Hollyoaks Title Sequence

The first image we see whilst watching the opening/title sequence of hollyoaks is the glamorous eye of a female character opening in time with the music. The iris of the eye is a really magnificent blue that stands out and, along with the eye makeup, helps bring out this characters glamorous look. The title of Hollyoaks appears in the centre of the eye. This could suggest that the main themes encountered in Hollyoaks is glamour and youth.
The theme of youth and glamour is also reinforced throughout the title sequence as each character is introduced. All of the characters appear to be trendy and quite young, mainly early 20’s, with the few exceptions of characters that appear to be in the 30’s. As well as reinforcing the theme of youth and glamour, the characters would appeal to the programs target audience. I think the target audience for Hollyoaks would be teenagers, so by including late teenagers, young adults in the title sequence, the target audience might be attracted to the program as they are of a similar age. The female characters appear to be quite classy and good-looking. This would appeal to the programs target audience as people may aspire to look like them, or to have a partner like them
The representation of a few characters stand out, and could act as a way to draw in a wider audience. For instance there is a wider variety of characters including sport fanatics, Goths, good-looking characters and geeky looking characters. The Goth who is dressed in black, has dyed black hair and has a lip piercing. The black colours connote darkness and depression, which could reflect on his character. The sports characters, both a boxer and rugby player, again reinforce the theme of youth and energy.
The sound track is very upbeat and rocky. This would appeal to the teenage target audience as it is in a similar genre of music most like. The upbeat song also could represent the programs action packed episodes that is quick paced and interesting.
The final image we see is of the title hollyoaks. The title has been amended to have symbols of male and females in both of the letter “O”’s. The semiotics of the title connote males and females. As this is at the end of the sequence, it could represent the main theme of the program, about friendships and relationships between males and females.