To get an insight into which soap is most popular and the reasons behind this I have looked on the website BARB and found the top 10 most popular shows on each channel.
Barb Viewer Figures
Monday 30 August 2010
Sunday 29 August 2010
Soap Opera target audience questionnaire
I have created a questionnaire to find out what audience a soap opera targets, i will use my results as a source for when I start planning my own soap as I will know what different audiences like in certain soaps.
Soap opera questionnaire
This is a questionnaire to find out what kind of audience soap operas target.
(Put a circle around or tick the correct option) J
1. Male or Female
2. How old are you?
Under 12 12-18 19-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56+
3. What is your favourite soap?
Coronation St Hollyoaks Eastenders Neighbours Emmerdale Doctors
4. What attracts you to a soap opera?
Action packed storylines with murders and explosions
A good love story
Attractive characters
Mysterious and complex storylines
5. Would a trailer for a soap encourage you to watch the full episode?
Yes
No
6. What time would you watch a soap opera?
Day time around 12pm
Afternoon around 5-6pm
Evening 7-9pm
7. Do you think soaps should have classic characters which stay in the soap for years and years or renew the cast often?
Classic characters
Renew cast
8. When a soap opera uses a serious issue or illness in a storyline do you think it helps build awareness of that specific issue raised?
Yes
No
9. Do you enjoy watching special episodes of soaps that only focus on one storyline?
Yes
No
10. Do you think soaps should stick to simple editing where it goes from start to finish or do you think it should include flash backs, split screens and more complex styles of editing?
Simple editing
Complex editing
Conventions found in soap opera trailers
These are some of the conventions that are found in soap opera trailers which are not in full length episodes:
- Loud music to fit with the scene.
- Jump cuts
- Close ups and extreme close ups
- Seductive women
- Titles throughout.
- Fade to black fades.
These conventions are extremely common in soap opera trailers as they grip the viewer, however they are not seen in full length soap operas. This is because the trailer is to entice the viewer therefore jump cuts make it easier for more storyline to be spread throughout different scenes and simply seductive women would entice some male viewers. Full length episodes do not need conventions such as titles throughout because the titles are used in trailers to reveal information and make the viewer question what they see, however viewers watching full length episodes follow the action through character conversation rather than titles.
Also music in trailers is used rather than speech because it builds tension and helps the trailer progress however in full length episodes dialogue moves the storyline on.
Last years soap opera trailer
This is a soap opera trailer from the media students from last years year 13.
Things that work in the trailer:
- Dark lighting- connotes murder/danger/fear
- Black and dull coloured costume- highlights the darkness of the bad characters.
- White writing on the black background- sticks to dark theme and looks professional
- Loud tense music- builds tension
- Dutch angle shots- puts across a confused/ unknowing feel.
- Fades- makes the clips look darker and builds tension
Dark Lighting
The dark lighting in the interior connotes danger and puts the audience in a tense state as they would be waiting for something to jump out as darkness in horror films usually leads to the conventional loud outburst of high pitched music with Propp's 'Villain' character making an appearance. So this soap trailer complies with the conventional dark and dingy lighting of a horror film.
Black and white coloured costume
The opening of the trailer is where there is a man in bed, he is in a white t shirt and sleeping in white bedding. White connotes innocence therefore the audience would associate this costume with a protagonist. So when the man in full black costume walks into the room the connotations of black are danger and secrecy therefore the audience would link this man to be the antagonist. This theme of good vs evil complies with Claude Levi-Strauss's theory that all stories operate to certain clear binary options and for instance in this trailer it is good vs evil which is shown through the contrasting costume.
White writing on the black background
The transition used make the titles seem as if they are creeping up on the characters and audience. The colour scheme of the titles are black and white, these stick to the contrasting colour scheme of good vs evil. The background is black and the white writing scrolls over. Having the background black it makes it the dominate colour therefore this could draw connotations to the evil character having the power and dominance over the good character which is highlighted through the white writing.
Loud tense music
The loud tense music builds tension and puts the audience on edge. The loud music is continuous throughout the whole trailer which would keep the audience alert and active waiting for something. There is a break in the non diegetic music at the end where the female speaks. This makes her dialogue seem extremely important and because it stops the music it connotes her importance.
Dutch angles
Dutch angles are used a lot in the trailer, the dutch angle has connotations of twisted and evil this could denote that the characters in hoods are evil and twisted. Also it is unnerving because the angle because it is seen from an uneven perspective.
Things that did not work as well:
- The prop (black bag)- unrealistic
- lack of character profile- didn't know enough about the reasons why each character were doing what they were doing in the trailer.
- Lack of narrator- the title clip of the name of the soap was very plain therefore if there was a narrator it would have had a bigger effect on the viewer.
The prop
The black bag should give the audience an eerie tense feeling as it should denote a dead body as that is conventional. However, the black bag just looks like a duvet which makes the whole storyline look unrealistic because it does not make the audience question whose body is in the bag, which should be happening keeping them more active.
Lack of character profile
During the trailer the hooded characters are not seen full front therefore their identity is not revealed, in some films this is conventional but in soap trailers it is not conventional. This is due to soap operas complying with the Hypodermic Needle theory where the audience are passive so the trailer should reveal the characters but leave the storyline and final conclusion for them to figure out.
Lack of narrator
The narrator usually makes a soap trailer more conventional and easier to follow. The narrator could have also given the end of this trailer an eerie feel. However, they just left the trailer to finish with titles, although the colours of black and white connote secrecy and fear but a narrator would have had a bigger impact with a more conventional end.
The purpose of a trailer
A soap opera trailer is similar to a film trailer as one of its main purposes is to promote. Soap Operas are extremely popular in Britain and they attract a large audience, however there is competition between soaps. Therefore for a soap to get the best television viewing ratings they need to produce a gripping storyline and promote it to win over viewers. The soap promotes this storyline through different types of media for example, they use magazine covers and columns, billboards and trailers. The trailer has to fit in an adequate amount of the storyline so that viewers understand and are intrigued and must be left on a cliff hanger so the viewer will tune in to watch the outcome. Also soap opera trailers promote both the channel they are shown on and the sponsors (if they have any) as the trailer always includes these vital details.
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