Beyond The Bridge: Contemporary Danish Television Drama (Popular Television Genres)

Drawing worldwide acclaim from critics and audiences alike, programmes like The Killing, Borgen, The Bridge and The Legacy demonstrate widespread fascination with Danish style, aesthetics and culture as seen through television narratives. This book uses familiar, alongside lesser known, case studies of drama series to demonstrate how the particular features of Danish production - from work cultures, to storytelling techniques and trans-national cooperation - have enhanced contemporary Danish drama's appeal both at home and abroad. The era of globalisation has blurred national and international television cultures and promoted regular cross-fertilisation between film and television industries. Important questions have emerged from this context surrounding, for example, the 'Americanisation' of foreign television formats, the meaning and practice behind the term 'quality television', and the purpose and efficacy of public service broadcasting. Beyond the Bridge tackles these issues in relation to Danish television, by examining the so-called 'scaffolded production processes' behind the making of quality serials and their thought-provoking content. Drawing on popular motifs from these celebrated dramas such as foreign politics, organised crime, global warming, and the impact of multinational corporations, this timely book provides crucial insight into the Danish dramas at the forefront of sophisticated, forward-thinking, fictional television. Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Table of contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1 The Danish Audio-visual Media Landscape: From Dogma 95 to Transnational... Public Service Television in Denmark Danish Television Dramas Now and Then Internationalising Danish Television Drama Production Culture across Film and Television Experimenting with Complex Narrative Structures A Northern Television Aesthetic between Nordic Noir and Candid Documentary Style Production Culture across Borders Television Production Facilities and Working Practices 2 Danish Production Culture and Creativity Management through ‘Scaffolding’ Harnessing Creativity through Different Levels of ‘Scaffolding’ Macro-level Scaffolding: The Public Service Contract and Danish Media Policy Institutional Scaffolding: DR’s Dogmas for Television and the National... DR’s Dogmas for Television Filmmakers under Televisual Conditions Individual Scaffolding: Production Teams and the One Vision Concept 3 Does Crime Pay? Forbrydelsen (The Killing) and the Thriving of Nordic Noir From ‘Who Killed Nanna Birk Larsen?’ to the International Banking... Creating a Drama in a Scaffolded Environment through Involvement and Secrecy Becoming the Monster: The Ambiguity of Character and Place Killings in Copenhagen: Hard Rain, Empty Streets and Dark Basements 4 Crime across Borders: Broen (The Bridge) Complex Narratives and a Production Process across the Bridge The Bridge as Location and Symbol Relating to a Transnational Drama? The Bridge and its Viewers at Home A Modern Single? The Saga Story A Friendly Family Man? The Martin Story 5 Politics, Family Life and the Media: Borgen Borgen and the Question of Political Stakeholders Narrative Complexity and Character Development Furnishing the Drama: Sequence Shots and Natural Stories Cross-over and Scaffolded Production Contexts Acknowledgement from Viewers and the Press 6 Family Noir: Arvingerne (The Legacy) The Story of a Colourful Modern Family Matriarchy, the Fall of Father Figures and Fragmented Family Relations Returning to the ‘usual’ DR Conditions of Production? 7 The Danish Take on National Security and the War on Terror: Ørnen... How Do You Survive as a Modern Human Being? Hallgrim’s Odyssey Where is My Home? The Cosmopolitan Crossover Production The Character-driven Story Conclusions: From Dogmas to Nordic Noir and Beyond Re-evaluation and Redevelopment at DR: New Projects and New Risks Beyond Dogma 95: Advantageous Production Culture on Several Levels An Influential Production Culture Innovation as Traditional ‘Must- See’ Television: A Possible Role Model? Modernity and International Appeal From Hollywood to Copenhagen and Back Notes Select Bibliography Index