TV Drama Opening Credits - Pillars of the Earth

Pillars of the Earth Opening Credits

  

  Pillars of the Earth is a historical costume drama set in the 12th century. The opening credits are very revealing about what story lines and events that will happen within the programme. 

  Although the credits are animated drawings, we are able to pick out key characters due to unique aspects of their image.

The first image we see in the credits is of a church burning down. This is a key story line, and is also a very striking image for the credits to open with, along with the name of the drama and the author of the book which inspired the series.

There is then a clever transition, as the fire from the previous clip engulfs the screen, and then proceeds to turn into a crown. The crown has connotations of royalty and a king being involved in the plot. It is also a possibility that because the crown is the floor, it is suggesting that the royals in the programme are seen as being disrespected, and are villains, or enemies of the main characters.

The crown then grows into a castle with turrets, and the camera zooms inside of the castle to reveal two men in combat and one being killed. The colours in this shot are very dark, showing the more sinister side of the story, however the blood is a very bright red. This tells the audience that there will be graphic violence involved, suggesting that the audience is likely to be above the age of around fifteen.

 The blood then evolves into a tear of a woman who the loyal, primary viewers of the drama will recognise as one of the main characters, Ellen. The tear of blood could suggest that this character will have a very emotional story of suffering within the programme.

As the blood falls from her eye, it develops into the ginger hair of her son, the main character, Jack. Jack is kissing a woman in the programme called Aliena. The image of kissing has the connotations of love, romance and passion, which suggests to the audience that these themes will be present throughout Jack and Aliena's story.

The camera then zooms out to reveal a cathedral next to Jack & Aliena, which is a vital part of the story line as the whole series is centred around the building of a cathedral. The cathedral then falls down, which is also part of what happens in the story to reveal monks standing with a cross. This represents the religious side, as all of the characters are strong Christians, as most people were in the 12th century.

The final clip is the title inside the cathedral. It is in large font so that it stands out and has bright, firey colours behind it, which makes the image more striking and dramatic.

The music is very striking and dramatic. We can hear sounds such as cathedral bells and various other sound effects which tie in with the images on the screen. The music sets up the expectations of it being a period drama due to the classical nature. It is completely instrumental, which creates more of a serious atmosphere.

Character Analysis - Robin Hood

Robin Hood

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.

TV Drama Conventions - Eastenders.

Programme      - Eastenders.

Broadcaster     - BBC1.

Writer              - Sarah-Louise Hawkins and Tony Holland.

Director           - Sue Dunderdale

Producer          - Brian Kirkwood

Characters - Alfie Moon and Nana Moon.

Nana Moon is a stereotypical grandmother. She is hard of hearing which makes her a comical character who is very much loved by her grandson Alfie. Alfie Moon is a typical bubbly cockney character taking care of Nana.

Narrative - Alfie Moon is spending Christmas with his elderly grandmother, Nana Moon. The two are discussing the family past and how she had had 'the best day' with him. They sit on the sofa and watch the Christmas snowman dancing when Alfie admits being scared about Nana dying. Nana reassures him by saying, "There's nothing to be scared about."The snowman then stops and Nana asks Alfie to turn it on again. As he turns away, Nana lies down and quietly passes away. As Alfie turns back he sees Nana lying down and gently tries to wake her. He soon realises she has slipped away, and it is an emotional end as we hear Alfie repeating the words "Not yet Nana."

Mise en scene - The location of the scene is upstairs in the Queen Vic Pub, which is the most iconic feature of Eastenders. It is also where Nana Moon and the whole Moon family live which is significant as it shows that she died in a comfortable place around people she loves, which is how the director would want her death to be portrayed, as she was a well-loved character in the series. The lighting is fairly dark with dim lighting and a few Christmas lights. This is significant in setting as it is displaying that the scene is not going to be happy or light hearted but rather a somber, melancholy scene. The set is a fairly simple setup, representing a working class family, which could be something that the audience could relate to as they are most likely to be working and middle class also. Both characters are wearing casual clothes, which are the same style as they wear in every episode they are in. Nana Moon wears stereotypical elderly lady's clothes in warm lavender colours, which help to represent her personality of being kind and caring. Alfie is wearing a burgundy shirt, which could show that he was trying to get into the Christmas spirit during his day out with Nana.

Sound - The  music that is playing in the background is 'jingle bells' whilst Alfie is telling Nana that he is scared. This is juxtaposing, which helps to display the seriousness of the conversation and situation. Whilst Christmas and festivities are happening around them it is like they are disconnected from everyone else. There is no non-digetic music used during the scene which could be to keep the attention on the dialogue between the characters in order for the audience to feel the emotion within the conversation and feel connected with the characters. At the end of the scene however, we can hear the Eastenders theme tune playing in the background, although it is different than the usual theme tune. It is much slower and on piano to make the mood more emotional as it finishes with Alfie crying.

Icons - Alfie and Nana Moon are both huge, much-loved icons in Eastenders. The audience can see their loving relationship in this scene, which makes the scene much more emotional.

This is an unusual camera angle, as it feels as though we are peering in at the scene, almost like we shouldn't be there. We, as the audience, are sharing an emotional, tender moment between and grandmother and grandson in her final few minutes. 

Here we can see a closeup of both of the characters, which helps the audience to capture and understand all the emotions shown on their faces. It also shows the intimacy and closeness between them.

In this clip, the camera pans round from Alfie, to an out of focus Nana, who is now lying down. It is a gentle, emotional way of showing that she has passed away, as the audience do not notice her lying down straight away. The audience also notice Nana lying down before Alfie does, which leaves them anticipating his reaction.

The scene uses closeups such as their hands touching, to show the closeness of their relationship, and the care they have for one another.

At the very end of the scene we see one final closeup of Alfie crying, hugging Nana. This could be used to show the raw emotion Alfie is feeling, triggering emotion in the audience also.

Initially in this shot we can see feet belonging to a corpse in the foreground, which is the focus of the shot. It is an interesting angle, as the camera is lower down in line with the feet, which is an unconventional way of viewing the scene. The lying down body then leads back to the image of a man in a suit standing over it, however the man is blurry and out of focus. The way the shot is filmed makes the two figures look like they are linked into one, so they are one person. This could suggest that the two people are linked and the man in the background could be involved with the death. Behind the man in the background is a window which is shining light onto the body which could tell the audience he was a good person. The man in the background is lurking in the shadows and the light seems to be passing over him which could tell us that this man is a villain in the unveiling of the story.