Unlike the majority of soaps aired on television in Britain the beginning of Home And Away shows what has happened on previous episodes to keep audiences updated and also introducing new viewers.
Audience:
I'm not a regular viewer of Home and Away, but the first viewing gave me the impression it was aimed at teenagers, the first scene was a drunken teenage party. However the more i watched into it, i felt it opened to a more mature audience also, with worrying parents and family problems etc.
Its based around a small community, with locals meeting points being a school and a cafe. There are the common problems that arise in groups of friends, like gossip and rumours.
Representation:
Older characters are at home, worrying about the younger characters out partying.
The younger characters who are at a party drinking alcohol, dancing and acting disorderly, stereotypes as a typical teenager.
Man is in the kitchen washing the plates, the woman sits down, goes against traditional sexist stereotype of women.
Narrative, storylines:
The storylines are realistic, troubled teenagers turning to alcohol, accidents and family feuds. There was interlocking storylines and also big storylines that viewers of a similar age can relate to taking advice, like underage sex. relationships. hospital check ups etc.
Evaluation
This soap like many other soaps contains cliff hangers, over dramatization, love relationships, family breakdowns etc...
The difference between this soap and a UK soap is the flash back reminders of whats happened in previous episodes, UK soaps such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks tend to steer clear of these.
Written by Elana Christodoulou
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Analysis of an Episode of Hollyoaks
LIFESTYLES
The generations lead different lifestyles; for example Anita lives differently to her sister Leyla or their mother. Students and teachers also have different lifestyles. Different classed/statuses characters live differently as well, for example Darren lives different to a student like Elliot. These different lifestyles can also occur within a family; Ash lives a high, rich life whist his sisters live a simple student life.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships vary from family, sexual and loving. Family relationships are usually united and strong, but in such soaps the drama can tear a family apart. In the episode I watched, Ash was disowned by his family because he had told his sister she was adopted and had put his brother in a coma and lied about it. Another relationship seen in this episode was lust, between Cheryl and Calvin. She fancies him and when she has nowhere to go she stays at his house Calvin’s dad takes a shine to her.
PLOT
The plot of this episode mainly circulates around Ash being disowned by the family, and trying to get his sister Anita on his side, after telling her she was adopted. This branches into another family situation because of his previous relationship with Hannah, who was once diagnosed with anorexia. After an argument with Ash, Anita tells Gilly, one of Hannah’s friends, that Ash had hidden food in Hannah’s room to make it look like she was having eating problems and depend on him. Gilly told Hannah’s family what had happened and her mother went and apologised to her daughter for not believing her when she denied it, this resulted in them having a heart to heart and growing closer as a family. Ash realises that he has nothing left to stay for and after wrecking his restaurant, leaves the village for good.
Hollyoaks differs from other soaps by the way it shows special effects. Most soaps, like Eastenders, don’t use special effects, whilst Hollyoaks uses non-diegetic music, and imaginative beginnings that uses a short scene, which fits with the contents of the episode but is irrelevant to the story; for example, in one episode there was a large chess board and on one team was Darren and Hannah and on the other team was Tony and Cindy, this represented they games they were playing against each other and who had been caught up in the “game” but was not actually part of the characters lives.
Written by Thegla Savvides
The generations lead different lifestyles; for example Anita lives differently to her sister Leyla or their mother. Students and teachers also have different lifestyles. Different classed/statuses characters live differently as well, for example Darren lives different to a student like Elliot. These different lifestyles can also occur within a family; Ash lives a high, rich life whist his sisters live a simple student life.
RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships vary from family, sexual and loving. Family relationships are usually united and strong, but in such soaps the drama can tear a family apart. In the episode I watched, Ash was disowned by his family because he had told his sister she was adopted and had put his brother in a coma and lied about it. Another relationship seen in this episode was lust, between Cheryl and Calvin. She fancies him and when she has nowhere to go she stays at his house Calvin’s dad takes a shine to her.
PLOT
The plot of this episode mainly circulates around Ash being disowned by the family, and trying to get his sister Anita on his side, after telling her she was adopted. This branches into another family situation because of his previous relationship with Hannah, who was once diagnosed with anorexia. After an argument with Ash, Anita tells Gilly, one of Hannah’s friends, that Ash had hidden food in Hannah’s room to make it look like she was having eating problems and depend on him. Gilly told Hannah’s family what had happened and her mother went and apologised to her daughter for not believing her when she denied it, this resulted in them having a heart to heart and growing closer as a family. Ash realises that he has nothing left to stay for and after wrecking his restaurant, leaves the village for good.
