Location

Gossip Girl S02 E07
Episode Summary: Jenny makes friends with a model who encourages her to confront Eleanor Waldorf. Dan is uncomfortable when Serena meets an artist. Blair tries to seduce Chuck.

The title sequence of every episode of Gossip Girl includes a shot of New York at night, with bright colourful flashing lights - this connotes the glamour and welath of the city, and characters of the show. When a scene changes in Gossip Girl there is almost always a short montage. At the very beginning of this episode there are 5 short shots of New York city staring with an ELS with water in the froeground and the famous buildings in the background - all 5 shots are cut to the beat of the music. The last one is of brooklyn bridge which clearly estabishes where we are, then the camera slowly pans up one window in a block of flats, we can then presume that the next scene will take place here.
The Humphry family live in Brooklyn while the other wealthier characters live in the Upper East side of Manhatten. The humphrey families apartement is much more colourful and 'lived in' with lots of books and general stuff around, whereas the homes of Serena and Blair are far more minimalist and immaculate. Their homes are made of shiny materials such as crome, granite and glass, whereas Dan Humphreys home has more wood reflecting the differnce not just in their wealth but in their personalities too. The school also give us the impression that the characters are all very well of as it is in a very old fashion style building with white pillars and courtyards. The location helps to establish a lot about the characters and their lives, yet it also helps us learn a lot about the mood of the scene. For example when Blair and Chuck meet in a bar, it is very low lit, with rich colours such as purple and gold this refelcts the seductive scene but with sinister, saddening undertones as it ends in a fight between the characters where it should have ended in romance.

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Representation of terrorism and ethnicity in Spooks

What view of terrorism is conveyed?
Key scenes for terrorism:

Ahmed shoots MI5 agent Butterfly around 6.02 – in this scene the terrorists are conveyed to the audience in a dominating, threatening way. We can clearly tell this from the costume; one in a dark suit and his right hand man dressed all in black with black gloves and a balaclava on, a very frightening image. Ahmed pulls out a gun and shoots the man without showing any emotion for the horrific thing that he’s doing. This makes him seem even more scary and threatening as we can assume that he’s killed people so many times before that he doesn’t even think twice about it, and that it doesn’t faze him. This also makes Ahmed seem powerful, merciless and cunning to the audience, as the man (Butterfly) was tricked by them.

Ahmed has Danny and Fiona hostage around 11.49 – here Ahmed and the terrorist are conveyed as very dominant and frightening as he has complete power and control over his two hostages. Like in the first scene they are cunning, merciless and willing to go as far as they need to. For example he grabs Fiona and throws her over to the chair quite violently and threatens to kill Danny if she does not read the statement – as the audience we can presume that he would do as he threatens. His dialog is blunt and cutting ‘or I’ll slit his throat’ – these short, awful threats enhances his threatening tone and makes us think he is capable of everything.


Ahmed shots Danny around 39.30 - In this part Danny stand up to Ahmed, when he is at his most threatening. He is holding a gun very close of Fiona head and she is shaking and crying. However when Danny speaks to him Ahmed looks down at the floor as if he’s really thinking about what he is saying and the audience feel for a moment that he has a vulnerable side, a kind side that Danny can appeal to. But then he adopts his threatening pose again as shoots Danny ruthlessly, so the audience see once again that he is capable of anything and completely merciless.


How are those binary opposites conveyed to audiences?
The most obvious binary opposite is good and evil; Danny and Fiona and the terrorists. When they are sitting their held captive their posture is slouched and there heads are looking down to show their fear. In contrast Ahmed is standing up straight with his head held high and her arm out straight holding the gun showing that he has no fear because he is in control. These opposites are conveyed to the audience via their dialog as well because Danny and Fiona speak slowly and shakily to show their fear and have quite long winded sentences (i.e. – the metaphor about Eeyore’s birthday cake) whereas he has short, blunt sentences.


