Analysis of Inbetweeners programme

                       
 Inbetweeners - Series 3 episode 1



Straight away the programme begins with non-diegetic sound, the theme tune; this is played to open the programme, identifying the programme. As the show begins we see a long shot of a teenage boy, wearing a black smart uniform and glasses .The paradigmatic choice of the glasses connotes to the audience about the boy’s character, suggesting him is very smart and maybe a geek, they have used stereotypes so the audience can identify the characters personality. Therefore the paradigmatic of the boys costume also add to the idea of him being a geek, and give his outfit a deeper meaning to the audience. The setting is a school playground, which again tells the audience the boy is in a school environment. We then have a panning shot as the boy walks toward the school. The syntagmatics of the playground is just a basic field; however after adding the paradigms features of loud school kids in uniform, it gives the setting more meaning, telling the audience it is a school. The lighting is high key, which represents the mood of this programme and also how the boy is feeling.

They then cut to the boy, now inside the school walking down the corridor, followed by a non-diegetic voice over of the character, followed by a montage of clips to introduce the character more and also his past time at school, the effect of this allows the audience to understand the plot line even if they had never seen this show before. Meanwhile the theme tune is still playing quietly in the background, giving it a quick structure.  
We then have a wide shot of 3 men standing on the side of the road looking around, the young boy we have previously seen , and two new characters, by using the long shot is allows the audience to see the new location and also the two new characters and their costumes. Both of which are wearing a blue school jumper and black trousers. The paradigmatic choice in this is the boys are still wearing school uniform; however they attend sixth form, suggesting to the audience they still have the mind of school child. This suggests they are not as smart and clever as the boy in the black suit. The camera then changes to a mid-shot as the boy’s looks around, by doing this it tells the audience they are waiting for someone. By using the school uniforms it informs the audience of the characters age range. The syntagmatics choice of school uniform is limited , however by making the uniform messy they use paradigmatic to give meaning , such as the character are scruffy and messy.  

It then changes to a long shot of the road, as we see a little red car making its way up the road. Meanwhile the voice over of the character is still talking.
The boys then get into the car and the camera zooms out to a long shot as the car drives away. The lighting is still high key lighting.

This then cuts to a mid shot of the four boys sat in the car; we can also hear a synchronous sound of the car engine and a car beeping at them At this point the camera is on the bonnet of the car allowing the audience to view a subject point of view. We then go to a closes up of each characters faces as they talk to each other, using diegetic sound allowing the audience to view the characters more closely, and start to learn more about the characters.  As the camera jumps from each characters face the director has used match cuts to make it less noticeable to the audience, also adding continuity to the show.

The scene then cuts to a long shot of a group of kids playing football, followed by the voice over of William again, meanwhile the non-diegetic sound of music is being playing in the background. Which then changes to a close up of the boy talking, the camera then zooms out to a wide shot, allowing the audience to view who he is speaking to. Also allowing the audience to view the new setting, as the characters sit inside a classroom in sixth form. We are now introduced to a man, which is the Head teacher named Mr Gilbert, they use a mid-shot allowing the audience to view the mans outfit. He is wearing a smart black suit, connoting to the audience he is in charge. Also the camera is angled low down which makes the character seem in charge, which links to his character role as he is the teacher. It then changes to a reverse cut back to the character of jay, as he speaks to the man; by doing this it creates rhythm to the scene. This time the camera angle is high up, showing the audience that jay is timid and not in charge unlike the Mr Gilbert, as they have cleverly used camera angles to display the characters
Authority. Each character is very different as the character of Will is very smart, clever and geeky looking; Jay is the character that constantly lies to look big in through other
People, Neil is the character who is always confused, and Simon is the character who always need advise and always embarrasses himself in front of girls. So by doing this, they have used a wide range of personalities in which the audience can relate to or find humorous. They have also used very limited lighting techniques throughout the scene, as they mainly used high-key lighting as the show is a comedy. So they only use happy lighting. Syntagmatics and paradigmatic have been used throughout the programme to add meaning to the characters. The title of the programme is 'The Inbetweeners’, they have used anchorage which links to the characters status, as they are outcasts and find it hard to fit in.
The opening scene has a deeper meaning to it. I believe it’s to portray teenagers at this present time, and the stereotypes which say are associated with. The programme is also made use to allow people to relate to the programme and laugh, allowing them to escape stress from their life’s, this is something i will keep in mind when creating own sci-com.
Watch from start till 3:50

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-inbetweeners/4od