Life On Mars - Shot by shot analysis.

The TV drama sequence that we chose to create a Lego movie out of was Life On Mars. The very first shot we get is Sam Tyler (John Simm) Getting hit by a car, this is to match the dialogue “I had an accident” later on in the clip, its basically showing what his accident was, getting hit by a car. The type of shot was a mid shot because you cannot see all of him mainly because the view is through the car window. The character is dressed in a suit, maybe suggesting that he is upper class? Well showing that he is important.

The next shot is of Sam Tyler lying down on the ground, showing him with the car in the background as if he’s just been hit by it, the camera is a mid shot which goes to a close up on his face. The camera on the floor is like trying to go to his level and try to establish what angle he is looking at, he has a distressed look on his face, and to say he is not sure what just happened.

The next show we see is Sam looking into the back of a car wing mirror, this is showing that he still thinks that he is in his present time, maybe he’s checking that he’s ok after getting hit by the car, not realising that he has gone back in time, and is wondering why he is unharmed. After that shot, we see Sam Tyler walking down a street very confused as to where he is, bumping into people, he seems very confused.

The next two shots are of him in the Police Office, this is the same office as where he works in the present day, but instead of all the updated stuff, it looks completely different to what he originally remembers, so when he walks in, he yet again looks confused as to where he is, this is when you first get a good look at what he is wearing. Instead of a smart suit, he is wearing a shirt with a Jacket, a bit more casual showing DI’s in those days where more laid back instead of looking smart to go to work.

The final shot until the main intro is a shot looking up at Sam, and spinning round him, this may be trying to outline that this program is going to be revolved around this character mainly, as the camera spins towards the building, the main titles roll in.

The zoom out on Sam’s eyes show many blocks with basically the same bit of footage being played, with the Words Life on mars in the middle. The first shot of the titles is Sam Tyler wakening up as to say that he doesn’t know where he is. The next shot is pretty simple as it’s a mid shot of him holding his badge.

The next character to be shown is Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) smoking, showing that this character looks like a quite laid back individual, maybe portraying that he is the king pin around there, and is relaxed when working, the next shot is of Gene blocking a punch from Sam, this is there maybe to show his power over Sam, he is Sam’s DCI and big boss around the office and this clip shows his class over Sam.


There is not much to say about Liz White’s Character Annie Cartwright, its just a close up of her head turning. After her shot goes straight in with Ray Carling Played by Dean Andrews holding someone’s head back as to be wrestling them to stop moving, this shows that his character is maybe the muscle of the group, maybe something like Gene Hunts Henchman or bodyguard in a sense.

Chris Skelton Played by Marshall Lancaster doesn’t really do much in this, you can tell that he doesn’t really have any power, because in both shots featuring him, all he is doing it looking on, as to say he doesn’t really have a say in what goes on in the department.

The next shot is Sam Tyler and Gene hunt, taking a prisoner and you assume to lock him in a cell, this is to show the power these two both have over this man, as he has been caught and is lower down to them, and they are basically doing a victory lap showing him off that he has been caught and they caught him.

After those two shot is a Pan across showing all the characters load guns and such. This is showing that something is going to take place and that they use a lot of weapons like that, the old fashioned way, when all policemen carried guns and shot whenever, showing that this is totally different circumstances then to today.

The next shot is a close up of Sam Tyler in a car, looking slightly worried of the speed that Gene Hunt is driving, this shows that even though Gene is his DCI, Sam doesn’t trust him, and hangs on for dear life as gene drives dangerously.

The Final shot of Sam and Gene punching some other dude, is showing that even though they don’t always get on (as shown by Sam trying to punch him earlier) They are a team, and when one of them are in trouble, they all help to make sure they are all ok, and they work together.