The Killing CSP Research

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Media Language

The use of noir visual style, conventions of the police procedural and multiple narrative strands, The Killing provides a rich area of study for media language, which would form the foundation for work on the other theoretical frameworks.

Analysis Should Include

Mise-en-scene analysis
  • Costume: the detective wears a jumper and she is fully covered which may make her appear smarter as she is not sexualised and also dedicated to her work.
  • Light: low lighting for danger.
Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings
  • Not being sexualised signifies independence
  • dark lighting signifies danger
  • surprise party signifies danger/ actual police issues

Narrative

  • The Killing uses binary oppositions to drive the narrative forward. The way the binary opposition is resolved may have ideological significance. The oppositions that The Killing uses is good and evil, dark and light/night and day, hero and villain. 
  • Knights theory of prolonging the inevitable can be applied to The Killing, as due to the common features of a police procedural drama, the audience can assume the ending but the ending of the episodes always leaves another problem for the next episode.
  • The crime seems to branch of a lot of suspects and numerous possibilities which entertain the audience as they're expecting the unexpected.
  • At the equilibrium of the first episode Sarah is getting ready to start a new life elsewhere, and move out of the city. The disruption is that a girl goes missing. The recognition is that Sarah has to go and solve this crime before she leaves. The attempt to solve the disruption is that the car is found however, the girl is not a live so it opens up a new case which is the new equilibrium.

Genre

  • The Killing follow some conventions of police procedural: lack emphasis on personal lives, a high focus on law, police related topics and a detective which seems to work alone. There are also some conventions of film noir: investigator, crime, heavy smoking, urban locations, bleak view of humanity. This gives the audience a lot of excitement to watch as it would be different from their usual police procedural or noir.
  • The Killing is also a hybrid genre.
  • Steve Neale suggests that genre is instances of repetition and differences. This also applies to The Killing as they borrow features from a few genres which excite the audience.
  • Rather than have one case per episode, the show takes one case over an entire series to unpack all the social, cultural and political aspects surrounding crime. This causes it to have multiple narrative strands.
  • A narrative strand is a story which focuses on certain characters. In a single narrative strand, the story focuses on one main hero. However, in a multi-narrative, the story focuses on many different characters. The Killing does this by introducing multiple suspects.

Media Representations

The Killing provides a range of representational areas to explore, including gender roles, family structures and the political class. It can be argued that these are innovative representations which have been influential in the development of the genre. Part of The Killing's original appeal was in its representation of Danish culture to a UK audience.
  • The lead detective in The Killing is a woman and she is shown to be independent and strong.
  • Sarah has to fight her way and is in a very dangerous position being a detective.
  • Denmark includes issues of multiculturalism which is in The Killing is a representation of national identity
  • They suggest that females are just as strong as men and should not be neglected or underestimated.
  • The Killing goes against Halls theory by not using stereotypes.
  • Hooks suggest women are exploited depending on their race, sex and class. The Killing goes against this theories as Sarah is not exploited. However, arguably it could not generalise no exploitation for other races.
  • Van Zoonen suggests that the body is objectified which does not apply to The Killing as the women appear to be fairly covered. Except the victim.

Media Industries

The Killing was thee catalyst for the distribution of foreign language crime programming on UK television, its unexpected success influencing BBC4's scheduling but also that of other UK channels. The Killing was produced the Danish national public service broadcaster DR, providing the opportunity to study PSB in a different national context.
  • The regulatory framework
  • The Killing provides a case study for the specialised nature of media production, distribution and circulation within a transnational and global context.
  • The Killing personifies a successful transnational, contemporary media product with long duration has been shown in its original form across Europe and remade by Turkish and US TV.

Media Audiences

Issues of audience are also relevant throughout the other theoretical frameworks. In media language, the use of different formal structures to position the audience to receive and interpret meaning is central, while the study of representations has at its heart the reinforcement of social and cultural values for audiences.
  • The production, distribution and exhibition of The Killing shows how audiences can be reached, both on a national and global scale, through different media technologies and platforms, moving from the national to transnational through broadcast and digital technologies.
  • Includes new characters for audience alignment (narrative strands)
  • The advertising campaigns for the series demonstrate how media producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences.
  • Scandinavian culture and lifestyle.
  • Gerbner's cultivation series suggests exposure to repeated patterns over a long period of time can shape and influence the way that people perceive the world. For The Killing's audience they may see the world as more dangerous. This links to Halls theory too.

Social, Political, Economic and Cultural Contexts

The Killing is part of cultural phenomenon of the early twenty - first century which for the first time saw TV series not in English language become part of mainstream UK broadcasting. That these series were dominated by the crime genre was part of a wider cultural phenomenon which saw the crime genre become the key form for exploring social contexts - particularly changing gender roles. The Killing was also the key factor in the surge in interest in Scandinavian culture in the UK. The Killing also uses the crime genre to explore contemporary political contexts of multi-culturalism and debate the effects of immigration. The economic context can be explored through patterns of ownership and production and how the product is marketed nationally and globally.

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