TV: Capital case study
Read the following interviews, reviews and features on Capital:
Guardian review by Sam Wollaston
Telegraph review by Ben Lawrence
London Evening Standard: five things you need to know about Capital
Behind the scenes filming Capital from the Daily Telegraph
1) What positive points do the reviews pick out about Capital?
- brilliant portrayal of London life
- It’s more complicated – and more interesting – than just wonderful and terrible.
- A brilliant allegorical portrait of London.
- Strong performances from a superb ensemble cast-the acting that makes this production sing.
- it was liberating not to be anchored to an overarching storyline and to enjoy.
- BBC’s tendency to churn out captivating high-quality miniseries with impressive casts continues with Capital.
- It’s based on an acclaimed novel
- its set in present day London
- many Londoners can relate
- It’s far more gripping than a drama about the property market sounds
- has a very well delivered script
- Shows social issues in the show
- adapted and directed so excellently – have managed to squeeze an incredible amount into one street, one book, and then further squeeze into three hours of television.
2) What criticisms are made - either of the TV drama or the original novel?
- Yet it was a disappointment. This was no Dickensian bird’s-eye view, but an overly schematic tangle of under-developed plotlines populated by underwritten characters.
- the plot meandered with only the sinister postcards that were delivered to the residents giving a connection to the disparate lives.
- it’s exaggerated
3) How does the TV drama change the time period and location for the story in comparison to the original novel?
- The novel is set in 2008 clapham but the TV series is set in tooting/balham in 2015.
4) In the Telegraph 'behind the scenes' article, what does the writer say about the London housing market?
- the article states that " average London price hits £500.000 as capitals house price shows no sign of losing steam" which suggests that capital compared to London house price is more stiff and stubborn and stays expensive.
5) What references can you find in these reviews and features to the idea Capital is a 'state-of-the-nation' drama? How does it capture modern-day London?
- Has multiple shots of London famous buildings such as the gherkin
- Has multiple example of diversity and the diverse cultures integrating into British culture
- “Relatable” financial struggles
1) How does the drama use camerawork to capture London life?]
- the drama uses drone shots of buildings like the gherkin and shots that capture London life such as roger commuting uses the tube to get to work
2) What does the camera movement when characters are initially introduced suggest about the drama and its London setting? Pick out one or two shots in particular.
- the kamal family working and showing each others interactions which suggests the show is going to show aspects of immigrant family life
- quentina, who is seen smiling at first then seen is in a relationship with someone but then seen being locked up so the audience can expect to see some intense character development in quentina
3) How does the trailer use mise-en-scene to capture the family element of the drama?
- at one point (0:17) we see the kamal family sitting around the table skyping the mother which shows a family bond between face to face contact but aswell as using technology to connect to those around the world
4) Bastille's 'These Streets' is used as the soundtrack for the trailer. What does this communicate to the audience and why is it effective?
- possibly used to communicate the fact that the drama is to be based on the street of pepys road and that the street possibly brings the characters together in the narrative
5) How does the trailer introduce narrative strands suggesting tension or enigma in the 40-second running time?
- the trailer uses straight cuts from calm to really intense scenes
- we also see different shots of characters emotions such as when Quentina is first seen smiling , kissing someone and then being locked up.
Watch the Episode 1 preview for Capital:
1) What does this preview clip suggest about the potential sub-genres for Capital?
- political
- drama
- urban scenes
- social issues
- corner shops
- immigrant inequality
- prejudice?
- the setting and props in the corner shop is very common amongst Londoners
- the bluntness of the young men confronting the policeman of prejudice, racism, inequality and discrimination
- when the young man "out smarted" the policeman on how to sort out the postcard postcard
5) How is the audience positioned to respond to the different characters in this particular sequence?
- the audience can see the parents/shopkeepers being concerned for safety which is a normal thing to be concerned about
- some may think that the policeman was wrongly targeted at but others may feel that the young men did the right thing by challenging him
1) How does this clip represent upper-middle-class family life?
- it suggests that the parents are to busy working to look after their children and therefore hired a babysitter to look after them as they have enough money to hire one
2) What narrative strands are suggested in this sequence?
- roger being slightly less stressed
- arabella being shocked/ angry at roger
3) How is the audience positioned to respond to Roger Yount, the main character (banker and father to the two boys)?
- the audience could see roger as lazy as he cant be bothered to look after his children or he could be seen as someone the audience can sympathize with as he is stressing over his bonus etc..
