Teaching HomelandRick InstrellDeep Learninginfo@deep-learning.co.ukVersion 1.01 June 2013

Association for Media Education in Scotland

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INSTITUTION

• ownership (commercial, public service, alternative)

• finance (budget, income from sales, subscription, advertising; license fee)

• personnel, deadlines, resources

• controls (legal and regulatory compliance, market)

AUDIENCE

• target audience

• uses & pleasure

• differential decoding (personality, gender, age, class, ethnicity, interests, nationality, )

• producers

TEXTS

CATEGORIES

• purpose, medium, form, genre, tone

LANGUAGE

• technical & cultural codes & their interaction; motivations

NARRATIVE

• organisation of content; structure, plot, narrative structure

REPRESENTATIONS

• stereotypes & non-stereotypes; dominant/oppositional ideologies

SOCIETY

• social, cultural, economic, political events, lifestyles &

ideologies

create UGC

use/decode

selectinfluence

TECHNOLOGY

• technologies of production,

distribution & consumption

MEANING

CAPITAL

Integration of Key Aspects of Media Literacy

create

TIME

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Key Aspect: Institution

Q. Who produced Homeland and how has this shaped the series?

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Institution: US TV Context• Broadcast network broadcasts its content free (e.g. ABC, CBS,

NBC, Fox and PBS)• Cable network available only by subscription via cable or satellite• Funding models for original tv drama:

network television: financed by advertising and sponsorship e.g. ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox

basic cable television: financed by advertising and subscription e.g. AMC, FX

premium cable television: financed by subscription e.g. HBO, Showtime

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service): non=profit corporation, funded by member stations’ dues, government agencies, foundations, corporate sponsors and private citizens

on-demand streaming internet media: financed by subscription or advertising or public service e.g. subscription-financed Netflix

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Institution: Network TV• Network television: need to attract audience to ads and not

offend viewers or advertisers; subject to FCC code on depictions of sexuality and violence (-> self-censorship by showrunner and scriptwriters)

• Narrative hooks in each episode (e.g. at ad breaks) and between episodes; no scene lasts more than 2 min; major storyline plus 1-3 minor storylines

• Series have around 24 episodes often with 3 mini-arcs of 6-8 weeks – high drama during ‘sweeps’ (Nov, Feb, May and July) used to set advertising rates

• Multiple scriptwriters co-ordinated by showrunner• Scriptwriters have to provide pleasure for both regular and

occasional viewers

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Institution: Network TV NarrativeNarrative Structure (40 min drama for 60 min slot; max scene length 2min)

Prologue: repriseAct 1: setup: problem(s) and surprise

Ad breakAct 2: complication: response to the surprise(s)

Ad breakAct 3: development: a heightening of resulting drama

Ad breakAct 4: resolution: resolving some storylines as well as providing a narrative hook.Epilogue: next week …

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Institution: Premium Cable• Premium cable stations can ignore FCC guidelines and deliver the edgier

content demanded by subscribers• Cable stations cultivate brand identities e.g. HBO’s one-time slogan “It’s not TV.

It’s HBO.”• Successfully pitched shows generally fit the network’s brand image• Less likely to be subject to network interference• Autonomy is attractive to writers• Cable shows have shorter season lengths e.g. 90 minute pilot then 12 episodes• Easier to maintain quality across episodes• Use showrunner model but have smaller writing staffs, smaller budgets and

use location shooting to save money• Similar scriptwriting techniques but don’t have to worry about ad breaks and

can let occasional scene last more than 2 min• Shows may be aimed at audiences with high cultural capital so most innovative

creatives employed

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Institution: Showtime• Premium cable station owned by CBS• Showtime is the flagship for several channels• Shows films, drama series, boxing• Drama shown on Sunday and Monday evenings• Branding:

2005-11:“TV. At its best”2011- :“Brace Yourself”2012- :“Hold on Tight”

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Institution: Showtime Partners• Keshet: Leading Israeli media group and

leading TV programme• Fox 21: TV production arm of 20th

Century Fox, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation

• Teakwood Lane Productions: created by Howard Gordon at 20th Century Fox TV

• Cherry Pie Productions• TCG Studio (title sequence)

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Institution: Production Context• Homeland inspired by Israeli drama Prisoners of War• Its Israeli creator, Gideon Raff, is Homeland showrunner• Executive producers Howard Gordon & Alex Gansa worked on 24• Pitched show to 2 broadcast networks and Showtime• Showtime told producers “to let the show breathe” (i.e. take time to tell

story) and make Carrie “more of a cable character”• So Carrie became bipolar at behest of Showtime• Unified team of experienced producers/writers: Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa,

Gideon Raff, Michael Cuesta, Henry Bromell, Chip Johannessen, Meredith Stiehm, Alexander Cary, Avi Nir (Keshet), Ran Telem (Keshet)

• Used focus groups to decide issues such as the best edit of a scene and the overall narrative arc (should Brody be killed off?)

