One of the main stages of production in my groups research and planning stages is the insight into current soap operas and their use of conventions in order to create a realistic viewing experience for the audience. From the viewing of current soap operas we hope to gain the correct knowledge and understanding of how to create an effective soap and also the efficient techniques to make our product either conventional or unconventional. The analysis of different types of soaps (e.g. Australian, English.. ) will broaden our knowledge and also allow us to understand how each is different through their use of convention elements.
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The episode I watched involved a main character who was loved by all pass away. She was wife to Declan and mother to India. Bridget is around 17 years old.
Plot:
The episode I analysed was all focused upon the one dilemma (Bridget’s death). She had been in a car accident. Whilst she is having an operation, she has a dream where she is in the park with Declan (her husband) and India (their daughter). They are having a fun time together as a family. She later has another dream after waking up from the operation. In this dream, she is all alone in the park looking for Declan. She comes across a grandfather clock. The hands on it spin to and chime on 12:00. Bridget then wakes up and asks for the time. After this dream, the audience keep seeing the clock and what time it is, the audience are fully aware that Bridget is preparing for her death to be at 12. At 5 to 12, Bridget has another dream where she and Declan tell each other they love one another and they wave goodbye. Bridget walks away from Declan who is holding India and she ‘walks into the light’ just after she blows a kiss to Declan and India. The dreams are all ‘fazey’ and ‘glowy’. It gives the impression of being heavenly, which fits into the story of Bridget dying. During the time between the dreams, Bridget’s friends pull together to support her and Donna says a prayer for Bridget. At 12:00 Bridget dies and when the family get told, they break down into tears.
Lifestyle:
It was hard to analyse the lifestyle of the characters in this episode as it was only set in the hospital over the one storyline. However, from what I saw, the teenagers live life together, supporting each other and generally being there for one another. Bridget’s family spent the whole time either by her side or worrying about her. This shows that family is a big thing in their lives.
Relationships:
In the episode I watched, the relationships explored included:
- Parent/child: Steve and Miranda’s daughter Bridget is in hospital due to a car accident they were involved in. Bridget’s dad begins to blame himself for the extent of Bridget’s injuries and after walking off, he talks to Toadie about the moment they first met Bridget to adopt her. He says “big blue eyes, curly brown locks of hair...fell in love with her then and there”. This shows that Bridget means a lot to them and that they love her as if she was their own. Another parent and child relationship is between Bridget and Declan towards their daughter India. At the start of the episode, whilst Bridget is having her operation, she has a dream where her, Declan and India are in the park together. They are having a fun. Later on in the episode, Bridget and Declan are talking and Bridget makes Declan promise to look after India if anything happens to her “love her; give her the best life you can”. This shows that Bridget is making sure her family is safe and remains together when she goes. At 11:55, Bridget tells Declan about the first of the dreams she had when they were in the park. She says they were celebrating India’s first birthday. Together they set a picturesque image of that day “the sky will be the bluest it has ever been. There’ll be birds, a warm breeze, sunshine”.
- Husband and wife: Declan worries about Bridget the whole time she is in the hospital. This shows that they are in love with each other. Bridget and Declan support each other and Bridget makes Declan promise to look after India when she dies. This shows that she trusts him, as husband and wife should.
- Friendships: Bridget and Declan’s friends stay at the hospital to support them. The friends also support each other. Donna says a prayer for Bridget “...asking you to help our friend Bridget, we need her and so does India...totally pull out all the stops to make her better...
- Godparents: Bridget and Declan chose Donna and Ringo to be India’s godparents. She does this at 11.25. Bridget knows she will be dying soon and is making sure her family will be ok and that her daughter’s life will be the best it can.
This episode differs from the most common episodes of neighbours and other soaps because it focused over the one storyline and had the dream scenes which are not common in soaps.
Written By Natalie Michael
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