Gossip Girl - Sound

Season 2, Episode 6; New Haven Can Wait (Aired: Weds 4th March @ 9pm, ITV2)

There is always a lot of sound used in Gossip Girl, be it diegetic or non-diegetic. Evey episode starts with the voice-over from "Gossip Girl" herself; introducing the episode and setting the scene. Her voice re-appears throughout the episode, usually just before an ad break, where she ties up what we have just seen with an insight into what might happen next; seeing as she is the omniscient character in the programme, she therefore knows what is going to happen. "Gossip Girl" always has the last words in every episode; a conclusion of the events, and again, an insight into the upcoming drama.

Here is a summary of the music/sound in this week's episode:

• The episode starts with 'The Wake Up Song' by The Submarines. This plays as it shows both
  Blair and Serena get up and get ready for the big day at Yale University. The upbeat track is lively and cheery - synchronous to the mood created by the characters' excitement of the new day.

• When Chuck and Nate are sitting on the grass outside Yale and Nate notices the attractive girl, a fast-paced, edgy track called 'White Diamonds' by Friendly Fires comes on - this suggests that something is going to happen between the two characters and, as we find out later on, it does!

• During the Dean's dinner event at Yale, The Section Quartet's rendition of Muse's Time Is Running Out is playing in the background; assuming that the quartet are actually present at the Dean's home. This version is aptly named, because of the increasing competition between Blair and Serena for a place at the university. The fact that it is a string version also suits the aristocratic atmosphere of the evening, adding a poignant and high-class feel to the event itself.

• In this episode Jenny is told she has to give up fashion and go back to school; obviously, she is distraught by the news. Throughout her scenes, a slow-paced, gentle piano piece is played - this reinforces the morose mood and allows the audience to sympathise with her.
  

• In almost every scene there is music playing in the background, under the dialogue - this gives us the constant feeling of movement and action as the plot unfolds. The music is mostly played by stringed instruments and is pizzicato, to create a plucky [no pun intended!], upbeat mood.
  

Narrative In TV Drama

A couple wake up and go downstairs to breakfast. They do not realise that they are being watched by terrorists. While at work, the woman (Fiona) and her colleague (Danny) are captured by the terrorists; who then contact her husband (Adam) demanding that the PM must withdraw the troops in Iraq if the hostages are to be released. A failed escape attempt by Danny and Fiona leads to Adam having to choose which one would be killed; however, after insulting one of the terrorists (in order to essentially choose for Adam) Danny is shot and killed. The team soon realise that the female terrorist with Adam is in fact a suicide bomber, planning to kill the PM and other Gov officials at the dinner event that he and Khatera are attending. Fortunately, Adam manages to play on her doubts and persuade her otherwise, obtaining the detonator and alerting everyone in the building. Fiona’s location is discovered and she is rescued just in time, before being burnt alive by the terrorist.

Narrative Convention:

Follows a classic 3-part narrative pattern, as described by Todorov, consisting of: An equilibrium, disruption and restoration of/creation of new equilibrium.

BEGINNING – The start shows a young couple; they are happy and clearly in love. They are waking up, going to work – a usual day in their life, nothing’s different. EQUILIBRIUM

MIDDLE – Officers are taken hostage; emphasis is on their release; we wait to see whether she will return to her husband and whether the terrorists’ demands will be given in to by the Government. DISRUPTION

END – The terrorists are caught and their plans are stopped, Fiona is rescued. There is a sense of a new EQUILIBRIUM, though Danny has been killed.

Most stories have happy endings to please the viewers. The sense of restoration of peace comforts the audience, and allows them to escape from the harsh realities of everyday life. Most stories are read/watched by the viewer for enjoyment and pleasure purposes; if the story were to have an unhappy ending, the viewer may find this less pleasing, if not a little upsetting. Through certain stories, we are able to suspend our belief long enough to empathise with the characters; we feel what they feel, therefore we want to experience a happy resolution with them too.

