Life On Mars

·     At the beginning the protagonist Sam Tayler wakes up in 1973 after having a serious accident. 

·     He works in the same police station just many years earlier. 

·     He continues to work there even though he is one rank lower than what he was in 2006.

·     He solves crimes which link to events leading him into this situation.

·     He hears voices discuss his medical conditions and sees images from 2006 on radios and TV’s. 

·     He then helps solve crimes throughout each episode. 

·     Sam focuses on how he will get home further on in the series. 

·     He then finds out that his coma has lasted so long because he had a tumour in his brain. 

·     He believes the tumour embodies hunt and he brings hunt down believing that it will help his body recover. 

·     He then leaps off a roof to return to the 1970’s because he prefers it. He then tries to save the team. 

Sam Tayler gets hit by a car and ends up in a coma. He then wakes up in 1973. He then works under the command on Gene Hunt. 

Opening:

·     The colour palette is greys and blacks. This is usual colour palette in the 70’s. 

·     The shot of his pulling his badge out is iconography as we know he has power and we know what the badge is also the shot of the villain with a mask and a gun, so we know who it is. 

·     The reflection shot of the wing mirror of a car stands out as it links to the car crash and how he has changed time period. 

·     The shot of him walking through doors and them being locked behind him shows he is trapped (possibly in the 1970’s)

·     The tiling layout is quite iconic of the 70’s as it was used a lot during this period of time.

·     The shots of conflict set a basis for what the TV show is going to be like. (Full of action). 

·     The shot of the car pulling up shows its set in the 70’s as it’s a well-known car of the time. 

·     The shot of the detective smoking helps show that is set in the 70’s as offices would usually full of smoke in the 70’s.

·     The use of the voice over gives a brief insight to what has happened. 

·     The shot where the camera pans around the protagonist helps us understand that he is confused and doesn’t understand what has happened to him. 

·     There are two contrasting shots. When Sam and his partner are steering each other out as if they don’t want to work together but then the next shot is them arresting somebody. Which shows how they have bonded over time. 

·     Sam and Gene are binary opposites as they both do they both do the same thing in different time periods but act differently if they are in a different time period. 

·     The classic conventional 70’s action music. 

·     The desaturation of colour suggests masculinity and grittiness. 

·     Credits are in black and white, sans-serif font these are connotations of police font. 

·     Title is in a crosshair like a rifle sight. 

·     The setting suggests a working-class area with the likes of terraced houses and high-rise flats. 

·     A high rate of crime is suggested because of this setting.

·     Binary opposition is created by sitting the cop on the other side of the table to the suspect/criminal. 

·     Sam’s comment “not awash with ambiguity” establishes his intelligence and articulacy. 

·     The tiling also suggests prison/ someone is trapped. Is Sam trapped? 

·     Other iconography such as photographs of victims and evidence bags are icons of the genre. 

The Office:

·     The iconography of watercooler and the mobile phone. 

·     In the office, Sam is focused on his computer monitor. This is a man who relies on and trusts technology. He focuses on the forensic evidence and is data driven.

·     The personal/ profession binary opposition which drives so many crime narratives is evident here.

·     When Maya reveals she is tailing Raimes(convention) Sam uses police jargon “back up” and the location creates a cause and effect link with 1973. 

·     The CU on Tyler creates a scene of empathy and the audience realise he is emotionally involved. 

·     Maya’s white shirt (connotes innocence) is stained with blood- danger and is foregrounded within the frame to emphasise its importance. 

The First Scene Establishes:

·     The contemporary setting.

·     Sam Tyler’s personality and attitudes.

·     Genre 

·     Contemporary ideologies

·     Narrative causality

The Accident:

·     Tyler’s is revealed by the CU in the car because of his tears. He hits wheel and mouths expletives, revealing his vulnerability and enabling the audience to empathise with him once more.

·     Diegetic sound resumes abruptly and shockingly with the squeal of breaks as he just misses the car. The cu on the iPod reveals the low battery foreshadowing his own life.

·     The bowie track life on mars suggests he has travelled away somewhere heaven? Hell? We find out he travels back in town.

·     As he leans over the car the camera is at floor level and the canted angles create a sense of distortion. 

·     A heartbeat can be heard, and the flash helps show he is awakening. 

·      He wakes up with different clothes that clearly show he has woken up in the 70’s.

·     Their conversation is a series of non sequiturs- the Cherokee jeep, a military vehicle.