What role does camera work and editing play in underlining those representations?
As the terrorists are represented in a very dominant and threatening way and Danny and Fiona seem quite vulnerable in their presence camera work and editing are used to enhance this. The shots of Ahmed are often very slightly low angled so give us the impression he is standing over them in a threatening manner. Similarly the shots of the hostages as often slightly high angled so that they seem weak and defenceless next to the terrorists, this is also another example of binary opposites. In these scenes there are a lot CU used. On the terrorist this is threatening as it shoes his

What techniques are used to involve audiences emotionally? How does that position audiences?
There are many CU used which draw the audience into the action and make us feel part of it. This makes us more emotionally involved in the action. Also the CU and ECU mean we can really see the pain and despair on the hostages face so the audience feel empathy towards them, further engaging us in the scene.

What view of terrorism emerges from the scene?
A very negative view of terrorists is being shown here. It shows them as ruthless heartless people. It also shows how everyone is at risk from them. But in Danny’s speech he says that terrorist will never win and he criticises the reason for terrorism saying it is just luck about where you are born. But saying it will never win and standing up to them makes us feel quite patriotic and the view of terrorism is that it shall not be tolerated and we can beat it.

What do you understand by Arab, Islamic, Muslim, Middle Eastern?
Islam is a religion and a Muslim is someone who follows that religion. I think people who are Arabs or Middle Eastern are usually Muslims. I don’t really know much about this religion or this culture.

What are the Equivalent categories for describing British people?
Um English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh? Christians (Protestant) and Catholics? I really don’t know.

What do you know about Al Qaeda?
An Islamic terrorist group, who attack Western countries with methods such as suicide bombings like the London 7/7 bombings. They are very against western leaders and western way of life.

Ahmed and Khatera. How far does the drama position audiences to equate ‘Muslim’ with Terrorism?
This episode does not mention religion. Ahmed and Khatera state their reasons for doing this are that they lost their families in the Iraq war and so they want revenge for that. Spooks would have to be careful with this storyline so as not to offend anyone, or send out the wrong message that all Muslims are terrorist, so I think that’s why religion wasn’t mentioned.

Think of the characters from British ethnic minorities in the drama. What’s their significance?
They have a huge significance. There is an MI5 agent who is Asian and this is such a big significance as it shows that the drama is not suggesting that every Asian or every Muslim is a terrorist, as this would send out a very negative, racist and incorrect idea to promote. Also Danny, probably the bravest and most likable characters is black. This further shows that the drama is not just promoting white men as the ‘goodies’ and it also accurately represents a multi cultural Britain.

Representation

Gossip Girl Series 2 Episode 6

Gossip girl is mainly representing the lives of rich, solcialite teenagers of New Yorks Upper East side. The stereotypical view of these people is that they are just dumb, spoilt 'daddy's girls' or 'mummy's boys'. However Gossip girl shows us they have far more difficult and complicated lives than we think.

Breakfast: The episode starts in the morning as the characters are eating breakfast. First we see the Van der Woodsens and the Bass' scene They are hugely rich as this is even represented in their breakfast. They are all sitting down as a family together eating coissants and real coffee with flowers on the table in the centre. Whereas in the next scene we see the Humphry familys breakfast. They are not all sitting down at a table eating coissants instead they are just standing at a breakfst bar in the kitchen drinking orange juice. This shows a they are a bit more rushed as they don't have maids to do everything for them.

Serena and Blair: Serena and Blair were both born into rich families and are both very pretty, so in some ways they are representing the typical spoilt rich girls. Serena is a socialite who loves fashion. However even though she has long blonde hair and loves the spotlight, she is not a steroeotyped character. She is not a dumb blonde and we find out that she has had a very hard childhood as her mother cared more about her boyfriends than she did her kids. Similarly with Blair, at first she comes across as the stereotypical spoilt girl, as she does always seem to end up getting everything she wants. Nevertheless she is also very clever as in order to get what she wants she always has some elaborate scheme going on. Also she is not as confident and self assured as a typical spoilt girl as we know is actually very insecure about herself, constantly comparing herself to Serena. Although Serena and Blair seem to have everything the could want they both have issues with their parents as there were times when they didn't feel truly loved by them. This means they are represented as more than one dimensional, stereotypical characters as there are deeper issues behind the 'rich girl' exterior.

Vanessa: Vanessa is the girl who lives in Brooklin, and we see that she is represented very differently from the rich kids. She is generally a quirkier character. She dresses in more bohemian way, and wears a lot of jewellery and has very wavy, textured hair. This is very different to the designer lables and clean cut look of Serena and Blair. Also we see that she is very smart and doesn't like to get involved in the politics of the lives of Blair & co as she finds them fake, and their issues stupid compared to the real world.

