Representations of Terrorism and Ethnicity in SPOOKS

-Ahmed is represented in a negative way, Fiona nd Danny positively. How are those binary opposites conveyed to audiences?

-Ahmed is standing above the hostages, looking very imopsing and dominant. The camera also only shows very quick shots of Ahmed, kind of representing the way the hostages can't really see him or don't want to look at him. Ahmed seems to be very experienced in what he's doing and he has a ruthless attitude where he doesn't seem to care at all about anything they say and nothing they can say will stop him.

-What role do mise en scene, camerawork and editing play in underlining those representations?

-The camerawork, as I said before, only shows Ahmed briefly, even when he's speaking, a lot of the time he is talking and the camera shows Danny or Fiona. Also, the clothes they are wearing. Ahmed is wearing a black suit, quite depressing, almost similar to an undertaker. Fiona and Danny are wearing much less imposing clothing such as his purple shirt and her white shirt and light grey jacket. The room they are in is also quite significant. The way Ahmed is standing by the window and the camera doesn't break the 180 degree rule, Ahmed seems very mysterious as he is almost silhouetted by the light.

-What techniques are used to involve audiences emotionally? How does that position audiences?

-Most of the focus is placed upon Danny. There are a lot of long CUs of him, showing his emotion in real detail. This makes the audience very attached to Danny and really makes Ahmed seem extremely evil when he shoots him. Whereas before, you hear about how they have had a really rough time and everything has been very difficult for them, you start to be able to relate to them but when he kills Danny, a character whose emotions the audience have recently become very aware of, all the sympathy they once had for Ahmed disappears. Also, as Ahmed shoots Danny, the focus moves from Ahmed to the gun in the same shot. This makes the audience really focus on the gun and how Ahmed really means what he says. This gives the audience a real shock.

-What view of terrorism emerges from these scenes?

-Terroists seem totally ruthless with absoultely no consideration for human life. They also seem to be so determined that they have a very one-track mind and nothing can sway them from their objectives.

-What do you understand by Arab, Islamic, Muslim, Middle-Eastern?

-Arabic people are from Arabia/Middle East, Islamic people follow the religion of Islam, Muslim people also follow Islam and Middle-Eastern are those from the middle east.

-What are the equivalent categories for describing British people?

-British is a very diverse culture so what it means to be British has changed over the years. In the past it used to be that you were white, born in Britain, spoke english etc. However, this has changed and many people are now considered British frmo many different backgrounds so I don't this these equivalents exist.

-What do you know about Al Qaeda?

-Not a lot. They are a terrorist group in the middle east with links to the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden.

-Try to find 3 contrasting representations or Iraqi people from the internet, newspapers, magazines, films. What conclusions can you draw from these representations?

- Most Iraqi related articles on the internet are usully bad things such as one man being jailed for 3 years for throwing his shoes at George Bush or getting thrown in jail for having fake papers. Another article also says about how another man emerged from 20 years in hiding. These are all very negative images of Iraqi people and they all seem to be very oppressed and are trying to beat the oppression any way they can by throwing shoes, hiding or trying to escape from wherever they are.

-Look back at the representation of Ahmed and Khatera in this episode of Spooks. How far does the drama position audiences to equate 'Muslim' (from whatever national context) with terrorism?

-Muslims aren't represented as entirely bad as there is a Muslim agent who aids MI5 with finding the people and helping out Adam. However, this character isn't seen a lot in this episode and the majority of the representation comes from Ahmed and Khatera who are extremists and are just out to destroy other people.

-Think of other characters from British ethnic minorities in the drama. What is their significance?

-As I said before, there is one character who is aiding MI5 who is from an enthnic minority. Also, Danny, one of the main characters is black, he works for MI5 and is considered as British. When he talks about where he was born, he says he was lucky and Ahmed was unlucky. This gives the audience a bit of food for thought. These characters help to curb the view that is commonly held in the media that enthinc minorities are trouble makers when they are also instrumental in solving the problem of a very small minority who are not in-keeping with the rest.