• Showtime were however concerned about use of jazz music• Some CGI used e.g. to increase the number of military personnel welcoming

Brody home

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Institution: Screenwriters

Homeland uses screenwriters (and other creatives) with experience of ‘quality TV’ shows

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Institution: Finance• Budget about $3m per episode• Filmed in Charlotte, NC and Tel-Aviv, Israel • Much of budget goes to screenwriters and actors so US

scenes shot in North Carolina to take advantage of tax breaks

• Averaged fewer than 2m viewers in its initial airings — less than one-tenth of what a broadcast hit such as CBS NCIS gets

• Show sold worldwide and on DVD • Netflix pays about $1m per episode for top shows for

video streaming rights

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Institution: Research• Producers worked with CIA’s Entertainment Industry Liaison

office• Cast and crew sent to CIA HQ to get a feel for the place• Researched experience of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans• Researched bipolar disorder (Clair Danes watched YouTube

video of bipolar sufferers in manic states)• Producer/writer Henry Bromell (Homicide, Rubicon) was

son of a CIA agent (Henry Bromell died in March 2013)• Producer/writer Alex Cary is a former British infantry officer

who served in the Middle East• Muslim cleric coached Damian Lewis in Islamic rituals• No consultation with expert on Arabic and Arab history and

politics

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Institution: CIA• Producers had the cooperation of

USA’s Central Intelligence Agency

• Since 1947, CIA responsible for centralized intelligence organization aimed at correlating, evaluating, and disseminating information affecting national security

• Information collected assists military, government, and legislative leaders in decision-making

• CIA is sanctioned only to work abroad• Covert operations have included paramilitary activities and

propaganda campaigns aimed at destabilizing and influencing opposing regimes, even during peacetime

• Covert operations need approval of the President

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Institution: CIA OPA• CIA’s Office of Public Affairs (OPA) has the responsibility of

assisting moviemakers, writers, and television producers• Began cooperating with film/TV industry in the 1990s to

help reverse its image in film and television, since they usually depicted the CIA as a rogue, immoral organisation with a penchant for assassination and failure

• Those who wish to use CIA resources or premises, understand they must depict the Agency sympathetically

• This leads to self-censorship, motivated by financial and creative gains (rather than sheer ideological ones) and plays a role in the shaping of content

• Researchers who consult with the CIA are often given a whitewashed version of its actions, where valid criticisms are downplayed or even ignored.

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CIA’s Entertainment Industry Liaison

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Marketing: Poster and Publicity

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Marketing: Official Website

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Key Aspect: CategoriesQ. What kind of programme is Homeland?

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Key Aspect: Categories – Form/Genre • American-made tv drama series for premium cable• Quality TV (aimed at liberal, educated, media-literate

audience)• Large budget $3m per episode• Purposes: inform, entertain, make profit, win awards• Generic hybrid

Spy genre Thriller genre Soap Trauma genre

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Key Aspect: Categories – Spy Genre• Spy genre: government agents on a covert mission

against enemies of the state• Us (good) v Them (bad)• ‘Them’ can be Nazis, Soviet Union, Terrorists• Sub-genres:

Fantasy Spoof Realistic Critical (questions the activities of the work that

spies/states do on behalf of ‘us’)

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Key Aspect: Categories – Thriller Genre

• Q/A narrative with quests, deadlines, delays, chases• Narrative resolution at the end• Suspense is generated by audience anticipation of 2

possible outcomes:1. Bad but likely outcome2. Good but unlikely outcome

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Key Aspect: Categories – Soap• Main storyline is spy/thriller• But subplots are more soap-like involving the impact of

the main storyline on lead characters’ domestic life• Love and betrayal in various forms: family love, sexual

attraction, friendship, sibling love

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Key Aspect: Categories – Trauma Genre

• Visual style and narrative fragmentation mimics traumatic memories

• Narrative stalls and we see vivid bodily and visual sensations

• Non-realistic: Non-linearity, fragmentation, non-synchronous

sound, repetition, rapid editing, strange camera angles

Approach past through mix of emotional affect, metonymic symbolism and flashbacks

(Walker, 2001)

• Well-illustrated in title sequence

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Key Aspect: Language

Q. How are images and audio used to•tell the story•express themes and conflicts•engage the audience•express different settings and situations?

