House Of Cards

Definitions:

• drama- a play for theatre, radio, or television. an exciting, emotional, or unexpected event or circumstance.
• Media Conventions- Rules or generally accepted ways of constructing form and informing meaning in media products including story principles, form and structure, generic structures, character and story arcs, cause and effect, point of view, the structuring of time, elements of page layout, paper stock for print, titles and credits sequences, hyperlinking and mounting and framing of images.
• Long form TV drama: Long Form Drama is a term coined to describe the recent shift of interest towards television series of high quality that many consider to have replaced the cinema as a locus of serious adult entertainment. Unfolding over multiple episodes, hours, and even years, these TV shows are seen to provide a content, often dark and difficult, and an innovative style that strain against the conventions of cinema as well as network television.
• Genre: A genre is basically the category of any type of art or literature, for example categories of movie would be comedy, horror, thriller etc.
• Genre Hybridity: Some media texts are hybrid genres, which means they share the conventions of more than one genre. For example Dr. Who is a sci-fi action-adventure drama and Strictly Come Dancing is a talent, reality and entertainment show.

Barthes Narrative codes:

Barthe suggested that there will be one or more of the 5 codes that describe the meaning of the text.  They may be:

• ' open ' (i.e. unravelled in a lot of different ways) or

• ' closed ' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on).

Barthes also decided that the threads that you pull on to try and unravel meaning are called narrative codes and that they could be categorised in the following five ways

The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader. The purpose of the author in this is typically to keep the audience guessing, arresting the enigma, until the final scenes when all is revealed and all loose ends are tied off and closure is achieved.

The Proairetic Code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, and which hence gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next.

Action code - applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. 

The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to develop the story's tensions and keep the reader interested. 

The semantic code - any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation

The main characters.

–President elect Garrick Walker,

–Linda Vasquez The President’s Chief of staff, woman, Latino! ”tuff as a 2 dollar cheque”

–Frank Underwood, narrator (t the camera) protagonist/anti-hero House majority whip –“keep the sludge moving.”

–Claire Underwood  (Owner of Charity Clearwater Initiative) – dependant on Frankselectoral success (Sandcorp) 

–Zoe Barnes Journalist at Washington Herald:

–Michael Kern – Recently elected  secretary of state  (frank’s rival)

–Peter Rosso -    drink driver,, solicitation, use of controlled substances.

–Doug – Frank’s sidekick.

Summary:

A car is heard screeching loudly, followed by the short whimper of a dog. Frank Underwood- The narrator and main character- steps out of his house, half-dressed for the New Year's gala. He meets up with his guard Steve, who got a quick look at the car, that quickly drove away. Frank identifies the dog as that belonging to his neighbours, and tells Steve to warn them, while himself takes care of the wailing animal. He kneels down next to it, quietly suffocating the dog while turning to the audience, explaining how the dog is only suffering pain, not through the kind that makes it strong. He is willing to do the unpleasant, but the necessary thing. The direct mode of address from Underwood makes the audience feel included. 

Back inside, Frank and his wife Claire finish getting ready for the gala, to which the scene cuts. Frank turns to the audience again, explaining his less-than-stellar views on newly elected President Garrett Walker, Vice President of the United States Jim Matthews, and White House Chief of Staff Linda Vasquez. It was through Frank's help that they won the election, and now it's their turn to reward him for it. He is currently the House Majority Whip, but is looking for a position much more prestigious than that.

At the Washington Herald, Zoe Barnes intentionally walks up against her editor-in-chief Tom Hammerschmidt to make him remember her, though she is only moderately successful. She makes a case with Lucas Goodwin, another editor, to give her a blog, but he refuses, saying that her ideas wouldn't make for good journalism. He brushes off Zoe's comment about printed journalism dying, and tells her to get back to work, though she is definitely not pleased with this. Zoe is shown to be a ambitious women who is willing to work hard for her chance in the limelight. Although, later it shows that she uses old nfashion techniques in order to do so.

