Character Profiles

Name - Emma Louise Rolfe

Age - 25

Facts - Emma Louise is the wife of Victor, who married into money, however despite their best efforts to keep it secret, she knows about her husbands afair with Rochella Wembridge.

Character Comparison - Cindy Hutchinson (Hollyoaks)

The character of Cindy Hutchenson in Hollyoaks is portrayed as 'pretty girl' who does not originate from wealth but marry s men for their money. She has a pretty soft look but at the same time her dark short hair gives across an slightly darker side. We would like a similar concept established with our character 'Emma-Louise' however we would ideally like to cast her with fair hair, to show on her exterior an innocence but throughout her story lines and as the character develops it can be shown she has a much darker side.

Name - Victor Rolfe

Age - 26

Facts - Husband of Emma Louise, however is having a sauded affair with Rochella Wembridge, later to find out that Rochellas baby could be his.

Character Comparison - Carl Costello (Hollyoaks)

The character of Carl Costello was part of a new family to arrive in 'Hollyoaks'. He has wealth as he is an ex footballer with a young beautiful wife and is shown as a loving family man but it is soon established that he cannot resist being unfaithful on his wife. The character of Carl even peruses an affair with his wife's cousin. Our character of Victor we wish to be similar, quite traditionally good looking similar to Carl as he has to have the ability to attract the females he does. In the storyline in 'Façade Manor' shows Victor being unable to resist the charms of the local singleton despite having his wife at home.

Name - Leo Brown

Age - 24

Facts - came to money by gambling and blackmailing certain members of the street. Falls in love with someone he shouldn't, resulting in finding out about the Jarvis' illagitamate son.

Character Comparison - Kane Dingle (Emmerdale)

The character of 'Kane Dingle' is at times to be shown as the sort of personality who has a complete lack of morals and not to mind who he hurts in the pursue to get what he wishes. He has been involved in story lines which have shown him hurt people close to him which is similar to how we want our character of Leo Brown to be portrayed. Kane has longish hair which is also how we want Leo to look. He should have dark good looks but ideally with slightly longish hair and even slight facial hair as he will not be as groomed as the rest of the residents on the estate.

Name - Jessica

Age - 18

Facts - stereotypical teenage sweetheart, who is in a relationship with the 'local hero' Patrick. She cant help being 'the girl next door' type, and finds more than one person is falling for her charms.

Character Comparison - Maria Sutherland (Coronation Street)

The character of Maria in Coronation street is mainly shown as an innocent figure with a lot of beauty but is also young and naive. She often sees the good in people and kind traits and aspects make her easy to fall in love with. Much like the character of 'Jessica' who's partners best friend eventually ends up falling in love with her. Maria has soft features and dark hair which shows her with an element of class. We would similarly like our character of Jessica to have a darker classier colour of hair to auburn or brunette with similarly pretty and soft features.

Name - Brad

Age - 24

Facts -secret son on the Jarvis' however he doesnt know this. He is also in love with Jessica, however is in a relationship with Rochella Wembridge.

Character Comparison - Leon Small (Eastenders)

Leon Small is a character in EastEnders who is shown as a cheeky popular 'jack-lad', he has a likeability factor due to his quick wit but often gets in a mess for following heart wherever that may lie. In the soap 'Brad' is already in a relationship with someone who doesn't treat him well yet he is not disheartened by it as he is in a relationship where his heart is not. In fact he has fallen in love with his best friends girlfriend and can't help but pursue his feelings at the expense of his friend. Leon is a good looking, active male and can be seen as a 'heart throb'and we wish our character for Brad to be similarly attractive. Ideally with darker hair but a light tan and dressed in expensive flattering clothes.

Name - Patrick

Age - 21

Facts - is seen as the local hero, and is in a realtionship with Jessica. Is the Jarvis' ligitamate son, however he is unawear he has a secret brother.

