Question 1 for Media A2 Evaluation

3. 0 Prior to our production I conducted thorough
research on the codes and conventions within popular
Soap Operas such as Hollyoaks and EastEnders.

4. 0 Prior to our production I conducted thorough
research on the codes and conventions within popular
Soap Operas such as Hollyoaks and EastEnders.
0 It was apparent within these programmes that there
are no central characters, therefore we decided to
create and develop 10 key characters who would be
present within our trailer.

5. 0 Prior to our production I conducted thorough
research on the codes and conventions within popular
Soap Operas such as Hollyoaks and EastEnders.
0 It was apparent within these programmes that there
are no central characters, therefore we decided to
create and develop 10 key characters who would be
present within our trailer.
0 These particular characters would then be linked
together in various ways incl. relationships, rivalries,
secrets etc. that essentially harmonise them as one
social group.

6. 0 Our stock characters were introduced either representing or challenging
the stereotypes they appear to follow. We based one of our focal
characters Wayne on Dean Wicks from EastEnders, who holds the
stereotype of the troublemaker and is known for spiking drinks with
drugs/alcohol, stealing and driving recklessly.
Dean Wicks (EastEnders)

7. 0 Our stock characters were introduced either representing or challenging
the stereotypes they appear to follow. We based one of our focal
characters Wayne on Dean Wicks from EastEnders, who holds the
stereotype of the troublemaker and is known for spiking drinks with
drugs/alcohol, stealing and driving recklessly.
Wayne (Eastwood High)Dean Wicks (EastEnders)

8. 0 I feel we successfully developed in-depth characters
that are connected in a thought-provoking way.
However, in reflection, we could have made changes
as follows:
Our soap trailer would have benefitted from the
inclusion of stock characters such as teachers/adults to
truly represent the idea of it being based around two
colleges and school-life in general.
We had strong ideas for all of our characters yet there
was a lack of clarity in our trailer as we were not able to
convey these ideas as thoroughly as we wanted to.

9. 0 Our entire trailer was intended to represent a
narrative built around personal stories/relationships.
Soap Operas such as EastEnders, Hollyoaks and
Coronation Street tend to create narratives around
issues between characters.

10. 0 Our entire trailer was intended to represent a
narrative built around personal stories/relationships.
Soap Operas such as EastEnders, Hollyoaks and
Coronation Street tend to create narratives around
issues between characters.
0 We used this convention towards our trailer, by having
strong characters having a connection between one
another.

11. 0 EastEnders tends to focus their
storylines around realism, including
stories surrounding relationships,
unemployment, homosexuality etc.
0 Much like the conclusions of each
episode of EastEnders, we wanted to
create cliff-hanger endings which
Todorov would call ‘narrative
disequilibrium’.

12. 0 We wanted to focus our production
more on the research we
conducted surrounding Hollyoaks.
0 This is because Hollyoaks deals
with a variety of issues affecting
young people including
homosexuality, drug use,
teenage pregnancy and school-
life in general.

13. 0 We used certain narratives and
themes from Hollyoaks. We wanted
to aim our production at a younger
audience therefore made reference
to certain themes that would appeal
to them for entertainment.
0 We applied strong backgrounds to
each character that we tried to put
forward to introduce each character
individually in our trailer.Struggle with homosexuality
Disloyal boyfriend Juvenile delinquency

14. 0 We used certain narratives and
themes from Hollyoaks. We wanted
to aim our production at a
younger audience (16-25)
therefore made reference to certain
themes that would appeal to them
for entertainment.
0 We applied strong circumstances to
each character that we tried to put
forward to introduce each character
individually in our trailer.Hush-hush crushes
The ‘Love triangle’ Secret siblings

15. 0 I feel we successfully developed our narratives and
conformed with common themes of soap operas from
our research. However, in reflection, we could have
made changes as follows:
0 Despite having strong ideas for the narratives and
main storylines of our trailer, we didn’t manage to put
across all of these ideas as well as we could have.
0 Could have included a variety of storylines rather than
focusing on three main subplots.

17. 0 One phase of the research I carried out included
comparison of soap trailer conventions.

18. 0 One phase of the research I carried out included
comparison of soap trailer conventions.
0 A significant contrast between EastEnders and
Hollyoaks is that Hollyoaks chooses to use
contemporary/chart music in both their episodes and
advertisement (trailer promotions).

19. 0 One phase of the research I carried out included
comparison of soap trailer conventions.
0 A significant contrast between EastEnders and
Hollyoaks is that Hollyoaks chooses to use
contemporary/chart music in both their episodes and
advertisement (trailer promotions).
0 We chose to develop this feature of non-diegetic music
for our trailer so that we would appeal to a younger
audience.

20. 0 One phase of the research I carried out included
comparison of soap trailer conventions.
0 A significant contrast between EastEnders and
Hollyoaks is that Hollyoaks chooses to use
contemporary/chart music in both their episodes and
advertisement (trailer promotions).
0 We chose to develop this feature of non-diegetic music
for our trailer so that we would appeal to a younger
audience.
0 Our trailer’s sub-genre allows this up-beat,
fashionable music to be associated with our trailer.

21. 0 One phase of the research I carried out included
comparison of soap trailer conventions.
0 A significant contrast between EastEnders and
Hollyoaks is that Hollyoaks chooses to use
contemporary/chart music in both their episodes and
advertisement (trailer promotions).
0 We chose to develop this feature of non-diegetic music
for our trailer so that we would appeal to a younger
audience.
0 Our trailer’s sub-genre allows this up-beat,
fashionable music to be associated with our trailer.
0 After making this decision to develop certain aspects
of Hollyoaks’ conventions, we sourced our music from
a royalty-free licensed website www.bensound.com

23. 0 We chose to challenge certain conventions of soap
with regards to iconography. This included outlining
the true difference between the two colleges through
choice of costume.
Students of St.
Antoinette’s:
0 We chose to
dress our
posh-school
students in
matching
uniform to
connote their
overall class
and level of
education.
This included
smart
shirt/tie,
blazers etc.
Students of
Eastwood High:
We chose to
dress our
antisocial college
students in
clothes that
would be
appropriate to
their character.
We made an
effort not to
include a uniform
for this particular
school so that the
differences
would come
across better.

24. 0 A convention of soap operas is that they are set
around stock communal settings such as pubs,
markets, café’s, launderette’s etc.

25. 0 A convention of soap operas is that they are set
around stock communal settings such as pubs,
markets, café’s, launderette’s etc.
0 ‘The Queen Vic(toria)’ is a significant and recognisable
setting because it suggests that a lot of the drama that
goes on is alcohol-fuelled and perhaps more
exaggerated because of this.

26. 0 We decided to challenge this convention by limiting
ourselves and basing our soap within two colleges. By
doing this we felt we were able to relate our soap to
young viewers and encourage them to feel involved with
certain situations present within our soap.

27. 0 We decided to challenge this convention by limiting
ourselves and basing our soap within two colleges. By
doing this we felt we were able to relate our soap to
young viewers and encourage them to feel involved with
certain situations present within our soap.
0 We decided we would include locations that are college-
related including: sports fields, canteens, corridors,
carparks, green areas on site etc.

28. 0 I feel we successfully developed our own communal
settings. However, in reflection, we could have made
changes as follows:
0 Could have established more of a recognisable
difference between the two settings for our audience
allowing them to immediately realise where the soap
is based.
0 Could possibly have included issues and settings
outside of college including home-life scenarios etc.