Generally in TV drama and medical dramas the setting and themes are established - It tells the audience straight away that it is in the hospital and is very fast pace by the use of props and costumes. However medical drama openings differ in the US to the UK as in the US the characters are shown where as in the UK they avoid this.
The setting is presented in the opening of ER as it is shown different places around the hospitals i.e. wards, corridors, reception, operating table etc. It shows the doctors running down the halls which shows the setting as being very busy and this then establishes the fact that it is based in a hospital. In the sequence the words emergency room flash up on screen which then tells the audience that it is set within that section of the hospital, the fast paced scenes represent how fast paced the ER works. The fact that x-rays, operations are shown in the opening sequence shows that it is in a hospital as it what some of the doctors have to do.
The mise en scene from the title sequence suggests that hospitals are busy, fast paced and hard working. The doctors costumes include the white coats and the stethoscopes around their neck and a clipboard in their hand, the surgeons are seen in their scrubs, the nurse is in pink scrubs - this makes it feel like a real hospital as if we were to visit a hospital this is what we would expect see. The characters are shown in what kind a personality they have i.e. George Clooney is seen as very serious, hardworking, busy where as one of the female doctors are seen as calm, smiling, friendly. From the facial expressions we can establish the type of doctors who are around the hospital, you can see the moods of them in their role. The use of costumes and props establishes the boundaries between the types of doctors and their roles in which they play. The setting is in the ER room but we also see the operating table, corridors which the doctors are seen running down, the reception, therefore all areas which we would expect to see within a medical drama. The lighting is very bright which shows that it is a hospital as they need to be able to see what they are doing and where they are going, it shows that its a pristine place. It all adds to being more believable. The make up of the characters are natural as they don't need to be seen as pretty as they're trying to save peoples lives, the hair is either tied up or if its short enough its let down for the women, the mens hair are very short.
The main medical drama themes include illness, death, problems, promotions, surgery. This is represented by the doctors running down the hall, being in surgery, taking x-rays, attending to the patients etc within the opening sequence therefore it suggests the kind of things that the audience would expect to see within ER. The audience would expect to see unusual things happening or unusual surgery's which they wouldn't see in day to day life.
The edits of the opening to ER is very fast and involves a lot of cuts, some of the scenes merge with other but mostly are cuts - The cuts can show how frantic the ER can get. It is very fast which represents how the doctors have to work in the hospital but this also fits in with the music used. The music sounds like the beeping of a heart monitor but sped up, it is a very upbeat tune which adds to the effect that they're trying to give to the audience of being busy. Therefore by adding this type of song to accompany the cuts this enhances both the theme and the setting.
No comments:
Post a Comment