The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on a radio. These have soap manufactures such as Colgate, Palmolive and The Lever Brothers as sponsors and producers. They were mainly broadcast in the daytime around lunchtime once a week and were targeted at housewives.
A soap opera is an ongoing episodic dramatic fiction. Characters in a soap are usually stereotypes brought together to create families which become very popular and well known from example The Mitchell’s From Eastenders and The Webster’s from Coronation Street. They consist of a few main locations (Pubs cafes garages) and even fewer random locations (families’ houses, churches ECT.) in the UK more popular soap operas usually have a main community gathering location of a pub ( Eastenders- The Queen Vic, Coronation Street- Rovers Return).
A trailer is an advertisement of a soap’s main plot which will be ongoing for a few weeks, which attracts the audience into watching the episodes to see what happens in the soap as the trailer is only a sneak preview and cliff hanger to the storyline.
Soap operas are highly viewed programs watched by many people daily therefore there aspects have to be similar. English soap operas tend to be location based for example, Eastenders is in the east of London Coronation Street is set up north,
Hollyoaks is set in Chester and Emmerdale is set in the Yorkshire dales. Therefore if deciding to create a new soap opera location may be an aspect you wish to follow for it to be successful.
Another main aspect for soap operas is key locations. Most soap operas tend to have a main communal location and then smaller locations where characters are known. The main communal locations in soap operas are generally pubs, Queen Vic (Eastenders) and Rovers Return (Coronation Street.)
The third main aspect of a soap opera is to have well known families. Examples of these are the Mitchells in Eastenders and the Websters in Coronation street.
The main characteristics which define a British soap opera from other television programs are that they give an emphasis on life, personal relationships, extramarital relationships, emotional and moral conflicts. However they also tend to feature a significant proportion of romance storylines, whereas Russian soap operas explore the romantic quality of criminals and or of an oligarch life. (This means a small group or people who have a lot of power)
The main principal role of a soap opera is to entertain an audience, and watching soap operas is so popular because it helps people reflect on escape from their own problems.
The Queen Victoria Pub
The Rovers Return
My exposure to soap operas
Over the years living at home I have been exposed to the most popular soap operas including; EastEnders, Coronation Street and Neighbours. I have also seen Emmerdale and Home and Away. I also watched Brookside for the short time it was aired on TV.
As there are only two of us in my family household we do not watch all the soaps. We do watch EastEnders, Coronation Street and neighbours. Occasionally we may watch Home and Away if we know there is an interesting story line, or forget to change channel as we are busy doing something else.
My Family household enjoy the plot lines and the story lines in soap operas. We find the characters are very realistic and can relate to some of the issues in soap operas.
There are many reasons as to why they are so popular, firstly because soap operas are realistic and can easily be related to people’s life situations. Soap operas are becoming more and more popular as they are having intense and thrilling storylines with many cliff hangers which lead the audience to want to watch the next episode then another plot begins which then leads the audience to carry on following the soaps. Also because the plots are so detailed and dramatic, people watch soap operas to escape their own reality of life. They get a great deal of pleasure from this and this is the reason why soap operas are so popular. A response to support this could include the book ‘Watching day time soaps- the power of pleasure’ by Louise Spence published in 2005. She says that sometimes our desires and hopes or the way we are feeling are not always easy to express to others and watching soaps helps us overcome this.
A brief history of Soap's and famous plots and storylines
First soap was- aired on radio 1920s
British
Eastenders- 1985- present
Coronation Street- 1960-present (longest British running soap opera)
Brookside- 1982- November 2003
Hollyoaks- 1995 – present
General Hospital- 1977- 1979
US
Guiding Light- radio 1937- 1952
Dallas – 1976 – 1991
As the world turns- 1957-september 2010
Dark shadows- 1966-1971
Australian
Home and away- 1988-Present
Neighbours- 1985- present
Out of the blue- 2008-2009
FAMOUS PLOTS
EASTENDERS (Famous for Christmas specials)
Christmas Day 1988 30.15million viewers’ -dirty den divorces Angie- highest rated episode of a soap in British Television history
Christmas day 2006- Pauline Fowler’s death
17 May 2007- Beale & Phil’s Crash
Christmas day 2007- Bradley discovers Stacey cheating with max- highest UK TV Audience for ANY TV show during 2007.
Christmas day 2008- Sean Slater discovers he is not Amy’s father
Christmas day 2009- Archie Mitchell is DEAD
19th February 2010- Live Episode-who killed Archie Mitchell- 15.6million viewers, 16million in the last five minutes
This immedietley proves that christmas specials are a must for Eastenders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68GWmOETotQ&NR=1 this is a link for the the murder of Archie Christmas trailer for Eastenders
Coronation Street
Ken married Deidre- 27th July 1981 (more views than Prince Charles and Princess Dianna’s wedding two days later)
1985- Kevin Webster marries Sally Seddon
1983 -Deidre Barlow has an affair with Mike Baldwin
1986- Fire at the Rovers Return
1986-1989- Rita physiological abuse at the hands of Alan Bradley- dies under a tram at Blackpool
1998 – First transsexual in a British soap
Spring 07 illegal immigration
31may-4june 2010 Tony escapes from prison and was intending to go on a mass murder but on 2/6/10 Derrick Bird killed 12people so a mark of respect the remaining episodes for the storyline were cancelled.
