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EastEnders

The costume of 'Sam Mitchell' is very bright and eye catching. This signifies that she has a large presence in a room and a outgoing personality. This is contrast with the costumes of the other characters which are shown to be everyday normal clothes. This infers that she will have a large impact when she 'returns to the square' and will explode a large amount of colour and presence in their lives. 'Sam' wears a lot of jewellery and make up which connotes that she cares about her appearance and she spends time on how she looks. This is contrast with other characters such as 'Bianca' who isn't wearing much make-up and isn't too dressed up. This could signify that 'Bianca' has other things to do with her time- making the viewer who isn't familiar with the soap to wonder what 'Sam' has been doing in her time away from the square. However, it could also be signifying that 'Bianca' is not as well off as 'Sam' is, and maybe can not afford all the nicer things in life.

Fig. 1

For the whole duration of the 'Eastenders' trailer it cuts between 'Sam' on her own in an empty room, to other cuts of scenes from the episodes of 'Eastenders'. The scenes with 'Sam' in are in very high contrast and high key lighting, with a bright blue backdrop- this helps to suggest a upbeat mood and creates the feel that she is happy and smug about her return. This effect can be seen in figure 1, the first column shows the bright, high contrast scenes, which are cut in between the scenes in the right hand column. These scenes are in low key lighting which makes it seem very dark and gloomy, connoting a less happy atmosphere and feeling about Sam's return. They are almost in black and white which create the contrast of the blandness between their life and the exciting, glamorous life of Sam.
The trailer doesn't show Sam's face until the last couple of shots. For the majority of the trailer it is close ups of Sam- applying her mascara, putting on her lipstick, her earrings, doing up her dress. By not showing Sam's face helps to create tension and apprehension about who it is talking and who it is the other characters are talking about. These close ups also help to show Sam's glamour in contrast to the other scenes showing a dark life on Albert Square.

There are fades to black between the shots of Sam and the characters on set in Albert Square. This makes it seen quite relaxed and like she is fading back into the world of Albert Square. It then cuts straight from them and back to Sam. This helps to make the advert seen quite pacy- with faced paced editing. However the pace of the non-digetic music in the background helps to slow the pace down a bit. This goes with the pace of Sam's dialogue which is slower and more reserved. This is in contrast with the scenes in Albert Square which are quite rushed connoting they are sceptical about Sam, creating tension.
The mid shot of Sam at the end of the trailer shows her for the first time. We see her bright costume in full and also the way she is standing. She is standing alone, with her hands placed on her hips. This is quite a commanding position, signifying that she has a lot of power and will effectively shake things up when she returns back to Albert Square. This shot shows her glamorous costume, hair and make up. This then cuts to a close-up of her face- showing her facial expressions. She appears to be quite happy with herself and looking forward to her return. She stares directly down the camera and speaks directly to it, this creates a direct relationship with the audience and once again makes her appear very strong and powerful.
A shot-reverse-shot is used when Ricky is talking to Bianca about Sam. This shows Bianca's immediate reaction to what Ricky is saying- and signifies she isn't very impressed and doesn't believe him. It also shows what she thinks about Sam's return. Her facial expressions connote that she is quite sceptical about Sam coming back and cynical. Her response is also silent, she has no verbal response to what Ricky is saying. This shows that she may want to keep her feelings about Sam to herself and not share what she thinks with Ricky.

There is a combination of dialogue, non-digetic music and voice over used in the trailer. The dialogue used helps to introduce Sam back in EastEnders and also what the current characters think of her before her return. The way the words are spoken also show the feelings about her. With Phil saying 'I'm not going down for her' in quite a stressful tone, directly implying that she may be coming back to cause trouble. The dialogue also emphasise the characters London accents, which make the them instantly recognisable to the viewer. As previously mentioned, the non-digetic music helps to slow down the trailer and creates tension. The voice over at the end asks a rhetorical question which is direct to the audience, gaining their attention. It also rounds off the trailer by summing up what the other characters are feeling. It also helps to further connote there may be some turmoil and drama when Sam does return.