The 'New' Idea

For the soap trailer, I had been focusing primarily on the conventions of soap operas, but after thinking about it, we realised that way we had been thinking about it was for an already running soap, with scenes that would be confusing to and audence who hadn't seen anything else about the characters previously. So, taking this into account, the 'new' idea came to mind. As the main point of the soap trailer was to be advertsing a new soap, we thought about all the ways we could incorporate 'new' into the trailer.

Stereotypical soap settings

                                                                                                                        (my photograph of the pub in our soap trailer in comparison to other pubs)

In every soap, there is one major pub where all the characters gather. Pubs are places where the characters can chill out and talk, as well as the complete opposite by getting rowdy, drunk and starting fights. Eastenders has the Queen Vic, Coronation Street has the Rovers, and Emerdale has the Woolpack. As this seemed to be such a popular and recurring theme, we decided that we would have to include a pub at least in the background of our soap opera.



                  

 (my photograph of the park and path we used in our soap trailer in comparison)

Another place that people frequent in soaps is a park. Parks are open areas where everyone is allowed, so both characters that get along and don't get along meet up there, on purpose or by accident. This means that a lot of drama can happen here, as well as the opposite, as parks have benches which gives the character a place to sit and talk calmly with others or even reflect on a current situation. It is important for characters to be able to take some time out from the current storyline and get away from a lot of the drama, like violence etc, and so a park or a quiet place would be a good setting to include in our soap.

Stereotypical soap characters

All soaps include stereotypical characters. A stereotypical character is someone who others have a certain belief about, as in the way they look or the way they act.

The blonde character we decided on would be a stereotype. Blonde are often seen as dumb or airheaded people, so they are quite simple characters who can be manipulated. These characters are often in for humerous effect. Blondes can also be stereotyped as sleazy.

Groups of 'chavs' are often seen in most soaps, and they are the determind by the way they look, act and talk. People believe them to be rough and messy, dress in tracksuits and wear a lot of jewellery. They have a certain way of talking that can be seen as violent and threatening, and are often associated with the lower class and poorer people.

Posh is a stereotype too. These kinds of characters see themselves as better as everyone else and tend to want to not associate themselves with people lower than themselves, such as the chavs. Their posh demeaner means that other characters dislike them.

Most soaps these days tend to have the gay or lesbian character. This is a character that doesn't tend to fit in with everyone in the soap because of their life choice. They are often harrassed and made the victim because of ridicule. The extreme portrayal of gay people would be someone flamboyant and with a high voice and lesbians can be seen as butch and agressive. Soaps tend to be a bit more realistic with characters like these as it is a sensitive issue.

Soap title research

Researching for our soap trailer title was difficult, as we didn't know what sort of things we were going to include in the trailer. We looked at other soap names, such as Hollyoaks and Eastenders for inspiration. Eastenders is called what it is because the location of the soap is in the East end of London, and so we realised that soaps are usually named after a part of the region they are filmed in. As Coronation St has the road sign in the opening sequence, we felt that we should follow this convention and find a local road sign that we would film in or close by. The three images above are photographs we took of street signs in our local area, and the once we decided we really liked the sound of was the first one, 'Conway'.

Location photos

We looked at two different paths that lead into a park, as paths link two places together and can be used as a way to break up events and create a space for character to think about situations. Characters aren't always stationary in soaps and there is usually a park, like on Eastenders, where people will talk about a recent story, so we found two light places that could also seem dangerous at night, as there would be few people around. Danger is a reoccuring theme in soaps, as murders and stalkings are common, so we needed somewhere this could happen.



These roads are quite closed off and quite quiet, so we wouldn't get interference from people walking past and distrubing us or getting in the shot. As well as that, we needed a built up area with many houses as there are many characters who need somewhere to live, and having them living close by to each other makes it more personal and its realistic that neighbours would hang out with each other.

Again, these roads are quiet and few people are about so we can get the most out of our actors. The left image is the place we thought about filming it, as the road is straight and there is enough room for the actors to stand on either side.



Soap draft idea

We started to think of ideas for our soap trailer, and by watching the original trailers of both Hollyoaks and Eastenders, we realised we should try and make the trailer as creative and unique as possible. Unlike soap adverts that usually promotes a certain storyline, we needed a way of introducing the characters and getting the point across that this soap is new. 



Our initial idea was to have the characters all standing along a straight road, and the camera follows the main male character in an over the shoulder view as he walks down the middle of the road. As he reaches another group of characters, the camera would pan to them and a flashback of a situation with those character would play. We thought of editing the scene and giving it a sepia hue to make it seem older, as it was something that happened in the past.The camera then returns to the over the shoulder of the male characters, and he continues down the road with various other flashbacks. The male reaches the end of the road, where a police car and several policemen are waiting, indicating that the main character has committed a crime to each of the characters in his flashback.

