DOWNTON ABBEY

 

Downton Abbey is a British period drama series that was created by Julian Fellowes and was the co-produced by Carnival Films and Masterpiece. It first aired on ITV in the UK and in Ireland on September 26^th 2010 and it was then aired on PBS in America on January 9^th 2011. Four series have been aired and the fifth series is going to air on the 21^st of September 2014.

 
A normal episode of Downtown Abbey begins with the slow transition between distinctive images that show you that it is set in a different time and it is a period drama. The music matches the original setting as it is bold and soft which also prompts the assumption that it has been set in a certain period.

Dietetic music is used to show sounds that are not within the scene its self. The music at the beginning of these episodes begins soft and slow and then emphasises as it comes to the end of the opening credits. The main opening credits represent the time that it was set in. The images that are at the beginning in the opening credits they show the different situations and how the classes differ.  This is represented when it shows the servants bell ringing. This is the first image show this then shows us that the people who own the house are clearly of a higher class than the people that the bell is ringing for. It goes on to transitioning between the images by moving left to right which shows the different images as they come up on the screen. It goes on to show letters coming through which then allows the viewer to assume that it is set before phones and before people could send messages. Dietetic music is also used to represent other actions such as a loud and heavy drum is used to represent someone’s heart beat even though the action is within the scene

The colours used represent the difference between the servant’s quarters and the higher class’s quarters on the upper floors. The colours used when showing the servants shows more bland and dark colours and when it shows the higher class it shows how they possess more bright and classy furnishings.

The movement in the beginning credits show still shots with motion within them showing them moving and adjusting the setting of the table. The movement in these images are only small because this can also display the careful and precise attitude towards the setting of the table. This then shows us how important it is that everything is in line and how it needs to be exactly perfect.

The characters and the dialogue used in this TV drama can connect with the period that it is set in. This is shows in the speech used and the ascents. The speech used shows that it is set in the past where there was class distinction because it shows the servants talking to the people in the higher class in a certain way because they refer to them as sir and madam which tells us who is in the higher classes and who are the servants. The dialogue used in the drama represents the difference in attitudes and the way in which people conversed with each other this shows us how the people from this period showed respect to each other in the sentences used and how they refer to each other.

Extreme long shots are used to show a panoramic view of the whole building this helps to display the size and how the building also represents the people who live in it and how the people in the house have a grand status that is the reflected in the building and the way that the rooms are set out. Look shots are then used to represent the relationships between people within the house and the different relationships between people in the house. These relationships are shown between the servants and how there is still a structure to the classes. It also shows how even the classes differ within the servants. This is shown when the servants have different relationships and they are unable to show these because of how they are expected to behave towards each other.

The use of camera angles and shots are important within a television series like this because it helps to show the viewer the relationship between the people in the shots. There is a large use of high angle shots because this allows there to be a clear distinction between the people in the shots. This is mainly used when there are two people in a scene together and one of them is in a higher class from the other. This is because when a servant is show in one of the shots with one of the main Lady’s of the manor the angle used on the servant shows a high angle this then shows that they are beneath the person that they are talking to. It then goes on to use an upward angled shot this represents the fact that the individual in the shot is of a higher class and status of the other. It also represents how they have a certain type of authority over the servants. This represents how classes differed in these times.