As part of my research and planning, I have created a small mood board to show the qualities of Mill Lane’s ideal audience member. The areas that I have covered are regionality, age, social class and ethnicity as they are the most relevant to our target audience.
(click to enlarge)
Regionality
Regionality is important as it allows the audience to understand the influences that a location can have on the characters of the soap. It also gratifies the audiences members' personal needs by allowing them to compare their lives to those of the characters'.
Because our soap is set in the countryside, our ideal audience member would live in a rural location. This means that our audience can relate to the hobbies, activties and lifestyle of the characters.
I've also decided that because our soap puts a modern spin on the traditional rural soap by including a young and inner-city character, our soap opera appeals to a wider range of audiences, including people who live in urban areas.
Age
Age is important as it allows the audience to relate directly to the characters in terms of morals, beliefs, experiences, interests and problems. It also gratifies the audiences members' personal needs by allowing them to compare their lives to those of the characters'.
Our ideal audience member would not have a certain age as our soap opera would appeal to a range of different age groups. Because the characters of Mill Lane range from sassy young females to bitter elderly residents, viewers of all ages are able to engage with the soap.
Families would be the most beneficial target audience group for our soap as the age range is likely to be quite broad, and could include as many as 3-4 generations. The reason we chose to target families over other audiences is because of their influences on each other.
If a family watches TV together in the evenings, then they are watching the same programme together. Therefore, if one member of the family watches our soap, then the other members of the family will also watch our soap.
Social Class
Social class is also an important factor of how well the audience connects with the soap. Because our soap opera has a broad range of characters, we are able to represent a variety of social classes. Ideally, out target audience would be fall under demographic groups B and under.
We intentionally excluded demographic group A as the differences in lifestyles between the viewer and the characters would be too extreme for a connection to even be established between the two. Our ideal target audience member would work during the day and relax in the evenings. This would means that watching our soap could be associated with relaxing at home, which could result in becoming an every day routine.
Ethnicity
In the story lines of Mill Lane, we intend to introduce new characters from different ethnic backgrounds. Because modern society is so culturally diverse, including characters of different religions, cultures and skin colours would reflect the reality of the world today and create a strong sense of verisimilitude.
It is also important to us that our soap includes a range of ethnicities as it means that our range of target audience members because much more broad, and allows people from other countries in the world to be able to relate to the characters and events in the soap.
As part of G324 project, we will be creating a TV trailer advertising a brand new soap opera. Because soaps can target various audiences, we have selected a group of people that we want our trailer to appeal to the most.
We’ve chosen to specifically target demographic groups C, D and E, which includes the unemployed, students, blue collar workers and un-skilled/semi-skilled workers. We’ve intentionally left out high social class groups, such as A and B, as we have taken into account that upper-classed citizens would not be able to engage with the characters or relate to the lifestyles in the soap. From a stereotypical point of view, it is also likely that people within demographic groups A and B would not appreciate the slang or type of drama our soap would contain.
More specifically, our ideal target audience member would either be a male or female over the age of 14. We based this selection on the broad age range of the characters within the soap. The reason we chose not to target a younger audience is because of the drama, violence and lack of morality our storylines would involve. Apart from these restrictions, we generally target a mass audience.
We also aim to attract audience members of different ethnicites and cultural backgrounds. We've chosen to do this through creating a culturally diverse soap, which includes characters with different lifestyles and beliefs coinciding with other stereotypical soap characters. This creates a sense of verisimilitude in our soap and reflects the reality of society.
One soap opera that influenced the inner working of our own soap was Eastenders. Eastenders targets a mass audience across the UK and is the most culturally diverse soap opera on TV today. The fact that Eastenders has won multiple awards, including 6 BAFTA awards, shows that there is a strong correlation between the characters and success of the soap. For this reason, we decided that incorporating characters from different ethnic backgrounds would benefit our soap through attracting a wider range of audience members.
About Our Soap After mapping our thoughts and ideas for the theme and content of our soap opera, we decided as a group that we wanted to take something old and out-of-date, and turn it into something new and modern. For this reason, we chose to base our soap in a small, rural village that stretches along a road called 'Mill Lane'.
This idea was inspired by the soap opera Emmerdale, as it started as a small farm-based soap with a very small selection of characters. As it became more popular, it expanded to a village setting and gained more residents and storylines.
