Monarch of the glen - class notes

Monarch of the glen is set in the present day, in the location of Scotland in the setting of; a loch, mountains and a castle. The genre of the programme is predominately a family drama, because of its placement before the 9pm watershed. In the extract that i watched in class, i heard mainly diegatic sound; dialogue, furniture clattering and the movement of people, however there was a non diegetic soundtrack, that i heard during the opening of the extract, it helped to set the theme for the rest of the programme because of its Celtic style, which related to the location of the programme. The colour palette that is used on the characters costumes, differs between age and social class as the younger characters are dresses in pale colours and the older characters are dressed in darker bolder colours, this represents their authority in society. In Monarch of the glen there is an intertexual reference to the soap opera; Hollyoaks.

The shots that are used helped us to create opinions about the characters for example; a low angle shot is used to show the Monarch, this tells us that he is the boss, is superior to others and is upper class, the way that is has been shot makes him look taller than the other characters around him, which shows him as being higher than the others, this relates to the social structure; that he is at the top and has more authority than others. The mise-en-scene of the monarchs house tells us that he is upper class becuase of the props that have been used. The way in which the Monarch dresses, does not tells us much about his social class, as we see him dresses in dark, casual/smart and practical clothes, however this choice of modest dress, indicates old money and his confidence. The positioning of the characters of the screen and how much of the mise-en-scene the character occupies shows us their importance within the drama. When we are shown both the monarch and the teacher, both upper class and of high importance, a shot reverse shot is used and they occupy the whole of the mise-en-scene.