Character Comparison - Jack Branning (Eastenders)

Jack Branning is a character in EastEnders who is typically good looking and has not problem finding a stable relationship with a good looking female. He is at times very serious but is also fearless and selfless doing anything to protect the people he cares about and at times has been the 'local hero'. Our character of 'Brad' will have similar characteristics after recently saving 'Rochella Wembridges' life. He is protective of Jessica who he regards as the love of his life and is always faithful to her, we wish him to have dark hair and to also be well dressed but slightly less caring about the way he presents himself as he is a less materialistic character in comparison

Name - Mr & Mrs Jarvis
Age- 65 & 67

Facts - Own the local Cafe 'Edgars' and are mother and father to Patrick, however their other son, Brad, is kept a secret.

Character Comparison - Jack and Vera Duckworth (Coronation Street)

Name - Rochella Wembridge

Age - 22

Facts - having an affair with Victor Rolfe, whilst in a relationship with Brad. Is pregnant with Victors baby, however is stringing Brad along.

Character Comparison - Mercedes McQueen (Hollyoaks)

Mercedes McQueen is a character that is seen as 'promiscuous' in the area in which she lives. She is beautiful and dresses often provocatively. She has seductive traits and often has men lusting after her and falling at her feet. She has been involved in many adulterous plots where she has been portrayed as 'the other woman' or it is her herself who has been unfaithful. The character of 'Rochella Wembridge' we wish to have all similar traits as Mercedes. She is often promiscuous and getting involved with already married men such as 'Victor Rolfe' and often finds herself in a lot of trouble due to this. We would like our character to have a similar look to Mercedes, with perhaps an exotic appearance and long dark hair and that is traditionally presumed as 'sexy'.

Soap Opera Brief

Media Soap Brief

Initial Ideas For Soap Opera

We have decided to base our soap opera around a wealthy street with a generally young trendy cast. We came up with a list of typical soap characters to fulfil every need of a character the viewer might need. We here have also interlinked all of the characters to create a story line for the neighbour hood which will be shown in our trailer.

Audience Theory Research

Moat soap operas take the form of the Hypodermic Needle Theory which involves the programme requiring a passive audience. A lot of viewers take comfort in soap operas as they feel they can emphasise with the characters and it's a touch of normality that they can follow which does not require decisions or interaction from them. As the viewers of a soap opera are passive it means they are directly affected by what they view, people automatically accept the story lines and soaps message without considering its merits. Another name for this theory is the 'Magic Bullet Theory' as the information is shot at the audience like a 'magic bullet' and directly penetrated into the viewers mind. Soap operas are long-running serials concerned with everyday life. The serial is not to be confused with the series, in which the main characters and format remain the same from programme to programme but each episode is a self-contained plot. In a serial at least one storyline is carried over from one episode to the next. A series is advertised as having a specific number of episodes, but serials are potentially endless. Soap Operas also take an episodic structure which means that although over a couple of episodes a storyline may be gradually resolved a new one in the meantime has been started (or a number of story lines) there for the soap opera is ongoing and ideal for regular viewers or working class people that use their evenings to relax out of routine. For this reason also there is often a weekend 'omnibus' for soap operas so that if an episode is missed it can be reviewed sometime after it was shown. This is especially important as if a vital part of a storyline is missed it can be re-seen for enthusiastic viewers.

references; http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/TF33120/soaps.html

Relevant Audience Statistics and Ratings

As we are largely basing our soap around the 'young money' category, with characters who's lives are filled with wealth and riches we investigated the audience statistics for programmes that have a similar concept, for example "90210" and "Gossip Girl" although these are not soap operas they adopt a similar idealization as the soap opera "Façade Manor" that we are creating. E4 is a spin off channel of Channel 4 and the 2 channels are more teenage focused than other mainstream television channels such as the BBC and ITV.

On channel E4 90210 has the second highest rating of all programmes, with 623,000 viewers in 2011.



However channels such as the BBC which are predominantly targeted towards a more adult audience and run soap operas statistics show that programmes such as "EastEnders" which is an episodic on going drama are by far the highest rating, in fact Eastenders currently ranks as one of the most watched shows in the UK.



http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyTopProgrammes?_s=3

Target Audience Profile

Target Audience Profile

Popularity of Soap Operas in Comparison to Other Programs

This is a clear example of the popularity of soap operas. In one week BBC1's soap opera 'Eastenders' took the first, secondm third and fourth spot for highest ratings. In comparison to the many other dramas and seriels Eastenders show.

