Read the following interviews, reviews and features on Capital:
Guardian review by Sam Wollaston
Telegraph review by Ben Lawrence
London Evening Standard: five things you need to know about Capital
Behind the scenes filming Capital from the Daily Telegraph
1) What positive points do the reviews pick out about Capital?
The Capital is a real representation of London, shown by startling actors that reflect a different views of th capital of England.
2) What criticisms are made - either of the TV drama or the original novel?
Some reviews says that the series didn't reach the expectations that the adaptation of the novel had. They said that all it has is "under-developed plotlines populated by underwritten characters."
3) How does the TV drama change the time period and location for the story in comparison to the original novel?
The story in the novel takes place in 2008 when the crisis happened, but the series takes place in present time- 2015.
4) In the Telegraph 'behind the scenes' article, what does the writer say about the London housing market?
The housing market is still going up and when the director gives the directions to the actors he says: "That thought upsets you".
5) What references can you find in these reviews and features to the idea Capital is a 'state-of-the-nation' drama? How does it capture modern-day London?
Textual analysis
Watch the trailer for Capital:
1) How does the drama use camerawork to capture London life?
At first all we see is a bird's-eye view of the streets of London, then the closeup of the name of the street, then the long shot of the street. That montage invites the audience to meet the characters that are shown in the next clips. The clips are very short and present each character in their particular and stereotypical situation. It's a very fast introdution and after that there are a little clips of people recieving the postcards and in other different situations that we are yet to discover. All of the camera work is really stready and we get a lot of closeups on the faces of the characters showing their emotions in criutial moments of their lives.
The camera work shows a different perspectives of some characters, has a lot of close ups so we have a bigger emotional connection with them.
2) What does the camera movement when characters are initially introduced suggest about the drama and its London setting? Pick out one or two shots in particular.
The camera movements are really suttle, there some POV and tracking shots. Different camera movements suggest differently about each character. For example when we see a tracking shot of the baner coming out of his house we can see that he's in a hurry, or when Quentina greets Ahmed the POV shot mey suggests that she watches the neighbourhood.
3) How does the trailer use mise-en-scene to capture the family element of the drama?
It shows the surrounding of this neighbourhood as a very big and rich city. Te street that they live on is very clean. We can tell that although the houses might look the same, there are different stories behind each door. The setting is clean and colorful.
4) Bastille's 'These Streets' is used as the soundtrack for the trailer. What does this communicate to the audience and why is it effective?
The lyrics and the name might have a connection to the plot of the series, but i think that the overall mood of the song doesn't match the mood of the show and makes the trailer feel a little cheap.
5) How does the trailer introduce narrative strands suggesting tension or enigma in the 40-second running time?
At first we see an equilibrium where everyone is living their everyday life when the neighbours start go get a weird postcards.
Watch the Episode 1 preview for Capital:
1) What does this preview clip suggest about the potential sub-genres for Capital?
It would be a thriller combined with action or drama.
2) What elements of the clip might suggest this is a 'state-of-the-nation' drama?
It has characters with a different nationalities as well as second-generation immigrants. It shows characters that we don't usually see in a series about London. Here we can see a representation os people that live in London.
3) Analyse the mise-en-scene in this clip. How does this provide realism and familiarity for audiences?
The mise-en-scene in this video reflects most of the corner shops that we can find in London. It makes audience sympathies with the characters and make the whole scene feel more real.
4) What audience pleasures are provided by this scene?
Maybe some kind of realism pleasure where we can sympathise with characters, and visual pleasure with the quality of the video and camerawork.
5) How is the audience positioned to respond to the different characters in this particular sequence?
The policeman is in a good light, although we know that the police didn't respond to their calls, but to white, middle class neighbours.
The brothers reflect different types of views on British society, and the audience is meant to sympathise with them.
The parents, and owners of the shop are very polite and understanding, which put them in a very good light.
Watch the Episode 2 preview for Capital:
1) How does this clip represent upper-middle-class family life?
the clip represents the upper-middle-class family as people who fix their problems with money. They definitely have issues between each other and aren't really that close with their children.
the father is attracted to the nanny, and the wife is very materialistic.
2) What narrative strands are suggested in this sequence?
3) How is the audience positioned to respond to Roger Yount, the main character (banker and father to the two boys)?
The audience is positioned to feel both disgust because he clearly is attracted to the nanny, and sympathetic because his wife is materialistic and doesn't really care about spending some quality time with her children.
Representations: close-textual analysis
Capital offers a range of fascinating representations - from London and Islam to the issues of asylum seekers and inequality. You need to be able to confidently discuss these issues in the context of 2015 London - with reference to key scenes from episode 1. Representations include: London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, aging and more.