The difference between our soap and existing soaps like Emmerdale is that the location of the soap, and the characters and storylines of the soap are conventional opposites. In our case, the location is rural, isolated and very small. But the characters spread over several generations and the storylines are exciting, extreme and shocking. The location is the old fashioned theme, while the characters who live in the location and the dramatic relationships between them introduce a fresh twist to the traditional soap.
The Location and Lifestyle
The name of the soap is called Mill Lane, as it informs the audience of the location of the soap. Mill Lane is divided into 3 main locations: The road 'Mill Lane' itself, 'Broomfield Mill' and 'The Kings Arms' pub.
'Mill Lane' is the residential area of all the characters in the soap. It only consists of housing and some greenery. 'Broomfield Mill' is located at the end of 'Mill Lane' and is sometimes referred to as 'The Mill'. The area is mainly public footpaths, large fields and farm housing. 'The Kings Arms' pub is the hot spot of Mill Lane, and tends to be the only location that residents of 'Mill Lane' gather for social events and celebrations.
Storylines and Characters
The most exciting part of Mill Lane is the characters and how they interact with each other to create storylines. The characters range from a young, essex female to an elderly farm owner. The conflict between characters, due to age, ethnicity, beliefs and interests, means that we can cook up a huge variety of interesting and engaging storylines that will captivate our audience members, no matter who they might be.
A quick and easy way to describe what our soap opera contains is to call it a hybrid between Hollyoaks and Emmerdale.
The Trailer The trailer for Mill Lane will introduce several storylines. The main storyline will be the introduction of a new resident called Rachel Mannings. We created this storyline as Rachel's appearance on 'Mill Lane' disturbs the predictable, peaceful lifestyle of the existing residents and characters.
The less important storyline involves a series of secrets shared between the characters Jennifer Ward, Charlie Collins and Barry Brooker. The dilemma is centred around Jennifer, as she has had an affair with both men and is now pregnant with a child. The cliff-hanger is not knowing which of the two best friends is the father of Jennifer's baby, and entices the audience to want to find out who the father is and how the characters will react when the news breaks out.
The First Episode The purpose of our particular trailer is to advertise the storylines and events that take place in the first episode of Mill Lane. The same storylines, involving Rachel Mannings and Jennifer Ward, will take up the majority of the first episode. The rest of the episode will be focused on getting to know the personalities and lifestyles of as many characters in the soap as possible.
I've created a flow chart for the sequence of our trailer to allow us to visually organise and structure how we want our trailer to run. The characters are linked with at least one other character in the trailer, and are connected with arrows to show that there is a relationship between them.
(click to enlarge)
As a group, we've decided that making one character the focus of the trailer would be the most realistic way of linking the characters together. We've chosen Rachel Mannings, as her brassy personality and bad attitude make it easy for the characters of Mill Lane to share a hatred for her.
Rachel's entrance to the soap is a perfect example of Todorov's narrative theory of equilibrium. In the trailer, the residents of Mill Lane all have their problems and little dramas, but are generally peaceful and live in a state of equilibrium. This is portrayed through the natural and high key lighting associated with the existing residents before they are aware of Rachel's move to 'Mill Lane'.
Rachel Mannings' entrance to the area is the disturbance of the equilibrium, and already begins to create conflict between the characters upon arriving at 'Mill Lane'.This conflict between the local residents and Rachel is the recognition of the disturbance, and the locals are able to realise that her moving to 'Mill Lane' will disturb the tranquillity of the countryside and will affect their happiness and lifestyle.
Based on the information and knowledge obtained through analysing existing soap opera posters, I have created a plan for the layout of our own poster display, and an improved plan with specific details and thoughts on what type of techniques would be best from promoting our particular soap.
Using a programme called G.I.M.P. (GNU Image Manipulation Programme), I have created a detailed impression of what our TV listing magazine might look like. The images were collected from various websites, and I have added special effects to create a realistic magazine display.
Strengths
The special effects (eg. the white glow around the celebrities, the shadows behind the shapes and fonts, etc.) highlight certain stories and events, and make the magazine cover more flashy and appealing.
The use of bright and vibrant colours ensures that the magazine would stand out on the shelves.
Weaknesses
There is a lot of space around the images and cover lines that could be used up.
The bar code in the left-third could be smaller to allow room for another cover line.
Improvements
Add more cover lines and stories to the front cover to add to the business of the page.
Reduce the size of the bar code and move it to the side to allow room for more important information and TV show gossip.
