Abbie Shuttleworth

Introduction

- In this research I am going to be finding out what the typical conventions of a soap opera is. In order for my product to be successful I would need to make sure it reinforces some of the conventions so it can be recognised as a soap opera. In order to find out the conventions I will look at similar texts in order to work out what they are. For example I am going to look at Eastenders and Waterloo Road.

Eastenders - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04gr4l7

When looking at Eastenders it is easily recognised as a soap opera when looking at the typical settings, costume and storylines. It follows the convention of a multi strand narrative. Many stories happen in this episode for example big events such as Carol coming back from her cancer treatment, Stacey coming out of jail, Terry tells Bianca that they are moving to Milton Keynes. Looking at the costume you can tell that it is a soap opera as they are wearing everyday clothing that is suited to the class of the area. The programme follows the typical settings of a soap opera. The settings are of a pub, café, market and typical houses.

Waterloo Road - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xkjv4

When looking into Waterloo Road I looked for the conventions that show it is a soap opera. This programme also follows a multi strand narrative meaning that it follows more than one storyline . For example Kacey jeopardises her boxing career when she gets challenged by Gabriella. It follows the typical costume, all the students are in typical school uniform. The settings that are used are also conventional of a soap opera for example it is set in a school, café and peoples houses.

Soap opera’s conventions

Storylines –- Family life- Personal

relationships- Sexual drama - Emotional conflicts- Moral conflicts

Settings –- Pubs- Bars- Housing- Café - School- Parks

Costumes –- Everyday wear

Conclusion

In conclusion this research has showed me what the typical conventions of soap opera’s are. In order for my product to work well and be recognised as a soap opera TV trailer it would need to have some recognisable conventions. For example this could be the setting, costume, props or storyline. Looking at the two similar texts has helped me recognise what the conventions are and how I could interpret them into my product. I found out that the conventional storyline for a soap opera would follow family life, personal relationships and conflicts. The typical settings for a soap opera would be a pub, café and park. In soap opera’s they tend to wear everyday clothing to represent everyday life.