DEUTSCHLAND 83

Introduction: Reviews and features

Read the following reviews and features on Deutschland 83:

The Guardian - Your next box set: Deutschland 83
The Guardian - Deutschland 83 Pity the Germans don't like it

1) Find one positive aspect and one criticism of Deutschland 83 in reviews.

Well shot
Full of stereotypes 

2) Why does the second Guardian article suggest the Germans didn't like the show?

It allowed for audiences to sympathise with a corrupt regime and it's overall fairly lighthearted portrayal of such serious issues had German audiences disengaged.

3) Find three 'below the line' comments from either of the Guardian articles. What did the audience think of Deutschland 83? Do you agree with the comments?

"The whole series was something of a learning experience for me. I think that's why I loved it so much. Always happy to have my knowledge topped up!"
'I lived in East Germany in 1981 and I can say that Deutschland 83 captured the atmosphere perfectly.'

"Great series, Greater country"

I agree, the series was very atmospheric and provided a entertaining take of life at the time.

Interviews and behind-the-scenes video features

Channel 4 News: Matt Frei interviews Jonas Nay


1) What does Jonas Nay say about growing up in a united Germany? 

He values his freedom and  mobility more as he grew up having those things, being born in 1990 where as he had to play a character who didn't.

2) The Channel 4 News interview is conducted in German with English subtitles. How does this reflect Channel 4's remit as a public service broadcaster and their target audience? (Clue: revise your work on Channel 4 and Public Service Broadcasting here!)

It targets a diverse audience, who would be interested in other cultures and historical dramas.

3) Interviewer Matt Frei asks about the current political situation in Germany. Why might this interest the Channel 4 News audience?

It engages with the audience and encourages engagement with political views and broader stances.

Behind the scenes clips

The All4 website has a range of clips from behind the scenes of Deutschland 83. Watch the following:

Making Of: Why Should You Watch Deutschland 83
Watch this short promotional clip for Deutschland 83.

1) According to the clip, why should audiences watch Deutschland 83?

The production is beautiful, being well shot and informing the audience on past political issues and Germany's intense history.

2) Why is history an important aspect of the appeal of the show?

It isn't very often presented in schools.

3) What technical aspects are highlighted in the video?

The cinematography, the costume and the props and well executed.


Making Of: Set Design
Watch this interview with Production designer Lars Lange.

1) Why were the set design, costume and props so important for Deutschland 83?

They needed to create a realistic contrast between east and west Germany and the time period in general.

2) How historically accurate was the setting, costume and props?

Some of the scenes where filmed in the stasis museum, with the producers essentially trying to create as historically accurate a set as possible.

3) Why were the props, costumes and music such a key audience pleasure for Deutschland 83?

In order to encapsulate a sense of nostalgia and understanding of the time period.


Textual analysis: Audience pleasures and representations

We need to consider the audience pleasures of Deutschland 83 alongside various representations created in the first episode.

Type up your analysis from the lesson using the headings below. You may want to watch the key scenes again and develop your notes in further detail - the more specific and memorable your analysis, the better it will serve you when writing an essay on TV drama. Remember, you can watch the episode for free on the All 4 website or on Amazon Prime.

Scene 1: Garden/BBQ scenes (East & West Germany)

4.58 – 8.20 and 34.00 – 37.20

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly mise-en-scene
• >over the shoulder: identification
• >props: instant coffee = desirable
• >aunt = smoking
• >music = 80s = nostalgia, personal identity
• >drab + dull colours on East side
• Representation of East & West Germany / Family / Gender
• East listening to western music
• Large divide between them
• Gender = male comes home to females
• East = no healthcare, ecenomic collapse
• Romance

Scene 2: Martin/Moritz first sees the West German supermarket 

14.30 – 20.25

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly mise-en-scene
• Abundance
• POV = identification
• >high key lighting
• framing = boxed in, surrounded by abundance
• Colours, bright and colourful
• Shot on bench: facing the town from above on a cliff... Freedom?
• Andy Warhol-esque 1960s cambell soup - Pop art
• Fast paced editing
• Audio codes – particularly music
• Western music, 80s - Nostalgia
• Sweet dreams are made of thiiis - West is the dream.
• Representation of East & West Germany / Communism & Capitalism / Historical accuracy
• The west has items in abundance and are desirable
• PUMA = Branding, capatalism
• TV screens
• Audience pleasures
• Personal identity AND Personal Relationships - sympathy for main character
• Nostalgic feelings from 80s music

