Contextual Studies: Critical Review

UTOPIA (2013-14)
Critical Review

UTOPIA, created by Dennis Kelly is a British thriller, first aired on Channel 4 in 2013. The story follows a small group of people who find themselves in possession of the manuscript sequel of a graphic novel called The Utopia Experiment - rumoured to have predicted the worst disasters of the last century.

Examples of cinematography from the series

One of the initial aspects of the series that stood out to me its cinematography. The colour palette used is extremely saturated, replicating a bold aesthetic used by the graphic novel the series is based on. In order to achieve this, director Marc Munden referred to the Technicoulor of 1950’s Hollywood, explaining; "We chose certain colours like yellow and turquoise and painted them into the shots afterwards. The skies that we shot weren't always blue, they were mostly grey British skies. The same goes for making grass greener, eyes brighter, or turning a blue van yellow." (Wired, 2014) This is an interesting stylistic decision for the series, as the narrative’s themes of the series itself are extremely dark, with the protagonists combatting hyper-violence, sterilisation and mass murder. However, “UTOPIA” discusses ideas of creating a new Utopian society, and the individuals within The Network’s dedication to this moral ideology. Perhaps this links to the idea of modernism, and the rejection of traditional convention to create the “new” - using expressionism to conceive a bright future. Therefore, this dedication to a unique colour palette not only reflects the series’ central theme, but also suggests a reinvention of society by going against traditional convention in Western media (in this case, colour in Television).

Similarly to the cinematography, UTOPIA’s sound design is also very unique. Its non-diegetic soundtrack combines sounds from the show (for example sound effects such as breathing, or lines of dialogue) with exotic instruments and dissonant tones to create the perfect atmosphere of unease and dislocation:

Rob Smedley describes the soundtrack itself as “resulting in an experience that’s unique to TV composition, like a gallery of modern art it bypasses your logic centres and goes straight for a gut reaction.” (Cultbox, 2013) Despite using extracts from the series itself, the music rejects all conventional musical structures such as key or time signatures, creating a lucid, dream-like feel - distorting what the audience conceives to be real within the series. When accompanying a scene, therefore, the soundtrack creates a sense of surrealism, creating a juxtaposition between the real (visual) and the distorted (aural) - again adhering to the narrative itself, which focuses around a vision of the future coming into reality.

In conclusion, UTOPIA (2013-14) is a Series unique from many airing currently, setting itself aside from others of its genre as it utilises the basic elements of narrative depiction through moving image (i.e. camera, sound, mise-en-scene and editing) to create its own unique aesthetic style; and comment on modern society as it stands today, focusing on current themes and applying a sense of realism to the story – forcing an audience to engage and wonder about their own future.

Word Count: 500

Bibliography:

Wired. (2014) http://www.wired.co.uk/article/utopia-channel-4 

BBC iPlayer. (2005) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9fz

Fiegel, Lara. (2011) https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/sep/11/british-architecture-modernism 

Smedley, Rob. (2013) http://www.cultbox.co.uk/reviews/soundtracks/utopia-series-1-soundtrack-album-review

Tapia de Veer, Christopal. (2013) https://soundcloud.com/cristobal-tapia-de-veer/utopia-1?in=cristobal-tapia-de-veer/sets/utopia-1