Minutes for Seventh Group Meeting

Organising next filming date for trailer

Thursday 10th December 2009

Start Time: 10.57am

Group members present: Elena Christodoulou, Natalie Michael and Natalie Nicolaides

• Discussed why our last filming date was not as successful as hoped due to lack of planning and preparation

• Organise a filming date that everyone can meet

• Organise a editing date that everyone can meet

• Discussed website plan ( what is done what needs to be done and how)

• Discussed blog entries ( both individual and group blog)

• How blog entries can be more effective
  

Written by Natalie Nicolaides

Filming Day One Photos

Day One -Filming

Minutes for Sixth group meeting

Discussions on General filming and ideas

Wednesday 1st December 2009

Start time: 11:00am

People present: Elena Christodoulou, Thegla Savvides and Natalie Nicolaides

• Planning ideas for our magazine covers.
• we went through all the pictures and each chose our own.
• We planned another day that we are going to meet up for filming, and we also discussed the editing process.
• We are planning to meet up this Sunday to organise the film we have and which shots we are going to use.
• where then going to draw out another storyboard to make sure everything fits together perfectly and that we have enough shots for the editing stage.
• We also spoke about the music, what kind of music, theme tune we are aiming for..catchy,singing, lyrics...

Finish Time: 11:40am

Written by: Elena Christodoulou

Interview Speech And Questions

During our first filming day, we filmed an interview scene where some of the cast were asked a few questions about their character.

Here are the questions that were asked:

Here today i am joined with some of the cast from the new soap 'I.V'

• So, 'I.V' that's an unusual name for a soap, where did the idea come from?

• So would you say that the lives of these characters get manipulated and changed throughout the outcoming episodes?

• So, Thegla you play the character of 'Andrea', tell me about her.

• So how would you say that 'Chloe' influences her?

• A question for you all...

• What makes your soap different to other contemporary soaps?

• There are a lot of soaps already out on TV, how are you hoping to attract the viewers for yours?

Written by Elena Christodoulou

Group Filming Day One- Evaluation

On Sunday 15th November 2009 we began filming the opening of an episode which we plan to upload on the website. We believe this will benefit us, drawing in potential audiences. We arrived around 11:30 am and started sorting out how we would position the room. We discussed the part of storyline we would be focusing on and decided what type of shots we would use and how we wanted the scene to end up looking, we moved unnecessary objects out the way, such as dog treats and keys, and took pictures of our set in order to ensure everything stayed in the same place if we decided to film again.

After ensuring the set was the way we planned we set up the camera and microphone. We decided not to use the camera given to us by our school, but used a professional camera which we thankfully had access too. However, when we lined up the shot we came across a few problems such as the positioning of the camera against a window left over exposure behind the actress and darkness in front leaving the shot unclear and unprofessional. We experimented on different ways of eliminating the problems, for example we attempted on blocking out the back light using black card and reflecting light onto the actress from the front using white card. These attempts were successful, however later we came to the decision on moving the actress further up the kitchen because it would look better when the other actress came through the door, giving us an overall better reaction shot and close up shots.

We all took turns with the filming and holding the microphone, listening through the headphones to make sure the sound was how we wanted it.

We started filming the main character 'Andrea' (played by Thegla) having her breakfast in the kitchen when she gets a text saying 'Are you in school today?', her mum then walks past and tells her to hurry up otherwise she is going to be late.

We used a variety of shots, including close-up shots, over the shoulder shots, panning shots, wide shots, reaction shots and a shot which included Thegla in the foreground and her 'mum' in the background and each one going into focus as they speak/react to the other one. We filmed a variety of these shots so that when we move onto the editing stage we will have enough shots to create what we want.

After completing what we could for the episode we moved into the living room, and began organising the room to make it look like an interview room. We chose the interviewer and the interviewees and arranged what questions will be asked, how they would be answered, and how many different shots were needed. However, due to background noise we decided to leave the equipment as it was and go take pictures for our magazine cover and return later when it was quieter. This is when we came up with the idea to challenge the ordinary TV magazine cover and go for one inspired by like 'Radio Times'. We walked down a quiet road near the house and stood together to take pictures. We discussed that in order to deceive the reader into thinking we were all a big group of friends in the soap we decided on three of us standing on one side of the picture and Thegla on the other to emphasize the division of the group. For these shots we all looked at the camera. Then we walked further down the road and the three girls stood in a group whilst Thegla sat on a bench away from the girls looking in their direction. This was to show how Thegla's character felt sectioned off and wanted to be a part of the group, from the body language given off by the group, Thegla's character wasn't accepted.

We returned to the house and began with filming the cast interviews. We decided to leave the camera on record to film us concurrently through out the question and answer session, we filmed different reaction shots, hand movements, body language and close ups after the questions had been answered. We also took photos of the interview. When we create the website for our soap, this part of our project will go under the "interview" tab with the video out takes as well.

Group Effort.

Recce Forms

These are the location recces for all the possible locations. The date we will be filming will be added at a later date when they have all been fully decided upon.

LOCATION:
Street

DATE:


TIME
Morning/day

WHAT WE WILL FILM HERE:
Students making their journey to school. The main girl (Andrea) is bunking from school, smoking and a group of girls from her school walk past and one of them asks for a cigarette.

WHAT WE LOOKED AT:
The location is suitable for filming as there is enough space for the whole group to work effectively. The lighting outside should be suitable, just depending on the weather. There may be a variety of hazards and things to think of such as:
-If the weather is bad, people might slip on the pavement
-Making sure the road is not too busy with cars and us not standing in the road.
This will be suitable to use any time of the day, but we are choosing during the day when it is light outside.


LOCATION:
Bedroom

DATE:


TIME
Morning/day

WHAT WE WILL FILM HERE:
The main character Andrea looking at the notes she was getting and then having the flashbacks. The letters coming in through the post box.

WHAT WE LOOKED AT:
The location is suitable for filming as there is enough space for the whole group to work effectively. The lighting will be suitable as we can use lights. There may be a variety of hazards and things to think of such as:
-People tripping over wires
We do not need to get permission to film here as it is one of our bedrooms and it is available all day.


LOCATION:
Garden

DATE:


TIME:
Morning/day

WHAT WE WILL FILM HERE:
The dead body

WHAT WE LOOKED AT:
The location is suitable for filming as there is enough space for the whole group to work effectively. The lighting outside should be suitable, just depending on the weather. There may be a variety of hazards and things to think of such as:
-If the weather is bad, people might slip
-Keeping the equipment dry


LOCATION:
Cafe

DATE:


TIME:
Day

WHAT WE WILL FILM HERE:
The main character (Andrea) gaining another note

WHAT WE LOOKED AT:
The location is suitable for filming as there is enough space for the whole group to work effectively. The lighting should be suitable. There may be a variety of hazards and things to think of such as:
-Tripping over wires
-The layout and size of the Cafe
We need to get permission to film in this location and find out from the manager when will be suitable times to film there.


