Costume! S02 E05

Episode Summary ...

Fashion Week is here!!!Blair is furious with her mother for giving Serena and her new socialite friend, Poppy Lifton, front row seats to the Eleanor Waldorf show. Hurt by both Serena and her mother, Blair decides to sabotage the show.Meanwhile, Dan starts hanging out with Chuck, but he quickly learns that the dark side has its risks. Lily learns a secret that her new husband, Bart has been keeping from her.

COSTUME - CHUCK COMPARED TO DAN

Dan is wearing khaki greens and greys - this suggests a laid back attitude; someone not too bothered about how they dress. His hoody agrees with this, he is a comfortable, practical dresser not too greatly troubled by fashion or driven by their looks. The checkered Shirt is also very casual and laid back. An almost geeky appearance.

Compared to

The difference between the characters is made so clear through the costume. Chuck's formal suit equipped with silk tie in the pocket suggests immense wealth and self importance. He wants to be looked at, unlike Dan who is happy to blend into the background with what he wears. Chuck wants to give the impression that he has a lot of money and he does this by buying silk suits with huge collars and old fashioned ties. He wants to impress people and his clothes definately make this possible.

The difference in costume between the two characters shows:
- their difference in wealth (Dan='poor' compared to Chuck, the multi millionaire)
- their difference in attitude (Dan=laid back, Chuck=eager to impress ... women)
- Chuck makes statements with his clothes, Dan does not.
- Chuck is more image driven, cares about what people think, aims to impress.

Serena:

Her dress is elegant and feminine. She is very attractive and doesn't need to work too hard to look good, so a simple plain dress suits her well. The dress is clearly expensive, a designer dress and well made which reinforces her wealth and her links to the fashion industry. Her hair is loose and tousled, which suggests a relaxed approach about her appearance and also confidence. She doesn't need to preen herself greatly to look good. Her make up is also unobtrusive, she oozes self confidence with this seemingly effortless look.

Blair:

Blairs image is a lot less relaxed, her costume has a lot more straight lines and is seemingly more thought through. Her hair is expertly curled, not loosely tousled like Serena's - which links in with her more uptight personality. Her dress is very classically feminine, almost over the top with lacey patterns and lacey tights with lots of jewelery - a 'girly girl'. She is also clearly very rich, and her expensive clothes exemplify this.

GG, S02 E04 - Representation

Episode Summary: Blair and her 'Posse' interview different girls to decide whether or not they would be inducted into their 'clique'. Dan bumps into new student Amanda and they form an instant bond however, Blair and her 'posse' attempt to sabotage Dan and Amanda's friendship by inducting her as the new girl in their 'clique' meanwhile, Serena meets a new lust interest and Vanessa meets with the Duchess

Rich teenagers are being represented, as the setting is an American private school. It is a classic example of youth school culture (predominantly American) - someone extremely popular having the ability and power to control other students around her. A representation of Social hierarchies within schools.

Costume: Dan is at a private school, and his school uniform reflects this as in most state American schools, a uniform is not worn. He's well kept, but slightly casual with the top button not done up, shirt untucked and the shoulder canvas bag, but other than that quite a 'geeky' studious appearance. Other students around the playground are dressed in the same uniform. Girls are kilted, it's formal, posh. Some students are more 'rebellious' than Dan with their uniform, the two girls he talks to have flamboyant hair pieces and socks etc, this suggests that they are 'cooler' and more likely to be friends with Serena, the girl he's looking for.
IN STARK CONTRAST
Serena does not wear the uniform religiously. A very short school kilt SO unlike most of the other girl students in the playground, no tights/socks, a tight white t-shirt with a mans tie tied loosely around her neck. She is sexy, confident, and not afraid to the break the rules. Her bag hangs over her arm casually, poised, she wants to be looked at, wants to look good. Her makeup is perfectly applied and her hair looks good. A stereotypical representation of a popular school girl, blond, pretty, not afraid to break the rules, quite 'slutty'/sexy.

Location: outdoor setting, quad, plants, outdoor tables, it is very well kept, Greek style benches suggests wealth, red bricks also suggests wealth and a higher class. Clearly a school, due to the uniform, students with bags milling around, and the corridor and large doors behind Dan as he steps out of the building. There are lanterns on the walls, and high wall to ceiling windows - this is not an ordinary State school, this is well facilitated and well looked after.

Music Music is very important in this clip. The track is Shove it, by Santogold. The main refrain is "We think you're a joke Shove your hope where it don't shine " the lyrics are synchronous - Dan is not liked, everyone is moving away from him because he ridiculed Serena, she is getting her own back by ridding him of popularity/friends. The beat of the music also represents youth culture, it's upbeat, dance like, young, quite 'poppy'. It also fits the pace of the sequence. The texture of the music builds up as Dan's anxiety builds up as he sees people flee from him. It's also parallel to Serena's 'catwalk' like strut towards Dan. She is flaunting herself in front of him, reminding him that he is missing out on, and is wordlessly telling him that he has to pay.

