Characters - Robin Hood, Much, Allan & Law Officials.
Costume - This television drama is set in the 15th century, therefore it is a costume drama.
The main character, Robin Hood, covers his face for a majority of the clip with a large hood. This is symbolic of Robin Hood, and of his persona of being mysterious. It is also the first time his face is revealed in the series, therefore when he does reveal himself, it makes more of an impact on the audience as they have been anticipating seeing him. He also wears a long cape, which was typical of the 15th century. It also gives him an air of dominance, which tells the audience that he is the protagonist of the series. We can see Robin Hood's trademark arrows on his back, which are a very distinctive part of his character and costume, as they sum up what he is famous for. Robin also wear leather chaps which would be in order to protect him during combat.
Allan and Much wear similar costumes to Robin, which represents that they are all outlaws in the same 'gang', however they both have their own quirky costume item which they wear throughout the series making them more memorable. Much wears a hat and Allan wears a scarf.
The Law Officials dress much more formally than Robin Hood and his men which tells they audience that they have a higher status in 15th century society. They are dressed fully in black, which has the connotations of them being dark, bad and evil. The large black helmets with a feather on the top make them look threatening, and also support them having a higher status. They are wearing protective chainmail, which gives off the impression that they are not people who should be interfered with. They are seen as villains throughout the series, and are all dressed exactly the same, which makes it difficult to pick out individuals, showing the audience that they are all one big group which represent the villains as a whole all out to catch Robin and his men.
They ride horses which gives the impression that they look down on everyone, believing they are better than them because they have the power to convict people for crimes.
Voice - The Law Officials all talk with a formal English accent, which shows contrast to the cockney accent which Allan talks in at the beginning of the scene. Robin Hood has a Nottinghamshire accent, and is slightly better spoken than Allan and Much, which represents that he is the alpha of the group.
Narrative - At the beginning of the scene, Allan is trying to persuade the head Law Official not to arrest him for stealing food, by telling them he has a pregnant wife to feed. He is unaffected by Allan's emotional pleas, however offers him the alternative of getting his finger chopped off rather than having his whole hand chopped off after a trial of which Allan believes he will be found guilty at anyway. Just as Allan is about to put down his hand, we see arrows being shot by one of the Law Officials, and shortly after hear Robin Hood's voice before we see him. This is effective, as it continues to add to Robin's mysteriousness and is a threatening action, as we do not know where he is or where the arrows came from.
As Robin reveals himself from behind a tree, he begins to outwit what the Law Official is saying, which shows the power he has as a character, even without violence. As his threats become more severe, we see that the men are shaken, as they believe Robin has more men than he does by Much tricking them. For the first time we hear one of the other men speaking. "They've got us surrounded, sir." We hear that his voice is far less formal than the head law official, showing that he is below him in the hierarchy. It is the first time we hear fear within the group of men. Robin demands that they let Allan go. As the head law official is replying, Robin interrupts, again showing his dominance over the situation, even though he may technically be of a lower status. They are finally persuaded when Robin shoots one last arrow that nearly hits the man. As the men are leaving Much shouts insults at them, and we hear Robin trying to quieten him. Much then accidentally blows their cover by insinuating that there is just two of them rather than a whole group which causes the men to return after leaving. He then repeats the words "I shouldn't have said that." This immediately shows the audience that Much is a humourous, silly character who gets himself into a lot of trouble.
The first camera angle we see is an establishing shot, as the camera swoops down and zooms in to show us an overview of the scene in the forest. It also shows us how outnumbered Allan is to the Law Officials.
In this shot, the camera is looking down at Allan, showing that he has a lower status than the Law Official and is not dominating the situation. We are seeing it from the Law Official's view who is looking down on him. It is also a closeup shot, which helps the audience to see the emotion and panic on Allan's face.
We are then shown the opposite view of Allan looking up at the Head Law Official on his horse.
There is a closeup of one of the Law Official's hand as Robin is shooting the arrows around them. This is effective for the audience to see the accuracy of Robin's aim, and also shows that he is not really a violent character, he is just threatening so that he can get what he wants. As the arrows land in the log, we hear non-digetic sounds. The sound of the arrow sweeping through the air and hitting the log has been added in during editing. It is a fake digetic sound, as it was not really natural to the scene, but was put into this moment in the scene to make it more forceful and dramatic. We can also hear short quaver notes played by brass instruments to add to the dramatic effect and break the tense music which was played by stringed instruments before the arrows were shot.
There are very short jump cuts which go between trees and character's faces. This is effective in building up the tension as Robin first reveals his presence in the scene. Even though the audience cannot know for sure that it is him, they are likely to assume this because of the accuracy of his archery skills, which is part of his trademark as a character.
We also see different character's reactions to Robin revealing himself in these short camera shots.
When Robin emerges from behind a tree, the camera shot was edited so that he appears in slow motion. This adds to the dramatic effects of him finally showing himself. It represents that he is fearless and walks with pride. He is not afraid even though he is outnumbered. The Robin Hood theme tune is played in the background also, which adds to the grandeur of the moment. It is a non-digetic sound which has been added for dramatic effect.
After seeing the reaction shots of the men who are afraid because they believe they are surrounded by Robin's men, the camera swoops from a shaking tree, down to Much, as it is revealed that they are not surrounded at all, and that Much is simply pulling strings to make it seems like there is more people. This slow swoop to Much is humourous, as it is contrasting the the fear of the Law Officials. As this happens, the theme tune is repeated, but it has been altered slightly to make it less dramatic and more bouncy and comical. This helps the audience get an idea of what kind of character Much is.
This is an effective closeup of Robin Hood, as we can see most of his face now, except his eyes which are shadowed by his large hood, symbolic of his character. This is significant, as it continues Robin's mysteriousness in the scene, as he has not yet shown his whole self, and eyes are commonly considered the most important part of a person's face. It also shows that he is a shady, serious character.
This camera shot was an interesting choice, as it follows the arrow's point-of-view as it falling from the sky and about to land on the man's saddle. The edges of the shot are blurry to show how quickly the arrow is moving. This shot may have been chosen in order to break the tension as the characters are waiting for the arrow to appear again. It also represents the accuracy of Robin's archery skills, and is was a dramatic way of showing that this would be the last time he would threat the Law Officials before he got his way.
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