Location

Episode Summary:
Vanessa tries to blackmail Blair into being a nicer person, with the pictures of Catherine and Marcus. Blair then seeks revenge by convincing Chuck to try to seduce Vanessa. Lily and Bart throw an extravagant housewarming party and expect their children to make them proud, but Serena does not want to follow the rules. Meanwhile, Dan and Jenny discover a big secret that Nate has been keeping from his friends.

At the beginning of every episode of GG, after every advert break, and after every change of location during the episode, there is a quick montage of shots to help establish the location.
The opening montage of episode five were LS HA's of the sky line of New York, taken from the waters edge, a crane shot over a busy street and inside central park. The trees in the park had golden leaves, which helps establish the time period of autumn.
The emphasis on location really helps establish the wealth of the characters, as the LA shots of their tall rich penthouse apartments draw attention to the types of properties these people own.
In comparison to Serena's flawless new immcuately furnished house is Dan's loft. The differnece in character is also made obvious through their difference of home. The loft is very wooden, with a rustic feel. This suggets they're, quite literally, down to earth (wooden) and this highly reflects their more down to earth characters compared to all others elitism and self importance.

to be continued ...

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 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.

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.