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Rebecca Stanley

For my media project G324 Soap opera analysis, I created a soap opera trailer as well as two ancillary tasks of the front of a TV magazine and a TV poster. I realised that when creating my media portfolio certain aspects of my trailer would have to similar to other real media products in which I have researched, to conform with conventions of a typical soap opera trailer. I did this so that it would be recognisable to my audience so they were able to know what I was promoting with immediate familiarity with the video they were receiving. However I still wanted to challenge these conventions as I found from my research that the market for TV soap operas is very narrow and all stick to the same conventions, so I believed that by creating a soap featuring teenage actors aimed at a teenage audience. I think that this would help to broaden the market for TV soap operas as it creates a more unique a relatable genre for a teenage age range improving the profile of the TV soap ‘Estate of Affairs’ as it would make it stand out from the pre existing soaps.

REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS I ANALYSED I analysed a variety of soaps in order to gain my knowledge on what was the typical conventions. This helped me in all aspects of my coursework with my trailer poster and TV magazine. As shown on my blog I didn’t just look at English soap operas I analysed ones from around the world and found similar conventions in all of them. In this PowerPoint I’m going to go through each convention step by step analysing how I either used, developed or challenged them.

SOAP OPERA TRAILERS I ANALYSED.As shown on my previous blog post I analysed a number of

existing soap opera trailers from well known soap opera. This task was successful as it helped me to gather c conventions from the trailers in order to plan what I would have to incorporate within my trailer to make it recognisable for my audience.

The two soap trailers I have analysed on my blog are from Hollyoaks and Eastenders. The main conventions I found from within them were: quick cut editing to create tension, alternating storylines going from one to another, loud music that builds up to a climax, a final dramatic shot that keeps the audience hooked onto the storyline and a ident linking the soap to the network that airs the programme. This were just the basic conventions that seemed to occur within pretty much every soap trailer I analysed.

CONVENTIONS I HAVE TAKEN FROM TRAILERS

Use of external establishing shot including busy roads, setting the scene of the soap as set in a modern busy town. This helped attract a teenage audience as they live in this modern society therefore it is recognisable for them The use of filters to create dramatic tension and mystery. From the soap trailer I analysed it was of a character and the use of the filter was to hide her identity I included this within my trailer as I wanted the same effect on my character as I wanted her identity to stay a mystery until the end of the trailer.

Revealing the main character at the end of the trailer, leaving it as the final shot in which the audience see before th ident this creates a shock effect on the audience as they feel they are hooked onto the enigma of the storyline making them tune into the programme and watch.Alternating storylines, all soap opera trailer focus on one main storyline however include many different actors within the trailer showing how everyone within the soap is effected by this specific storyline. In my instance I wanted to create a sense of disrupted equilibrium within the characters as she returned. The use of text inserts helps to identify themes within the trailer, this is a highly used convention as it helps to identify problems or helps indicate to the audience what is happening within the soap without giving too much of the storyline away.

USE OF NETWORK IDENTEvery TV soap opera trailer I analysed ended on an ident of their network they are to be aired on, this Is a common convention as it not only promotes the soap itself but the network and the rest of its programmes. I chose to stick to this convention as I believed is made my trailer look professional fitting in with real media products. The use of the hashtag as well helps to include social media into my promotion of my product as my product is aimed at teenagers they would be able to search this hashtag in order to find out more information about the soap. This is another feature I included from my research as all the network ident included a social media link. I chose BBC to as my supporting network as I believe they are long lasting TV network and would be successful as they already have a long history within which they have promoted many soap operas.

CASTWithin my soap opera trailer I used an original cast, in which was made up of three actors, this stuck to the conventions of TV trailers as many characters as it helps to focus on the specific storyline being portrayed building enigma. The trailer I produced would be a trailer when the series had been running for a while therefore I aimed for the characters to be recognisable to the audience, as I wanted to portray the returning of a well known character. However I did challenge the convention of cast members as I chose to cast an all teenage cast, as I hoped this would help to appeal to my teenage audience whereas many soap operas aim their trailer at mainly middle age women therefore by challenging this convention I hoped to create an all new broader audience for soap operas.

STORYLINEI believe I used the most common storyline a soap opera trailer has, by having a character returning I was able to create a clear storyline allowing the audience to locate the enigma within the storyline. Within my storyline I created a dramatic tension build up as I slowly revealed the main character by focusing on her features as the trailer went through ending on a final shot of her creating a counting feeling within the trailer, this developed conventions of a trailer as many trailer create mystery of who the returning character ending on a final shot. However it is not conventional to create a sense of counting revealing the character bit by bit I believe by developing this convention it made my storyline strong as the audience were enticed into finding out who the returning character was. Many soap trailers use parallel editing to show the effects of one storyline on the rest of the characters I used this convention within my storyline as I wanted to create a sense of a love triangle showing how the returning of the character effects the other characters love lives.

SETTINGThe setting of my soap opera trailer was based around a variety of different locations as I aimed to show the variation of the neighbourhood my soap was set in, my setting was in a conventional place as the main setting was within a recognisable café this is a typical convention as there is always one sociable place within a soap where all the characters come to socialise featuring in many of the storylines. I believe this convention helps to create a sense of realism within the soap as it normal everyday setting. By using the external establishing shot of the characters chasing one another down the road this helped emphasise the realism of the trailer as it showed the outdoor setting of the café helping give the audience a recognisable road in which the soap could be based around.

ENDING

The ending of my soap creates a dramatic climax, as I had chosen to show shots of my characters features throughout the trailer however did not portray her true identity. Leaving this until the final shot, I created a sense of counting through the trailer then ended my trailer on a text saying “ready or not” followed by a shot of the character revealing her identity saying “here I come” I believe this ending of my soap trailer challenged conventions as It ended on a cliff hanger, created suspense on who she is going to get. However it developed many conventions by using dramatic tension to create enigma for the audience.

CONCLUSION

Overall I believe my soap opera would be successful as I have stuck to many of the conventions of TV soap trailers, this assures me mine would be successful as the soap trailers I have analysed are long lasting soaps. I believe that by doing this is helped created a recognisable feeling for the audience. However I chose to challenge the convention of having a teenage cast this therefore makes my soap unique and stand out helping to give the trailer an edge within the market.