Ashes to Ashes Re-Creative Task

Our Re-Creation of Ashes to Ashes

The real life scene from Ashes to Ashes



a) In the popular TV drama, Ashes to Ashes, main character 'Gene Hunt' is portrayed as the head of the force and the protagonist throughout this entire scene. In this sense, it is noticeable that when Hunt is showcased using a 'low angle' shot, this illustrates to the audience that he is of a high authority and has characteristics of significance and importance which are key features of his personality. The camera shot creates an immediate idea that Hunt is being represented as a 'God' like figure, someone who is above everyone else in his force. It questions the audience about whether he acts as the 'Judge, Jury and Executioner.'

When watching this scene, our perception of Gene Hunt changes all the time. At one moment, we observe his tone and manner towards the same gender as debatable, appalled and impolite when he has a discussion with the man who’s holding the woman. To allow the audience to change their perception of Gene Hunt, we must think about the camera shots and humour which surround the character.

In the original scene of the Ashes to Ashes extract, we see Hunt’s vivacious red car speeding past bushes and barrels. Perhaps the car reflects the personality of the character seated behind the wheel. As the car draws to a stop, Hunt steps out the driver seat where the camera immediately changes to a close up and draws attention to Hunts shoes. Clearly, Hunt is wearing cowboy boots rather than the usual police uniform. Possibly, this questions the audience about the occupation of the character. By grouping the cowboy boots and vivacious red car together, it enables the audience to query the character and who he is as a person. From his materialistic items, we gather that he is headstrong, macho and butch man, an image which clearly reflects his personality.

b) A way in which we could modify our first impressions of Gene Hunt in the Ashes to Ashes extract through slight changes in the filming and editing process, is that if we were to remove the fast paced, cross cutting shots of Hunts car speeding down the different swerved roads and the shots where both the female and male character are seen gazing in the direction of where the car is located, this would avoid the audience from questioning and attaining information regarding Hunts personality from the features of his car.

Perhaps, a nicer more suspenseful way of introducing the characters would be to film from inside the car. Rather than filming the car speeding along the roads from the outside, the camera could be situated in the back seat or on the passenger headrest so that the camera could overlook the driver and focus on the driver’s hands as he turns the wheel of the car, without revealing too much of Gene Hunts and his body language.