Eastenders homework

Eastenders is a soap opera set in East London. It touches on different storylines that effect families living within a community. The conventions of a soap opera shown are things like, quick scene changes and cliffhangers.

The episode that I am going to analyse is from the 20th October 2015. In the first clip we see a couple aged around 60 years old in their home, they seemed to have just had an argument and so the mood was tense and not much dialogue was used. The women's back was turned towards her husband which showed she was upset with him. The two both spoke in a posh accent which is unexpected from people living in London. They reason they may be speaking in a posh accent may be to show that they are a more mature couple. 

We next see Jane and Ian in their home, we can straight away see by their body language that they are a couple because they are in close proximity to one another and can be seen hugging and kissing. The clothes they are wearing shows us that they are an average family as they are just in jeans and t-shirts.

The next scene is of a mum and daughter who live above a pub. The stereotype that the mum moves in with the daughter and changes the kitchen around is used. The mum also criticised everything the daughter had in the kitchen, kept giving her advice and trying to take control of how the pub is run which again is stereotypical of a mother daughter relationship. The daughter is meant to be a "chavvy" character which is portrayed by her bright bold clothesline and big hoop earrings. The daughter is seen to express her annoyance by staring out of the window and letting out a big sigh, it then cuts to a new scene.

This next scene is of the older couple we saw in the beginning, this time the wife is snooping around her husbands clothes with a mysterious look on her face, this instantly portrays that she is doing something that she shouldn't be doing. This scene is very short.

The next scene is of Kim, a women who lives with her sister, she is seen to be sat on the sofa looking sad, when her sister Denise walks in and asks her what's wrong she says that her boyfriend is cheating on her, this is a negative stereotype of young boys in relationships. 

The next scene is of Ronnie a single mum, she can be seen to look tired, miserable and in a rush which is a stereotype that all single mums are stressed and struggle to handle being a parent on their own. 

At the end of each scene when their was a slight cliffhanger the camera would do a close up of a specific character showing their reaction to whatever secret or new information was just revealed, this is another convention of a soap opera.

Another stereotype seen is that the husband comes home from work to his wife who is sitting waiting for him, this is a negative stereotype as it suggests that the women does not go out to work and that their job is to stay at home looking after the house and childcare. 

The house of the elderly couple has patterned sofas, carpet and floral wallpaper. This setting is quite old fashioned which again portrays that they are older and have been living there for a long time.

In one of the final scenes we see Dot sitting round the dinner table with her son, daughter in law and grandson. Dot is in very old fashioned clothes and speaks in a formal register, she also sits at the top of the table to show that she is the head of the family. Dot is a Christian and this is stereotyped by the fact that she always recites versus from the bible. 

Eastenders textual analysis

Eastenders is set in Central London, this is portrayed by the cultural diversity within the show. Each family has a different background and different events occur in their lives. The target audience for the show would be teens up to people in their 30's/40's, however elderly people can be drawn to the show because of characters such as Dot and Pat who are of the older generation. Because of this wide audience there are many different story lines which are touched upon, from things that would effect the younger audience such as teenage pregnancy and drug abuse, to story lines for the elder generation such as illness and loss of a loved one.

In this clip we saw the character Patrick sitting around the table for dinner with his family which consisted of his daughter (Denise), son-in-law (Lucas) and his two granddaughters (Chelsea and Libby). They were having a conversation about Patricks history.

There are a number of stereotypes seen in the short clip of Eastenders, the first one was the representation of teenagers. One character appeared interested in something about history of her granddads culture. She was instantly questioned as to why she was interested, showing the stereotype that teenagers are usually not interested in subjects such as history. This was a negative stereotype.

Another stereotype was of the culture of the actors. The main actor, Patrick, spoke in a thick Jamaican accent and was discussing the history of Jamaica. I think this was a positive stereotype as they are talking about the history and celebrating the culture of Jamaica.

The language was quite casual and informal which reflected in the body language in which they were all sat back around the table, this made it feel as if they genuinely were a family and that they felt comfortable with each other.

