Textual Analysis; The Only Way Is Essex

The Only Way Is Essex is a structured reality program, broadcast on ITV2 after the watershed; therefore its target audience is mainly for those aged 16-30 and generally targets females (according to ITV’s website). This program is about of group of people from Essex and follows what happens in their lives on a day to day basis.During the first minute of the opening there is a general recap on what’s happened so far, this meaning that the audience can catch up on what’s happened if they've missed an episode as well as being able to be reminded of what’s happened previously.
The opening sequence for the show is very much representative of glamour, with images of diamonds and champagne bottles, this use of semiotics overall portraying the concept of sophisticated style and slightly more expensive taste. This may be why younger females tend to be the target audience as they imagine there life to one day be like that and try to relate to what it could be like. During the title sequence there also shadows of males and females which could have some sexual references therefore the audience can presume there may be some scenes of a sexual nature which is why it may be inappropriate for younger viewers and is therefore shown after 9 pm.
Non-diegetic sound of music playing is used during the opening scene which is faded out once the dialogue from the cast begins. This use of non-diegetic music is used throughout transitions in the episode during a few of the scene changes, this helps to crossover from scene to scene as the audience are made aware of the change of location as well as crew as the music helps to split the scenes apart even though they are linked further on in the episode.

The main setting tends to be either in a house, the salon, or a bar/cafe (general socializing areas) these are used as settings due to the nature of structured reality programming being set in a natural environment with some scenes being set up for entertainment purposes.
Different camera shots are used throughout depending on the atmosphere/mood of the scene. For example during a more comedic scene between two of the cast (Gemma and Bobby) there aren't as many close ups of them in the salon, they tend to be mid-shots to slightly longer shots, whereas in a conversation between two of the girls (Lydia and Danni) having a catch up on there love lives close ups are used more often to help portray their emotions of happiness.

The lighting used within the scenes is all fairly natural, bright white lights as no special effects are needed in structured reality programming as they do not want to take attention away from the drama within the scene and keep the scene looking crisp and clean.

During the very start of the show a voice over is used describing the nature of the program in a comedic way as well as introducing some of the scenes a bit to come. This enticing the audience and pre-warning again about the scenes of sexual nature.
The order throughout the program is pretty much linear as the audience may sense a slight bit of tension or pre-warning  of the argument/'row' about to happen between Gemma and Charlie further on in the show. There is also a lot of continuity in the program as the episode tends to focus on set group of characters throughout with the whole cast just being used during busier party scenes.