Selection of Our Results

Soap Ratings

Eastenders ratings:

·         Eastenders proved to be very popular, Appreciation indexes (Is an indicator of the public’s appreciation out of 100 for a television or radio programme) revealed this. By achieving 55-60 out of 100 at the launch, and rising to 85-95 out of 100 later on.

·         When the show first launched in 1985 it attracted approximately 17 million viewers

·         Combining the omnibus and the original the Christmas day episode in 1986 where Den Watts handed over the divorce papers to then wife Angie, the episode attracted 30 million viewers. This has been the highest rated episode of a soap in British television history.

·         Eastenders regularly attracts 7 to 12 million viewers per episode.

·         In 2001 Eastenders and Coronation Street clashed for the first time; however Eastenders won the battle gaining 8.4million viewers whilst Coronation Street gained just 7.3 million viewers.

·         The live 25^th anniversary episode which was shown on 19^th of February 2010, which revealed Stacy Branning as Archie Mitchell’s killer, gained 16.41 million viewers

Coronation street ratings:

·         During the 1960’s-1980’s coronation streets averaged over 20 million viewers per episode. However during the 1990’s and early 2000’s the soap only had an average of 15-20 million viewers per episode. Currently ratings have dramatically dropped and Coronation Street now only has between 8 and 14 million viewers per episode.

·         On Christmas day 1987 an average of 28.5 million viewers tuned in to watch Hilda Ogden leave the street to start a new life as a house keeper for Dr Lowther.

·         For their 50^th anniversary tram crash anniversary Coronation Street attracted 14 million viewers.

Emmerdale Rating:

·         On average episode attracts 7-10 million per episode

·         Emmerdale attracted its highest ratings of 18 million on December 30 1993 when a plane crash in the village killed four villagers.

·         September 21^st 2006 saw Emmerdale beat Eastenders in ratings, gaining 8.57 million viewers for when Cain dingle kidnapped tom and Sadie king. Whilst Eastenders attracted only 4.77 million viewers.

Hollyoaks ratings:

·         Due to being aired to a niche audience Hollyoaks does not gain many viewing figures

·         At one point Hollyoaks dropped to under 1million viewers for a few episodes.

Analysis of Soap Trailers

Eastenders: Kat and Alfie

Having these two characters return to the soap after a dramatic few episodes has a mostly positive impact on the audience. These two characters, Alfie (Jack the lad) and Kat (Strong woman), were the ones people loved because of their up and down relationship and dramatic fights or romantic scenes. The have a wide variety of storylines which can be acted of one character having their own storyline to progress through then leave. In addition having the western theme music that is associated with a standoff battle creates tension and gives a twist to their relationship; they seem to always be on and off but with their return are portrayed as having a competition as they stand facing each other metres apart staring into each other’s eyes. It also gives the audience a hope of a theatrical comeback and keeps them waiting for the episodes to air. Furthermore, the sound effect of a gun being pulled form its holster implies that Kat is dangerous. The cinematography is film-like and along with the western standoff creates suspense between the two main characters as well as those surrounding them and entices the audience in order to see where it leads. Kat is represented as a strong woman yet a loose woman due to her informal clothing and poncho appealing to the male viewers, yet the poncho probably has been worn to associate with the cowboy theme. Also, one shot involves panning from the boots of Kat up to her facing, lingering on specific body parts such as her legs representing her again as a loose woman. She is displayed as a dominant person in this trailer and appears to be in control as well as intimidating. Alfie is represented as a protective husband who, in one way, comes to rescue Kat. However, the low key lighting and the shadow on Alfie’s face creates a sense of mystery and could suggest a surreptitious demeanour and hidden secrets. They are both strong minded character and are likely to engage in battle to fight for what they believe in or want. The other characters within this trailer appear less superior, for example, a girl stops laughing showing a lack of dominance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p4xlLezos0