Dialogue: There is very little dialogue in this extract, the story is told through the action. We know Dan is looking for Serena as he questions the girls, but they do not talk to him. They look at him with disgust on their faces, they can not be near him, they move away quickly.

Action: its seemingly insignificant, but this is a HUGE turning point in Gossip Girl. The Bitchy Serena is back. No longer is she the nice one, who went out with Dan- she has reinvented herself and taken Blair's place as Queen bee. None of this is represented through dialogue, it is in Serena's walk, Serena's costume and the look she gives Dan and that SLIGHT shake of the head, that tell us that the 'bitch is back'. She looks at Dan with such distaste, such dislike and power that he seems small and insignificant, even terrified next to her. The slight tilt of the head as she walks away tells us that she has reasserted her power. These girls will follow her where ever she goes. This is a stereotypical representation of American school social statuses - examples being 'the core' in the OC and the film, Meangirls - an 'elitist' group who think themselves above the rest.

Camera Work - movement/ shot types: This clip has some interesting camera movement. The opening reverse track follows Dan's path, ensuring Dan is the focus. The pan of the playground sets the location and allows us to see that everyone in the playground is staring at Dan with distaste. The crane shot then rotates around Dan, and this really emphasises and brings attention to the fact that everyone is trying to get away from him. This shot could also reflect his state of mind, confused at what's going on, angry - not steady and focused. The camera then gets closer and closer towards Dan, starting at a MLS slowly moving forwards while rotating, ending up with a CU. This CU allows us to see his expression and feel sympathy for Dan, he looks annoyed and knows exactly what's going on. The camera then stops rotating on an OTS shot, allowing us to see Serena and her 'gang' strut into the playground. After the encounter with Serena, the camera tracks backwards, as though it's with Serena. This heightens Dan's vulnerability and the LS reveals that he's all alone.

Editing: One of the key editing features of this clip is the slow mo used on Serena's entrance. This almost suggests that time stops for her, she is so important. It also allows the viewer to really see what she's turned into (costume, way she's walking etc). Prolongs the experience. It's also interesting how it cuts back to Dan frequently, this really homes in on his expression. The way he looks her up and down stereotypically suggests that he's checking her out, but in reality he's looking at what she's become. The editing represents Dan as a timid vulnerable character whereas Serena is completely in control, a powerful and dominant character.

GG, S02 E03, Characterisation

very quick episode summary ...
Serena and Dan get stuck in a lift and have to talk about their problems, realise their relationship isn't going to work. Chuck LOVES Blair, and they make out during the blackout and Blair's boyfriend ( The Duke ) catches them ... he is very angry and upset, because Blair knew it was Chuck.

Gossip Girl S02 E03

Characterisation – Blair (0.27 seconds, second chapter, itv player) - not able to get a clip, but taken stills instead...
Costume: Silk top, white, suggests innocence, but she is far from that. Could link to the conversation with Serena about sex, she has not had sex with the Duke yet. Her hair is tied back simply, middle parting, very child like and innocent. Contrasts greatly with her personality. This is Blair’s fashion, she is very rich, her mother designs clothes, she is clearly very image driven, perfect make up, perfect hair, perfect clothes, matching bracelets etc. She is a definite ‘girly girl’

Body Language: She seems quite snooty, bitchy, careless, arrogant. She pays no attention to the maid (with suggests her wealth and class, used to being cared for), she snatches the papers from Serena, no thank-you, she is not polite, she thinks herself very important. She is very fake, clearly hiding/masking how she really feels about the Duke – overly smiley when talking about him, it’s very exaggerated. Dialogue: ‘You know he hasn’t pressured me about sex once? … Not …once..” The repetition shows that it bothers her. She might find talking about her feelings difficult; therefore she throws hints for her friends to pick up on it. If Serena noticed, she ignored it.

Music: No music, main focus is on the dialogue

Camerawork - Movement:

The establishing shot is a tilt of the building where Blair currently is. This informs us of her wealth, as it is an elegant, posh block of 'apartments' or 'penthouses'. The tilt also heightens the feeling of grandour. The shot is immediately followed by a LS of the elegant, perfectly furnished room. The framing of the shot also heightens the elegance, the painting of the tree is in the centre of all objects, almost symmetrical. It's grand, elegant and incredibly formal. These girls are rich!

There is an extremely slow forward track from this LS bringing us closer to both characters. This is not only discrete, but prolongs the viewers attention on the surroundings, which are elegant, expensive and impressive.

