What view of Terrorism is conveyed to audiences?
The view of terrorism that is presented to the audience is that typically, people of different nationalities and ethnicities are involved. A key scene in this drama is where Ahmed holds Fiona and Danny hostage and phones Fiona’s husband, Adam, forcing him to decide which hostage will be murdered. Danny provokes Ahmed into killing him (scenes 31 and 32). Additionally, terrorism is used to shock the audience and display how hostile it really is. For instance, Ahmed questions Fiona about who to approach and traumatise, either her husband or her child. The use of a child makes the audience feel empathy and view Ahmed in a very negative light.
Ahmed is represented in a negative way, Fiona and Danny positively. How are those binary opposites conveyed to audiences?These opposing characters are conveyed through different lights due to how they behave. Before Danny is shot, he talks to Ahmed, displaying his morals and goodwill which consequently makes Ahmed not shoot Fiona. Ahmed's acts of violence demonstrate his aggressive behaviour, proving him to be a negative character.
What role do mise en scène, camerawork, sound and editing play in underlining those representations?
Sound is used throughout this episode of Spooks to represent different ethnicities and to reinforce the key theme of terrorism. Before the shooting, there is dark, sinister music which has foreign connotations. This type of music is often used when Ahmed and Khatera are filmed. Additionally, this type of daunting non-diegetic sound is used to build tension when both Danny and Fiona are held hostage, not knowing how long they are going to live for.
There are various camera shots to depict how different characters are represented through different lights and ethnicities. For instance, there are high-angles ehen filming Ahmed who is dictating the kidnapping, displaying he is in authority, declaring power.
Editing also plays a major role in the representation. When Ahmed shoots Danny, the screen fades to black, connoting negativity and danger. Often, the editors have used a split screen to gain both characters' perspectives on a situation, which emphasises the different races.
Mise-en-scene demonstrates the different ethnicities explored during this episode. For example, Ahmed often speaks in a foreign language, displaying subtitles for the audience. It appears to make the English characters uncertain as they are not aware of what is being said. The English characters are dressed in traditional clothing, for example, Fiona's husband works in an office in London, therefore he is dressed in a suit, demonstrating he is typically British.
Ahmed mentions Fiona's child to emotionally involve the audience, to make them feel empathy as they could put themselves in her position, as the demographic audience is typically adults, who are likely to be parents. This leaves the audience wanting to know more, therefore they continue watching.
What do you understand by Arab, Islamic, Muslim, Middle-Eastern?
These are different ethnic groups, who have various views, tradtions and religions.
What do you know about Al Qaeda?
Al- Qaeda is a radical Islamist group, who carry out various operations such as bombings to prove their point.
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