Chuck and Dan: Chuck is very wealthy and is kind of evil. His wealth is represented by the way he dresses; cravats, velvet, silk etc. But also in the way he is styled. He has gelled back hair, in a side parting making him look somewhat suspicious anyway and like Blair he always has a plan or scheme going in an attempt to get what he wants. He is a show off and stands out whereevery he is. In school he had his tie done right up and was wearing a satin spotted scarf over his shoulders whic also give us the impression of a typical posh boy. This was a great contrast to Dan who was wearing his school uniform with his top button open and his tie loose This gives him a much more laid back look, and his slightly wavy hair give him a much more innocent look compared to chuck.

Families and Homosexuality: None of the families represent in Gossip girl are uncomplicated. They are either single parent families (the Humphreys), or the dads in jail (the Archibalds) or they are two families now linked by marriage creating a step father/mother (the Van der Woodsens and the Bass'). This is to show that the teenagers do not have perfect lives. The Step parents represetnation shows the conflict between Serena ad Mr Bass and how she blames him for a lot that is wrong with her life even though it may not be his fault. It is also interesting to see how Gossip girl represents Serena brother who is gay and peoples reaction to him. When he brings his boyfriend to meet Serena and Blair they welcome him with open arms. However his parents encourage him not to invite his boyfriend to the party because there's paparazi there. This shows that although they are ok with him being gay, they media might give him a hard time over it, therefore representing the media in a bad light.

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Narrative in TV Drama

Narrative in TV Drama
Conventions of a complete narrative

A couple wake up and go downstairs. They do not realise that they are being watched by terrorist. The dog starts to bark angrily at the front door, but the couple tell it off and lock him in a different room. The man takes out the rubbish and gets hit by the terrorists, and falls unconscious. The woman hears the noise and goes outside, only to be grabbed by the terrorists and shoved in the back of the car. The man wakes up and jumps in his car behind the terrorist and chases them, this car chase leads to a car crash and the terrorist car flips over and catches on fire. The woman is trapped in the boot of the ablaze car, but is recued just in time by her husband and the emergency services before the car blows up.

Most stories end happily because it rounds off the story well, and fill people’s expectations. People like the fill good ending because people use TV as a form of escape so they don’t want anything depressing.

The beginning of Spooks feels like the beginning because everything begins in equilibrium, a couple waking up for work and having breakfast, an everyday morning that everyone can relate to. But there is a disruption which is the terrorists which can be expected of a beginning of a narrative. This is the standard beginning because it is something exciting to hook the audience in. The binary opposites are the obvious good and bad & victims and villains in the form of the couple and the terrorists and normality and disruption.

Single Drama/film: Margeret
Todorov's narrative structure, equilibrium – disruption – equilibrium during every episode/film.

Two nighter: Trial & Retribution
These also have the same narrative pattern of Todorovs equilibrium – disruption – equilibrium but it is spread across two episodes, therefore there is usually a cliffhanger at the end of the first episode keeping the audience intrigued and hooked on to it so they want to watch the next one to see what happens.

Soap: Eastenders
Soaps don't really start with equilibrium because it is on going and a lot of storylines don't end happily, or take weeks to resolve. The binary opposites are always there with more being introduced as different storylines develop and different characters come and go.

Serial: Bleak House
Serials are similar to soaps as they go on for a long time. Sometimes the equilibrium comes at the end of the series, but sometimes it is left on a cliff-hanger so that people want to watch the next series .

Anthology Series: Skins
This uses Todorov’s narrative pattern equilibrium – disruption – equilibrium within each episode. There are also ongoing storylines that run underneath the weekly ones which often get resolved in the last episode.

Long – form Series Drama: Lost
The same as an anthology series because there is usually an underlying narrative which carries on throughout the series, as well as storylines that are resolved by the end of the episode . The binary opposites are introduced as the storylines unfold more and more.

Long – Form Series Drama with Some Narrative Experimentation: 24
Once more there is a narrative pattern which is spread out across the series, with equilibrium being restored at the end. There are also smaller disruptions throughout the series which are usually resolved in that episode. The binary opposites are mostly introduced at the start.