S02 E01

Episode summary from IMDB:

Back from their holiday, the team learns that an old friend and con artist, has been sent to prison. He tried to con businessman Howard Jennings in a stock deal but unfortunately for him, Jennings knew the game too well. Danny is very keen to take this fellow on and now has to devise a plan for the most difficult of marks: conning someone without them ever knowing they have ever been conned. So, they try to convince Jennings that there is possibly a gold mine in the heart of London.

Opening sequence before titles - Body Language - Ash Morgan

I'm going to focus on Ash, the fixer in the gang. His job is to arrange the technical side of things and make sure the con is as convincing location etc wise as possible. He is often relied heavily upon by Mickey. At the start of this episode he is pushing the trolley out of the airport and smoking. The cigarette shows he has the potential to get stressed, possibly as a result of his stressful job and sees it as a kind of relief from this but became addicted. When he is instructed to get a car. He picks up a briefcase, almost instinctively. This shows he's used to exactly what needs to be done to achieve this and how he is incredibly experienced in the field. The next shot shows him walking through arrivals in the airport. He is looking around a lot, showing he is assessing the situation and looking for the best option. However, he doesn't stop to look so shows he is really fairly confident in his abilities to get himself a car. He could also be looking around for security or police instinctively so he doesn't get caught. When he sees a driver holding a sign he likes the look of, he just goes straight towards the man without flinching and just handing him his briefcase. This makes the driver believe that he is the persons name he is holding up without questioning him at all. As they turn around to go to the car, Ash pats the driver on the back. This reassures the driver that he is a nice, honest person and prevents the driver turning round to be seen by the person that actually booked him. The pat also seems to usher the driver out of the queue as quickly as possible. As he gets out of the car, he stares up at the London buildings with a sort of familiarity, what he's been missing while he's been on holiday. As he walks in, he has his hand in his pocket. This signifies that he wasn't always used to wearing suits, his life is usually spent wearing much more casual clothing and being much more informal. When he goes to talk to Mickey, he calls him 'Mick', shows how the characters are very familiar with eachother and have a very close relationship. He nods towards the door where the manager of the hotel is standing. This also shows his relationship with Mickey. Mickey knows exactly what Ash means when he nods towards the manager and Ash trusts Mickey to know what to do to fix the situation. While Mickey is fooling the manager, Ash is standing watching, looking fairly puzzled. This helps create the illusion that Mickey is trying to portray to fool the manager into thinking they are high class, important people. He does this without Mickey saying anything at all to him which also shows how they are all on similar wavelengths and they almost know what eachother are thinking.

S02 E02

Hustle Series 2 Episode 2

The team con Johnny Keyes, a reformed criminal, now, chef trying to find his long-lost son. He is described as pure evil. He didn't pay the ransom the kidnappers asked when they originally took his son, even though he had the money. Meanwhile, Albert is grieving over the death of his friend 'Gil'. He gambles a lot of money away and ends up losing Gil's wedding ring that he gave to Albert on his death bed. Ash manages to get this back in the end. The team end up conning Johnny Keyes by Danny playing the son trying to be reunited, but struggling financially. Stacey, his fiancee and Mickey the social worker. Instead of accepting offers of charity from Johnny, they convince him to come to Danny's 'flat' where he will cook for him and Johnny will decide whether or not to invest. After tasting the dreadful food, Johnny discovers a bottle of wine that is supposedly very rare in the flat which the team have planted. He buys the bottle from the team for £120,000 but dies soon after, still believing that Danny was his son.

Character Representation

'Johnny Keyes' - The 'Mark'

Johnny Keyes is supposed to play a reformed criminal that grew up in the east end on London. He went to prison for a very long time for armed robbery and during his time inside, he obtained a passion for cooking and then started his own restaurant chain when he got out. He has always been 'evil' and still maintains his reputation.

