Single Camera Production: Inbetweeners ('First day' S1 E1)
In this article I will be discussing about the very first
episode of ‘The Inbetweeners’ ‘First day’ of its format, Genre, the narrative
structures and its technical features such as camera, editing, sound and
lighting.
Format
The format of ‘The Inbetweeners’ is a drama series. For
instance this can clearly been seen as there are three series groups all
together that contain six episodes in each installment This presents that the
format of ‘The Inbetweeners’ is a drama series that broadcasts a total of six
episodes in each of the three series on
channel E4 regularly each with complete story lines of itself.
Genre
The genre of ‘The Inbetweeners’ is a coming of age sitcom
comedy drama. For example the episode ‘First Day’ shows the character Will moving
in to a new suburban area from the divorce of his parents where he starts at a
new sixth form comprehensive. This
suggests that ‘The Inbetweeners’ is a coming of age comedy sitcom as the
storyline of ‘First day’ focuses on Will beginning a new life which primarily
relates to the target audience of the programme as it relates to the lifestyles
of young adults (15-18+) of both genders in socio demographic grades of C1, C2,
D and E where the storyline later progresses to Will socializing with other
individuals and being humiliated at the same time to create humor Furthermore
this episode also relates to young adult audiences because it resolves the
lifestyles of education and social events that relates to the genre of coming
and age and the lives of the four teenage friends.
Narrative structure
The Inbetweeners episode ‘First day’ follows the narratives
of both single strand and multi stands that are represented realistically
throughout the storyline. For example the first part of the episode focuses on
Will’s character (single strand) but it then later focuses on Will and his
three friends, Simon, Jay and Neil towards the end (multi strand). This
demonstrates that the storyline focuses on the single stand narrative of Will
because it was the very first episode of the Inbetweeners franchise and that it
was used to introduce the character for the audience to relate to. The multi
strand narrative that was later used in the episode was used to introduce the
three characters that Will be friends in order to; again relate towards the
audience. However these narratives where used to introduce the different
personalities and characteristics of each of the four characters realistically
which relate to the current lifestyles of teenagers their own age and the
target audience of the sitcom.
The ‘First day’ episode of the Inbetweeners is a linear
narrative as the storyline follows Todorov’s Theory along with a closed ending. For instance the beginning shows the
equilibrium of Will which then turns straight into the disequilibrium as he
moves to a new house on a suburban street and starts a new sixth form which he
is unfamiliar with. The new equilibrium is where Will befriends his three new
friends after the pub incident and getting used to his new life at home and at
sixth form (closed ending). This
suggests that Inbetweeners ‘First day’ is presented in a linear narrative as
the storyline is in chronological order that follows the theory of Todorev in
to the sequence. Although in the beginning of the episode the equilibrium was
presented in the single stand of Will as it was mentioned in to his commentary dialogue
before the first scene which represents the disequilibrium of his character. The
closed ending narrative in ‘First day’ was used to conclude the storyline until
the next episode in order to keep the audience engage and interested to the
series.
Technical features
Camera
In ‘First day’ of the Inbetweeners there is the use of the
camera establishing shot along with a high angle shot to represent the location
and Will’s character. For example in the
beginning of the programme there is an establishing shot with an high angle
shot of the sixth form from above which shows the main entrance where Will
walks through. This demonstrates that the producers combined the establishing
shot and the high angle shot together in order to represent a new scene that introduces
the features of the sixth form in order to create realistic and dramatic
effects to represent the mise en scene of an educational institute. Furthermore
these shots were also used to introduce Will’s first appearance into the
episode and to create the dramatic and realistic effects of Will’s position as
these shots where used to show the vulnerability of the character as he has
just started a new sixth form. However the establishing and high angle shots
where used to relate towards the target audience of the programme as it
presents the sixth form as an educational institution and the vulnerability of
Will which perfectly establishes a new scene.
Later in the episode of ‘First day’ of the Inbetweeners a
close up shot along with a POV shot was featured in the programme. For instance
there is a scene where Carli (Simon’s love interest) kneels in to smell the
aftershave of Simon where he catches a glimpse of her cleavage. This suggests
that the producers combined together the close up shot and the POV shot in
order to represent the point of view of the character Simon in order to create the
use of dramatic and realistic effects that is relevant to the genre as it is a coming
of age show due to the sexual references which specifically relates to the
target audience of the programme as is made up of young adults.
Editing
The Inbetweeners episode ‘First day’ there is the use of the
continuity editing of reverse shots between the conversations of two
characters. For instance in the scene where Will jokes about Mr Gilbert who his
stood behind without realising a reverse shot was used to show the short
awkward conversation between the two characters. This illustrates that the use
of the reverse shots where used in order to represent the conversation between
the two characters right after when Will makes a try to be humorous by making
jokes about the head of sixth form which instead backfires creating that
realistic and dramatic effect that represents one of those real life awkward
situation which in an exchange creates comedy for the audience with the use of
the high angle shot to make Will look stupid.
Sound
In the Inbetweeners episode of the ‘First day’ there is the
use of non-diegetic sounds of the commentary made by Will. For instance the
character Will makes his own commentary mentioning about the divorce of this
parents, moving house and sixth form and meeting other people like Simon, Jay,
Neil and Mr Gilbert. This suggests that the non-diegetic sounds used in the
beginning and throughout the programme is presented as the commentary as this
technique is used by Will who is also the narrator of the programme to reflect
on the circumstances of his everyday life he comes across at home, at sixth
form and when he is venturing on day/night outs with his three mates.
Furthermore the use of the commentary technique works similarly as a
bibliography of Will as he tells the story about his lifestyle relates to
current lifestyles of young adults who are the target audience of the programme
which is relevant to the genre as the Inbetweeners is a coming of age drama.
The ‘First day’ episode of the Inbetweeners features the use
of diegetic sounds particularly the dialogue between characters where explicit
language is being used. For example when Will starts the sixth form he has been
called names like “briefcase w*****” and his friends complement the physical
appearance of his mum using sexual language. This shows that the use of
explicit language used within this episode as part of the dialogue and diegetic
sounds of the conversation between the characters was used to establish
dramatic and realistic effects that resembles the actual current lifestyles of
teenagers as the programme itself is a coming of age drama that reflects
towards its target audience.
Lighting
The lighting that is used in the Inbetweeners episode ‘First
day’ reflects to the mise en scene of the theme and genre of the programme. For
example the pub
has high key colour grading with warm colours combined shown by
the warm orange colours. This illustrates that the producers included
high key lighting combined with warm orange colours
to make it represent the mise en scene that the location takes place at a pub. However
these lighting effects were used in the episode in order to create realistic
and dramatic effects for the audience to relate to the establsihment of the pub and towards the genre of coming of age in order to relate the lifestyles of the target
audience as the show resolves around the growing up of four teenage male friends who often visit socialable establishments like pubs.
I have basically done my research on The Inbetweeners episode "First day" by watching The Inbetweeners series 1 DVD.
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