The first of our case studies is the first episdode from series one of Life On Mars. The series follows Sam Tyler through his acoma sending him back through time from 2006 to 1973. The series is almost the Holy Grail to media students for MES 3 as it has so many iconic features that contrast so strongly against the modern day Tyler and policing.
The episode begins with non-diagetic music being played, not a theme tune typically found in police dramas but dramatic jumpy music which matches the transitions from credits to footage, no diagetic sounds can be heard giving the viewer a sense of isolation and the feeling that they are the only ones to be there seeing this almost specialist footage. The camera angle used is a low-angle shot of police car tires, this again gives a very modern feel as this may not have been possible at the time a typical 70's police drama may have been shotm, it also suggests the use of enigma codes as the type of shot and the non-diagetic music suggests to the viewer that they are watching a police drama or a politics related topic without having prior knowlege of the show. The credit pages are what you would typically expect to find on a police drama, black screens with varying shades of blue and white text. The general feel of sharp quick transactions from screen to screen and the formal text give the feel of a serious and formal police drama. The opening credits then appear the title Life On Mars appears in focus whilst the rest of the shot is out of focus, this the reverts and the shot is in focus whilst the title is not, this is a very clever shot as the unlcear title adds a question to the title, is there life on mars?
Also present are high amounts of technology, such as the cars used and the communication technology which all contrasts to 1970's Britain later in the opening sequence. Another strong contrast is the way female officers are addressed in both time periods, in modern day policing it is portrayed that they are seen as equal proffesionals and are spoken to with the same amount of respect as a male officer, this is turned on its head in the 1970s policing as it suggests that women are used to 'please' the higher officers and are only allowed to do stereotypical female jobs such as administer first aid and work as a receptionist.
First impressions of Sam suggest that he is a steadfast professional and has great pride in what he does, Gene Hunt shares some of these values but executes them using differant method, shoot and ask questions later. This attitude is seen as unproffesional in modern day policing but as it proves combined with some modern techniques - over the two series - it gets the job done and fast.
The episode begins with non-diagetic music being played, not a theme tune typically found in police dramas but dramatic jumpy music which matches the transitions from credits to footage, no diagetic sounds can be heard giving the viewer a sense of isolation and the feeling that they are the only ones to be there seeing this almost specialist footage. The camera angle used is a low-angle shot of police car tires, this again gives a very modern feel as this may not have been possible at the time a typical 70's police drama may have been shotm, it also suggests the use of enigma codes as the type of shot and the non-diagetic music suggests to the viewer that they are watching a police drama or a politics related topic without having prior knowlege of the show. The credit pages are what you would typically expect to find on a police drama, black screens with varying shades of blue and white text. The general feel of sharp quick transactions from screen to screen and the formal text give the feel of a serious and formal police drama. The opening credits then appear the title Life On Mars appears in focus whilst the rest of the shot is out of focus, this the reverts and the shot is in focus whilst the title is not, this is a very clever shot as the unlcear title adds a question to the title, is there life on mars?
Also present are high amounts of technology, such as the cars used and the communication technology which all contrasts to 1970's Britain later in the opening sequence. Another strong contrast is the way female officers are addressed in both time periods, in modern day policing it is portrayed that they are seen as equal proffesionals and are spoken to with the same amount of respect as a male officer, this is turned on its head in the 1970s policing as it suggests that women are used to 'please' the higher officers and are only allowed to do stereotypical female jobs such as administer first aid and work as a receptionist.
First impressions of Sam suggest that he is a steadfast professional and has great pride in what he does, Gene Hunt shares some of these values but executes them using differant method, shoot and ask questions later. This attitude is seen as unproffesional in modern day policing but as it proves combined with some modern techniques - over the two series - it gets the job done and fast.
Don't forget to use media terminology when exploring texts, the shot of the tires in the opening sequence helps to establish or hint at the genre of the piece, also look at the use of enigma codes in the opening sequence.
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