"The Inbetweeners" Deconstruction

"The Inbetweeners" is an award winning British sitcom, which aired three series from 2008 on E4. It follows the life of surburban teenager Will, and his three friends Simon, Jay and Neil in fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive.

SERIES 3 TRAILER... DECONSTRUCTION

http://www.e4.com/video/hlyM0zMFYZEPIGPvi8erK6/play.e4    

I think that this trailer is the best out of all three of them. For committed inbetweeners fans you can immediately tell what the trailer is as the first shot is a medium close up of the sign for Rudge Park Comprehensive. Followed by a long shot of a school boy about to devour his sandwich when something attracts him and all the focus is then drawn to the next shot. You instantly gather who the four protaganists are, as they arrive in a small yellow polo car, their arrival assisted by music starting in the background. The car first travels at normal pace, and then the editors create a feeling of urgency as the shot doubles in speed, making the arrival of the car more dramatic. However then the trailer continues in slow motion. Jump cuts split the two narratives (1) of them getting out of the car (2) mid shot of their legs walking (slow mo) along the school path.

When the camera is filming them climbing out of the car, there is a mid shot of all four characters, each with different expressions, showing their diversity as friends.

Will- rather pleased with himself, perhaps excited for the last school year

Simon- nevous to be back at Rudge Park

Neil- his usual slow and dopey self (with a sandwich as he is always hungry)

Jay- cheeky expression, as if excited to cause even more mischief this year

During the trailer, teenagers are portrayed as thinking they are literally 'too cool for school' - especially Jay. However the school seems to out do them as various tricks and pranks are played on them. Long shots show the prangsters preparing the trick creating an inevitability that the characters are not considered "cool". The slow motion theme continues as girls turn their heads to look at them, but not out of lust or like... just to make rude signals at them to signify their lack of coolness. A man stares jealously at Neil stuffing his face (a close up), one girl completely blanks Simon, and Will gets a water filled condom thrown down at him. After a look of disgust from Will, there is a shot from below of the boy who threw it. And the next shot is a POV from his perspective looking down on the four characters walking into the school.

The other three water-filled-condom free characters all laugh uncontrollably at Will, representing youth as fun and enjoyable, attracting young teens to watch the series. The headmaster gives all of them a disapproving look, something that other teenagers can relate to if their headmistress/master doesn't like them!

Close ups of these moments show the reaction of the protaganists as Simon and Will pretend to ignore it, Neil just clearly doesn't notice (as usual) and Will is disgusted (again, as usual).

Long shots show the characters walking, and the pace varies from high pace to slow pace, creating an unstructured rhythme and making the trailer more interesting. If it was slow motion the whole way through audiences might become bored.

The trailer ends with a mid shot of all four characters walking towards the camera, and a voiceover saying when it is and where. This is supported by print on the screen, with the recognisable ->

E4 sign helping audiences rememeber which channel it is on.

The lighting is naturalistic throughout the trailer, showing how the series is trying to be a typical suburban school, with no crazy effects. The sky is grey portraying perhaps the characters gut feeling of not wanting to be returning to school after holidays.

The costume is typical school uniform- white shirts with blue pullovers on top . It is obvious they are in school from the sign at the beginning of the trailer, but also because everyone is in uniform.

 

 

The music helps promote the programme as it is upbeat and builds up the suspense of who is arriving out the car. The characters move to the rhythm which makes them look cooler. When Neil takes a massive bite out of his sandwich this is the only point where the music changes, it turns into electric style, almost 'dream' music, showing a medium close up of a man looking longingly at the sandwich. This breaks up the rhythm (keeping the audience interested) and creating more impact for when the original music returns with a bang.

 

SIMILARITES AND DIFFERENCES IN SERIES 1,2 &3 TRAILERS...

 

All three trailers are amusing with music in the background to try and create a modern sense, as they use modern music. The music in the third trailer is rather 'rocky' creating an excited extrance for the protaganists, where as the second trailer is very relevant (an accoustic version of Teenage Kicks- linking to the fact that the series is about teenagers). And the very first trailer for the first series, features 99 Problems by Jay-Z. All very hip-hop, and modern attracting a young audience. 

 



The characters are portrayed in different ways in each trailer (to show how they have changed), however some things still remain the same in each one. For example in the first one Simon is shown throwing up (embarrassing himself in front of a girl he likes). And in the second trailer he a close up shows him being hit by a football and landing in a puddle of mud, again in front of the girl he likes: Carley. And then...! In the third series trailer you see him waving at a different girl, not Carley. A medium close up shows us that Carley is upset, but we have now seen how Simon has developed and moved on from Carley.  Neil's character is the most consistent as it has changed the least throughout the trailer. This is used for a comic effect of just keeping the same, stupid, dopey character all the way through. 

SERIES 1 = Dancing, stripping
SERIES 2 = Head stuck in a chair

SERIES 3 = walking in his four, laughing or eating (two things he loves doing without thinking)

Jay's has definately changed since Series 1. He appears to be a very strange person, who acts the fool most of the time (shown by jumping up and down on a car bonnet.) and yet in Series 2 he seems to a be more confident, and a 'ladies man', however, in both trailers for 2 & 3 he appears to be humiliated by girls not really returning the luuurve. I think that this shows audiences that he is still a bit of a looser, but he has matured to start to really be interested in woman, showing the natural growth of a teenage boy.

Finally the character of Will, who is the main MAIN part.. if you get my drift. In the first trailer he is shown as geeky, not 'cool', rather embarrassingly tragic with an accent that makes him different from the other characters .. posh. However Series 2 the view of him changes into a rather heroic character, and used to his status as rather geeky and un popular. The development here is that he has matured, showing audiences that the characters do if fact grow up and that if they follow all three series they can even grow up with them. As soon as the audience thinks that Will has made progress a water filled condom lands on his head in the third series, reminding the audience that he is still the same guy and that things aren't going to get much better for him but it will continue to be amusing!  

Anyway hope you enjoyed reading..!

Yours

Bessie

Each character seems to be humiliated in the trailer, in a comical way. This attracts an audience who want to laugh and yet to understand that what is happening to the four characters in The Inbetweeners actually DOES happen.

Silent Witness "Terror"

Me again!

Summary of trailer: A muslim woman is in a room praying, and in the meantime there is a man in a window that the audience presumes is opposite the womans room. He is equipped with a walkie-talkie and is directing/commanding a police force to blow up the door of the house opposite to gain entry.

The introductory trailer for 'Silent Witness''s Terror represents ethnicity in several different ways, using mise en scene, editing, sound and camera shots and movement. There is a muslim woman in a small flat room, which immediately shows the audience that ethnicity is going to be a focus point in the episode. The mise en scene represents what the series is about. The womans costume consists of a blue headscarf and dress, showing her ethnicity. Contrasting with this is the police uniform, which is all the same colour (black) with gas masks (reminding audiences of war and conflict) almost making them look robotic. In the womans flat the lighteing is very warm, a lamp in the corner giving off a yellow light. It feels warm which compares with the icy atmosphere established in the police headquarters that is shown at the beginning of the clip. The lighting there is electrically white, not leaving anything in the dark like the womans flat. Outside the weather almost forebodes the danger that is increasing, as it is dark and raining with the light from the approaching police truck still maintaining the electrical feel from before. The truck is represented as a looming animal, coming into focus, foreshadowing the danger that is going to occur.

       Editing helps create tension and to tell the story of two or three different narratives. The cuts juxtapose each group of ethnicity, making the audience think that the woman is much more peaceful with her actions, whilst the squat team is much more harsh with quicker movements, assisted by use of shots. Jump cuts break the continuity of the muslims woman in the room, to the squat team outside. Cross cuts are used to cut from two or more narratives, as the images break up and a new one is replaced, to continue the story. Towards the end of the clip shorter cuts are used to build tension.

            Sound is also used to build the tension as the clip draws to a climatic end. The music that grows in pace and volume through the trailer is ethnic/foreign representing the womans culture. The only time when the music stops in the clip (when the milkman arrives and has to be removed) it is extremely tense, but the regaining of the music plunges the audience back into the story. Intimate sounds echo through the clip, for example the sound in the room (intimate noise) like the opening of her water bottle, click of the lamp and the taps turning. The rain outside links with the noise of the water being used as a custom inside the flat. In the police headquarters towards the beginning of the clip a police officer laughs in an evil way, connoting possible danger and conflict between the two ethnicities. The sound of the womans voice after she starts praying is used over other shots, linking the story together and also representing her peacefulness which is contrasting with the action outside, like I mentioned earlier.

           Different camera shots also connote the theme of ethnicity. For example the close up of the woman washing her hands shows the audience that it is a custom of her religion. Long mid-shots are used to show the woman preparing her headscarf and her mat (to pray on). Cuts are used to break teh narratives, between her and the squat team. Over the shoulder shots are used when the commander is looking onto the opposite window, showing his POV (point of view) to create tension and connote danger.

Yours

Bessie

How are camera shots and movement used in each trailer to represent the characters and the period in which the trailer is set?

Hey Bessie again!

The period drama 'Desperate Romantics''s trailer immediately attracts a young audience by the sound, the music playing over the moving images, as it is modern and makes the trailer more dramatic as the sounds builds in climax. However the camera shots make the trailer more thrilling and makes audiences want to view the programme. There is no ellipsis, it is merely four men (immediately explaining to us who the protaganists are) walking through an art gallery. The opening shot is a close up of a candle which is blown out, as the music begins, indulging the viewers immediately. A silloette of the four men appears at the dark (a long shot) revealing the time period of the drama (mid 19th Century) by their costume. The men walk confidently (and yet in slow motion) representing their calm youth, even though each painting they walk past blows up! Their attitude seems to be careful by the style of their walk, the expressions on their faces (shown to the audience by close up shots.) With the use of close ups we see the men looking to the side where each painting is blowing up as they pass them, which draws the audience to look at the explosions and to question what is happening. A combination of the paintings blowing up, the slow confident walking of the men and the loud, 'pumping' music in the background represents the rebellious style of the drama. A mixture of these things (primarily the mise en scene) attracts a young audience, because of the way the men are represented.           

The trailer for the series 'Downton Abbey' is extremely different as it shows the audience a household consisting of the two classes at that time (early 20th Century, two years before the great war). The trailer is not slow motion like the other one, it is normal pace with camera shots allowing the audience to see how the series involves a lot of emotion and events. The use of long shots shows the house in which the stories take place, and close ups give the audience an idea of what actors are in the series, perhaps causing a wider appeal to the programme. The movement varies in pace, as the transition between each shot becomes quicker in a sense, with music allows quickening in pace, to represent how the stories become more and more complicated, intriguing the audience to see what the stories are. The costume allows us to see what period it is set in, like 'Desperate Romantics', and the different actions of the servants and of the family that live in Downton Abbey represent their classes and the attitudes of the people. The servants seem to have a more 'gossip' like attitude, and the shots are generally close ups or mid shots, showing the haste needed downstairs in a large country house. The camera angles and shots upperstairs seem to show the family at ease and not worrying about what the servants are having to do for them. This trailer generally attracts an older audience, because of the issues shown in the trailer and of the actors who are in it.

Yours 

Bessie   

TV Drama target audience

“Gossip Girl” TV Drama                                     Bessie Carter 

The TV Drama that I have chosen is the American teen drama “Gossip Girl”. It was based on the book series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage then created the TV series, which first aired on “The CW” on September 19, 2007.

      I watch it on Wednesdays at 8 o’ clock. The series revolves around the lives of privileged teenagers/young adults on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City. The series represents the 18/19-year-old characters to be incredibly lucky with each episode filled with party scenes, nights at bars, conversations in large apartments; making the characters seem to have very desirable lives. The target audience are teenagers aged between 15 and 19 years.

       Young people in ‘Gossip Girl’ are presented in a certain way. They all seem extremely classy. The costume design is very clever as all of the clothes worn are highly fashionable and popular, making the characters look even higher is society and in the ‘cool’ chart. Each character looks flawless as the make up artists have flattered each actor with their correct type of make up to create, again, the need to look like them. I know for a fact that when I settle down to watch an episode of ‘Gossip Girl’ I allow myself to believe that live in their high fashion and stylish life.

         The characters are extremely stereotypical- rich, young people living the supposed ‘dream life’, which is why the producers gave the series a hidden message. They make each character have something wrong with their lives, therefore creating the motto ‘money can’t buy you happiness’. The series emphasises that yes, the character’s lives look enjoyable and easy but that they each have troubled lives and pasts that provide a hidden and vulnerable side. Furthermore, social issues are brought up to do with the target audience (in this case- teenagers aged between 15 – 19 years of age). For example: drug abuse, sexuality, relationships, pregnancy, miss use of alcohol and money. Jenny Humphrey (played by actress Taylor Momsen) is the younger sister of one of the main characters, and she shows the desperation for popularity through trying so many different things to be popular. This raises a good point of the things that young teenage girls go through, just to look good and to be liked. Maybe other girls who watch “Gossip Girl” find it comforting to watch other people doing the same as them, and somehow find a way to stop being so obsessed by popularity through the programme.

