Soap Trailer Analysis

Eastenders Christmas Trailer 2008:



Mise-en-scene:
All lighting throughout the trailer was dark but with the Christmas spirit within the piece it seems to brighten up just before it turns dark and from colour to black and white when the storyline comes shinning through. All the scenes are interior, no scenes take place outside, every scene had Christmas props in which included Christmas dinner, Christmas hats, Christmas crackers and cards then it gets to the final scene of the Mitchell Christmas dinner, and then inside the local pub with lots of alcohol on show to the audience which helps show the viewers something is about to go wrong.

Sound:
All sound throughout the trailer was non diegetic. The music was happy Christmas music which created suspense as we the audience then knew there would be something bad around the corner. Then the music stopped and went silence which was juxtaposition. The voice over at the end of the clip made the storyline very clear to the audience which draws the audience in. After the voice over the classic jingle came back after the use of silence which again gave the audience time to think about the storyline before the eastenders jingle comes into place.

Narrative:
In this trailer the narrative was open. The storyline was given but not fully, the audience only found out half of the plot which leaves this as open as possible.
There is also forking paths used within this trailer as there is multiple stories and multiple lives within the square being shown at the beginning but towards the end it starts to get based around one story of one family.

Titling:
There was simple titles within the trailer which related to Christmas by using snow which makes the trailer Christmas before it has even started. BBC one first and then Eastenders at the end of the trailer.

Coronation Street Trailer:


Mise-en-scene:
Within this trailer all the lighting is bright and light which connotes innocence of the characters, unlike most trailers this trailer has scenes both in interior settings and exterior settings which makes the trailer different. All the props to do with the wedding are white and pink which shows that the male getting married is doing what the female wants which is also shown when the male sighs. A lot of the props including a decorative piece on the cake, a card and message on the back of the car all say good luck which has juxtaposition to the audience making them feel something will go wrong.

Sound:
Throughout the piece there is a song which is all about being lucky and about a wedding day. The song is upbeat with brass instruments in the background which builds suspense  by getting louder it then fades out but the brass still carry on playing and then  there is a voice over the top of the music saying "Friday the 13th the perfect date for a coronation street wedding coming soon on itv1 " and then wedding bells play in the background telling the audience that this will be a episode not to miss.

Narrative:
In this trailer the narrative was open. The storyline was given but not fully, the audience only found out half of the plot which leaves this as open as possible.
There is also forking paths used within this trailer as there is multiple stories and multiple lives within the street however all the families within this trailer are all related to one story, one event of one family.

Titling:
In this trailer there is little titling until  the end when there is the Corrie in a road street block and then "The nations street" underneath it and then Friday the 13th under that. Making the date that the episode is on clear to the audience.

DIFFERENT EPISODE
Throughout the piece there was a Christmas tune which was happy and merry. Which got interrupted by the sounds of the emergency rescue which shows juxtaposition. Which helps to show the storyline. The trailer ends with sirens which shows their is a unhappy ending to the story that will be coming up.

I looked and analysed two soap opera trailers in order to develop my knowledge on trailers and real soap operas. I wanted to gain more  knowledge in all areas in order to come up with my idea for my own soap. When producing my own soap I will now know what sort of music I will need to use etc and relate it all back to  my individual soap opera trailer. I have gained knowledge on Mise-en-scene, Sound, Narrative and titling. This will help me plan out, develop and make my soap opera trailer as I will learn the about all the key conventions of a soap opera. I will learn how soaps use key conventions and also go against conventions in order to make their soap different and unique.