Costume

Gossip Girl Series 2 Episode 6

Blair
One of the very first scenes is Blair waking up in the moring and being served breakfast in bed. She is wearing a navy blue frilly night dress. This is a very glamorous garment to wear in bed as most people just wear pyjamas. Also it is not just made out of cotton, it looks like some kind of chiffon. This shows her rich status and also her need to impress as right down to her night wear everything she wears is very elegant, very pretty and carefully chosen. When she goes to Yale University for an interview she is wear a green cardigan with a yellow shirt and a brown tie. This is obviously very formal showing she is out to impress making herself look as intellectual as possible and doing everything within her power to help her get into the uni. Yet what she is wearing is also fashionable showing she is not only out to impress the professors but also the other students. Furthermore during the party at one of the professors house she and Serena become very competetive and both are trying hard to get noticed. Blair is wearing a black cocktail dress with a hair band with a huge black bow on it. This shows she is quite attention seeking as it is VERY noticable and wants to stand out and be remembered.

Serena
In the first part of this episode at the university Serena is wearing a white stripy blazor with a loose white T shirt underneath and black jeans. Compared to all the other characters, who are mostly all wearing suits in an attempt to look more intellectual and impress at Yale, Serena looks pretty casual. This shows that she knows she doesn't have to try as hard as other people to get to where she wants as she knows that she is the "it" girls of the moment. Additionally at the professors party she has become quite competetive with Blair and really does want a place at the uni so she too wants to be noticed therefore she is wearing a brown, white and black block coloured cocktail dress with a plunging neck line. This is really galmorous and fashionable showing she is confident, rich and likes the attention, but still knows that she is famous so she isn't trying quite as hard as Blair with her big bow.

Chuck (and Dan)
When he goes to visit Yale, Chuck is definitely out to impress and get noticed as he is wearing a pink shirt, a brown blazor, a brown cravat and red trousers. The pink and red immediatley makes him stand out from the crowds as these are very bright colours and quite garish when worn together. The colour red connotes royalty and wealth so i think the red trousers is Chuck showing off his fortune. The cravat he is wearing adds to this as cravats are usually associated with upper class posh poeple and so makes him immeidatley appear wealthy. And as if he didn't stick out from the crowd enough he is wearing a brown trilby hat. Hats in general make people stand out but the fact that it is a trilby shows that he is very fashion concsious, it shows that he put a lot of thought into his outfit and that he wants to get attention and wants to impress. This is all such a contrast to Dan. Although he does dress up and wear a suit to go and visit Yale there is absolutely nothing special about it. It is plainer colours brown, beige, yellow and there are no fancy features (cravats or hats). This shows that he cares a lot less what people think of him and that he is just genreally more laid back in personality as he is not out to impress and get attention a every possible moment. It also shows a clear wealth difference between the characters.

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Cast

Main Characters
Serena van der Woodsen played by Blake Lively is smart and gorgrous solcialite queen bee of the upper east side.
Blair Waldorf played by Lieghton Meester was born into high society and values herself as an intelluctual, upholding upscale traditions, but also has a bitchy side as she uses her charm, money and social status to win people over.
Nate Archibald played by Chace Crawford is the wealthy, good looking lacrosse player who has dated lots of girls including Jenny Humphrey, Serena and Blair.
Dan Humphrey played by Penn Badgley is in love with Serena but can over analyse things and get easily frustrated.
Jenny Humphrey played by Taylor Momsen is the youngest of the main roles and younger sister of Dan. She is an aspiring fashion designer.
Chuck Bass played by Ed Westwick is rich, pompous and obnoxious but hilarious character who enjoys the finer things in life (clothes, alcohol, sex)

Secondary Characters
Rufus Humphrey played by Matthew Settle is Dan and Jenny's dad.
Lily van der Woodsen played by Kelly Rutherford is Serena's mother
Vanessa Abrams played by Jessica Szohr is best friends with Dan and an out cast from the rich elite teenageers
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Weekly Analysis

Every week i will analyse an episode of Gossip Girl Series 2 focussing on a different one of these headers:

Representation

Sound

Camera Work

Costume

Lighting

Body Language

Location

Hair and Make-up

Themes

Degree of Realism

Narrative