Congressman Peter Russo has a meeting Henry Chapman, a large benefactor of his campaign. He is interrupted by a call from his assistant Christina Gallagher, who uses the time for dirty talk. Peter lies to his guest, saying that it's Garrett Walker calling. Chapman, more impressed than anything else, just asks what Walker is like.

Somewhere in the White House, Frank has a meeting with Vasquez, where she informs him that Walker has to go back on his promise to make Frank the next Secretary of State. He reminds her of all the things he has done for Walker's campaign, but she says they need him more on his current position, and that the President-elect is going to nominate Michael Kern instead.

At the Clean Water Initiative, headed by Claire, she discusses hiring more staff with one of her managers, but Claire's mind is on other matters, because Frank isn't answering or returning her calls. It is revealed this is because he has been avoiding her all day, but is ultimately forced to confront her when he comes home that night. Even though Claire is disappointed that he didn't want to do this together, she does urge her husband to think about what his next step will be after he informed her that Walker pulled the rug out from under him. Later that night, while smoking a cigarette, Frank devises his plan, sets his goal, and thinks up a way to get his revenge. He informs his wife about this plan, that they'll have a lot of sleepless nights. She just smiles, says it doesn't worry her, and takes his cigarette.

The following morning, Frank starts the plot with Doug Stamper, who remarks they're going to take down Kern first. Frank confirms this, saying "that's how you devour a whale, one bite at a time". In the cafeteria, Kern walks by, and he and Frank share a look, which is done in slow motion. Frank simply turns to the camera, saying that he almost pities him.

Peter Russo and his girlfriend are having sex, after which she confronts him about the status of their relationship. It started out as a little office fling, but now, six months in, she wants to take it more seriously. Peter agrees, and tells her that he loves her.

As it turns out, Frank and Claire are at the symphony at the same time Zoe is there with a date. She and Frank happen to cross paths when he is trying to avoid old acquaintances. Back at her house, Zoe flags down her date he's trying to get an invitation up. She receives an email with a photo of Frank check out her behind, to which she start digging around for information on him.

The following morning, Linda and Frank have a meeting to discuss the new education bill. in this scene, Underwood is shown to look at the camera in a look of "really?". This creates a sense of humour in the audience as the dramatic irony of them knowing Franks plan to get revenge is in action. He correctly guesses that Walker wants Donald Blythe to write it, even though both Frank and Linda think he's too left-field. Frank figures out she wants him to guide Blythe to the middle, making a passable bill, and not only that, but Walker also wants to put it on the floor of the House in the first 100 days.

Zoe Barnes shows up at Frank's house, and even though Steve tries to stop her, Frank answers the door. He almost tells her to go away, but then she shows him the photo taken at the symphony. He invites her in, whereupon Zoe reveals a deep cleavage, saying there's no harm in looking. This presents Zoe as seductively getting her way, which is an old fashion technique that presents women as a sexual object. Frank brushes this off, and inquires as to why she's there. She offers him an outlet, a gateway to the media. He has his doubts, but Zoe manages to convince him otherwise. She correctly guesses that the legislative agenda is about an education bill, but Frank remains vague. As she's leaving, Claire pipes up, and shares a cold exchange with Zoe.

Somewhere else in town, Peter Russo is being pulled over for drunk driving, while he has a callgirl in his car. Doug makes a deal with police commissioner Barney Hull to let Peter go in exchange for help to become the next mayor of Washington DC. When he's picked up by Christina, she asks him if he was alone. Even though he replies positively, she doesn't quite believe him.

Frank has a meeting with Donald Blythe, and quickly glances over Blythe's draft, but immediately put it half through the shredder for being too left wing. Even though Frank assures Blythe they're going to work together, as soon as he steps out of the office, he turns to the camera and blatantly says that both Blythe and his new draft are now irrelevant. He next meets with Cathy Durant, and floats the idea of her taking the Secretary of State position, her taking a liking to it, but having her doubts about bringing down Kern.

