Analysing Opening Credits

Life On Mars Opening Titles

Sound

The music that is played in the background is quite fast, it starts off quiet when the main character is talking and then once he stops talking it gets louder and fits in with the action that we see on screen. It is quite tense music which fits in with the over feel / tone of the programme. There is a voiceover / narration being used too. The main character explains to the audience exactly what has happened to him, which is helpful to the audience but when I watched it without the sound switched on I realised that the audience would probably be able to work it out, even without the voiceover. At the very beginning you see him get run over by a car, and when the voiceover stops and the title 'Life On Mars' is about to appear on the screen, where it should say 'Mars' it says '1973' before it changes.

The voiceover is effective because it means that the main character can immediately establish a relationship with the audience by telling them what happened to him, and then can connect to the audience by directly asking questions 'Am I mad? In a coma? Or back in time?'. And then it leaves the audience on a cliffhanger which intrigues them and makes them want to carry on watching 'Maybe if I can figure out the reason I can get home.'

Graphics

The Graphics in these opening titles are interesting because they are different to most opening titles. As the title of the programme appears on screen, the screen is divided up and each section of the screen shows the main character, Sam, waking up in 1973. This continues throughout the whole of the opening titles. I think this is an effective tool because it reinforces the main storyline so the audience really know what is going on.

Representation of Place and People

This drama is set in the year 1973, and this is shown through the mise-en-scene. The props that are used, the costumes, the setting - they are all trying to point the watcher to realise the fact that it is supposed to be 1973. The use of props is interesting because at the beginning, when the man is lying on the road you can see his car behind him which you can tell is a relatively modern car, and then you see a car when he is 'back in time' and you can tell that it is a lot older. Also, when he walks into the office, nowadays there would be computers holding all the data and no-one would be allowed to smoke in an office, but he walks in and there are piles of paperwork everywhere and no computers, and everyone is smoking. This reinforces the idea of it being set in 1973.

Comparing TV Dramas

90210

The OC

Skins 

The three TV Dramas that I compared were 90210, The OC and Skins. The OC and 90210 are American dramas and Skins is British. Skins is the odd one out, the unconventional one of the three for many reasons. You can see from the opening scenes that 90210 and the OC are very much about the setting, as they are set in iconic places (Beverly Hills and Newport Beach) and the shots make the places look glamorous and the watchers envy the people that live there. Whereas in Skins, which is set in Bristol, it still shows the setting but it doesn't look particularly glamorous it just looks like boring English suburbs.

In the story lines within 90210 and the OC, there are adults involved almost as much as teenagers, whereas in Skins the story lines are primarily about the teens life. It trys to show that the characters in Skins are a lot more independant than those in 90210 and the OC. The opening scenes also tell the watchers that the overall tone of Skins is quite a lot darker and more serious than those in 90210 and the OC. The shots in the opening scenes of 90210 and the OC are mainly the characters smiling, laughing and having fun, whereas in Skins, it mainly shows them doing all the things that someone would associate with Skins such as partying, drinking ect.



The plot line of Skins explores issues such as dysfunctional familes, mental illness, adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death. Although 90210 and the OC also explore issues similar to some of these in their plot lines, they do it in a way that is not as graphic or dark - the overall tone of 90210 and the OC is quite happy and light. Another thing that makes Skins different to the other two is the audience. Skins has an '18' certificate and was shown on TV at 10pm, whereas the OC and 90210 were shown at 9pm. This meant that Skins was quite a 'ruder' than the other two. 90210 and the OC sometimes feature swear words but it would never be anything ruder than 'pissed off'. Skins features a much wider range of swear words. Also, you would never see a full on sex scene in 90210 or the OC, even if it was implied, whereas Skins is a lot more graphic.

Analysing Characters

Ashes to Ashes Clip

Costume/dress - This tv show is set in the 1980’s so a lot of the things being worn are things that you would maybe associate with the 1980’s such as the white leather jacket that Alex is wearing. The DCI who is the dominant figure in this clip is dressed smartly to show authority. Also, this scene shows feminists, and feminists are stereotypically expected to dress in quite a masculine way, which they do in this clip. When Alex walks in, she stands out quite a bit because she looks a lot more feminine than any other women in the clip.

Voice - The three men are shown to be quite different in this clip. Gene Hunt, the DCI, is shown to be the dominant male figure becuase he is the only one that manages to get a serious answer out of the woman he is interrogating. He is also quite patronising when he walks into the place where all the feminists are at the beginning, by calling the speaker 'love' ect. He is also shown to be very serious about his job - 'I am trying to find out who killed this man, if that makes me a fascist then Heil Hitler'.

The other man who cannot get the woman to tell him her name is shown to have a short temper. Eventually he gives up and arrests her anyway without knowing her name - this sort of reinstates the fact that it is set in the eighties because police wouldn't be able to do that nowadays.

Finally the other man, injects an element of humour into the clip when he is questioning the woman becuase he is shown to be slightly dumb.