Based on the information and knowledge obtained through analysing existing TV listing magazines, I have created a plan for the layout of our own magazine cover, and an improved plan with colour and specific details.
MAGAZINE COVER PLAN 1
The first plan clearly shows where each feature will be positioned on the cover
The quirky shapes around the selling price and cover lines attract attention to the important features and storylines
The left-third includes the masthead, the selling price, 2 cover lines and the magazine bar code. Keeping this information in this section of the magazine cover is important as the left-third is usually the only part of the cover that is visible when on the shelves.
The main cover line is slightly slanted, emphasising the confusion and uncertainty of the storyline
The magazine selling price is displayed twice to show off how affordable the issue really is
MAGAZINE COVER PLAN 2
A variety of colours have been used to create a bright and attractive magazine display. Using vibrant colours also highlights key features and storylines
Using question marks and exclamation points engages with the reader by asking them questions and promising them a juicy read
The bold outlines used around the cover lines contribute towards the business of the page and the colourful display
The colour red used in the masthead is a generic convention that is traditionally used in existing soap magazine covers (eg. What's on TV, TV choice, Soaplife, etc.)
Using media terminology, I have analysed 1 soap opera poster to obtain a clearer understanding of the generic conventions used in soap advertising, and 1 poster promoting a brand new TV series to distinguish the types of techniques that should be used when advertising a new show.
Prior to creating or planning our product, I have analysed front covers of existing TV listings magazines to obtain a better understanding of what generic conventions should be used on our front cover.
To understand the narrative theories and generic conventions used in soap opera trailers, I have analysed 3 soap trailers in detail using media terminology.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hollyoaks Fire
The trailer begins with a mid-shot of a young, blonde female wearing a white formal dress, which holds connotations of innocence. A slow paced, non-diegetic music piece begins to play. The pace and tempo of the music goes hand-in-hand with the pace of the editing and slow motion effects. The style of editing is used to juxtapose with the chaos and panic associated with fire.
The camera changes to a close up of her hands dragging along a white wall with her nails painted red, thus connoting violence. Her nail colour reflects the connotations of disaster and destruction associated with the trail of fire her fingertips leave behind her. We hear a non-diegetic, eerie whispering sound when the fire begins to spread. This informs the audience that something evil is about to happen.
The shot type changes to a close up of a flower pot catching alight. The flower represents innocence and beauty, and the fact that it is burning in the fire sends the message to the audience that innocent people will die in the event of a fire. We then see an over-shoulder shot of a male arguing with the female opposite him. He is dressed in a black suit, which holds connotations of death. The fact that fire is spewing out of his mouth suggests that the cause of the fire is linked to violence and arguments between characters.
The camera changes to another over-shoulder shot, this time with a blonde female in the centre of the frame. The blonde hair connotes innocence, whilst her red dress connotes violence and destruction. She aggressively flings her glass against the wall beside her, which sources another fire. This reinforces the idea that the cause of the fire is related to arguments between characters and acts of violence.
The final shot of the trailer is a long shot of various characters in a restaurant. Each character is dressed in black, red or white formal wear. These colours hold strong connotations of death, violence and innocence respectively. This goes accordingly with the disastrous setting around the characters and the events associated with a fire. The lighting is low key, creating a dark and villainous atmosphere.
The trailer uses Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium unconventionally. The first stage of equilibrium is missed out, and the trailer dives straight into the second stage, where the equilibrium is disturbed. Because the characters are so apparently oblivious to the burning building around them, there is no recognition of the disturbance and the trailer ends in the second narrative stage.
The camera angles are ones commonly used in soap opera episodes. Mainly close-ups, mid shots and over-shoulder shots were used as they keep the audience focused on the upper half of the character so they can monitor facial expressions, and receive certain messages from them.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hollyoaks Wedding
The trailer begins with a two-shot of the flower girls slowly walking down the aisle. This immediately tells the audience that the trailer is promoting a wedding. The females are wearing black formal wear and holding a bowl of black rose petals. These colours hold connotations of death, and are more likely to be associated with funerals. By using black as the main colour of a wedding, this trailer is using the theory of binary opposition to convey negative messages about the couple getting married.
There is non-diegetic music playing in the background throughout the trailer. The music is upbeat and lively, which juxtaposes with the dark and ominous atmosphere of the trailer.