Similarly to BBC1 ITV1's first 5 position for most watched television programs for the week of April 3rd was taken by the channels main soap opera 'Coronation Street'. The next 5 spaces are taken up also by a soap opera of 'Emmerdale'. Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale are the 3 most popular British soap operas and on the channels they are played are most popular and more popular than other dramas and programmes.

Soap Opera Target Audience Questionaire Results

Questionaire


Questionaire Results Analysis

From our questionnaire results I have analysed that the most popular of the main soap operas (Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Doctors and Neighbours) was Eastenders. This may be because it’s easily relatable to all types of people due to the wide variety of characters. The second most popular was Coronation Street which concurs with this reasoning as Coronation Street has a very similar set up to Eastenders. Hollyoaks was then most 3rd most popular with my participants. This may have been more popular because the majority of volunteers I questioned were teenagers and young adults and Hollyoaks is mainly targeted to this audience. Emmerdale was the 4th most popular, this may be because it is set in the country side which is not a similar surrounding to where my participants lived there for it may be more difficult to emphasise with the surroundings of that soap. Neighbours and Doctors were equally the least chosen and also possibly the hardest for my volunteers to emphasise with as none are ‘doctors’ or live in Australia (where neighbours is set). These findings seem to hint that soaps are more popular with an audience that can relate to the setting and characters.
It can be certain that our soap opera trailer will be a positive to our soap opera as 80% of the participants agreed that a trailer would encourage them to watch soap. This is important as it means the popularity of our soap opera may be dependant on the effectiveness of the trailer there for making it important to produce a popular piece.
It will be important for us to make sure that we make our storylines clear and attractive to an audience through our soap opera trailer as 70% of the participants said the main reason they are attracted to watching a soap opera is due to a storyline that interests them. 20% said that they continue to watch soap operas out of routine, but it is still important for these viewers to watch a trailer so they are equally as curious to the upcoming storylines as a viewer that does not usually watch the soap. 10% said that they would watch a soap opera due to a specific character. Although this isn’t a large percentage of the participants it still shows that to attract some of the audience it is important to have clear well rounded characters that viewers can aspire to be like, develop emotional attachments too and emphasise with.
We established that the importance of a relatable soap applies to 60% of our participants which means over half of our viewers want to watch characters similar to themselves or going through similar situations. However it is also important to have elaborate characters that do not remind viewers of themselves so that they feel they can have a ‘break’ from their day to day lives.
60% of our participants agreed that they watch soap operas with their family. Which means that we have to use family friendly storylines which are not graphic and could offend viewers. We must use characters that are young and can relate with a younger audience as well as a more adult audience and their storylines must match to these. 30% would watch soap operas with their partner which shows that it is important to have some romantic story lines that couples (old and young) can emphasise with. 10% would watch soap operas on their own which shows how watching a show can be a ‘release’ and a break in day. This makes it important that we make our soap opera enticing so that viewers fix their whole concentration on it and they are more likely to watch the soap repeatedly.

Soap Opera Target Audience Questionaire

I have created a questionnaire which aims to explore the effectiveness of soap opera trailers and factors that may determine the success of the soap opera and the trailer I am producing

1)What Gender are you?
a) Male
b) Female

2) In which age range are you?
a) 10+
b) 15-17
c) 18-21
d) 21-30
e) 30-34
f) 35-40
g) 40-50
h) 50+

3) Which is your preference out of these well known soaps?
a) Eastenders
b) Coronation Street
c) Emmerdale
d) Doctors
e) Hollyoaks
f) Neighbours

4) Do you often find yourself more attracted to a soap after watching a trailer?
a) Yes
b) No
Why?

