Deutschland 83: case study blog task

 Introduction: Reviews and features

1) Find one positive aspect and one criticism of Deutschland 83 in the reviews.

One positive aspect of Deutschland 83 in the reviews is that it tells a very well-made story position which was highly popular for a non-English series around the world except Germany. As it included stereotypes and how real life was in Germany in 1983 between each party (East and West), which could be an aspect of criticism from the ideologies and one of the reasons why maybe the series didn't do well in German society.

2) Why does the second Guardian article suggest the Germans didn't like the show?

Perhaps the reason German people didn't like the show was due to the connection to the dehumanising the Stasi agents as Martin is presumed to be the 'good guy' from the East - which everyone wants to have a happy ending which could be offensive to people that live in the West.

3) Find three 'below the line' comments from either of the Guardian articles. What did the audience think of Deutschland 83? Do you agree with the comments?

•  "Deutschland 83 was great, and I also hoped it was a sign of things to come on German TV.
• "See; Germany can do it".
• "Only then to find out that it was an American writer....". 

This comment accumulated 27 agreements which is a clear indicator that audiences really did enjoy Deutschland 83. It appears that the issue that the main issue that audiences have with Deutschland 83 is that it isn't written from the perspective of an actual German citizen. This takes a little bit away from the show as this means that we aren't getting the authenticity of what the Cold War really would have felt like. There are sure to be some biases towards a certain side along with some stereotypes that the writer might have been subjected to believe over time just as Gerbner's cultivation theory suggests.


Promotional interview

Channel 4 News: Matt Frei interviews Jonas Nay

1) What does Jonas Nay say about growing up in a united Germany? 

Deutschland 83 is based in 1983 where East and West Germany were separated but Jonas Nay was born 7 years later (1990) which was different as East and West Germany were united together so there was peace and he never got to experience or personally understand the situation at that time.

2) The Channel 4 News interview is conducted in German with English subtitles. How does this reflect Channel 4's remit as a public service broadcaster and their target audience? 

The Channel 4 News Interview is conducted in German with English subtitles, this reflects Channel 4's remit as a public service broadcaster and their target audience as Channel 4 aims to be innovative and alternative which is exactly what Deutschland 83 does. The fact that a British public broadcaster has decided to broadcast a drama and interview completely in a foreign language is innovative and atypical of other public service broadcasters. In recent years there has been a rise in the acceptance of foreign language dramas for all audiences, not just the upper class as it might have been before. A public service broadcaster like Channel 4 is proof of just how much they have been popularised and the success of Deutschland 83 reinforces this. Channel 4 is moving with the times and living up to the distinctive and universal content they said they would produce. 

3) Interviewer Matt Frei asks about the current political situation in Germany. Why might this interest the Channel 4 News audience?

Interviewer Matt Frei asking about the current political situation in Germany might interest the Channel 4 News audience as especially after watching Deutschland 83 they may want to know how the political situation has shifted/changed over time and in what way. Deutschland 83 included real news reports that were taken at the time of the Cold War and so comparing these with the current news reports could help audiences to have a better understanding of German history and how far it's come. Additionally, Channel 4 News audiences are typically younger and into more niche topic areas and so getting to know more about the current state of Germany might specifically be a great point of interest for them which other Public Service Broadcasters may not have explored as much. 

Textual analysis: Audience pleasures and representations

Scene 1: Garden/BBQ scenes (East & West Germany)

4.58 – 8.20  34.00 – 37.20

• East -handheld shots(hectic, dark lighting in some areas( house), creates sense that audience are attending party. Run down, building quality of the house

• West - dressed formally, easy flowing shots, intimate dim lighting.360 shot circling Martin/Moritz and Edel's children, creates an ominous feeling that he's in danger.

• Camera work in East- Lenora is shot through the kitchen hatch creating connotations of surveillance. Begins recurring motifs of camera shots constructed through windows/blinds etc. Prop- Nescafe coffee. Western brand unavailable in East. Actor movement/expression - strong contrast between East and West (happily/smiling and on edge/cold.[Monetisation of working class life in East criticises Western middle class. Similar to Capital (Kamla family:Youts). Marxism and hegemony.

• East- crowded, music blasting yet lively.99 Luftballons - iconic 1980s German pop song. Diegetic sound creates warm atmosphere.