We then see another two-shot of the best man placing a black rose on the groom's suit, which reinforces the idea that the wedding holds negative connotations. The shot changes to another two-shot of the bride descending down the aisle alongside a female protagonist, wearing a black wedding dress and a black veil. Their facial expressions are very sombre, which reflects the black setting around them.
The colour of the bride's dress also demonstrates how the trailer has used binary opposition to challenge the conventions used in a wedding by replacing a white wedding dress with a black wedding dress. Whereas a traditional wedding would hold connotations of happiness and purity, the wedding promoted in the trailer connotes sorrow and destruction.
The shot changes to a tracking shot of the bride's torso. This shot is important as it highlights the bride's pregnant state, and can alter the audience's interpretation of the wedding from being an act of love, to a safety net for the woman and her unborn child. This interpretation goes hand-in-hand with the atmosphere of the trailer, and could be referred to as the dominant reading in relation to the reception theory.
Later in the trailer, we see a shot of the sunlight creeping into the church through bars on the wall. The idea that the sunlight is being kept out of the church tells the audience that the dark atmosphere of the wedding is intentional, which juxtaposes with the traditional bright wedding. The bars hold connotations of imprisonment and restraint, which could be applied to the emotions of the bride and groom.
The camera changes to a close-up of the bride as she looks to her left, which leads into a point-of-view shot of a group of guests. Their facial expressions are a mixture of concern and false happiness, which reminds the audience that the wedding is portrayed in a negative light. As one of the female guests drops a porcelain doll, the shot changes to a close-up of the porcelain smashing on the floor. The foley effect is used to emphasise the sound of the smashing over the non-diegetic music. The smashing of the doll connotes the disaster that is associated with the wedding, and could be interpreted that there is a relation between the toy doll and the baby.
A couple of shots later, a birds-eye-view is used to show the black trail of the wedding dress as the bride walks down the aisle. We see lit candles in black wire frames at the sides of the altar, which contribute towards the gothic mood of the wedding.
The camera then changes to another close-up of the bride's face as she looks to her right, which leads into another point-of-view shot of a different group of guests. The facial expressions are very similar to those of the other guests, which is a mixture of solemnity and false happiness.
The shot changes to a close-up of a male figure as he waves at the bride with a facial expression of genuine joy. As the bride continues down the aisle, his face slowly drops back into a grave expression. At this point, the music playing in the background of the trailer fades out to match the dissolving of happiness.
As the trailer continues, we see a close-up of a black wedding cake decorated with barbed wire. Like the bars on the wall of the church, the barbed wire holds connotations of imprisonment and restraint.
The last shot of the trailer is a close-up of the bride as she lifts the wedding veil away from her face. She is wearing dark eye make-up and dark jewellery, which connotes death and destruction. The colour of her lipstick is red, which could also be interpreted as holding connotations of danger and violence. The bride cries a black tear as she approaches the altar, which conveys her true emotions of unhappiness and sorrow. It is clear that the bride is central to the wedding, and her exposed feelings are conclusive of the atmosphere around her.
The music playing in the background ends on the words 'nice day for a white wedding', which again demonstrates the use of juxtaposition in the trailer. The shot then transitions into the final frame of the trailer, which provides information about the episode. The non-diegetic voice-over is whispered, which goes hand-in-hand with the ominous mood of the trailer. There are non-diegetic church bells faintly ringing in the background, which are iconically associated with the event of the wedding.
The editing pace of the trailer is slow as the duration of the shots are dragged out and the contents of the trailer are lethargic.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Eastenders - Kat & Alfie
The trailer uses a series of paradigms to represent the spaghetti western sub-genre. These paradigms include the use of costume, music, props, setting, editing and camera angles throughout the text.
The trailer begins with an establishing shot of the Queen Victoria pub, which is the iconic central location of Eastenders. The non-diegetic music that begins to play has a very high pitch, while playing at a very slow pace. This creates an eerie and tense atmosphere. A newspaper rolls past the pub in resemblance to a tumble-weed, which is conventionally associated with the spaghetti western theme.
We see a red, triangular sign swinging upside-down on its final hinge. The diegetic sound produced is squeaky and rustic, which goes hand-in-hand with the state of the sign. The red colour of the sign and the pub hold connotations of danger. The combination of the music, the sign and the rolling newspaper creates a feeling of desertion and desolation. This atmosphere is reflective of one that would be used in a spaghetti western.