Coronation Street: Tram Crash

To have a lot of information revealed to the audience can be shocking, although many audience members knew what was coming but they do not who will die. The trailer is fast paced, the action is demonstrated through the constant switching between different characters, and this impacts the audience as they now feel part of the incident (tram crash). It also displays how rapidly the situation is happening and how the incident is not clear enough to distinguish what is going on, creating a sense of mystery to the storyline. The slow motion shots of fire and destruction creates drama and a dark tone to the trailer. To have no diegetic sound at the beginning gets a larger reaction from the audience making them more responsible to the trailer. The only sound the audience can hear is the melancholy orchestral music that sets the audiences mood and provokes them to sympathise with the characters. This sympathy is supported by the emotive shots of the characters expression and the dramatic dialogue. The diegetic sound only comes in when Fizz has a major problem and possible storyline that will be followed in later episodes. However, the sudden change in music to a higher tempo keeps up with the fast paced incident, displaying drama and a suspense filled atmosphere. All characters are represented as being in shock and showing fear, panic and worry about the event that had just taken place. The characters are seen as unified and are represented as helpful and caring towards the others, working together as a community. This nature shown by specific characters and authoritative figures represents them as heroes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nnk8htigIpc

 

Hollyoaks: Mercedes Wedding

The initial build up to the wedding has been a long wait for viewers and to finally release the trailer gives the audience something to look forward to and a reason to keep watching. To have everyone dressed in black implies that the wedding is not going to turn out happily for the couple, but although this is revealed, many storylines are made and, as a result of the wedding, are resolved from the wedding. The song, more specifically, the line “It’s a nice day for a white wedding”, is highly ironic and completely contrasts with the darkness of the clothes and the fact that it is clearly not going to be a nice day. The fading of the music on specific characters suggests that they are important with this storyline or ones that are connected with the wedding. Every character is represented as being very shocked, upset or unhappy about the wedding. Some actions performed by the characters may foreshadow future possibilities for the storyline. For example, Silas waving malevolently to Mercedes as she walks down the aisle foreshadows that that he could hurt her in the episodes to come. Also by Silas wave in such a manner impacts the audience by making them feel uncomfortable and victimised by Silas, this identifies him as a Propp’s stock character, the villain. Mercedes, being the bride, is shown to be crying as she approaches the altar therefore showing us that this is a difficult time for her and she is not happy about going through with the wedding because of her secrets and reluctance to make Riley, the groom, heartbroken. The tears show vulnerability within her and could suggest a stereotypical princess in distress character.  Also the little amount of light streaming in symbolises a small amount of hope, being trapped or in a state of ambivalence, intriguing the audience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2sW-r9Vb4

Questionnaire

Common Character Types

There are specific types of characters that are commonly used within the majority soaps:

The grandparent figure:

Usually female, this wise, old character aids others through their problems despite any difficulty of their own life. They commonly have a functioning relationship with most characters, yet do not necessarily have any relations.

i.e. Eastenders’ Dot Branning

The strong woman:

The strong woman conveys independence, power and sometimes even aggression. She is often the first to jump into conflicts, always believing she is right. However, the audience will usually witness a downfall – at the hands of the reappearance of her past, or a man – before restoring to her well-guarded, ‘strong’ self.

i.e. Eastenders’ Kat Moon

Jack-the-lad:

The male character that breaks hearts and manipulates others for his own benefit. Seen as selfish and insensitive, the Jack-the-lad character may be softened over-time to reveal a more sensitive side. This, along with comical characteristics, wins the audience’s hearts.

i.e. Hollyoaks’ Dodger Savage

Young couple:

A couple that pulls through against turmoil both together and in their separate personal lives. Storylines trying to fail their relationship are endless but they usually find a way to go against the odds and stay together.

i.e. Eastenders’ Whitney Dean & Tyler Moon

Feisty young female:

Often argumentative and miserable, the feisty young female isn’t afraid of a disagreement as she longs for independence, usually from her parents.

i.e. Eastenders’ Lauren Branning

Troublesome oldie:

The older character who interferes and meddles whether she is needed or not. Makes it his/her business to know everyone else’s business and is often known as a ‘battle-axe’.

i.e. Coronation Street’s Deidre Barlow

The boss figure:

The boss figure is usually male, who reigns in a position of authority both in business and in other characters’ personal lives.

i.e. Hollyoaks’ Brendan Brady

Vladimir Propp’s theory:

 Propp proposed a theory on the narrative of fairy tales that consisted of stock characters that continuously appear within them. These characters can also be seen in many other genres of film and television, including Soap Operas.

·         The villain — struggles against the hero.

·         The dispatcher —character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

·         The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.

·         The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.

·         Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.

