Hollyoaks; Channel 4 at 6:30pm
Introduction and theme tune The theme tune instantly wakes you up as it is very exciting and the use of a guitar brings a more youthful feeling to it. It’s loud, bouncy and edgy. The introduction sequence itself is also really fast and interesting as you see a montage of all the different characters; this is informative as well as the characters give away clues as to what they are like in terms of their poses or dress sense. For example one of the first characters we see is Carmel; she is lying seductively on a sofa and looks into the camera telling us that she is an attractive character who perhaps is in a relationship. The character of Theresa McQueen is also shown posing with a compact mirror in her hand; this informs viewers that she could be quite a vain character who might be too into her looks. The intro ends with the Hollyoaks logo which shows the female and male signs in pink and blue; this could be a sign that the soap is full of conflict between males and females. |
||||
Opening scene Ravi Roy sitting in front of a door with tears in his eyes as he remembers shouting at his sister and being knocked out by his brother when he was in a fight. The memory obviously deeply upsets him.
Jacqui is shown in the same position; sitting against a wall remembering a family ordeal; when her mother had to choose two people to die and how that day her sister Tina died. Mercedes is walking but she also remembers the exact day and both sisters have flashbacks of when the church exploded and their family was literally torn apart. The mood is tense and emotional as instantly you feel sorry for these characters. The lighting is very dim and dark and special effects are also used. Mercedes is then shown walking into the village town; she is dressed in a beige Mac coat with a bag and looks well dressed. Her younger sister turns the corner and see’s her but Mercedes tries to avoid her by pretending that she’s on the phone. Michaela is dressed with a bow in her hair, black and white top and black skirt with bright blue shoes; this shows her loathness. She catches onto what Mercedes is doing and rings her phone to catch her out.
A jump cut is then used and a close up shot shows someone sitting down with their hand in an odd looking black container in-between their arms; I presumed that it was a male character as they were wearing a stripy blue top and had muscley hairy arms. The camera follows the characters hand up towards their body and show Zac clipping a peg onto his face which already has a lot of pegs on already. Viewers immediately wonder why on earth he has all these pegs on his face! Is he doing it for a competition or just messing around with one of his mates? He mentions to his friend Kris that he now has 47 pegs on his face, and Kris who is sitting casually in a chair reading a book simply replies,
A jump cut shows a change in location as the McQueen household is shown with Carmel walking her mother down the stairs covering her eyes; she clearly has set up a surprise for her. There is soft, relaxing calm music being played in the background and as her mother opens her eyes, the living room is covered with candles and photos of Tina. Myra finds this really touching and appreciates Carmel’s gesture greatly. They are both dressed in black which clearly shows that they are still in mourning for Tina; between their selves they mention how they can’t believe that she is now dead and what belongings of hers they still have. Carmel mentions “I’ve still got a shopping list she had written.” Mother and daughter have a heart to heart about how much they miss Tina and how nobody understands the pain of loosing a family member in that way. They are both talking calmly and quietly to another.
Suddenly Theresa bursts into the room with her loud music playing and dancing around being very disruptive; this could show how Theresa has a character just bursts into people’s lives and/or issues and disrupts everything. Suddenly Myra changes her tone and volume in voice and questions Theresa,
A jump cut then goes to Kris sitting on the counter in someone’s kitchen; Nancy is then shown and viewers realise its her kitchen they’re in. the radio is being played in the background and there is an awkward silence between the two before Kris asks, “So how long have we got Charlie around for?” Nancy sounds bitter and annoyed as she replies whilst chopping up some vegetables. There is a distance and awkwardness between the couple which is clearly visible. Kris gets off the counter and tries to be supportive and loving towards his girlfriend by giving her a hug but she just pushes him away, he asks whether they can all go out to the park or something but Nancy is very adamant about staying indoors. A close up shot is used to show the reaction and expression on Nancy’s face when Kris mentions that she is hiding away because of her ex, Jake. There is a knock at the door and it turns out to be Zac who is waiting for Kris so he can go to the house party. Kris is unsure whether or not he should go as he wants to stay at home with Nancy, however she persuades him to go, “I’ll be fine! J”
The Roy’s house party is then shown; loud music is being played and there are a lot of teenagers standing around with drinks in their hands talking to each other in groups. Archie enters and Leila instantly runs over to him, “What are you doing here?” She obviously doesn’t want him at the party because she knows that there will be conflict between him and other characters. However in the end she lets him stay; Ravi has seen the mini argument and asks Leila what all the trouble was about. This shows that Ravi is a protective caring older brother but Leila brushes him off and just mentions that it was nothing before running off towards the DJ.
|
Leila walks in on Sheila and Elliot
Myra struggles to get her family together
Kris goes to visit Nancy
Thresa plants herself onto Ricky and kisses him
Anita opens the door to see them kissing
Elliot pins Archie up against a Wall
Finally the McQueens are having a good time as they celebrate Tina's life
After the end credits, they show the Mcqueen Sisters having some fun; Carmels wig has caught alight and Jacqui throws a jug of water onto her
|
A jump cut goes to show a mid shot of Carmel McQueen; she has a black veil over her face and in the background to the right you can clearly see a photo of Tina and some candles. Whilst Carmel is saying a few words about Tina, the calming music is being played in the background again and Myra and Theresa are shown sitting down listening in. Theresa has gone and got changed into all black. Suddenly Mercedes and Michaela burst in and Carmel is disrupted once again. Both Mercedes and Michaela are clearly not impressed with what they are seeing, “Are you for real?” Carmel asks them if they’re gong to go and get changed and explains that it would be respectful but Mercedes doesn't see the point. Carmel asks them if they have prepared their eulogies and Michaela seems disgusted at the thought of this, "I'm not doing it!" The sisters then begin arguing between their selves as Michaela says how she was the one who arranged every single detail for Tina’s funeral including choosing the coffin and ringing the funeral directors. She doesn’t see why she should have to go through everything again. A mid shot shows a silhouette of somebody behind the door and its revealed to be Jacqui, she walks in as Michaela says “Why should I have to go through it all again?” and Jacqui answers her question by saying that she doesn’t and that the whole ceremony they are doing now is simply a sham. She sounds angry and seems to take it all out on her mother who looks worried. “The whole thing is a sham isn’t it Mum?” It then cuts to the adverts.
