TV Drama Title Sequences

TV Drama Title Sequences

Sherlock 

The title sequence begins with an ariel/ establishing shot to show where the show is taking place, in this case it is London but is time lapsed/speeded up to maybe connotate the movement of time, how the city remains the same as people get on with their day-to-day lives, while Sherlock is saving lives and investigating while this is happening. The shot then fades to another shot but introducing the title along with the setting of London.

The title is in block capitals which could reinforce the importance of Sherlock. The font is broard and similarly resembles the Johnston font used in London subways, showing that Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat (creators) chose this font for the title because it is a font used very commonly around London so again signify the setting of the show.

A blurred focus shows Sherlock with a magnifying glass, hinting at the crime-drama mystery that the show is, giving the audience an insight into the show itself. 

This is followed by quick zoom ins onto random objects, inferring that these are clues in the mystery of the cases that Sherlock conducts as items such as a stained cloth (?), gun and flesh are focused on for a few milliseconds as then the main cast names are shown.

The Walking Dead

The title sequence consists of a theme of desolation and darkness as the beginning shows a black screen with just the non-diegetic sound of the theme tune, until the first shot is shown of a mass pile up of empty cars, how everyone has left, which could infer the whole zombie-apocalyptic idea of human survival, which is the basis of the show. This image connotates to the viewer that something bad worldwide as people have all left their cars behind which could also imply that there is a loss of control. 

There is then a cut to a shallow focus of a sheriff's badge, focusing on how the badge is important in that the main character, Rick Grimes, was a sheriff and he is trying to keep order in the show as he is the protagonist. This image could also foreshadow the loss of order in the show's society  but could also connotate that even though there is little hope, there are still people trying to keep order.

The intro also uses a similar image cut, using a shallow focus on 2 crossbows in a tree, inferring that people are fighting to survive with weapons. This focus also implies the character behind the weapon, Daryl Dixon as the cast names are shown alongside each image (the one before, Andrew Lincoln, was shown) . In this case, Norman Reedus' name is shown as he is the actor who plays Daryl. 

Another frame used is a extreme close up shot of a zombie's eye, 

Guardian vs. Daily Mail

The Guardian and Daily Mail Front Page Research

Guardian cover 1:

The Guardian's headline here suggests from the language register that these Migrants should be sympathized and helped due to the word 'most lethal', describing the trip that they had to take oversea. This shows that the Guardian is left wing biased as the viewpoint suggests that readers should pity and help these poor people due to the lethal trip to Italy. This is emphasized through the image as it shows migrants struggling to get off of the boat along with a baby being lowered down to get to safety, showing how dangerous the route is, even getting off the boat is a struggle. This coverage could be negative in saying that it is harsh that these people are treated like this but his can also be viewed as unbiased because it is not being shown in a strong negative or positive light. This appeals to the target audience as it tries to create the readers sympathy for the migrants through the language and image used which is relevant to the target audience as they feel sorry for the people involved.

Daily Mail cover 1:

This headline in comparison to the Guardian, shows the migrants from a negative viewpoint as 'crime' and 'violence' is blamed on them in a biased factual representation as the Daily Mail represents the migrants here as the bad people as we are being told that they are committing bad acts into Italy's society. This cover in comparison is much more biased into the emotions that the readers should input from reading this, creating a negative view as the words chosen show unsympathetic feelings towards these migrants. This shows the views that migrants shouldn't be welcomed into countries as it is stereotyped here that they are violent and are criminals. 

Guardian Cover 2:

This headline and cover image from the guardian shows refugees in from sympathetic viewpoint though the image and words portrayed. This can be inferred through the headline as the quote of: 'they downed before our eyes' shows the pain that they've suffered from one of the refugees point of view and how upsetting it must be for them, creating the reader to feel sorry for those involved and those lives that have been lost. This can also be reinforced by the image as it shows a refugee mourning over those that are dead, making the readers feel upset by this tragedy; this shows that the Guardian has a sympathetic viewpoint towards these refugees, influencing the reader's viewpoint.

Daily Mail Cover 2:

In contrast, the Daily Mail's headline and cover image shows the refugees in an unbiased light as they are stating what happened factually rather than from any viewpoint as if they showed a negative viewpoint they may be accused as being rude and unsympathetic to the deaths of families and children. They use a graphic image to show to people how horrible it was for them as there are clearly dead children from the tragedy, being surrounded by those mourning over the lives lost. This could either create disgust for the reader or sympathy as they could either think that it was the refugees fault in the first place as they knew the consequences of the route or that the image is very saddening, making the reader sympathetic, showing that the overall viewpoint can go both ways at it is unbiased.

News: The Political Landscape of Britain

Political Parties

Right Wing

The Conservative Party

• Led by Theresa May
• Right wing 
• Triggered Brexit
• A mix of right wing and centralist
• The current party of parliament in Britain

UKIP

• The UK Independence Party
• Right wing
• Sovereignist party who wants EU withdrawal 
• 2015 - obtained 1 member of parliament
• Holds xenophobic attitudes 
• Has 7 members in European parliament 

BNP

• British National Party 
• Extreme right wing
• Nationalistic views
• Xenophobic views
• Has no members of parliament 

Centre Parties

Liberal Democrats

• Formed in 1988
• Centre party
• A mixture of social conservatives and social democrats
• pro-European
• Shared power with the Conservative party until 2015
• In the 2015 election they lost majority of their MPs

The Green Party

• Centre-left party
• Middle class
• Committed to the promotion of environmental issues
• Has 1 member of parliament since 2010

Left Wing Parties

The Labour Party

• Includes the smaller co-operative party
• Leader from 2010-2015 was Ed Miliband
• Leader now is Jeremy Corbyn
• Supported and funded by British trade unions but not influenced by them 
• After the recession in the 1970s, Tony Blair who transformed it into a modern social democratic party
• It is made up of local parties, British trade unions and other associations
• They rival with the Conservatives

Respect

• Was lead by George Galloway who was it's sole MP until 2015.
• Left wing.