LOCATION:
Kitchen

DATE:
Sunday 15th November 2009

TIME:
Any

WHAT WE WILL FILM HERE:
The main girl Andrea, having her breakfast, her mum comes in and tells her to hurry up because she will be late for school; Andrea walks out and slams the door behind her.
A boy cooking his breakfast, he gets a phone call and tells the person he is going to be late for school.

WHAT WE LOOKED AT:
The location is suitable for filming as there is enough space for the whole group to work effectively. The lighting should be suitable and if it gets too dark, we can use lights. There may be a variety of hazards and things to think of such as:
-Tripping over wires
-Possible fire hazard while the breakfast is being cooked
We do not need to get permission to film here.

Written by Natalie Michael

Risk Assesment and Shooting Schedule

RISK ASSESMENT

Location: street/sidewalk

Hazards and Procedures

Cars/traffic:

Make sure all extras and crew are away from the road, keep an order under where people film and stand.

Bad Weather:

In case of bad weather occurring I will make sure my entire group will be under shelter to film so that they can somewhere it is dry, and so they do not slip and the equipment cannot get damaged.

Passers by damaging equipment:

Could accidentally break equipment, ensure we do not obstruct the whole pavement and keep all equipment not in use away from the sidewalk.

Location: Bedroom

Hazards and procedures

Tripping on wires:

Make sure all extras and crew are away from the wires and camera equipment when filming isn’t taking place, and ensure all wires are kept tidy and away from doorways etc.

Fire Starting

There will be a fire extinguisher on the side of the room, which everyone will be aware of, and be guided through before filming, we will also cover which way to get out of the house in case of a fire.

Location: Garden
Hazards and Procedures

Bad Weather:

In case of bad weather occurring I will make sure my entire group will be under shelter to film so that they can somewhere it is dry, and so they do not slip and the equipment cannot get damaged.

Tripping over:

Ensure all production team and extras are wearing safe clothing until filming, to prevent them slipping.

Location: Cafe
Hazards and Procedures

Fire Starting:

There will be a fire extinguisher on the side of the room, which everyone will be aware of, and be guided through before filming, we will also cover which way to get out of the house in case of a fire.

Tripping over:

Ensure all production team and extras are wearing safe clothing until filming, to prevent them slipping.
Disruption to public and Passers by damaging equipment:

Could accidentally break equipment, ensure we do not obstruct the doorways and passages and keep all equipment not in use packed away safely, also ensure we keep the noise down and only relevant amount of people present, preventing any accidents etc.

Location: Corner shop
Hazards and Procedures

Tripping over:

Ensure all production team and extras are wearing safe clothing until filming, to prevent them slipping. Ensure boxes and shop items are not obstructing any doorways or passages.

Disruption to public and Passers by damaging equipment:

Could accidentally break equipment, ensure we do not obstruct the doorways and passages and keep all equipment not in use packed away safely, also ensure we keep the noise down and only relevant amount of people present, preventing any accidents etc.

Location: Kitchen
Hazards and Procedures:

Fire Starting:

There will be a fire extinguisher on the side of the room, which everyone will be aware of, and be guided through before filming, we will also cover which way to get out of the house in case of a fire.

Tripping over:

Ensure all production team and extras are wearing safe clothing until filming, to prevent them slipping. Also ensure all wires and leads are kept in order and not running past doorways, if this is the case I will put up signs of warning.

By Elena Christodoulou

............................................................................................................................................................................8* *Shooting Schedule: Episode 1

Here is a print screen of the shooting schedule for my groups first episode. The shooting schedule allowed us to know what we needed for each shot, concerning camera angles and also dialogue. We found it as a brilliant way of planning filming days and informing each group member of which individual roles were needed. For example, someone needed to control sound, lighting, continuity.. etc.

-print screen of episode 1 shooting schedule

page1 page2 page3

*Shooting Schedule: Trailer

Here is the shooting schedule of our groups trailer. We did one for both our trailer and episode. Our shooting schedule was very beneficial for us as we used it as a way of planning and informing group members of who and what was needed for our filing days.

-print screen of our trailers shooting schedule:

page 1 page 2 page 3

page 4

Magazine Cover Ideas

3rd November 2009

For this lesson we had brought in a digital camera to take pictures for our Front Cover.
These WERE NOT our final pictures, but a rough idea of how we will shoot and position the pictures for the final cover.
A normal front cover usually has a big picture of the main character in a storyline in the middle of the page, and may include other characters behind them. We tried to position ourselves to make it look like the victim was the main picture but with the suspects on each side of her, over her shoulder. Firstly we stood with the main character infront of the two suspects and took a picture, but we saw that the characters behind looked too short and not in place. We moved to the stairs to try and elevate the other characters. This looked successful, but not professional. We decided, as a group, to take individual pictures and Photoshop the characters into place.

Group Effort, Written By Thegla Savvides

Minutes for Fifth group meeting

General filming discussions

Friday 30th October 2009

Start time: 7:30pm

People present: Natalie Michael, Thegla Savvides and Natalie Nicolaides

• We began by deciding we wanted to make a start with our TV guide magazine front cover.
• We then decided we wanted who would take on the role as the main character – we decided on Thegla.
• Next was the discussion about how we wanted the main picture on our cover to look. We decided on the victim as the main image in the foreground and the possible murderers in the background. It was settled that Natalie Michael would be the Victim and she would be dressed in white (to symbolise innocence or a coat to symbolise closure). The suspects in the background will be wearing something red to represent the danger.
• We selected a day that we would take a photo. We decided we would take these photos in school as we are going to be using photoshop to change the background of them.
• Our next main discussion was as to who would be filling out which pre-production forms we would each be completing.
• Next on the agenda were the locations we would be filming in. These included; -the house (Natalie M’s house), the cafe, a supermarket, the streets, the place where the girl bunks, a park and a kitchen.
• We finally discussed possible people who could act as the extra people.

Finish time: 8:05pm

Written by Natalie Michael

Minutes for fourth group meeting

Discussing our Tv guide cover

Thursday 22nd October 2009

Start time: 2:10pm

People present: Natalie Michael, Thegla Savvides and Natalie Nicolaides

• We began by drawing out a draft of how we want our cover to look.
  We planned where we wanted everything to be placed and how we wanted out title. We decided we wanted out title to be in the top left corner and we wanted it to be placed inside a TV.
• We then discussed possible titles for our cover. These included:
  -Teleh
  -Just TV
  -TV Rush
  -Ultimate TV
  -TV Revealed
  -TV World
  -Big Mouth

Finish time: 2:40

Written by Natalie Michael

Written Storyboard for Trailer

We have drawn up our storyboard for our trailer (names of characters still to be decided).
We decided we wanted our trailer to be unconventional using the recent Eastenders trailer with Peggy and Archies wedding and Hollyoaks trailers as inspiration. It will go as follows:

• Close up of girl 1 crying with make up running down her face

  She closes her eyes to a heartbeat sound

  Close up of the first note on the floor 'We'

  Scene fades to letters coming through the letter box

  The note with 'We' falls out from in between the letters.

