Prelimanary Study 2; Eastenders.

Preliminary Study 2; Eastenders.

We are looking at a soap opera called Eastenders, Eastenders is set in the East of London it has been running since 1985. It is a very popular and highly loved programme and always has a exciting story line. The story line we are looking at is the Ben Mitchell and Phil Mitchell story. Ben is jealous because his dad Phil never has time for him, doesn’t pay attention to him, leaves him out and does not have faith in him. Phil dedicates all his to his fostered son Jay. Because of this Ben betrays Phil by going behind his back and telling the police his biggest secrets.

Betrayal is represented in this because Ben keeps going behind Phils back telling his biggest secrets and all of his past so that he will get arrested just simply because of his jealousy. Also Ben is lying to Phil everyday and acting like it is normal because Phil has no idea what Ben has done.

I think Eastenders is suitable for any age, so it is addressed for families. This is because it is highly suitable for people at an elderly age to people in their childhood. This is because there is not any foal language and it is aired at a suitable time which is at either at seven thirty or eight o’clock.

My personal response on Eastenders is that I love the programme. I think the story line is always very effective and the story line between Ben and Phil has always been exciting to watch. I think it is very realistic in many ways because it would be the same as it would be if the same thing was ever to happen to a normal person. The thing I found most interesting is the fact Ben and Phil are extremely good actors, they can show their emotion really well and are in character all the time!

The style of Eastenders is very naturalistic. The camera work is very realistic it makes you feel as if you are part of it or you are there with them, Also they have a lot of close ups, the close ups catch really intense moments and it shows you how the characters are feeling just by the expression on their face. The set is also very realistic because it’s a real house, garage, etc. The sound effects are diagetic for example you actually hear the door shutting unlike if it was a musical they would add the sound effects in. The lighting is the same as any lighting would be in the day time and the costume they are just regular costumes an average person would wear. The end of the episode there is a close up on Ben and he says happy birthday dad in a very sarcastic way, after he says that as they call them the ‘dum dum dums’ are added in as a cliff hanger. This makes it a whole lot more dramatic, exciting and effective for the viewers. When it is close up it really shows his emotion and it is really good.