Close Textual Analysis

Media Langauge: what techniques are being used to make meaning in the text?

- Cinematography/Camerawork- fast pace shots. Some hand held camera. Mainy medium shots of each of ther characters as they talk. Ends with Scofield saying "with a little help from my friends".

- Mise en scene: In Prison garden and Shed. Low angels shots of Scofield as he is shown as the hero.

- Lighting: Natural day light. Natural Lighting in the shed.

- Sound: non-diegetic sound(track) on top of the dialogue. Parallel to the dialogue.

- Editing: simple cuts

Institution: Who produces, distributes, regulates the text?

- Production: non-hollywood. 20th Century Fox Television

- Promotion: Trailers, advertised on UK TV as well as American channels including Fox.

- Distribution: Primarily, American TV channel- Fox Network but has been distributed by institutions around the world.

- Scheduling: the 'watershed' in the UK but prime time (8pm) in America.

- Broadcasting: commerical TV

Genre:What type of text is it?

- Broadcast fiction genres: serial drama

- broadcast fiction elements: theme tune, title sequence

Representation: Who or what is being represented in the text? How?

- Gender: All except two characters are males. These are represented in different ways such as Scofield as the witty hero but T-Bag as a selfish, weak man.

- Ethnicity: Typical representation of African Americans as they are prisoners, having commited crimes. An exception is Sucre who is high lighted to deeply regret his crime and would do anything to be with his girlfriend.

- Positive/negative: Not fair/accurate in todays society but would be in the 1960s where black were seen as inferior to whites.

- Stereotypes: reinforces- black peole in prison and trying to escape and corruption of the prison as well as the American Governement.

Challenges- scofield is not racist towards the black inmates.

Audience: Who consumes the text?

- Primary audience: 18-25 year olds (male and female)

- Secondary audience: 14-18 year olds (male and female)

- Target audience: 18-34 of all ethnicites and male and females.

The show contains adult content including violence, coarse language, sexual and drug references. Concerns have been raised by the Parents Television Council in the United States about the timeslot in which Prison Break is broadcasted (8:00p.m.) since the show features scenes which contain graphic violence.

- Expectations: achieved- As the only new television series to be positioned in the top 20 television shows of 2005/2006 in Canada, Prison Break achieved an average of 876,000 in the key demographic of 18-49 and 1.4 million viewers nationally for its first season.

- Appeal: for women mainly Michael Scofield and for men- the action and wit of Scofield.

Ideology & Values: what are the belief systems/messages/values underpinning the text?

- Liberal Values: Scoifled promotes an anti-racism value by rejecting T-Bag and working with some black inmates. Also, avoiding to fight with them. Mix of black and white people in the prison could promote multi-culturalism but the fact that they oppose each other subverts this idea.

- Positive values: to entertain and inform viewers about the corruptness of the American Government. To encourage social change of anti-racism.

- Patricarchy: Males prison showing mainly male characters.

Narrative: how is the narrative in the text organized and structured?

- open narrative

- closure: cliffhanger at each episode

- non-linear narrative: sometimes showing thoughts of the inmates when they were at home

- Narrative structure: Propp, Todorov

- Narrative Roles: Propp

- enigma codes: multi-stranded narrative