Real Media Texts - Soap Opera

- Neighbours 21st of June

Scene Number	Number of Characters	Types of Characters	Setting Of Scene	Storylines Evident
1	2	Harold and Toady -Respected members of the comminity as Harold is a Christian salvationist and Toady is the local lawyer.	Toadies House	Harolds return
2	2	Sonya and Jade- sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, were as jade is the local gym instructor however they are both sisters.	The Ramseys House	Alcoholic
3	1	Toady- is the local lawyer.	Toadies House	Betrayed by sonyas lies
4	2	Sonya and Jade- sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, were as jade is the local gym instructor however they are both sisters.	The Ramseys House	Moving Houses
5	2	Harold and Toady -Respected members of the comminity as Harold is a Christian salvationist and Toady is the local lawyer.	Toadies House	Harolds return
6	2	Kate and Mark- kate is a 19 year old girl who looks after her younger sister as both her parents are now dead, whereas mark is the local police man.	Harolds Café	Cheating
7	2	Sonya and Jade- sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, were as jade is the local gym instructor however they are both sisters.	The Ramseys House	Alcoholic
8	2	Harold and Toady -Respected members of the comminity as Harold is a Christian salvationist and Toady is the local lawyer.	Toadies House	Harolds return
9	2	Sonya and Kate -  sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, kate is a 19 year old girl who looks after her younger sister as both her parents are now dead.	The Ramseys House	Alcoholic
10	1	Toady is the local lawyer.	Toadies House	Betrayed by sonyas lies
11	2	Troy and Sonya - troy is a new character who hasn’t made a good impression with the locals, he is also callums biological father.  sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, who is also callums biological mother.	The Lake	Catch up of long lost love
12	1	Mark - is the local police officer.	Café	cheater
13	2	Jade and Kyle - jade is the local gym instructor and kyle is the local car salesman.	The Ramseys House	Secret lovers
14	2	Toady and Sonya - Toady is the local lawyer and  sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic.	The Street	Old Lovers
15	2	Kate and Jade -  kate is a 19 year old girl who looks after her younger sister as both her parents are now dead, Jade is the local gym instructor.	The Ramseys House	Best friends seperated by lies
16	3	Kyle - is the local car sales man	Car Show Yard	work
17	4	Harold, Toady, Karl and Sussan - Harold and Toady -Respected members of the comminity as Harold is a Christian salvationist and Toady is the local lawyer. Karl is the local doctor who is married to sussan who is a retired school principle who now works for the local paper.	Charlies Bar	Harolds return
18	2	Troy and Sonya - troy is a new character who hasn’t made a good impression with the locals, he is also callums biological father.  sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, who is also callums biological mother.-	The Lake	Troys return
19	1	Harold is the local salvationist	Outside Charlies Bar	Harolds return
20	3	Troy and Sonya - troy is a new character who hasn’t made a good impression with the locals, he is also callums biological father.  sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic, who is also callums biological mother.-  whereas harold is the local salvationist.	Next to lake	Old Lovers
21	4	Harold, Toady, Karl and Sussan - Harold and Toady -Respected members of the comminity as Harold is a Christian salvationist and Toady is the local lawyer. Karl is the local doctor who is married to sussan who is a retired school principle who now works for the local paper.	Charlies Bar	Harolds return
22	2	Harold is the local salvationist where as sonya is recovering gambler and alcoholic.	Charlies Bar	Harolds return

I conducted this analysis on neighbours to get a better understanding of soap operas to see how many different scenes were used, how many characters were in each scene and what the main storyline was behind
each scene. I wanted the extra knowledge to use within the soap so I can then use this knowledge and include it in the planning and production of my own soap opera.

Knowledge Of Soap Operas

I made a mind map which showed my knowledge of the three soaps i personally watch which includes, Neighbours, Eastenders and Coronation Street which are all popular soaps two english and one Australian. Both Eastenders and Coronation street are extremely popular in the UK.

History of Soap Operas:

The longest running soap in UK is Coronation Street –

First broadcast on 9th December 1960, and has been running for 51 years.

Since 9th December 1960, up to and including the second episode transmitted on 1st July 2011 there have been 7637 episodes of Coronation Street.

The sets of the soap opera Coronation Street have changed since first broadcast in December 1960.As of 2011, it consists of early 20th century terraced houses, with a public house, The Rovers Return, at one end, and a corner shop at the other.

The other side of the street consists of a factory (underworld),  a garage and three semi-detached houses. More than 100 writers have written for Coronation Street.

The top ten rated writers of Coronation Street were:

1	Adele Rose	455 episodes (+ 4 co-written)
2	Leslie Duxbury	411 episodes (+ 2 co-written)
3	John Stevenson	399 episodes (+ 1 co-written)
4	Peter Whalley	379 episodes (+ 1 co-written)
5	HV Kershaw	305 episodes (+ 1 co-written)
6	Julian Roach	267 episodes
7	Barry Hill	263 episodes
8	Brian Finch	150 episodes (+ 1 co-written)
9	John Finch	135 episodes (+ 2 co-written)
10	Martin Allen	131 episodes

Here is episodes of coronation street from 1960 and 2010.