Representation of Time

The sections
1. In the bread shop - Victorian Times
- Costume: baker in white puffy hat, young boy in victorian flat cap, neck tie, 'breeches', old man, very victorian dress, wasitcoat, long tail coat, top hat in hand - signifies victorian times.
- Location: Bread shop very old fashioned, bread on wooden shelfs behind baker - clearly not modern day.
- Props: Loaves of bread shelved, large wooden box. Bread not stored/transported like that nowadays.
- Music: Light hearted, jolly, upbeat piano piece. Creates light hearted mood. Relaxed.
- Dialogue: Up north 'Here yerh goa lad ,' Definately in north england.
- Sound: bell rings as old man enters shop - very old fashioned - victorian.
- Camera Work: Backward track, allows us to follow the boy and see his face as he leaves the shop
- Editing : All one shot. Focuses on the boy, does not cut away to the baker or old man as he enters. The boy is our main area of focus.

2. Cart - Still Victorian Times... hat comes off TITANIC POSTERS - sets the time period, early 1900's
- Costume: boy in victorian flat cap, neck tie, 'breeches', hat comes off as he moves into more modern times.
- Location: Victorian Street, crowded, busy, narrow, dangerous, horse and cart, no cars, everyone else in old dress
- Props: Horse and cart, pig hanging up in butchers shop, titanic poster - reinforces idea of early 1900's - not as we live today.
- Music: Light hearted, jolly, upbeat piano piece continued from bakers. Mood maintained.
- Dialogue: None
- Sound: crowds mumering, general street noise, horse neighing. Diegetic - brings us in - makes it seem real.
- Camera Work: Some still shots, but lots of pans to follow his running, gets viewer involved.
- Editing : CU on face to see boys shock at the horse. From MLS to LS, allows us to see the location properly.

3. Womens Riots

- Costume: old fashioned dress, especially noticable on the women - long dresses, hats, long coats etc
- Location: Wide street, plenty of space for the protest, clearly Britain, well off area, posh houses, quite rich women rioting - signified through costume. Man's costume looks expensive too.
- Props: banners, placards, let us know its the Suffrage movement.
- Dialogue: None
- Sound: Protesting
- Camera Work: Quick pan as he runs, draws us in, makes us feel like we're there
- Editing : CU of women, still focuses mainly on the boy tho, ends with HA LS, allows us to see the location and extent of the movement. Makes us truely proud :)

4. Soldiers
- Costume: Soldiers, WW1 - young actors, evokes sympathy and realisation of the horrors of WW1. All these young men marching to their death.
- Location: Very British Street. Crowds of people waving of the soldiers, offering their support. Makes you feel proud to be British. Heightened by the salute.
- Props: Rifles, soldiers bags and hats,
- Music: Violins come in - sinister, sad undertones
- Dialogue: None
- Sound: marching feet

Street with car, we are moving into modern times, pan, follows the boys movement. Characters dress are late thirties early 40's.

6. War
The music changes. Single chords, sollem, quietens, hushed, in respect for those who lost their lives, reflective.
Location: Bombed area, clearly WW2, Broken families wander the streets
Props: WW2 fighting plane, portraits, the radio, broken furntiure strewn in the street - depicts the tradegy of the time.
Sound : THE RADIO, Churchills famous speech " we'll fight on the beaches, " makes us proud of Britain, soliders were heroes who faught for our country. Plane flying overhead.
Camera Work/Editing: Close up on radio, and the plane, and the broken families. Less focus on the boy here - very important message being put across.

7. Coronation Street Party
Music: Suddenly up beat again.
Location: Brightly lit street, wide enough to cater for large table and many children.
Props: Lemonade - a cheerful image, also very 50's, (Enid Blyton) Bright table cloth, Crown - signifies queen coronation and not VE day. British flags hanging in between the houses, Flowers on the table. Very happy, joyous atmosphere represented.
Costume: Boy dressed up as a pirate, shows that this was a fun period, playful, completely contrasts with the harsh sollem atmosphere created in the WW2 clip.
Camera Work: again, mostly pans, follows the boys path.
Sounds: Chatter, laughter

8) The 60's! Girls and Football 'CHAMPIONS'
Costume - Very important, represents the 60's. Mini skirts, coloured tights, hair styles, red boots. Also, the boys outfit changes, 60's sweater and coat.
Dialogue - "CHAMPIONS", England winning world cup in 1966!
Props - British flags in car, the type of car that would have been driven in the 60's. British flags are important, i think Hovis were trying to appeal to all, best of Britain, not best of England.
Sounds - Car horn
Music - guitars come in .... the change in time is not just represented through the visuals, but through the music too. Shows the progression of music - use of guitars in pop music - i.e the Beatles.
Editing - Cuts to inside of the car, we can see the boy running down the street from another angle, shows British flags hanging up in the house windows, a more intersting way of following the boys path. Also, low level of the boys legs as he runs, a quick pan, he's moving quicker now, building momentum.