  Close up of girl 1 with her hands on her head. she closes her eyes to a heartbeat

  Close up of the second note on the floor 'Know'

  Girl 1 sitting in a cafe

  A waitress brings her a drink and hands her a note from someone

  Girl 1 reads the note but audience do not see it.

  She looks around in the hope of seeing who it is from but the cafe is empty

  Close up of her hands covering more of her face and the sound of her whimpering

  Close up of the third note on the floor 'W

  hat'

  When girl 1 gets home from the cafe she looks in her bag and sees the third note

  Close up of the girls face, tears rolling down

  Close up of the 4th note on the floor 'You'

  Girl 1 sitting on her floor doing homework, as she lifts up a folder, the fourth note falls out from it.

  Close up of the girl crying

  Fifth note on the floor 'Did'

  Girl 1 in supermarket she gets her purse out to pay and the 5th note falls from it.

  Girl in her bedroom putting the notes together
  'WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID'

  The tempo/pace of the music increases as she puts the notes in order one by one. the music stops as they are put in order and a cardiac arrest beep comes on.

  The scene flashes to a dead body

  I.V appears on screen with the days and time the soap is on - 'Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm

  Final sound of a heart beat then silence as the trailer ends.

Group effort. Written by Natalie Michael drawn by Thegla Savvides

Written Storyboard for Episode 1

We have drawn our storyboard for part of our first episode (names of characters still to be decided). It will go as follows:

Scene 1

• Girl 1 in kitchen eating breakfast. She gets a text saying 'Are you in today? x'
• Her mum appears in the doorway saying 'hurry up or you are going to be late'
• Girl 1 walks out and slams the front door whilst her mum is still talking
• Girl 1 walking down the road

Scene 2

• Girlfriend and boyfriend walking down the street together talking
• close up of the girlfriend looking uneasy whilst the boyfriend is still talking to her
• close up of the boyfriend looking down at his girlfriend with a smile on his face

Scene 3

• Boy 1 cooking his breakfast, his phone rings
• He talks on the phone saying 'yeah I'm going to be late again'

Scene 4

• Girl 1 smoking in the street
• A group of girls walk past her, they say hi, one asks girl 1 for a cigarette
• She passes her one
• Girls say thanks and walk on
• Close up of girl 1 smiling

Group effort. Written by Natalie Michael. Drawn by Natalie Michael and Thegla Savvides

Final draft of Treatment

Our soap opera will have a mixture of short and long term storylines which will all run concurrently with each other. This will allow the audience to get to know the variety of characters. Some of the less important storylines will be short term, only lasting for the period of one episode. The long-term storylines will run for perhaps two episodes with the effects of it lasting for the episodes to come. This will allow the audience to possibly connect to the characters that are having similar life events to them and may possible use the way the characters react to it to influence the way they deal with their own problems.

The characters in our soap are going to be mainly teenagers of both genders. We also hope to include the families of the teenagers and some of the teachers working at the school. The characters we are hoping to focus on include a “gossip”, a “dodgy geezer” who supplies drugs to others, a group who have parties and do not focus on school, “geeks” who focus on school work, “lower class” people who may be considered “chavs”, good-looking males who all the girls fancy and a mysterious new character who is known as an outcast to the others as they are new to the setting. They will be new only at the start but will not completely fit in as all the groups have already been formed between the characters that have been together for a longer period of time. This “new” character will be picked on and included into groups for particular reasons and then will be shut out. The main characters in the soap will change as the storyline does, one story will evolve around one group/character whilst in a different week it will change.

Our soap opera will be based in a school setting, including the classrooms, library, staff room and the playground. We will also include the homes of the characters and their local areas. The homes will be used so the audience can get an insight into the lives of the characters and the homes may also be used to hold parties. We will have a meeting place where all the characters go; this may possibly be a café. We may also include the park as many teenagers hang around in the park.

Our target audience is going to be teenagers and young adults of both genders as our characters are mainly of this age group too. By having teenagers as our target audience and as the main characters, we hope the audience will be able to connect with the characters and possibly relate their own lives to the characters. We also hope that our soap will appeal to an older group of people and that they will be attracted to the issues we will be dealing with.

As our soap is aimed at teenagers and we will have moral and educational content.
Our media product will follow the expected and unexpected elements of a soap opera. It will include all the necessary conventions of a soap opera such as narrative enigmas, a sense of realism, concurrent storylines, social representations, and a central meeting point and will deal with real life issues. Each episode will end with a big cliff-hanger and the storylines can sometimes end with smaller cliff-hangers. We will also challenge everyday conventions of soaps by having events such as a lesbian wedding, a teacher getting in trouble instead of a student and a person not fitting into a tight community.

We decided on the name I.V for our soap. This will stand for Independent Variable. We believe this fits into the nature of our soap as the definition of an independent variable is a variable that gets manipulated in order for the outcome to be different each time. The lives of the characters will get manipulated by other characters and by social factors in order for outcomes of the soap to be interesting and to keep audiences watching.


Group Effort. Written by Natalie Michael with contributions from Thegla Savvides and Elena Christodoulou

Followers of Group blog

http://natalie-media-a2.blogspot.com/ -Natalie Michael
http://thegz-a2.blogspot.com/ -Thegla Savvides
http://elena-media-a2.blogspot.com/ -Elena Christodoulou
http://natalies-mediacoursework.blogspot.com/ - Natalie Nicolaides

Analysis of Home and Away website & Evaluation of our analysis of websites

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/home-and-away/


The official Home And Away website is on the Yahoo TV website. Theres options for fans to catch up on missed episodes, see trailers, read spoilers and have the chance to see behind the scenes footage.

Its special features let you comment on forums, read newsletters, characters personal blogs and see episode galleries. Also after every aired episode the website is updated and new imformation is given, featuring new pictures, news and gossip everyday.

Theres also options to watch and read the characters being interviewed, joining the fan club and also the music used in the episodes.

EVALUATE:

• I Definitely will take some of the links and features they have into account.


• Like a Gallery and the ability to catch up on missed episodes i think is benefited from.


• I also think trailers and spoilers are a brilliant idea to have, ensuring fans regularly sign on to the website to see what's up next.

By Elena Christodoulou

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Evaluation of Websites/What we have Learned:

What my group has learned from researching websites is that the features we allow our audience to have is very important. We must make our theme match the personality of our audience and provide what they would need to acomplish their desired task. Research from all of these soaps' websites has allowed us to see what they have in common but what they offer individualy. Our aim is to cater to all the needs of our users by taking on board what we have found and put it into our own website.

By Thegla Savvides

Analysis of Emmerdale and Coronation Street websites

Analysis of Emmerdale and Coronation Street homepages

As part of my groups secondary research into soaps we looked at soaps homepages online. We looked at what the site had to offer to the audience and how it attracted and benefited them.