The shot changes to a tracking shot of a character walking in black boots. The heels on the boots suggest that the character is a female, and the cowboy style of the boots are reflective of the trailer's theme. The nature of the camera angle gives the female protagonist a sense of dominance, as the audience may feel intimidated by the concealment of the character's identity. This demonstrates how the trailer uses a degree of Marxism to position the audience below the character in the trailer by making the viewer feel intimated and inferior to the female character. The black colour of her boots hold connotations of death and destruction, which reinforces the idea that the antagonist is the dominant figure.
The camera changes to an over shoulder shot of a blonde female character looking through her window shutters at the antagonist. The female takes a sharp breath and quickly shuts her blinds. The female's reaction to the antagonist tells the audience that she is intimidated by her presence, and maybe even fearful of her. The shutting of the blinds show that the blonde female is in a domestic location, which shows the trailer's use of soap opera conventions.
The shot switches to a close-up of the female antagonist's boots as she comes to a stop. The lighting in the trailer used is natural, which combined with domestic setting creates a sense of verisimilitude. The colouration of the trailer is faded with the possibility of a sepia filter being applied during the editing stage of the clip. This has been done to reflect the colouring of an old, western film, and gives the trailer an aged effect.
The female antagonist drops her bag onto the ground, which is also heard diegetically. The pattern on her bag is leopard print, which juxtaposes with the atmosphere of the trailer by adding a modern twist to the western setting. The close-up of the boots then advances into a tilt from the ground up to the female antagonist's face. As the camera ascends up the character's body, the music playing in the background adopts a quicker pace, a louder volume and a lower pitch. The slow pace of the camera movement and the change in music adds tension to the reveal of the character.
At the end of the tilt, the female character is revealed. The darkness of her make-up and the black colour of her costume holds connotations of destruction and death, while the red colour of her lipstick connotes violence and danger. The poncho style of her outfit demonstrates the use of paradigms within the trailer that are used to convey the spaghetti western theme.
Kat's face carries a smug smile as she looks at her surroundings, which reinforces the idea that she is the dominant character of the trailer. The camera changes to a close-up of a male character placing down his drink, and then to an over-shoulder shot of a coloured male character looking in Kat's direction. The manor in which the characters stare in her direction suggests that she is seen as an outsider, and that her presence is unwelcome.
The camera cuts back to a close-up of the antagonist. We hear the non-diegetic sound of a female character laughing, and the antagonist looks to her left to follow the source of the sound. Her facial expression denotes annoyance, which may lead to the interpretation that the antagonist is a miserable or angry person. The shot changes to an over-shoulder shot of two female characters in conversation with each other. As the laughing female looks towards the antagonist, her smile drops and her facial expression turns into one of contempt.
At this point, the second female turns around to see what the source of the disturbance is with an expression of shock. The fact that their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the female antagonist suggests that she has disrupted the peace and happiness of the town. The camera the reverts back to the antagonist as she continues to stare in the direction of the 2 female characters.
We then see Kat remove her poncho wrap to expose a revealing black and red vest. In this case, the red colour of her top holds connotations of romance and passion as it reflects the exposure of the female's cleavage. The shot then changes to a close-up of a wide-eyed male peaking through a set of shutters at the female character. He mutters the words "flipping heck", which indicates that he has sexual feelings for the female antagonist. The combination of the woman's exposed cleavage and the man looking at the female through closed blinds demonstrates the application of Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze Theory', which links into how gender has been represented in this trailer.
The camera reverts back to a close-up Kat Slater as she whips out a compact mirror. The Foley effect has been applied to emphasise the sound of the opening mirror, and to create a resemblance to the drawing of a gun, which then relates to the conventions used in a western film. The colour of the compact is gold, which symbolises confidence and social significance. Gold is also the colour of the character's bracelets and hoop earrings.
Later in the trailer, we hear the non-diegetic dialogue of a male protagonist. As the female antagonist hears his voice, she turns around to look in his direction. The camera changes to an over-shoulder shot of a male silhouette figure wearing a hat and long coat. His costume resembles that of which you may see in a western film, and again demonstrates how the trailer has used paradigms to follow the set of expectations associated with the spaghetti western genre.
The camera changes to a close-up of the character as he steps into the light. The tension of the reveal is matched by the increasing volume and pace of the non-diegetic music playing in the background, which then stops when the protagonist's face is exposed. We see him chewing on a toothpick out of the corner of his mouth, which suggests he has a very nonchalant persona.
