Soaps and Representation

You need to be able to analyse different trailers using the correct media language, you also need to be able to discuss the purpose and effect of the different techniques used in the trailer. The codes and conventions need to be analysed focusing on four different texts: Coronation Street (Social Realism), Hollyoaks (Melodrama), Geordie Shore (Scripted Reality) and Home and Away (Australian Soaps)
Coronation Street Clip Working Class working in the factory/cafs/the street the characters live on is attached housing (cobbled street/pub rovers return) Aimed at both males and females possibly families. Driving slowly in a 20 zone representing the older generation. White British ethnicity. Illnesses are being discussed; the storyline of Hayley dying of a terminal illness is a sensitive topic. Representation of families, Sally and her daughter. Relationships are represented, Tim and Sally. CU Camera shots showing facial expressions/emotions showing the emotions of the characters when discussing fragile topics (Hayley and Fiz discussing contacting Hayleys son) Characters are foregrounded in every episode and the setting is always foregrounded, for example, the cobbles are a popular foreground and the doors of the houses on the street. On clips such as Coronation Street the Rovers Return is foregrounded a lot as this is the pub that the characters regularly drink in. The interests it may reflect are those who are also working class, for example, factory workers or caf workers. Representation of homosexuality the lesbian couple represent the homosexual people in society. Middle age single mothers modern representation of gender.

Hollyoaks Clip Class working class/middle class binary opposites. Gender is being represented as John Paul is being referred to as the man of the house. Females are being represented Mqueens all dancing, females, doing a work out to look attractive for the wedding. Representation of women and the female body image. The females in this clip think they need to look thinner in order to look better for the occasion; this could also raise issues of self-image and self-consciousness. Representation of males sat around the table telling stories of being in a band and music boyish representation. Weddings are being represented through the characters discussing wedding issues. Issues break ups.

 CU camera shots of the characters facial expressions, again, showing the emotion and the way they are feeling so the audience further understands the storylines. Trailer park mother classes clashing, working class and middle class clashing due to money Mercedes trying to0 get money out of Claire who is more middle class than she is. Representation of families the Mqueens represent a typical large working class family, they are all in the same room spending time together the room is quite cramped and the family members are bickering over the wedding. The audience can relate to the representation of families as it is targeted at families and people who will be part of a family, such as teenagers. Teenagers are represented in this clip this is so the audience can relate as the soap is aimed mainly at teenagers. Most of the characters in the clip are younger it is not aimed at the older generation.

Soap Opera Trailers

Hollyoaks is a soap opera broadcasted on channel 4. There are many technical codes used in Hollyoaks; these include cinematography, editing, lighting, focus and graphics. Many of the shots and angles used in Hollyoaks are close up shots, medium close ups and birds eye view shots, these are all used for different effects. In this clip, (0.2 secs), we immediately see a close up of two characters kissing; this is so we can clearly see their facial expressions to recognise the emotions the characters are displaying to the audience. The lighting in the clip is natural, it does not change, and this is to add to the realism of the clip. Soap operas do not tend to use graphics; the only graphics used are at the beginning of the episode so the audience recognise the soap they are watching. In Hollyoaks particularly, the characters are shown at the beginning of the episode while the theme tunes are playing in order to introduce the characters to the audience, and this is done with a serious of long shots in order for the audience to be able to see the appearance of the character. There are many typical soap conventions in Hollyoaks. These generally include conflict, central locations, realism, melodrama and localised themes and issues. In this clip particularly, it has covered issues such as adultery, failed marriage and illness, these issues are controversial and the audience feel as though they are able to relate, also creating a sense of realism. This is effective as it allows the audience to relate to the programme and therefore makes it more enjoyable for them and it is not completely fictional. Hollyoaks is set in Chester, this is a real location, the location of the soap never changes, this is what defines the soap opera, and it would not ever be filmed in a different location. Hollyoaks has theme music; this is so the audience can recognise the soap they are watching immediately. Most of the characters in Hollyoaks have Northern accents, this is because it is set in a Northern part of the country and people who tend to watch it will be from this part of the UK, this also helps the audience relate to the characters and adds to the realism aspects of the soap. Most of the sound in Hollyoaks is diegetic, this is because it is mostly dialogue, there is no background music and you can see when each of the characters is talking or conversing with another. The mise en scene in Hollyoaks never changes dramatically, most of the scenes are shot either in the village, a characters home, the shop or the pub, and this is so the audience again can recognise the soap. Character representation is made very apparent in Hollyoaks. Most of the characters are Northern and have the same accent (as mentioned above). The clothing

