Shameless Opening Sequence Analysis

The title sequence I have decided to analyse is shameless. The reason I chose shameless was because, the title sequence is one of the most informing opening to a TV drama I know. Within the first second, there is an establishing shot of old tower residential tower blocks, which sets the scene for the whole drama. Shameless is based on people who live off benefits, and who live in these tower blocks, so within the first second of seeing the opening, the audience can get a feel for what the program is actually about.
The shots within the title sequence are quick, establishing shots, portraying the life of these people. The different shots include a flats, surrounded by concrete, highlighting the city life, rather than the green countryside, which also sets the scene. Other shots include; a pub with barbed wire around it, insinuating crime, and violence, which is one of the main points of the program.
Frank narrates the opening of the program, by walking around where he lives, explaining about ‘Chatsworth estate’, and “pubs and drugs”, which instantly shows the audience what the show is going to be about.
The opening features short clips from the season of the show, which explains the story line, which is about to unfold, and also, furthermore highlights the genre of the show, and what is included in it (drugs, violence, sex, alcohol, political issues, ect)
Within the first 30 seconds, there was 40 different shots, which highlights the fact of the fast paced, action filled drama. The fast paced camera shots, also match the rhythm of the fast paced families the story is about.
During the opening, a few clips of each character appear, which is very effective, because it gives the audience a brief opening to what each character is like, and what they will expect of each character.

Analysing shameless, made me realise that it relates to the work we did on stereotypes, because throughout the opening, the characters are portrayed in this “chav” –like persona. They are all wearing clothes, which could be related to the image people associate with chavs, or perhaps anti-social people. The characters often wore sports wear, and/or high street labels, such as umbro.

Most of the opening is set outside, showing the environment of where the drama is set, and highlighting the living conditions.
In my opinion, the opening to Shameless is intriguing, because the storylines which take place in the opening, for example the drugs, and violence, don’t have any association with me, because I don’t live in an environment which is surrounded by drugs, and violence. Therefore it makes me want to learn more, about this society I am unfamiliar with, therefore inactivating me, resulting in me wanting to carry on watching the rest of the episode.

Production Practice

Production Practice- Warp films, and working title. Including budget, depending on low or high budget - quality of film/audience

Different special effects, depending on budget, natural light 'this is england'. Hot fuzz/This is england.

Low budget - limited to set, which doesnt need changing

high bidget - Sets are specially made for the movie, eg hot fuzz



Action - high budget would use a lot of camera work, relating to action, for example fast camera work.



high budget can appeal to a wider audience, because the institutions have more money, and more licening taking place, therefore their films can be sent around the world, rather than just to a few cinemas, like an independent film will. higher budgets have more money to spend on advertising.



High budgets will usually have greater detail, when it comes to mise-en-scene. This is because they can spend more money, on small details. for example American beauty use Roses as a iconography. Where as, This is england, do not have any iconic conventions.



Low budget films often use natural light in films



ATL BTL



High budget use both

low budget use BTL

Shameless analysis

Throughout shameless, we see all different types of camera shots. At the start of every shameless episode, there are quick, 1 second shots of the estate, including barbed wire, graffiti, and vandalism. By including shots, such as these, it creates an instant impression of ‘lower class’, which is what the TV program is about. The director also uses a steady handheld camera convention, which creates the impression of the audience looking into their lives. During action, for example when “Paddy” beats up a man, the camera work is quick, and snappy. Also the camera work is a lot more shaky, which creates tension and thrills. The aerial shot indicates that the footage is coming from a CCTV camera, which is looking down on them. A sharp zoom is used a lot in shameless, usually to zoom in on objects, or facial expressions.

Shameless raises a lot of social, and political problems, such as child benefit problems, and money problems in general. It creates escapism for the audience, into a world that most of them will not be aware of. In my opinion, Shameless can be a lot more broader, with the message which the director wants to portray, because it is not shown in prime time, therefore they can touch on other subjects, which might not be suitable for a prime time television show, such as Eastenders.

The props in Shameless are very basic, and would be cheap to buy. This is so that the audience can relate to the characters more, because the objects on Shameless are not out of reach for an ordinary viewer. This relates to the work we did on ‘class and stereo type’, because the “working class” often only had the bare essentials, which is what is included in Shameless. Therefore the director is playing around with stereotypes, and status, which will enable the audience to be able to understand the text a lot more, because the stereo types will be familiar to other TV dramas, or even perhaps in real life. Although shameless is based around the stereotype of the working class people, in my opinion, I think shameless also breaks stereotypes, for example “Micky” is gay, and he doesn’t really fit into the “camp” category. I think this is interesting, because it goes against the stereotypes of other TV shows, and allows the audience to see gay people in another perspective, and not just camp.