5) What would make you watch a soap opera?
a) A storyline that interests you
b) a character that interests you
c) Routine
6) Do you prefer a soap if you can relate to it?
a) Yes
b) No

7) Who would you usually watch a soap with?
a) Family
b) On your own
c) Partner

Analysis of Previous Years Soap Opera

Camera Work
The group had effective use of camera work and angles. they experimented with zoom and their rotating low shot emphasises the drama and the plot of the soap. It creates suspense effectively which is very important to a soap opera trailer. They have made good use of long shots and mid-shots where necissary to portray a clear storyline well to the viewer. The over the shoulder shot used at the beginning of the trailer conveys the storyline of the two secret lovers well and give us a clear perspective of the soap and also attracts us to watching the programme.
Mise-en-scene
In some parts of the trailer they used good mise-en-scene like the the shooting actually inside the car right at the start. they could have however improved the 'sofa' area where the drama unfolds as due to the completly black back-drop gives the scene a more theatrical look and does not look comfortably like a lounge. The woodland area is effective as they film the ground which looks damp and muddy - giving a dreary effect which is effective and portrays the storyline well. The items left on the ground also attract the viewer to the soap as they are almost clues to the plot and the mystery of the storyline.
Sound
The sound is effective and fits well with the storyline however it could be improved by using some diegetic sound also. this would give us an idea of the realism of the soap as this is a convention soap operas are designed to portray rather than the effect of a film using a soundtrack.
Editing
The editing is interesting as they use fades which make the transition from each scenes clear and interesting. This is also effective to portray the mystery of the storyline. they use text and a catch-line 'how can one person...' 'change everything?'. this is an open tailed line which can imply numerous things to the plot of the soap. This is effective as it leaves the viewer anticipating what may happen next and they are more likely to watch the soap due to this creating an effective trailer. The black backdrop is well contrasted to the white writing so looks bold and dramatic however the font could have been more dramatic and bold.
Titles

