The Bridge: Media Language

Question 1

Narrative

Answer 1

• This is usually based on a crime that needs to be investigated and solved.

Question 2

Structure

Answer 2

• In the Bridge, there are elements of a flexi-narrative.
• The characters are complex, storylines interweave, and the audience is challenged through enigma and engagement with complex characters.
• Narrative disruptions occur that change the course of the story, these can be events that happen or revelations that are made by characters.
• Sometimes, the audience are in a privileged spectator position whereby they know more than the characters within the story world.

Question 3

Binary Oppositions

(Structuralism: Levi-Strass)

Answer 3

• Binary oppositions function as a narrative element including:
  Good vs Evil
  Police vs Criminal
• As well as, in the case of The Bridge, the cultural differences:
  Sweden vs Denmark
  Saga vs Hanne
  The nuclar vs the non-nuclear family
  Illusion vs reality.
• The resolution of some of these binary oppositions may have an ideological signifigance, for example evil being punished and justice prevailing in a crime drama.

Question 4

Plot

Question 5

Genres of ‘The Bridge’

Answer 5

Noirdic Noir, crime drama

Question 6

Crime sub-genre of ‘The Bridge’

Answer 6

Cop show (police procedural)

Question 7

According to Glenn Creeber (2015), these are the defining conventions of Noirdic Noir

Answer 7

• Multi-layered storylines, slow and melancholic pace, dimly-lit aesthetic, interest in uncovering dark underbelly of contemporary life.

Question 8

Typical settings in Noirdic Noir works

Answer 8

• Cold
• Gloomy

Question 9

Typical mood of Noirdic Noirs

Answer 9

• Dark
• Morally complex

Question 10

Type of language typically associated with Nordic Noirs

Answer 10

• Plain
• Deliberately avoiding metaphor.

Question 11

Type of character frequently featured in Nordic Noirs

Challenges

Answer 11

Female protagonist

Question 12

Typical issues in Scandinavia

Answer 12

Immigration, drugs, asylum seekers and economic crimes

Question 13

Far-Right

Answer 13

• This political branch saw an increase in ideas since Scandinavian reccession.

Question 14

Recurring situations in the series

Supports

Answer 14

• Crimes, investigations, violence/death, interviews with suspects, examining CCTV/ photos for sus pect identification, tense standoffs.

Question 15

Elements of narrative in the series

Supports

Answer 15

• Investigations, solving crime, romance, enigma codes in the form of a ‘whodunit?’ and ‘why the crime scene has been so meticulously staged?’, driven by binary opposities.

Question 16

Colour scheme used throughout the series

Supports

Answer 16

De-saturated

Question 17

Iconography of the series

Supports

Answer 17

Oresund Bridge, Police unifomrs, guns, police cars (falshing lights, PCs/ Laptops/ Moblie phones, evidence bags, handcuffs, investigative jargon.

Question 18

Settings in the series

Supports

Answer 18

Police station, crime scene, Nordic landscape, the bridge joining two cities/countries, incident rooms, prison, interview room, lab, bleak mountainous landscapes. leafless trees.

Question 19

Stock Characters

Scandinavian Sherlock

Supports

Answer 19

• The Bridge clearly follows the codes and conventions of a Nordic Noir crime drama.
• Plain clothed detectives (with personal issues), unlikely partnership, anti social genius, strict police chief, and so on.

Question 20

The Serial and Linear narrative

Supports

Answer 20

the nature of the series as a continous case, each episode merely representing a chapter in the larger story which is typical of modern crime dramas.

Question 21

Style of The Bridge

Supports

Answer 21

Chiaroscuro lighting, closed frames signifying entrapment, eerie choral soundtrack, emphasis on windows and reflections.

Question 22

Themes of The Bridge

Supports

Answer 22

Guilt, justice, conscience, crime, punishment, moral dilemmas and so on.

Question 23

Restricted nature

Supports

Answer 23

The restricted nature of the narrative allows the audience to uncover the truth via the clues along with the main protagonists of the drama. The audience also has limited knowledge initially of Saga’s background or about what troubles Henrik.

Question 24

Lead Characters and personal issues

Answer 24

• These characters are plagued with guilt or issues which affect their judgement and therefore make for not only more interesting and nuanced characters but unpredictable situations/scenarios.

Question 25

Cross cultural clash

Answer 25

The clash between police forces of two different nations, offers a new look at well worn conventions.

Question 26

Ambiguity

Answer 26

The ambiguous nature of not only the characters (like Saga Noren - who is an enigan to not only her collegues but to us, the viewer too) but the location too - tyhe Bridge spanning both countries is almost another character and other-worldly at that - not belonging to either country but existing n a form of spatial limbo.

Question 27

Close-up shots

Answer 27

• Close-ups advance the relationships between
  characters and establish tension and a dynamic.
• This is evident in the conversation between Sagaand the other characters. Often the close-ups show the profile of the character or are in
  silhouette, the opening introduction to Saga in the lift combines both to construct her enigmatic character.

Question 28

Tracking Shots

Answer 28

Tracking shots are used to introduce both Saga and Hanne, constructing both as powerful women with a job to do and are also used to involve the audience as part of the investigative process as they follow the characters.

Question 29

Establishing shots

Answer 29

• Establishing shots are quick ways of
  communicating information, the bridge is used regularly to indicate changes of setting between Sweden and Denmark and bird’s eye view city shots are used similarly.
• These shots also serve to create a sense of cultural verisimilitude establishing a real city in which the characters function, so reinforcing their believability.

Question 30

Post-production

Answer 30

The post-production editing creates a desaturated colour palette which contributes to the dark, melancholic feel of the programme.

Question 31

Camera shots through windows

Answer 31

• The film noir technique of shooting through windows, or behind obstacles is used, positioning the audience as looking in on the scene or the lives of the characters as an outsider.
• The sense of entrapment created by this filming in some cases suggests their isolation or that they have something to hide. For example, the audience often views Saga from behind glass or another barrier and Henrik and his children are first viewed through the window.

Question 32

Music:

Answer 32

• The haunting track used for the credit
  sequence foreshadows the slow pace of the programme and creates expectations of the style of programme to follow.
• The tense music at the start of the episode has intertextual references to the horror genre building audience expectation of the macabre scene that unfolds

Question 33

Diegetic sound:

Answer 33

• The clicking of the crime scene investigator’s cameras at the start establishes generic realism.
• The sound of the cans at Morten’s cabin is both unsettling and on the second visit, an action code for the explosion to follow which is then followed by a disconcerting silence.

Question 34

Dialogue

Answer 34

• Saga’s clipped, at times forced, dialogue contributes to her idiosyncratic character.
• She is very literal in her understanding and her responses are refreshingly honest. When the owner of the site where the victim is thought to have been murdered asks her ‘Could you hurry up a bit?’, she replies ‘No’.
• The conversations between the detectives and Helle Anker’s wife create a back story and possible motives for her murder.
• Saga’s mother’s reference to ‘your crime’ in relation to Saga creates an enigma at the end of the first episode and provides some insight into Saga’s past, this is particularly intriguing as Saga has stated earlier in the episode, ‘I don’t like my mum’.