• West- no background music. Low tense electronic, non-diegetic creates tension, uncomfortable atmosphere. Diegetic sound is Yvonne singing. Formal, uncomfortable and forced.

• East- single-parent family (mum and son). Non-traditional. Poverty controlled. Warmth, friendly, intimate - subverts stereotype of East in most cold war media.

• West- nuclear family( both parents, daughter and son), traditional. Comfortable and tense. Despite the wealth of Edel's house audience don't connect with characters, we are on edge for the whole scene.

• Music and nostalgia (1980's sound track).

• Personal relationships- Eastern scene is when audience start to bond with Martin.

• Genre pleasures in West; spy thriller, Martin undercover, brush pass fail.

Scene 2: Martin/Moritz first sees the West German supermarket 

14.30 – 20.25

• Various angle shots - down below when he's running towards the supermarket: creates an ominous feeling.

• Costuming - Western dressed: brand3ed, colourful and bright, whole scenes more colourful than East.

• Supermarket shelves, full of colourful products. Staked to look like Andy Warhol postmodern painting. Also lots of colourful fruits.

• Martin runs and knocks oranges on ground reflects plentiful food in West.

• Diegetic sound in supermarket creates a suspenseful atmosphere. Music starts to lower down as he makes his way down the aisle.

• Sweet dreams by the Eurythemics.

• Music in terms of lyrics significant: 'Some of them want to use you' - links to narrative.

• Non-diegetic sound fast paced, electronic soundtrack creates pace and tension.

• East: presented as healthy - reference to chemicals in Western food. ''Western governments like to keep their citizens fat, lazy and complacent...The true freedom of the West is that they don't pay attention to you.''

• Shot of police eating ice creams outside the supermarket- symbolic of difference between East and West, freedom in West.

• Music and nostalgia(1980's soundtrack).

• Dialogue in supermarket: reference to nuclear missiles, WW3, creates drama and tension. 

• When Martin wakes up-top down close up of Martin the eyeline match to chandelier shows wealth of West.

• Wood panelling og house in Bonn also shows luxury and wealth.

• Running scene - fast paced editing.

• Pans past Tv shop showing higher standards of living in West. First glimpse of positive representation of West?

• Gender: '' What does Annett want?'' Is this a stereotypical/ reductive representation of women or a realistic representation of gender roles in 1983?

Scene 3: Training montage scene when Martin/Moritz learns how to be a spy

20.40 – 22.40

• Editing: montage sequence - fast spaced editing.

• Split screen - editing/graphics/mise-en-scene used to show difference between east and west .

• Logos and brands and objects presented side by side - juxtaposition.

• Non-diegetic sound fast paced electronic soundtrack creates pace and tension, impact to montage sequence.

• Voice-over of him explaining the training- advances narrative significantly.

• Sound bridge/ use of sound at end of sequence. Music stops but voiceover continues: You're on your own - emphasis Martin/Moritz predicament.

• East v West - split screen. Fruit in particular - missing on the East side.

• Binary opposition suggest West is superior to East.

• Gender: ' female assassin' - reinforces ''femme fatale'' stereotype; not particularly progressive gender stereotype.

• Music in terms of 1980's soundtrack.

• International audience - surveillance (U and G theory) - leaning about Germany. 80's gadget etc.

• Genre pleasures - spy thriller eg assassination, training aspect of montage.

• Intersexuality - James Bond style gadgets and cameras.

• German audience - nostalgia for brands/ product in split screen section.

Scene 4: Briefcase scene when Martin/Moritz is stealing the NATO nuclear plans

31.13 – 33.30

• High angle shots through the blinds creates spy thriller feel.

• Closeups- highly classified stamps, signatures, images of missiles and maps, Positions audience to be on Martin's side; emphasis reality.

• Ominous music builds suspense and tension - Non diegetic.

• Diegetic sound - deliberately increased volume of Martin's breathing, lock picking, turning pages in briefcase - creates intensity.

• Reality and postmodernism. Briefcase scene is important in presenting D83 as based on real events. Documents are authentic ( perhaps replicas of real documents released in 2013).

• Blurs boundaries between fiction and reality.

• East v West - presents West as threat to world security, nuclear war.

