Audience positioning in the opening sequence of Les Revenants
Audience positioning in the opening sequence is constructed in a complex way, that reflects the unconventional use of genre used throughout
Camille on the bus
- We as an audience are positioned directly next to Camille on the bus. The big close up of her face encodes her loneliness and her sense of isolation. The gesture code of her facial expression encodes grumpiness and weariness, inviting the audience to identify with this teenage girl
- We cut to an alarming shot position outside the coach, standing on an isolated road in the middle of nowhere. This strange shot positions used in a dreamlike and confusing mode of address, and reinforces the themes of the show
- CU/big close up of Camille on the bus. The MES of her facial expression is bored and sad, which positions the audience sympathetically with this main character
- Audiences are positioned on the bus directly next to Camille, inferring that we are a student.
- Subsequently, we are positioned within the environment, the beautiful setting of the French Alps, yet on a busy road. We are suddenly not positioned with Camille , making us feel uncomfortable and confused. To stand on a busy road is dangerous and strange, and this positions the audience in a strange and dreamlike mode of address.
Mr Costa at home
- Our positioning in this scene is even more complex and confusing, following a butterfly. The use of a slow, POV tracking shot is a clear intertextual reference to slasher films, and therefore positions the audience as the antagonist or the killer. This complex and confusing mode of address clearly constructs a fascinating opening for the audience to decode
- Inside Mr Costa’s house we have a different form of positioning. Suddenly, we are positioned in an uncomfortable and voyeuristic mode of address, intertextually referencing the slasher film. The slow, tracking POV is creepy and highly confusing, and the strange sight of the MES of the butterfly bursting out positions the audience in a highly complex and strange mode of address
Camille on the road
- Audiences are positioned in a confusing and complex way. We cut from a series of big close ups of Camille’s face to extreme long shots, which makes it difficult for the audience to identify with Camille as a main character. She is now distant, different and confused
- Camille is isolated, and by herself, As an audience, we only hear the sound of her breathing intensely, and the use of a tracking shot positions us in a voyeuristic mode of address. Furthermore the cut to an ECU positions the audience as omniscient and all knowing, yet also confused and distant.
- Finally, we are positioned with Camille as she walks down the deserted road. The gesture code of her confused face, anchored through her heavy breathing suggests distress
- Ultimately, we are positioned in a highly unconventional and confusing mode of address. Audiences may negotiate and reject this confusing mode of address, feeling bored, confused and ultimately annoyed.
The opening credits
- The emptiness of the roads constructs a sense of freedom and liberation that is completely hyperreal, and demonstrates a perfect world that simply does not exist. The show was partly funded by the French Alps tourist board, which may explain the perfect representation
- The MES of the butterfly breaking out of the glass functions as a hermeneutic code, asking the audience to interrogate it’s reason for suddenly coming back to life. This surprising and confusing shot also constructs a binary opposition between life and death. It symbolises themes of reincarnation and rebirth, with butterflies emerging from their chrysalises
- The taxidermized animals are a symbolic code of rebirth. When animals are made into taxidermy, they adopt a ferocious pose that symbolises life. However, they are clearly not alive, and clearly a binary opposition
- In the opening credit sequence, we see a couple passionately kissing in an overgrown field. This symbol of life and fertility is quickly interrupted by a panning shot revealing a hastily put up graveyard. Yet another binary opposition is constructing a binary opposition between life and death, movement and inactivity, and sex and death.
- A French term for orgasm is le petit mort: the little death. This suggests that the sexual act is one of loss, of the loss of purity, innocence and childhood. The final sequence completely conflates sex and death , with Lena losing her virginity, and Camille freaking out and panicking. This complex use of binary oppositions and symbolism may upset and confuse certain audiences. Sex and death, loss and death… constant binary oppositions!
- Victor standing in the road is symbolic of the nature of reality itself. Victor is absent from the initial bus crash, but appears later, forcing the audience to question the nature of reality
2023 exam questions but they’ve all been edited to be about the TV industry
- How useful are structuralist theories for exploring the TV industry? Refer to Lévi-Strauss’s structuralist theory of binary oppositions….
- To what extent can audiences interpret the same TV show in different ways? Explore the set episodes…
- Explain how media production and distribution have changed in the age of digital distribution. Refer to Black Mirror…
- Discuss the influence of social and cultural contexts on the representations in Les Revenants…
Using only French theory, analyse the opening credits for Les Revenants
- Hermeneutic code of the mountains covered in MES of mist. Symbolic of mystery and confusion, it also proairetically situates the events of the narrative in a mysterious mist. There are clear implicit referential codes to horror films that feature mist and isolated settings
- Binary opposition of the peaceful setting, with disturbing themes of resurrection and the living dead. An example of disturbing shots are the mysterious and even beautiful shot of deer corpses floating beneath the surface of the lake. The framing and lighting of this shot are overtly aesthetically pleasing, constructing a binary opposition between beaty and death.
- Deer can be symbolic of the devil, and the shot of a group of deer skulls has satanic and unnerving symbolic connotations
- Binary opposition between innocence and death with a kitten playing in front of a wall of skulls. Additionally, this symbolically reinforces the inevitability of corruption. Even this delightful kitten is a killer
- The divine right to kill! Playing god, the serial killer in the underpass!
- The hermetic code constructed by Victor presents a binary opposition between childish innocence and death
- The binary opposition between the objectively beautiful landscapes with the sinister and creepy music creates a sense of unease
- A binary opposition between sex and death is constructed through the alarming MES of a couple kissing beside two grave markers. The French for orgasm is le petit mort, the little death. The idea of sex and death being conflated is very stereotypically French