REPRESENTATIONAL CODES

MARCO POLO S01E01

GENDER ROLES

This series is based in the 13 Century, so it was common for men to be doing the majority of important work, and this is seen throughout the first episode for example in any important governmental meeting the only people of importance, giving strategic advice, or involving themselves in important conversations are the men.Whereas the women are just there observing not giving input. Another key example of this is Niccolò Polo wife is left behind as he travels, it was very common in that day, that the man would do his job, even if it included traveling, and the woman would be expected to stay home and tend to the needs of the house.    

AUTHORITY

In china there was a lot of respect for authority, wether for Kublai Khan or for the other Chinese emperor, which was stereotypical of that age where one leader would have such a strong rule over particular empires/dynasties. Through out the film the viewer gets a strong sense of the hierarchy of authority in China.

SOCIAL PRESSURES & EXPECTATIONS

There was a social pressure and expectation at that time for Marco Polo to be an merchant like his father, Niccolò Polo, because in that time it was common for son to take up their fathers profession.

ETIQUETTE & VALUES 

In Kublai Khan palace people must follow a set of etiquettes such as bowing at his feet a certain amount of times, not turning your back to him, not speaking out of line etc. And there is a juxtaposition of etiquettes, because Marco Polo is European and he is in an Asian culture there is a strong contrast of the Western and Eastern sets of etiquettes and values.

LIFESTYLE & LIVING CONDITIONS

There is a strong contrast shown with the lifestyle in the peasants on the streets, and how people live in Kublai Khans Palace. There is also a strong contrast between living conditions in Venice and in China. As Venice is very romantic and beautiful and China has a strong traditional look to it. And overall the living conditions of people who are not royalty are below average.

FREEDOM 

Under the governmental rule of the mongols there is little freedom in China for many villages, and civilians under the power of Khan and his soldiers. This is clearly shown in the very first scene of the episode with a village than has been entirely wiped out by Khans men. There is also a contrast between the Eastern and Western definition of freedom, Kublai Khan says to Marco Polo "I'm giving you freedom" but he's is not allowed to leave, and he is told what to do on an almost hourly basis, so this emphasises the lack of true freedom under Khans rule.

RACIAL & RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES 

Marco Polo is segregated, he is known as the foreigner and treated differently because of his race. There is a strong feeling of unwelcomeness towards Marco Polo due to his race. And there are many religious differences such as Kublai Khan forces everyone to bow to him no matter their religion (e.g. a priest)

TECHNOLOGY

Since this series is set in the 13th Century there is a big technological difference between then and current day. This had and effect on there living conditions, and many other aspects of day to day life, such as simple things like electrical lights did not exist so candles had to be used, to more serious matters like when Niccolò Polo went on a long journey he came home to find out he had a 17 year old son and his wife had been dead for over a decade, and this was all due to a lack of technology not allowing communication internationally. Also a lack of technology meant that they were travelling over dangerous waters in boats that were very dangerous and life threatening. 

MISE EN SCENE 
Costumes: Depending on what the characters may be doing, or the scene they are in dictates the clothing/costumes they wear. For example in the opening scene when they are walking in to an abandon village they are wearing clothes commonly associated with eastern travellers in that era, allowing the reader to immediately draw the conclusion that this group of people have been traveling. Also costumes separate the poor, the travellers, the warriors and the wealthy.

Props: In the opening scene there are many graphically dead bodies, this is not for the soul purpose of making the show more graphic and violent but to represent to the viewer how violent, brutal and relentless song dynasty and to show the viewer that they are feared.

Lighting: There is low light setting quite a somber and depressing mood. There is also very little colour in scenes in China  There is a strong bright light on the leader Kublai Khan when he is sitting on his throne, this may represent the authority that he hold within his dynasty yet when Khan sits back his face is in complete darkness, showing he is very mysterious. When there is a flash back to when Marco Polo lived in Venice there is use of bright lighting, and a vivid use of colours to give a positive and less oppressive feel.

Setting/scene: In the opening scenes there is the destroyed village and mass amounts of smoke surrounding the village which reinforces the point of how feared and powerful the Kubali Khan and his men are, and the smoke gives and extent to widespread attack was.

