Soap Trailer Notes (Lessons 1 and 2)

Job Roles:
Seb: storyboards, shotlists, filming
David: location photo's, music
Dalian: storyline, lead editor
Philip: project manager (camera hire, get actors), director

Storyline ideas; (Dalian)
Drugs - St Neots town bridge (undrrneath and stairs) including a Chase
Relationships between characters - one idea of old person with young person made by Philip.
Market - bad market deals

Locations:
St Noets Town Bridge
Pub??
Cafe Nero (communal area)
St Noets Market (dodgy dealer)

Lesson Notes (16/10/2012) - What makes a good soap?

Media Lesson: Tuesday 16^th October 2012

Coursework:

·         Trailer for a new soap

·         TV listings magazine cover; including our soap

·         Poster: (Take more photo’s than we need!)

What makes a successful soap trailer?

·         Action

·         New / Different characters

·         An unanswered question to drag audience in

·         Fast paced – faster than you would see in the actual episodes

·         Controversial storylines

·         Theme tune – want the audience to link something to your program

·         Channel and time

·         Titles (inter titles)

·         Voiceover

The trailer should last for around 30 seconds to 1 minute.

The voiceover should be clear and give the information we see on the screen.

Eastenders ‘Sharon’s Back!’ and ‘Branning Week’ trailers:

·         Shots and clips from actual show – includes diegetic sound

·         Turbulence – shows the effect the character would have when they return

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene:

Mise-en-Scene is very important to the success of soaps. The Mise-en-Scene will help add to the realism and drag the audience in as the show wouldn’t look like some cheap, low budget program made to fill gaps in the TV listings. In all soaps, the Mise-en-Scene is paid a lot of attention as you can see in the image of the Rovers pub from Coronation Street.
Within the Mise-en-Scene, there is a lot of iconography (things we would associate with the place we see). For example, in the pub we would see beer glasses, mats, a bell, beer tabs (pully things) etc…

  

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - Soaps as open narratives

Soaps as open narratives:

In soaps, there is always more than one story happening at once. These stories would be continuous and occasionally leave the odd cliff-hanger at the end of an episode. Once one of these stories ends, new ones often containing different characters begin. Saving the characters from boring the audience.  Using an open narrative with soaps allow the writers to drag a story out for many episodes building the story to gain interest from the public.

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - Settings in soaps

Settings in soaps:

Soaps are usually filmed in comfortable; familiar places which make the audience relax and feel comfortable watching. Example of these settings can be seen in nearly every soap on TV and include the Queen Vic in Eastenders, The Rovers in Coronation Street and there are also public houses on Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and others. As well as pubs the programme is filmed inside the characters houses which again help to make the audience feel comfortable watching.

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - How audience theories can be applied to soaps

How audience theories can be applied to soaps:

Vladimir Propp-

Vladimir Propp’s is a Russian man who studied Russian folk tales. His theory revolves around character functions (hero / adversary). As character functions can change rapidly in soaps it can be applied. For example, Phil Mitchel from Eastenders can be seen as both good and bad as he will either be in trouble or helping somebody. Vladimir Propps theory can be seen regularly in soaps as having a hero and villain can add to the drama.


Barthes (The Enigma Code)-

Barthes’ theory revolves around signs and our understanding of them (semiotics). Both side of this theory can be applied and seen within soaps as the Enigma Code is seen when something is happening with the used of  prop e.g. gun, or some kind of weapon. An example would be seen in an Emmerdale extract where a rough looking, quite trampy man (villain) is seen with a dog and we are forced to assume the worst in that somebody is going to be attacked. The Enigma Code would be the one which is most commonly applied to soaps as it is the one which causes the confusion as to who done something. A recent example of this would be in Eastenders with Kat Slater having an affair. It is seen as a puzzle for the audience to work out for themselves.

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - Uses and Gratifications

Uses and Gratifications-

Instead of researching what the media do to the audience, this approach studies what the audience does with the media. This approach also takes account of people’s personalities and personal needs.  

Strengths: As the audience is seen as active, and reasonably intelligent, life experience is generally regarded as more influential than experiences of the media. The pleasures that the media offers the audience are not regarded as negative.

Weaknesses: Too much optimism about ‘power’ and ‘choices’ of an active audience can distract us from the power certain texts have, or the influence that media institutions and ownership may have on texts and understandings.

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - Camerawork, Editing and Sound

Camera work, Editing and Sound:

Camerawork-
In British soaps that camerawork used is usually very simple consisting of close-ups, mid shots, long shots, S-R-S etc. as it makes it much easier to follow. Another reason as to why they use simple shots is that it becomes much easier for them to express the characters emotions and the tension between them. An example of this can be seen in many soap extracts as it is used on a daily basis.

Editing-
In soaps we rarely see fast cuts that help increase the pace of the show like we would in a film. This is because, like camerawork, they try to make the program as simple to follow as possible for us the audience. An editing technique that is used frequently in the majority of soaps is a shot-reverse-shot (S-R-S) as it helps us understand that two or more characters are involved in a conversation.

Sound-
The sound that is used in soaps is usually diegetic. This is because the programmes revolve around the speech of the characters. In soaps we see/hear a sound bridge on a regular basis. A sound bridge is where we hear speech before we see the character talking. It is usually used so that we the audience are aware that they are talking about the same topic.

Blog work to be done by 16th Oct - Male and Female Representation

Male and Female representations:

Females-
In British soaps, females are represented in a non-stereotypical way. They can usually be seen with the role of a matriarch (powerful woman). They are seen wearing smart clothes with a clean and tidy appearance. This means that the female gender is the dominant one. An example of this would be Kat Slater as she is usually in charge of both her relationships and the Queen Vic public house. As well as being represented as powerful through their image, they are also powerful through their sexuality. As a female Kat, or any other powerful woman, is usually able to manipulate and control the male gender.  

Males-
As it is the female gender that is represented as being powerful, males are represented as being the weaker gender. This can be seen best in Eastenders as Alfie Moon is a kind person and kat (his wife) takes advantage of that and usually disappoints him by doing something she shouldn’t. I.e. having an affair.
Because of these representations British soaps are very un-stereotypical as it would usually be the male who is the patriarch (dominant character).

Blog Work to be done by 16th Oct - Soap Readings

Soap Readings:

Dominant-
A dominant reading of soaps are when us, the audience, believe everything we see. An example would be us believing that the stories shown are possible and can be seen to the same standards in ‘real’ life.

Opposite-
Opposite readings are the opposite. We, the audience, completely disagree with the stories / storylines used within the soaps. An example would be somebody believing that the stories are too far-fetched and unrealistic.

Negotiated-
Negotiated readings of soaps are when we both agree and disagree with the stories being shown on the shows. An example of this would be us agreeing with the storylines but then disagreeing with the extent the story goes to.