Hollyoaks Soap Trailer (Independent Research)

Last year, November 2012, one of the biggest stories in Hollyoaks was the two weddings that were taken place. From looking at the one minute teaser trailer, you can see that the wedding is going to end in disaster, due to some sort of crash within the church, and all the characters separating from one another. Looking at the trailer, gives the audience insight into whats going to happen within the soap, in the next couple of weeks or so, therefore encouraging them to watch the soap. Also, usually within soap trailers, the message of 'coming to and end' is usually expressed in some sort of way, in this case as mentioned before people being separated from one another, people crying etc. If people are big watchers of the soap Hollyoaks, they know who are the main characters from these most recent stories,
therefore from looking at the trailer they will get the understanding
of what is in store within the next couple of weeks.

Emmerdale Soap Trailer (Independent Research)

The soap opera, Emmerdale has recently celebrated its 40th year anniversary, and to do this they decided to complete a 1 hour live episode. To get the audience aware of their live episode they decided to create a trailer which was advertised on ITV 1. Throughout the trailer they showed the audience the characters that have recently been played in the biggest stories within the soap. Major characters that have been featured in the main stories of the soap recently consist of the following. Chas Dingle and Dan Spencer stand alongside Debbie Dingle and Cameron Murray, also behind these couples stands the evil Carl King. Also Declan Macey and Katie Sugden are seen kissing to the disgust of Declan's sister Megan.

Soap Trailer Conventions

What makes successful soap trailers?

Conventions of Soap Trailers:

·         Action.

·         Launch time and channel.

·         Storylines that are going to be included within the soap trailer.

·         Introducing some of the characters, and what sort of role they play.

·         Music applied to the soap (Title, theme and background).

·         Main setting and location.

·         The name of the soap.

·         Fast paced editing.

·         Questions unanswered within the trailer (Get the audience thinking).

·         Soap trailer must last 1 minute maximum.

·         Voice over used within the trailer, or at least at the end to tell the audience when the soap will be on TV.

Reading within Soaps

Dominant Reading:

Dominant reading is when the audience completely agrees with something they see, in this case we are looking at soap operas, therefore the audience viewing the soap would agree with the story lines that are used. An example of this would be with any particular story in Coronation Street, once the audience member has watched the episode, they can find a way in how the story can relate to a real life situation. 

Opposite Reading:

Opposite readings are the complete opposite to a dominant reading. For this reading the audience would completely disagree with the stories, which are being used within soap operas. For example if they were to watch an episode of Eastenders, they would think the story used is over-ally dramatic and very unrealistic. They will probably also argue about the fact that the stories raised within soap operas, could not have any relations to every day life.   

Negotiated Reading:

Negotiated Reading would be found in between the Dominant and Opposite Reading, therefore they agree and disagree with what they are seeing within the soap opera.

Audience Theories

Brown Theory (1987):

The Brown theory is when the main location is within the home. Within soap operas, this is normally the case, however there are scenes in soaps that do use different settings. Relating back to a post previously done on settings, some scenes are set in different environments, for example garages, cafes, pubs etc. The Brown Theory really does relate to soap operas as scenes are usually set within peoples homes. Again in Eastenders the Queen Victoria Pub is one of the main locations, which belongs to Kat and Alfie. This would also be the same case with two other main British soaps, Emmerdale and Coronation Street. All three main locations within the soaps mentioned are set in the pubs, which the characters also live in. The second section of the Brown's theory is that soaps are shown as serial form with little sense of narrative. This section of the theory would be correct as soaps do not come to an conclusion. This means that soaps will never end, instead they will just continue and new stories will be developed once another story has come to an end.

Uses and Gratification:

Instead of researching what the media do to the audience, this approach is to find out what the audience with the media. This theory also takes accounts of the audiences personalities and also their personal needs. 

Narrative Theories

Vladimir Propp Theory:

Propp theory is stories that involve characters functions within the story of the soap, for example Hero and the villain. An example of a soap where the Vladimir Propp theory has been applied would be Eastenders, with the story of the B&B being set on “Masood’s Nightmare”. The story was about a doctor, Yusef Khan that could not get the relationship that he wanted, therefore decided to set the B&B on fire, while it played host to a Christmas party attended by basically the entire Square. Whilst the bed and breakfast was going up in flames, one man, Masood risked his life by running into the burning people saving the lives of the people that remained inside. Everyone managed to survive the blaze, however the Villain Yusef, did not make it out of the B&B alive.

Barthes Theory- The Enigma Code:

The enigma code is a very useful narrative device which is used to keep the audience interested, and wanting them to find out more about the program, in this case soap operas. The code usually refers to a particular section within a soap opera storyline that is not fully explained. An example of this would in one of the most recent episodes of Eastenders, with the story of Kat Moon having an affair with one of the locals from the pub, however the audience are left to wondering who her affair is with. This keeps the audience watching the soap to guess who the affair could be with. This story has continued for several of weeks, and the image above shows the possibilities of Kat's "New Man".

