Following the many episodes/trailers/title sequences of soaps (Hollyoaks, Coronation Street and Eastenders) our group has watched it is now easy to see that many of these soap operas contain similar form and conventions. The most obvious elements that we noticed were: Community based, cliffhangers, gossip, realism of characters both young and old, narrative enigmas, concurrent storylines, shown at peak times, TV scheduling and shown several times a week. All of these forms and conventions help to attract the audiences therefore producing a successful soap opera that is watched by many.
As we noticed all these aspects it made us go back and reflect on the production of our own new TV soap. Our two storylines that will feature in the trailer are:
Celibate girl - at party gets raped and pregnant
Cultural clash - religious teen in same sex relationship
Just by looking and reading these it may seem that we are over - dramatising our storylines however all soaps do this. They all aim to achieve and represent realism in their episodes, at times you feel that some of these storylines wouldn't happen to you at all the same time although this is what draws in the viewers. The soap operas role are to entertain. Yet only are they successful when the use of realistic storylines and entertaining are combined in the correct balance, otherwise it will no longer seem appealing and viewings will drop drastically. We feel that our two storylines portray the right balance. They are realistic storylines which could happen to anyone. This is important as it will represent a sense of realism to our audiences making it easy for them to relate themselves into these situations.
The soaps continuously use concurrent storylines. The episodes need to make sense to the viewers - what happens one day cannot just be forgotten the next. The storylines need to be flowing from one episode to another. As well as the many cliffhangers that are used. Huge storylines mainly occur at national holidays - most frequently at Christmas where it is guaranteed everyone will not miss out due to work. It is a time where all the family are together and gather to watch the ultimate episode "is he going to die?". This really emphasizes what the soap is about. Family life.
Our new TV soap trailer will aim to be dramatic, action packed and appealing. With the current storylines we have I feel that this can be achieved. Although our soap opera intends to be a mixture of both worlds containing the elements of a traditonal soap also including a modern twist targeting audiences from ages 16-25 years old.
As we noticed all these aspects it made us go back and reflect on the production of our own new TV soap. Our two storylines that will feature in the trailer are:
Celibate girl - at party gets raped and pregnant
Cultural clash - religious teen in same sex relationship
Just by looking and reading these it may seem that we are over - dramatising our storylines however all soaps do this. They all aim to achieve and represent realism in their episodes, at times you feel that some of these storylines wouldn't happen to you at all the same time although this is what draws in the viewers. The soap operas role are to entertain. Yet only are they successful when the use of realistic storylines and entertaining are combined in the correct balance, otherwise it will no longer seem appealing and viewings will drop drastically. We feel that our two storylines portray the right balance. They are realistic storylines which could happen to anyone. This is important as it will represent a sense of realism to our audiences making it easy for them to relate themselves into these situations.
The soaps continuously use concurrent storylines. The episodes need to make sense to the viewers - what happens one day cannot just be forgotten the next. The storylines need to be flowing from one episode to another. As well as the many cliffhangers that are used. Huge storylines mainly occur at national holidays - most frequently at Christmas where it is guaranteed everyone will not miss out due to work. It is a time where all the family are together and gather to watch the ultimate episode "is he going to die?". This really emphasizes what the soap is about. Family life.
Our new TV soap trailer will aim to be dramatic, action packed and appealing. With the current storylines we have I feel that this can be achieved. Although our soap opera intends to be a mixture of both worlds containing the elements of a traditonal soap also including a modern twist targeting audiences from ages 16-25 years old.
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