Scene 3: Training montage scene when Martin/Moritz learns how to be a spy

20.40 – 22.40

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly camerawork and editing
• Montage editing, fast paced to compress time
• Jump cuts - developments
• Split screen: East vs West
• Audio codes
• Pop music, sort of contrapuntal to scene
• Voice over
• Audience pleasures
• Familiarity with spy genre
• Divergence: Recognition of training sequence
• Intertextuality
• Iconography of the spy genre > James Bond

Scene 4: Briefcase scene when Martin/Moritz is stealing the NATO nuclear plans

31.13 – 33.30

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly camerawork and editing
• Audio codes – diegetic and non-diegetic sound
• Audience pleasures

You will do the majority of this textual analysis work in class - this section of your case study simply requires typing up your notes in an easy and memorable way (bullet points are fine).

Production and industry contexts

Deutschland 83 was produced by German production company UFA Fiction and distributed internationally by FremantleMedia International. It was broadcast on RTL (Germany), SundanceTV (US) and Channel 4 (UK) as well as many other broadcasters around the world.

1) What kind of company is UFA Fiction and what shows have they produced? 

UFA Fiction is a company for fiction film and television based in Potsdam-Babelsberg, and have produced shows such as "SOKO Munich", "SOKO Leipzig","A strong team" and the series "Sankt Maik"

2) What kind of company is Freemantle Media International and what do they produce?

Freemantle is a British international television content and production/distribution subsidiary of Bertelsmann's RTL Group. It resulted from a merge of German television company CLT-UFA, and their British rival Pearson TV. They have produced shows like Pop Idol and Family Feud and has licencing rights to shows such as Hole in the Wall and The Apprentice.

3) How does Deutschland 83 reflect the international nature of television production?

Deutschland 83 was more popular outside of Germany, and has American characters. It was produced by a German production company and was distributed internationally on many broadcasters around the world.

Walter Presents

Watch this Channel 4 trailer for their Walter Presents international drama.

1) How does Channel 4 introduce 'Walter'?

2) What audience are Channel 4 trying to appeal to with the 'Walter Presents' series?

3) How does the 'Walter Presents' series reflect the changing nature of television in the digital age?


Marketing and promotion

Trailer




1) What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer? Think about Uses & Gratifications theory (Blumler and Katz).

2) How does the trailer use action and enigma codes (Barthes) to encourage the audience to watch the show?

3) The only words heard in the trailer are in English. Why do you think the UK trailer avoided subtitles or German dialogue?


Press pack

Read the Channel 4 press pack interview with writer Anna Winger. (If the link doesn't work, you can find the text from the interview here). 

1) How did she use the historical context and real-life events to create a successful drama?

2) Anna Winger discusses the use of music. Why might the soundtrack attract an audience?



Press release

Read this Channel 4 press release on the success of Deutschland 83. (If the link doesn't work you can find find the text from the article here).

1) List the key statistics concerning audience figures. Why is considered the most successful foreign language drama?

2) How does the news release describe the drama?


International marketing

Look at these two different marketing campaigns - the UK DVD release (left) and the American Sundance TV advert (right).




1) How does the UK DVD cover communicate the sub-genre of the drama?

2) How do these use font, colour and graphics to appeal to an audience?

3) Why might the distributors Freemantle Media International have used different marketing campaigns in different countries? 

TV: Capital - Marxism and Hegemony

TV: Capital - Marxism and Hegemony

Marxism & hegemony: blog tasks

Task 1: Mail Online review of Capital

1) Re-read the Mail Online review of Capital. Why does it suggest that Capital features a left-wing ideology?
At the end the reviewer criticises PC culture as well as making references to Jeremy Corbyn. He also believes that the portrayal of anything British came with a dose of loathing, and mocked the scene in which the union jack was burnt.

2) Choose three quotes from the review that are particularly critical of Capital and paste them into your blogpost. Do you agree with the criticisms? Why?

