Deconstruction Of Soap Operas

Deconstruction Of Soap Operas - Final from AJonesMedia2012

Song Used For The Hollyoaks Trailer

Codes & Conventions

Codes & Conventions from AJonesMedia2012

This PowerPoint has been created so when it comes to creating my own ancillaries/print and moving image productions, I will know the success criteria needed to create professional looking media products.

Soap Opera - Script

This is the script our group used to help with our 'Cheating Scene'. We also used images from a Hollyoaks episode to help with the characters positioning, lighting and emotions.

 

 

 

Planning For Filming The Soap Opera Trailer In Manchester

This is an image of our group planning how we are going to film our Soap Opera Trailer once we get to Manchester. We were focusing on locations, characters names, clothing and characters storylines.

Roles for each of us were cast and we concluded;

Abbie Knott - Mackenzie - (Bully)
Alexander Ball - Lynx (Bully)
Alexandra Cherry - Kaylee (Cheater)
Amy (Myself) - Stacey (Bully Victim)
Becky Wilks - Chanel (Cheating Victim)
Harriet Thompson - Danielle (Victim)
Laurence Lees - Wills (Bully)

Soap Opera Presentations - Feedback Notes

Soap Opera Presentations from AJonesMedia2012

This table was created as a way of giving feedback to people in other groups who also created a presentation on different types of Soap Operas. This will help when it comes to creating our own Soap Operas and how the codes and conventions are used.

Why Are Soap Operas So Popular? (10 Most Important Points)

- Television drama originated from the American radio serial dramas of the 1930's.

- The undemanding nature of soap opera can be seen as as contributory factor to the genre's personality.

- Soap opera's concern with the everyday lives of everyday people and their problems, big and small, appears to be one of the main reasons why this genre is so popular.

- "When I sit down to watch, I belong to the family in a way....I can enter into all the characters because they're so familiar." (Ang 1985)

- Viewers enjoy forming a kind of participartory ''relationship'' with the characters.

- Parasocial relationships with the characters enable the viewers to gain pleasure from being able to understand how a certain characters feels or behaves in particular circumstances.

- Carathasis - is the purging of emotions by watching others live through the same situation, is one of the main pleasures for regular viewers of "social realism" soaps.

- Based on personal experience, it is evident that viewers often use the behaviour of a character in order to justify their behaviour in a similar situation.

- Soap opera has been labelled as a 'ritual pleasure' which offers reassurance in its familiarity of life being the main force which pulls us in. (Brunsdon 1984)

- Indeed, the theme tune which is a familiar sound to our ears, makes the viewer aware that an episode is about to begin, and also confirms the setting of the soap.

Planning - Hollyoaks Front Cover Images

Whilst our group were waiting to use the green screen, we went around college and took some images of how we wanted them to look like and so we could get the positioning of the characters right.

These images would be the layout of the a possible Front Cover;

 

 

Image 1 - This image was to show the relationship between the two main characters in the storyline; although the girl is positioned at the front of the shot she her face expression shows vulnerability, the guy's expression makes it look as if he has control over her.

Image 2 - This image would represent the rivalry between Riley, the ex-boyfriend and Paul, Mercedes' current boyfriend and how Mercedes' is caught in the middle of the situation.




Here are some images our group took as possible features for the Front Cover;

 



Hollyoaks Front Cover - Rejected Images



 

 

The problem with this image is that the light is reflecting way too much on Megan (right) which isn't giving off a natural look.

 

I chose to reject this image because the camera cut off part of Alex (right) so it was not an appropriate front cover image.

 

Although this was just a practice shot, this would of been rejected because first of all the mise en scene was not correct also this image doesn't show any relationship between the characters, they need to be closer together and making eye contact with the right emotions to show the target audience what might be going on in this image.

 

I chose to reject this image as the mise en scene isn't right, it cannot be fixed with just cropping. Also there is too much distance between Alex (Middle) and Alex (Right) which isn't showing any relationship between the pair in this shot.

 

The problem with this shot is that Alex's arm has been slightly trimmed off. Also the lighting on the shot is too dark.

 

The reason this is a rejected shot is because first of all, the lighting is reflecting way too much of Alex (right) and this shot doesn't show a clear relationship between the two characters.

Australian Soaps (Melodramas)

Australian soaps (melodramas) from rebeccawilksa2media

This PowerPoint was created so I can get an insight into the different types of Soap Opera's and how their uses of camera angles, lighting, sound and mise en scene vary throughout the different locations, and how character stereotypes are portrayed. Other groups focused on the likes of; Social Realism, Scripted Reality, Telenovelas and American Fantasy.
 

Hollyoaks Trailer - Soap Front Cover

 

 

Soap Magazine Annotations

Soap Magazine Annotations from AJonesMedia2012

Planning Hollyoaks Front Cover - Mock Up Draft

 

I have designed a mock up draft for the layout of a front cover. I have based this on the typical codes and conventions of existing soap opera front covers.