Eastenders is a soap opera, the conventions that tell us this is that it focuses on real life events and there is little exaggeration of story lines. The shots used are very different and create different emotions from each. The close up shots showed tension between characters, this was paired with the facial expressions used and the silent moments that the director chose to use to show that there was a secret that only Patrick and Lucus knew. The camera would tend to shoot close shots of people that were talking and then quickly cut to someone else to show their reaction or response, these responses would usually connote something to the audience.

Downton Abbey analysis and wolf hall

Wolf hall

• Costumes (Eg, dresses to the ground, big puffy sleeves, head ware)
• Quill and scroll
• The chair
• Beefeater in the background
• Ink
• Ink draws
• Dark/natural lighting as there was no electricity. 
• Led windows
• Simple makeup/ no makeup
• Facial hair

What is the mood that is created? 

The mood seems quite serious and intense, I think that this is portrayed by the facial expressions that the actors are using, they seem intently concentrating on the scroll that is in front of them. The women also has her hand on the mans shoulder which can be seen as her comforting him, her body language seems quite caring as she is faced towards him. The lighting is quite dark and gloomy which can portray that something bad has happened or is going to happen. There seems to be only two main characters in the scene, this adds to the serious tone as it can be an intense situation between the two characters. 

Downton Abbey

32 seconds through to 1 minute 32

mise-en-scene; 

• Costumes: As these characters are servants to the house their clothes are all the same, with dark colours and unflattering shapeless dresses. They all have their hair up and out of their faces with no makeup on and are all relatively pale. This could be emphasising the fact that they work downstairs. 
• The servants costumes however, contrast with the head servant who is in a suit. The reason for this is that he is the servant who is allowed to go upstairs. The use of the suit shows power and a hierarchy within the downstairs environment.
• In the scene one of the characters is ironing a newspaper for his master. The other characters explain that this is because they don't want the master getting ink on his hands. This is again showing that the characters are of a lower class and are working for the upper class who own the country house and live upstairs. You can automatically see from this short clip that the servants do everything for the house and for the owners of the house. 
• There are bells in the background which are linked to different rooms in the house, the owners of the house ring these bells and they signal in the serving quarters to let them know that they need their assistance. 
• The lighting and scenery is quite dark with very dull colours which may reflect the living/working conditions of the servants. 
• The boss of the servants sits at the head of the table which shows authority and power, this man is also seen to be the one who has most contact with the residents of the house. 

2 minutes 9 to 4 minutes 32

mise-en-scene;

• This clip is of the owners of the house, their costumes are very smart, the men are in suits whilst the women are wearing colourful, fitted, floor length dresses. 
• The servant in the clip is standing whilst the other characters are sat around the table, this shows that the servant does not have a right to sit down with them all. Even though he is the head of the servants he still has a lower status when compared with the owners of the house.
• The furniture in the scene is very expensive looking with most of the ornaments made from crystal or glass. This differs from the servants downstairs who had quite plain furniture made from things such as wood or metal.
• The paintings in the background could show the money that the house owners have, these paintings would probably be originals.
• In the scene a telegram was presented to the master of the house, this brings forward the temporal context in which, telegrams are associated with sending out important news quickly, this was because they were a lot quicker to receive than letters. 
• The lady of the house can be seen being waited on by one of the servants, even though this servant is allowed in her bedroom there is still a distinct difference of class as she the servant does not talk and is ignored by the lady of the house, she is then dismissed by the lady and returns back downstairs.

coronation street textual analysis

Coronation Street is a soap opera set in Manchester, however it also contains an underlining sense of comedy throughout. The genre conventions that it includes are things such as cliffhangers, in which after a dramatic scenario is revealed the opening theme song will play and a break will start, adding to the dramatic tension. The conventions of a soap opera were followed as the scenes were set in different characters houses and told the story of different families. The scene changes were quick and would show a few minutes of each different story before going back again to follow up each family and their current affairs. A prior knowledge of each character however is needed as there is no back story given at the start of each episode.

