Textual Analysis of Power ( TV Drama)

Camera-angle, size and movement

In this episode of Power, from 42 minutes onwards, what I can see is that the camera is hand held. The meaning of this is to create tension, to show the fast pace and to make it more realistic. It also allows the audience to feel like they are in Tariq’s/Ghost’s/Tasha’s/Tommy’s shoes.

In this part of the episode there are a lot of close up shots to show each of the characters emotions. For example, when Tariq was about to shoot Ray, they used a close up shot of Tariq’s face to capture his fear but also his determination. I also saw the revenge and him wanting to kill Ray because of the murder of his sister.

Also in this episode of ‘Power’, long shots are used often. Long shots are used to create the feeling that the audience is with the character at that particular time in the scene. The audience see what the character sees. For example, there was a longshot used when Tariq was walking into Ray’s house and you can see what is in front of him. I can see a long, narrow corridor. At the end of the corridor, Ray is packing money into a gym bag and I gathered that he is going to run away. The shot moves closer and closer and what I think this does, is make us feel like something is going to happen, Tariq has the gun and a sense of suspense is created.

When Tariq got to the end of the corridor he had the gun pointed at the back of Ray’s head, and Ray started to provoke Tariq into shooting him. In this particular part of the episode there are a lot of shot reverse shots to see both of the characters emotions. It was also an eye level angle and over the shoulder angle so the emotion on Tariq’s face was shown to the audience. This was important because he is the main character in this episode, also the audience want to see how he reacts to shooting someone as it is not a normal thing for a young boy to shoot someone. It is a life changing event.

Editing including any SFX

Editing can include cutting from one scene to another. Cutting may change the scene, compress time, vary the point of view or build up an image or idea. In ‘Power’, there was a shot where the camera was hand held and the cutting rate was faster so that we can feel like Ghost was running quickly. We are shown Ghost trying to break into the door and the scene is then cut to Tariq trying to break inside the house without Ray knowing.  The speed at which the cuts happen is very fast and very intense, which suits an action/murder scene, which creates a feeling of energy and exhilaration. This also shows what’s going on in Tariq’s mind and what’s going on in Ghost’s mind, varying the perspective. Ghost wants to get to Tariq as quickly as possible so that makes the audience feel that he needs to speed up. Cutting like this allows us to see both actions happening at the same time.

Sound-diegetic, non-diegetic

Diegetic sound is when you can hear a sound that the characters can hear in the scene. For example when Tariq shot the guy, you could hear it even though you couldn’t see it. This is diegetic because it would have been what you could hear if you had been in the house. This creates a dramatic sense of shock for the audience. There is also a diegetic sound of a police car which gives a sense of worry and panic because they think that they are going to get caught. The audience feel exhilarated and anxious and want the characters to get out of the house as soon as possible.

At the same time there is non-diegetic sound which is music. The music is fast paced and dramatic which gets the audience on the edge of their seat. The lyrics of the music for example ‘Murder on your screen death is not a myth’ and ‘click clack of a bomb over Baghdad’ gives the impression that something is going to happen and adds to the atmosphere of the scene.

As Ghost is going up the stairs, the music plays, when the gunshot fires the music stops and there is silence. This silence represents the end of something big, the end of someone’s life.

Mise-en-scene: location, costume, props, lighting

Mise- en -scene means what we can see in the scene, what creates the atmosphere – lighting props etc. For example when Tariq was walking into Ray’s house, a panning shot is used to show the setting that Tariq was in. We can see a table full of stolen goods this gives a sense that this place is not an average house that a teenage boy would walk into on a daily basis. 

Lighting can also add to the atmosphere. In this case, the house that Tariq had just walked into was very dim, dark and gloomy. Which makes the scene more intense and scary. Tariq didn’t seem scared or flinch because he was consumed by vengeance and all he saw was black.

The prop used in this scene is a gun, essentially having a gun in a movie/TV drama or in any situation makes the audience feel scared/terrified. Having a gun in this scene shows the audience how serious Tariq is about killing Ray. In Power guns are shown/used regularly. When Tariq was pointing the gun at Ray you can see that his hands were trembling and shaking this showed the audience that he was scared but still determined to kill.