9)Street with Asians and TV Shop
-The 1973 Racial Discrimination Act, this is represented through the Asian Couple.
-The tv shop shows the progression of technology through time.
Music - Guitars continue
Props - Tv's
Costume - Boy now has a '70's collar'

10. Cole not Dole strike/protest the 80's
Music - Stops again. Allows us to hear the rioting and the man, 'Ay lad, Is it past your bed time' Again, signifies we are up north,'
Sound - Sound of protesting. Rioting.
Props - Police outfits, plastic shields etc
Location - near water, if my geography/history of mining was better i could decipher where it could be. Newcastle?
Costume: police costumes,

11. Fireworks
Location- London, the milleunium!
Music - more instruments added, quite 'pop' and modern. Shows transition of time.
Camera Work: Pan, following the boys path.

12. Home
The kitchen is rustic and very wooden, and this could be because Hovis are trying to say that they only use natural ingredients etc.
Music stops - its the end of his journey 'through time'
It's clearly in modern times, boy is wearing modern clothes, kitchen is brighlty lit, music reverts to positivity.

13) Narrative/Story development through whole advert
Costume, props and location are the main signifiers of time. It's intersting, because all other sections clearly represent sepcific moments in time, however the fireworks could be from any period of time. But the viewer works out that it's the milleunium due to the narrative before this, as it is clear that the boy is travelling through time and the connection is then made between London, fireworks and the milleunium.

Gossip Girl

My chosen TV Drama for this topic is the new season of Gossip Girl - ITV2.

So far I have been a bit disappointed, doesn’t seem as good as the last series, but last episode was better than the previous two, so let's hope it continues to improve! :)

It's an American Drama and focues on the lives of the incredibily rich. Therefore, location, costume etc are all very extravagent, over the top and impressive.

SEX, SCANDAL, LOVE, REVENGE,
are common themes.

"Gossip Girl is an American television show inspired by the popular novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series revolves around the lives of socialite teenagers growing up on New York City's Upper East Side who attend elite academic institutions while dealing with sex, drugs, jealousy, and other issues."

Each episode is narrated by omniscient yet unseen narrator "Gossip Girl" - you know you love me, xo xo. Most of the main characters are private high school students, primarily Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively), Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), Chuck Bass :D (Ed Westwick - who is ENGLISH :D), Jenny Humphrey (Taylor Momsen) and Vanessa Abrams (Jessica Szohr). Their family members and other recurring characters play supporting roles in the series.

Brief History
The project was originally intended to be adapted into a film by Warner Bros. The film never went into production and was ultimately shelved. Later, the series was set again to be re-adapted, but for a TV series for FOX rather than a movie. This project was again cancelled. The novel series was then again reconsidered for adaptation for television on The CW by Alloy Entertainment. Development of the show began in January 2005 when The CW gave it a put pilot commitment, with Josh Schwartz on board to create and executive produce. In January 2007, the network gave the greenlight for the pilot order and it was confirmed that Schwartz's fellow scribe on The O.C., Stephanie Savage, had co-written it with him.

What is a TV Drama?

What is it not?

A television drama is not a soap opera - it does not have countless narratives at once and is not on-going ... continuous ....& seemingly never ending...

It is also not a sit com - equilibrium is (not usually) reached at the end of every episode and the characters do not always 'stay in the same place'.

They usually run for a set number of weeks (seaons/series) and are divided into episodes, however there are one off TV dramas (eg 'A short Stay in Switzerland,' starring julie walters on BBC1.) Usually there is an on-going plot throughout the series, with smaller sub plots in each episode. The episodes often end on a cliffhanger, or something huge/shocking or a twist is revelaed at the end to hook the viewer and make them want to watch the next episode. However, this is not always the case. For example in Hustle, equilibrium is always returned to at the end of an episode - i don't remember there ever being a 'long con' taking two episodes. Doctor Who runs on similar principles, as episodes tend to focus on one disaster which usually gets 'fixed' at the end of an episode, though it is more common for Doctor Who plots to run onto two week dilemas.

They are usually fiction, but can be based on literature (Jane Eyre) or based on a true story (A Short Stay in Switzerland).

Tv drama's are also divided into genre:

Costume Drama's - eg BBC, Jane Eyre ... Crime - eg ITV Taggart,

Fantasy- eg BBC Merlin,

Family, eg BBC1 Doctor Who

and many more ...