Eastenders Who Killed Lucy Beale Trailer

Camerawork

This is a high angle shot that zooms into the square at the beginning of the trailer which establishes the setting of the square.

There is an aerial shot of one of the characters in a dark hallway. This shot connotes that she is doing something that she doesn't want anyone to see because she is in a dark hallway and the shot does not reveal what she looks like or what she is doing.

There is a high angle shot of the characters looking up at the camera at the end of the trailer, which makes all of them look small and innocent, whereas the title says there’s a killer amongst them, which makes the character feel as though it could be any one of them.

A focus pull is also used from the spider to Denise with a hammer, suggesting that a lot of what the character are doing is hidden so the real killer of Lucy is not obvious as everyone has something that they want to hide.

There are some close up of the characters faces looking mysterious, and the effect of the slow eye roll suggests that they are up to something that they shouldn’t because they are looking very serious.

Some mid shots are also used to show some of the characters that are involved and the face expressions they are showing. All of the characters look very suspicious, which keeps the audience guessing as to who is really responsible for Lucy's death.

Characters

All of the characters featured in the soap are made to look like lower and middle class characters, some of them are dressed in more expensive looking clothes like parkas and dark black jackets, whereas some are shown wearing cheap looking puffer coats. These costumes connote that the characters are not that well off and are not that up to date with fashion, making them look classless and rough.

There are characters featured in this soap from different ethnicities which helps to make the soap more diverse and attract a wider audience, as people are able to find characters that they feel they can relate to in some way.

Two adults that are going through a rough patch in their marriage are also featured in this soap. The male is a shop owner, and he appear to be quite weak and old fashioned due to his haircut.

There are older women featured in the trailer, which also helps to appeal to their wide audience as the characters are of different ages, which makes the soap look more realistic and appealing to a larger age group.

Teenage characters are also featured in this trailer, and in this trailer she is the best friend of the young girl who has died. This character type can be used to show how younger people deal with the grief of death. This can be used to help give advice to the audience and also give the audience an escape from their life because they watch character on TV go through problems.

Older men are also used throughout the trailer, which feature a storyline between him and his daughter, whose best friend was also the woman he was having an affair with. This character can be used to show the issues that a father and daughter can go through as they both get older, and also how people are quick to blame the old man who was having an affair when he could well be innocent.

Teenage boys are also featured in the trailer, and in this case the boy featured is also the brother of the girl who has died. This helps the audience to relate more to the storylines if they have ever had to deal with the death of a sibling.

Editing

There is a sequence of shots used of different characters which is patterned throughout the trailer. There is an establishing shot that shows where the audience is, then a close up of what they are doing and then a shot showing their facial expressions. This helps to show the multi-strand narrative that is used in the soap and how all the different characters have different things going on but are all affected by Lucy's death.

The editing used slows down the shots so that the characters appear frozen apart from a few small things. The way that their eyes move slowly makes the look mysterious, and makes them look as though they are looking at the audience. It makes them look as if they have something to hide, which adds to the murder mystery storyline.

Mise en scene

Props used in the trailer include insects such as spiders. These props are usually feared by lots of people, and they add to the mysterious, spine chilling theme in this trailer.

Sharp weapons and tools are used throughout the soap to further develop the murder theme. The characters are all seen with different props which all point the blame on them, which refers to the theory of the enigma code by Barthes. It makes the audience feel more involved as they have to try and figure out the puzzle as to who killed Lucy.

Blood is used in the trailer which connotes death and crime to the audience as Lucy is dead, and then they see the blood which makes Lauren look guilty. This is effective as it is a convention that is used in many mystery storylines, so the audience can recognise it and understand that Lucy has died and there is a murderer on the loose.

Insects are also used in the clip, accompanied by dark colours which makes the trailer appear even more mysterious as much of the back and characters details are concealed, connoting that someone is hiding something.

Broken glass is also used in the trailer, which also hints that there has been some kind of accident or something dangerous that has happened, because broken glass can harm you.

Low key lighting and brown, earthy tones are used throughout the trailer to connote the spooky theme and gives the trailer a chilling effect as the square is not how it usually looks, so they know that something very bad has happened because everyone is acting mysteriously.

Setting

The trailer is set in a conventional location which is a square where all of the characters work or live. There are also small corner shops, a car garage and a hotel there, which is a stereotypical square in London.

Dialogue and Sound

The only speaking in the trailer is the narrator using the tagline ‘There's a killer on the loose’. This makes the trailer even more dramatic as the silence builds up the tension.

The non-diegetic music used throughout the sound is slow, which also builds up tension. It connotes the sad theme of death that is featured in the trailer.

Other features

The word art used in the title of Eastenders is very effective as it links to the mysterious storyline. It makes the trailer look more creative and professional as unusual techniques are used.

This freeze effect is also very effective as it is an unrealistic way of presenting real life, as the water freezes but the characters eyes still work. This is a very advanced and effect technique that is used to highlight the guilty facial expressions from the characters.