Downton Abbey Evaluation

32 seconds to 1 minute 32 seconds.

Elements of miss en scene:

• bells 
• dirty backstreets
• old fashioned iron 
• ironing newspapers 
• big wooden chair
• paper boy
• Head of the table (head of the servants) 
• grey clothes 
• wooden furniture.
• Very rushed breakfast
• The paper boy tired to read the newspaper like the richer people but get it snatched off of, to show he doesn't have the class to read it 
• The windows int eh servants room is barred up, they are also higher unlike the bedrooms one, They don't deserve to look out onto the countryside they only deserve to see the dirty streets. Stops them from escaping, from their lower class.
• Standing up reading the newspaper, still doesn't have to power to sit down and read the news.
• Lighting is darker.

How it establishes the narrative of class:

• Bell- This is the way for the people all over the house to get the attention of the servants to get what they want done, maybe some food.
• Dirty backstreets- Only the servants enter through the back of the house so it would have to be clean, the front of the house is the clean part. Sets the seen of the time, old fashioned streets of London were ridden with disease and were very dirty.
• Old fashioned iron- These irons aren't used nowadays so it's clear this is set many years ago.  Shows class as lower class people wouldn't have an iron in their home, even though its a servant using it still suggests this is the people with class wouldn't be doing it them self.
• Big wooden chair at the head of the table- Shows status as he would most likely be head of all the servants. He stands with more class as well, you can see a clear difference between the man at the head of the table and the servants sat on the side because the servants are wearing grey whereas he is wearing a black suit with a bow tie. 
• The wooden furniture suggests lower class as they obviously  can't afford "good" furnishing. Accept the big wooden chair at the end of table which just empathises the power of the head of the servants.

Whilst the servants are eating their very rushed breakfast, they are being bombarded with bells as a sign that people around the house want their service. They also only have spoons suggesting that as they don't have much class they shouldn't be worth all the extra washing up compared to the people with power. The fact the person gets the newspaper out the backdoor off of a newspaper boy suggests that if someone doesn't have power they shouldn't go to the front of the house, so all exchanges must be out back. Before the newspaper is taken away from this paperboy, he tries to read it yet is interrupted. This automatically shows class through this because he isn't able to sit down and read the news about people with much power. There is also wooden furniture, yet this is plain wood and isn't patterned, showing they don't need the "fanciness" of the beautiful wood as they wouldn't be eating their for long as soon they'd be severing the higher class. This is soon contrasted through the second clip where the man gets to eat his breakfast in his own time whilst reading a newspaper. However within this clip, there is a head butler at the head of the table in a suit which shows his power above the other servants. Yet in the later clip, he is seen as less significant and stands behind of the head of the house out of focus. This shows how even within the main Hierarchy, there was small hierarchies.

2 minutes to 4 minute 32 seconds

breakfast dishes- silver dishes, china wear 

pews with large stairway

flowers 

big painting with gold frame Covers the entire wall, the can afford to have some one else's painting on their wall

windows

long draped curtains 

widow shutters

embodied wood furniture 

suits and bow ties

All of knifes and forks.

more calm that the servants, reading newspaper whilst eating.

the titanic on the newspaper- titanic is seen to wealthier people

woman's hairstyles

jewellery- class

lace and silk with cuffs 

Large gold candle holder- expensive

Brighter lighting compared to the servants scene.

telegram- someone wants to get contact and can afford to send one, it's normal for him as he gets them all the time so he carries on reading the newspaper

Everyone else is standing yet he isn't, he doesn't need to be higher/ standing up to show his power compared to everyone else in the room, men over powering woman.

Music raises for tension whilst reading the telegram, building up questions to what it says, doesn't tell the woman at the table as they don't have the power (presuming they are daughters) To know.

"Her ladyship"

She stays laying down, she must be important, a servant would stand up when he entered.  

Running theme, those who read newspaper have power. 

Large mirrors covering a wall, in-between to large windows again with curtains, showing they can afford it.

There's a mirror on a mirror.

Large bed with four posts.  Has head board.

White bedsheets showing wealth, gold strips supporting this wealth.

Candle stick holders on the walls, near a fireplace- there can afford to heat and light their homes.

Out side the window its country- juxtaposition compared to the dirty streets from the servants.

Server, bringing breakfast in bed, instead of sitting at the table.

unlimited staff for the house owners

Mise en scene of "Wolf Hall"

Mise en scene:

• The quill at the bottom of the screen.
• Headwear
• necklaces, gold
• The big green chair.
• The embroidery on the chair
• The old fashion scroll 
• The colours of their clothes
• Big puffy coat
• dress which reveals cleavage 
• potential guard in the background
• Both having fur shawls.
• lead lined windows

Mood:

• the dim lighting creates tension
• the look on both of their faces raising questions
• the comforting hand from the woman onto the males shoulder.