The trailer begins to conclude with a voice-over, which is then followed by a series of shot-reverse-shots gradually tending towards extreme close-ups, and match the speed of the Eastenders soap opera jingle playing simultaneously. The editing pace throughout the trailer is generally slow, which is determined by the length of the shots and the events happening in the clip. However, as the trailer draws to an end, the editing pace increases to create a tense final scene.
Trailers can be used for television programmes, films, public events, products or other purposes. No matter what a trailer is used for, they all serve the same purpose - to promote something by reaching out to a large audience through advertisement.
History of Trailers Originally, trailers were shown at the end of a film in the cinema. They were very short clips that mainly consisted of title cards and stock footage. They were seen as miniature episodes that may have been short storylines, cartoons or other forms of entertainment.
But as the cinema audiences began to leave after a film, trailers did not serve as much as a purpose being at the end of the film. They were then shown prior to a feature in the cinema and over time, began to hold much more content and serve the purpose to inform rather than entertain.
I will be looking at the purpose of a soap opera trailer and why they are used. To back up my points, I will also use images and soap opera trailers. Promoting an event Soap operas often use trailers to advertise an important event in the story-line. It can be a wedding, a funeral, a disaster, an introduction of a new character or something along those lines.
An example of an event being advertised is Archie and Peggy Mitchell's wedding in Eastenders.
The trailer does not reveal the outcome of the event or show any other story-lines in the soap opera. This appeals to the viewer's sense of curiosity and causes them to watch that particular episode.
Attracting new audiences Another purpose of a soap trailer is to appeal to a new range of audiences. This may be done by airing the episode at a different time, advertising attractive characters and story-lines or lengthening a certain episode for a special show.
The reason this technique works so well is because of socialising and word of mouth. When existing audiences hear that a particular episode is on at a different time or is twice as long, they discuss it with their friends, family or work colleagues. This, in turn, influences new audiences to want to watch that episode in order to relate to the existing audience and join in on a social level.
"We all do it. We share stories with others, gossip about a co-worker at the office, and tweet articles we find on-line to friends and family. But, what drives people to share, and why is some information shared more than others?
Jonah Berger, a Marketing Professor at U Penn's Wharton School has found the answer. In a paper published a few weeks ago in the journal Psychological Science, Berger reveals arousal has a lot to do with it. Simply put, when we are physiologically aroused we are more likely to share information with those around us.
Physiological arousal is defined as activation of the autonomic nervous system, which affects bodily functions such as heart rate and perspiration - think sweaty palms and a beating heart. As it happens, arousal, whether stemming from the content of the information we are sharing or another source all together, boosts the social transmission of information."
Article collected from www.psychologytoday.com, titled "Word of Mouth- What Makes Us Gossip?"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Purpose of Our Soap Trailer Using some of the ideas from above, our soap trailer will aim to attract new audiences through advertising an event.
Because our soap opera is brand new, there is not an existing audience. As creating a trailer is one tactic of reaching out to potential viewers, we will be aiming to attract as many audience members as possible by creating an engaging and interesting soap opera trailer.
The event we will advertise will probably be the introduction of a new character. This event is suitable for a new soap as a heavy, dramatic storyline could make it difficult for a new viewer to click with the soap. By starting off with a neutral storyline that generally gets more dramatic and tense, it represents the beginning of a film: easy to understand and keep up with.
Using what I know about soap opera trailers and generic conventions, I created a simple spider diagram to map my individual ideas on the setting, storylines, characters and contents of our trailer.
My ideas for storylines came from the fact that all soaps have several events, relationships and dramatic situations happening at the same time. This grabs and keeps the viewer's attention for a longer period of time. The types of storylines I've mapped out are very dramatic and extreme situations, ensuring that the trailer content would be keeping to the use generic conventions used in soap operas.
My character ideas were inspired by Eastenders, as the range of ethnicity, age and social classes is wider than most other existing soap operas. This is evident in the 'Soap Opera Analysis' post when full episodes from Neighbours, Hollyoaks, Eastenders and Emmerdale were analysed in terms of characters, setting and storylines. Out of the four soaps, Eastenders had the largest variety of people by a long way.