EMMERDALE SITE ANALYSIS:
-The Emmerdale site has a lot to offer the audience. It provides them with the opportunity of watching previews and ability to catch up on past episodes. The site has a number of special features which both attracts the audience to both the site and the tv show. For example, they offer video specials, galleries, news, gossip and the chance to see new arrivals to the show. The site also allows the audience to find out about the cast with the opportunity to read about cast and characters. They also use a combination of medias to make the experience of finding out about the show even more exciting. For example they have areas on the site for the use of webcams, widgets and also mobiles. The site also includes a page of feedback for the audience allowing them to post topics and comment on them. To increase the popularity of the show the site offers the audience to become apart of the soaps fan club. Members of the club receive soap merchandise and future information on the soap.

CORONATION STREET SITE ANALYSIS:
-Like the Emmerdale site the Coronation Street site had a number of features which attracted the viewers to watch the soap. For example the site provided the viewer with the opportunity to watch 'previous' and 'coming up' episodes of the show keeping them as up to date on the storyline as possible. This was also easily accessable for the viewer, as you did not need to download the video. The site also includes 'cast talks'which allows the viewer to watch videos of the cast talking about their characters and storylines. The site also offers the viewer a section on the news of up and coming characters and which actors will be joining the cast, they also include gossip about the lives of the cast and whats happening in their real lives. To keep the viwer interested in the storyline the site includes a gallery of picture taken over the weeks episodes. This also has a section for the up and coming episodes giving a spoiler away to the viwer. The gallery also includes pictures from past big storlines to remind the viwer of what has prviously happened.Also on the site there is a section dedicated to some of the popular characters in the soap, informing the viwer of ther statistics such as dste of birth, adress, workplace, like and dislikes... Like the Emmerdale site there was a section of the website for the viewers feedback on the soap, this also included frequently asked question by the viewers. This indicates to the audience that their views are important to the soaps directors/producers and believe that their views may be taken into consideration.

Analysis of Hollyoaks website & what we hope to gain from analyzing websites.

Analysing Websites - What? Why?
As a group we have decided to analyse the websites of the soaps we have been researching, including; Hollyoaks, Emmerdale, Home & Away, and Corination Street. This research, we believe, will help us decide what is acceptable of a conventional soap website and what we will include in our own. Colour schemes, features and amounts of pictures and text were taken into consideration throughout our research. By Thegla Savvides

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http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/H/hollyoaks

The official Hollyoaks website is situated on the Channel 4 website. With 4OD now in place fans can watch Hollyoaks online at whatever time they want as well as get gossip,trailers and behing the scenes footage. It's features let you explore the characters and their backgrounds and see pictures in a gallery of upcoming episodes and previous episodes. After every aired episode the website is updates regularly, featuring new pictures and gossip everyday.
The site also links Hollyoaks related news to the website, such as Ricky Whittle (Calvin Valentine) competing in 'Strictly Come Dancing' being posted on the Hollyoaks website.

http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/H/hollyoaks/news

Games and quizes can be played interactively online to add a bit of fun and see how well you know Hollyoaks.

Hollyoaks is to push the boundaries of cross-platform content by launching an online show that will also appear in the TV soap. Producer Lime Pictures and its digital arm, Conker Media, are developing Runners, a show-within-a-show that it plans to air daily on the teen soap's website.In Hollyoaks, characters will be seen talking about comedy-drama Runners and watching it on TV. The show is set among students working as runners in showbusiness and the fashion industry. It will be filmed in London close to transmission and will include sequences shot at events such as the Brit Awards.As well as brief clips of Runners appearing in the soap, Hollyoaks fans will be able to watch a full three-minute online episode each weekday for the 10-week initial run. Episodes are planned to appear on C4's Hollyoaks website as well as on Bebo, MSN Messenger TV, Facebook and iTunes.

Evaluation of Website

The Hollyoaks website is colourful and bright, which matches its target audience which ranges from teenagers to young adults. It's features include things that us as the audience would like to see or know more about, such as behind the scenes and a gallery. The site gives us a link to the Channel 4 "4OD" feature which enables us to watch previous episodes.

Analysis of Neighbours Website

Analyzing websites - What? Why?

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http://www.neighbours.com/

Entering this website you are given the option as to whether you want to enter the 'official Australian' site or the 'official UK' site, both leading to website about the soap. This page has a few pictures of the characters which are seen during the opening credits. There is also an image of a landscape of Australia with a Ramsey Street scene name sticking up from it. The welcome sign gives the site a friendly feel to it.

The Australian site:
The home page has the 'Ramsey Street' street sign in the top left hand corner. This flowed from the same sign we saw on the first page we were taken to. There are 9 options on the home page along the bar at the top. This includes:

• home
• video
• episodes
• characters
• forums
• music
• photos
• interact
• competitions

Under these options is a slide show showing events that are happening in the soap and to the characters' lives. This includes photos from:

• last episode
• next episode
• news
• declans diary
• photo gallery
• video
• E.P corner (executive producer)

Each section has an image and text, clicking on the image takes you to that page on the site where you can read/ see more.

Under the 'favourite' section visitors to the site can choose from a selection of links:

• most recent/most popular episodes
• latest fans
• characters by residence
• neighbours quiz
• latest news
• vote here
• hot forum topics
• download own wallpaper

There is also a section called 'tour and merchandise. This gives people the chance to tour the Neighbours set and meet the characters. A selection of tours can be chosen each with different prices and the option to take a free tour. This will draw in visitors to the site. There are images of people, who have taken the tour, with the characters and they are holding the 'Ramsey Street' road sign. There is an image of the tour bus with times of departure.
From each of the links at the top of the page a number of fun and interesting sections can be revealed.

VIDEO:
This section allows the audience to feel part of the Neighbours world and see the characters in a different way to how they would see them during the show. The videos are not available to UK viewers. This is an advantage to the Australian viewers.

EPISODES:
This has a selection of previous episodes and the next episode. This makes sure the audience cant miss out.

CHARACTERS:
When the audience select a character from the scrolling bar at the top, the audience are taken to the page of that character. This page gives information about the character. The audience can read up on the life of that character and possibly feel as thought they are getting to know the character.

FORUMS:
'Welcome to the Neighbours community' is written above the forum topics. This is friendly for the audience.

MUSIC:
'Songs from Neighbours classic episodes and your favourite stars!'. Clicking on this takes you to a page with the words:'After an overwhelming number of requests from "Neighbours" fans, Grundy Television in collaboration with Sony Music have put together this fantastic collection of music from the show.'The fact that this shows that the fans are listened to would make them feel special and they will still remain faithful to Neighbours as a soap as they would feel part of the 'family'.

PHOTOS:
There is a slide show and a choice of groups of episodes to see the pictures from. This will allow the audience to see memorable moments from the episodes of their favourite characters.

INTERACT:
There are 4 main sections on this page; trivia, timeline, fan messaging and wallpapers. These all allow the audience to feel part of the nieghbours community even more.

COMPETITIONS:
'Lots of promotions and great prizes can be found with the click of a button! Good luck'
These words are found when you first enter the competition page. They are friendly and it does not sound too formal which would let the audience feel comfortable on the site.

