme may attract an inherited production values. Creative Europe provide audience who will be familiar with other Nordic financial backing for high quality, high Noir dramas broadcast on this channel, for budget European TV drama series. example The Killing and Wallander. The Bridge also offers a range of pleasures for the Theoretical Approaches fans of crime drama (Uses and Gratifications Cultural Industries: Hesmondhalgh theory), the programme has typical codes and Whilst the BBC as a public service broadcaster is conventions of crime dramas but an element of not under the same pressure as commercial escapism and diversion through the different broadcasters in terms of ratings and competition, characters, setting and culture. Audiences will it still uses a range of strategies to minimise risk gain pleasure from following the investigators as and maximise audiences. One of these as they attempt to solve the crime. indicated by Hesmondhalgh, is vertical Loyal audiences will have become familiar with integration. The Bridge was a Swedish/Danish co- the character of Saga, this is the start of Series 3 production, received funding from several and they will have expectations of how her production companies and was distributed character will behave and may develop based on globally by ZDF Enterprises (a subsidiary of ZDF, the other series. Germany’s national public television broadcaster). Another key strategy used by the BBC is The way in which different audience interpretations formatting their cultural products. Where reflect social cultural and historical circumstances audiences can anticipate what to expect from new This may include: products through, for example familiarity with Different demographic factors, for example genre conventions, then the risk in minimised. In nationality. The programme constructs an idea of the UK, The Bridge was part of the Nordic Noir the cultural differences between Sweden and  AS/A Level Media Studies - Set Product Fact Sheet Denmark where, for example, the Swedish PART 5: STARTING POINTS – Media Contexts characters are seen to be more politically correct Social and Cultural contexts. Consider: than the Danish. Danish and Swedish audiences o The fact that the programme reflects the may feel that The Bridge confirms longstanding changing attitudes towards gender and views and reaffirms the separate cultural specifically introduces a discourse into the identities. Conversely, some may feel that this is narrative of this series around gender, unfair cultural stereotyping. identity, and LGBTQ issues. Cultural capital, for example an understanding of o The representation of gender in the the conventions of film noir or of other Nordic programme, including the construction of Noir dramas will enhance the viewing experience Saga’s character, is influenced by changing of the audience. social and cultural attitudes regarding the Gender, for example women may be empowered role of women in society. by the construction of positive female o The binary opposition of the Swedish and representations in The Bridge. Danish cultures highlights how issues may be Audiences who are interested in crime dramas treated differently in different cultures. that offer a different cultural experience are likely o Responses to The Bridge may reflect the to have a positive response to the programme. social and cultural circumstances of the audience. Theoretical Approaches: Reception Theory – Stuart Historical context Hall o The Bridge demonstrates that genre Consider Hall’s assertion that there are three conventions are historically relative and hypothetical positions from which messages and dynamic. meanings may be decoded, in relation to The Bridge: o The representations constructed in the An audience may understand and accept the programme are affected by the historical producers intended meaning, to construct a context, they subvert and challenge typical programme that appeals to audiences by representations that have been accepted including some typical conventions of the crime over time and in doing so reflect the society drama whilst offering something different and of the time. more challenging through the character of Saga o Different audience interpretations of The and the Scandinavian setting. These viewers will Bridge may reflect historical circumstances. be entertained by the programme, its complex Economic contexts narrative, and the intertextual references to film o The Bridge demonstrates the economic noir. advantages of international co-productions. Feminist audiences are likely to feel empowered o The creation of the Nordic Noir brand meant by the inclusion of strong, powerful women in the that programmes could be successfully storyline, by the representation of a lesbian marketed globally. relationship and the narrative addressing gender o Establishing the codes and conventions of issues. this style of programme builds a loyal Some audiences may assume a negotiated fanbase and reduces the economic risk. position, they may enjoy the typical codes and conventions of a crime drama, the enigmas, and Acknowledgements the involvement with the investigative narrative, Images ©ZDF but feel more uncomfortable with the specific All quotes from dialogue taken from The Bridge focus of the narrative. Swedish and Danish Episode 1, Series 3. Original Broadcaster: SVT1 audiences may engage with the drama but feel (Sweden) DR1 (Denmark). UK Broadcaster: BBC Four that the cultural depictions are stereotypical. An oppositional audience reading may struggle to find Saga a sympathetic character. Audiences may view her behaviour traits with concern or find it difficult to connect to her emotionally as her responses are so different to expectations and she lacks humour. A more conservative audience may respond negatively to the Swedish liberal attitudes to sex, gender, and political correctness.