3 Soap Opera Trailer Analysis

'CHECK OUT THE NEW TALENT' - hollyoaks trailer The images of make-up and jewellery connote glitter and wealth which connotes glamour. There is the appearance of a dressing room and the image of a photo shoot is set up which connotes models emphasising that the actors and actress’ are generally all young and attractive. The actors used in the advert are all young and attractive. The males are also dressed in suits or topless also emphasising the glamour of the soap. The song used in the trailer is ‘The Black Keys’ – ‘Next Girl’ which has a slow constant beat which illustrates the ‘strut’ of the females of the cast. The lyrics in the song are ‘my ex girl ooh, she has such a beautiful face’ so although the lyrics are only subtle throughout the trailer every last detail connotes the beauty and glamour of the soap and the cast within the soap. Throughout the trailer there are close ups of the characters faces usually reactions to the attractiveness of the ‘new’ males and females. At the end there is a close up of a make-up artist touching up one the new character make-up which is typical of celebrities and adds to the glamour of the trailer. There is also mide-shots of various accessories, like a male playing football with a disco ball which shows a stereotypically male activity and adds the glamour of the soap opera. There are also constant images of accessories such as high heels which are often related the female sex appeal. There is a close up of one of the female characters flapping her hand towards her face which indicates her attraction to the new cast. The glamorous model image the trailer gives is concluded at the end of the advert with a wide establishing shot of all the cast delicately posed and as the make-up artist leaves the shot it gives the image of celebrities. The over the shoulder shots give the impression that the females are using up all the males attention. The trailer is primarily used to advertise the new coming characters by using a blank screen and ‘check out the new talent’ across it. The text appears to shine as a spot of light wipes across the text, this again connotes money and glamour. It is evident this is the basis of the trailer as the first half of the trailer uses the old cast and their reaction of attraction and surprise as the other group of young attractive characters enter – which are seemingly all new cast members.
'READY OR NOT HERE I COME' - Eastenders Throughout the whole trailer the BBC one logo is shown on the centre of the screen. The trailer starts with a close up of heavily coated eyes applying mascara which immediately gives an impression of the character the soap is introducing. The advert then flashes backwards into a frame which is a sepia tone and indicates how the trailer is flashing the past so the character involved is an old member of the cast. The frame then switches again to a close up of the female applying lipstick which makes the character appear made-up and feminine. The trailer switches between the flashback sepia tone where the narrative story of the character is being portrayed and then back to the character which each time hints at the past that the character has already had on the soap. Each time slightly more is revealed until there is a long shot of the character ‘Sam Mitchell’ before the close up which gives a dramatic feel. The non-diegetic song used in the trailer is the opening seconds of ‘Amy Winehouse’ – ‘You Know I’m No Good’ which has a mischievous tone too it. The speech throughout the trailer comes from the leading female’s voice and the line “ready or not here I come” attracts the viewer to the advert as it hints at upcoming storylines where the character may cause trouble in the near future.
'STRICTLY FOR THE FAINT HEARTED' - Hollyoaks The non-diegetic music used is a song named 'heads will roll' by 'Yeah yeah yeahs' which automatically connotes the storyline being advertised in the trailer. the image of the characters dancing firstly denotes romance which is quickly contrasted the the violence where the cast knock into one another. The images of spilling paint. They use a mosaic of close up and mid shots of various character in the soap opera dancing, for example the family of the main couple 'carmel' and 'calvin'. It is shown they are the central characters as the trailer begins with the character of' Calvin Valentine' dancing into the middle of the scene. He is the only character to feature in a midshot face on alone in the whole trailer connoting his importance to the storyline. The characters dancing around the couple dennote vviolence as they elbow the lead couple and knock into them. This connotes anger and aggression towards the central characters hinting the dramatic nature of their up coming wedding due to the hatred felt towards the groom. Mean while his wife to be remains smiling and happy which represents her innocence and naiivity in the upcoming plot. The non-diagetic music fades out towards the end of the trailer as the chracter looks at his stained hand and what appears to dennote blood. This connotes his realisation to the reality of the situation he is in and advertises the plot as he has obviously done something dramatic to get himself in trouble. The long shot of the only characters not shown to be dancing in the trailer are his family, keeping with the theme of ballroom dancing they hold up points cards, all being '9' . This connotes the death or violence that it is hinted will take place as '999' is Britains emergency contact number (where the soap is set) and this implies the character will need an ambulance. At the end of the commerical there is a non-diagetic voice over 'strictly not for the faint hearted'. Before giving the information of when the soap can be viewed, this is an important contribution to a soap opera trailer as it is pointles to advertise if the viewer does not know where they can watch the soap. The lighting throughout the trailer is very dark which is a typical convention of a morbid storyline. As the trailer is possibly advertising a death the darkness of it also connotes this. At the very start however there is a bright light which is also often interpreted as a sign of death, but can similaly represent innocence, as the character of 'Calvin' moves into the light blocking it, it connotes the fact that his is 'blocking the innocence'. All the characters are dressed in black or pink. The black again connotes the upcoming death along with the white shirts, which is then directly contrasted with the bright red paint, connoting blood. All of the females are dressed in pink and the trailer appears to be largely female dominated which is an unusual convention of a trailer advertising death but represents the many women that will be largely important in the upcoming storyline.

Purpose Of a Soap Opera Trailer

The purpose of a trailer is to use effective techniques to draw the audiences attention and wants them to watch the soap. Trailers may introduce characters and plots and give examples of whats to come in the soap. The trailer should also make it clear when the soap will be available to watch and how often on which channel. It should raise issues and make the audience curious and ask questions that the answers can only be established by watching the soap meaning that the trailer shouldn't give too much away about the soap to make sure that the audience are still definitly going to watch to satisfy their curiousity.

Soap Opera Research Film

We made a short fun film to show some of the things we had already learnt about soap operas, using different media.

Key Conventions in Soap Operas

Some key conventions found in soap operas are:

Setting - soap operas are frequently set in middle, lower-middle and working class settings and largely based around leisure activities rather than typical work settings. For example the main soap operas have a pub such as Eastenders "Queen Vic" where alot of the characters interact and alot of the storylines converse. Hollyoaks is home of "The Dog" and Coronation Street have "The Rovers".




The plot and narrative setting - Soaps are usually episodice and reflective of life itself. Individual episodes tend to be written to achieve variety of moods and atmospheres. A cliff hanger ending is important, but there is an absence of 'closure' and the resolutions of problems or relationships.