  

  

  The longest running soap in the world is Guiding Light.

An American soap opera first broadcast on radio back in 1937 then went onto TV in 1952.
Originally first called The Guiding Light.



Here is a radio broadcast and a tepisode of guilding light on Tv.


Soap operas have experienced high popularity over the past fifty years. The soap opera formula has been expanded, but not replaced, and this has assured its enduring success over fifty years in lots of countries.

Soap opera fans have no demographic bounds. Soap operas were first targeted at stay at home housewives to sell household products, the daytime drama audience now includes professionals of both sexes who unwind after a hard day at the office by watching their prerecorded soaps on tape when they get home. College students also have gatherings in their common rooms or dorms at collages and universities to watch the latest episode of their favourite soap opera.

 The difference between today’s and yesterday’s daytime dramas and soap operas are evident in the present day use of exotic locations and diverse story lines. The longest running soap opera, Guiding Light, (as mentioned earlier) first aired on the radio and then took to television . The plots were homespun and the action took place around the Bauer’s kitchen table. Domestic problems were in the forefront and much of the action was resolved before they finished their second cup of coffee.
 Tune into “GL” today and you will still see one of the Bauers, however, she married into a mobster family and is running off to San Cristobel (the foreign but friendly country that residents of Springfield seem to jet back and forth to on a moments notice) to escape the death penalty. And if you tune into a recent soap, Passions that began in 1999, you may think you are watching a sequel to Bewitched as a sorceress named Tabitha wrecks havoc on a quaint New England town called Harmony.
 It is evident that the story lines have expanded from plain old adultery and the coffee pot.

 Even with expanded travel, you can count on a soap operas action revolving around a small town. Children on soaps still age at the same rate as dog years (born one year, dating two years later) this phenomenon is called S.O.R.A.S. (Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome). Of course, you can also rely on the people of any age to be beautiful, and families are usually wealthy except if they are brought in as a plot contrast such as Theresa Lopez Fitzgerald’s love for rich boy Ethan Crane on Passions, or the odd couple marriage of Harley Davidson Cooper to Phillip of the Spaulding mansion. Soaps still somewhat follow the “black hat, white hat” formula to designate the good guys from the bad guys. Although there are some blonde schemers on daytime, most of the “bad girls” are still brunette. In the standard romantic triangle you will usually have a dark haired women lose out to a fairer haired rival.
 One exception has been the brunette and beautiful, Erica, played by veteran soap star Susan Lucci. She seems to prove that being blonde may not always be more fun, and although she has been very bad at times, she can be very good at getting what she wants. Whether good or bad, rich or poor, no character on a soap is seen with “bed head” or without makeup.
Another oddity you can count on is that everyone who works has a very important job but never seems to be working. This is more so now than in the past, even the hospital setting has become less of a backdrop for the action and more of a meeting place for the characters to react to a tragedy.

In the 1920s, radio was booming, and broadcasters wanted to get advertisers in on the act to increase their station's profits. So radio stations convinced businesses that sold household goods to sponsor radio shows. To appeal to the main consumers of these items -- female homemakers -- the radio stations created the daytime serial drama format. The first radio soap opera ran in Chicago and was sponsored by a margarine company.
Soon, all the networks had serials aimed at women, and companies selling cleaners and food products rushed to sponsor the shows. For example, Proctor & Gamble's Oxydol soap powder sponsored a popular serial drama in 1933. By 1939 the press started calling the shows "soap operas" because so many were sponsored by soap manufacturers. "Opera" had already been used in a non-musical sense in the '20s with "horse opera," which described Western movies.
Soaps moved from radio to TV along with most entertainment forms in the 1950s. Despite the intervention of evil twins, presumed-dead spouses, vengeful lovers, and the occasional vampire, soap operas have been going strong ever since.

Notes Taken From: http://www.allsands.com/history/soapoperahisto_tjc_gn.htm

BARB statistics show that for the week of the 11th of July the most watched episodes:
Eastenders = 8.98 million
Coronation Street = 8.86 million
Emmerdale = 7.01 million
Casualty = 5.64 million
Holby City = 5.41 million
Neighbours = 1.37 million
statistics from http://www.barb.co.uk/facts/index