I chose to look at EastEnders and Hollyoaks as they have very different historical backgrounds and emphasis on audience, but similar urban setting. EastEnders is set in the East End of London and this area has a lot of history associated with it; it was bombed heavily during the Second World War and people ‘pulled together’. Hollyoaks on the other hand has no sense of history attached to it. EastEnders uses this sense of history to draw people in to watching the programme, as they are reminded of the ‘good old days’. Hollyoaks in complete contrast to this has no sense of history connected with it as the people who watch it won’t really care about the history of the area.
EastEnders opening title sequence focuses completely on the setting of the programme showing no characters or people at all. Hollyoaks however focuses mainly on its characters with an almost insignificant amount of location or setting shown. Although these two sequences are completely different they are engineered in the same way to play to the strengths of the programmes: Hollyoaks with its young beautiful characters and EastEnders with its sense of history and tradition.
In the beginning of the EastEnders title sequence we are shown an aerial photograph (or extreme longshot) of the eastern end of the river Thames and the surrounding area, where the programme is set, the photographthen becomes bigger as the camera zooms out to show the rest of London. As this happens the image also turns around, this implies that the east end is the main area and everything revolves around it. It also implies that the East End is more diverse than the rest of London with people from all walks of life or possibly to the way that people in the East End ‘pull together’ and the sense of community in the area unlike the rest of the city.
The beginning of Hollyoaks is very different to EastEnders, the first thing that appears is the title ‘Holloaks’, and this is followed by various midshots of the characters in action superimposed and scrolling down over a desaturated, then saturated blue background. The scrolling mid shots then show the last point of the previous episode three times, then the first shot of the current episode is repeated three times and then zooms in to fill the entire screen. The Hollyoaks title also appears several times throughout all this. As I said above this is very different to the EastEnders opening title sequence, the main difference is on the focus on location or characters.
Both title sequences use at least one of the same visual effects but in a different way, to give a different effect. The most obvious visual effect that both EastEnders and Hollyoaks use is superimposing. Both programmes use superimposing for their title wording, but in a different way. EastEnders has its title superimposed over a still background shot at the end of its title sequence; whereas Hollyoaks has its title superimposed over moving shots of its characters as well as over a still background. I think the programme makers have chosen to use superimposing in these different ways because of the basic differences that their title sequences have. EastEnder’s title sequence is quite simple and short whereas Hollyoak’s is comparatively long and complicated; this means that if someone has never watched either of the programmes and see the title sequences they might not watch Hollyoaks if they have no idea what it is, repeating the title removes this danger. Hollyoaks also uses desaturated and saturated colour and superimposed action shots. The saturated and desaturated colour are used to provide an aesthetically pleasing background and the superimposed action shots are used to make the programme seem action packed before it even starts, to draw in the audience.
Both title sequences also have music playing throughout them, but once again this is used to different effect by the programme makers. EastEnders has a classic ‘sing song around the piano’ feel to it, but at the same time has a more modern distinctive drumbeat to it. Hollyoaks however has an entirely more modern feel with guitars, drums and a very catchy and cheerful tune. I think that the difference in music in the two programmes suggests what kind of audience they both seek. EastEnders with its universal appeal, not focusing on one particular group of people; Hollyoaks with its appeal to the younger people of Britain.
The two programmes actually have very similar title wording, they both use a quite plain, large font with capital and lower case letters. The only noticeable thing is that either title wording is that EastEnders has a capital on the e of ‘enders’. I think that this is to show that both the setting and people are important. And that the programme makers mutually chose to use a plain font to show the ‘ordinary’,‘everyday’ nature of the storylines and characters; also to they wanted people to remember the name of the programme so they made it white and quite big so that it stands out.
In conclusion it is my opinion that: both the EastEnders and Hollyoaks title sequences are effective in their separate in their separate ways, and at attracting their different target audiences. EastEnder’s strongest point is that ‘everyone’ can recognise it, as it has remained unchanged for some time with its signature drumbeat and aerial photos of London. Hollyoaks strongest point is that is so much going on throughout it that you can watch it several times and still notice new thongs, as well as the last six scrolling midshots that change with every episode. Personally I prefer the Hollyoaks opening, as it is more inserting than the EastEnders sequence in which nothing really happens. This simple, minimalist approach could be more affective than the Hollyoaks sequence, if the Hollyoaks sequence was too complicated and had too much going on. But I think the programme makers have got the sequence just right: not trying to be too clever but still being interesting. Also all the different components such as the music and visual effects fit together to make a finely tuned machine of a title sequence.