• Genre pleasure - spy thriller eg him taking pictures of the documents.

• International audience - surveillance - learning about Germany through the documents.

• Action and Enigma codes - audience think Martin will get caught at any given moment - diversion.

• Personal relationships - audience have to want Martin to escape here for whole drama series to work. Emotional investment in character.

Production and industry contexts

1) What kind of company is UFA Fiction and what shows have they produced? 

UFA Fiction is a German award winning film and television company and a unique leader in the German film and television market, offering a remarkable portfolio of films and series which have strongly influenced the German production landscape. Having started 100 years ago, this film company, which is based in Babelsberg near Berlin, is one of the oldest in the country. Classics such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis were made here and big Hollywood names such as Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder and Quentin Tarantino also used UFA's studios.

2) What kind of company is Freemantle and what do they produce?

A world leader in creating, producing and distributing content across our main content pillars- Formats, Dramas & Film and Documentaries. We are an independent group of talents, studios and content makers and culture shapers, operating in 27 territories across the world. U.S Fremantle owns non-scripted formats, including the British talent competitions Idols (created by Simon Fuller), Got Talent and The X Factor (both created by Simon Cowell), shows which have been sold around the world.

3) How does Deutschland 83 reflect the international nature of television production?

Deutschland 83 reflects the international nature of television production as while it was a TV Drama completely in German it was actually more well known in foreign countries like the UK. The reason for this being that it was produced by UFA Fiction, a German company but was distributed by Freemantle International which focuses more on global audiences as it operates in 26 territories across the world.



Walter Presents

Watch this Channel 4 trailer for their Walter Presents international drama:

1) How does Channel 4 introduce 'Walter'?

Channel 4 introduces 'Walter' as dead as we can see through the scene where they are carrying a casket to an open grave and then does a cut scene to a man throwing a flower inside the grave. This demonstrates death is being presented.

2) What audience are Channel 4 trying to appeal to with the 'Walter Presents' series?

Either middle-aged people or millennial as it seems to be like a sitcom when showing the opening, that's what I believe the target audience is being presented from the Channel 4.

3) How does the 'Walter Presents' series reflect the changing nature of television in the digital age?

The 'Walter Presents' series reflect the changing nature of television in the digital age as it shows new ways of transitioning into a next slide, bright colours and mysterious twists to lure the audiences to watch it.


Marketing and promotion

Trailer

1) What audience pleasures are suggested by the trailer? Think about Uses & Gratifications theory (Blumler and Katz).

Diversion is one audience pleasure suggested by the trailer. The series seems to offer lots of action- obvious from the many running and fighting scenes in the trailer. Surveillance is another key audience pleasure established in the trailer. the series is clearly based on the events that occurred in Germany in 1983 regarding the Cold War.

2) How does the trailer use action and enigma codes (Barthes) to encourage the audience to watch the show?

• Action codes in the trailer are the scenes that consist of fighting, gun use and running.

• Enigma codes include the scene of the large room where there seems to be politically important people discussing something serious. These encourage an audience to watch the show as they want to know the result of the fight and what is the mystery behind the secrets.

3) The only words heard in the trailer are in English. Why do you think the UK trailer avoided subtitles or German dialogue?

This would have stopped the instant gratifications provided by the trailer as it would've slowed the pace overall and worked against the fast paced editing of the trailer; potential audience members could have also been loss due to a heavy foreign focus rather than an accessible western drama, as many audiences are put off by foreign language dramas due to the language barrier.

Press pack

1) How did she use the historical context and real-life events to create a successful drama?

Anna Winger used historical context and real-life events to create a successful drama as she based the East German protagonist Martin on her husband when he was doing his West German military service in the 1980s, the time that Deutschland 83 is set. Her husband was a radio signaller in West Germany and would listen to Russian troops in East Germany. The Russians would greet him by name which revealed that they knew he was listening but that there was also a mole at his base that he never discovered. Winger's idea was to write a story from the perspective of the mole.