Analysis Glossary

Mise en scene:  The arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play.

Verisimilitude: the appearance of being true or real.

Connotation: An idea or feeling that a word makes someone feel

Denotation: The literal meaning for a word

Verbal communication: The use of words or sounds to express your feelings

Non-verbal communication: Gestures, body language and facial expression used to make a point.

Narrative: A written account of events, a story-line.

Coronation Street Analysis.

The episode of Coronation Street which we watched had a running theme of people being messy, either mentally or physically, alongside being tired. This is clear from when the teenage mother is shown, she is obviously stressed and not being able to cope, this is supported by the mess of the room as she clearly doesn't have the time to clean it as she has to do everything else. There is ask pathetic fallacy which is portray within the house of the character "Rosie" because her clothes are widely spread across the room symbolising how she is messing up her relationship and foreshadowing how she isn't happy in the relationship and will dump her boyfriend.

Notwithstanding this, the theme of family is conveyed through out. To start the show there was a teenager who seems to be leaving home, followed by a young teenage mother trying to cope with a newborn, showing clear contrast between the generations- starting with older teenager who is starting her life away from home, followed by a new child start their life. Automatically, a stereotype of a teenage pregnancy is showed to the audience, straight away creating a negative stereotype upon Manchester. This therefore gives an impression to the audience that there is a problem with teenage-chld birth, even though this may not be the case, people who might not be aware of what life really is like in Manchester may believe life is really like this. The genre of this TV drama would be SOAP Opera creating a realistic view of the programme- realistic through the eyes of stereotypes, this would have an impact of whether or not the viewer would believe the story line. Alongside this, due to families being the main agency within this programme, the language with the tone would be informal which makes this more believable because obviously, if you were with your family (especially if you lived in Manchester) you wouldn't speak with class. Straight away I have made this stereotype, many people would have also done the same.

Words such as "Babe" implies the informality of the context shown. There is also many couples within this episode and non-verbal language such as the simplicity of linking arms whilst walking down the street. The slang within the show is joined by jokes suggesting the tone isn't always serious, unlike the "dramatic" ending. This "slang" is mainly spoken by the younger ages shown within the programme, however when looking at someone older for example the character "Ken" or "Rita" they speak much more "proper"- not as "proper" as someone such as the Queen of course, but much more well spoken than the younger generations- this defeats stereotypes in this sense. The reason behind this could be due to the producers wanting this programme to be aimed at not just adults but younger ages, which is why different story-lines would effect different ages. The main story-line within this episode was about a couple who end up breaking up, this suggests that this episode was aimed at the older teenage ages. Additionally, it is clear through this language that this TV drama isn't to inform or to educate the audience but is to entertain them through dramatic stories.

There is irony which is shown at the end by the character "Rosie" because she is wearing a heart necklace yet is breaking up with her boyfriend. This is irony here because perhaps the boyfriend was the one who gave her that necklace and even though she clearly hasn't got love for the man no more, but she is still wearing a memento of their love.

Although side this, there is symbolic conventions which the producer would have included to portray the ages of the characters. An example of this is that within the home of the young girls, they had phones out, there were photos on the wall (event though this doesn't portray their age as such, is is good a portraying how that is a home) there was also lots of mess, which the majority was clothes. Contrasting this, when looking at the older persons home, his was much more tidier alongside having antiques on the side on a neat bookshelf. This symbolism makes is really easy for the audience to tell the age of the owner, or the people living there, therefore creating more stereotypes within this drama- the different ages.

Furthermore, the theme tune at the beginning of the programme is very well known, as soon as you hear that tune you know that it is Coronation Street. This suggests that the producers purposely made the tune catchy so that people who know it clearly. There is also stereotypes on the title screen itself. The stereotypical brick houses linking with the next, alongside pigeons flying. This intro of the TV drama is much different to a show such as Eastenders. Eastenders shows a birds eye view of London, clearly showing that drama is filmed in London whereas Coronation Street is not.

Another ironic defeat of stereotyping in this episode was that builders are stereotypically meant to be big and strong and tuff, yet he is "lovestruck" and asking his mother for love advice and wanting to follow his girlfriend to her new job. This builder is also the one being dumped, in many stereotypical shows it would be the big and strong builder dumpi


ng his girlfriend because "he can". However, the stereotypical intelligence level upon builders is clearly shown in this programme as this builder clearly isn't the brightest petal on a flower.