the characters wear is what a typical teenager/young person in the UK would wear, depending on the characters. Most of the characters are supposed to represent the normal teenager/young person in society, therefore will wear clothes that these types of people would wear. For example, most of the young characters wear young and trendy clothing that is in style at the moment. Most of the characters are working class or middle class in Hollyoaks, this is so people can relate to them, we know this due to the character occupations and lifestyles, for example, most of the characters either work in the gym, the garage or the pub, and their occupation usually reflects their lifestyle. Gender is represented in Hollyoaks very strongly, it is usually that the women in Hollyoaks are portrayed as sexualised, feminine women, who like to dress up, go on dates and go out in the local village, and this may be because most of the characters are young. This is similar to the men, most of the characters in Hollyoaks are young, attractive men, who have occupations such as working in the gym or working in a garage, a character example of this would be Dodger, he is an attractive young man who works for his father selling things in the village in order to earn a living, he is manly and most of the audience would be attracted to him, further attracting a younger audience. Coronation Street is a similar soap opera to Hollyoaks, however it differs slightly due to the target audience. The target audience is larger as Coronation Street has been a long running, popular soap for many years. Coronation street also uses many of the same shots as other soap operas, close ups are used to show the characters facial expressions, birds eye views and long shots are usually used when traumatic events are happening in the soap so the audience can clearly see what is going on, and medium close ups are usually used when the characters are conversing. The editing in coronation street is very effective, the opening sequence consists of the coronation street theme tune and the words coronation street on a sign post on a wall, addressing the fact that it is set in a typical working class area, in this case, Manchester. The lighting is also natural in this soap as this adds to the realism effect; any unnatural lighting would simply make the soap seem false. Coronation Street has covered a range of different controversial issues over the years; this has included issues such as illness, adultery, fires, crashes and family disputes. These issues help the audience relate to the soap and also simply make it much more interesting for the audience to watch, soap would not be entertaining if it did not cover controversial issues such as these. There is not really any music in Coronation Street as this is not generally used in soaps, they do not need music for effect or to create tension as most of the entertainment comes from the dialogue of the characters. Most of the characters in Coronation Street portray a typical Manc person, they all have very northern Manchester accents and this adds to the realism of the soap. Most soaps have an equilibrium, it is usually that something goes wrong or something controversial happens which is resolved in the end, some of the characters are part of the Propp theory, there are typically evil characters that live on the street and typical good ones. For example, a much loved character in Coronation Street is Norris, he is a harmless old gossip who has lived on the street for years, making him an annoying but lovable character. Then there are characters such as John Stape, who causes harm to other characters and is a typically evil type of character. There needs to be a range of different characters in order for the soap to be entertaining, the soap would simply be uninteresting if the characters were all the same. The class in Coronation Street is working class, this is obvious due to their occupations, for example, Roy Cropper works in the Caf, Stella works in the Rovers (the local pub) and most of the women work in the local underwear factory. Coronation Street usually consists of many different stories involving conflict, these change

as the soap continues, for example, in recent episodes, Hayley Cropper has discovered she has a terminal illness that all of the other characters are struggling to cope with, this is something the audience can relate to as it is a controversial topic. Coronation Street is the best soap to represent British Culture as it portrays a typical northern person, this helps the audience relate to the programme and adds to the real nature of the soap.