Hollyoaks Six Weeks of Summer

Trailer Analysis

Soap Operanounnoun: soap opera; plural noun: soap operasa television or radio drama serial dealing typically with daily events in the lives of the same group of characters.

Camerawork

A range of different shots are used throughout the trailer. An aerial shot is used to show the characters of Cindy and Reece and how vulnerable they are because the look so tiny on camera.

A low angle shot is used to make Ste look powerful against Finn. The low angle shot makes him look like he is looking over Finn, who appears weak against him.

Mid shots are used throughout to present the characters body language to help the audience understand how they feel. In this shot Maxine looks uncomfortable and her facial expression shows that she isn’t sure about what she is about to do.

Long shots are also used to present the positioning of the characters to the audience, which helps to convey who the most important character is in the scene and how the characters around them are acting. For example, this long shot helps to present Maxine as the main character in this shot and all the other characters are staring at her, watching her every move as it is her wedding day.

Over the shoulder shots are used to show the characters reactions towards each other. In this shot the woman looks scared of the male character.

This over the shoulder shot is used to show that the character Grace looks admiringly at Trevor. It also shows that Trevor is the dominant character as he has his hands on Graces shoulders and she is looking up at him.

Close up shots are used to show the audience the different facial expressions of the characters. The first character Dodger is looking worried, and this shot is accompanied by a long shot of Maxine walking down the aisle (previous slide), so this close up helps to reiterate what some of the main characters are feeling as well as Maxine.

The second shot is of John Paul who is looking confused as he is looking at his phone. This is accompanied by cross cutting of Ste, so this close up shows how other characters are reacting to what Ste is doing.

Characters

The soap trailer features a range of different characters, including homosexual male characters Ste and John Paul. Featuring these type of characters enable Hollyoaks to connect with a wider audience as this type of relationship relates to some of their audiences. This means that the audience can relate to the storylines and be entertained by them.

As well as featuring homosexual relationships Hollyoaks also features heterosexual relationships which their audiences can relate to. Some of the relationships are also unusual, such as this one of Tony and Sinead kissing where in fact Tony is her stepdad. This twist to the stereotypical heterosexual relationship adds drama to the soap.

The soap trailer also features characters with mental health issues like this character Cindy, who is bipolar. Featuring these types of illnesses helps Hollyoaks to reach out to more of an audience as people who are affected by this mental illness can relate to this storyline.

There is also a storyline about abuse within a relationship, which is shown in the relationship between Patrick and Maxine. Featuring this storyline adds drama to the soap and helps connect with their audience. Their latest campaign saw them pair up with a help line and encouraged people to end their relationship where they have suffered abuse from their partner.

The soap trailer features characters of all different ages, which helps appeal to both younger and older audiences. This character Sandy is involved in storylines related to her sons, which relates to the lifestyles of some of the soaps target audience.

The soap trailer also shows characters in different job roles, which can relate to different audience types, because the audiences lifestyles are reflected in the different job roles of the characters. The jobs range from engineer to police and detectives, as well as doctors, nurses and also unemployment, ranging from B- E on the socio economic scale.

Relationships between siblings are also featured in this trailer. This relates to the audience as most of them have probably had problems with their siblings before, so these storylines are reflective of the audience emotions and situations.

The trailer also features both genders which means that the audience can relate to the soap easily as they see the characters as people similar to themselves. All of the different types of characters enable Hollyoaks to connect with their audience, meaning that they are entertained and influenced by the different characters and the way they act to similar situations (such as the Patrick and Maxine relationship), and encourages their audience to be active and watch the programmes to find out more.

Editing

The trailer uses lots of different editing techniques throughout to make the trailer interesting. A cross cutting effect is used accompanied with fast paced music and close ups of different characters faces, which gives the trailer a dramatic feel as there is so much drama building up. This links with the genre of soap operas which are usually dramatic.

The shots are edited to match the changes in the beat of the soundtrack, which adds to the fast pace, creating more tension and excitement for the audience as the drama is building up.

Settings

The trailer features lots of different settings, which make the village created for the soap appear more realistic. The locations could be similar to those that the audience are familiar with, such as a nightclub for the younger audiences, and prison or the office workplace for some of the older audiences. The different locations make the soap more entertaining which develops the storyline and brings something new to the soap because the audience are not seeing the same thing all the time.

Dialogue and sound

The soundtrack used is very fast paced, creating a dramatic feel which links to the genre of the soap.

Diegetic and non diegetic sounds are both used throughout the soap for effect. The non diegetic music adds to the dramatic tension to the trailer, which relates to the genre and intrigues the audience to watch the episodes to see what happens.

The diegetic speech also makes the soap trailer seem more realistic as you can see the characters interacting with each other. This gives the audience an insight into which characters are related to what storyline and interest the audience as they want to know what is happening.

The sound bridges also help to give the audience an insight into what is going on in the scene, like when Ste is with Finn and the voiceover shows him speaking to John Paul. The narration shows the audience that Ste is doing something for Finn, which wouldn't be as obvious if the narration wasn't there.

Other features

‘six weeks of summer’The title of the trailer uses alliteration which makes it catching and upbeat. The title is also used to link with the target audience as the soap is aimed at young adults, who would be on their six week summer holiday, so the title links to their lifestyle.