·         The donor —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

·         The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.

·         False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.

Update: 20/09/12

·         The villain — is ofen a boss figure due to their lust for power. i.e. Hollyoaks' Brendan Brady and Eastenders' Phil Mitchell.

·         The (magical) helper — often a helper because of family ties. i.e. Eastenders' Branning Brothers always stick together.
·         The princess or prize — usually a fiesty female because it is such a challenge to win them. i.e.Eastenders' Lucy Beale or Emmerdale's Chastity Dingle.
·         Her father — can be either a troublesome oldie or overprotective, in some cases due to their tough upbringing there is more than one father figure. i.e. Emmerdale's Shadrach Dingle was Chastity's biological father who played a troublesome oldie, however Zack Dingle has taken the role of her father.
·         The donor — often a strong woman that feels the need to help others. i.e. Hollyoaks' Nancy's mission to help Mitzee be proved innocent and Mercedes be found guilty.
·         The hero or victim/seeker hero — often known as someone who can be relied on to help anyone. Marries the girl and lives happily. i.e. Eastenders' Alfie

·         False hero — often a villain-type character too, but hides it well. Usually male - i.e. Eastenders' Yusef Khan. but can be a female (who is usually hated by other females because of her lack of morals) - i.e. Hollyoaks' Mercedes Fisher.

Conventions of a Soap Opera

A British soap opera almost always features the following conventions:

·         A Soap is a drama that usually air around 4 times a week, all year round.

·         Many of the storylines that are continuous involve the themes of domesticity and relationships.

·         Soap opera theme tunes tend to be recognisable even though they have changed slightly over the years.

·         In any one scene the number of character present is kept to a minimal to focus on a certain plot and avoid confusion with audience members.

·         Many storylines are carried on throughout several episodes, consequently leaving episodes on cliff hangers which are often tense and suspenseful.

·         They are often set around a small community e.g. the square (Eastenders). Many characters are linked to each other either by family of friends.

·         Soaps always have specials at Christmas and possibly at Easter these episode focus on the climax of a storyline and often have a depressing ending.

·         Many characters are classed as common, ordinary and working class.

·         British soaps are supposed to be realistic.

·         Three to four story lines often run parallel together, with the soap alternating between them. Once one storyline is solved another may be underway of getting solved or solved in conjunction with another storyline.

·         Recently soaps include songs in the background (Eastenders) or over score (Hollyoaks) to coincide with the situation within the scene.

Update: 21/09/12
In order to produce a successful soap opera, we plan to utilise many of these conventions in our own production. Our ideas of using domesticity and relationships as a main focus of our soap trailer adheres to the conventional themes of the genre. Furthemore, to give a sense of community, part of the soap set will be a pub which is the heart of the most successful British soaps (Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Eastenders). While in the process of gaining our first audience, although part of the setting will be the pub which is a very social place, we will not overwhelm them with too many important characters. Therefore, we will use extras in the scene to give it a realistic feel but will keep the ultimate focus on a small amount of crucial characters so that the audience can familiarize themselves and become engaged.
Finally, We want the audience to be able to relate to or feel a relationship towards characters and so to attract a mass audience we believe ordinary/working class/middle class characters would be the right choice. Upper class and hugely financially superior characters would distance the audience too much and the main aim of a soap opera is to entertain and make the audience feel comfortable.

History of Soap Operas

Soap operas originated from the UK, the first soap opera ‘The Archers’ was first broadcast on 29^th may 1950 on the BBC radio. Consequently it is the longest running soap opera that is broadcast on the radio and still airs today.

Soap operas are called so because the original dramas that used to be broadcast on radio had soap manufacturers as sponsors, the term ‘opera’ was added because these dramas focus on dramatic situations and dilemmas.

According to critic Albert Moran the convention that makes a soap opera 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".

Many soaps have passed for example Brookside and crossroads. However through high viewer ratings the popularity of mainstream soaps has increased the four biggest competitors that are still running today.

Coronation Street was first broadcast on the 9^th of December in 1960 therefore being the longest running soap. The soap has had great success for ITV

Eastenders was first broadcast on the 19^th of February 1985 on BBC.

Hollyoaks was first broadcast on 23 October 1995 on Channel 4

Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972 Emmerdale was known as Emmerdale Farm until 1989.

Quote and information from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera