Revision help (Tv Drama)

Media Exam TV Drama Revision Guide and Help

Editing

Hollyoaks

 There are approximately 44 shots in the opening sequence, these are all very fast paced, jump shot edits. They all contain a shot of each character and props that relate to the personality of their character. All the transitions are very simple and fast cuts. The duration of these are all very short and this maybe reflects the short stories the characters are all involved in, in the tv drama and how many different relationships there are going on.

All the characters are stood infront of what seems to be a green screen as there are lots of different animated things going on in the background of their shots that relate to their personalities, status and all the current activities they taking part in, in the drama. For example Brendan is playing with cards in the last opening shot because his character is a gambler, very secretive and sly. Whereas, Dodger's character is surrounded by the silhouettes of girls because his charcter is known to be a 'ladies man'.

Binary Opposites (Claude Levi-Strauss)

I have studied the channel 4 soap drama Hollyoaks. Claude Levi-Strauss suggested that narratives are provided with motivation to move from one point to another by the repeated establishing of actual or potential conflict. He saw narratives as having binary opposites. These opposites act upon each other and characters try to control them, causing conflict and resolution.
Here is a table of opposite characters and scenes:

Characters:

Brendan Brady                                                  Jono
(Uptight, Very serious, stressful adult)            (Chilled out, relaxed teenager, stoner)

Cindy Cunningham                                           Phoebe Jackson
(Highly-strung, high-maintenance,girly)          (Relaxed, lazy, laidback appearance, boyish)

Maddie Morrison                                             Carmel McQueen
(Bitchy, judgemental, spiteful)                        (Kind-hearted, sweet, caring)

Mitzeee                                                             Myra McQueen
(Glamour model, sex appeal, pretty,             (Unemployed, curvy/larger build, 'chavvy', single mother of six)
takes interest in appearance, young)

Riley Costello                                                  Jacqui Mcqueen
(Professional footballer, weathly, famous,   (Barmaid, little disposable income if any, 'chavvy')
comfortable/flash lifestyle)

Scenes:

Hollyoaks College                                      The Dog In The Pond pub
(Full of adolescents, learning environment)  (Full of adults, laid back environment)

Student University Halls                              Tony Hutchinson and Cindy Cunningham's flat
(Very basic layout, messy, smelly, plain,     (Modern, clean, expensive)
small)

Levi-Strauss thought of and created this theory with the thought in mind that having binary opposites within narratives creates more interesting potential story lines and a more life-like feel, because in reality everyone is different in many different ways.