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Questionnaire - Research

Questionnaire

What is your age?

5-9 [1]                         10-14 [4]                    15-19 [9]                   20-24 [3]                    25-29 [2]    

30+[1]    

What is your gender?

Male [6]                   Female [14]

What is your favourite soap opera?

Eastenders [4]                       Coronation Street [2]                           Emmerdale [2]                         

Home and Away [6]              Neighbours [4]

What time do you watch soap operas?

3pm-4pm [0]                         4pm-5pm [0]                       5pm-6pm [0]                    6pm-7pm [10]   7pm-8pm [5]                         8pm-9pm [5]

Would you like another soap opera on TV?

Yes [18]                        No [2]

What channel would you prefer a new soap opera to air on?

BBC1 [5]                     BBC2 [1]                     ITV1 [4]                      Channel 4 [4]                               

Five [1]                       Other (please specify) [5]                E4 [5]

What issues would you like to see in a new soap opera?

..............................................................................

The feedback gathered from the questionnaire was beneficial as it help me acquire a target audience that want a new soap opera. The most prominent age category within our research was the 15 to 19 years of age category, meaning our soap will have significant competition from other soaps such as Hollyoaks (coincidentally the most popular soap amongst the people who filled in the questionnaire) which appeal to a similar audience. Therefore in order to avoid competing with Hollyoaks due to its strong established fan base, the most logical way to solve this problem is schedule our soap opera after Hollyoaks, possibly on the same channel E4 which received joint equal votes with BBC1. However this could be an opportunity to bring a contemporary soap opera aimed towards a younger audience to a very established and widely syndicated channel such as the BBC, although this may become a problem due to Eastenders audiences overlooking our soap due to the overwhelming popularity of Eastenders.  

The ratio between men and women is significantly more towards A female audience members thus meaning the soap must deal with certain issues such as teenage pregnancy in order to appeal and educate the audience with real life issues which are relatable. Overall this questionnaire was very helpful and could potentially determine the outcome of our creative project.

My Pitch Idea Treatment - Town

'Town' is about a community of people living in a small town in Manchester that go through a lot of drama within the characters, the interweaving storylines which are shown are an evil character who reeks havoc on all the other characters, a child with two possible fathers, love triangles which lead to affairs, interrupted weddings due to a scandal, relationship problems, black mail and other dramatic events within this soap opera. 
The characters are of different ages, gender and races which is diverse and can attract different audiences. 
The age range of Town are all different ages because it has different story lines and different ages of characters. Town would be a mix of Eastenders and Hollyoaks as it taps into both of the target audiences.

It will air on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 8pm on Channel 4. 

As an audience we are eavesdropping into these characters lives (voyeurism).

The first episode will introduce Anthony (55) is one of the eldest characters who owns a pub, he is talking to Betty (32) who owns a catering company about a wedding which is happening in the episode. We see the town people talking about the wedding and the preparations. The reason for having a big event in the first episode because the audience expect something to happen as wedding are always a big event which happen in a community of people. Towards the end of the episode, a mystery character which the viewer is unaware of interrupts the wedding at the end.

Main characters in the first episode:

Anthony (55)  -  He owns the pub, he owns the heart of the town where people gather.

Betty (32)       -  She owns a catering company 

Karen (27)      -  Bride 

Tony  (29)       -  Groom

My Pitch Ideas

Title: Runaway
Content: a group of teenagers who cause havoc in a small town as they are bored.
Channel & Time : Channel 4 / 7:00pm
Target Audience: Young Audience; Teenagers 
Frequency: Monday,Wednesdays & Friday


Title: House
Content: A hotel which has main characters that work there, which the staff have affairs and other events occurring.
Channel & Time : Channel 5 / 8:00pm
Target Audience: Broad Audience
Frequency: Monday, Thursdays & Friday


Title: Gene
Content: A caravan site where families live.
Channel & Time: Channel 4 / 9:00pm
Target Audience: Adults
Frequency: Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays


Title: Family
Content: A town of wealthy families, a bit like Desperate Housewives but a british version.
Channel & Time: Channel 4 / 8:00pm
Target Audience: Young Adults/ Broad Audience
Frequency: Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays


Title: Town
Content: A small town with different people with dramatic events.
Channel & Time: Channel 4 / 8:00pm
Target Audience: Broad audience, Middle class
Frequency: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday




These were my pitch ideas, I think they are good ideas, but they never made it for the final idea for my group, because of the narrow target audience which i appointed for them. I am happy with my groups decision for the final product.

