Soap Opera Mind Map

We will now go through the expectations of the Pre-Production Planning

Name of the show (Connotations)Park Rise – ‘Rise’ connotes the hierarchy within the soap and the rise of certain characters over others.Highfields – ‘High’ could suggest a high status within the characters in the soap.

Protagonists & Antagonists (Names, appeal to the audience, Gender)Phoebe RegnaultLucas KirklandZoe HicksonImani Ayimba-GoldingJess BlundellTJ Salango Mr Coll

Social Issues represented (Relevance to the Zeitgeist, why they will be shown –PregnancyBreak-ups & relationships and secret relationshipsCheatingLiving at schoolTeacher & student getting it onDomestic - abuseBullyingJoining a new schoolLocations

In schoolParkPubAlley WayHouseLocal ShopStreets

Steve Neale – “Genre’s are instances of repetition and difference” – • How is your text similar/different to other(s) in

the Soap Opera Genre?• It is similar because we want to incorporate a strong female

character, much like other soap operas.• However, we aim to make it different and unique by basing it in a

school, as well as targeting it towards a younger audience as well as a male audience, whereas the typical soap opera targets its audience towards females aged 30-60.

Channel (BBC Two) and Scheduling (8pm – Weekdays) – 7:30-8:00pm• Why is this important? • Who normally watches TV at this time and what are

the most popular programs?• This is important because it avoids competition with other

soaps that are usually on after 8pm.• At this time, the range of audience members is wide as it is

before the watershed times, so as well as adults, there can be a younger audience too.

Competition in the Genre?

There aren’t very many soap operas that are filmed within a school, that could relate to such a wide audience such as the one we are targeting.We are also covering a wide range of issues, such as bullying and joining a new school, which are not typical of the soap opera genre.

Target audience (Katz, Maslow, Hartley) –

• Our soap opera target audience features a wide variety of ages. We aim to appeal to this audience by using characters that can relate to a lot of different people facing different issues.

• The soap opera will appeal to both men and women. As well as appealing to women through creating a strong female character, much like Rebecca Feasey’s (2007) ideology states: ‘The home, the family, domestic tribulations and the strong women and as such, it has long been said to appeal to the female viewer.’

• Our soap opera will also appeal to a male audience through scenes of action reoccurring within the soap.