'Everything British came in for a dose of loathing.'
'Capital was as stuffed full with fashionable causes as Jeremy Corbyn’s function diary.'

'The crime was handed from one cardboard character to the next.'

I think the criticisms on the characters are valid, due to being fairly stereotypical, uninteresting and (in some cases) unflattering representations of British people. For example, Arabella and Roger are very materialistic and oblivious to their extreme wealth, pretty much being caricatures of the middle class. Positive/sympathetic representations of minority characters obviously isn't a negative, however the show has been interpreted as being very anti-British and overly PC due to how they handled the white British characters in comparison. I don't believe that this was what the show was aiming for, but if the characters were less one-dimensional it would have been easier to sympathise with them.

3) What scenes or characters from Capital could be read as promoting left-wing ideology?

The burning of the Union Jack by a Muslim character apparently being very anti-British.
The scene when the Zimbabwe immigrant gets taken into a cell frames the police negativity and antagonistically- and the show's portrayal of immigration can be read a left-wing as we are made to feel sympathy for her.

4) What about the other side of the argument - are there any aspects of Capital that reinforce the status quo in capitalist London?

The increasing house prices in scene transitions put an emphasis on money and wealth, and the character's lives are seen as desirable by a mysterious third party due (the sender of the post-cards) to said wealth.

Task 2: Media Factsheet - Applying Marxism 

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #66: Applying Marxism. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What does Marxism suggest regarding power in society?

The elite/bourgeoisie has power and controls the proteliates.

2) Why is The Apprentice a good example of the media reinforcing capitalist values and ideologies?

Lord Sugar is a capitalist face that holds lots of power, with the participants of the show relying on him.

3) Come up with three examples of media texts (e.g. TV programmes, newspapers etc.) that either fetishise working class life (e.g. EastEnders presents quite a harmonious East End community which probably doesn't accurately reflect East London life) or demonise working class life or poor people (e.g. The Daily Mail and The Sun newspapers regularly demonise people living on benefits with headlines referring to 'scroungers'.)

4) Look at the bullet points on page 4 of the factsheet:

When making a Marxist reading of a text, look out for representations that:

• show the values of the power elite as beneficial to the mass
• show queries or challenges to the base as meaningless, foolish or anti-social via ‘failed revolt’
• show the subdominant position of the masses as a naturalised idea
• show the values of the power elite as ‘natural’ or ‘right’
• show that being a member of the mass is a good thing
• show the masses accepting the values of the power elite
• show the values of the power elite as being ‘for the good of the masses’ (even when unpleasant)

Now try applying those bullet points to Capital. Think about the setting, characters and narrative strands - how many of the bullet points apply to Capital? Does Capital reinforce or challenge the values of capitalism? Give examples from episode 1 to support your points.

Task 3: Media Magazine feature on BBC drama The Casual Vacancy and ideology

Finally, go to our Media Magazine archive and read the feature 'The Beeb, The Mail and JKR' in MM53 (page 20). This focuses on the politics of The Casual Vacancy, another BBC three-part drama based on a book by JK Rowling.

 


Answer the questions below:

1) Why did the Daily Mail suggest The Casual Vacancy promoted a left-wing ideology?

It mocks the middle class as the characters reinforce negative middle class stereotypes.

2) How does the article suggest characters, narrative and setting are used to promote a left-wing ideology?

Through "ridiculing the wealthier residents and shaming them for their

plot to sell off the local food bank and

rehab centre Sweetlove House."

3) What research is quoted regarding BBC bias and what did it find? Do you think the BBC is biased?

The most conclusive study of
the BBC’s output (conducted by Dr
Mike Berry of Cardiff University and
commissioned by the BBC Trust itself)
found that, if anything, the BBC veered
more to the right than to the left.

4) Gramsci's theory of hegemony suggests people are kept under control through active consent - the control of 'common sense'. How could you apply the Daily Mail or the BBC to the idea of hegemony and dominant ideologies in the UK media?

The BBC is meant to be an unbiased news source, so the portrayal of leftist or right wing ideologies in the BBC may be glossed over as being "common sense." It's also a reliable news source that many people rely on and so it could be easy to have audiences conform to their views.