TV Drama - Fortitude

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Fortitude is a British thriller created by Simon Donald. The show is set in a fictional place in Arctic Norway, focused on a community called 'Fortitude' consisting of 800 people and 4 police officers. The show was originally supposed to be a film but with too many character's stories to tell, it turned out that making it into a TV series was best for the story.

One of the main directors Sam Miller, who has also done lots of work on Luther, uses a variety of establishing shots of the location as it's important to the story, emphasising the fact that they are far away from everyone else. The filming style is quite smooth and slow, something which I admire and think works well for the show. 

The show has a Hollywood feel to it, similar to Fargo and could be perceived as an American TV show. I like the cinematic style of Fortitude and how the shots of the characters make it look like they are all isolated and alone. This shows the audience what it is like for the characters to live in their closed off community. 

In episode 6 of Fortitude, directed by Hettie MacDonald contains lots of graphic violence which can clearly be seen, the camera does not shy away from the action like it might do in any other crime drama. MacDonald's choice to do this made it a memorable episode and one that people were talking about. It also added a rawness to the show, which I think was to give the show a raw and gritty feel, something that British crime dramas are known for.

I would like to do something similar in my project, I want it to have that cinematic feel but still have a grittiness to it.  



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