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.
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