The Communist Party of Great Britain

• Marginal
• Has only ever had 2 elected MPs
• Never been a mass party
• Had its peak in the 1940s

Main Regional and Nationalist Parties

Scottish Nationalist Party

• The most important political party in Scotland (currently)
• Left of centre nationalist party
• Nicola Sturgeon - party leader
• Party wanted to remain in the EU
• In the 2017 election it lost 19 of 50 seats in parliament but still holds a majority 

Plaid Cymru -Welsh Nationalist Party

• A major Welsh party
• Used to control the Welsh assembly but now on a par with the Labour party
• 2017 - 3 MPs in the UK parliament

Democratic Unionist Party  

• Conservative Protestant majority party  in Northern Ireland 
• In favour of Brexit
• Formed in 1971
• 2017- the DUP has agreed to support the Conservatives in the Westminster Parliament
• The DUP has 10 MPs

Sinn Fein 

• Majority party among the Catholic minority in Northern Ireland
• In favour of Northern Ireland being withdrew from the UK

SDLP

• Social Democratic Party and Labour Party of Northern Ireland 
• Non-sectarian social democratic party  
• Made up of Catholics and Protestants 

Stranger Things

Stranger Things Research

The production companies of Stranger Things are 21 laps entertainment and Monkey Massacre as well as Netflix as a distributor and the executive producers are The Duffer Brothers, Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. The writers and directors of Stranger Things are the Duffer Brothers.

The cast main consists of:

Millie Bobby Brown who plays Eleven,

Gaten Matarazzo who plays Dustin,

Finn Wolfhard who plays Michael,

Caleb McLaughlin who plays Lucas, 

Winona Ryder who plays Joyce,

Noah Schnapp who plays Will,

David Harbour who plays Chief Hopper,

Natalia Dyer who plays Nancy,

Joe Keery who plays Steve Harrington.

Stranger Things has a large social media presence as they consistently tweet on Twitter, own a Facebook page, a Wiki, fan forums and have a large following of fans which have created the Stranger Things fandom.

It has a good critical impact as the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes show that it has a rating of 95% from 66 votes with a 5/5 star rating too, which clearly indicates that many people enjoy the show. On Metacritic it has a rating of 76% but with 34 reviews determining that percentage but has a great 4/5 star rating, again showing that the show is approved by many.

It has a large cultural impact as it is talked about a lot online as well as some magazines featuring the show.

Awards that the show has won:

The American Film Institute in the Top 10 TV Programs of the Year,

The Dragon Awards Best Sci-fi or Fantasy TV Series,

Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series, Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Original Main Title The Music,

Gold Derby TV Awards: Best Drama Series and Breakthrough Performer of the Year (Millie Bobby Brown),

Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing: TV Short Form - Music,

Hollywood Music in Media Awards Outstanding Music Supervision Television,

MTV Movie and TV Awards: TV Show of the Year and Best Actor in a TV Show (Millie Bobby Brown),

The Male Gaze

Jason Derulo- Want To Want Me

The singer looks at the audience with a serious seductive, almost cheeky expression which could symbolize, from the camera cut from his lover, that he is singing to her but looking at the audience as if we are who he is singing about and/or to. He also looks pleadingly and bites his lip connotating that  he has sexual desire reinforced by the lyrics and cut scenes to him laying him bed naked with is lover the opposite side of the wall in a bed feeling up and down her body heightening the need or desire. 

The audience is looking at the movement of the singer and his lover, deciphering what it connotates and the dance moves of Derulo which can be interpreted as sexual with suggestive hip movements along with his lovers movements.

Doctor Foster

Doctor Foster

The main character is a female named Doctor Foster, she is represented as an independent woman as she takes it on herself to find out about what her husband has been doing when she's not there. She has also been represented as a questioning woman who is trying to delve into the mystery about her husband. She is also shown as somewhat strong in dealing with the facts that she finds as from the trailer I can see that she seems to show anger in her face but doesn't portray that outwardly but then a knife is shown into the equation which shows the climax as it foreshadows that there is going be be physical violence. 

This contrasts with the previous conceptions of female stereotypes as in this show I can clearly see that a female character takes the main role along with other female characters playing a strong part in the series. This idea juxtaposes with other shows as many female characters take the background role and are submissive to the male, whereas, in this, Doctor Foster steps out of that stereotype into becoming independent by doing things herself. 

The people who produced Doctor Foster are female, one of them is Suranne Jones who also happens to play Doctor Foster in the series. This alters the way the characters may be constructed due to females producing the show which might create counter-stereotyped female characters and more antagonist male characters in reverse to mainstream sexist stereotyped shows.

The target audience would be adults (mainly women) from around the age 20 to 50 as the producers are female, the cast is mostly strong female characters so it is in a influenced perspective of a female so a female audience is most likely to watch it. The director's viewpoints are put into the show's context so influence a more female viewpoint of the show to the audience. 

Guardian and Daily Mail Annotations