Series 3, Episode 10
The scene when Ahmed holds Fiona and Danny hostage and
phones Fiona’s husband, Adam, to force him to decide which of the two will be murdered. Danny provokes Ahmed into killing him.
Ahmed is represented in a negative way, Fiona and Danny positively. How are those binary opposites conveyed to audiences?
Binary opposites conveyed are between good and evil characters. Adam, Danny and Fiona are the good characters, where Danny is a hero for provoking Ahmed into killing him – Adam doesn’t have to choose. Ahmed the terrorist is the bad character.
Fiona: She is tied up and is very weak; crying, bleeding, sweating, pleading, face is covered in
tears. Posture is slouched with her head looking down – shows her fear and sense of vulnerability. Begging with Danny to stop provoking Ahmed, but trying to stay strong by telling Adam that “you don’t have to say anything, don’t listen to this psychopath.” She tells Adam that she loves him – fear that she will die, she knows what's important in life, and she values other people – her husband and her son especially.
Danny: Danny is really brave and strong. His courage means that he stands up to this terrorist and challenges him but with disastrous consequences. It’s a fight between him and the terrorists
– extreme good against extreme bad. He has high morals and this is shown in how he fights the terrorist verbally, fully aware of what the man is capable of. It is such a terrible situation to be in but he remains extremely controlled, seemingly fearless – trying to stay strong for Fiona – and plays the role of a hero. His comments and brave rebellion against the terrorist causes the audience to admire him as a character and this admiration heightens the impact and sympathy that we feel for him when he is killed.
Ahmed: Shown to be a heartless character with no feelings for others and punishing innocent people. Shows no emotion, face is expressionless, he is not moved by Fiona’s despair.
Cocks the gun – ruthless – isn’t scared to shoot – has no feelings.
He believes asking someone to choose between their wife or colleague to be killed is a simple decision - his expression remains cold and compassionless when he simply says “choose”.
Contrast to Fiona and Danny – Ahmed is standing up straight with
his head held high and his arm is out straight, pointing the gun at Fiona’s head – he shows no fear because he is in control.
Hand is shaking whilst holding gun, shows a glimmer of hope, audience for a second don’t believe he will shoot Danny, he is being made weaker by Danny’s comments, expression after Danny says “it might be you sitting where I am…”etc. he shows weakness in his expression. Removes the gun from Fiona’s head – seems weakened momentarily, for a moment the audience feel’s like Ahmed will give in and is moved by what Danny says, but in fact he does the complete opposite and shoots Danny, killing him – this is how he releases his anger. This heightens the negative view that we already have on him as despite Danny’s talk on morals and humanity, Danny – “you have lost your humanity and now have no kindness or pity left in you,” he shows he doesn’t care and never intended to let them go. He says “and you know what my answer would be,” so plainly before killing Danny – shows no pity.
He makes Fiona turn and look at her dead colleague – shows no remorse.
What roles do camerawork and editing play in underlining those representations?
The scene when Ahmed holds Fiona and Danny hostage and
phones Fiona’s husband, Adam, to force him to decide which of the two will be murdered. Danny provokes Ahmed into killing him.Ahmed is represented in a negative way, Fiona and Danny positively. How are those binary opposites conveyed to audiences?
Binary opposites conveyed are between good and evil characters. Adam, Danny and Fiona are the good characters, where Danny is a hero for provoking Ahmed into killing him – Adam doesn’t have to choose. Ahmed the terrorist is the bad character.
Fiona: She is tied up and is very weak; crying, bleeding, sweating, pleading, face is covered in
tears. Posture is slouched with her head looking down – shows her fear and sense of vulnerability. Begging with Danny to stop provoking Ahmed, but trying to stay strong by telling Adam that “you don’t have to say anything, don’t listen to this psychopath.” She tells Adam that she loves him – fear that she will die, she knows what's important in life, and she values other people – her husband and her son especially.Danny: Danny is really brave and strong. His courage means that he stands up to this terrorist and challenges him but with disastrous consequences. It’s a fight between him and the terrorists
– extreme good against extreme bad. He has high morals and this is shown in how he fights the terrorist verbally, fully aware of what the man is capable of. It is such a terrible situation to be in but he remains extremely controlled, seemingly fearless – trying to stay strong for Fiona – and plays the role of a hero. His comments and brave rebellion against the terrorist causes the audience to admire him as a character and this admiration heightens the impact and sympathy that we feel for him when he is killed.Ahmed: Shown to be a heartless character with no feelings for others and punishing innocent people. Shows no emotion, face is expressionless, he is not moved by Fiona’s despair.
Cocks the gun – ruthless – isn’t scared to shoot – has no feelings.
He believes asking someone to choose between their wife or colleague to be killed is a simple decision - his expression remains cold and compassionless when he simply says “choose”.