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Key Aspect: Visual Style in Homeland

• Look based on films such as The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Parallax View (1974), The Conversation (1974), Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Michael Clayton (2007)

• Naturalistic look in narrative scenes with ‘jazzy’ instinctive feel to camerawork

• Aim was to draw attention to story and performance rather than style

• Sets like real rooms with four walls and ceiling; camera has to be in a corner to get scene coverage

• Use of telephoto lenses to suggest events are captured rather than staged (1970s style); flattens perspective and narrows angle of view

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Key Aspect: Visual Style in Homeland

• Over season 1 camerawork changed and developed more visceral handheld style as drama intensified e.g. end of season 1 when Brody is about to detonate bomb and sound changes from external diegetic to internal diegetic (i.e. inside Brody’s head)

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Key Aspect: Language: Visual Influences

Three Days of the Condor (1975) dir. Sydney Pollack, American political thriller

Michael Clayton (2007) dir. Tony Gilroy, American corruption drama featuring bipolar disorder and mental breakdown

The Conversation (1974) dir. Francis Ford Coppola. American surveillance thriller

The Day of the Jackal (1974) dir. Fred Zinneman. Professional killer hired to shoot President de Gaulle.

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Key Aspect: Narrative

Q. What is the narrative structure?Q. What are the storylines? Q. How does the plot seek to engage the audience?Q. How do the storylines work out?

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Narrative Structure in TV Serial Drama• 3 levels of narrative structure:

multi-episode character arcs episodes beats (scenes)

• Character arc may change mid-season depending on whether or not the show is renewed and depending on audience reaction e.g. audience focus groups and social network reaction to characters

• Each episode usually has 2-4 storylines• Storylines may have a thematic link exploring

similarities/contrasts between them• Repetition of plot information has to be provided for occasional

viewer• Narrative hooks are used to lure viewers back

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Narrative Structure in Homeland• Always intended that Carrie and Brody come together

mid-season• Seems irrational but they recognise that each is

damaged and they reach out to each other• Some scenes allowed to last 4 or 5 minutes• Each episode tries to maximise ambiguity i.e. make

audience ask “is Brody a terrorist or not?”• This is helped by Lewis’s performance as well as by

removal of music cues which might anchor meaning• Ending of season 1 not known until mid-season

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Q/A Narrative 1One of the main problems for the filmmaker is: how does one scene link to the next?

Nöel Carroll argues that mainstream films are constructed using a Q/A structure in which there are:

• Major questions (e.g. will the hero survive?) • Minor questions (e.g. how will events affect hero’s family?)

In the case of Homeland a major question for the audience is how will the scriptwriters get themselves out of the holes they have dug for themselves? (e.g. how has Brody survived 2 seasons?)

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Q/A Narrative 2Seven types of scene in Q/A narrative:

1. Establishing scene: introduces setting, character, actions2. Questioning scene: posing one or more questions3. Answering scene: answering one or more questions4. Sustaining scene: continues and intensifies earlier question5. Incomplete answering scene: partial answer6. Answering/questioning scene: one question answered

which immediately poses another question7. Fulfilling scene: scene which shows what was predicted in

an earlier scene

If scene does not fit the above it is a digression.(Carroll, 1996)

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Q/A Narrative Questions

1. What are the main questions which engage our interest in the Homeland narrative?

2. How is suspense generated? (good but unlikely outcome v. bad but likely outcome)

3. What other questions engage our interest in the Homeland narrative?

4. Identify different types of scene in Homeland (establishing, Q, A, sustaining, incomplete A, A/Q, fulfilling, digression)

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Narrative Codes• Enigmatic code: the use of Q/A to engage the viewer• Action code: e.g. rapid storytelling by use of stock

situations/characters• Semic code: connotations of image and audio elements• Symbolic code: the way that conflicts and themes are

symbolised • Referential code: references to general knowledge e.g.

military uniform, geographical and historical knowledge, stereotypes

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Key Aspect: Representations

Q. How are people, places and events represented in Homeland? (what is selected and how is it portrayed?; what is absent?)

Q. Explain these representations in terms of institutional, audience and social contexts.

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Representations of Gender

Female Male

Carrie Brody (and other males)

Hysterical Controlled

Intuitive Rational

Voyeur Doer

Extrovert Introvert

The characters of Carrie and Brody are constructed as opposites:

(Edgerton & Edgerton: 2012)

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Representation: Muslims• Studies of representation of Muslims in the media identify the use of

a restricted set of recurring visual images (e.g. violent mobs burning US flag) as well as loaded terms (‘Islamic extremism’, ‘Muslim fundamentalism’, ‘Islamic terrorism’)

• This suggests that extremism is a feature of all Muslims• This stereotyping in news and features, in political speeches and

everyday life supports the ideas that: Islam is a threat to the West Muslims are deviant, irrational, violent Islam is antiquated All Muslims are the same

• Acceptance of such ideologies may lead to a general public acceptance of torture, drone killings, covert operations, oppressive legislation, etc.

Q. Are the representations of Muslims in Homeland stereotyped?

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Representations of the CIA

Q. How has the CIA been represented in film and tv?

.

