Wednesday 3 November 2010

Research And Planning - Analysis of Grange Hill Opening Titles 2001

Having already looked at the original titles for Grange Hill I decided to look at newer versions as a means of comparison.

One major difference is the music used to accompany the titles. It is still up beat but uses a variation on the original `Bell` at the end of the titles and has been given an up to date modern makeover ( almost as if the programme has grown up a bit) which would be more appealing to the target audience.

Also the intended audience seems to have changed slightly focusing more on teenagers. This could have been a change made by the producer in order to widen their audience or it could have been a directive from the BBC itself.

The second noticable difference is the format and style of the titles. This version uses block colours, mostly different shades of blue and purple ( possibly leaning a little more towards the male viewer) and as they blend well the chosen colours are `easy on the eye`.
By this era the comic strip style was dropped and the characters were shown in real life as apposed to animated.

We see the characters moving across the screen holding giant letters from the shows title. Some are seen slightly out of focus and from a mid shot distance, whereas other characters are using the letters in a functional way. I.e as a table for a keyboard or to put a book on and are seen in both close up shots and further away.

One similarity is that both versions end with the shows title on screen for 3-4 seconds and in quite bold font. From my research I have found that this trait is a common convention used across the board for children's TV dramas. This enables children watching to fully absorb the title and prepare them for the programme itself.
The 2001 version is in a `funky` style and placed in a jagard arrangement which is in keeping with the modern edge.

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