Hollyoaks deconstruction on the four areas

Hollyoaks deconstruction on Camera,Editing,Music and Mise en Scene (1.37-4.06)

Hollyoaks is a popular teen drama tv series which is on each weekday. It concentrates on everyday situations, but exaggerating them for effect. The techniques used for this are very subtle, but have a very polished effect when they are used, even if they aren't too noticeable.

During the beginning of this scene, we begin to consider what is going on, as a low angle medium shot is used, showing three people on the sofa. There is a huge contrast here though, as they are in black clothes, representing possibly a funeral, yet they have up-lifting, irish music being played in the background, and someone's legs dancing in the foreground of the shot. We instantly see the main character, Malachy, as he is in the middle of the frame, and his sister 'lindsy' who is the one dancing in this scene. The main focus during the beginning is on Lindsey dancing, a use of several cuts to different angle shots of the setting/room have been used here to emphasis on this, which possibly suggests that the music, and her dancing is being used to up-lift them from the funeral.

The music comes to a halt, as Chris appears. A quick zoom in of his mother is used, to emphasis on her reaction to his entrance to the scene. Before we even see him on the camera, we realise that he brings some negative atmosphere to the rest of the people there, as cuts are used to show people's reactions, and a sense of disgust, and feeling uneasy from him being there, as he is shown on the camera we see why. By the way he is dressed, we assume that he is a bisexual, as he is wearing bright red boots, up to his thighs. Apart from the boots, he is wearing make-up, and a white dressing gown, which helps back up the idea of him being a bisexual, and somewhat different to the others. His colours create this contrast also, as he is wearing bright red, whereas the others are in black and white, it makes him stand out, and show almost like he does not fit in here.

Many two shots are used to represent conversation within this scene. An effective 180 degree rule has also been used, keeping Chris on the left side of each conversation, emphasing that he is on his own, and they are all against him. Chris has now taken over Malachy's 'main character' position, as he is now the one in the centre frame.

Ambient sounds of the outside, such as the air blowing, birds singing and amplified clock 'ticking' had been used to signify a sense of realism, creating the tense atmosphere, and relating back to the contrast of emotions between Chris and the family in the scene.

As Chris is pushed out, Malachy is put back onto centre frame, as he begins to take a drink from his can of alcohol, the music returns, but a more calm type of music, then creating a sound bridge. It cuts onto Mercedes, as she begins to daydream, fantasising about a time she remembers she spent with Malachy. We realise this has become some 'flashback' as the camera editing has become black and white (monochromatic) and a deep focus pull onto the centre of the shot, of Mercedes and Malachy. It then fades back to her, and we see her reaction of regret, as she realises she is not there, but infact working in a pub.

These four techniques are quite small in terms of how obvious they are to see, which is why they are so effective in how they are used. In this clip, they have succeeded in creating a sense of contrast, in terms of Chris and his family, a sign of regret, as Mercedes had a flashback to a distant memory, and the editing, along with the sound enabled it to all loop together so it didn't seem out of place.