What is a soap opera

What is a Soap Opera?

“a television or radio drama serial dealing typically with daily

events in the lives of the same group of characters”https://www.google.co.uk/search

?hl=en&q=define+soap+operas&

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Soap Operanoun: soap opera

“A soap opera is a serial drama, on

television or radio, that features

related storylines about the lives

of multiple characters. The stories

typically focus on emotional

relationships to the point of

melodrama (dramatic work that

exaggerates characters and

storylines)”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap

_opera

“Perhaps the most common trait of a soap opera is that each episode ends with a promise for more drama the following day, rather than a neat tie-up that episode's story, as you'd find with sitcoms or other dramas.”http://soaps.about.com/od/soaps101/a/whatsasoap.htm

In my own words, a soap is a dramatic fictional story that is filled with different characters and situations. It is not filmed over a fixed period of time, and continues weekly with a multi-strand storyline that covers realistic issues that the audience can relate to.

The purpose of soaps:A soap opera is an ongoing TV show that focuses on real life problems and issues and uses characters and storylines to get the audience to focus on these issues that could affect them in their lifetime. Soaps use domestic locations centred in a town or village and feature a number of contrasting characters. They usually use a multi-strand narrative that allows them to show different characters and feature a number of different storylines all at once. They use cliff-hangers to hook the viewers and keep the action ongoing into the next episode. Unlike TV dramas or documentaries, soaps do not have different series but simply continue until the producers decide that enough is enough.

The purpose of soap opera trailers:Producers make soap trailers that allow them to preview the drama that is going to happen in the coming weeks/months in an attempt to hook the viewer and persuade them to watch the next episodes to find out what happens. It is also used in competition with other soaps to try and gain more viewers (such as the three murder storylines about the deaths of Tina (Coronation Street), Lucy (Eastenders) and Fraser (Hollyoaks)).

The format of soap operas:Soaps use to air two nights a week, but they usually air 4 or 5 times a week now. Crossroads, which broadcasted in 1960 use to air weekdays, but later on it was reduced to a couple of days a week. Coronation Street, which began in 1989, began to air 3 times a week, later expanding to four times a week. Brookside also expanded to three episodes a week, and soaps Eastenders and Emmerdale began to follow this change. Family Affairs began to debut weekdays in 1997, followed by Neighbours, Coronation Street, and Hollyoaks. Eastenders still air four episodes a week.

Soap operas are usually filmed using a multi-camera setup on videotape. After the 1980’s soaps usually feature outdoor scenes. Hollyoaks and Family Affair started filming on high definition video, which is of a higher resolution than the old 16mm film and produces a high quality image.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_opera#Format

There are different types of soaps including:• Reality soaps

• Medical dramas

• Soaps based on real life

History of soaps• Soaps operas were first shown back in the

1930’s.• One of the first ever soap operas was shown on

the radio, called ‘The Guiding Light’. These were first broadcast during the first world war, with up to sixty four being broadcast a week.

• New daytime dramas were being broadcast, including The Doctors and General Hospital.

• Other famous soaps include Grange Hill and Byker Grove, which have both now finished.

• Eastenders was first broadcast on the 19th February 1985.

• Hollyoaks began in 1995, Emmerdale in 1972 and Coronation Street in 1960.

• Soaps from other countries also began to become more popular for UK audiences, like home and away and neighbours.

My brief

“A Promotional Package for a new soap opera, to include a TV trailer, together with:

• A listings magazine front cover featuring the new soap• A poster for the soap”

To ensure I meet the brief, I must make sure that my soap trailer clearly promotes my soap and successfully attracts the audience. To do this I will carry out some research tasks to help me understand the main conventions of a TV Soap and the wants and needs of my particular target audience.