Representations: close-textual analysis
Capital offers a range of fascinating representations - from London and Islam to the issues of asylum seekers and inequality. You need to be able to confidently discuss these issues in the context of 2015 London - with reference to key scenes from episode 1. Representations include: London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, aging and more.
1) Write an analysis of the representations in each of the key scenes from episode 1 we studied in class:
Scene 1: opening sequence 00:30 – 4.49
place:london
- opening montage- London- bright and lit up (developed)
- changes of London throughout the years
- housing at September - £2.75 million(houses prices)- afluent
- history of London immigration
family and gender
- stereo typical white heterosexual family with 2 parents and 1 child - petunia and Albert are presented in a positive light at first
- men working and women cooking and looking after children-gender roles reinforced
- warm presentation
- focus pull on petunia and Albert eating away from eachother and at the TV- semiotics- unhappy life
ethnicity and religion
- radical Islam joke - "vertigo...north of the river"-sub verse stereotype
- "Pakistani".." oh i beg your pardon"- reinforced stereotypes
- "duty as a Muslim"
- British Muslim-looking after petunia-positive representation
- Albert is presented -vely
issues: asylum, inequality, wealth, aging
- elderly people=fragile
- changes in immigration- experienced by petunia
- working class family issues
- Albert is said to say "didn't much like change, im afraid" - stereotypes old white men
- £2.75 million
- "digging down into basements"-petunia-wealth
- "we are all millionaires".."not real millionaires"
Scene 2: work in the City 6.28 – 8.10
place:london
- busy and crowded
- audio codes -crescendo-power house- contrast to roger being filmed through the hole of an armpit
family and gender
- roger-concerned with money-capitalist
- arabella at home while roger work- gender roles
- -ve representation of white people
- modern couples and older couple have a contrast-elements of feminism is introduced
- hardly any women in work office nor commuting
ethnicity and religion
- foreign builder (polish)-stereotypical
- work place-white dominant
issues: asylum, inequality, wealth, aging
- business-wealthy
- age inequality- mark and roger
- "bonus season around the corner"
- capitalism views
- "75 million on a 635 million pound turnover"
- wealth inequality
- banking seniors dont know whats going on where as younger ones do
place:london
- London-expensive to live in
family and gender
- Rodger attempts to dominate - arabella overpowers- closeup on attempt of seduction
- white upper middle class men man being wrong-clueless motif
ethnicity and religion
- Rodger "Germans saying things are good..."- German stereotypes
issues: asylum, inequality, wealth, aging
- "you'd be surprised how little a million pound covers" wealth inequality, rich
- "which of those isn't absolutely essential"- talking about a weekend
place:london
- lower class of London - illegal working, deportation
- -ve side of London and immigration,living conditions-contrast younts living style and quentina
- "£300 this week someones been busy"
family and gender
- black female parking officer-strong-quentina
- rodger and life-wife is more dominant-feminism
- quentina-submissive to men- exploited
- gender stereotypes reinforced
ethnicity and religion
- stereotypes of back immigrants
issues: asylum, inequality, wealth, aging
- deportation - focus on the letter
- asylum struggles
- working illegally
- money struggles-wealth inequality
- exploitation
- breaking the law
place:london
- london CBD- Expensive to live in
- capitalist city represented
family and gender
- rodger being incorrect- clueless about his bonus being £1 million pound but gets £30,000 instead
ethnicity and religion
- entitlement of white middle class worker
- "fundamentally not fair"
issues: asylum, inequality, wealth, aging
- "question of greed"
- "proper bonus"
- "what use is 30 grand"
- quentina vs roger wealth and issues- scenes right after each other
family and gender
- all family around the table
- video calling family overseas
- stereotypical brown mother
- family life
- generosity of kamals vs younts
ethnicity and religion
- brown families-all together
- white people-out of touch-uncultured
- "underseige"
issues: asylum, inequality, wealth, aging
- difficulty of providing food-working class
- technology
2) How does Capital use stereotypes? Do the characters and issues represented in Capital reinforce or subvert the stereotypes we typically see in the media?
- capital both reinforces and subverses stereotypes for example the joke about the Islamic radicalism immediately subverts the islamic stereotypes but the fact that its a brown family that runs a corner shop reinforces it
Industries and production context
Capital was produced by independent production company Kudos for the BBC. Look at the Kudos website and also read the Kudos Wikipedia page.
