Title sequence analysis-Eastenders

A close up of the river Thames is the establishing shot chosen, for the Eastenders title sequence. Producers have chosen this as the establishing shot to immediately make the audience aware of Eastenders setting. Drum roles accompany the establishing shot. This is a similar drum role as that which introduces long awaited results. By doing this, the viewers get the impression that several people are eagerly waiting to se the latest developments in the soap. The establishing shot being of the river Thames is relevant because of the connotations it resembles. Rivers can cannotate happy memories as well as bad ones. Furthermore, lakes can also resemble secrets as no one knows as no one knows what may be deep down in the water. All of these are connotations relevant to the soap. This is because the soap includes both good and bad narratives as well as good and bad storylines and secrets which continue throughout the soap for years. An example of this type of narrative is Zoë Slater finding out that Kat Slater is her mother, when for several years she had thought they were sisters.

The camera then gives a wider view and gradually shows a bird’s eye view of the east end of London. Again this emphasises where Eastenders is set’ east end of London. A birds eye view of the setting allows us to see all the houses and landmarks. Choosing this particular view and dominating most of the title sequence can indicate that regular viewers will be aware of the entire goings on, as someone looking down can see much more than anyone else. It can also be argued that this view can mean that viewers will have more knowledge of events than the characters themselves. The viewer is made aware.

A number of musical instruments are present in the title sequence. This includes the drums and piano. By using instruments associated with toughness (drums), and others associated with softness (piano), we are given hints about the soap. Such as the existence of both feminine and masculine characters. We can also tell from this that there is a mixture of tough characters and cowardice ones. This is true as Phil is a tough character in the soap whereas Billy is a coward character.

Throughout the title sequence the river Thames moves in a circular motion across the screen before stopping in the centre. Possibly, to remind viewers that by watching they will see how the narrative turns out to be .From the bird’s eye view we can see dark black areas that are bright in colour. By showing this viewers can tell that there are both positive and negative storylines in the soap.

We do not see a lot of the landscape and are gradually introduced to more of the setting until we eventually see all of it, is important. This could be a message to viewers that by watching the soap for longer things will become more clear, just like viewer have found out the setting of Eastenders through watching the title sequence.

Group effort done by Aya El-fouani