Research of Soap Opera Trailers

To be able to create our own soap opera trailer, we needed to be aware of the typical conventions that soaps use in their trailers. To begin, we thought of the most popular soap operas in Britain over the last 5 years. This was so that we could learn how they used thier trailers to appeal to a contemporary audience. The soap operas we came up with were Eastenders (aired on BBC1), Coronation Street (aired on ITV1), Emmerdale (aired on ITV1) and Hollyoaks (aired on Channel 4). We found that Eastenders and Coronation street are watched by a large audience; generally between the ages of 12 and 72. We found out that Emmerdale was watched particularly by an older audience, of around 40+, although a few 16-18 year olds had viewed it before. Hollyoaks seemed to particularly appeal to a younger audience, from 12-22. We thought that the ages of the audiences were due to the appeal of the content of the show. For example, Eastenders and Coronation Street featured a range of characters of all ages and ethnicities. Therefore, they appeal to a wider audience as they are all able to relate to some of the characters in one way or another. Emmerdale also featured a range of different characters, we noticed that there the older characters were predominant. Thus, Emmerdale appealed in particular to an older audience. Finally, Hollyoaks features especially on students, and young families. One of the main focuses of the soap opera features around a university, which would obviously appeal to a younger audience.
Once we had established the general target audiences and themes of each soap opera, we began to look at the trailers they used to appeal to thier audiences. Here is what we found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBdxfaIIkD8
This is the first ever trailer used for the launch of Eastenders. Although it appears that the video has been cut slightly short, the trailer is very simple. It gives no specific information away, and is very vague. The main focus is the setting, which is obviously London because of the red bus and busy roads. The other feature which is predominant is the title, which is shown several times, in big, bold text. There are no characters featured, therefore it is hard to guess what the program will be about. The trailer was aired in 1985, and so we all thought that given the technology available at the time, it had a range of camera shots and clever use of editing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AL6KnTIDps
We then looked at the first trailer used for the launch of Hollyoaks. This was aired ten years after the Eastenders one, in 1995. We all initially thought that the trailer was very different, and perhaps not what we believed was a conventional soap opera trailer. After viewing it several times however, we noticed that the characters, genre and themes were especially clear. However, we thought that the realism was especially affected because the studio was the main setting. The lights, boom mikes, tripods and cameras were all featured at some points, which made it more than obvious that it was a television program. We all agreed that perhaps the trailer would have been more effective if it were as realistic as possible, as audiences tend to enjoy soap operas because they are realistic and easy to relate to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbUoYGRbIyg
Next, I began to look at more recent trailers. This is one that I found that is a trailer to advertise new characters in Eastenders, the Mitchell sisters. I especially liked this trailer because it was interesting and the music was well-known and catchy. I liked the fact that there is no dialogue, and yet there doesn't need to be, as the music is so effective. The trailer showed the majority of Eastenders' well-known characters, and is set in the most recognisable setting: The Queen Vic. There are even occurances of slow-motion, which I would not have associated with a soap opera trailer, but due to the context of this one, I think it works really well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4orhsy4yjHY&feature=fvst
This is the longest trailer I looked at. What I particularly liked about this trailer is that even though it is centred around the wedding, which is obviously an important and highly anticipated storyline within Coronation Street, it features a lot of other characters. There is a huge range of camera shots used, and I particularly liked the birds eye view shot of the bride. I also think that the trailer worked well without dialogue, as the range of characters and shots of the wedding related items, such as the table settings and the cake. Even though Coronation Street is very well-known, and this is a trailer to advertise a particular storyline, I think that I could use some of these conventions in my trailer to advertise the beginning of a new soap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrtQCCT8kpk
This was an interesting trailer to look at because it seemed to go against a lot of the common conventions of other soap opera trailers I have looked at. The main one is that this trailer only features two characters. This could be because Eastenders is a very well known soap, and has a huge audience who would know the storyline and be familiar with the characters. I am assuming from this trailer that Peggy and Archie's wedding is such an important storyline that it is the main focus of Eastenders at the moment. The next thing unusual thing that I noticed was that it had a fantasy feel to it, with the robots changing Peggy into a doll. This goes against the common convention of realism, as this wouldn't happen in real life, but I think it is metaphorical for Archie's control over Peggy. The trailer was still entertaining to watch, and worked a lot better without dialogue, and just the voiceover at the end. The music worked very well with it as it was simple and quite quiet so the focus was on what was happening rather than the music. Although this trailer is very unusual, I think it still worked very well in advertising Eastenders.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7w08Hdbfc
This is a trailer for Emmerdale on ITV1. The trailer is fairly short, at 31 seconds, but I think that it is just the right time because it gives out information on the storyline, but at the same time it doesn't give too much away. This technique allows audiences to become interested, and then want to watch the soap to find out more. I also noticed that there is a range of characters, although they all seem to be involved in the one storyline. However, this is probably because this trailer is advertising only one storyline, and only includes the relevant characters. I also noticed that there were several close-ups used to emphasise important objects or actions

From looking at these trailers, I have learnt several conventions that I will try to use in my trailer such as a range of camera shots, relevant music, voiceovers and a range of different characters.

