Broadchurch Notes

For one of my textual analysis' I decided to watch an episode of Broadchurch to develop a wider understanding of the crime drama genre. The way in which i like to take notes is firstly looking at what is denoted, and secondly what can be connoted and inferred from these scenes. The notes are quite vague but it shows what i thought was most important of each scene - it can also act like a short script and structure of the episode. Here are the initial notes I made when watching Broadchurch S01E01:

- Waves, city streets, police
- Lowkey lighting, tension in music, night time
- Zooms in closer, starting from the waves to 'Danny's Room'
> Emphasised in the shot

- Introduced to a boy on the top of a cliff, looking down, dripping with blood from his fingertips
> Introduced to the crime, builds questions in audiences minds

- Introduction to Dad, neighbourhood
- Equilibrium: Waking up, family life, breakfast, arguing,
friendly neighbourhood, talking to families, priest, family talk, weather talk
- Long tracking shot (following), over the shoulder, medium shot

- Medium shot of police station
- Introduction to detective (Ellie: DI) - congratulations, welcome back, friendly, good relationships
- Very blue, costumes: suits
- "Given the job to someone else" - detectives having problems

- Introduction to detective: medium shot, facing over sea
- Barbed wire - connotations of danger

- Detective sitting on toilet on the phone
> Suggest clumsiness, humanness, upset
- Shouts "I'm in here"

- Arguments between mother and daughter
- Mum calls Danny, paper round, Mark
- Traffic, annoyance
- "Police at the beach, might have found body"
- Sirens, slow motion, running, realisations

- Equilibrium: People on the beach, confused, curious
- Disruption: Police taping off area
- Long shot, P.O.V of detective of him coming closer to the body
- Overwhelming, close up, sound of waves crashing

- "Be professional you're working a case now"
- "I know that boy", "I know you got my job"
> First interactions, dislike, arguments, differences
- "My boy Tom" > A connection
- "A suicide spot", " He wouldn't do that", "He's not that type of kid"

- Running, slow-motion, looking around, heavy breathing, screaming, fighting
- Medium shot of police tape against the equilibrium of the beach

- Two new characters: Ollie - Journalist, Boss
- Working environment, everyday life
- Rejection email from the Daily Mail - problems

- Seagulls, establishing shot of beach and cliff (bird eye view)
- Iconography: Detectives in suits, police vans/ cars, police tape, forensics in white suits/ crime scene suits
- "See, not Danny"
- "Someone tried to make it look like an accident"

- Oliver, journalist
- Women in foreground watching interaction and sipping her tea

- Over the shoulder, argument in car
- "You tell me"

- Mum watching out of the window anxiously
- Fiddling with hands, biting nails
- Grandma and sister waiting on couch
- Mum sniffing and breathing
- Sister looking and others faces
- "We believe it's Danny's body" softly
- "Was it him?"
- Tears in detectives eyes, answering their assumptions
> Families start crying harder, holding hands
- Detective is also sad / other is staring
- Long shot of room where family are holding each other and sobbing
- Music (non-diegetic): violin - long and continuous, eerie note, piano - soft, sad, one or two notes

- Water wash

- Detective starts questioning, whilst the other carries tea into the room for the family
- "He wouldn't kill himself"

- Music, shots of Danny's room
- Detectives p.o.v: Messy, clothes everywhere, toys, photos, trophies
> So human and childlike
> Contrast against close up of white (detectives) glove

- Children playing football on the field outside - over the shoulder of the detective
- Mum watching in doorway

- Detective and Dad enters through door, white/ pink room
- Jail bars across them (iconography)
- The Dad has slow steps
- Looks sadly down at the body
- "All this way i thought it wouldn't be him", "My Danny", "My little boy Danny"
> Denial
- Wiping tears away from eyes
- "I'm so so sorry"

- Longshot of police station, ambient sound of birds
- "If so, how?", "CCTV". "Abducted" - typical of crime drama
- Talking notes, whiteboard
- " Remains confidential, no gossip"

- Walking down pier, eating ice-cream
- "[I'm] The best man for the job " - thinks highly of himself, or little of the other detectives

- Tracking shot of detectives walking along pier
- Female detective is asking questions, male is calm but stern > hands in pockets
- "Do you mind not calling me Miller" (surname) "I prefer Ellie"

- Wide shot 'Newsagents'
- Questions and answers - short answers
> Makes audience question and become curious about the character

- Static, bright (somewhat bright) white hospital - walls, bed, sheets
- Doctor explaining details of the body
> Creates imagery for audience without showing them like other crime dramas
> Builds lots of question for audiences

- Pan from left to right of house, inside house pan left to right
- Sister lying on bed, mum's head against wall, dad's head drooped down
- End of pan lingering on the police taping in a cross shape blocking the entrance to Danny's room
- Still, slow

- Medium, two-shot of detectives
- Ellie's arms crossed
- "We are treating Danny's death as suspicious", "We think he may have been killed"
- Close up of grandma, mum and dad
- "I promise we will find the person responsible", "You have my word"

- Establishing field shot, long shot
- Sister and boyfriend (introduction to boyfriend) - suspicions
- "It doesn't feel real"
- "Do they know about us?"
- Ride off on motorbike

- Medium shot, two shot of detectives in car
- "Do you think other kids are in danger?"
> Leads to questions and suspicions of serial killing / everyone is scared and worried

- People on beach contrasted to police tape, white police suits, white tents covering evidence
- Emotion felt through sister placing teddy down at scene, finding it difficult
- Journalist calling detective
> Audience feeling hatred and annoyance towards journalist for interfering
- Close up of phone screen/ tweet about the body being Danny's

- Office setting
- Slow motion, white suits
- Arguments
- Detective storming into office (over the shoulder), "For god sake"
- "Go away", arguments and frustration
- Police having to make a statement

- Long shot, establishing shot: The Traders Hotel
- Detective and press/ journalist interaction

- Long shots of Mum and detective on beach
> Returns to familiar, same places

- Detective comes home, family life: child, husband
- Detective hugging husband, crying
- "I don't think I can do this"

- "I keep thinking he's going to walk back in"
- Dad and Mum are still
- Sun shining through window, still
- "Where were you last night", "I told you I was on a job"
- Shot of barbed wire

- Medium shot, detective and son
- Detective crying, voice breaking
> Vulnerability

- Son deleting message to/from Danny
> Raise suspicions and questions as to what he's hiding
- Logs onto computer and deletes more files
> Suspicious

- People leaving flower on the beach
- Female journalist calling journalist
> Who is she? What are their relationship?
- She takes the bear and puts it in her bag
> Why? - Lots of questions
- "He snuck out", "He wasn't abducted", " Where is he going? Why?", "Who is he meeting?", "Where is his skateboard?"
> As the detective speaks and asks questions it raises questions in the audiences minds to think about, come back to later
- No mobile phone on body
> If his friend deleted the messages and now they can't find Danny's phone it suggests there's something going on which can be seen through those messages

- Press conference
- Family, newsagents, priest, detective, dad and son watching
- "We will catch whoever did this"
> Bold statement, audiences wants more, there are so many questions