A2 Media-Research
What is a Soap Opera?
I have researched into the definitions of a soap opera and trailers to
increase my understanding of soaps. Additionally I have completed this task so I begin to develop a feel for how my audience view soap operas and their trailers.
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Conclusion
From conducting this research task I now understand how different sources define soap opera and trailers. This has helped me sufficiently as I now know what I need to research in order to make my production conventional and successful. For instance characters and experiences within the soap. Additionally I am now able to define a Soap and a Soap Opera Trailer myself. For example I would define a Soap as: a televised fiction production consisting of real life situations and events in a multi-strand narrative. I would define a Soap Opera Trailer as: a selection of relevant content expressed through short edited clips to create suspense, tension and familiarity of characters for the intended audience.
Analysis of two similar texts
I have researched into two texts that are similar to the one I will be producing. As the text I will be producing is a soap opera trailer I have analysed both Eastenders 'who killed Lucy Beale' trailer and Emmerdale's 'judgement day' trailer.
From this task I hope to have a greater insight into the specific details already existing products include. This should enable me to include similar ones in my own soap trailer. The things I will focus on in this task are: target audience, technical codes, channel, editing and storylines.
From this task I hope to have a greater insight into the specific details already existing products include. This should enable me to include similar ones in my own soap trailer. The things I will focus on in this task are: target audience, technical codes, channel, editing and storylines.
Conventions of a soap opera trailer
I have completed this task to develop my knowledge on what should be, or what is featured in a soap opera trailer.
Some of the elements I focused on are: characters, costume and props, facial expressions and body language.
Conclusion
Completing this task has been really helpful for me as it has allowed me to think ahead to the creation of my production. I now know what is conventional for a soap opera trailer and therefore I know what I intend to include when producing my own. For example I intend to use a range of close up and mid shots to help display each character's facial expression.
This task has also helped me to know which soundtrack is best to use. For instance I now intend to use a slow paced tension building soundtrack that builds suspense for the audience.
I can apply Neale's theory of repetition and difference to this task as my soap opera trailer will need to include both similar and different aspects to the trailers I have analysed.
I intend to use similar conventions in my production such as: a similar soundtrack and the inclusion of a range of characters. I want to keep these aspects the same because Neale's theory suggests that to make a text successful it needs to include both the elements of difference and repetition. These conventions are popular within a trailer and thus attract the attention of the intended target audience.
Some changes that could be made are the: location and costume. For example in order to appeal to a different target audience we could change the costume of our characters. This would therefore attract the attention of a new audience that may not have already been targeted by another soap. For example we could create a soap opera involving teenagers. Their costume would be different to the costume used in Coronation Street for example and this would therefore follow Neale's theory of difference. Similarly we could choose a new and different location in order for new story lines and narratives to be developed.
Soap Trailer Time line Analysis
I have analysed two soap opera trailer in order to know how they are laid out and how we must present our own. I have completed this task as I need to find out what is included in already existing trailers. The timings and titles within already existing products are important to me as I want my trailer to look conventional and professional.
In this task I have focused specifically on: titles, characters, special effects and sound. The knowledge I gain from this task will be really useful as I will then be able to apply this to my own production.
The following two trailers are the trailers I have chosen to analyse for this research task.
The following images are the timelines that I put together from watching the above trailers, focusing on titles, characters and sound.
Conclusion
Producing the two timelines above has been really helpful when it comes to understanding how a soap trailer conventionally looks. For instance I now know how many people are usually featured and how much dialogue is used as I have made note of what dialogue the trailer uses and when the dialogue is included in the production.
I feel that this has helped me develop a greater understanding of Soap Opera Trailers and I hope to follow some of the aspects seen in the two trailers above so my production is conventional and will therefore provide the audience with what they need to see and know e.g. days, times and characters.
Information on already existing soap operas
I have carried out this research task to gain a greater understanding of already existing popular soap operas. For example I have particularly focused on Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks as they are most successful in Britain and therefore have a similar target audience to my potential audience.
I have carried out this research task to gain a greater understanding of already existing popular soap operas. For example I have particularly focused on Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks as they are most successful in Britain and therefore have a similar target audience to my potential audience.
Conclusion
Soaps and narrative
I have carried out the following task in order to help me develop knowledge on narratives within soap operas. I have additionally considered the relevance of 4 different theories to my own media production.
The 4 theorists I have used are: Propp, Todorov, Barthes and Strauss.
I have carried out the following task in order to help me develop knowledge on narratives within soap operas. I have additionally considered the relevance of 4 different theories to my own media production.
The 4 theorists I have used are: Propp, Todorov, Barthes and Strauss.
