ZEN ANALYSIS

9/10/14 |  RESEARCH | TV FILM OPENING ANALYSIS

In class we watched the opening credits of a TV crime drama called ZEN. I knew it was a crime drama because of different images it included, for example silhouettes of guns and a man holding a shotgun. These suggest danger, jeopardy and death, themes which are typically associated with crime dramas. Another code was the Italianicity. The pictures were tinted red, white and green like the colours in the Italian flag, and there was an image of the Italian police headquarters, as well as views of Italy. This connotes not only an authentic Italian setting but also crime and criminal doings. There are also pictures of men in suits and dark sunglasses, which is a stereotypical image associated with spies and secret agents, characters that would be key in a crime drama. Because you can't see all of their faces this enhances the mystery and makes the opening credits more intriguing.

The opening credits also included special effects such as a slicing animation to show only parts of the images. This adds intrigue and mystery as you cannot see the images clearly. Mystery is a key theme for crime dramas and this shows the audience what type of programme it will be.