Sound - The song that is being played in the background 'Girls on film', is an appropriate song for this clip for a number of reasons, firstly, it is a song from the eighties so again this reinforces the fact that it is set in the eighties. Secondly, the repeated word in the song is 'girls' so it fits in well with the visual of loads of women all crammed in to one place. Thirdly, when this song came out it was quite provocative and represented women in a sexual way, which is a contrast with the visual becuase the feminists are the complete opposite to what that song was trying to represent and it would probably be something that they would get annoyed by.

Camera angles - At the beginning of the clip, medium close ups and long shots are used to show the speaker and the amount of people listening to her. It then shows the three men standing and watching and this is a reaction shot because it shows the disapproving, sceptical and slightly bored looks on their faces.

Long shots are then used when everyone is in the police station to establish the setting and tell the audience what has happened (they have taken all the feminists in for questioning)

Then, when the women are being questioned, over the shoulder shots are used to remind the audience that they are being interviewed.

Conventions of TV Drama - Waterloo Road

Name of drama - Waterloo Road
Broadcaster - BBC One
Scheduling Details - Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm
Writer - Ann McManus
Director - Julie Edwards
Producer - Johnathan Leather

Conventions

Characters
- Teacher: Mrs. Hopewell. She doesn't have any control over the class. When she speaks to her student when the student is sitting down she seems quite angry and strict but then when the student confronts her she changes and seems quite scared. Also, she does not intervene when the two girls are fighting, the fight actually gets broken up by a male member of staff - this is a stereotype of women because it shows that she is 'weak' and the man is the dominant character because he is the one who solves the situation.


- Michaela: she is the one that starts the trouble by confronting the teacher. Stereotypes have been used because they have made her school uniform look quite rough and not as smart as some of the other students - this could imply that she is trying to be rebellious and not abide to school rules. You could also say that racial stereotyping has been used as she is mixed race and sometimes coloured people are portrayed to be bigger 'trouble makers' - such as a black criminal.


- Lindsey : stereotypes have definitely been used with this character .. she and her friends are the quiet ones of the class and they clearly want to get on with their work - they show this by dressing them very smartly to show that they abide to the school rules. However, you could also say that the producer is challenging the stereotype as she is the one that starts the physical fighting and typically people would not expect a 'geek' character to be the one who starts a fight. 


- Male teacher: as mentioned above, he is the one that actually steps in and breaks up the fight so this represents men as being dominant and 'tougher' than women. You could also say that it tries to make him look like the 'hero' of the situation. 


- Headmistress - Authority is clearly shown as she is very serious and stern with the two girls, and also threatens to phone their parents, which one of the girls is clearly not happy about therefore she would view it as being a good punishment. 


- Other students in the class: They represent a stereotype that many people often have concerning teenagers - 'the youth of today'. They are quite disruptive and mess around in class, and when the fight breaks out, instead of trying to help many of the students start to video the fight.

Narrative
In this clip, the storyline is that an argument that originally starts between the teacher and Michaela, turns into a full on physical fight between two students. The clip ends on a bit of a cliffhanger because the audience doesn't know what's going on at home with Lindsey's family and why she is so desperate for the head mistress not to phone her family.


Mise En Scene
- Location: The whole series of 'waterloo road' is set in a 'troubled' comprehensive school in Manchester, so it makes sense that the fight takes place in a classroom because it shows that the school is definitely troubled, which is important to the story line.

- Costume: All the students are in school uniform, but they all vary .. again, the girl who we can assume is the main trouble maker (Michaela) is wearing school uniform but it doesn't look like it is a perfect uniform so this could suggest that she is a bit of a rebel. The girls who say that they are trying to learn are wearing smart uniform, including a blazer so this re-inforces the stereotype that they are 'geeks'.

Sound
- Key dialogue: the key dialouge in this scene is probably when Michaela shouts 'Helen' at the teacher and asks if that is her name. This is patronising to the teacher becuase the students are not supposed to call teachers by their first names - Michaela knows she is being rude by saying this. This piece of dialogue is important because it starts off the whole argument.
Another piece of key dialogue is when one of the students tells Michaela to 'shut up because some of us are trying to learn', as this re-directs the focus from the teacher to the students, who's friend is the one she eventually ends up having the fight with.

-Sound effects: There aren't really many sound effects used in this scene. A little bit of music is played, at the very beginning and when the girls are being sent to the headmistress' office. The music is quite ominous and reflects the mood of the scene.

Textual Analysis of a Screenshot

It is clear from the screenshot that the sub-genre of this film is crime because they are both holding guns and they both have very serious expressions on their faces. They are also both looking at the same thing which the man is pointing his gun at - this is another implication that it is crime. The type of camera shot is a mid-shot, as it is only showing the head and shoulders of the characters and not their whole bodies, also you can not see the whole car. Depth of field is used to make the characters (the main interest in this photo) stand out. Gender stereotypes have been used as it shows the man taking the dominant role and stepping out into the open with his gun whereas the woman is crouching behind the car - this implies that the man is 'protecting' the woman.