Group Pitch Ideas

Possible Title	Content	Target Audience (age, gender, social class etc)	Channel and time of broadcast	Frequency
The Campus	A large university campus with a wide range of young people living there to fulfill their academic ambitions.	Youth between ages 12-18, girls, working class	Channel 5 at 5:00pm	Every weekday
Suburbia	A small suburban upper class road where the characters have dramatic lives.	Young adults (primary audience) to Middle age (secondary audience), working to middle class	Channel 4 at 8:00pm	Monday, Tuesday and Friday
Concrete Jungle	A group of employees at a business in the city, following everyday lives.	Broad audience, mostly targeted to young adults, girls, working and middle class	Channel 5 at 9:00pm	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Town	A small town with different people with dramatic events.	Broad audience, Middle class	Channel 4 at 8:00pm	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

Soap Opera Slideshow

In class we had to present a slideshow of a few things Soap Operas/TV Dramas need. I used Eastenders as an example because I am familiar with the soap and watch it religiously which helps me to analyse as a student and a viewer, and i am able to write a brief background on the characters.

The different representation of characters are for the audiences to become familiar with them and the characters have to relate to audiences and realistic.

Realism has to be the key element in which audiences can relate to the different topics and issues which are  happening in the soap opera for them to be believable.

Soap Operas must be sensationalised in order for the viewers to be able to believe what is happening. UK Soap operas are much more gritty and tap into sensitive issues rather than other soap operas from other countries who make their soap operas much more unrealistic.

These are the few issues which Eastenders expose to their viewers.

Eastenders Episode Analysis – 20/09/2010

In this episode I felt that the main theme was about RELATIONSHIPS.
The relationships between the characters is important because the audience need to feel that they are watching something realistic and the characters can relate to them in any way.

The beginning of Eastenders show Ronnie jogging around the square and sees Sam, Ronnie has given her money to run away and start a new life with her new born baby Richard. This storyline disintegrates into Minty and Sam who have had a past of being together, she wants Minty to leave with her and he wants to go but he doesn’t want to because of his new girlfriend Heather and her son George who he feels attached to now. Coincidently, it is Georges christening on the day Sam is to leave, and Minty has a decision to make whether he is to stay with Heather or leave with Sam.

It them leads onto the Slater family, Moe is very anxious and is looking for Zoes birth certificate for Kat, her granddaughter who sounded desperately in trouble. She goes to the café and finds Kat with a blonde wig on to try and hide her identity and then talk about how people are after Kat and her husband Alfie because they scammed off a mafia. It sounds very unrealistic because of the term ‘mafia’ which is usually associated in films. Moe then persuades Kat to go back with her to the house to meet the family, she says ‘ let me look after you, we’re family’ which reflects the grandma and granddaughter bond between them.

It moves onto Patrick and Dot who are reciting their speeches for Georges christening, as they are his godparents, this shows the older generation in Eastenders as they take religious events very seriously and have different morals. Dot meets these northerners who are enquiring about Kat, no one is aware of her being back, except the audience.

At the christening Heather who is very excited and happy and kisses Minty, she is not aware that Minty is planning to leave with Sam soon after he gets a phone call that she is waiting outside in a cab. In Slater house, Moe comes back with Kat through the back door in the kitchen and everyone is happily surprised, as they rejoice, in the background the radio is playing Amy Winehouse, Jean who is making a cup of tea for Kat says ‘what a coincidence I was only just saying to those men that we would hardly see you’ Kat replies ‘what men’, Jean says ‘the northern fellas sitting in our living room waiting for you’. This is the end of the episode and it is ended with a cliff-hanger to make audiences interested, so they can watch the next one to see if Kat does get caught.

The representation of characters are important because they make the narrative realistic and interesting for the audience. The realism is shown through the character relationships, for example Moe and Kats grandma/granddaughter relationship, Moe went to see her when she was in trouble and persuaded her by saying ‘we’re family’, the narrative is appealing as there are interweaving story lines happening, also the audience are aware of things that the characters aren’t which makes us feel at edge of what could happen.

Eastenders Opening analysis

After being a religious viewer of Eastenders, I never really payed any attention to detail of the opening, i have analysed the connotation and denotation and other conventions that i saw when watching it on Youtube/BBC iPlayer.


The opening credits for Eastenders is very distinctive to british viewers as it is a popular soap which is aired on BBC One. 

