TV: Deutschland 83 case study

Introduction: Reviews and features

Read the following reviews and features on Deutschland 83:

The Guardian - Your next box set: Deutschland 83
The Guardian - Deutschland 83 Pity the Germans don't like it

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

• Deutschland 83’s first episode of eight was the most-watched foreign-language drama in UK history.
• Though very much an international package, it has been a bigger comparative hit abroad than at home. Massive hype only generated 3 million viewers for its co-maker RTL (just above the channel’s average).
• It doesn’t just make the viewer empathise with a Stasi agent on a human level – in the way The Lives of Others did – it makes us engage with the socialist regime’s worldview, in which a military exercise in West Germany poses a potentially existential threat.

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

And to top it all, the peace movement in the west turns out to have been infiltrated not just by Soviet agents, but gay Soviet agents at that – a McCarthyite fantasy come true. In Germany, where the cold war can still send chills, that feels a bit too simple.

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?

Promotional interview

Channel 4 News: Matt Frei interviews Jonas Nay


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

• No thing as West/East anymore, everybody united. 
• He's happy to enjoy his freedom, and mobility and that he can think and say what he likes.
• No-one back home really recognises him

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? (Clue: revise your work on Channel 4 and Public Service Broadcasting here!)

Channel 4's remit is to provide "high quality innovative content which challenges the status-quo". One way they do this is through airing foreign language films, this interview being in German emphasises the uniqueness of C4 compared to the BBC.

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

It helps the audience understand more recent affairs in Germany, highlighting what was a dark history to a modern audience.

Textual analysis: Audience pleasures and representations

We need to consider the audience pleasures of Deutschland 83 alongside various representations created in the first episode.

Type up your analysis from the lesson using the headings below. You may want to watch the key scenes again and develop your notes in further detail - the more specific and memorable your analysis, the better it will serve you when writing an essay on TV drama. Here's a Google doc we have worked on in past Media lessons on this topic - feel free to use these notes alongside your own. You'll need to use your Greenford Google login to access this.

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

4.58 – 8.20 and 34.00 – 37.20

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly mise-en-scene: 
• EAST - Handheld OTS/tracking shot - can identify with him watching authentic people. 
• WEST - zoom in on bbq, fire - highlighting difference in luxuries. 360 following Martin - feeling of being under surveillance creates tension on spy mission. Location - wealth, class, sophisticated, contrasts with classlessness of the EAST.
• Representation of East & West Germany / Family / Gender: EAST - house rundown and cramped. Kidney transplant - corrupt, no welfare. Music playing on TV west culture leaks into EAST. Soft power.
• WEST - More ethnic diversity - Black general. Live music opera - sophisticated.

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

14.30 – 20.25

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly mise-en-scene: FBS - isolation and shock
• Costume/colour - vibrant contrast to dull East. Abundance, excess. Intertextual reference to Andy Warhol and post-modernism.
• Audio codes – particularly music: Sweet Dreams - 80s nostalgia. Capitalistic song. 
• Representation of East & West Germany / Communism & Capitalism / Historical accuracy: West more consumer good than the East with food shortages. Policemen and icecream. "What does Anett want?" - gender roles.
• Audience pleasures: Surveillance: reality of CW.
• Repetition and difference - Neil.
• Music - nostalgia

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

20.40 – 22.40

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly camerawork and editing: Fast paced editing - pressure, tension, compressed time scale. Split screen - binary opposition of two sides.
• Audio codes - Music adds pace.
• Voiceover - helps move narrative.
• Audience pleasures - Genre conventions of a spy thriller.
• Intertextuality -  Jump cuts - James Bond conventions.

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

31.13 – 33.30

Make notes under the following headings:

• Technical codes – particularly camerawork and editing: Closeups - worries, anxious expressions makes tension. Shots through window - audience are spying on him.
• Long shot - on his knees, looks vulnerable.
• Audio codes – diegetic and non-diegetic sound- nond: builds tension. d: breathing, pages turning - anxiety. 
• Audience pleasures - Surveillance: Real documents - blurs reality and fiction. Personal relationships - invested in Martin. Action/enigma - Martin about to be caught. Diversion - thrill of tension. Voyeurism - should not be viewed, audience find pleasure in this.

Production and industry contexts

Deutschland 83 was produced by German production company UFA Fiction and distributed internationally by Fremantle International. It was broadcast on RTL (Germany), SundanceTV (US) and Channel 4 (UK) as well as many other broadcasters around the world.

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

 

UFA bundles its activities in the program genres of fiction and serial drama as well as show, factual and documentary under one roof. They have produced OUR MOTHERS, OUR FATHERS and NAKED AMONG WOLVES, event series such as KU'DAMM 56/59/63, DEUTSCHLAND83/86/89 .

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

Fremantle is part of RTL Group, a global leader across broadcast, streaming, content and digital, itself a division of the international media, services, and education company Bertelsmann.   From epic entertainment to beloved game shows, landmark dramas to award winning films, and powerful documentaries to inspirational lifestyle series

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

It is based in Germany, spoken in German and looks at the experience of the German people in that historical time period. 


Walter Presents

 

1) How does Channel 4 introduce 'Walter'?

As being the "best" at everything. 

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

A  mature, cultured and educated audience. 

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

TV is going global and becoming more diverse, by watching shows from all over the world (mostly Europe at least) it increases tolerance and understanding.


Marketing and promotion

Trailer

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

Surveillance, diversion, personal identity.

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

Fast cuts in between scenes. Cutting off the scenes in the middle of action.

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

It travels to the audience quicker and doesn't make the audience feel like there's a language barrier, so they create some familiarity. 


Press pack

Read the Channel 4 press pack interview with writer Anna Winger. (If the link doesn't work, you can find the text from the interview here). 

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

They used the timeline of real events and the real political climate of the time

as a backdrop, and set our fictional characters free in that space. We’re seeing the world through the eyes of our protagonist, so the style of the storytelling and the style of the execution are deliberately heightened.

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

It creates nostalgia and familiarity helping to attract an older audience, ones who can maybe even relate to the time period and/or the events. 



Press release

Read this Channel 4 press release on the success of Deutschland 83. (If the link doesn't work you can find find the text from the article here).

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

Launched 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) w 2.2m. 

2) How does the press release describe Deutschland 83?

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

TV Times

“Great fun, and powered by an irrestible 1983 vintage soundtrack.”

The Daily Telegraph

“Evocative and gripping.”

The Daily Mail

International marketing

Look at these two different marketing campaigns - the UK DVD release (left) and the American Sundance TV advert (right).




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

Spy - the two split sides of the wall. "Under cover"

Historical - the Walkman.

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

Neon, bright colours which are eye catching. 

Missiles - hints to the historical theme and war

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

They want to provide different representations to each country that apply to their views/beliefs/experiences. For example, Germans would think of the cold war differently to Americans, so they would campaign it to accurately depict their views/beliefs/experiences as so to appeal to audiences there. For Germany it's a dark time of history, but for America and it's NATO allies a time of triumph.