In my opinion, the Australian site is very successful as it is friendly, easy to use and has enough links and things to do so that the visitor to it does not get bored. A true Neighbours fan would enjoy this site. i hope that within my group we can take examples from this successful site in order to make ours look good too.

THE UK SITE:
This site takes us to the holysoap website which gives information on all the soap operas, British and Australian. This has a similar layout to the Australian one and has similar features for the UK audience to enjoy. It includes:

• full episodes
• clips
• news and gossip
• pictures
• cast
• extras

These links all have similar things as the Australian site does. Again, i believe this site is as successful as the Australian one.

Written By Natalie Michael

Newspaper article on Neighbours

I found this article about Neighbours which talks about how the change from BBC1 to Channel 5 has secured more viewers and has been more successful than people originally thought it would be. This article was written in 2008 and was published in the Guardian.

Channel Five's £300m "big bet" on the "Neighbours effect" is showing signs of paying off with the Australian soap helping boost the network's adult audience share by 13% in the three weeks since it switched from BBC1.Five, which had a 5.2% audience share in the first six weeks of the year, has seen its share climb to an average of 5.9% since the show launched on February 11.Gerhard Zeiler, the chief executive of Channel Five's parent company RTL, admitted today that the acquisition of the show - pinched from the BBC last year in a 10-year £300m deal - was a gambit to help halt a decline in adult audience share from 5.9% in 2006."It was a big bet to secure Neighbours for Five. It seems the bet management took has really paid off," Zeiler said.Five, which has secured Weight Watchers as the first-ever sponsor of Neighbours, recorded an adult audience share boost of one percentage point to 6.2% in the first week the show aired.The launch of the show helped Five pull in its best weekly ratings in over a year.In the subsequent two weeks Five's share has slipped back slightly to 5.8% and 5.7% respectively.However, in the three weeks following the launch of Neighbours, Five has enjoyed a healthy boost to an average 5.9% share of audience, a 13% increase compared to the six weeks prior to the debut of the show.Five executives will be hoping the slight slip in audience share in the weeks since Neighbours launched is not an indication that the novelty factor may have worn off and that a significant audience boost will slip away.Zeiler said he expected Five's audience share would end up being "up significantly" this year and that there would be "further significant growth" in digital services Five Life and Five US.He added that despite the current economic climate there was "no reason to be pessimistic" about advertising sales, although the company "remained cautious".

• From this I have learnt that the channel in which a soap is aired upon is very important as this will determine how many viewers it will get.

Written By Natalie Michael

Minutes for Third Group Meeting

Discussing locations and the treatment

Thursday 8th October 2009

Start time: 2:10pm

People present: Natalie Michael, Elena Christodoulou, Thegla Savvides and Natalie Nicolaides

• We began by discussing what types of locations we would need for the specific moments we want to film for our trailer.
• We decided upon a school which led to us needing corridors and a classroom.
• A bedroom
• A central meeting point which we then decided we wanted to be a cafe.
• We then discussed the advantages and disadvantages of these locations
• Included in the advantages were; a school is easily accessible for us to film in as we have access to classrooms and corridors and included in the disadvantages was whether we would be able to film in a cafe and we then discussed that we would have to get permission from a cafe owner before filming there.
• To overcome the cafe problem we decided that we could create a cafe in one of our gardens and get people to pose as a waitress and customers.
• We then went through our treatment together as a group and discussed what we could include in each section.
• We also went through the tasks we had set each other from our previous meeting and gave new ones to each other.
• We discussed having to complete location recce forms, risk assessments, production schedules, shooting schedules and scripts and any booking forms for equpitment and rooms.

Finish time: 2:50

Written by Natalie Michael

Treatment

Our soap opera will have a mixture of short and long term storylines which will all run concurrently with each other. This will allow the audience to get to know the variety of characters. Some of the less important storylines will be short term, only lasting for the period of one episode. The long-term storylines will run for perhaps two episodes with the effects of it lasting for the episodes to come. This will allow the audience to possibly connect to the characters that are having similar life events to them and may possible use the way the characters react to it to influence the way they deal with their own problems.

The characters in our soap are going to be mainly teenagers of both genders. We also hope to include the families of the teenagers and some of the teachers working at the school. The characters we are hoping to focus on include a “gossip”, a “dodgy geezer” who supplies drugs to others, a group who have parties and do not focus on school, “geeks” who focus on school work, “lower class” people who may be considered “chavs”, good-looking males who all the girls fancy and a mysterious new character who is known as an outcast to the others as they are new to the setting. They will be new only at the start but will not completely fit in as all the groups have already been formed between the characters that have been together for a longer period of time. This “new” character will be picked on and included into groups for particular reasons and then will be shut out.

Our soap opera will be based in a school setting, including the classrooms, library, staff room and the playground. We will also include the homes of the characters and their local areas. The homes will be used so the audience can get an insight into the lives of the characters and the homes may also be used to hold parties. We will have a meeting place where all the characters go; this may possibly be a café. We may also include the park as many teenagers hang around in the park.

Our target audience is going to be teenagers and young adults of both genders as our characters are mainly of this age group too. By having teenagers as our target audience and as the main characters, we hope the audience will be able to connect with the characters and possibly relate their own lives to the characters.

As our soap is aimed at teenagers and we will have moral and educational content.

Our media product will follow the expected and unexpected elements of a soap opera. It will include all the necessary conventions of a soap opera such as narrative enigmas, a sense of realism, concurrent storylines, social representations, and a central meeting point and will deal with real life issues. Each episode will end with a big cliff-hanger and the storylines can sometimes end with smaller cliff-hangers. We will also challenge everyday conventions of soaps by having events such as a lesbian wedding, a teacher getting in trouble instead of a student and a person not fitting into a tight community.

Group Effort. Written by Natalie Michael

Progress Of Group Ideas

So far we are comfortably into our coursework process and have come up with numerous ideas, and through discussion and analysis of different soap operas, we have been able to elaborate on all of these ideas, all having our own individual input.

Ethnic groups, sterotypes, middleclass Vs Lower class, are just a few of the ideas that have crossed our minds.

Some of the ideas I thought of, for example Echoing thoughts, another group member added the idea of a heartbeat sound and another group member mentioned her being locked in her bedroom; We definitely work well as a group taking in everyones ideas and moulding them to suit everyones liking.

So here are some of our ideas so far:

• Echoing thoughts throughout, heart beating backtrack- her sitting on her bed, discomfort, moving, shaking, crying.
• Board- Characters pictures, sums and equations(shows life's difficulty, struggle) closes in on character scene.
• Final image a dead body, back to girl on bed rocking, close up of face.
• Heart beat-flashing images on every beat
• From picture of girl on bed, to board to close up of her face etc.
• Mother trying to talk to her and get into her room- turning of the door handle- but she cant hear her because of the noises in her head.
• IV drip-dead body-
• girls face-running makeup- crying frozen with hands on ears-
• zoom out and Iv appears on screen with siren sounds.
  