''The original seed of the idea was based on something that happened to my husband when he was doing his West German military service in the 1980’s. He was a radio signaller in West

Germany, listening to the Russian troops in East Germany. Occasionally the Russians would greet him by name. So they knew that he was listening and he knew there must be a mole at his base – but he never figured out who the mole was. It could have been a boss or a colleague. My idea was to tell a story form the point of view of the mole. At the time of the fall of the Wall there were more than 2000 Stasi agents undercover in West Germany. In recent years, there have been some movies about the 1980s in East Germany but few about the West, so I liked idea of seeing it all through the eyes of someone who has never been there before. Our main character, Martin/Moritz, is a kind of an Alice in Wonderland.''

2) Anna Winger discusses the use of music. Why might the soundtrack attract an audience?

The soundtrack of Deutschland 83 might attract an audience because the top 100 songs of 1983 (when Deutschland 83 is set) are still on the radio all the time which means that people still enjoy the music from that time. This could spark a sense of nostalgia from those who actually saw 1983 and remember the songs that are in Deutschland 83 which could encourage older people to watch the show so they can reminisce on 1983. This could also encourage people that listen to these songs now to watch the show and get an idea of the historical context behind the songs to learn more about it.

''Music was key to the story from the beginning. The top 100 songs of 1983 are still on the radio all the time! It was just an incredible year of pop culture and the songs really travelled, maybe because music videos started around that time as well, so there was a visual component for the very first time. Fashion, hair styles and colour palette, suddenly became a part of the 1980’s music experience. A fun detail is that the composer of our score, Reinhold Heil, was a keyboardist in the Nina Hagen band. And he actually produced the song “99 Luftballons” for Nena, so he is very much of that Zeitgeist. In many cases I had songs in mind when I was writing. In Episode 3, for example, Moritz uses the lyrics to the Duran Duran song Hungry Like a Wolf as a code. Duran Duran were kind enough to let us do so, which was really cool of them. Honestly, I was 13 in 1983 and if my 13 year old self had chosen the soundtrack it would have been entirely The Police and Duran Duran!''

Press release

1) List the key statistics concerning audience figures. Why was it considered the most successful foreign language drama?

After launching with 1.49 million viewers, the first episode has now consolidated with 2.5 million viewers, overtaking the launch of The Returned (9th June 2013) on Channel 4 which previously held the record with 2.2 million. The series forms part of Walter Presents, a brand new on-demand service showcasing the world’s best foreign-language drama. It clearly presents key aspects of framework in cinema photography but also has popular soundtrack that influences people to watch the series and be lured in it as it may bring the audience memories. This is also attracting the audience by the historical aspect of it as it allows people to understand and learn what happened during that time in Germany.

2) How does the press release describe Deutschland 83?

• “It’s only January but let’s call it already: coolest show of the year.” Grazia

• “This is the next subtitled sensation……..unmissable TV.”  TV Times

• “This pacy saga could be your new subtitled obsession.” The Guardian

• “A stylish curtain-raiser for Walter Presents.” The Times

• “Great fun, and powered by an irrestible 1983 vintage soundtrack.” The Daily Telegraph

• “Evocative and gripping.” The Daily Mail

The press release describes the drama as "a kind of absurd fantasy set up or science fiction: two brother nations, a big wall that couldn’t be crossed… and yet, the 1980s weren’t that long ago." to establish how even though it is based on what happened during the time in 9183, it doesn't disclose the fact that it's not based on a situation like Martins. However, the film feel very old then it does even though it wasn't long ago that the 1980s existed - the movie demonstrated many aspects of the 1980s as well as "Sweet Dreams" is presented.

International marketing

1) How does the UK DVD cover communicate the sub-genre of the drama?

The UK DVD cover communicates the sub-genre to be more older fashion with no artificial colours included and also showing picture that seem familiar to what WW1 or WW2 would have made in advertising but if you've watched the series then you would know that it's based in 1983 where West and East Germany were still not reunited. Overall, it only shows aspects of a war and historical kind of movie.

2) How do these use font, colour and graphics to appeal to an audience?

The audience of certain ages might either love it or hate it. The font seems to be something that links to the 1980s but the background shows clear images of advertisement illustrations that would have been made in WW1 and WW2. The colour and graphics are also quite a beige colour for its sort.

3) Why might the distributors Freemantle International have used different marketing campaigns in different countries? 

Freemantle International used different marketing campaign designs for each country to illustrate how culturally different everyone is and what they might life as the American DVD cover has Neo bright colours to bring a more action film and more sci-fi . Making people wanting to watch it, as it's different for each person.