Cuffs - Exam Question Practice 2 - Sound

How has sound been used to create meaning?

In the beginning a long non-diegetic beat is played signifying that the show will be exciting and new however it is then interrupted by a diegetic ambient sound of a radio and siren showing that the show will be a police crime drama. Over this plays diegetic speech informing the public that the police are an important part of the community that will protect and serve the public whilst being respectful, to contrast this an officer (PC Ryan Draper) is on a beach where a dispute is happening and then the victim says "Seriously! What is the point of you?" showing that the characters in this may be flawed and have to deal with several different issues.

Cuffs - Exam Question Practice 1 - Opening Scene Analysis

What do the opening scene and credits suggest/tell us about the genre, narrative and characters? What would the audience expect from this series?

The opening scene depicts a variety of graffiti being sprayed onto walls and in alleyways, something that is a petty crime and is most common among younger generations, showing that this crime drama wants to appeal to younger people, this breaks most common conventions established by crime dramas as they are most commonly depicted as being serious and aimed at elders. The opening also has very bright colours along with the font colour being yellow, yellow being linked to happiness which juxtaposes the concept that Cuffs will be about murders and deaths but is being opened with something about happiness. This could be due to the setting being Brighton, a wonderful holiday location, which is commonly referred to as the 'gay' capital of the England hinting to the appearance of gay characters.

Crime Drama Conventions

Conventions of Crime Dramas:

• Murders, suicides, robberies and mainly any theme that is involved in the narrative arc that falls under good vs evil.
• Characters tend to be strong and powerful, or veterans in their field. 
• Locations include the police station, crime scenes and other places that may be key to the plot e.g. a large warehouse if set in a city or a farm if set in the countryside.
• Any now who watches a crime drama 

Social Values

Exam Style Questions:

Why was the pre-watershed scheduling of 8pm significant in terms of representations they could offer? [3 marks]

Showing this series prior to the watershed is quite significant as the series itself deals with issues and subjects that are considered quite mature. Such subjects featured are the inclusion of homosexuality, suicide and nudity. Normally these would be considered shocking but when you think about it the nation is rather desensitised to such extremes. Gay marriage would've been legalised rather recently prior to the the release of the series, so it would've been commonplace in the news and people obviously wanted to appeal to all members of their audience by including a broad range of characters with different ethnicities and backgrounds. Suicide is also a prevalent subject within the first episode as two characters attempt it, this may upset most people, but it is important for people to understand that some people are incredibly upset and may want to hurt themselves. Nudity also appears in the beginning as a man's behind is exposed to everyone in the first few moments, which is not necessary at all but is used to reflect what Brighton is, a very liberated place.

How were the following areas represented in the episode?;

• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Sexuality

                                                                                          [10 marks]

Within the show Cuffs, many things previously seen as negatives are in fact portrayed as positives as well as things that have been improved thoroughly over time, but were formerly seen as being terrible.
Such subjects include ethnicity, gender and sexuality. Ethnicity is shown to be something positive, after all one of the leading characters within the series is black, in the form of Ryan Draper, and this contradicts what prior shows have attempted to establish which have shown that all black people are criminals. However, the show does also depict a racial attack which almost ends in the death of a young indian boy. This shows that racial tensions are still high within Britain, despite society being more tolerant and accepting of people with different backgrounds.
Another subject which is covered happens to be gender. There are many female police officers depicted in the series, such as Donna Prager who appear to be very strong and powerful, after all Donna is a licensed taser officer showing that women are also strong. But on the other hand women are still presented as gossiping nitwits that can't do anything for themselves as at one point two women are discussing whether the new guy is hot and are helpless when a crime takes place.
One other subject that is depicted within the series is sexuality and features two homosexual main characters, Jake Vickers and Donna Prager. It is portrayed in a positive light as both characters are out and proud of it, in fact Jake Vickers tried to pick up a man he had never met before and was not entirely sure if they were gay in the first place. However homosexual's are still presented as being rather helpless and weak as jake Vickers did nothing helpful throughout the series apart from knocking out a racist. Albeit he did manage to help a bit more near the end.
In the end this series tries to show that people are far more tolerant than what Britain used to be, however there are still some ignorant people who are racist, sexist and homophobic.

Cuffs Review

Shackled in the slammer! New BBC One Police Drama is a raving success!

The BBC have created a brand new drama focused on police life in Brighton, which has recently aired on BBC One.

The series follows the exploits of new recruit PC Jake Vickers and veteran of policing Ryan Draper. Their interactions start off very tense as Draper only believes that Vickers got onto the force because of his father, due to him being the Chief Superintendent of the force. This creates a rift between the two characters which is resolved through the episode when Jake knocks-out a racist criminal. This causes their rickety relationship to be healed over and they go training together with the other members of the force, but Jake quickly fails the exercise and gets the lawyer's number because they are both gay.

Cuffs Case Study

Cuffs Series 1 Episode 1

Main Characters:

• PC Ryan Draper (played by Ashley Walters) is Jake's tutor constable, he is also a widower with a son and daughter. He is black.
• PC Jake Vickers (played by Jacob Ifan) is the son of the Chief Superintendent and is struggling as a new recruit. He is also gay.
• DS Jo Moffat (played byAmanda Abbington) is an investigator having an affair with Chief Superintendent Vickers. She is divorced and lives alone with her ageing German Shepherd.
• Chief Superintendent Robert Vickers (played by Peter Sullivan) is Jake's father and his wife is suffering from cancer.
• DC Carl Hawkins (played by Shaun Dooley) is from Yorkshire, has a wife and a child and wants to try for another one.
• DI Felix Kane (played by Paul Ready) is a mysterious and stoic senior investigator with a troubled personal life.
• PC Donna Prager (played by Eleanor Matsuura) is Lino's partner, and an authorised taser officer. She is also a lesbian, and has a wife.
• PC Lino Moretti (played by Alex Carter) is an out-of-shape cop who is proud of his Italian heritage. He is also Donna's partner.

Storylines:

• Jake Vickers is new on the force and must be inducted and trained on his first day. He is monitored by Ryan Draper, someone who is skeptical of how he got onto the force in the first place because his father is Robert Vickers, chief superintendent.
• The Brighton police must deal with a racist who stabbed a young Indian boy which leads to Jake's first successful arrest.
• The force must also locate a father whop kidnapped his daughter because he wanted to spend more time with her, the father is dealing with mental issues and was successfully talked out of killing himself.

Setting:

• Brighton, the "gay capital" of England.

Overall Tone:

• Realistic

Television in the 2010s

Society in 2015:

• David Cameron legalised gay marriage.
• Immigration levels increased.
• UKIP gained a lot traction because they promised to get rid of immigrants.
• Terrorist attacks in Paris.
• Post 911 Islamophobia.
• Wars in Syria.
• Conservative government.
• 3 protests - Austerity (the conservatives increased their pay by 11%), Global Warming
• Trumps election campaign.
• BREXIT.
• Third Wave Feminism
• blacklivesmatter
• oscarssowhite

These events are overwhelmingly negative as it is full of violence and dumb decisions. This means when people look back at this decade they will consider it as being very idiotic.