How is the setting or theme of the television drama represented? Emmerdale

The opening sequence of a TV drama is usually used to show setting and themes; within a soap opera the themes are based on love/hate, it gives a serious feel, it makes us understand that there is going to be a lot of drama in the episode. 

The setting represents where the show takes place i.e. the Eastenders opening shows the River Thames which is in the City of London therefore we associate Eastenders with city life. It represents the key locations and tells the audience the location for example in the Emmerdale opening it shows a small village in Yorkshire, from this it suggests that its a close knit community where everyone is friends. It shows a few different houses and local community locations. The houses show the types of people that live within the community i.e. the small cottage shows its quite cramped and small therefore maybe an older couple live there. Compared to the big, open house which is shown which is very clean which suggests that the family who live there have more money and maybe a better job for example a company owner. We see the pub which is a central location for Emmerdale, it shows the community eating and drinking which suggests that it is a popular place. You don't see any main characters in Emmerdale only the feet or legs, maybe a silhouette of the figure this is so they don't have to change it when the character is killed off. In the bigger house the legs are seen running up the stairs with the clothes discarded on the floor which suggests drama is to unfold.

From the Emmerdale setting it shows that Yorkshire is a picturesque place i.e. beautiful mountains, quiet woods - We see it to be quite peaceful and tranquil in the countryside. It gives the idea that its a small community who are close and know everyone however the scenes in the opening can contrast this for example the couple running up the stairs shows it to be a secretive community.

The typical soap themes include affairs, murder, deceit, love, hate, friendships, backstabbing, things that happen in public places etc. Usually a couple are explored within one episode as a multi stranded narrative. In Emmerdale this would be different as its a countryside location rather than a city location like Eastenders, it would be on a lower key. Some of the story-lines would centre around farm life contrasting the city life story-lines. If some people fell out who were in the smaller community it would have a much bigger scale as it would affect everyone as they would know them in some way.

The audience would expect to find out the private lives of the characters from the shots of the different houses however they would also expect to see the drama unfold from the people running up the stairs, they would expect them to be found out. Also they would expect to see drama take place within the local community places i.e. the pub or the shop.