Eastenders Preliminary Study

The episode of east enders that we studied for our preliminary study was about betrayal, it was about two characters Phil and his son Ben. Phil Mitchell has supposedly killed Stella, and Ben knows about this. The information is always on his mind and his inner conflictions are made worse about the fact that Phil is ignoring his son and favouring his adopted son Jay. Ben becomes infuriated with this and contacts the police to tell them that his father Phil had killed Stella. The episode concludes with Phil being taken into custardy and Ben laughing in his father’s face.



The betrayal that the piece addresses is the betrayal of Phil by his son Ben; he is betrayed as Ben tells police of his father’s killing of Stella. Ben explains this is partly because he wants it of his conscience but you can also tell its partly vengeance for the way Phil has been treating him by ignoring him and favouring his adopted son Jay.



The East enders episode is mainly targeted at families because it is realistic in the fact of the scenery and characters are ones you would possibly see in day to day life. Although the plotlines can be extreme they are not unrealistic as it is something we have experience or know others who have experienced it. It is also families because it is shown before the watershed (9pm) and this kind of effects the naturalistic capabilities of it as they cant swear in situations where they would usually swear.

Personally I really liked the episode because of the naturalistic style and the fact that the betrayal it addressed was unusual yet something we could all relate to. I also liked the fact that you felt a lot of connection to the characters involved and could really connect with their story.

The style of the piece was a soap opera drama piece with a naturalistic style. It’s a soap opera because it’s the tale of lots of different families with different problems and how they intertwine, you can also tell it’s a soap opera because the camera angles used are nothing fancy really, it’s just sort of long shot medium and close up, this helps give the impression that you are standing with the people watching the stories unfold which is what Soap operas are supposed to do. It’s also a drama piece mainly because its actors reading lines and trying to make you believe that they are that character which at the end of the day what drama is. It’s also naturalistic with sets like a street and a house that you really believe people would live in and clothing and make up that ordinary people watching would wear. This is important to further help the people believe that the piece is real and that you are really there.

The main methods used in the East enders episode was firstly the acting style which was that of a drama piece and to be naturalistic so people can really connect with the characters and really believe the stories they are trying to tell. They also use camera angles such as close ups when there is a tense scene to really make you focus in on that phesific character and make you see and feel the emotions and see how they react t what another character is saying. When Ben is walking away from the car they also use a track shot where you walk with the character as in the camera is going backwards as Ben goes forewords and it really makes you feel as if your walking with him. The settings are also important in the Eastenders episode because they need to be naturalistic as in they can’t be perfectly clean because that not what a house would look like in real life. Some sets used in Easterners are such of the garage where Ben and Jay make Phil’s car which is kind of dirty and grotty and theirs oil on the walls which is what a real garage looks like. They also use the houses which also help to show how there are upper-class and low class living in the same area and showing the differences between those families. The language used in the piece is slang and informal which you would expect for the east end of London and that is how most people in the real world talk as it wouldn’t work if they were talking formally with proper English as it would be very unbelievable. They also use sound effects to help it seem more real such as a train going passed, a dimmed down radio (Especially in the Cafe or the Pub).

In Ghost the betrayal seems very simple however in Eastenders it is more complex. In Ghost it is Sam’s friend Carl betraying him and hiring a hit man to kill him, in Eastenders it’s a man Phil who has killed a woman called Stella his son knows and his son betrays him to police. However the pieces are similar because they both address the idea of betrayal and it’s not the typical betrayal you would expect (you would expect a man cheating on a woman). Both Ghost and Eastenders are for families with no swearing or rude jokes and they are both something that normal working class people would enjoy. Their is also differnece when it comes to the methods used in the two preliminary studies because Ghost used a lot of mixed media such as projections and lighting whereas Eastenders cant do that as it has to stay naturalistic.

Personally I believe that Eastenders is more successful in showing Betrayal because it goes more in-depth to the betrayal whereas Ghost gets lost in the romance between Molly and Sam and the fact that Sam is a ghost and things. I also think that Eastenders is more powerful in the way it shows Betrayal which is kind of expected as Ghost is also a comedy.