Conclusion
This task has been really helpful when it comes to considering how I will structure the narrative of my own media soap opera trailer. For example I have been inspired to include parts of all 4 theories.
I intend to use some of the character types provided by Propp. I intend to do this by including characters such as a hero, villain and false hero. This then can be linked to Todorov as these characters are likely to be able to follow the sequence of there being an equilibrium, it then being disrupted and consequently being rectified once it has been detected. An example of how we may be able to incorporate Toderov's theory in our own production would be an equilibrium where we see the characters living their normal lives. This would then be 'disrupted' and the character could experience something life changing such as pregnancy or death. This may then be rectified by something happy happening in the fictional lives of the characters e.g. a marriage.
Roland Barthes and Levi Strauss may be more relevant to my production today as Barthes suggests that there needs to be an element of enigma which implies a 'whodunnit'. This is one of the most important aspects of a soap opera as this is usually what keeps the audience interested. Similarly binary opposition is essential and therefore I intend to include some aspects of this for example: 1)love and hate 2)good and evil. We could include these by introducing contrasting storylines. This may be difficult to express fully in a trailer however featuring different characters may foreshadow future storylines.
Overall I intend to include conventional characters suggested by Propp in my narrative and additionally I will try to follow the structure Todorov has suggested as it is logical and will support a multi-strand narrative and will make it possible for the soap to continue to be non-linear therefore helping to make the soap conventional.
Representation in soaps
This task has been really helpful when it comes to considering how I will structure the narrative of my own media soap opera trailer. For example I have been inspired to include parts of all 4 theories.
I intend to use some of the character types provided by Propp. I intend to do this by including characters such as a hero, villain and false hero. This then can be linked to Todorov as these characters are likely to be able to follow the sequence of there being an equilibrium, it then being disrupted and consequently being rectified once it has been detected. An example of how we may be able to incorporate Toderov's theory in our own production would be an equilibrium where we see the characters living their normal lives. This would then be 'disrupted' and the character could experience something life changing such as pregnancy or death. This may then be rectified by something happy happening in the fictional lives of the characters e.g. a marriage.
Roland Barthes and Levi Strauss may be more relevant to my production today as Barthes suggests that there needs to be an element of enigma which implies a 'whodunnit'. This is one of the most important aspects of a soap opera as this is usually what keeps the audience interested. Similarly binary opposition is essential and therefore I intend to include some aspects of this for example: 1)love and hate 2)good and evil. We could include these by introducing contrasting storylines. This may be difficult to express fully in a trailer however featuring different characters may foreshadow future storylines.
Overall I intend to include conventional characters suggested by Propp in my narrative and additionally I will try to follow the structure Todorov has suggested as it is logical and will support a multi-strand narrative and will make it possible for the soap to continue to be non-linear therefore helping to make the soap conventional.
Representation in soaps
I have decided to carry out this piece of research to help me understand how young people are represented within soap operas. From this research I should be able to understand the stereotypes and representations of young people and from there I should be able to either include or exclude each representation researched according to how appropriate they are to the narrative within my soap opera trailer.
Representation can be defined as how the media institution represents an individual or group of people within society. Representation can occur through aspects such as: mise en scene, editing, camerawork and sound.
Representation can be defined as how the media institution represents an individual or group of people within society. Representation can occur through aspects such as: mise en scene, editing, camerawork and sound.
Conclusion
From completing this research task I am now aware of how young people are represented. For example I have discovered they can be both represented positively like Whitney in recent episodes or they can be represented negatively like David Platt from Coronation Street. On the whole most teenagers are not represented to be respectable youths (Michael Blake) so overall this gives the audience a bad impression of youths. This has been really useful for me when thinking about my own media production as I now realise how young people are represented and now I can either choose to use similar representations or I can choose to use a countertype. Overall I think I will include conventional representations and stereotypes as these characters are obviously popular and successful within soap operas and therefore they should help create verisimilitude in my own production. However in order to make my soap unique I may try to integrate characteristics of unconventional young people in order to represent young people in a positive way as opposed to negative. Before I plan unconventional characters into my production I will refer back to my target audience research to ensure that the inclusion of these characters will be a positive change rather than a negative one in order to retain viewers.
In my own production I plan to have a mixture of young people that represent both negative and positive stereotypes of youth. I will do this by combining aspects of the teenagers I have researched.
From analysing young people in already existing Soap Operas I have been able to evaluate the difference within genders. For example, females tend to be represented as vulnerable and weak e.g. the characteristics of Whitney and Sophie. On the other hand, men are represented to be physically strong or mentally strong. In Soap Operas they are usually the villain according to Propp and therefore exploit women and characters inferior to them. Knowing how genders are represented will be really helpful when it comes to producing my soap trailer as I intend to include a range of female and males characters and therefore will need to think about how they are conventionally represented in order to either make my own characters conventional or a countertype.