By Elena Christodoulou

Minutes For Second Group Meeting

Discussing character types, ideas for trailer and story boarding first episode.

Tuesday 6th October

Start Time: 11:06am

People Present: Elena Christodoulou, Thegla Savvides, Natalie Michael, Natalie Nicolaides

• As a group we first discussed different character types that we think would appeal to our target audiences, We began mapping out different characteristics that individually appealed to us.
• Some ideas where a posh character that doesn't look posh, bad looking characters who are very well behaved, The popular girls and the misfits.
• We discussed numerous ideas for the trailer, one of us comes up with an idea and by the end we all have had an input.
• Some of the ideas for our trailer, we've elaborated upon and decided it for the first episode, allowing us to leave numerous cliff hangers in the trailer and prolong them onto the episode.
• We asked ourselves many questions like...Is the trailer going to be a spoiler of an unrealistic scene-e.g. like at the beginning of Hollyoaks with the supernatural and flashbacks etc.
• We also set each other targets in order for things to all be completed in time and in order, keeping us up to date.
• We discussed a few locations, and the advantages and disadvantages of these.
• Some of the ideas we came up with, where more of a challenge than others we discussed how we would work around certain problems and in some cases lack of required props, i.e. recording in a shop-copyrighting issues- and our main idea of having a clear board for characters thoughts.
  

Finish Time: 12:20pm

Written by Elena Christodoulou

Review of Emmerdale

Emmerdale Review
REVIEW 1:" Very real life storylines and brilliant acting. The coverage on cot death was excellent. Very sad. Very true to life story lines which really appeal to the general public."

REVIEW 2:" I am afraid Emmerdale is going to lose popularity if the writers don't do better than recent episodes.This is not the Old Emmerdale..."

REVIEW 3:"I have watched Emmerdale for many years it was excellence. All the script writers need axing as do most of the cast..."

REVIEW 4:" After so many years of watching emerdale I am now watching the one show on BBC1 and you wonder why the ratings are going down.... get rid of the script writers and TRY to bring it back into something worth watching and stop taking the viewers for a load of idiots."

Review of Coronation Street

Coronation Street reviews

As part of my groups secondary research into soaps we looked at some reviews of the previous soap we analysed. This research allowed us to understand the audiences views/opinions on the soap,commenting on what they liked and disliked, giving my group the advantage of knowing what to include in product to attract our target audience.

• REVIEW 1:"I've watched Coronation Street for many years but have come to the point where I switch off some of the episodes. I am 76 although I don't think I am priggish. At one time Coronation Street was a family show but now there are so many unmarried mothers, youngsters love etc when it would be more appropriate to be involved in school. I am fast coming to the conclusion that the Street no longer considers morals to be of importance and in fact I am extremely disappointed that is going from being a family show to one only fit for teenagers."
• REVIEW 2:"I think Coronation Street is a rather good episode and am rather keen to keep updated on characters like Gail, David and Audrey I recommend Coronation Street to anyone who is stuck with ideas on what to watch one evening"
• REVIEW 3:"I have watched Coronation Street on and off ever since I can remember. If you miss a few episodes you can soon pick up again. Many of the actors/actresses have been in Corrie for years, making it a little more realistic than some soaps where the actors keep moving on. Tracey Barlow is a great character, one you love to hate! Cunning, devious and wickedly clever, that cheeky little grin lets you know she is up to something! Although my opinions on this soap go up and down, depending on the current storyline, I have to give this one a 10/10 as it certainly is one of our longest running and best loved soaps of all time."

Review of Home and Away

There are an equal amount of negative and positive reviews for Home and Away, with some mentioning its better than any British soap, and others saying there embarrassed to say they watch it. It is fair to say everyone has there own opinion and some say you do either love or hate it.

"This show is awesome it just keeps getting better and no one can doubt that. look at past story lines, psycho stalkers, killer cops, explosive weddings, hostage situations, drugs, on the run, storms, shipwrecks and much more...Have you ever had juicy and gripping plot lines like that on things like Coronation street, and Neighbours. NO. and you probably never will...Home and Away is way before its time and its one show that Channel 5 shouldnt ever let go of, i hate it when people say ozzy soaps arent as good, i cant stand neighbours the show has bad acting and story lines were as Home and Away is off the scale juicy ahead of its time storylines what more can you ask for in a soap."

"The charaters are perfect for the part they play and it is directed so well. The person that invented Home and Away should become a saint"

"its a great show to watch, focusing on everyday issues "

Alot of people compare it to Neighbours, they say Home and Away has gripping sorylines and gets to the point faster, avoiding long dragging story lines.



"Utterly pitiful. Made even more hilarious by the original boast of its cast members that it was more "realistic" than Neighbours... If realistic means a town where all the inhabitants have white teeth, there's no smoking, everyone is politically correct, there's lashings of bizzare family disharmony, morality is policed by local "tough nut", there's *never* any swearing, I haven't bothered to watch this soap since 1991"

"The show does need fine-tuning. It is very, very predictable and the twists are not as good as they're made up to be. I think I will stop watching Home and Away soon"



EVALUATION
From the positive reviews to those of which are highly critical, we can take down things some audience members dislike and some audience do like, some enjoy the unrealistic story lines, some find it extremely annoying, others are just unaffected, With everybody voicing there own opinions of soaps, it is impossible for everybody to be fully satisfied, however you could try and touch upon many different aspects, making it enjoyable for many people rather then just a particular type- some unrealistic story lines, some realistic ones but then this would most probably raise criticism, so i have gathered that it is something that's unavoidable and is dealt with accordingly to keep as many people happy as possible.

Review of Hollyoaks

In the nineties we saw the birth ofmany fantastic forms of entertainment. Take That sparked sexy malepop, The Spice Girls introduced us to ’girl power’ and hollyoaks stormed on to our screens with its young and beautiful cast. Only oneof these has fully survived the last decade, growing from strength tostrength and eventually gaining the respect of the British public andcritics alike: Hollyoaks.
Over the years we’ve seen rape, murder,drugs...to name but a few! Hollyoaks has repeatedly gained theattention of young adults in Britain, but has in its beginningsfailed to gain the respect of critics and the wider population. Thatwas until the hard hitting story lines of 2007 were aired.
In recent months we have seen bulimiaending in tragedy, teacher student relations resulting in a prisonstabbing and a murderous gold digging wife. These are a few storylines amongst many that have made the wider public and critics reallysit up and take notice. As we have clung to the edge of our seatsawaiting numerous revelations, the standard of acting has rapidlyimproved. This years soap awards have seen Chris Fountain secure bestactor for his role as Justin Burton, the vindictive school boy whobedded his teacher only to have her incarcerated. Emma Rigby followedhis triumph by securing best actress for playing Hannah Ashworth thepretty A Level student ravaged by bulimia. Roxanne Mckee maintainedHollyoaks’ reputation as the soap that stuns, by once again beingnamed as sexiest actress. Overall Hollyoaks swiped 6 awards, puttingour usual favorites to shame!
Aside from its award victoriesHollyoaks has smashed the storylines that have broken others. In thepast month incest has been on the tips of everyones tongues, inBrookside it was gut wrenching, but the cast and crew of Hollyoaksmade it heart wrenching. Elliot Bevan, the resident geek, broughtabout the tricky subject of alien activity. This was far removed fromEl Dorado’s ridiculously farsical attempt, instead it was a tearjerking story of a confused young man searching for his father.
The story lines may be slightlyobscene, the characters may be overly gorgeous, but theres no denyingthat in the past twelve months Hollyoaks has really come in to its own.

