Soap Opera Assignment Research Unit 4

1. Soap Opera AssignmentResearchUnit 4
● What are the conventions of the soap opera genre?
● What do all the examples have in common?
● What are the audience expectations of the genre?
Title
Setting - place and time - contemporary/multi strand
Characters
Conventions
Compact - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6piifpn3F8o
● Drama
● 30 mins
● January 1962 - July 1965
● Contemporary
● Multi strand
● Middle class serial set in the more sophisticated era of magazine publishing
Eldorado -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cut73TYxbIs&list=PL2C4FnI7XGUWywnAolfLP58E9AYnyP
pcE
● Set in a Spanish town, Eldorado
● Bar, Pool, hotel
● Contemporary
● Cliffhangers, Open ended
● Multi strand
● 1992
● Not very diverse
Emergency Ward 10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7cz_eV9hNo
● Diverse, first interracial kiss
● Set in a hospital in present times
● Multistrand
● Open ended, cliffhanger
Jupiter Moon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDVXocZzUng
● Set in the future - 2050
● LLEA Space city

2. ● Cliffhanger, relationships, multi story
● Individual characters
● Small budget - £40,000 per episode
The Sullivans https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbQIsTRBe7c
● Set in Australia, Melbourne
● Not contemporary - set in 1940s WW2 times
● Diverse age range, large cast
● Multi strand
Crossroads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj9DrgjgI88&t=258s
● Focuses on a hotel and its staff
● Early 2000’s
● Diverse cast
● Multi strand
● Social issues