This tactic is clearly successful as Eastenders has won 265 soap and television awards since February 1985. I believe that using this technique in my soap opera trailer would be ideal as it creates a sense of verisimilitude and makes it easier for audience members of different age, ethnicity and social class to relate to the characters in the soap.
All soap operas are set in a domestic location, and because keeping to generic conventions is an important factor of successfully resembling a soap opera, the types of locations are very limited. The main areas I've looked at are rural settings, urban settings, typical domestic locations and common public areas.
My ideas for location were inspired by Emmerdale, as it was originally called Emmerdale Farm and was set in a small, rural location. As the soap became more popular, it expanded and the setting changed from a farm to a village. This gave me the idea that starting a brand new soap opera in a rural location would be much more realistic as the soap would not be well-known.
The content of the trailer would use all of the typical conventions used in soap trailers, including fade-to-blacks, narrative theories, the enigma code and a cliff-hanger at the end. The most important content used in the trailer, magazine cover and poster would be the introduction of the brand new soap, the characters and the relationships between them.
By introducing the characters and how they interact with each other, you immediately grab the viewer's attention by appealing to their sense of curiosity. If the characters relations are extreme (eg. affairs, pregnancy, enemies, homosexual relationships, etc.), the viewers are more likely to feel obliged to watch it for the purpose of fulfilling a need for drama and gossip.
I will be analysing one soap opera trailer produced by media students in the year above in terms of what works and what can be improved on. I will be looking at mise en scene, camera angles, editing and sound.
The over-shoulder shots at the beginning of the trailer are excellent, and give a really clear view of the characters.
The establishing shot of the church where the couple are getting married works very well, as it relates to camera angles used in soap operas and shows the audience where the events are happening.
The non-diegetic heartbeat sound effect builds up tension and is very dramatic, suiting the trailer and its story-line really well.
The low-key lighting creates an ominous atmosphere, which goes hand-in-hand with the story line.
The trailer successfully demonstrates the first 3 stages of Todorov's Narrative Theory, which shows a good understanding of soap opera trailer conventions.
Weaknesses
The font used is difficult to read and is not conventionally used in a soap opera trailer.
The fade-to-black transition with the messages between frames is also unconventional and is more relative to a horror film trailer.
The trailer was clearly advertising an event, but the time or date of the episode was missing from the information provided.
The point-of-view shot used towards the end of the trailer isalso unconventional, and is more likely to be used in a horror film trailer.
The use of semiotics is not significant, meaning the trailer fails to send certain messages to the audience about the events of the soap opera. This makes the trailer harder to understand and less engaging for the viewer.
Improvements
Instead of using a pan to follow the female protagonist as she leaves the room, leave the camera focused on the male antagonist as it allows the audience to form their own thoughts on what his next actions may be.
Use a more simple font. The font used is too complicated and difficult to read, and a sans serif font would be much more relative to a soap trailer.
Avoid using fade to black too much. It's often seen in film trailers, but the continuity used in soap trailers is more simple and more effective.
Maybe they could have used an over-shoulder shot at the wedding like they did at the beginning of the trailer. This shows a connection between the characters and that they are in the same room, whereas without this camera angle, there is no evidence they are standing in front of each other.
Show the face of the antagonist more. Facial expressions say a lot about how a character is feeling, and close-ups of character faces are much more conventionally used in soap opera trailers.
Provide a time and date at the end of the trailer for when this episode will be aired. This allows people who watch the trailer to know when it comes on and can make sure they tune in to watch it.
There is a good demonstration of the types of emotions involved with the story line.
The over-shoulder shots used successfully show a connection between the characters.
Weaknesses
The locations used within the trailer do not reflect a domestic environment, which is unconventional.
The fade-to-black transition with the messages between frames is also unconventional and is not associated with soap opera trailers.
The trailer was clearly advertising an event, but the time or date of the episode was missing from the information provided.
The use of semiotics is not significant, meaning the trailer fails to send certain messages to the audience about the events of the soap opera. This makes the trailer harder to understand and less engaging for the viewer.
The natural lighting is not reflective of the events in the trailer.
Improvements
Film a scene within a house or domestic building to show a greater understanding of soap opera conventions. This type of location would also allow the audience to relate to the trailer more easily.
Get rid of the messages between the frames. It ruins the continuity of the trailer and takes the focus away from the events in the trailer.
Provide a time and date at the end of the trailer for when this episode will be aired. This allows people who watch the trailer to know when it comes on and can make sure they tune in to watch it.
