-x- Spooks- Essay- Opening Sequence -x-

Throughout this essay i will be explaining what techniques the opening scene uses to appeal to a weekday mainstream audience. The essay will also focus on what the text tells us about the media insitutions involved. Also this essay will include whether the extract follows the codes and conventions of an opening scene. Lastly this essay will include how people and places are represented in the opening scenne of this 'Spooks' Tv series.

Firstly Spooks is a Tv series broadcasted on the BBC. The BBC is a public service broadcatser. This therefore means that their duty is to the public, serving to inform, educate and entertain rather thank to make a commercial profit. This therefore means that the Tv series should automatically have a meaning behind the series, and also the series should be up to the same advantage as other TV series produced by the BBC.

Media texts are constructed using a number of codes and conventions which refer to meanings portrayed byt the text. A code is a network of signs, written, visual, artistic or behavioural meanings that are culturally accepted and shared. A convention is a conduct or practice or mehtod that is commonly accpepted and has a tradition. Therefore this relates to the 'Spooks' series due to the reason that the setting shown throughout the opening is set to look as an urban type of posh area, located in London. The first shot is of a young, white schoolgirl skipping on the pavement. This therefore is a typical London tradition and is accepted as people find it normal for a young school girl to be skipping and playing about outside ehr house. This can however be contridicted as some people may have a negative view on this as they may belive there are many hazzards and dangers for a young girl to be playing near a road by herself. Also the codes and conventions used to represent the young male and female are put across as positive. For example the young couple can be seen as a newlywed couple who are hapily in love, the diea of this makes the audience want to think what will happen next and the reason to why they are so happy.

The music being played in the background of the dialogue also connotes that something bad is going to happen. The build up of the storyline also attracts the audience more. The reason for this is because the dialogue starts with the couple getting ready to go to work, eating breakfats and then finnaly getting into the car. The music seems to be slow paced and suspensful therefore making the audience believe something bad is going to happen, or keeps the audience wondering what is going to happen next.
A binary opposition can also be reflected from this opening sequence. The main reason being that the couple is seen to be loved up and also happy, however when the two other characters are intorduced the dialogue used ' they deystroyed our life' conntoes evil. This therefore shows a binary opposition as the audience dont expect a happy couple to be interferring with neagtive things. This therfore makes the audience want to carry on watching the movie and find otu what the happy couple done to the other two characters.

The main codes and conventions based upon the opening sequence, are mainly used by building up tension throughout the sequence. Firstly the main shot is a close up of a young school skipping, this therefore attracts the audience as it automatically shows the types of people that are going to be in the school. Also the voices used when there are two people in the car are close up shots of the tow characters mouths, this therefore conntoes suspision as their identity is not shown until the end of the openign sequence.