Hollyoaks differs from other soaps by the way it shows special effects. Most soaps, like Eastenders, don’t use special effects, whilst Hollyoaks uses non-diegetic music, and imaginative beginnings that uses a short scene, which fits with the contents of the episode but is irrelevant to the story; for example, in one episode there was a large chess board and on one team was Darren and Hannah and on the other team was Tony and Cindy, this represented they games they were playing against each other and who had been caught up in the “game” but was not actually part of the characters lives.
Written by Thegla Savvides
Analysis of an Episode of Neighbours & What We Hope to gain from analyzing episodes
Analysing Opening Title Sequences - What? Why?
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.
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:
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
Monday, 28 September 2009
Analysis of Coronation Street Opening Title Sequence & Evaluation of Analysis of Opening Title Sequences
-We are first shown an overview of a little town, we see cars and a milkman driving down the roads, this automatically suggests that this is a family soap. The camera shifts slowly over the houses of "the street" this could hinting at the gossip in the storyline and the residents knowing of each others business, suggesting that nothing is kept private in the community. This shot then fades into a shot of the local bridge, this establishes what type of location its as we look out for props/mise-en-scene in the shot (for example graffiti,litter,benches,trees..etc). In the background of the shot we also see school children playing this suggests community/family/friends appealing to the different age groups in society.
A cornet, brass band, clarinet and double bass band all create the opening theme tune of the soap, the jazzy piece creates a peaceful calming atmosphere which is sometimes contrasted in the soaps action packed scenes.
By Natalie Nicolaides
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How analysing Opening Title Sequences has helped us progress...
I feel that it has definitly benefited us, we have looked at how the music differs between soaps, with 'Hollyoaks' using an upbeat tune, aiming it more at a teenage audience, and something like 'Coronation Street' keeping it very original and basic, aiming more for a mature audience but at the same time leaving it broad. We also saw how as technology has progressed through the years like in 'Home and Away' i found that they had a new opening sequence every few years, and each time it getting better and more advanced.
We can see that it is important to find a very catchy tune, something people will want to here and automatically recognise it as our soap. We need to make sure it appeals to our target audience as well as opening doors for different audiences aswell.
Written by Elena Christodoulou
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Analysis of Home And Away Opening Title Sequence
- Orange/red bright colours- based around the sun, sand and sea.
- Pictures kept basic, trees, sea, boats, pier, houses could represent in some ways relaxing and easy going.
- However, the pictures are puzzled, cut out in separate squares moving around, this could show how the perfect images and scenery, are not so perfect in reality.
- They are also fast moving, could show how long the timeline of the show is, or how fast time flies.
- Trails to the right, its as if we are driving through their lives up to the end where it all breaks apart and zooms in.
- In one of the separated boxes there was a close up of a net, this could represent the feeling of being trapped.
- There was also an image of a tree, which then was cut up and separated into separate boxes, this could show family breakdown and losses.
- The last image, is a picturesque, empty beach at sundown, could how loneliness, empty feeling etc.
- It then all breaks apart and zooms in, shows we are moving into these characters lives.
- Boat sailing away, could be communicating trying to escape, break free
Music
- Lyrics are catchy, contain soap title, there is a regular beat- both a man and a woman's voice- complications? love? relationships?
Colours
- Red-deep, love, blood
- Orange-sun, happiness bright
- yellow-summer,peaceful innocence
1991 Opening sequence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJOJekRZ_-c&NR=1
1995 Opening sequence:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN8M0rjrNu4&feature=related
In the 1991 Sequence
- In the 1991 Sequence has a black washout around all the clips-could represent dark background/secrets
- It looks as if a black screen has been rubbed away to reveal pictures of the characters lives.
- Again a happy portrayal of life, families and friend.
- People all having fun, smiling and socialising
- At the end the black around the screen zooms out to show the 'n'- all the black borders could have been a close up of the letters of "Home and Away".
In the 1995 Sequence
- There is a sun and a sea image at the bottom of the screen throughout, giving off the idea of it being based somewhere hot and at the sea.
- Again happy images
- Family and friends happily together
- As the song plays along, the picture of the sun and sea at the bottom of the screen becomes a bigger wave, could represent difficulties and drama.
- At the end someone dives in the bigger image of the sun in the sea, then "home and away" zooms out.
- There is the same stereotype of women relaxing by the beach, kids playing beach games and the men on boats
In Both Sequences
- The soaps theme tune has stayed the same throughout all the new openings.
- They both portray snippets of a happy lifestyle.
