Capital: Case study blog tasks

 Capital: Case study blog task:

Reviews and features

Read the following review and feature on Capital:

Guardian review by Sam Wollaston
London Evening Standard: five things you need to know about Capital

1) What positive points does the review pick out about Capital? What criticisms are made - either of the TV drama or the original novel?

`There are stories to tell' and the characters are complicated and are not all terrible like Arabella 'But even she has an ember of humanity and is touched by the generosity of Ahmed with coriander on her first-ever visit to her local shop.'

2) What references can you find in the reviews and feature to the idea Capital is a 'state-of-the-nation' drama? How does it capture modern-day London?

`We have pretty much that exact shop.' 

Trailer analysis

Watch the trailer for Capital:



1) How does the drama use camerawork to capture London life?

They had lots of shots shwoing bulding and drone shot whcih was quite caotic and to show the caios and finacial state of Lodon.

2) How does the trailer introduce the different narrative strands suggesting tension or enigma in the 40-second running time?

The fear when recieving the post cards and the financial crisis.

Capital in Media Magazine

Issue 83 of Media Magazine has a feature exploring Capital as a media product. Read ‘We Want What You Have’ in MM83  (p10). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest about the 'state of the nation' genre and how Capital is an example of this?

Capital (BBC 2015), is based on a ‘state- of-the-nation’ novel of the same name by John Lanchester. 

2) What does the article suggest regarding the setting of Capital?

The busy London which is also caotic and stressfull.

3) What are the major themes in Capital and what does the article suggest regarding the impact of money on communities?

The movie presents immagrants and the struggle of their lives,and how the community treats them also showing the finacial crisis London was going through.

4) What different representations in Capital are discussed in the article?

How roger dont appreciat as much as the hard workers as they are blinded of the crisis.

5) What does the final section of the article suggest regarding genre and overall message of the drama?  

Its a state of nation drama,and a bit of a thrill with the envolopes.

Capital Media Factsheet

Use our Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) or on Google Drive here (you'll need your Greenford Google login) to find Media Factsheet #194 on Capital (BBC TV Drama). 

Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) What does the factsheet say about the characters on the first page?

Most of the characters hav different cultures and live a different lfestyle.

2) Focusing on the industrial contexts, how does Capital help the BBC meet its obligations as a public service broadcaster?

Different ethnic groups.

5) How does the factsheet suggest Capital meets the genre conventions of crime and social realism?

Social realsims as the characters have different cultures ut they both meet at the end.

6) How does the factsheet analyse the DVD packaging and what this communicates to the audience?

It has the main casts on the cover showing diversity and has london on the border to show its about british culture.

7) Look at page 5 of the factsheet. Choose one of the audience theories in the table and apply it to Capital.

8) What does the factsheet suggest regarding binary oppositions in Capital?  

How there are multiple narratives.

Representations: close-textual analysis

Capital offers a range of fascinating representations - from London and asylum seekers to capitalism and inequality. You need to be able to confidently discuss these issues in the context of 2015 London - with reference to key scenes from episode 1. Representations include: London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, capitalism, aging and more.

These notes from a lesson analysing these clips will help with this element of the case study. You'll need your Greenford Google login to access the document.

1) Write an analysis of the representations in each of the key scenes from episode 1 we studied in the lesson:

Scene 1: opening sequence 00:30 – 4.49

• Prices of houses risen rapidly.
• immigration
• Kamal family are shown to be close with theknit family

Scene 2: work in the City 6.28 – 8.10

• Shows buildings of london,busy 
• drone shots of the city
• meeting with white men

Scene 3: “Which of those isn’t absolutely essential?” 14.00 – 15.35

• rogers family think of money as light

Scene 4: asylum 18.03 – 19.42 AND 31.10 – 32.40

• quentina is shown as she works illegally 

Scene 5: “What use is 30 grand?” 36.40 – 39.00 

• privelagge and spoilt

Scene 6: life at the corner shop 40.10 – 42.55

• areableella and the disconnection she has with the community.

You can choose which aspects to focus on for each scene: e.g. London, family, gender, ethnicity, religion, immigration, asylum, inequality, wealth, aging etc. Feel free to use bullet points for each scene - a summary of your notes is fine.

2) How does Capital use stereotypes? Do the characters and issues represented in Capital reinforce or subvert the stereotypes we typically see in the media?

Roger is prensted as spoilt and is ungrateful also he and is family dont know what goes around and they are lost.

Industries and production context

Capital was produced by independent production company Kudos for the BBC. Look at the Kudos website and also read the Kudos Wikipedia page.

1) Who is the parent company for Kudos? What changes of ownership have there been for Kudos? This is an example of conglomerate ownership.

Banijay UK

2) Watch the showreel on the Kudos website. What other TV dramas have Kudos produced and for which channels? What awards have they won?

GUnpower(2017)