History of Soaps Throughout Time
I have decided to research into the history of soaps throughout time to help myself understand the development and progress of each soap. My timeline features soaps first aired on radio as opposed to television in 1930 and ends with soaps that are still broadcast today.
Please click the link below to see my timeline 'soaps throughout time':
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/333671/Soaps-Throughout-Time/
From completing this research task I am now aware of how young people are represented. For example I have discovered they can be both represented positively like Whitney in recent episodes or they can be represented negatively like David Platt from Coronation Street. On the whole most teenagers are not represented to be respectable youths (Michael Blake) so overall this gives the audience a bad impression of youths. This has been really useful for me when thinking about my own media production as I now realise how young people are represented and now I can either choose to use similar representations or I can choose to use a countertype. Overall I think I will include conventional representations and stereotypes as these characters are obviously popular and successful within soap operas and therefore they should help create verisimilitude in my own production. However in order to make my soap unique I may try to integrate characteristics of unconventional young people in order to represent young people in a positive way as opposed to negative. Before I plan unconventional characters into my production I will refer back to my target audience research to ensure that the inclusion of these characters will be a positive change rather than a negative one in order to retain viewers.
In my own production I plan to have a mixture of young people that represent both negative and positive stereotypes of youth. I will do this by combining aspects of the teenagers I have researched.
From analysing young people in already existing Soap Operas I have been able to evaluate the difference within genders. For example, females tend to be represented as vulnerable and weak e.g. the characteristics of Whitney and Sophie. On the other hand, men are represented to be physically strong or mentally strong. In Soap Operas they are usually the villain according to Propp and therefore exploit women and characters inferior to them. Knowing how genders are represented will be really helpful when it comes to producing my soap trailer as I intend to include a range of female and males characters and therefore will need to think about how they are conventionally represented in order to either make my own characters conventional or a countertype.
History of Soaps Throughout Time
I have decided to research into the history of soaps throughout time to help myself understand the development and progress of each soap. My timeline features soaps first aired on radio as opposed to television in 1930 and ends with soaps that are still broadcast today.
Please click the link below to see my timeline 'soaps throughout time':
http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/333671/Soaps-Throughout-Time/
Conclusion
From carrying out this research task I have developed my knowledge on soap operas. For example I now understand how soap operas have evolved throughout time e.g. their progression from radio to television. This has additionally been useful when thinking about my own media production as I will be able to include successful aspects of long lasting soaps which will hopefully help to increase the popularity of my own.
Audience Profile
I have produced an audience profile for my soap opera trailer. It is important to create an audience profile as the results allow the producer to know how to structure and create their text. An audience profile can be classified in many ways, for example: age, gender, media preferences, psychographic grouping and socio-economic groups.
I have produced an audience profile for my soap opera trailer. It is important to create an audience profile as the results allow the producer to know how to structure and create their text. An audience profile can be classified in many ways, for example: age, gender, media preferences, psychographic grouping and socio-economic groups.
From producing my audience profile I feel as though I have gained a detailed insight into my audience's preferences and characteristics. This will help me sufficiently when producing my own soap opera trailer as I will be able to base the contents, narrative and structure around the characteristics and interests of my target audience. Completing this task has made me feel more confident when it comes to creating ideas for my soap as I now have a greater understanding of what my target audience will be interested in thus helping me to make a product specifically tailored to their needs.
Audience wants/needs
I have produced an online survey using 'surveymonkey' including a range of different questions in order for me to find out more about what my target audience want from a new soap opera and trailer.
I sent this survey to a range of different people both male and female.
Here is a link to my survey-
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3KRW85N
We will also use these questions for one on one interviews. After we have conducted these interviews we will collate this information and combine it with the results of the surveymonkey. This will give us a very clear idea of what our audience want from a soap opera trailer.
We have additionally planned questions for our face to face interviews. The questions we intend to use are below:
1) What do you do in your free time?
2) What soaps do you enjoy the most? Why?
3) What type of storylines do you enjoy the most? Why?
4) Do you prefer programmes set in the present or the past?
5) Why do you watch soaps?
6) Would you like a soap based entirely on your age group? Why?
7) What shops do you like?
8) What do you deem inappropriate within society?
9) What things are most important to you?
10) What would you change about already existing soaps? Why?
Conclusion
Collecting all of this data has allowed me to have a range of primary research. This research consists of both quantitative and qualitative data and therefore this makes my research reliable and accurate.
We interviewed 6 different people individually and sent the survey via surveymonkey to 14 other people which will ensure our research is representative of our target audience and will increase reliability.
