The depiction of queer and trans characters within the era of platforms and portals changes drastically from the way diversity is seen in broadcast and linear television. In the series Sense8 (2015-2019), there are not only a variety of international identities but there are also many queer characters. The series follows a group of strangers, all different whether in culture, sexuality, or identity, being connected by a supernatural web. 

Birthday Montage showing all the protagonists

Television changed drastically once introduced to platform television. As the technology transformed so did the televisual content. Goddard and Hogg describe Trans TV as an intervention into the various modern transformations occurring in television. Both aesthetically and technologically there is a vast change in television programmes and the television experience, and one can’t be discussed without the other. So one must analyse television both in mise-en-scene and in semiotic analysis when discussing trans television. These differences are easily seen in the Wachowski sister’s direction.

Wachowski Sisters

When observing aesthetics in Sense8 one can see Trans TV in the lighting, camera movements, and montages of the experiences shared between the characters. The Trans TV can be seen in the montage scenes most clearly when the characters together share an experience that teaches the viewer more about their collective mind. An example can be their shared “Who Am I?” montage. Cinematography wise the viewer sees the different identities in clear juxtaposition. The scenes are shot in different places yet the characters are not constrained by location and find themselves helping each other. Racially and culturally, they are worlds apart but mentally they share their identities creating a shared experience. Semiotically one can see it in the way the character answers the question the other six share in his musing and explore the question in terms of different themes. The montage is both an example of Trans TV in mise-en-scène analysis and semiotic analysis.

“Who Am I” Montage

Bibliography:

Goddard, Michael N., and Christopher Hogg. “Introduction: Trans TV as Concept and Intervention into Contemporary Television.” Critical Studies in Television: The International Journal of Television Studies, vol. 13, no. 4, Dec. 2018, pp. 470–74, https://doi.org/10.1177/1749602018798217. Accessed 1 Nov. 2024.

Wachowski, Lana. Sense8. Netflix. 2016-2019.

By: Costanza Maria Santacroce