Editing:

•               Compared to the old Eastenders opening the new one has clouds and the colour is enhanced.

•               The camera from the very start, starts from a boat and zooms out on rotation to East London.

•               The title ' Eastenders' appears bottom upwards.

Camerawork:

•               The camera starts on a boat and zooms and rotates out which could mean that a small problem   can turn into a big problem.

•               A birds eye view which communicates a view of the location for the audience.

Mise en Scene:

•               We can see the trademarks of London representing the area in which it is based.

•               River Thames, o2 arena, buildings, rural areas

•               The river thames looks bright and stands out from the rest which is quite dull- which shows the greyness of London.

•               Detailed view of everything (houses, buildings, streets etc.)

Sound:

•               Sound is quite dramatic at start could relate to the drama in the serial.

•               Memorable , recognisable theme tune.

                 Orchestral music

Drumroll emphasizes drama and tension coming up.

This is the title sequence for Eastenders

Soap Opera Characteristics

The characteristics of a soap opera are significant to what we see and recognise when we are watching.

Narrative - audiences are eavesdropping on the characters lives.

Character Representation - the way characters are presented to the audience in soap operas.

Cliffhangers - the unfolding action is cut off at a crucial point which entices audiences.

Realism - a soap opera must have the state of being actual or real.

Relating to everyday life - soap operas attract audiences because the things that go on can relate to audiences.

Relationship problems - this is a key feature that is shown in soap operas which is why it can relate to audiences.

Interweaving of stories - this is a characteristic of a continuous serial is the way in which two or three stories are happening at the same time.

Sensationalised - soap operas are contradicting as they have a realistic element but then events like people being shot are sensationalised.

Current Affairs/Controversy - Events like Christmas, Easter and holidays are viewed in the soap operas to show that they are in the present.

Mise en Scene - the arrangement of scenery which represents where soap opera is enacted.

Archetypes - Soap operas include different Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Social class, Homosexuality which makes it versatile.

Real life Issues - such as disabilities and illnesses are shown on soap operas which show a gritty and realistic side to soap operas.

Audience - is a major aspect of soap operas as they have to cater to different types of audiences.

Resolution - the stories resonate to the long term viewers but just begin for the new viewers.

Regional Accents- this can indicate the representation of social class.

Repetition - when things happen to characters, which can repeat later one for example affairs and fortunate affairs.

Time - audiences keep up with the pace even when the narrative goes on.

Peak viewing time- the time in which soaps are on TV (5pm-9pm)

Theme tune - all soap operas have a significant and memorable theme tune which most audiences recognise.

Gossip - Audiences, magazines, newspapers, radios all gossip about soap operas which spoil or trick the audience on the upcoming events.

Age group varies

What is a Soap Opera?

For A2 Media studies coursework, me and my group are going to create an opening for a soap opera, this blog will show the process in which will lead up to the making of the soap opera. The research, analysis, questionnaires, characteristics, conventions and other terms of insight into soap operas will help me along the way.


Soap operas are long-running serials which are about everyday life. A television serial, typically broadcast in the afternoon or evening, about the lives of melodramatic characters, situations and suspense.

They originated in American radio serials of the 1930s, soap opera is a genre originally drawn from radio rather than film. They were targeted directly at a female audience (presumed to be housewives) and so soap manufacturers sponsored the programmes to advertise their brands to their primary consumers. Using the word opera was a way of mocking the programmes that were considered to be trivial and domestic.




The popular TV soap operas which I am familiar which and will reference to on my blog 


Coronation Street which is set in Weatherfield, a fictional town based in Salford.
Created by Tony Warren, first broadcast was on 9 December 1960, it is the longest running soap opera in the UK.

Eastenders which is set in East London, Walford. The series primarily centres around the residents of Albert Square. It airs on BBC One.
Created by Julia Smith and Tony Holland, first broadcast was on 19 February 1985.

Emmerdale, which is set in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a fictional village of Emmerdale focusing on a family, a farm and characters in a nearby village. 
Created by Kevin Laffan. Its airs on ITV, first broadcast was on 16 October 1989.

Hollyoaks, which is set in the fictional suburb of Chester. It is set in a fictional suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks and is centred around a local higher education college called Hollyoaks Community College, with the characters generally being in their late teens or early twenties.
Created by Phil Redmond, it airs on Channel 4, first broadcast was 23 October 1995.