From our interview I now know that our audience are interested in a soap that features characters of their own age. Additionally I know that our target audience enjoy murder mystery which we will hopefully be able to include in our own trailer. From our first interview we also gained information that already existing soaps need to be more interesting. To do this we could include a range of different storylines that specifically appeal to the audience we are trying to target. From our second interview we learnt that our audience have different opinions on the storylines that they prefer. For example Joanne said she liked sad dramatic storylines; whereas Lucy on the whole finds them too sad. Similarly from interview 2 I can see that having a soap including character's of the TA's age would be very popular as Joanne says the audience would be able to relate. From interview 2 I know that things considered wrong by our TA are: murder, adultery and stealing. We need our soap to be dramatic and therefore I intend to include some of these aspects as this will be conventional and appealing to the audience.
Fonts and characters
I have carried out in depth research into both the fonts used within soap opera trailers and the characters featured. In order to know how many characters to include I have watched a variety of different soap trailers and have counted how many characters have been featured per trailer. I completed a similar task for the use of fonts. For example I watched a selection of trailers and have commented on the appearance of the font and when the text is present.
This research task has really helped to develop my knowledge on what a soap opera trailer actually includes.
Characters- the conclusion I came to when researching the characters featured in a trailer was that it is conventional for there to be either 8 or 9 characters in each trailer. A few of the other trailers I watched had more characters than this. I think for my own soap trailer I will be conventional and will try to include 8 or 9 characters. I've chosen to do this because it will allow the audience to become familiar with the characters featured and will develop personal relationships.
Fonts- I have additionally found that it is conventional for a trailer to include the days it is shown, the name of the production and the channel at the end. I think this is really effective as the audience know everything they need to know if they are interested in watching the soap. Additionally I now know that the appearance of the font needs to match the genre and target audience of the soap. For example Hollyoaks included a modern font that appeals to its target audience of young people whereas Coronation Street used a more traditional font which would attract an older target audience.
Broadcasters
I have decided to research into 3 of the main broadcasters on British television. I have researched the ethos and target audience of BBC One, ITV and Channel4.
Conclusion
From conducting this research I have been able to select the most appropriate broadcaster for my soap opera and trailer. This has been a very helpful task as it has allowed me to focus on one main broadcaster that I can research thoroughly. I will now be able to carry out further research into who I would need to send my application and ideas to and how funding would be secured.
The Commissioning Process
I have decided to complete this research task to find out how funding is secured on my chosen channel. I have additionally found out how applicants can apply to Channel4 and I have researched the commissioning editor.
Conclusion
From completing the commissioning process I now know how I would apply to Channel4 with my idea for a new soap opera. I have additionally learnt that Channel4 secure their funding through the use of commercial advertising as they do not have government backing.
I still feel as though Channel4 is the most appropriate broadcaster for my own soap production as they work with unique creative organisations and like to broadcast a range of experimental and innovative ideas that reach a diverse audience.
Regulations- Standards of Taste and Decency
I have produced this Slideshare to gain a greater knowledge on what I need to be aware of when creating my own soap opera trailer.
I will be covering the regulations of: violence, sexual content and language.
Market analysis
I have carried out an analysis of the market my soap would be entering to investigate my competition so I can work out what I need to do to make my soap successful. I have done this through use of statistics, channels, and who watches them.
The target audience for Eastenders is wide (16-55) and therefore this makes it difficult for us to compete with it. However a way we could compete is if we introduce a new target audience. For example if we specifically aimed our product at young people (16-24) we will no longer be in such great competition as young people are the least targeted segment for EastEnders. This means we will dominate this target audience group decreasing competition from other soaps.
Eastenders is rated highly across the UK and this is why they had the most dominant market share with Emmerdale in close behind. This could be due to a number of reasons e.g. relation to characters and location, interesting storylines and good use of camerawork.
Conclusion
I think the soap that offers the greatest threat currently is Eastenders as they have an already established large target audience. In order for us to be able to compete with this huge soap opera our new soap will need to be different and stand out. The first way I intend to do this is by having a young target audience. I will use characters that are the same age as the target audience so it will be easy for them to relate and I will also ensure we use a range of storylines that the audience will be familiar with. We will use the channel's ethos as a tool to stand out as we will make sure our soap contains the popular elements that our target audience have suggested as well as innovative and experimental ideas. I will try to include some new aspects of soap e.g. new storylines that will specifically appeal to my target audience that other soaps often miss out.
We will make our trailer look modern and contemporary in order to appeal to this target audience with the days and times clearly expressed at the end. Lastly I intend to use Steve Neale's theory of repetition and difference to base the soap around. For example I will use the successful parts of already existing soaps along with some original and new ideas of my own.
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