6-10 December 2010 celebrating 50years tram crash storyline
Family Profiles
The Mitchell's- British Soap- EastEnders
The Mitchell family are one of the biggest families in soap history. Going right back from eddy and Betty Mitchell, the Mitchell’s have evolved to be one of the most popular families in soap history. Eddy and Betty went on to have two children Phillip and Kenneth. Phillip and his wife then went on to have Eric Mitchell who married Peggy, who then marries Archie and begun the popularity of the Mitchell name. Her sons Phil and grant were your stereotypical thug brothers, and their sister Samantha was not quite miss perfect and was well known for getting herself in trouble. Some of the more popular storylines of the Mitchell’s include:
One of the Mitchell family's first major storylines was Sharon gate, Grant's wife Sharon Watts had had an affair with her brother-in-law Phil. Grant and Sharon later split up, but it was after this that the Mitchell's ran The Queen Vic with Peggy Mitchell as its iconic landlady.
In 2001, Phil was in the centre of the Who Shot Phil? Storyline. Phil had become a darker and more menacing character during the previous year, and so five characters were suspected of trying to shoot him. This storyline received a lot of press in newspapers and the media, with many people placing bets on who the attempted killer was. Several outcomes were allegedly filmed an estimated 22 million viewers watched EastEnders on April 5, 2001 to find out that Lisa Shaw — Phil's former girlfriend — was the culprit. The episode caused the third-largest power surge on record. This is one of the highest figures in history and EastEnders came close with their record on 19th February 2010 when the live episode of Archie’s murderer was revealed when it reached 16.6million views.
I chose to reseach information about this family becuase the family represent the stereotypical 'Bad boy' family. They are known for the family that cause trouble and are a big family, recently run by Peggie Mitchell, who recentley retired from the show.
THE MITCHELL FAMILY TREE
(from top to bottom) Phil,Peggy and Archie Mitchell
The Ramsays' Neighbours- Australian Soap
‘Neighbours’ began in 1985 and is the most popular Australian soap broadcast in the UK. It was created by TV executive Reg Watson, it was originally shown on the BBC, however moved to channel five in the mid 2000’s. This could be because Channel five are known for broadcasting Australian programs, such as Neighbours and Home and Away. The show's story lines concern the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional suburb of Erinsborough, Melbourne. The series primarily centers around the residents of Ramsay Street, a short cul-de-sac, and its neighboring areas, the Lassiters complex, which includes a bar, hotel, cafe, news office and park. Through its entire run in Australia, Neighbours has been screened as a twenty-two minute episode each week night in an early-evening slot and is on at 5.30pm as it is shown before the other soaps so it is not as competitive.It is the only soap which is broadcast EVERY weeknight, which gives it an upper hand on being more likely to be viewed, this is also because of the time it is shown as most working people arrive home around this time and they can put it on when they get in, this may seem quiet strange to people that have no knowledge of soaps however this is a form of escapism
The most popular family known in ‘Neighbours’ is the Ramsays. The Ramsay family is a fictional family on the Australian soap opera Neighbours. The cul-de-sac, which is the central focus of the series is named after the family.No.24 has been associated with the Ramsay family since the show began in 1985.
Soap operas tend to be a starting point for some very famous people, and Neighbours is where ‘ Kylie Minogue’ began her career acting as a teenager in the program when she was 16 years old.
I chose to research this soap family in detail because it is the total opposite type of soap opera from Eastenders, and it is easy to explore the contrast on British and Australian soaps.
THE RAMSAYS FAMILY TREE
KYLIE MINOGUE, WHEN SHE WAS IN NEIGHBOURS AND NOW
Soap Trailer Analysis
Trailer one- Kat and Alfie Eastenders
Analysing the Kat and Alfie Eastenders trailer from September 2010, we instantly get the connation of trouble happening, which is ironic to the characters they are re introducing. The use of sound, mise en scene, shot types and editing used make this trailer very successful. The trailer has used conventions from the Western genre. The producers have chosen to use low angle shots, and eye line matches, this gives the effect of the characters being the big baddies in this, and the eye line matches show the seriousness in the characters faces. The main props they have used for this trailer are cowboy hat, which denotes western theme immediately and Kat wearing an old fashioned blanket cowgirl style, and the leather cowboy boots connote the idea of a stand off. The producers have also cleverly used a mirror which Kat checks herself in however they chose that at the time of opening this they have used a non digetic gun reload sound, this again is fitting in with the cowboy theme. The producer’s non digetic sound is vital for this trailer to work; it begins with a mythical type of music similar to something from Harry Potter which creates tension before the western themed music kicks in. At the end we see the word Eastenders however this actually looks like a shadow, followed by a voice over of the details of the soap.
This is example of an eye line match of Kat Moon
Trailer two- Coronation Street. released 29.2.09
I chose to analyse this trailer because it is the opposite of the western theme, it is a happy wedding theme, until the end voiceover. The producers of this trailer have chosen their props appropriately and ironically. This is because the conventions of a wedding consist of items like good luck horse shoes weddings cakes etc, and the producers have chosen to use these within the trailer however whenever it was a good luck item, it was an extreme close up or close up of the item. Most of the shots in this are of people preparing for the wedding, and are mainly all mid shots. We see different characters talking in the scenes however the sound has been cut from these, this also adds to the intensity helps build suspense. The most effective shot is a long shot of the character ‘Becky’ spinning around the room in her dress, it shows the sense of freedom and taking the next steps in life. The trailer ends with a still of housetops, with the ‘Corrie’ street sign, the date of the episode, the company logo and their sponsor’s logo. This has a voiceover of the words ‘Friday the 13th the perfect date for a coronation street weddings coming soon, ITV1’ this is also an ironic speech as Friday the 13th is known to be an unlucky date.
A Screen grab of a close up of just one of the 'good luck' signs
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