Exam structure & Scene Analysis

Introduction - DAC
- Definition : Define media language and key terms
- Argument : Point of view you will have in the exam
- Context : Background information (Channel? Date of creation? Author? Producer?)

Paragraphs - PEA 
- Point : Relating to the question, based on some element of media language
- Evidence : Key scenes from the text
- Argument : Using evidence link to argument/POV from introduction



Heavy Hitters Terminology

Polysemy - Multiple meanings  
Negotiation - Audience interpretation, negotiated meanings 
Hegemony - Rules and regulations we follow everyday with consent. Hegemonic codes                           e.g. women should wear makeup
Intertextuality - Makes reference to another media product. Could be very literal (e.g.                               Texas Chainsaw Massacre in les revenants) or more abstract (e.g. style                             and tone similar to Twin Peaks). 
Ideology - Views/Beliefs of the producer. Ideology encoded through semiotic, priaroetic,                  hermeneutic codes. ANY media language could incode ideology
Paradigm - Genre conventions





Creating an argument 
"In the 21st century, it is essential for TV shows to offer multiple meanings" - evaluate this claim with reference to Les Revenants

Knee jerk reaction - yes

But why?
To reach a larger audience but also to create a devoted cult audience.


Camille's mum see's her for the first time

- Slow, low, almost droning non-diagetic music. Sinister? - Contrapuntal. 
- Over the shoulder shot of Camille, mother walks slowly forward. Symbolic code - approaching an animal? Camille in high key lighting , mother in low key lighting. Shows binary opposition between life and death in a conflicting way, Camille = dead but in light, mother = alive but is dead. 
- Shot reverse shot Camille and mother, establishing a binary opposition between mother and daughter for conflicting feelings in confused audience.
- Close up of mother as door closes. Non-Diagetic soundtrack picks up and has a faster beat. Shows stress, anxiety, confusion, horror but also a sense of danger. Contrapuntal to what we expect of a mother finding her daughter has come back - polysemic. Creates negotiation with the audience - is the mother mad or is it happening?  
- Low-key lighting, can barely see her face. Probably done through colour grading in post production for this effect. Paradigmatic of horror genre. Emphasises a disconnect from family? 
- Camille could be argued to be the antagonist, anchorage of music and lighting. 

• Non-diegetic soundtrack - establishes a creepy and oppressive atmosphere.
• A range of CU shots presented in standard shot reverse shot conveys to the audience and  establishes that Camille and her mother are talking at cross purposes. This further establishes a binary opposition between the mother and daughter, creating conflicted responses for the confused audience.
• The mother climbs the stairs in a series of close up shots before knocking on the bathroom door. Her confusion and horror is immediately anchored by the sudden use of Mogwai's non-diegetic soundtrack anchors the interpretation that mother is potentially mad. This presents a confusing and potentially polysemic narrative to the intended cult audience.
• The family home setting is familiar to Camille and to the target middle class audience. However, a binary opposition is established between Camille's comfortable familiarity and her mother's absolute terror.
• Low key lighting emphasises the disconnectedness of the Seurat family. Also highly paradigmatic of the horror genre.
• OSS from Camille to the mother demonstrates Camille lit in high key lighting and her mother in low key lighting, further demonstrating the disconnect between the two previously close family members. Non of this is however made explicit to the audience, forcing them instead to form their own detailed and negotiated response
• Post production colour grading favours muted colours, which symbolically encodes the depressing and panic inducing nature of the scene for Camille's mother. Key theme is mortality and the inevitability of death. Existentialist philosophy, almost stereotypically french. The mother is horrified by her daughter's reappearance

Opening 

• use of music - reaches a crescendo at the point here the butterfly emerges from the display, demonstrating to the audience a key symbolic code, helping them to understand the complicated narrative
• Low key lighting and desaturated colour grading in the scene where Camille returns home emphasises to the audience a potential hermeneutic code, and forces the audience to negotiate their own perspective on the narrative. This enforces a polysemic reading of the text.
• Camille has more screen time on the bus, and is consistently framed in a montage of close up shots which positions the audience with the young Camille. Camille's age allows teenage audiences to invest in the complicated narrative. 
• The sudden and mysterious dip to black following the long shot of the traumatic bus accident is symbolic of not only the audience's own confusion and the show's primary theme of death and finality
• Establishing shot and the subsequent long shots of the bus establish an isolated and exotic setting for the secondary British and international audience. This emphasises the importance of Les Revenants adopting a polysemic narrative. It must mean different things to audiences of different nationalities. 
• Generically highly unconventional of the supernatural/horror genre. Lacks generic paradigms such as corpses, blood, monsters etc. It is not until much later in the narrative Camille is established to be a very unconventional 'zombie'.
• Long shot static shot of bus flying off highway is accompanied by diegetic screaming, yet no other camera movement demonstrates to the audience that the show will take an unconventional perspective on death and other grand themes.