1) Who is the parent company for Kudos?
- Endemol Shine Group
2) What was the breakthrough show for Kudos in 2002?
3) Watch the showreel on the Kudos website. What other TV dramas have Kudos produced? What awards have they won?
- -Humans
- -Troy: Fall Of A City
- -The Boy With The Topknot
- -Gunpowder
- -Tin Star
- -Man In An Orange Shirt
- -Grantchester
- -Apple Tree Yard
- -Broadchurch
- -Flowers
- -The Tunnel
- -Capital
- -River
- -Utopia
awards won:
- best drama series (TV choice awards),
- best crime drama 2017 (national television awards 2018)
4) What audience pleasures does the showreel suggest Kudos productions offer?
- kudos suggests that audiences will constantly be intrigued by the dramas showcased
Marketing and promotion
Read the BBC Press Pack for Capital.
1) How does the programme information on page 3 make Capital sound interesting to audiences?
- the mention of the postcard "We Want What You Have?"
- names the actors, the movies and TV shows they starred in and the awards they have won
2) Why does the programme information mention the other shows that the director and producer have worked on?
- to reel in audiences who have watched the works of the directors and producers before
3) Who commissioned Capital for BBC?
- Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One
- Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama
4) Read the interview with Toby Jones. What does he say about the character of Roger?
- a quote mentioned - "Roger isn’t an evil banker, he’s a slightly complacent banker. He’s become used to a certain way of life and has a self-imposed pressure to live that way. He spends a lot of money on things that other people don’t spend money on – for example fixtures and fittings - but that is normal to him and his wife. He is not totally in charge of his life or his work"
5) Read the interview with Adeel Akhtar (page 10). What does he suggest Capital says about the fictional Pepys Road and the sense of community (or lack of it) in London?
- he says that "pepys road is a manifestation of things that slowly happening, socially, economically and culturally" in everyday life
- adeel akhtar suggests that Capital "looks at the idea of a community, and what it means to belong to the community from whatever background you’re from. One of the problems is that some people within a community, such as Ahmed’s brother Usman, feel ostracized from it. They feel like they don’t belong and are on the outside looking in. Capital looks at that concept and also that they are all part of something bigger than themselves."
6) Read the interview with Shabana Azmi (page 12). What does she say about Asian representations in Britain?
- Shabana Azmi sates that "We are absorbing cultures, and understanding them, or at least trying to understand them within their own paradigms."
7) Read the interview with Peter Bowker (who adapted Capital - page 14). What are his favourite scenes in the drama and why?
- "Christmas morning where Roger has been abandoned and left to look after his two 15 children is one that Euros"
- "I also love the Kamals’ chaotic family meals. They are quintessentially archetypal family scenes that everybody lives through, but played with great comedic panache."
- "Bogdan the Polish builder talks to Matya the Hungarian nanny about the affluent Londoners they are working for, it’s fascinating.
8) Read the interview with Derek Wax, the Executive Producer for Kudos (page 16). Why did he produce Capital and what does it say about the way we live now?
- " I loved the sense of this big, expansive panorama of life as well as the small details of human behaviour"
- "Capital is far more subtle and nuanced. John gets inside their heads and allows us to engage with their thoughts and feelings, observes them with insight, humour and humanity, allows the story to breathe."
- "It definitely speaks to me about where London and the country is now. The obsession with property, the fact that London house prices have risen extraordinarily, has only intensified the sense of a society of haves and have-nots.
- Everyone’s connection to money is explored but then the novel expands to ask what life’s real value is, and it does this with a very deft, light touch. I’d say the novel is profound but never overtly polemical."
Look at the DVD packaging for Capital. There are many marketing techniques employed here.
1) How does the packaging use other critically acclaimed TV dramas to promote Capital?
- the "From the makers of Humans and Broadchurch" draws audiences in as this was a 4/5 star rated show which is quite adequite
2) What does the use of design and images suggest to the audience about the drama?
- diverse cast
- the phrase " "someone wants what they have" intrigues the media consumer
- The reviews from newspapers are in bold- easily see the reviews
3) How are review quotes used on the cover and what do they suggest to the audience about sub-genre, narrative and audience pleasures?
- The reviews from newspapers like "the sunday times" suggest that this drama is for people who are interested in issues such as politics and economic issues.
4) What representation of London does the DVD packaging offer?
- represents london as diverse
- makes London look developed
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