Cuffs: Extract Practice

What do the opening scene and credits suggest/tell us about the genre, narrative and characters? What would the audience expect from this scene?

The opening scene and credits of Cuffs used quick, upbeat music, which fits the genre of crime drama, but the music is quite edgy, which suggests that Cuffs is aimed at a younger target audience. The scene shows Brighton and graffiti in the bottom right, and in the top left, it shows the main police officers. This suggests that Cuffs is based on the police fighting against society. This also suggests that Cuffs only shows the point of view of the police, not the criminals.The setting of Brighton being shown in the opening credits connotes gay representations, so suggests this could be a theme shown in Cuffs. Juxtaposition of police images on top of the graffiti connotes the narratives will entertain audiences by following class crime narrative convention of police vs criminals as graffiti is against the law. The text in this scene is all yellow and bold, which doesn't fit police drama stereotypes, because you would usually expect to see black, white and blue, but the use of the colour yellow, suggests it is more upbeat and aimed at younger target audiences. From this scene, the audience can expect Cuffs to be a upbeat crime drama, that is aimed at young people, involving police fighting against society.

How has sound been used to create meaning?

Diegetic and non-diegetic sound was used in the opening sequence to show the setting and the genre of Cuffs. Non-diegetic sound shows the setting, because seagulls and she sea crashing is used to show people that Cuffs is set in a seaside town. Non-diegetic background music then gets louder, and deeper, to create drama.

Diegetic sound then connotes the genre and takes the narrative forward as a police radio then begins to shout commands at the main character, Ryan Draper. Once the radio  has stopped, a police siren comes on and we see the police car driving along. This automatically shows the audience that this is a crime drama, because of the sounds of police radios and sirens. A non-diegetic voiceover then begins to talk, and a sound bridge is used to carry this over into another scene. The voiceover then becomes diegetic dialogue, with the Chief Supt. talking about the police and the things they do. "Ensuring cohesion and security" and "gaining the respect of the public" suggests that this police force is a highly respected part of society.

The scene then goes back to the main character, Ryan Draper, on the beach. Diegetic dialogue is then used to show what is happening in the narrative. Non-diegetic music is then used in the background to create drama, and it gets louder. Ryan is then punched in the face by a member of the public, and you hear this through a diegetic crack sound. The people on the nudist beach then say to Ryan "seriously.. what is the point in you", because he lets the people get away. This juxtaposes what was said earlier on by Chief Supt. because he said that the police brought security and respect, but this people seem to not respect Ryan.

The scene then goes back to the Chief Supt. where he is now talking about the new officers, and introduces the narrative of favouritism by saying, "I am here no only in my professional capacity, but like you as a family member." This suggests that he expects his son, Jake to do well and make him proud. Non-Diegetic music brings tension to it all, suggesting Jake won't make his father proud. Then, the opening credits begin with loud upbeat music. This suggests that Cuffs is aimed at a younger target audience, because younger people would 

Cuffs: Establishing Genre

Title Sequences:
Title sequences and opening credits are very important in establishing audience ideas as to what a programme is about. Music, graphics and the content of opening credits all help the audience in terms of getting into the right frame of mind for watching a programme. For a romantic serial drama, we might introduce a mellow mood; for a detective serial drama, we might want to induce a mood of excitement or a mood of peril and threat- and the opening credits are key in shaping this in the audience mind and attracting that audience viewer base.

Cuffs: Police Drama Conventions

What are audience expectations of a TV Police Drama?
Crimes- Murder, Violence etc.
Crimes solved- Criminals arrested, sent to prison.
Victims supported.
Trials.
Angry police men.
Shocked suspect.
Interview room.

What narrative ideas do they expect to find?
Usually a crime takes place.
The victim reports it.
The police try to find the criminal.
They find different suspects.
They would chase the main suspect.
They would catch them.
The criminal would be arrested.

What kind of characters?
Good Crime Solvers.
Bad Crime Solver (violent).
Criminals.
Victims.
Family/Friends of Victim.

What locations?
Well known towns/ cities-more crime there, more exciting.
Countryside to show that there is still crime.

What representations would they expect?
Alpha male police officers.
Alpha males.
Racism.
Homophobia.