A Lady of Letters - Essay Task Five

A Lady Of Letters - Essay Task Five

Choose a film or TV drama in which the opening sequence successfully establishes key features of the text such as setting, mood, genre, character . . . By referring to more than one key feature in the sequence, show how the film or programme makers achieve this success and go on to discuss the importance of the sequence to your appreciation of the text as a whole.

The Lady of Letters is part of a TV drama series, ‘Talking Heads’ written by Alan Bennett and directed by Giles Foster. The episode is a monologue of a middle aged woman, Irene Ruddock. She lives alone and has little interaction with the outside world. Her only method of communication is writing letters. Irene is a judgemental and nosey character but she just sees herself as caring. In this essay I will discuss the key features of the opening sequence and how they help us gain an understanding of Irene’s character.

The scene opens in her living room, a very dull and gloomy set with only a small glint of moonlight illuminating half her face. The camera then begins to pan into it, the close up lets the audience have a real look at her and establish her emotion.

She begins to talk about her experience at the crematorium and how it didn’t live up to her expectations. This is all done in a straight, close- up of her face to show her emotions. The lighting of her sitting room is dull and the colours are mainly browns and beiges, which helps to show her characterisation of being a pessimistic person.

The opening sequence really identifies the key features of the text as a whole and shows that Irene is a very dull, lonely and isolated person. It does this by the dark camera and lightning techniques. The lighting techniques become a key element in the opening scene. Another example of the opening sequence establishing Irene’s character is the living area of home which we first encounter her in. This room shows the isolation Irene has from society and the only source of finding out information is from looking out of her window. As this window is always in view it reminds us of the fact of Irene’s isolation.

To conclude, ‘A Lady of Letters’ opening sequence successfully establishes the key features throughout the TV drama. The lighting and the use of symbolism creates an atmosphere throughout that goes well with the main theme – loneliness and isolation.