Analysis of my target audience

Now that I have completed my questionnaire and found out more about my potential target audience, I have decided to analyse 2 members of my target audience. My target audience is mainly females between 15-19. This is because females are more likely to watch soap operas than males, and younger people tend to watch soap operas more regularly. However, I also hope to target a mass audience of males and older people, but my main focus is females between 15 and 19.

Here are two of the females I asked to complete my questionnaire. One female is 18 and the other is 16. I asked them questions about thier life such as what they do in thier spare time, if they work or are a student, where they shop and what their favourite food is. The purpose of this was to find out as much as possible about my target audience, so that I could appeal to them as much as I could in my soap opera trailer.

Target Audience Questionnaire Analysis

After recieving my target audience questionnaire feedback, I want to analyse the data. This is because I think that the information will be useful when creating my soap, as it will help me to appeal to my target audience. I asked 4 males and 6 females, all aged 15-19.

1. Do you watch soap operas?

9 out of 10 participants watch soap operas. This was roughly what I expected, as I know that soap operas are popular amongst young people.

2. What soap operas do you watch?

The participants were able to chose more than one soap opera, because I felt that the more information that I found out, the more useful my target audience research would be for me. Because one of my participants does not watch soap operas, this question was only relevant to 9 participants. Eastenders was the most popular soap opera, and this is what I expected because it appeals to a mass audience. Hollyoaks is the second most watched, and I think this is because it is aimed specifically at a younger audience, due to the younger characters and relevant storylines. Coronation Street is watched by 5 people and I think this is because it does still appeal to a mass audience, but is not as popular as Eastenders. None of my participants watched Emmerdale, and I think this is because it could be argued that it is aimed at an older audience because it features older characters and is set in the countryside.

3. How often do you watch soap operas?

Again, this question is only relevant to the 9 participants that watch soap operas. I think that as they all watch soap operas at least 3 times a week, and some of them everyday, it shows dedication. This could be because soap operas often end with a cliff hanger, and therefore the audience will want to watch the next episode to see what happens. It could also be to do with the genre convention of multi-stranded storylines, which again would interest the audience to continue to watch the soap opera to see what will happen.

4. Why do you watch soap operas?

None of the 9 participants that this question was relevant to watched soap operas for educational purposes or for 'other' purposes. 8 of the participants watched soap operas for entertainment purposes, and I believe that this is one of the main purposes of soap operas anyway. Audiences tend to watch soap operas as a form of escapism from everyday life, and to simply be entertained. 1 participant watches soap operas simply because other people they live with do, however they must be entertained by it if they carry on watching them.

5. What is your favourite aspect of the soap(s) that you watch?

It seems as though the most important aspects of soap operas according to my participants are the characters and the storylines. This probably relates back to the previous question, and how entertainment is the most important reason for the participants to watch a soap. Characters are recognisable and are created for the audience so that they are easy to relate to, as well as entertainment purposes. The storylines deal with social issues and are often dramatic, which again entices and interests the audience. One participant thought that the technical media side to soap operas are the most important. I think this is because the most basic aspects of a successful soap opera are to do with the camera shots and angles, the mise-en-scene, sound and editing.

6. What storylines are you personally interested in?

It seems that most participants are interested in storylines that concerned the middle aged characters. However, some were also interested in the storylines regarding elderly characters as well as teenagers and children. This tells me that even though my target audience are of a specific age, they are interested in storylines that do not necessarily feature characters of the same age group as them. This could be due to the varied age range of characters in soap operas aimed at a mass audience such as Eastenders, which was the most watched soap amongst my participants.

Target Audience Questionnaire

I have decided to create a questionnaire to find out more about my target audience. After extensive reaseach I have discovered that although some soap operas such as Eastenders appeal to a mass audience, it is mainly younger people who watch soap operas. It is also a well known fact that females are more likely to watch soap operas, although males watch them too. I conducted this questionnaire and asked 10 people between the ages of 15 and 19. I asked 4 males and 6 females so that I could get a general idea of who is more likely to watch soap operas, and what they expect from them.

1. Do you watch soap operas?

Yes                 No

2. What soap operas do you watch?

Eastenders      Hollyoaks      Coronation Street      Emmerdale       Other

3. How often do you watch soap operas?

Once a week      2-3 times a week      3-4 times a week     5+ times a week

4. Why do you watch soap operas?

For entertainment      Educational purposes      Because other members of my household watch them      Other

5. What is your favourite aspect of the soap(s) that you watch?

The characters      The storylines      The settings      The technical media aspect (eg. camera shots and editing)

6. What storylines are you personally more interested in?

Children/Teenage storylines      Middle-aged storylines      Elderly people storylines


I will analyse the answers that I recieve and then will hopefully find some useful data that will help me when I plan and create my own soap trailer.
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