Open Narratives

Open narratives mean that there is no actual ending to a soap opera, therefore the soap just continues, for example this Emmerdale, which is celebrating its 40^th year on television (17/10/12). Also with open narratives, there tends to be more than one storyline, including relationships/affairs, murders etc. Not all the stories conclude all at the same time, once one of the stories comes to a conclusion, other stories are developed. At the end of each episode, the soap ends with a cliffhanger keeping the audience thinking about what is going to happen in the episode. Ending the episode with a cliffhanger keeps the audience interested; therefore they continue to watch the soap. Using open narratives, the soap can continue to follow the same stories for a several episodes until they come to a conclusion.  Apart from Emmerdale that is celebrating its 40^th year on TV, other soap operas that have been on TV or many years are Coronation, which has been seen on TV for 52, and also Eastenders, which has been seen on TV for 27 years. For the amount of time these particular soaps have been on TV, you can see that the audience has a big interest in them.

Settings and MES in Soaps

Settings in Soaps:

For this task, I decided to focus on the soaps, EastEnders, Hollyoaks  Coronation Street and Emmerdale because i believe that these are the most popular British soaps viewed by the audience. From looking at these four soaps, I noticed that one of the main settings was set in the local pubs in the  soap. These pubs being The Woolpack in Emmerdale, The Rovers in Coronation Street, The Queen Victoria in EastEnders and also the Dog in the Pond in Hollyoaks. Other similarities within the soaps are also clubs, family homes and cafes. The reason why I feel that these particular settings are constantly used within soaps is because the audience are very familiar with these sorts of settings, which makes them realistic settings. 

Mise-En-Scene in Soaps:

Mise En Scene also plays a big part within soaps. The image on the left is a inside view of the Queen Victoria in EastEnders. As you can see they have really focused on Mise En Scene, as they have included everything that you would expect within a pub, for example the Beer taps, the bar itself and also drink glasses. It also shows the conversation between characters, which is also something you would see in real life situations. The Mise En Scene within this image really helps set the scene. 

They have also focused alot on the Mise En Scene in the Cafe in the soap Emmerdale. As you can see they have included everything you would expect inside a Cafe, for example the tea and coffee machine, drinks, food etc. In the back of this shot, they have also included a black board, with the list of items you can buy as well as the price of the items, which also makes the scene more realistic. The same with the image above, this shot also shows conversation between characters which also helps set the scene. 

Camera Work, Editing and Sound in soaps

Camera Work:

Within soap operas, the camera work that is used is very simple, the reason being is because it allows the audience viewing the soap to follow the stories alot easier. For example, an episode of Eastenders that we had recently watched in class showed many close up shots showing the expressions and shows the tension between characters. I believe that close ups have big part in all soaps has they are very easy to prefect, but also gives the audience a better understanding of what is happening within the scene. Two shots are also a common use off camera work within soaps, as they show conversation between the characters that are in the same location. From looking at the camera work used in soaps, you can see that the shots are really basic and they show a realistic view from the audiences point of view.

Editing:

The same as camera work, the editing within soaps is also very basic to give the audience a better understanding of what is going on within the soap. One of the most common editing terms that is used in soaps would be the shot reverse shot. The shot reverse shot is very simple as it shows a backward and forward conversation of two of the characters on the set. Cross cutting is also an editing term that is always used in soap operas as they are used to form a transition from scene to scene, for example, going from a characters house, then cutting to a conversation between to other characters in the pub.

Sound:

Mainly throughout episodes of soaps, sound used is normally diagetic sound as there is always alot of conversation between characters throughout. Sound bridges is commonly used within soaps, mainly used to link one scene to another. For example at the end the scene you will hear a sound (someone talking) before you see them in the next scene.

Representation of Genders in Soaps

Women’s Representation:

Within TV soap opera, women are usually identified with the importance of matriarchs (powerful women). Within soaps there are female roles that are not usually found within other genres. In soap operas, some women are usually found as the dominant gender. Also within soaps, the female gender is known to be in charge of businesses. An example of the female gender in charge of businesses would be Eastenders, with Peggy Mitchell being in charge. Females in soaps also are given power throughout their sexuality. An example of females that use their sexuality as power would be Kat Slater from Eastenders. The popularity of this particular character is received because of their ability to manipulate and control the male characters who are usually attracted to them, both sexually and emotionally. In soaps, females are usually rewarded for their independence, however in other genre; they are punished for their actions.

Males Representation:

In soaps, the male genders are sometimes represented as the weaker character, therefore leaving the female gender more dominant. Times were the male gender may be known as the weaker gender is during relationships. Examples of soaps were the males are shown as the weaker gender would be the relationship between Tyrone and Kirsty in Coronation Street. Tyrone is shown as the weaker gender within this relationship as he has recently been attacked by his girlfriend on many different occasions. The story really shows that he is the weaker character of the two, as she also controls him by telling him who he can and can’t see. The male character is also seen as the weaker gender in Eastenders between the relationship of Kat and Alfie Moon. Within the soap, Alfie is known to have a kind personality; however it seems that his partner takes advantage of his personality by having affairs behind his back, which has happened on several occasions, however Alfie still forgives her.