         The writers did this to make the programme have more purpose than just trying to advertise fashionable looks and ways to spend your money. They did this to show that even people who have the best lifestyles can have the worst situations. However, similarly to the TV drama “Skins” some suggest that they way that young people are presented is far too transgressive and ‘out of control’ to seem realistic. But the reason I enjoy watching it is because the storylines are sometimes so unrealistic and crazy that it is sometimes amusing. Also I find that it can be comforting slipping into the mind of someone else and facing their problems instead of your own for once. I think the director and the writers created this atmosphere well through the characters and the storylines.

        I enjoy “Gossip Girl” thoroughly, but The Hartford Courant chronicled a variety of negative responses to the programme including quotes like "Every parent's nightmare", "mind-blowingly inappropriate" and "A nasty piece of work in what appears to be an effort to continue the 'rebellious teen' style of the show”. And some might agree that parents might not want their children to watch this programme as it might make the children too desperate to be like the characters. Therefore I think only if you are clever enough to work out the undercurrents in the programme, are you old enough to watch it. It mustn’t be that bad a programme as it won 14 Teen Choice Awards in the past couple of years, showing its demand and how wanted it is by teenagers. 

Yours.
Bessssssie carter

TV Drama and Me

Bess again.

   TV drama is a big part of my life, as I want to become an actress I really enjoying watching lots of different types of TV dramas: comedy, crime, romantic soap and period.

   I follow several mini series, which at the moment are; 'One Tree Hill', 'Desperate Housewives' and 'The Inbetweeners'. I enjoy getting involved with other peoples stories and lives and getting to stop thinking about your personal drama for once.

       Period dramas also entertain me, even though potentianally the audience is perhaps intented to be middle aged people, I really enjoy watching them as I see period dramas more as art. The mise en scene is always brilliant in a well done period drama, and I find it interesting watching a TV programme about times different to ours.
     If ever I am in a bad mood or I've had a long day there is never like a bit of comedy-->  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtnOYy7G_Bo
     Comedies I find are the best programmes to dip in and out of. For example: 'Friends'. I happily come home everyday and sit down to one or two episodes and even if I've seen them before it somehow doesn't matter. Lighthearted dramas like 'Friends', 'How I met your mother' and 'Simpsons' are also good as your don't have to have known what has happened previously, you can just enjoy it.
    As well as good fun dramas I do like getting properly involved in story lines. Writers are very good at making episodes end on cliffhangers, which obviously encourages the audience to want to watch next week. I fall into this category as I simply love waiting a week to see what is going to happen. 'One Tree Hill' is a perfect example of this, and all I'm going to say is this weeks episode is on in... 2 hours and 21 minutes.. not that I'm, you know, counting.

Anyway, I love TV Drama. End of story :)

Yours,

Bessie Carter

My Media Identity

Heyaa, my name is Bessie and I am a Camden School for Girls girl! I am taking Media AS as it is a large part of my life and I want to learn more about the way it works.

    I think Media is a great way to keep in touch with the world, for example on my Mac computer I use facebook, Skype and (in the old days) msn. My Mum uses her laptop for emailing family and work colleagues and my Dad to catch up on sport highlights and News. I think I mainly use my laptop to listen to music on Youtube, and for facebook, as most young people do.

    My parents watch the news on our television but I use it to watch TV programmes such as 'Friends', 'The Inbetweeners' and 'Hollyoaks'. if I happen to miss an episode that is when I use my computer for: 4od !

   We use Sky Live to record films, but I also enjoy seeing media products in multiplexes. My mobile phone is also a large part of my life: ( http://blackberryblog.com/images/blackberry_ui_large.gif) I use it to play music, to text/call people and also to get onto the internet.

    I keep updated with the news by reading the Metro (I know maybe not the most intellectual newspaper in the world) when I travel to and from school, and my Mum is constantly listening to the Radio so I can't escape listening to that too.
    Magazines such as 'Reveal' and 'OK' amuse me, and I prefer magazines like 'Vogue' and 'Glamour' as they do actually advertise clothes and they don't just humiliate celebrities, which my family and I disagree with strongly.
I enjoy using Media and I think that it is very neccessary in everyday life, to keep us entertained, informed and in touch with everyone around us.

Anyway, enough for now. Thanks for reading my first blog.

BESSIE CARTER