Prison Break: Key Concepts//LIAR

Prison Break Poster

Key Concepts – LIAR.

Prison Break:

Language: Prison Break is promoted by using the main characters on the front. The use of an explosion and them standing in front connotes that they are more dominant and everything else is put behind them now. The dark colours symbolize dark times. Both the characters are sweating (tired), also they are staring straight at the camera (direct and serious). There is a helicopter and the tower and lights and explosion which indicate violence and ‘running away’. Although there is no slogan on the poster, the slogan if ‘The Break is Just the Beginning’ and for the last episodes//film, it is ‘The Final Break’ which is dramatic and pulls people into it. What happens after they break out? Who will they save in The Final Break? The picture of them indicates they are slightly burnt and bruised from gunshots and running through different, harmful conditions. When you look at the picture you can hear an explosion and sirens. You can hear the explosion because of the vibrant yellow//orange splashing around in the background. You think of sirens because of the lights.

The title looks bruised and dirty which could connote rough times. The dirty white stands out against the dark blues of the sky (night time).

Institution: This programme is produced by Paul Scheuring (a clever man with clever ideas) and was first released on FOX. FOX is multinational, however Paul Scheuring is a smaller institution who made the programme and produced it with FOX. 

Audience: This programme is mainly directed to men. I would say 60% male and 30% female as it does contain 2 strong female characters who appear properly later on in the series (Sarah and Gretchen). I think it is viewed more by men because there are many male leads throughout the series. The age rating is 15 but is more aimed at 18-40 because it is a pressure cooker drama which targets that age group. It contains slang nicknames which some people over a certain age won’t understand. For example, ‘C-Note’ is a name which some younger people won’t understand (Benjamin Franklin) or ‘Fish’ or even ‘Snowflake’ which is slightly racist. Some people will also not understand the D.B.Cooper story which is pretty important to understand seasons 1 and 2.  However, ‘T-Bag’ is understood by most people (who know his full name).

Also, it contains very different and hard to understand jokes/plans (which people younger than 15 won’t understand as well as people in their twenties). The age rating should definitely be a 15 due to the amount of violence, language and negative messages (attracting more men).  

Representation: There are not many stereotypes in this series. However, you could say it was being racist against white people as all of the bad people are white (including the 2 main ‘villains’ who kill everyone, Christina Rose and Krantz). You could also say that there weren't enough black characters. The black characters don’t have a big lead but there are 2 which are mentioned and appear in a few episodes (C-Note and Lang). One stereotype in this is that the man is the male lead and is more dominant. Another stereotype is that it includes a woman as a ‘damsel in distress’ which is typical for most things, typically, her lover is the one who saves her, however, it does add a few unexpected twists such as a fake death and a hand in a box.

It presents the main character Michael as the brains and then Lincoln is the dumb but aggressive one. In the picture, it makes Michael seem more like the serious one and Lincoln as the one on the side as he is behind and is in a different position.