Incorporate the use of connotations to tell the audience about the atmosphere of the soap opera and the role of the characters.
The events of the trailer are very sinister, and using low-key lighting would create a more tense and engaging trailer as opposed to natural lighting.
The characters of the soap are excellently introduced as the trailer clearly shows the relationships between them and how the interact.
The soap is clearly situated in a domestic area, which shows a great understanding of soap opera conventions.
The female protagonist we see is wearing red lipstick and red high heels, which connotes love and romance. This demonstrates that the trailer has successfully included the use of semiotics.
The non-diegetic music played in the background is up-beat and lively, which reflects the age of the characters and the editing pace of the trailer.
There is a good range of camera shots, including close-ups, mid-shots and over-shoulder shots, which are commonly associated with soap operas.
The natural lighting goes hand-in-hand with the relaxed natural of the clip.
Weaknesses
The white transitions and fade-to-blacks ruin the continuity of the trailer.
There were lots of long shots used, which made it more difficult to see facial expressions.
The fact that the entire soap seems to revolve around one character goes against soap opera conventions, as there are normally several main characters and story lines.
Improvements
The use of more close-ups would be more beneficial than using lots of long shots. Seeing the characters' reactions and facial expressions makes the trailer more engaging and effective for the audience.
Remove the transitions between the frames. Because the character is constantly walking, continuity should be an important part of this trailer.
If the trailer is going to revolve around one character, explain why (e.g. new character being introduced to the soap, centre of a story line, etc.).
Because it was so difficult finding a billboard advertising a soap opera, I used an image of a Hollyoaks poster found on the internet. I have made annotations and analysed the poster in terms of fonts, images, words and colours.
To understand what attracts audiences to soap opera events and storylines, I have purchased 'Soaplife' magazine and analysed the front cover. I have made annotations on what stands out and the effect this has on the consumer.
I've noted down the times of the soap opera trailers I saw while watching TV, as well as the channel, the programmes they were shown between and the soap names. This contributes towards my research as it gives me an insight into the logic of soap operas advertising at a certain time on a certain channel.
Saturday - 27/08/11
On BBC 1 after Doctor Who, an Eastenders trailer was shown at 8:00pm
On BBC 1 after the BBC News, an Eastenders trailer was shown at 10:00pm
On E4 in the break for The Inbetweeners Countdown, a Hollyoaks trailer was shown at 10:45pm
Thursday - 01/09/11
On BBC 1 after Watchdog, an Eastenders trailer was shown at 9:00pm
Noticeably, all of the Eastenders trailers were shown in the evening. This is likely to be because Eastenders shows at 7:30pm or 8:00pm, and is trying to attract new audiences that watch television at a similar time.
Hollyoaks normally comes on between late afternoon and early evening. One reason why it may have advertised at 10:45pm is so it can advertise more content that may not be allowed to air before the watershed. This would attract a younger, more lively audience as young people tend to stay up and watch television until late at night.
Both soap operas have advertised on their home channels. This shows that they are trying to attract existing viewers of that channel to their soap. This may be because they are trying to make it more convenient for the viewer to simply stay on the channel they watch regularly, or because they will associate the soap opera with that channel and remember it in the future.
As a part of my research, I have analysed 4 different soap opera episodes to get a clearer understanding of what they may contain and what kind of patterns and similarities soaps share. I will be looking at the characters, the setting, the number of scenes, the evident story lines and the representation of sexuality, ethnicity, social class and gender.
Findings
The main similarity between all 4 soaps is that they are all set in domestic locations that tend to be common in lots of cities, towns and villages. By using characters that visit popular domestic locations, such as pubs and cafes, the audience can relate to the location and engage with the characters.
Another shared similarity is the mix of Caucasian and ethnic characters. Although there are some mixed race characters in each soap, the majority of the characters are Caucasian. This suggests that soaps tend to use tokenism to broaden their range of audiences, and create a sense of verisimilitude by including members of society from other ethnic backgrounds.
The final significant similarity is the number of storylines portrayed. The fewest storylines found in an episode is 4, while the most found is 8 storylines. This shows that soaps are consistently moving and developing storylines to keep their audience tuned in.
When creating our soap opera trailer, we will follow these conventions by:
Filming in locations that are domestic and typically found in existing soap operas
Including characters of different ethnic backgrounds
Keeping several storylines going at once to keep our viewers' attention
