textual analyis of Empire Tv Drama

Textual Analysis Of Empire TV Drama

Empire is a TV drama which consists of very different story lines so therefore the camera has to use certain camera angles ,sizes and movements to make the TV drama as believable as possible and to make the viewer be engaged with the storyline, for example I’m looking at season 3 episode 1 a 5 minute section where they used establishing shots ,so when they are showing places and locations where the characters grow up for example they showed an establishing shot of the city this gives an overview and a clear idea of what they are trying to portray so how the Lyon family started off small and made it out it big  ,this is also shown when the camera uses Mise-en-scene , so there was a close up of the Lyon statue (prop) this could symbolize that the Lyon family are inferior to everybody else , that’s why the camera shot it from a lower angle to show the Lyons are above everyone else.

• Characters
• Cookie Lyon
• Andrew Lyon
• luscious Lyon
• Hakeem Lyon
• Anita Power
• Jamal Lyon

Even before the episode began, they used fast pace shots of what has previously happened, this builds up the intensity because it’s getting the viewer ready for what’s about to happen next. The sound used in Empire is non diegetic because it’s not played on camera it is played off camera, its added in the editing stage, the sound in empire is used in the background but you can still hear the dialogue that is used, the non-diegetic sound in this episode was used to build up the intensity of the storyline, you had a band playing and it gradually got faster each time this was to increase the drama happening.

In empire there is a lot of fast pace movement so therefore, there hand held, tracking and panning shots so this is where the editing happens so when Anita pushed a women off a balcony the use of slow motion is imbedded, this is therefore an effect used to make it seems as though time has slowed down, this makes the viewer prepare themselves for worst possible scenario which is death. In empire shot reverse shot is used this is to show a conversation happening between two or more characters, the camera is capturing each person’s emotion and facial expressions.

In the 5 minute bit I watched it had various cuts so there was a sudden change it was unexpected for the viewer, it was from one point of view to the other, this creates a shift of focus so it builds up the idea/image which keeps the viewer interested, but it also keeps the viewer guessing it builds up the storyline because it cuts every 7-8seconds.

There is so much the camera captivates but even the tiniest of details are captured on the TV drama empire, the camera can even focuses on the single drops of sweat hanging off the edges of the character Anita face when she gave birth, this is called an extreme close up which focuses on a certain product or feature for a certain purpose.

Overall Empire is a well-known TV drama it has been on for 3 seasons now because of the good camera incorporated into making this TV drama, the camera shows a lot of versatility which then doesn’t make the TV drama boring they have added establishing shots etc. all these techniques used are to attract the viewer to make them want to watch more.