1) Write an analysis of the representations in each of the key scenes from episode 1 we studied in class:
Scene 1: opening sequence 00:30 – 4.49
Scene 2: work in the City 6.28 – 8.10
Scene 3: “Which of those isn’t absolutely essential?” 14.00 – 15.35
Scene 4: asylum 18.03 – 19.42 AND 31.10 – 32.40
Scene 5: “What use is 30 grand?” 36.40 – 39.00
Scene 6: life at the corner shop 40.10 – 42.55
You can choose which aspects to focus on for each scene: e.g. London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, aging etc.
2) How does Capital use stereotypes? Do the characters and issues represented in Capital reinforce or subvert the stereotypes we typically see in the media?
The Capital uses a lot of stereotypes when it comes to race, culture or class. The issues that they have are very stereotypical to their characteristics. There's a white, middle class family where the wife is focused only on money. The old lady that was left all alone, the Polish builder and an illegal immigrant.
Industries and production context
Capital was produced by independent production company Kudos for the BBC. Look at the Kudos website and also read the Kudos Wikipedia page.
1) Who is the parent company for Kudos?
It's 21st Century Fox but there're also companies like Moreover, Apollo Global Management and Endemol Shine Group.
2) What was the breakthrough show for Kudos in 2002?
It was a show called Spooks. It aired at May 13th.
3) Watch the showreel on the Kudos website. What other TV dramas have Kudos produced? What awards have they won?
Kudos promoted Broadchurch, Flowers, Grantchester, River, Humans and The Tunnel. Television Bulldog Award - Best Indie Broadcast Magazine Supplement, Broadcast awards - Best Independent Production company.
4) What audience pleasures does the showreel suggest Kudos productions offer?
They offer a varienty of different type of shows for any age and genre.
Marketing and promotion
Read the BBC Press Pack for Capital.
1) How does the programme information on page 3 make Capital sound interesting to audiences?
The page introduces us to the story and actors that'll play the character in the show and the crew. it also tells us what awards they had won.
2) Why does the programme information mention the other shows that the director and producer have worked on?
The programmes are mentioned to give the audience an overview of the crew's work so that audience know what to expect from this series.
3) Who commissioned Capital for BBC?
The Capital is commissioned by Charlotte Moore
4) Read the interview with Toby Jones. What does he say about the character of Roger?
He describes Roger as not evil, but slightly compressed banker who doesn't have all the control over his private life or his job. Jones said that what attracted hi to this character is that 'that he’s a very well educated, functioning human being on one level, who has obeyed the rules and earned a lot of money, but on another level something is happening to him internally that he doesn’t have the language to articulate.'
5) Read the interview with Adeel Akhtar (page 10). What does he suggest Capital says about the fictional Pepys Road and the sense of community (or lack of it) in London?
In the interview Akhtar said that this is what's happening to London now. We live in times where a lot of things are happening socially, economically and culturally. He said that ' It’s an example of what is happening on a lot of roads in London and Britain.'
6) Read the interview with Shabana Azmi (page 12). What does she say about Asian representations in Britain?
In the interview she said that there are a lot of communities that are represented in the show and that the world is becoming a 'global village' and that all the cultures, including Asian, are absorbed by different people.
7) Read the interview with Peter Bowker (who adapted Capital - page 14). What are his favourite scenes in the drama and why?
Bowker said that his favourite scene, from the book as well as from the adaptation, is when Roger is left to take care of his own children and realises that his life's changing.
8) Read the interview with Derek Wax, the Executive Producer for Kudos (page 16). Why did he produce Capital and what does it say about the way we live now?
He wanted to highlight the way that life in London has changes as the prices of the houses had gone up very intensively over a short period of time. In the Capital he shows the different aspects of life in London and the diversity of Petunia and Roger's family while till living in houses that have a similar price.
DVD packaging
Look at the DVD packaging for Capital. There are many marketing techniques employed here.
1) How does the packaging use other critically acclaimed TV dramas to promote Capital?
It creates an image of the show as a good quality TV drama because if the media text like Humans have a certain style to it, the audience will expect the same from this series.
2) What does the use of design and images suggest to the audience about the drama?
The simplicity of the packaging suggests that the show is very neat and realistic. Also the image of London on top assures us that London and it's citizens will be the main focus of the show.
3) How are review quotes used on the cover and what do they suggest to the audience about sub-genre, narrative and audience pleasures?
It suggest to the audience that the show is politically and stereotypicaly challenging and shoud be watched by audience that is interested in life of London citizen and the crisis that happened in London.
4) What representation of London does the DVD packaging offer?
It represents London as a very cold, professional and dangerous city. It shows the diversity of characters and the slogan of the show.
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