When the younger boy is presented to the audience, it is clear of a stereotypical child who has a father, yet a step-mother, who clearly isn't liked by the child. Stereotypically, the majority of the time, parents other half who isn't related is normally not liked by the parents child, which is clearly convey throughout the short time period which they are on the screen

The mise en scene helps the audience notice what part of the street they are in. Whether it's the pub, the shop, the cafe or just their home. For example, you can tell the pub is a pub because there are classes and a bar which behind it has lots of bottles of drink with glasses on the counter. Whereas the cafe is shown by the kitchen and the small tables and chairs that fill the entirety of the room- other than the counter which has cake and other various foods in.

Furthermore, mise en scene shows how in the homes of the younger characters, their sofas are in the middle of the room, maybe a confusion they are feeling or just that teenagers are just stereotypically seen as messy so their sofa positions support this. However when you look at the bottom left picture you can see it's of an older house and in the Right corner of the photo you see the sofa, which is pushed to the side, suggesting the people who live there are much more mature and neat, mentally and physically.

The producer/director purposely uses code within the camera angles. For example, during the break up scene at the end, the camera angle was just of one partner's face and it would switch, this therefore implies to the audience that even though they are standing together, they no longer are joined together anymore. Telling the audience the break up both through hearing and technically though looking at the angle of the camera.

Eastenders analysis, extra.

On the episode of eastenders on the 17th september 2015, it starts with one of the characters in a hospital bed, holding her new born baby, showing it to her family. The next clip was then a family talking about one of the sons and that he isn't well. This is also followed by one of a sisters partner speaking about her cheating. Even from the first 3 minutes of this clip, lots of drama has already occurred and been told to the audience. the contrast between the girl having a baby yet talking about their father who's in court for murder, her starting life and their father supposedly ending a life. Further on in the programme there is a woman who is being questions/ giving a statement, this shows how the storyline of this episode is very confusing as it shows a various number of events, lying, new birth, questioning. The reason behind this would be to portray real life as if you look st several people, they are all going through different event. This shows verisimilitude as each day different events happen to different people. Everyday many children are born and sadly many people die and like this episode shows, most are unfortunately lied to or lie to someone else.

EastEnders Textual Analysis.

Eastenders is a very popular and well know SOAP. Within the video clip of "Representation of Age-Eastenders" it conveys a very clear informal tone within this family dinner. This informal tone is portrayed through a various ways, including the language- both verbal and non-verbal. An example of this informality is the way in which the people were sitting around the table, they weren't sat up straight, they were sort of slouching, even though this is simple, it clearly suggests the atmosphere which the BBC are attempting to create. They were also, especially the teenagers/ younger people included, speaking in slang, showing the stereotypical teenager- as if because she was a teenager she wasn't allowed to show an interest in the past, she should be paying interest in something else, perhaps beauty- she also clearly couldn't speak proper, although why would she if she was just with her family- everyone speaks improper when with their family. The reason the BBC would have done this would have been to create a more realistic piece of drama. The story line of the main characters history makes it's easier to portray sterotypes not just of teenagers but of the older man himself. This realistic piece of the SOAP makes a clear judgement upon these characters involved, making it rather clear that the target audience of this piece is ages 16 and above because younger than this children wouldn't be interested in a TV drama in this category, maybe perhaps a comedy drama instead. Notwithstanding this, this clip of Eastenders may result in some viewers gaining the view that all people like "Patrick" (the main character) Will just drink and looks for girls with is a negative stereotype and incorrect because obviously not everyone would be like this. Another Stereotype which is convey across this clip was that everyone has a knowledge of their own personal history, even if this is correctly true it is still a positive stereotype, There is also the view that family (even though not by blood family) all sit around a table for dinner which sits alongside positive stereotypical families. 

Tv Dramas.

A TV drama is a scripted and fictional tv programme.

Examples of TV Dramas: 

• Eastenders.
• Coronation street
• Downton abbey
• Waterloo road
• Hollyoaks
• Emmerdale
• Dr Foster
• CSI
• Holby City
• Casualty
• Pretty Little Liars
• Once upon A time
• Orange is the new black
• American Horror Story

There are different categories of TV dramas including different target audience.

-Crime
-Period
-Comedy
-Medical
-Sci-fi
- Soap

Ways of analysing media.
-categories
-Language (verbal/non verbal)
-narrative
-representation (Positive/negative/sterotypes)
-audience
-institution
-technology

NOTES ON EASTENDERS!
Type… Soap
Tone…  informal

Style… Reality
Target audience….
Language (VERBAL/NON)… Teenagers, Slang talk. Hand gestures,  The click of the fingers.
stereotypes… Jamaccian, Teenagers (Not wanting to know history/Shocked when they do)
About, Narrative...