For example an episode will often close with the most dramatic sequence like in Eastenders when 'Phil Mitchell' was shot.

Characterisation - Note the emphasis on the realism of a soap and on the domestic, social and sexual aspects of life. The treatment of the 'private' lives of individuals as well as the'public' community. is important. There is a varity of types of character(e.g. Jack the lad, Victim, Gossip,
Bully), and the sterotyping this includes(e.g. all single parents live deeply miserable and unhappy lives; the majority of husbands are unfaithful)

Themes and Issues - Some themes and issues dealt with in soaps are gender relationships; desire and transgression (what you'd like to do, what you try to get away with, and what you get punished for)the self in relation to the community and the 'education' of the individual into the values and life of the community. 'Soaps' may consciously foreground issues such as AIDS, homelessness, adoption, bereavement, domestic violence and more.

References http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1087193

History Of Soap Operas

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name “soap opera” stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers as sponsors and producers.These early radio series were broadcast in weekday daytime slots when most listeners would be housewives; therefor the shows were mainly aimed at a female audience.

The term soap opera is used to describe the more naturalistic, UK drama serials such as Coronation Street. A crucial element that defines soap opera is the open-ended nature of the narrative, with stories spanning several episodes.

this is the very first episode ever aired of Coronation Street.

The defining feature that makes a program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is "that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode".

In 1976, Time magazine described American daytime television as "TV's richest market," noting the loyalty of the soap opera fan base. The article explained that at that time, many prime time series lost money, while daytime serials earned profits several times more than their production costs. The issue's cover notably featured its first daytime soap stars, Bill Hayes and Susan Seathworth of "Days of our Lives” a couple whose onscreen and real-life romance was widely covered by both the soap opera magazines and the mainstream press.




In England soap operas began on radio and consequently were associated with the BBC. The BBC continues to broadcast the world's longest-running radio soap, The Archers, which has been running nationally since 1951. It is currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and continues to attract over five million listeners.

An early television serial was The Grove Family on the BBC. 148 episodes were produced between 1954 to 1957. The series was broadcast live and only a handful of recordings were retained in the archives.

In the 1960s Coronation Street revolutionised UK television and quickly became a British institution. Other soap operas of the 1960s included Emergency Ward 10, on ITV. The BBC also produced several serials. Compact, The Newcomers, United!, 199 Park Lane. None of these serials came close to making the same impact as Coronation Street.

During the 1960s Coronation Street's main rival was Crossroads, a daily serial that began in 1964 and was broadcast by ITV in the early evening. Crossroads was set in a Birmingham motel and while the series was popular. By the 1980s its ratings had begun to decline and several attempts to revamp the were unsuccessful, and Crossroads was cancelled in 1988.

A later rival to Coronation Street was ITV's Emmerdale Farm (later renamed Emmerdale) which began in 1972 in a daytime slot and had a rural Yorkshire setting. Increased viewing figures saw Emmerdale being moved to a prime-time slot in the



this the first part of the first ever Emmerdale farm from 1972

In 1995 Channel 4 introduced Hollyoaks, a soap with a youth focus. When Five began in March 1997 it came with its own soap opera, Family Affairs, which debuted as a five-days-a-week soap.
Brookside began to change its premise in the 1990s, moving away from the heavily politicised plots of the 1980s, instead taking on more controversial and sensationalist stories such as child rape, sibling incest, religious cults and drug addiction.

Throughout the 1990s the soap operas Brookside, Coronation Street, Eastenders and Emmerdale continued to flourish. Each increased the number of weekly episodes transmitted by at least one, further defining soap opera as the leading genre in British television.



A scene from EastEnders on Christmas Day 1986, watched by 30.15 million viewers. The story, where Den Watts served his wife Angie with divorce papers, was the highest-rated soap episode in British history, and the highest-rated programme in the UK during the 1980s

refereces; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera

Soap Opera Analysis

Soap Opera Episode Analysis

Soap Operas The Specifics

Soap Operas Specifics

Soap Operas The Basics

SOAP OPERAS THE BASICS