What starts as an ordinary, everyday morning, is suddenly threatened; this is a standard way of beginning a narrative because it establishes the equilibrium, so the viewer can see what the norm is and how the threat of disruption leads on to disorder and interference later on. Relationships between characters are established; in this case, we see the loving couple, happy together. We also see the two terrorists watching them form outside; this gives the viewer a sense of foresight in to what is likely to happen and we have to watch the rest of the programme to find out how/if equilibrium is restored at the end.

The audience are automatically being encouraged to take sides in this fight of ‘good’ vs. ‘evil’ (Levi-Strauss’ binary oppositions). The viewer sees Adam and Fiona together; they see how in love they are and instantly recognise them as the ‘good guys’. The fact that they are also Mi5 agents, fighting crime and evil, reinforces the likeability factor of these characters which adds to the empathy the audience have for them – they are innocent civilians, who do not deserve what is about to happen to them. When we see the terrorists in the car, spying on Adam and Fiona, we assume that they are the ‘bad guys’. We see them as outsiders (because they are foreign and are speaking in a different language), creating a subconscious barrier between them and the audience; we find it easier to relate to the loving couple rather than the terrorists. It is not until the characters’ stories are revealed that we might actually change our perception on who we initially thought was ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

Gossip Girl - Location

Season 2, Episode 4; The Ex Files (Aired: Weds 18th Feb @ 9pm, ITV2)

In this episode there are a wide variety of locations, all of which help add meaning to the plot and provide us with an aesthetically pleasing background for the dramatic action that takes place.

The action takes place in the Upper-East side of Manhattan (the wealthy area) and Brooklyn (the poorer area). We can tell where we are in the programme because there are always est. shots of the area before characters are shown. For example, when in the Upper-East side, we are shown shots of:

• Large boats on the river
• Tall skyscrapers
• Trimmed bushes and trees with fences around them
• Clean streets
• Very few cars, little traffic

When in Brooklyn we see:

• The Brooklyn bridge
• Busy high streets
• Lots of cars and traffic
  

The most notable differences in location are when the scenes switch from the Upper-East side of Manhattan (where the rich kids Serena, Blair, Chuck etc live), to Brooklyn (where Dan and Jenny live).

UPPER-EAST SIDE - Serena's house:

• The inside of an apartment (possibly the penthouse suite - right at the top)
• Glass windows overlooking the city (could be metaphorical for the wealthy people looking down on the not so wealthy)
• Mahogany furnishings, marble flooring

Similar to the interior of Blair's house:

• Marble, chequered floor tiles
• Ornate furnishings (possibly made out of ivory)
• White and cream is the common colour scheme - signifies wealth
  
• Floral wallpaper
  
• Contemporary art on the walls
• Not much character to the house - simple furnishings
  

This shows the viewer that these characters are very wealthy, as the live in exquisitely-furnished houses, compared to the other characters. This could also connote the level of importance that the character has in the plot. E.g. Serena is the main character, so she oversees everyone else.

This is completely different to the interior of Dan's apartment in BROOKLYN:

• Brick walls; chunks of plaster missing from pillars
• Mismatched pieces of furniture - one leather armchair, another dark brown fabric chair
• Windows with different coloured panes of glass in them
• One yellow wall in the kitchen - gives a more homely feel
• Very cluttered - lots of character

This gives the viewer the picture that Dan and his family have less money than Serena's/Blair's family. They live in completely opposite areas of New York; yet they all go to the same school - which suggests that they do actually have a bit of money, just not as much as the others in the programme.

The distinction between rich and poor is highlighted further by parallel cross cuts between when both Serena and Dan wake up; we can clearly notice the difference in their bedrooms:

• Serena's bedroom has cream walls and is very large. There is a large art deco headboard and very lavish furnishings (marble dressers and large bedside lamps)
• Whereas Dan's room has dark grey walls and is tiny in comparison. He has wooden blinds and lots of pictures on the walls. It is a typical 'boy' room - very messy

Until now, I hadn't really noticed the deliberate techniques used to make the viewer see the clear variations in lifestyles of the rich and poor in Gossip Girl. Whenever a scene takes place in a wealthy area, the next scene jumps to a poorer part of NY, to define the contrast. This causes the audience to make a subconscious judgement in their heads - we see the rich people as rich and the poor people as poor (and therefore less important) because that is how the director wants us to see the characters.