Contrast to Fiona and Danny – Ahmed is standing up straight with
his head held high and his arm is out straight, pointing the gun at Fiona’s head – he shows no fear because he is in control.Hand is shaking whilst holding gun, shows a glimmer of hope, audience for a second don’t believe he will shoot Danny, he is being made weaker by Danny’s comments, expression after Danny says “it might be you sitting where I am…”etc. he shows weakness in his expression. Removes the gun from Fiona’s head – seems weakened momentarily, for a moment the audience feel’s like Ahmed will give in and is moved by what Danny says, but in fact he does the complete opposite and shoots Danny, killing him – this is how he releases his anger. This heightens the negative view that we already have on him as despite Danny’s talk on morals and humanity, Danny – “you have lost your humanity and now have no kindness or pity left in you,” he shows he doesn’t care and never intended to let them go. He says “and you know what my answer would be,” so plainly before killing Danny – shows no pity.
He makes Fiona turn and look at her dead colleague – shows no remorse.
What roles do camerawork and editing play in underlining those representations?
The use of many extreme close-ups of Fiona and close-ups of Danny make the audience feel sorry for them and expresses their vulnerability and defencelessness. The use of these distances allows us to feel closer to them and therefore the shots such as the ECU’s of Fiona crying and breaking down has a huge impact on the audience, we can clearly see that she is in despair and this heightens the trauma of the experience. This causes the audience to feel sympathetic for her and therefore we see her as the good character. The CU’s of Danny allows us understand his bravery and we can see this through his expressions of defiance. The audience admire him for standing up to Ahmed despite it being a frightening situation and we are constantly reminded of this through the use of framing which allows us to see the gun against Fiona’s head behind Danny. The use of slightly low angles of Ahmed makes him appear to be in more control as he stands over Danny and Fiona. The shot types make us feel distanced from Ahmed, but he is still shown to be very dominant and threatening. The camera is continuously moving; therefore it adds to the realism and makes the audience feel part of the scene, either as themselves or through the eyes of someone else who is present.
The use of slow paced editing builds the suspense and tension. It enables the audience to concentrate on what is happening and doesn’t deter their attention from the scene. Also, it means we can focus on the expressions of the characters and their reactions, to get a clearer understanding of how they feel.
The use of slow paced editing builds the suspense and tension. It enables the audience to concentrate on what is happening and doesn’t deter their attention from the scene. Also, it means we can focus on the expressions of the characters and their reactions, to get a clearer understanding of how they feel.
What techniques are used to engage the audience emotionally?
The use of a lot of close-ups really allows the audience to have sympathy for the two hostages, Fiona and Danny. We are drawn into the action and feel closer to them, making the scene more intense. The camera movement also makes us more emotionally involved as we feel as though we are there, experiencing this with them.
What view of terrorism emerges from these scenes?
Terrorists are shown to be hard-hearted and unsympathetic in these scenes, targeting innocent people. This extremely negative view implies to the audience that terrorists are a threat to anyone and everyone is at risk. Danny’s speech highlights the view that they “will never win” and the fact that it is down to chance of where you are born shows that it is the person’s fault themselves for making that decision to become a terrorist, and therefore have lost their humanity and don’t have compassion, kindness or pity left in them.
What do you understand by Arab, Islamic, Muslim and Middle-Eastern?
An Arab or a person from a Middle-Eastern background generally tends to be a Muslim. A Muslim and Islamic refer to the religion of Islam, as it is these people who follow it.
What are the same categories for describing British people?
British people are often described as English, Scottish or Welsh, depending on what part of Britain they are from. Since Britain is very ethnically diverse, it isn’t really possible to categorise people by their religion.
What do you know about Al Qaeda?
What do you know about Al Qaeda?
Al Qaeda is a multinational alliance of Islamist terrorist groups engaged in a universal relentless campaign against Western countries and their influence. They are responsible for many cases of suicide bombings, including the 9/11 in the United States and the London 7/7 bombings.
Look at the representation of Ahmed and Khatera. How far does the drama position audiences to equate ‘Muslim’ with terrorism?
This episode of Spooks does not mention religion. It also makes clear that Ahmed and Khatera are getting revenge for the deaths of their relatives in Iraq. This topic of Muslim terrorists is very controversial and Spooks must not be seen as promoting Islamic extremism, or being racist by labelling all Muslims as terrorists.
Think of the other characters from British ethnic minorities in the drama. What is their significance?
Look at the representation of Ahmed and Khatera. How far does the drama position audiences to equate ‘Muslim’ with terrorism?
This episode of Spooks does not mention religion. It also makes clear that Ahmed and Khatera are getting revenge for the deaths of their relatives in Iraq. This topic of Muslim terrorists is very controversial and Spooks must not be seen as promoting Islamic extremism, or being racist by labelling all Muslims as terrorists.
Think of the other characters from British ethnic minorities in the drama. What is their significance?
Other characters from British ethnic minorities in Spooks include the Asian MI5 agent; Zafar Younis. This character is significant as it shows that Spooks are not suggesting that people from the Middle East are all terrorists, which would portray a very negative, racist and incorrect idea to the audience. He is represented in a good way, ensuring that he is shown to hold completely different ideologies to the terrorists. Also one of the most prominent characters in this episode of Spooks; Danny is black. This means that they are representing multi cultural Britain and do not show all the ‘good’ characters to be white.
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