The main target audience for Coronation Street would be adults aged 30+ however the actual audience may include teenagers and people in their 20's as some of the characters are younger and have story lines that are relevant to themselves. 

The narrative was quite informal, as if we were sat in the characters living room having a chat with them. There is distinct northern dialect used, this may become confusing to understand for people who do not live up north. There is a serious tone as the story lines are hard hitting however there is a comic theme running throughout to make it easier and more enjoyable to watch. The style is rather conventional and traditional however some of the characters are and situations are exaggerated for entertainment purposes. The purpose of the programme is not only to entertain but to inform as it can help with ways to deal with situations that the audience may be dealing with in their life.

There are many stereotypes portrayed within the short clip of Coronation street that we watched. The first one can be seen in the opening titles for the show in which a stereotype of Manchester was formed. The first thing you see is a pigeon which is a stereotype that all people in manchester have pigeons. You then see the houses which are all backed on to each other with alley ways in-between each house. I wouldn't say that either of these were negative stereotypes as it is just celebrating the culture of Manchester.

Another stereotype which I think came across as negative was the way the teen mum was portrayed. She wasn't working and was home alone all day with the baby in a very messy house. I would say this is a sweeping statement and that it chose to pick the 'worse case scenario' when it comes to single mums. It chose to ignore the many other single parents who look after their children and yet still go out to work and can keep their houses tidy. It also portrayed that the father of the baby didn't help much with the child, it showed the dad joking around saying he got too much sleep last night and then he went out to work. This was trying to portray the typical situation where the father goes out to earn money for the family and the mother stays at home to look after the child and do all the work around the house. This ignores the many members of society who go against gender stereotypes, for example, that the father can be the one who stays at home with the baby or that the family can be dual earning in that both the mother and father got out to earn money. 

There was also another stereotype that the character 'Rosie' was going to London to get her 'big break'. This stereotype suggested that the only way you can get somewhere in an acting/television career is to move to London. I think this is a positive stereotype for London as it gives off the impression that it is a place where dreams come true. However I think it can be a negative stereotype for Manchester in that it is portraying that you can't really amount to much if you stay up north and that to be worthwhile you need to go down south. 

The last stereotype that I spotted was of "Jason" who could be seen as the shows 'heartthrob'. Jason was portrayed as your typical could looking, muscly man who worked as a builder and was relatively dumb. This is a negative stereotype that all men who care about their looks and also many builders are not that intelligent. 

Comparison to Eastenders

The main difference between Coronation Street and Eastenders is that Corrie is set in Manchester (up north) and Eastenders is set in London (Down South). These differences can be seen in many ways, the first being the dialect used. In coronation street a strong northern dialect is used, for example, incorrect verb tenses such as "we was going to". In Eastenders there is a strong south London dialect, for example, one of the characters played by Danny Dyer uses a lot of cockney rhyming slang. 

Another difference can be seen in the opening credits of both shows. In Coronation Street the first thing you see is a pigeon which is a stereotype that all people in manchester have pigeons. You then see the houses which are all backed on to each other with alley ways in-between each house. In Eastenders the first thing you see is the iconic river themes, instantly you can see that it is set in London, this will be known from people all across England. Many iconic landmarks can be seen as the camera pans to a Birdseye view of London. By using so many iconic shots of London is gives the show a sense of prestige so even if you weren't sure what the show would be like you would have a sense that its going to be good if its set in the middle of London. 

Tv drama examples

Tv Dramas

• Coronation Street
• Casualty
• Eastenders
• Waterloo Road
• CSI
• Criminal Minds
• The wire
• Orphan Black
• Dr Who
• Sherlock
• OITNB
• Hollyoaks
• Downton Abbey
• Home and Away

Genres

• Comedy
• Sci-fi
• Fantasy
• Reality
• Historical
• Crime

Textual Analysis:

Categories

Language

Narrative

Representation

Audience 

Institution

Technology