When coming back, a mid shot goes straight into the living room scene of the McQueen’s and Myra mentions how they’ve all upset Carmel. Jacqui begins being emotionally abusive towards to her Mother and its clear she is upsetting her a lot whilst not caring, “Is today the day you remember as choosing what two children you chose to die?” Mercedes defends her mother and tells Jacqui that she is being out of order, she gets up to leave and goes looking for Michaela. Theresa also gets up stating that she doesn’t want to be left in what she feels like is an asylum. Jacqui bites back by saying “You make up your mind, do you want to be in this family or not?” Its clear that Jacqui is simply taking out all her anger on the people around her; I think deep down she is really upset about the death of her sister but doesn’t know how to really show it. Jacqui reveals how Theresa went looking for her mother in London because they aren’t good enough for her and her mother seems upset about it as Jacqui turns it onto her and begins questioning her parenting skills. She also puts Theresa down by saying how nobody wants her.
Loud music is shown and a montage is used to show various people at the house party jumping up and down, dancing and kissing each other, Anita Roy is shown stumbling around drunk out of her face asking Ricky to sneak more alcohol for her. He falls over and Archie beings shouting at him, immediately Leila comes over and they have an argument with Leila pushing him into the kitchen sink as he mentions that maybe Leila still wants him. She is clearly disgusted by this accusation and shows that she wants nothing more to do with him. Anita tries coming onto the boy but he knows that she is drunk and doesn’t go along with it, as Ravi comes along she pukes all over him. Zac sees Archie and tells Ravi that he slept with Leila and wants to beat him up because of Elliot but Kris mentions that he shouldn’t be getting involved with his business. Ravi goes to speak to Leila abou Archie as he wants her to tell him to leave, but she just complains to him "Anita is drinking us dry go sort her out!" This scene is just showing various people jumping from story to story within the party.
A birds-eye view shot is used to show Carmel lying on her bed crying her eyes out to her mother, as Mercedes comes in to apologise and the three mentions how they shouldn’t be arguing and fighting on that particular day. Michaela has an idea that they should celebrate the day and remember all the good times they had with Tina. Carmel warms up to this idea and gets up from her bed.
It jumps back to the party again and shows a montage again of people dancing around with loud music, drinking and girls and boys coming out of bedrooms together. A loud song is being played (Jerk it.) Theresa goes upstairs and sees Ricky sitting outside the bathroom door whilst Anita is puking up. Theresa says how Anita being sick is the sound of revenge for kissing her best mates boyfriend. She then looks at Ricky, "Maybe she should get a taste of her own medicine." This shows their friendship declining. Nancy turns up with Charlie at the party and tells Kris that she really missed him, Kris decides to leave the party and the three go home; as they open the door Elliot walks in and sees Zac confronting Archie. “Right you and me outside!” As Anita opens the door, Theresa plants herself onto Ricky and begins kissing him, Anita looks really upset and shocked but Theresa justifies herself by saying that now she knows what it feels like when friends cheat on each other. Ravi walks across the landing and sees Anita’s face asking her what is wrong but she won’t answer and he gets annoyed. Clearly you can see his frustration as he hobbles down the stairs and see’s Archie on the floor with Elliot hitting him. Leila comes in , “What the hell are you doing?!” and tries to get them all to stop but nobody will leave. Everyone begins arguing and Ravi is getting extremely annoyed, he stumbles around all the rooms, leaning against the wall and can see that something is clearly troubling him. Perhaps it is his brain aneurysm? He has a black out and for the next minute everything is dizzy and blurred including the music showing viewers how Ravi is seeing the party. Everything begins to spin around in his head and he suddenly flips. He looks up and his facial expression has changed, the music goes back to normal and he begins running around shouting aggressively at everyone screaming at them to get out, “I’m taking control!”
This is suddenly juxtaposed with the McQueen family where the sisters are in the living room dancing around calmly with wine and what not. Myra and Jacqui have a little heart to heart where Myra says that she will never stop trying to get Jacqui to forgive her and loves her with all her heart. She mentions how she feels all the pain that Jacqui goes through but "I'm the one who will go to my grave with all that pain and guilt."Theresa enters and Jacqui apologies to her for what she said before. “You are part of this family.”
Jumps to Leila running down the stairs and confronting Ravi who is sitting infront of the door keeping everyone out. This shows their status; Ravi explains how he got really angry because everyone was fighting and arguing and Leila wouldn’t let him help her with Archie. "I was just trying to protect you!" He was trying to protect her but instead he has scared Leila. "You went mad! Screaming and shouting at EVERYONE!" He then sits there and sobs to himself in the corner. What has he got so upset about? It then cuts to the credits.
|
||
|
