Camera work in Cuffs

Analyse how camerawork is used in the extract to create meaning. Refer to at least two examples from the extract in your answer. 
Worth 5 marks

In a scene where officers Ryan Draper and Jake Vickers are bringing in a women who assaulted Jake, she tries to protest by threatening them with the fact that her mother's a QC lawyer. There side face shot of Ryan as he states 'We don't care what peoples parents do' and then there is a focus pull to Jake to show his reaction for his father is the chief constable for the police. He gives a quick smile to himself put then there is a room shot showing the other officers reactions where they are laughing at him, it then switches back to Jake where he looks hurt and embarrassed.

In another scene Jo walks into Chief Super Robert Vickers office and asks him if he wants to meet later and says that 'it hasn't been a while' showing that there had been something between them before when he turns her down there is a cut away shot to show a point of view shot of a photo of the chief's wife and son, and this shows that he is obviously backing out of their affair

Directly after this scene when Jo Moffat leaves the room there is a slow zoom into a close up of her face showing her reaction to talking to the superintendent and how awkward it had been. The face shot is the chin to the top of her crown and shows a whole series of emotions as a reaction: pain, disappointment, embarrassment and anger. They also add a dark lighting called chiaroscuro, this outlines her features and makes her look older and more feeble.

Exam Q5

Social context can influence a lot in television programs these days. It is very easy to tell that this is set at a much earlier time, with things like the way people speak, 'didn't think so boy'. The different kind of humor they have, John Steed lights one of the characters mustache on fire, and humor now would have been represented a lot differently. This show also has a very different way in which they represent things, for back when this was first released it was probably seen as being a lot more serious where as now some of the serious parts may be seen as humorous.

One of the largest social contexts that influence this TV programme is definitely the war, even though it was 20 or so years later, which shows just how important the second world war is in history. One of the main characters, John Steed, constantly has flashbacks to when he participated in the war, especially when he visited the abandoned air field, which obviously would have been used during the war. It also has other references such as model fighter planes hanging in the the hotel where they stayed and also there is use of an underground bunker under the town, which would have been used to protect the citizens from bombs during the war.

Something that very obviously hints at the time when this was set is the fashion sense and the way the different genders are treated. John Steed wears an old-fashioned suit and also a steel-rimmed top hat. Mrs Peel also wears a cat suit, which is very uncommon for someone to wear casually nowadays. Also due to when it was set, having a women playing a lead role especially in the particular context of spies, was very perculier and was one of the very first instances. This is still shown by the ways in which John Steed treats Mrs Peel, for example playfully hitting her on the backside.

Exam Q2

This episode of cuffs depicts many different views which can change our views. The opening scene starts with a panning view of Brighton with an over voice of a police chief talking about how well respected and how well prepared the police are to face the tasks they face. This is then contradicted when one of the main characters, Ryan a police officer is called to a scene where two distinctly different groups are fighting: Nudists, and the supposed criminals in this scene. The over voice starts with 'I think we can all feel a sense of pride and admiration for the men and women who stand before you today'. The actual scene then shows a police officer separating the criminals and the nudists, which shows that they work sometimes with very humiliating problems. This scene shows the police officer trying to handle the situation in the best way possible, and is doing his job very well in the way he handles both the groups. However he is outnumbered and then the criminals punch him and run away. Then after trying his best to help the naturists he is then criticized by them, even though he had dealt with it to the best of his standards, while the voice over says 'while earning the respect of the public they serve. The voice over also helps describe how hard the police are made to work, while adding the hypocrisy into it. This scene is also put in slow motion to enhance the work that they are dealt with.

Another scene in this episode shows a drug addict, who has been self-harming threatening the two main characters, Ryan Draper and Jake Vickers, with a knife. It starts with the new, inexperienced police officer Jake trying to solve it and he is aggressive and just scares the drug addict even more. The more experienced police officer then takes over and you can see how they have to act to get situations into control and change their state of mind so suddenly from being really serious to being soft with the criminal in this scene. He comes across as very gentle and nice, 'we can help you', and tries to create a relationship with the criminal to calm them down and this pays off for the criminal puts his knife down and opens the door for them. This shows the experience and how he has been put in this kind of situation before and he is hard-trained and knows exactly how to deal with it. The piano music in this scene when the criminal has let them in shows the sudden mood change as the inexperienced police officer looks around the messy room and how he let 'things get on top of him' and his realisation of the way you should handle these situations and how they act like the guardian angels for the people even to those who are performing the crimes.

The last example of a crime scene, is a much more serious one compared to the others and makes them seem very small in comparison. This scene starts with the boy telling his mother 'everything's fine', which obviously shows that something bad is about to happen. He enters a genral store a thug, the criminal, due to racial beliefs, assaults them with a rusty screwdriver. There is a different person handling the case in this scene called Jo Moffat. She is very serious with the realism of this case. When she questions the shop keeper she states in a calm but firm state that she wants to see their CCTV footage. The shop owner says that it wasn't working but found his son standing over the body when he found it. She then, instantly changing her appearance becomes very friendly to address the boy and starts by asking him questions like 'do you like superheroes' before actually asking the question about the case. Later on in a conference room she breaks when the shop owners lawyer tells her that he has the right to not say anything. She tries to get to the lawyers better nature pleading him to let him talk and shows her desperation that she just wants to solve a serious case of a serious assault and cares and wants to understand it.

Exam Q1

There is music used continuously throughout this show. Music is a very essential part of any film or show. Music can serve several purposes that are either important on the emotional side of the move to to enhance the storytelling.

An example of using sound in the show is there is one scene where the two main characters are having an argument. The scene uses completely diegetic sound to build up the atmosphere. It is set on a highway and it starts with only the clatter through walkie-talkies and the sounds of passing cars. It uses diegeic sounds to make it seem more drastic like a real life argument. As the tension and the argument volume increases the background sound increases but becomes more aggressive to match with the pace of the argument and the tension and action that is happening in this scene.

Another example of using sound is a scene when a boy is attacked, in a general store, due to race. The scene starts with diegetic sound with the echoed sound of the store's music already leaving an ominous aura. Then as the attackers start to approach there is a low smooth sound which slowly get's lower, warning you that something bad is going to happen and keeps getting worse until it actually happens, and then it is witched back to the diegetic sound. It slowly builds up warning the watcher until it happens, and then its suddenly over.

In conclusion music is very important as a backing soundtrack for something for it is what sets up the atmosphere for the watcher.