Hollyoaks trailer

The first ever Hollyoaks trailer was first broadcast in 1995, 10 years after the first Eastenders trailer. Apart from the short length of 16 seconds, there is quite a big difference between the two trailers, as this soap gives more away about what the soap and the characters within. The actors and actresses are on the set, supposedly in the middle of filming, and talking about their characters and roles. The young characters immediately make it bovious that it is aimed at a younger audience, while the Eastenders one doesn't give a lot away. The trailer takes it outside the Hollyoaks world, and so from these two trailers I can understand that a trailer doesn't always have to immediately show the storylines and characters included.

Eastenders trailer

For my research into new soap trailers, I looked at the very first Eastenders trailer, first broadcast in 1985. The trailer was only 13 seconds long, but the short time left a big impact. There is a moving lorry, with the Eastenders logo printed on the side, that drives along the road of London, signified by the big red bus and the fact that the East End is in London. The fact that the focus is on moving lorry represents that the soap is going to be new. As it didn't give a lot away, it meant that the audience were likely to go out of their way to find out about it, making it a very interesting way of advertising.

Initial idea spider diagram

After considering the many different subjects we would have to think about to create a conventional soap trailer, we decided to make a spider diagram out of all them as a way of managing our workload.

The spider diagram allowed us to to think of every important thing, from what would need to be included in the soap trailer to the times we could film it. To begin with, we considered the stereotypical characters usually seen in soaps like Eastenders, such as the bully, chavs and posh people. A variety of settings were also important, and again, using our research on Eastenders and Hollyoaks, we came to the conclusion that soaps are always set in a close knit town or village. Inside this village, the people usually gather at a specific place, as in a pub, a nightclub or even a park.  

Our soap

As I mentioned in my first post, our preliminary task is to create a soap opera trailer advertising a new soap, and so four of us joined to make a group and discuss the research that would need to be done in order for us to fully understand everything we need to. We had to consider many things - the characters, setting, music, mise-en-scene, camera work and even the broadcasting channel. Last year, my horror movie opening was too stereotypical, so that was something I had to be careful about and consider when thinking of the stories of each scene and the personalities behind the characters.

BBC One

BBC1, originally known just as BBC, started its television broadcasts all the way back in 1932. Throughout the many years, the channel has made a lot of progress and has been host to some of the best and most celebrated programmes. Soap operas are common on the channel, and BBC1 is host to the longest running soap on television, Eastenders. As BBC1 was such a popular channel and one that was free, we decided it would be a good idea to put our soap on there. We considered other channels though, like E4 and Channel 4, as their target audience is slightly younger because of the other programmes broadcast, but E4 is a channel that requires digital tv, so BBC1 may be the most sensible choice.

Media theories

Media Theorist: Vladmir Propp

Vladimir Propp, once a Soviet formalist scholar, is someone that I found very useful when looking at his research in order to understand characters and how they are portrayed. He identified that in most stroies, the characters can be placed into 8 different categories. His main research was into Russian folk tales, but I believe that even modern day stories and televsion plots can also fit into these catgeories:



1. The Villian - The Villian is the character that is always against the hero, and in his quest to find dominance he will always struggle.
2.The Dispatcher - The Dispatcher is the character that makes the lack know and sends off the hero.
3. The Helper - The Helper is the character helps the hero throughout his quest
4. The Princess - The Princess is the character that the hero deserves throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
5. The Father of the Princess - The father of the Princess is the character that gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
6. The Donor - The Donor is the character that prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
7. The Hero - The Hero is the character that reacts to the donor, and weds the princess.
8. The False Hero - The False Hero is the character that attempts to take credit for the hero's actions and succesion, and also tries to wed the Princess.

Soap Conventions

Soaps usually have the certain conventions:

• Serialised Drama
• Continuous storylines/narratives
• Well known theme tune
• Many characters, but usually a strong focus on a small amount of them at different times 
• Plots are open-ended and often interlinked in an episode
• Often set around a small, central area(e.g The Square in Eastenders)
• British soaps often feature working class characters
• British soaps are realistic
• They have a multi-stranded narrative

Hollyoaks theme

The Hollyoaks opening sequence is a lot more complicated than those of Coronation Street or Eastenders. Hollyoaks has a personal touch; introducing the characters individually and using editing software, they represent the characters personality in the background as well as objects around them. The difference between Hollyoaks and Eastenders is that the opening sequence is constantly changing, as various characters are introduced and removed throughout the years. You can tell by the music as well that the programme is a lot more modern, as there are many instruments and synth used in the theme tune, such as electric guitars which creates a much more exciting atmosphere, contrasting Eastenders simplistic piano tune. The text is a lot more colourful, with the pink and blue representing genders and signifying relationships as being an important part of the programme, therefore speaking to a younger audience.

Eastenders theme

The Eastenders opening sequence and theme tune has been the same for over 25 years, and is approximately 40 seconds in length. The opening sequence is extremely simple and memorable, with the music being slow paced as the screen slowly zoomz in on an eagle eye image of East London. The colours of the opening sequence are simplistic and realistic to real life, reflecting the lives of real people instead of bright pinks representing glamour, as Eastenders is about realism. The text is also simplistic, as the font is serif and plain with a black drop shadow, making the text stand out from the beige background and still drawing attention to the title. The repetitiveness of the sequence and the fact that it hasn't changed in years speaks to and older audience who have been watching Eastenders for all that time.