The Returned

Question 1

What was ‘the returned’ based on?

Answer 1

French Film ‘They came back’ 2004 directed by Robin Compillo

Question 2

Who directed the set episode?

Answer 2

Fabrice Gobert

Question 3

When was the set ep aired in France?

Answer 3

November 2012 on Canal+

Question 4

When was the set ep aired in the UK?

Answer 4

June 2012 on Channel 4

Question 5

When was Channel4 founded?

Answer 5

1982

Question 6

What are Channel4’s aims?

Answer 6

produce niche, less mainstream programmes.

Question 7

Publicity strategy?

Answer 7

360 degree virtual navigation of the town by canal+

Question 8

What genre is ‘The Returned’ ?

Answer 8

drama/fantasy/horror - Zombie Genre

Question 9

What award has the show won?

Answer 9

International Emmy for best drama series in 2013

Question 10

Industry Theorist

Answer 10

Hesmondhaigh

• minimise risk & maximise profit
• series 2 and an American spin off would suggest a guaranteed audience

Question 11

Audience: Primary Target Audience?

Answer 11

fans of zombie/supernatural texts

Question 12

Audience profile?

Answer 12

15+
male & female
ABC1
french speaking

Question 13

Audience: Secondary Audience?

Answer 13

younger fans (360 experience)

Question 14

Audience: Inherited Audience?

Answer 14

fans of channel 4/canal+ programmes

fans of ‘They came back’

Question 15

Adverts featured?

Answer 15

L’oreal, Prada, Emirates, Boursin, Blackberry

Question 16

Audience; What do the featured adverts suggest about the audience?

Answer 16

In a high income bracket

Question 17

Audience: Whats the significants of the adverts being in french?

Answer 17

presents the french language as a novelty rather than an inconvenience

Question 18

Representation: Camille

Answer 18

Main character of the episode, episode centres around her family - young child & one of the ‘returned’

Question 19

Representation: Lena

Answer 19

Sister of Camille, seen out partying and shows Simon where Adele lives. Returns house where she is confronted by her known too be dead twin sister - sexual connotations

Question 20

Representation: Claire

Answer 20

Mothering characters seen to worry - suggested romance between her and Pierre

Question 21

Representation: Jerome

Answer 21

Farther of Camille and Lena, husband too Claire, having an affair with young girl

Question 22

Representation: Mr & Madame Costa

Answer 22

Married too Madame Costa, sets house on fire to kill her, then jumps off the dam.

One of the Returned, married to Mr Costa who kills her by setting his house on fire

Question 23

Representation: Pierre

Answer 23

Believed to be a Vicar/runs a healing group/Claire’s lover … is referred too as a doctor/psychiatrist too Camille when she returns

Question 24

Representation: Simone

Answer 24

One of the Returned, After arriving at what we learn to be Julies house, Lena shows him where Adele lives and then he knocks on her door

Question 25

Representation: Adele

Answer 25

believed to have a past with Simon - freaks out when he returns and is comforted by her child who Simon reacts too

Question 26

Representation Theorist; Stuart Hall

Answer 26

Representation is constructed through codes; Narrative, Mise-en-scene

Question 27

Representation Theorist; Van Zoonen

Answer 27

Women belong to the family/domestic life and men to the social world of politics and work; that femininity is about care, nurturance and compassion, and that masculinity is about efficiency, rationality and individuality.’

WOMEN: Domestic, Sexualised (Lena), Nurturer (Claire and Camille, Julie and Victor, Julie as nurse to M. Costa)
MEN: Efficient, Rational, Individual

Question 28

Points of sale?

Answer 28

Genre with a twist, enigma, quality drama

Question 29

Stuart Halls theory of ‘otherness’?

Answer 29

Powerful elite groups (white, male, middle class, etc.), who control the media, create a ‘norm’, which reflects them.

The majority of cast are white males (Simon, Jermone, Mr Costa). Representations of other groups (e.g. Women) are then constructed in terms of their difference to this – their ‘otherness’

Pierre reflects contemporary issues – immigration, camps and the integration of refugees (e.g. Syrian) into French society.

he returned as ‘other’ – non-human.

Question 30

Language; Technical Codes

Answer 30

camera (angles, shots, movement) focus, editing

Question 31

Language; Visual Codes? (costume, setting, colour palette)

Answer 31

• costume is very simple to suggest a normal lifestyle without wealth or need to be stylish.
• Setting is very basic and bleak.
• Colour palette is dark muted greys, blues and reds.

Question 32

Language; Genre?

Answer 32

Horror/Mystery Drama.
Typical themes within this genre of isolated setting from the rest of the world, characters are all very ambiguous and have secrets that the audience want to understand.
The supernatural sub-genre is reliant on enigma.

Question 33

Language; Narrative?

Answer 33

Characters are complex and storylines interweave
Audience is challenged through enigma, confusion e.g. why do only some of the dead return? Why is the water level dropping? Who is Victor? Who killed Lucy? How did Mme Costa die?

Question 34

Language: Surreal /anti-realist elements?

Answer 34

Victor in the middle of the road; the telepathy of the twins. – Poetic realism, French in style, shot construction and natural lighting.

Question 35

Langauge Theorist?

Answer 35

Levi-Strauss - Binary Oppositions drive the narrative of the story;

Living v dead
Immortality v mortality
Men v women