Meanwhile, in the belly of the Capitol, Doug manages to fish Blythe's half-shredded draft out of the garbage, and Frank gives it to Zoe. He speaks in metaphors, but she understands it. She immediately sets to work writing an article about it without her editor knowing.

Frank has a meeting with Peter Russo, in which he threatens him, making him aware of the fact that it was him who got the charges for driving under the influence dropped. Frank also reveals he knows about charges like solicitation and possession of controlled substances. What he wants to keep that quiet is Peter's absolute loyalty.

Back at the Herald, Zoe goes to Lucas Goodwin with her article on the education, which he runs by Tom Hammerschmidt. He asks Zoe about the angle, and she simply replies "far left of center." Hammerschmidt puts her to work with the chief political correspondent Janine Skorsky, much to her dismay. Zoe remains unfazed though, and they start working on a definitive article.

Garrett Allan Walker is sworn in as the new President, and Frank can't help but turn to the camera, making a snide comment about power being like real estate: the closer to the source, the higher the property value. In his address to the nation, Walker announces his plan to put the education bill on the House floor in the first 100 days of the administration, something which is met with loud applause.

At the Jefferson Ball, Frank exchanges a knowing look with Michael Kern, who remains oblivious to Frank's plan. Frank quickly moves over to disingenuously compliment Donald Blythe on the new draft of his bill, before asking Catherine Durant for a dance. The following morning, Frank goes to Freddy's barbeque joint, and admits to the camera that his one guilty pleasure is a rack of ribs, even early in the morning. He discovers that the leaked education bill made it onto the front page of the Herald, right next to the article about Walker's inauguration. All across DC, people are reading the article Zoe wrote, while the police locates the car that ran down the dog at the start of the episode.

Freddy asks Frank if he wants another portion, and while at first he declines, he changes his mind, upon which turning to the camera; "I'm feeling hungry today."

Quotes:

Frank: "There are two kings of pains: The sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain"

           "welcome to Washington"

Claire: " This is going to be a big year for us"

What is a Thriller? 

► Uses suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements 

► Includes many sub genres: Mystery, Crime, Psychological, Political and Paranoid.

► Atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder. 

► Society is seen as dark corrupt and dangerous 

► Literary devices like plot twist, red herrings, and cliff hangers 

POLITICAL THRILLERS

 A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle. They

usually involve legal plots, designed to give political power to enemy, while protagonist has to try to

stop the enemy. They can involve national or international political scenarios. The common themes 

are: political corruption, terrorism, and warfare. Political thrillers can be based on true facts such as

the assassination of John F Kennedy. In political thrillers there is usually a strong overlap with the

conspiracy thriller. For example in the 2012 film Argo, the protagonist has to rescue the American

hostages from Iran

Steve Neale’s theory of Repetition and Difference:

•Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.

•Neale states that the film and it’s genre is defined by two things:

–How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.

–How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes. The film must subvert convention enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.

Codes and conventions 

A code is a system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning.

In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:

•technical codes – all to do with the way a text is technically constructed – camera angles, framing, typography etc

•verbal codes – everything to do with language -either written or spoken

•symbolic codes – codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational level – all the things which draw upon our experience and understanding of other media texts, our cultural frame of reference.

•codes can create feelings to the audience through effects and techniques, for example rain in a film and a woman looking upset can make the audience feel bad for the woman and be emotional.

Conventions are what you would expect to see in a certain genre, for example: in a fantasy genred film you would expect to see maybe unicorns, demons, hero’s/villians, strange settings, basically things that are fictional and unreal in our world.

The codes and conventions in media can be separated into 3 groups

•Technical (e.g camera angles, movements & shots),

• Symbolic (e.g clothing, colours)

• Written and audio (music etc).

These three distinct groups give the text meaning and determine the response of the viewer.