Midsomer Murders Case Study

Camera Shots, Camera Movement, Editing, Sound, Movement, Composition and use of Mise-En-Scene

Midsomer Murders is a British detective drama, targeted at an older demographic, this is evident through the dialogue exchanged by the actors being so prominent and the people shown on camera being typically of an older age demonstrating a clear level of maturity. This is also illustrated due to the show having a grainy feel in terms of its resolution and composition. This drama differs from reality purely for entertainment purposes due to the relationships between the characters being more friendly rather than professional, which is also shown through there being continuous non-diegetic sound helping  to build mystery, positioning the audience to expect something to happen allowing it to follow through to be mainstream. The point of the show is to keep the audience in the shadows of the entire picture and reveal clues throughout to build suspense and unraveling truths slowly through the police detection.

Although the camera work gasps a sense of realism due to multiple camera technology not being evident in this drama, allowing us to undertand the more personal approach to the dilemmas. Shot reverse shot is constantly used to emphasize the friendly relationship between the characters, as the police officers are represented more like friends rather than a professional force, this is also illustrated through the uniform and body language of the main characters have a laid back approach and gossip other than take statements. There are point of view shots although the narrator isn’t truly identified which conforms to the typical behavior of detective dramas. There is also use of slow panning around to show the reactions of all characters to possibly divert some sort of clues from the characters body language which unravels aspects of the crimes. This places all possible suspects in a shot positioning the spectators to judge the situation. With the use of close ups and medium shots the characters emotions are clearly shown through these shots with no dialogue needed.

The mis-en-scene of the detectives costume reflects their working class, but juxtaposes with there profession as they are laid back and friendly towards the anti authority approach to policing.