[ By: ljmckeever1 May 07, 2008 09:59 PM ]

Written By Thegla Savvides

Review of Neighbours

Reviews about soaps can allow people to form opinions without even watching it. People have mixed views about a soap including criticisms and positive feedback

• Neighbors' features poor acting and bad storylines'


• Neighbours is my life along with home and away. They are fake but yet so real. Once you start watching neighbours you just can't stop it is additive,in a good way. The way it is directed is incredible it makes you feel that the events happening in the episode are happening right beside you,it is very believable. The actors and actresses in it know just how to play the roll of the character they are playing and make it very believable and realistic. Neighbours is a show that can get your attention very easily and I would recommend it to anyone at anytime.'


• 'This show is the best. It makes you cry and be sad but it also makes you happy in some ways. This is a awesome show and everyone knows it is the best. I end by saying the only words that can describe this show "The best show ever made on Earth."'


• This show (without doubt) is popular, and why is it popular? I intend to argue that it is the sheer quality that has brought this show to its extreme popular standing which it now holds in many nations. One only has to do a quick scan of a neighbours forum to see just how many and how extremely intent the viewers are. There are many intense forums which are both criticising and proving that this show is so great.'


• 'Neighbors is definitely the only soap that i allow myself to watch. The show is quite dramatic and a lot of stuff happens in such short periods of time. But then again that is what a soap is. Neighbors is one of those shows that you get hooked to and i have been watching it for the past 3-5 years. The actors and actresses aren't spectacular but there have definitely been some pretty talented people come out of the show. Take Kylie Minogue for example. To all those soapie lovers out there choose Neighbors over Home & Away and you will not regret it.'


• 'It's a great drama, helped by the fact that it has a huge cast, meaning there are always a lot of different, varied storylines going on at the same time, so you'll never get bored with what's going on. The great thing about the show is that it mixes drama with some light-hearted comedy every now again. The dramatic storylines are truly enthralling (like the fire in Lassiters), while the comical scenes can be quite amusing too (think of some the more recent episodes!).Overall, it's a fantastic show, and definitely worth watching!'


• 'Neighbours is a great show, full of drama'


• 'Getting worse'
  

From these reviews, it is easy to see what most viewers enjoy from a soap. They enjoy drama, good storylines that are believable and realistic so we can take this and incorporate it into our planning for our soap to ensure it will be successful.

Written by Natalie Michael

Analysis of Coronation Street Trailer and evaluation of trailers

In the clip we see cut clips of different scenes of intense action. The cut between them creates more of an impact on the audience, as we are bombarded with different storylines, characters and locations. Having so much going on at the same time keeps the audience in suspense making them want to watch more, and so persuading them to watch the actual episode itself .
The clip creates loads of unfinished storylines, this shows the soaps concurrent running storylines, creating a wider target audience for the clip/soap.

Written by Natalie Nicolaides

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How analysing trailers has helped us progress...

Analysing trailers has definitely helped us and guided us into making decisions about our trailer. Some of us have compared previous trailers to more modern ones and others have focused on one trailer. It was noticed that we usually see trailers for soaps when there will be a huge life changing event on that soap. for example, the Neighbours trailer was advertising the death of a loved character and the Emmerdale trailer was advertising the return of a character. Trailers are modern and according to their time period. This is done through the technology used, the music and the storylines advertised.

Written by Natalie Michael

Analysis of Home and Away Trailer

Analysis of trailers:


Home And Away


Trailer from 1991:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DJbfUUADxQ

• The colour and quality is very different to the 2008 trailer as expected
• There is a narrator over the trailer
• No music
• Camera work is very basic
• Storyline seems plain
• No real drama with tension is shown
• Lies and secrets seems main issue
• based around the village area
  

Trailer from 2008:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX5hyur0rjc

• No speech
  
• Tension music throughout whole trailer
• Music creates an atmosphere for the audience as well as emphasising the acting
  
• Camera works are alot more advanced, under water shots
• Death, lies, injuries, weapons
• No love, happiness etc
• cliff hangers
• based around the sea

From this we can see how through technology, the trailers have changed, this can also have influence on the story lines and how different plots have become more popular amongst soaps and dramas overtime, with what is more accepted and common in society today.

Evaluation

From this we can see how through technology, the trailers have changed, this can also have influence on the story lines and how different plots have become more popular amongst soaps and dramas overtime, with what is more accepted and common in society today.

Written by Elena Christodoulou

Analysis of an Emmerdale Trailer

This particular advert of Emmerdale is based around the return of an old character (Charity) returning back to the soap. Through out the advert there are constant references to her previous behaviour in the soap. we get the impression this was mainly negative and outrageous.

Through out the whole advert there is a constant sense of the unknown (where did she go? why is she returning? whats going to happen next?).The dark misty atmosphere adds to the tension of this. Its set with a 1930s theme, shes almost playing the role of a glamours woman whos leading a double life, who possibly left the soap on a bad note. We see that it is late at night, she gets out of bed (leaving her partner who is asleep in the bed)to go to the next room. As she does so removes a wig that she was wearing this could suggest a change in character. From the mise-en-scene we see that it is a grand mansion with ornate classic decor hinting at her (maybe new found) wealth. Once she is in the grand bathroom she undresses, she is almost flirting with the camera, as if she knows people are watching her. Whilst doing so she kisses the mirror, this adds to the narrative enigmas in the advert, keeping the audience in suspense. This also my suggest that she is leaving the kiss as a goodbye to the man we saw earlier. However it could also suggest that she is turning over a new leaf, saying goodbye to her old character. From the advert we get the impression that her charcter uses her sexuality to get what she wants.

By Natalie Nicolaides

Analysis of Hollyoaks Trailer

Soaps like Hollyoaks don’t usually broadcast trailers unless a huge, life changing event happens.

The trailers I have picked are all based on the same storyline. It involves the McQueen family; the girl’s long lost brother, Niall, and Myra, their mother, are all featured in the adverts saying the same lines whilst each one features a different McQueen sister. Niall is trying to make his mother choose between him and one of the sisters, but the use of different trailers doesn’t give away which sister he has kidnapped. The trailer is called “Niall’s revenge”. The 6th trailer only features Niall and his lines, then Myra saying her bit then a narrator saying “its decision time for Myra”.Myra hasn’t told the girls that Niall is their long lost brother, as she gave him away as a child. In each trailer, the girls are trying to talk to their mother whilst trapped or held hostage, trying to convince her to pick them over crazed brother, Niall. In the background of the trailers, it appears to be a living room but it is wrecked with pictures out of place, symbolising a broken home and a destroyed family, and that Myra’s decision is vital and can make or break the family.