Johnny Keyes has a very thick cockney accent. Shows his rough upbringing and how he sees himself as a 'hard man'. Shows his weakness during the episode and lowers his guard in a confession. Kind of shows it's all a front to look aggressive. Still has the accent though. He wears very high quality suits. Showing off his wealth. Could be another reflection of his background. Splashing his wealth around, showing off now that he has what he didn't have growing up. Lives in a very posh mansion-esque house. Lots of tacky, high quality decorations. More spending for the sake of it rather than because it actually looks good or is necessary. Wife younger than him, also from east-end ish. Reflection of his old criminal self, similar to stereotypical east london mob boss characters. More showing off.

Hustle

The progam I'm going to be studying is going to be 'Hustle' BBC (2004-present).

A brief summary according to IMDB is:

The story of a group of elite con artists, who each week pull off a complicated scam with several twists. Mickey (Adrian Lester) is the group's leader, who comes up with the plans. Albert (Robert Vaughn) is a veteran con man who in his later years is a "roper," searching out suitable victims and introducing them to his cohorts. Ash (Robert Glenister) comes up with all the locations and equipment needed for the cons. Stacie (Jaime Murray) steps in whenever she needs to use her feminine wiles. The group is rounded off by Danny (Marc Warren), a young amateur grifter who Mickey takes under his wing.

Although in the current series, Danny is replaced by a new character, Sean (Matt Di Angelo) and Stacie is replaced by Sean's older sister Emma (Kelly Adams).

Definition of TV Drama

TV Drama is usually fictional, scripted programming.
Excludes sitcom, gameshows, news, sport, reality.

Hovis Advert

1. The Bread Shop

Boy wearing cloth cap, baker in white. Man in posh suit comes in, pocket watch. Late 1800's 'There you go lad'.

2. Cart

Horse and cart down alleyway. Shops very old fashioned, things outside the shops, lots of mess on the floor. Titanic posters. Early 1900's. Costumes very aged. Children seen and not heard - looks at adult in a serious manner.

3. Women's March

Boys clothes slightly updated. Women votes signs. Old fashioned dressed man with handlebar moustache.

4. Soldiers

Girl with bow, soliders uniforms old. 1920's. Very young soldier - Less control on age in army. Old fashioned.

5. Street with car

Very old fashioned car. Cobbled street. Terraced housing. Other characters clothes more 30's.

6. War - Bombs, people passing and plane

Houses destroyed. People holding what they can. Music becomes quieter, boy looks sadly at people. Winston Churchill broadcast heard. Shows during WW2. Shot inside house of 'wireless'. Old plane flies overhead.

7. Street Party

Boy in costume - pirate - party atmosphere. British flags up on houses. Banners, people eating in street.Homemade lemonade.

8. Girls/Football Players

Boys clothes - Leather jacket. Girls wearing very 60's clothes. Hairstyles. Cars on street updated. Guys in car with flags - World cup 1966.

9. Street with Asians and TV Shop

TV's becoming more common. Asians show immigration - culture diversity. Boys clothes updated.

10. Cole not Dole strike/protest

80's clothes on boy. Unions - Thatcher. Music dips - 'Hey lad isn't it past your bedtime?!' hooliganish behaviour. Police officers uniforms aged. Runs across uncut grass - Not all urbanised yet.

11. Fireworks

Millenium. Clothes updated. Onto bench by riverside.

12. Home

Boys outside with football. 'AK08' reg on car. Boy wearing hoodie. Get in. Dishwasher in background. 'Is that you home love?' 'Yeh!'

13. Sound throughout the sequence

Boy often called 'lad' or 'love' very British, London thing to say. Music is similar throughout sequence. Only dipping on dialogue. Churchill speech in WW2. Indicator of time. 'Hey lad isn't it past your bedtime?!'.

14. Narrative/Story development through the whole advert

Boy taking long journey home from bread shop. Everything in each scene is supposed to be there. 'Hovis' was around at all these different time periods. Boy moves out of shot when time changes. Costume overall stays similar coloured. Brown outer layer.