- laughing, smiling, playing around
- Friends and families all getting on together
- Sun, sea and sand
- Doesn't show any problems
- The characters stage names are written with the characters real names.
- All happy pictures
- There are stereotypes of women relaxing by the beach, kids playing beach games and the men on boats.
- No images of sadness and i couldn't pick up much from either that could portray any kind of sadness
Evaluation
Majority of the soaps we have analysed, have shown me a similarity commonly used, they tend to base there opening sequences on the setting of their soap, or like Hollyoaks include all the characters.
Taking both the old sequences and new sequences into account i will definitely refer back to these to see what influence and ideas i can retract from them.
Written by Elena Christodoulou
Analysis of Emmerdale Opening Title Sequence
Analysis of Emmerdale Opening Title Sequence
For research on Soap operas each member of my group analysed the title sequences of different soap operas. For example, Elena Christodoulou analysed Home&Away a small community soap, Natalie Michael analysed Neighbours a Australian soap, Thegla Savvides analysed Hollyoaks a teenaged based soap, and i analysed Emmerdale a mature audience soap.
Analysis on Emmerdale: What is being communicated?
In the opening title sequence of Emmerdale we are show broad Yorkshire landscape. We see small country towns which automatically make us think that the soap is for a older audience rather than a teenage audience.The birdseye view of the town and the scenes of people driving and ploughing fields hints at the knowing of peoples business, suggesting gossip in the storyline. As the camera quickly flies over the scenery we get the impression that the soap is fast moving , maybe in introducing new characters or storylines, this could be to keep the audience wanting to watch more.The camera angles used are also very effective as throughout the sequence the camera is always facing down towering over the town, as if to create a dominant role for the audience suggesting that we know more than what is being communicated.Also from the wide open landscapes we get the feeling of being lost or deserted which could be explored further in the storylines.The music is non diegetic only the audience can hear it. The full string orchestra and piano create the right calm tranquil atmosphere for the soap.
group effort by Natalie Nicolaides
For research on Soap operas each member of my group analysed the title sequences of different soap operas. For example, Elena Christodoulou analysed Home&Away a small community soap, Natalie Michael analysed Neighbours a Australian soap, Thegla Savvides analysed Hollyoaks a teenaged based soap, and i analysed Emmerdale a mature audience soap.
Analysis on Emmerdale: What is being communicated?
In the opening title sequence of Emmerdale we are show broad Yorkshire landscape. We see small country towns which automatically make us think that the soap is for a older audience rather than a teenage audience.The birdseye view of the town and the scenes of people driving and ploughing fields hints at the knowing of peoples business, suggesting gossip in the storyline. As the camera quickly flies over the scenery we get the impression that the soap is fast moving , maybe in introducing new characters or storylines, this could be to keep the audience wanting to watch more.The camera angles used are also very effective as throughout the sequence the camera is always facing down towering over the town, as if to create a dominant role for the audience suggesting that we know more than what is being communicated.Also from the wide open landscapes we get the feeling of being lost or deserted which could be explored further in the storylines.The music is non diegetic only the audience can hear it. The full string orchestra and piano create the right calm tranquil atmosphere for the soap.
group effort by Natalie Nicolaides
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Analysis of Hollyoaks Opening Title Sequence
The opening credits to Hollyoaks shows each character one after the other and allows them to act out an action that represents them. For example Ravi is hitting a punching bag in his clip which shows his sporty, athletic personality and “skin”, meaning how people see him.
The background is mainly plain or with spiral lights or wallpaper. The plain backgrounds represent a blank canvas which allows the character to let their personality paint the background. The spiral lights show how their lives are spiralling out of their own control and how they are involved in many different storylines. The wallpaper background, however, could represent a fake front put on by the person, either to hide or to cover up some sort of fault in their own personality.
The opening begins with a woman’s eye with “Hollyoaks” written in it, this could show how the audience gets to view the whole of Hollyoaks village. At the end, the “o’s” in Hollyoaks have male and female sex symbols which join together and zoom forward to the screen to allow the episode to start.
Written by Thegla
The background is mainly plain or with spiral lights or wallpaper. The plain backgrounds represent a blank canvas which allows the character to let their personality paint the background. The spiral lights show how their lives are spiralling out of their own control and how they are involved in many different storylines. The wallpaper background, however, could represent a fake front put on by the person, either to hide or to cover up some sort of fault in their own personality.
The opening begins with a woman’s eye with “Hollyoaks” written in it, this could show how the audience gets to view the whole of Hollyoaks village. At the end, the “o’s” in Hollyoaks have male and female sex symbols which join together and zoom forward to the screen to allow the episode to start.
Written by Thegla
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