AQA A-Level Media Studies - The Killing (Forbrydelsen)

Audience - appeal and targetting

Targets older audience - shown post water shed due to adult themes
Main character - Sofie Grabol - famous Danish actress so pre existing fans targeted.
Water cooler TV and 2 step flow

Stuart Hall - Reception theory

Preferred - innovative and engaging
Negotiated - innovative but dragged out due to long form TV
Oppositional - boring and not enough action
Audiences responded well in terms of iconography, Sarah Lunds jumpers became fashion statement
Moved to BBC4 when it came to UK - success in Denmark

Hesmondhalgh - cultural industries

Star power: Sofie Grabol - famous Danish actor known for playing in dark shows
Lars Mikkelsen - Sherlock, House of Cards - brings more culture to English TV.

Produced with help from German company ZDF - co-prodction and internatl distribution

Previously internationally successful scandi-noir film

UK broadcast - first 10 in the first half of the year and the next 10 in the second half

Uses and grats

Escape - unfamiliar country, delve into something the UK has never yet seen
Identify - those who enjoy crime series will identify with conventions.
Mothers who watch or fathers will identify with the pain experienced if daughter killed.
Educate - educated on Danish culture

Marketing

Sarah Lund/star power - iconic jumper

Danish tourist board - created a tour showing off locations of the show and incentivising people to visist Denmark

Online news publications creating articles summarising and theorising on each episode

Global appeal

Over 120 countries purchased first 2 series.
Purchasing ountries developed their own take on the genre, Luther came about after The Killing.
Made way for the Nordic Noir genre
Made TV industry more cultured.
Produced in Copenhagen.

Production

Produced by DR a PSB - broadcasted on DR1

Remit: focusing on national identity, diversity and quality programming

Show features local landmarks and Danish culture

Popular channel in Denmark - can take more risks as people more likely to see it

Distribution

It was first broadcast on the Danish national television channel DR1 on 7 January 2007
UK = 22nd January 2011 on BBC4 - “intellectually and culturally enriching”

120 country distribution

Success

Very successful.
Ratings for denmark first episode = 1,500,000, UK ep 1 = 472,000
Ratings in the UK rose to 1,027,000 for final episode of season 3.
Won the BAFTA for Best International TV series
Nominated for countless awards
Ratings go up by two step flow
Use global appeal info too.

Narrative

Format = series 1 - 20 x 50 minute episodes
Written by Peter Brandt Nielsen
Broadchurch came in after The Killing - shows it was inspired
Character driven not plot based
This makes the audience keep watching bevause they like the characters and form a connection so want to know what happens
More sophisticated
Long form TV
Multi strand narrative

Genre

Crime thriller
Nordic Noir
New genre to the UK

Representation - gender

Gender roles reversed - something also new to the industry.
Strong female: doesn't show emotion, not sexualised
mother : cries, shows emotion
father : strong, tries to fight tears
Popular detective: lead wants her to do the case so is clearly very skilled
Stronger detective = Sarah. Man tries to make jokes at the wrong time and is not sympathetic
"Did she suffer" - mother says when she finds out Nanna is dead and this shows her motherly nature.
Binary opposition = between male and female and don't like each other
Male is more “strong”
David Gauntlett = identity is complicated, everyone's got one - supports character driven.

Representation - age

Teenager - Nanna - vulnerable, party animal.
Stereotypical teen (partying) associated with trouble
Adults are flawed - male detective is emotionally invested, cannot look at Nanna's dead body on the table
Sarah is more mature and reserved
Oliver gone - suspicion

Representation - ethnicity

Solidarity - closeness, same music used
Sweden and denmark = different and have clear rivalry

Non-white character get’s racially abused

Representation - place

Denmark and Copenhagen - generally dull

Does not exaggerate Copenhagen - makes it feel more real and lived

Van Zoonen

Show does and does not follow ‘damsel in distress’ stereotype

Opening scene features woman being murdered - Zoonen says this portrayal normalises treating women poorly

Main character Sarah Lund - independent and career focused as well as highly skilled and respected

Showing men as violent is a realistic representation of who is more likely to commit crimes

Fandom - Jenkins

The Guardian covering each episode as it broadcasted in the UK - audiences could comment on articles

Iconic jumper - fans making custom cosplays

Judith Butler - Gender Trouble

Characters like Sarah Lund do not follow surface level gender expectations - does not follow the stereotypical performance of feminine actions