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Representation of USA• Homeland can be seen as expression of American

exceptionalism i.e. the idea that USA is different from other countries in that it has a specific world mission to spread liberty and democracy

• Homeland is an expression of US post-9/11 trauma (Carrie’s bipolar disorder dates back to 2001)

• Homeland registers unease over ethics of the ‘war on terror’

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Representations of the CIACIA represented in film and tv in five main ways: •As an organisation which:– is intent on assassination– comprises rogue operatives who act with little

oversight– fails to take care of its own officers and assets– operates on morally ambiguous and perhaps morally

reprehensible grounds– Is bedevilled by its own disorganization.

(Jenkins, 2012)

1.Also see the effect of dedication to CIA work on domestic situations (CIA work as self-sacrifice)

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Why is CIA Image so Negative?• Reflects a number of highly publicised cases where covert

operations were made public (‘bad news’ is more memorable than ‘good news’)

• Left/liberal political leanings of writers, actors and directors play a part

• Belief by many creatives that CIA does not respect civil liberties

• The demands of audiovisual storytelling: much easier to cast CIA as bad guys because audience is used to the stereotype and such an image can be conveyed quickly by phrases such as ‘rogue CIA officer’

Q. Does Homeland replicate this image of the CIA?

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Audience: Differential Decoding• Preferred reading: enjoying show as intended by the

filmmakers – thrilling drama which shows dedicated CIA agents protecting USA against terrorism

• Negotiated reading: enjoying the drama but having reservations its representations of Arabs and gender

• Oppositional reading: rejecting the preferred reading and seeing the film as US imperialist propaganda (left-wing critics, Arab critics)

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Key Aspect: Mainstream Audience• Central character female in male-oriented spy thriller

genre – so crossover audience• Could be argued that it replicates stereotypes of Arabs

and Muslims – so confirms dominant viewpoints• Thriller which aims to grip audience and keep them

guessing and watching• Starts trying to be different from 24 but ends up just as

implausible• Expresses general feeling of trauma post-9/11

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Audience: Niche Audience• Also targeted at upscale, mainly liberal, media-literate

audience who prefer their drama to challenge the conventions and style of mainstream TV drama

• Opening sequence signals this via its raw style, symbolism and jazz music

• Could be argued that it has does not resort to simple stereotypes of Muslims and Islam

• Critique of US methods such as drone killings

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Audience: Left Critique• According to Herman and Chomsky the US media

‘manufacture consent’ to government policies and business interests

• Thus the representation of Arabs in US media can be seen as creating general consent to US foreign policy and the CIA’s use of covert operations in combatting terrorism

• Homeland can be seen as contributing to dominant ideologies which shape policy in the present

• Probably unintended effect of trying to tell an engaging story and an over-reliance on Israeli creative personnel

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Audience: Arab Critique• Arab critics label show as Islamophobic e.g.

Being an Arab makes you dangerous so racial profiling is OK

Muslims are infiltrating the USA Conflation of groups e.g. Muslim = Arab = al-Qaida

(Sunni) = Hezbollah (Shiah) Show has many mistakes which display an ignorance of

Arabic language and Arab and Islamic culture (e.g. use of Iranian or made-up names for Arabs, treatment of Koran)

Beirut – cosmopolitan city portrayed as a Taliban stronghold

Orientalist fantasies about oversexed Saudi princes

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Integration of Key Aspects

Exercise:You have studied Homeland in detail. Draw up a table with two columns labelled ‘context’ and ‘text’. In the left column list aspects of the institutional, audience, technological and social contexts.

In the right hand column identify ways in which each context shaped the Homeland text (i.e. its categories, language, narrative and representations).

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ReferencesAl-Arain, L. (2012) ‘TV’s most Islamophobic show’. Accessed 25/05/2013 at

http://www.salon.com/2012/12/15/tvs_most_islamophobic_show/Carroll, Nöel (1996) Theorizing the Moving Image. Cambridge : Cambridge University

Press.Edgerton, G. R. and Edgerton, K. C. (2012) ‘Pathologizing post 9/11 America in

Homeland: private paranoia, public psychosis’. In Critical Studies in Television, 2012, 7.1: 89-92.

Herman, E. S. and Chomsky, N. (1988) Manufacturing Consent- The Political Economy Of The Mass Media. London: Bodley Head.

Instrell, R. (2013) ‘Innovation in Cultural Production: US and Danish Television Serial Drama’. In Media Education Journal, 2013, 51.

Jenkins, T. (2012) The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television. University of Texas Press. Kindle Edition.

Thomson, P. (2012) ‘Varied Visions: Homeland’. In American Cinematographer, March 2012. Accessed 27/05/2013 at http://www.theasc.com/ac_magazine/March2012/2012Television/page4.php.

Walker, J. (2001) ‘Reports and debates. False memories and true experience’. In Screen, 2001, 40.2: 211-16.