Life On Mars TV Analysis

Life on Mars: Episode 1

The opening sequence in episode one cuts between the credits and an extreme close up of the front wheel of a car going at high speed on a main city road in present day Manchester. The colour palette is grey (use of grey filter) which connotes (which applies) bleakness, monotony and technology. The car is also a masculine signifier (representing the character) and is an object characters identify with (the car reflects the characters ego). There is tense music in this future shot. The gray steel is cold, hard, unforgiving and the shot really emphasises on technology on the zoom of the wheel.

The medium close up shot of the terraced houses juxtaposed with the tower block that dominates the mise-en-scene. The tower block connotes crime and to some a hostile environment. The terraced houses connotes community, neighbours, more control and in the shot they represent the past. Life over tower block because its more modern, Mars is over terraced housing which could suggest another dimension. This could mean that the past and the future are so different we associate the past with another dimension. Rule of diagonals on the terraced housing roof which creates a sense of movement and dimension and perspective. Grey clouds over the tower block (modern day weather) and reflective light over terraced housing (representing another dimension again). The grey clouds over the tower block could suggest that the director finds modern day boring and the light over the terraced house is more interesting.

Tyler's associated with suits, smart cars and he is in the middle of it all. Tyler is shown to be very stylish, and modern. Tyler seems to act like a machine, and that he has lost part of himself and has become cold. He has quite robotic feelings, and is dismissive which is proven when he speaks to his girlfriend. It is clear that the couple are having problems, but when she tries to console him he is dismissive. Tyler says to her, 'What use are feelings?' which shows he is cold and robotic and is lost in a materialistic world of technology and smart suits. Tyler's girls clothes are the same colours as the clothes he is wearing and the colours are also associated with police colours and technologies grey cold colours. The office behind Tyler is surrounded by technology and the office is a shade of white, and greys. Tyler is holding a mobile phone, and people are working on computers behind him. He is also holding a plastic cup with water in it from a water machine, which is very modern and also the cup is blue blending in with the clear background.

The low angle tilt shot of police headquarters and Sam Tyler's car indicates the importance of police HQ in the narrative and the importance of Tyler. The dominant grey tone reinforces the contemporary setting which is hard metallic surfaces. The use of the tilt shot represents confusion and disorientation. The police car that is beside his car shows the audience that Tyler is at Police Headquarters.

In the interview room they rely on technology like the tape recorder (which could also resemble something from the past because the 21st century has moved on from tape recorders), the laptop to show the criminal a picture of him who the victims have identified as the attacker. In the interview room everything is either blue or grey. The police are very hard on Colin (the accused) and the social worker tries to stick up for him againist the police. The police are confident that they have found the killer, but then the social worker proves that Colin was with her on the day of one of the murders. This causes Tyler to feel like a failure, and right back to the start of his investigation.

After the interview and after Tyler has acted harshly to his girlfriend they get a call about a crime scene. The crime scene is at a child's park, surrounded by tall grey tower blocks and their are grey clouds behind the tower blocks. The child swing is set against the tower block which brings innocence into the shot but the t-shirt Tyler's girlfriend was wearing is smeared with blood and draped across the child's swing which stains the innocence with dread and murder. Tyler's expression in the shot is guilty because his last words to her were cold, and unloving. They use a tilt shot so the tower block looks taller, and looms over the characters and the swing seems bigger which emphasises the fact that Tyler's girlfriend could be missing or worse, dead.

In the next shot Tyler is driving in his car, and he is in a state because his girlfriend has been kidnapped or murdered and his last words to her were cold and heartless. The camera remains mostly on his face and his expression which is showing emotion. Sam Tyler sheds this robotic personailty for a moment, while he shows emotion over his girlfriend. There is a shot of his ipod which is very modern and 21st century but the song then changes to David Bowie - Life On Mars which brings the 70's (the era he is sent to) into the car and into the scene.

When Sam Tyler enters 1973 the colour palette changes from greys to sepia which is the colour of old photographs. Sepia is a cinematic technical device to connote a different time. Also the 70's was known as the brown period and the sepia effect emphasises on this fact because things in the frame are different shades of brown.

In the shot it shows buildings being knocked down which in 1973 they done a lot of to make room for new motorways, and tower blocks which are evident in Sam Tyler's future. They use a tilt shot and it pans around in a circle to show Sam to be confused and disorientated. The shot is called a zooming pan shot which is the characters point of view. There is a poster Sam spots which is advertising a new motorway, the same motorway Sam was driving along and then got hit on.