All mise en scene has a main purpose, especially in a show like this which is set hundreds of years ago and that is to increase the verisimilitude for the viewer so it is more incapsulating and believable. 

SOUND
Diegetic: There is a strong use of diegetic sound when Marco and Niccolò Polo are escorted into the presence of Kublai Khan and when they encounter all those beggars and people trying to sell goods on the street. Another Situation with a strong use of diegetic sound is in Venice (e.g. vendors talking and the bustling/movement of the people by the docks) to show how busy it is. The diegetic sound in the Chinese streets and at the Venetian docks are very different though. In China there is a lot of screaming, yelling, and different imposing and unpleasant sounds. Whereas the coastal diegetic sounds of Venice are very much background talking showing the viewers how much more peaceful Venice was.

Non-Diegetic: In the music there is a lot of traditional Chinese to match the era. This helps to build the scene and easily separates when the setting changes between Venice and China.

EDITING & CAMERA
In sequences where there is few people, and of those few people they are all allies (like when Marco & Niccolò polo are traveling, or when they looking at the destroyed village) there is slightly longer shots and a good flow to the shots giving a feeling of calmness to the reader, but when there is a lot of unknown people whether unknown, or enemy the cutting is a lot more harsh and disjointed. This gives the reader the feeling of being overwhelmed and confused, quite similar to how Marco Polo must have felt at the time.

BLOG ASSIGNMENT: Opening Sequences

What is the purpose of opening credits?
Opening credits aim to inform the audience of the main of the members of the production, it usually includes the key creative roles such as the name of the studio, production company, main members of the cast, music scoring, etc. The opening credits usually have a similar order of mentioning across different films.


What is the difference between opening credits and a title sequence?
Opening credits are usually nothing more than informational text superimposed in post production, where as the title sequence is how the film chooses to present their title. The title sequence is stereotypically what separates the main action from the opening credits. The two included examples are some famous and iconic title sequences.

Vertigo (1985)

Anatomy of Murder (1959)

What techniques can be in an opening scene?
Opening scenes employ a variety of different techniques and methods. In terms of camera shots often there will be establishing shots that allow the viewer to draw their conclusion of the setting and time/era. Media with opening scenes such as these will often include camera shots like extreme long/wide shots, shots of the scenery or landscape and can include other techniques like time-lapse, birds eye view shots, PoV and many more.  But the convention of starting with an establishing shot is not the only way of starting a film. They may start the with the opposite of a establishing shot, an extreme close up, this also sets the scene but in a very different way, it uses mis en scene to imply to the viewer what the setting is. A good example of this is To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), where the close ups of a toy box, crayons and pencils show the viewer that the film is set in a some sort of children's area, the reason this technique is usually used is to leave the viewer with a sense of mystery. Other film starlings include stating with intense action to draw in the viewer, and allows them to get a grip of the setting slightly later in the opening scene, such as the film The Hurt Locker (2008). These more abstract beginnings to films don't give much idea of setting because it is not their main purpose they usually have the purpose of intriguing the viewer and giving a sense of genre, mood and tone of the film.

In terms of sound there is usually a variety of diegetic sounds (e.g. voices, moving cars, animal sound, etc) depending of the setting but in more abstract opening there can be silence, muffling, heavy breathing and all sorts of different sound effects that evoke certain felling amongst the viewers like fear of suspense. The non-diegetic sound in opening scenes is usually typical of the genre of the movie. Editing in opening scenes will vary from movie to movie, some will start with very fast cuts, but other movies feature very long cuts for example the movie Gravity (2013) has a first cut that last 17 minutes. There can be harsh cuts, fades to white, black or simply to the next image and all these different cut types and length are used to particular purpose within the film.

In terms of Plot, a opening scene is usually at the beginning of the storyline, but it doesn't have to be, an opening scene may start in media res, where the movie starts in the middle of the plot such as Iron Man (2008). This technique is used to get the reader on the edge of their seat. Also a movie can show the end of the plot in the opening scenes and then reveal how they got to that point such as the movie John Wick (2014).