Trailers:

1. Tina McQueen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMgyuCHOjeQ&feature=channel

2. Carmel McQueen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17qQjGOfGk4&feature=channel

3. Michaela McQueen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91OFJ5dETbY&feature=related

4. Jaqui McQueen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1eNjVrB7wI&feature=related

5. Mercedes McQueen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgqHU73L1Vk&feature=fvw

6. Niall's Individual Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK1iSoYmLJ4&feature=related

Analysis of Neighbours Trailers & what we hope to gain from analyzing trailers

Analysing Trailers - What? Why?
As a group we have decided to analyse trailers from our allocated soaps (Natalie M=Neighbours, Natalie N=Emmerdale and Coronation Street, Elena=Home and Away and Thegla=Hollyoaks). These soaps are from both the UK and abroad. We are hoping this will benefit us when we go on to deciding how we want our trailer to be. We hope to use these trailers as inspiration and as a guide as to how to make our trailer successful.

By Natalie Michael
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I decided to compare a recent trailer to an old trailer as the comparison would allow me to see how trailers have developed over time or whether there are aspects of them that have remained the same. Through comparing the trailers, I would also be able to see what the necessary conventions of trailers are.

New trailer (2009): http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a176195/trailer-death-of-a-neighbour.html#article_continue

• Song played throughout – ‘Beloved’ by Wendy Matthews.This is a slow sad song which links to the trailer as the viewer guesses there will be a death of one of the characters, someone who was loved by all.
• The trailer begins with people hugging. It looks like they are saying goodbye to each other or using each other for support. The characters are crying and generally seem sad.
• The trailer then cuts to a rescue scene with police and ambulance. The audience know something bad has happened.
• Words appear on screen. For example; “the show we grew up with...will lose someone we love.”The words fade onto the screen with an image of a character looking sad. The words then fade out.Various letters remain on screen to form a new set of words.
• The trailer gives possibilities of 4 characters who could be the ones leaving. ‘Libby’, ‘Bridget’, ‘Toadie’ or ‘Paul’.
• “A moment you’ll never forget” appears on screen.Cuts to a character at a graveyard laying flowers. Powerful moment.
• Blank screen showing channel (5), time (5:30pm), sponsors (Ladbrokesbingo.com) and the website written in white – this stands out. This is a good way of advertising the soap.

Old Trailer: http://www.perfectblend-media.co.uk/troyuploads/1986-2.wmv

• 7pm tomorrow written on screen
• ‘Tomorrow on neighbours’ narrated
• Scene from show
• Narration – “but he’s fighting losing battle on both sides of the fence”
• Scene linking to narration – man looking through a hole in the fence at his neighbour.
• Words ‘7pm tomorrow’ remain on the bottom of the screen throughout the trailer.
• Monkey peering through curtain and window ends the trailer. The way the monkey looks through the curtain is how people look through their windows at their neighbours,
• Theme tune of neighbours played quietly in background throughout.
• ‘Neighbours 7’o clock tomorrow on 10” is narrated at the end of trailer.
  

Comparing trailers:

• Definite differences, 2009 trailer much more modern. Trailers are according to their time periods.
• Both trailers have non-diegetic music. 2009 trailer has a song matching the mood of the trailer, old trailer neighbours soundtrack.
• Old trailer – block letters on screen throughout. Very basic.
• 2009 trailer – words fade in and out
• 2009 trailer advertises the show more. It shows the channel, the sponsors and the time it is played.

By doing this, I have realised that trailers need to advertise when the show will be aired, at the end. I believe that the 2009 trailer did this in a better way. However, this may be because it is more modern and this is what we are used to when watching trailers. Trailers need to have scenes from the show and a soundtrack that fits in to the mood of the trailer. However, if the trailer is advertising a new soap, then I think the soundtrack for the opening credits will be more successful to use as it will allow the viewers to hear it and they will eventually begin to recognise it when hearing the trailer and then when hearing the show itself.

Written by Natalie Michael

Analysis of an Episode of Emmerdale and Evaluation of Analysis of episodes

My group felt that the research we group did into the soap opera field was very effective as we were able to clearly understand how the producers of the soaps used conventional elements in order to attract their specific traget audience and keep them watching through a constant sense of realism. This is an effective technique which we incorporated into our own product as it allows the audience to feel part of the soap and make connections between most of the characters.
-Some of the conventions that we included in our product which we used, challenged and developed in our product were: narrative enigmas, cliffhangers, different character types, and relationship problems.

When analysing Emmerdale I noticed a number of codes and conventions that the producers used to create a realistic effect on the audience, these were:

- "the school run" families taking their children to school, we also see residents leaving their houses rushing to get to work (daily commuters)a realistic morning scene, this can be easily related to therefore attracting a wider target audience.

-We see business men in suits, suggesting wealth/upper class this is a contrast to the school children we see going to public school, representing the working class. We see all groups in society race, age, gender and the main one being communicated social class.

-We get a sense of community, appealing to a family audience

-We hear diagetic music (both characters and audience can hear) PussyCat Dolls 'Hush Hush' is playing in the background the audience get the impression the song lyrics are filling in the gaps of what is not being said between the characters. This creates tension in the atmosphere keeping the audience on the edge of their seat wanting to watch more. This also hints at future storylines to come.

- Outside lighting is bright, could represent that things are going well (pathetic fallacy)

-We see the upper class represented through mise-en-scene of ornate furniture, big house, modern/classic decor. However the darkness of the house could suggest tension/trouble in the family.

-We are shown different relationships both good and bad. This is very effective and realistic as we are not false shown that all relationships are perfect.

-Binary composition, the contrast between higher and lower class characters at work. We are then shown(in contrast to previous family) a typical working-class work place at a mechanics. Again we hear the effective use of music, as we can hear Lilly Allen '22' in the background, this effective use of music could be reflecting the characters situation.

- However we also see a negative stereotype as we are shown the majority of the residents who are working-class all working in a factory, which takes away from the realism of the soap.

-Because the soap is set in the countryside we are shown a variation of different green landscapes, this creates a nature theme emphasizing a cosy family atmosphere as opposed to the busy city roads. There is also regional accents used to create a realistic location and culture within the soap.

Evaluation:

Overall from my research of soap episodes i have come to understand that the producers key target in creating an effective episode stems from their representation of creating a sense of realism through out the soap. From my research into the soap episodes i have clearly understood that producers create a sense of realism through a number of techniques codes and conventions, for example they include

• Daily routines that are uncounted in every day life, such as 'the school run'


• realistic representation of the different classes within society (e.g. high/low classes, ethnicity, race, age..)


• mise-en-scene ( lighting, sound, decor..)


• Binary composition of characters


• negative and positive stereotypes


• landscapes

Written by Natalie Nicolaides