Going Live - TV Programme Reviews

Television Soap - Eastenders

Programme Outline: Eastenders is a British televison soap opera & the show first aired on the 19th of February 1985. Eastenders storyline examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London borough of Walford in East London. The series focuses on the residents of Albert Square. Four episodes are broadcast each week except Wednesdays for half an hour, which each episode then later being repeated on BBC Three at 10:30pm and an omnibus edition on BBC ONE at weekends.

Eastenders a family soap but also aimed at more middle aged people 40+. The show consistenlty attracts atleast 7 to 12 million viewers. Eastenders two main rivals are Coronation Street & Emmerdale.

Sequence Analysis:
Information: It is Carol's Birthday and David tries his best to sabotage Masood's plans - but will his naughty scheme work? Phil gives Jay an ultimatum about where his loyalties lie.

In the first part of this sequence as Jake answers the door Phil comes walking very fast and fustrated through the house with Ronnie behind which is a wide shot. It then becomes a mid shot of other guests in the house showing their emotion and stunned faces as they see Phil's anger which makes the viewers anticipate something is about to take place. The next scene is in the living room as Phil confronts Jay about going behind his back. The camera then goes back and forth between Phil and Jay as they talk and then also to the guests in the house to show their expression while they have this heated confrontation and all these shots are mid shots. It then becomes more of a wide shot as Phil and Jay are the centre of attention. The shot remains that way as it becomes more tense until Phil and Jay leave the room with no dialouge and just the music playing in the background. Carol and David then leave the room to have a conversation, the shot is a mid shot with both of them, then it becomes a mid close up as the camera cuts between them when they are talking. In the scene carol recieves a present from David, she takes it out the rapper but we dont know what it is yet until the shot becomes an Over-The-Shoulder (OTS) shot where we can see its a caset.

Programme Description & Analysis:
Overall, during this sequence there are only 2 main shots which were Mid shot's and Wide Shot's. The mid shots and wide shots are used a lot because they also try and capture the characters emotion. The genre of the programme is a serial drama so the shots will move a bit quick but at the same time still be slow because its a drama and not stay on one shot for too long, which was shown during this sequence the shots were cut farely quickly to keep the audience alert of what may happen next and so it does not get boring. Shots move atleast every 2-3 seconds. The audience always expect to see drama all the time when it comes to soaps especially if its a serial drama something always happens, thats when drama does start things begin to come a bit more quicker during that specific scene to get the viewers excited & wanting to watch what might happen in the next episode. Eastenders is only shown 4 times a week, I think they do this because of clashing with other popular programmes and it also helps with ratings because viewers will be left hanging from Tuesdays epsiode wanting to know what will happen next so will tune into Thursdays episode. Having it shown again on BBC THREE gives the viewers chance to watch it again if they missed it on BBC ONE.

Game Show - The Cube

Programme Outline: The Cube is a British game show which first aired on ITV on 22 August 2009. Presented by Phillip Schofield, it offers contestants the chance to win a top prize of £250,000 by completing challenges from within a 4m × 4m × 4m Perspex cube with only 9 lives to complete the different challenges. The show is based on the idea that even straightforward tasks become extremely challenging when confined and put under pressure in front of a large live studio audience. Once inside, contestants can feel both claustrophobic and disorientated. They also repeat on ITV2. Its an hour long game show.

Sequence Analysis: At the beginning of the game there's a voice explaining the concept of the game and a background instrumental whiles that is going on they are showing different people who have played the game already in the Perspex cube and also showing contestants saying how difficult the game is. It is very fast paced in the beginning panning around the Cube showing us whats going on from different angles, but what is going on in cube is in slow motion. It also shows mid shots of different contestants facial expressions very quickly. The camera then zooms into Phillip Schofield with him asking the question "Have you got what it takes to beat the cube?" and then zooms back out. Phillip Schofield is also looking directly into the camera as he speaks. Whiles Phillip Schofield is interviewing the contestant the camera switches between them and the family that are sitting in the audience a mid shot is used when viewing the families. When the contestant is walking into the cube they use a birds eye view shot, once the contestant is in the cube it becomes a wide shot so you can see Phillip from a distant and the contestant in the cube. When the contestant takes on the challenge the shot pans around the cube and everything becomes slow motion which makes the audience anxious to see if they can do it. Once the contestant completes the challenge and does it the camera cuts between them and their family which is a mid shot of their reaction.

 Programme Description & Analysis:
In comparison to eastenders, The cube is definelty more quicker which is expected because it is a game show and it needs to give the audience that adrenaline rush when they are watching, whereas eastenders just slowly creates that tension throught the whole entire programme. Game shows also use shots & angles that you will not see in eastenders such as slow motion, zooming in fast and fast panning these kind of shots & angles are mainly just used in game shows. Audience expect to be anxious when they are watching a game show, feel like they are on the edge on their seats, so game shows make sure that its as exciting and exhilirating to watch for their audience. I dont think this game show has a specific audience, I think its for anyone who likes watching game shows watch it, whereas eastenders does have a specific audience they target at.

Sitcom - The Big Bang Theory

Programme Outline:
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom which premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007. The show is centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: roommates Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper; Penny, a waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's equally geeky and socially awkward friends and co-workers, mechanical engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali. The geekiness and intellect of the four guys is contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense. In the UK the show is mainly shown on channel E4. The ratings are around the 1 million mark.

Sequence Analysis:
In the beginning of the sequence everything is very slow. All the characters are at a restaurant having a meal. One of the characters sits down, then the camera slowly panes outwards and then goes into a wide shot so we can see who else is seating at the table with him and where they are. It then goes into a mid shot as each character begins to talk around the table. Then when the whole group agrees on something it goes back to the wide shot so we can see everybodys expression and what they are saying. One of the characters tries to make a funny joke but the camera is not only on her but the other person seating next to her so then we can aslo see his facial expression which is a wide shot, once the joke is not funny the camera goes on everybodys faces individually to show their expression which is all mid shots. There is then a wide shot of two of the characters looking up to the waitress as she speaks. It then goes back to another wide shot of the group seating at the table when of the characters ask the group question showing the audience the he is asking everyone at the table.

Programme Descriptions & Analysis:
With all three programmes I have analysed, they all have their main audience eastenders is a family soap, the cube aimed at people who love watching game shows and the big bang theory is aimed at geeks & people who are into science. Compared to eastenders and the cube, the big bang theory is fairly slow between its cuts it can be 5-10 seconds which is not so odd for a sitcom because its not all to serious because of the funny side to it so not everything is moving fast but at the same time not to slow because they want to keep the audience laughing. 

Strengths & Weaknesses of Multi-Camera and Single Camera Production:
With Multi Camera you can use different cameras to shoot which makes it more quicker to shoot. Using lighting and sound is a lot easier because you dont have to keep packing the equipment when moving to a different location. You also got a lot of scenes covered in a shorter amount of time. The disadvantages of Multi camera is that it may cost more with the camera men you need to hire and it being out of sync. The Advantages of single camera is that its more cheaper, you dont need to worry about it being out of sync. The disadvantage is that it takes longer to shot & edit since there is so many shots to be done.