Representation of “Englishness” in Midsomer Murders

The main ways in which this “Englishness” is represented in through the mediums of Mise-en-scene, sound and camera movement.

Mise-en-scene plays a massive role in representing Midsomer Murders as being set in a stereotypical English village. These villages are represented as classic, rural settlements. This is reflected greatly by the characters in their appearance and nature in general. Most characters tend to be above forty years old and in the extracts I viewed I did not see any characters or extras under the age of eighteen. This shows that the cast and setting of Midsomer Murders is quite old fashioned. This old fashioned Englishness is further reflected by the characters clothing, cars and houses. The characters clothing is in general extremely old fashioned. Consisting of mainly knitwear and flowery tops for the ladies and checked shirts and blazers for the men. The clothes could also suggest that the people living in countryside of Midsomer are out of touch of fashion and other modern day items found in the city. This is further portrayed by the telephones used. The old fashioned telephones suggest that Midsomer has been unchanged and somehow left in the past, stuck in an era and out of touch of anything that can change that. It also seems that the Inspectors are the only people maybe in touch with the modern world.

            Other props within the Mise-en-scene further emphasises the countryside’s old fashioned past that seems to be present in Midsomer Murders. The mode of transport around Midsomer seems to be bicycling (or tricycling), by horseback (associated with the countryside) or by car which often turn out to be classic vehicles polished (which could represent wealth) to the shine of a mirror or a Land Rover. This all supports the representation that the English are old fashioned farmers living in the countryside.

            The houses in Midsomer once again support this representation of Englishness. Consisting of mainly farms, cottages, and other assorted fancy large houses. This portrays not only the rural side of Midsomer but also in a way suggests wealth amongst its inhabitants. This wealth could be argued to be supported by the accent in the dialect which tends to be proper queens English (posh).

           

Camera angles and movement in Midsomer Murders remains simple. Consisting of mainly medium and long range shots Midsomer ensures that the action is always on the screen. The odd close up shot will identify important details however this is rarely used on the characters. Standard ‘shot reverse shot’ and over the shoulder shots are used in scenes with conversation. Overall the camera angles used are nothing revolutionary however this means they could be partially represented Midsomer itself, representing is as ‘normal’ and maybe suggesting that this is what England is like.

            Camera movement however does much more in terms of representation. The movement of the cameras remain slow and steady throughout. Even in more exciting scenes the camera movement only speeds up slightly. This movement could reflect the lives of people living in Midsomer as being slow paced, easygoing and overall uneventful (despite the murders happening in every episode).

In conclusion Midsomer Murders does not represent Englishness in a very versatile way. It seems almost fixed upon representing it as slow, old, classical, rural and generally locked away from civilisation. It does however strongly support stereotypes about the countryside.