Textual Analysis on 'The Tudors'

In this essay I will be using my skills of denotation and connotation to texually analyse the opening title sequence of 'The Tudors' and the ways in which the mise-en-scene, cinematography and sound are used to create a sense of drama in this Television Drama.

The opening title sequence begins with a rapid flash of faces. This signifies that they are the main, important characters as they are the ones being shown first. The title of the Television Drama, 'The Tudors' has a red sword in between The and Tudors. This connotes blood, death and violence. During the duration of this opening title sequence there were swords being drawn out which represents fighting. This suggests and gives us a clue of what the story will be about: war, rivalry and death. These shots of fighting create tension for the audience as it connotes that someone is going to die. Whilst the people in this sequence are fighting with their swords there are sounds of swords clashing which is non-diegetic.

During the opening title sequence of The Tudors there is a ray of sun which signifies light, hope and peace these words link to what is shown after, the priest. There are also candles in the cathedral these represent holiness. However, this contrasts with the other scenes of fighting and war. There are close-ups of the characters faces, this captures the facial expressions on the characters faces and gives the audience an insight of what the characters will be like.

At the beginning of this opening title sequence there is a crown and the camera zooms in on it. This connotes that the crown plays a significant role in the Television Drama and that someone is fighting for the chance to be king. During the sequence one of the female characters is shown. First the camera does a wide shot of her and what is thought to be her family but the camera is mainly focusing on her. This suggests importance as the camera wants to capture her facial expression as she does not look pleased. After this she is introduced as a character. The camera moves from her face down to her hands as she appears to be holding something which appears to be a necklace with a cross on it.

The music being played throughout this scene is tense which links to the sequence as there is a huge amount of fighting. The music being played during the sequence is non-diegetic. The voiceover suggests there will be tragedy as he says 'You think you know a story but you only know how it ends'. This creates a sense of tension and suspicion in the viewers mind as they want to know what happens next. The costumes in this sequence signify that the sequence is portraying a period of time that happened many years ago, as they appear royal and ancient.