Stuart Hall argues that producers use media language to ENCODE an ideological perspective that audiences will DECODE. Different audiences will NEGOTIATE different responses based on their cultural and social background. However, PRODUCERS will typically use media language to ANCHOR an audiences' expectations, and attempt to get them to agree with the PREFERRED READING of the media product.
Les Revenants, however, is not conventional, and does not play by these rules.
Anchorage - where the meaning of a media product is weighed down by media language. For example a gesture, caption, costume or so on can make clear to the audience the preferred reading
What is notable about Les Revenants’ utilisation of anchorage? That's right: it has none! Perhaps this is an overstatement, but there is very little use of media language in this episode to suggest what the audience SHOULD be thinking. Instead, audiences are encouraged to, as Hall would put it, NEGOTIATE the narrative and draw their own conclusions.
Key scene: the final sequence
- How are audiences positioned in this sequence?
- How can audiences negotiate this sequence, based on a number of factors?
- What is the preferred reading of this sequence?
Discussion
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| Les Revenants positions audiences in a deliberately controversial mode of address, by cross cutting between a fairly explicit sex scene and Camille's sudden and frightening death. Audiences are forced to try and make sense of this scene, despite not being provided with adequate information to interpret it. |
The final montage of Les Revenants episode one represents the sexual act as deeply complex one with potentially grave consequences. This highly confrontational and even problematic sequence encourages a range of highly polysemic audience interpretations
- Seen from a Christian viewpoint, the sequence could be seen to reinforce the ideology that pre-marital sex is wrong and is punished. However, the punishment is highly irregular and involves Camille dying instead, affecting the family. Is this a biblical allegory???
- The scene reinforces that sex is important to Lena’s character, and establishes one of her primary motivations. This sex positive representation is somewhat unusual, especially in the horror genre, and may appeal to feminist audiences, as Lena has her own autonomy
- The use of close up shots and a lack of non-diegetic sound positions the audience directly above them, and in a voyeuristic mode of address. This deliberately uncomfortable montage emphasises the unease being felt by Camille, and further potentially upsets the target audiences, yet also positions them as a teenage girl having sex for the first. Anchored through the casting of the same actor for both roles, the scene confirms the loss of virginity can be traumatic. This bizarre mode of address can target intellectual and educated audiences
- Simultaneously, younger audiences, in particular teenage girls will identify with the scene with Lena losing her virginity. The mundane nature of the MES, for example her partner’s beanie hat and the unglamorous costumes, as well as Lena’s absolutely bizarre reference to her own sister during sex constructs a highly naïve mode of address that teenagers (and nostalgic adults) will be able to identify with. This further niche audience is very different from the missile class intellectual that potentially may be watching the show for completely different reasons
- An uncomfortable mode of address is cultivated through the montage of close ups and extreme close ups. This positions the audience in an uncomfortable BEV, but also a voyeuristic mode of address. Unlike the highly stereotypical and hyperreal sex scene in San Jun, the sex scene in Les Revs is not idealised, yet is highly realistic and even relatable to younger audiences
- The boy’s beanie hat and stereotypical MES of his costume is connotative of youth, and once more constructs a relatable mode of address to it’s audience
- However audiences are forced to negotiate the death of Camille, seemly dying because of Lena’s lost virginity, and forces audiences to consider the implications of sex. Lena skips a school trip, and chooses to have sex, while Camille dies horribly, seemingly as a result. This highly poetic mode of address forces the target audiences to negotiate this scene in a number of radical ways, something which is only made possible through the lack of anchorage
- Additionally, this sequence forms a binary opposition between Camille and Lena, which allows for further understanding of the audience
- Completely inappropriately Lena makes reference to her sister during sex. This may act as a proairetic code, indicating future confusion between the siblings. It constructs an ironic mode of address, as 4 years later, the sisters are completely different physically and emotional, and reinforces the notion that Camille is forever a child