1. Soap Opera Genre â
Target Audience
Name: Jack J Connell
Candidate Number: 1103
Center Name: St. Andrewâs Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR Media Studies â A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
2. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 1 -
EastEnders
Socio-Economic Needs â The typical
âEastEndersâ viewer tends to fall into the C1-E
category which would include students and
people who have working class jobs during the
day. The reasons behind this are most likely
because similar types of people are presented in
the trailer, so working class people are attracted
to watch drama that features other working
class people as they can relate to it more easily.
They want a sense of realism that they can
connect with. An example of this is the army job
and the verbal code at the start âslippery geezerâ
which is a working class term.
Hartleyâs 7 Subjectivities â Stereotypically speaking,
soap operas like âEastEndersâ appeals to the female
gender of an older generation as they tend to relate
and sympathize to the dilemmas and issues showcased
in the show. A theory that represents this idea is âthe
home, domestic tribulations and strong women, and as
such, it has been long since said to appeal to the
female audienceâ (Rebeca Feasey â 2007) as there is a
clear example of domestic tribulations. The example
here would be the eye level shot of the relationship
being had between the white female and black male
characters. Generally, people of the middle/lower class
gravitate towards soap operas as the characters in the
shows are predominantly from this class. Black and
white males and females are present in the trailer
which suggests that the audience could be made up of
people from different ethnicities.
3. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 1 -
EastEnders
Katzâ Uses & Gratifications theory â âEastEndersâ
forms part of a routine for the millions of people
that watch the show as well as offering a âsocial
launchpadâ for social interaction (Richard Kilborn â
1992). This âroutineâ is proved by the structured
running times. The audience of this trailer and the
âEastEndersâ series form âpersonal relationshipsâ
with the characters which adds to the drama of
the show. The audience could also be seen as
âthrill seekersâ as there is a lot of physical and
emotional drama within the sequence that has
the potential to be hard hitting on the audience.
Maslowâs Hierarchy of Needs â According to the
hierarchy of needs the audience of this âEastEndersâ
trailer can be denoted as both âCaregiversâ and
âSurvivorsâ. The audience sympathises with characters
that are in predicaments and want characters that they
perceive as being âgoodâ to not have bad things happen
to them. They seek resolutions amongst characters and
want everything to be ok which makes them âsurvivorsâ.
The example here would be the eye level close up
shots of the situation between Jane and Phil, with the
verbal code âwho are you hiding?â people are looking
for a resolution.
Psychographics â The denotation of the target
audience is that they are âmainstreamersâ who
lead a regular lifestyle and would consume this
program. These people can be in work or
education and use the show to get away from
their daily lives as a form of escape into other
peoples lives. These kinds of people are featured
within the trailer and the audience could be
enticed into leading their life and making
decisions based on how people in the show act
which shows that the show has some influence on
its audience. This can be proved as at the end of
particularly dramatical âEastEndersâ episodes
there is a contact number given for people who
may have been effected.
5. Stereotypical Target Audience For Trailer 2 â
Coronation Street
Maslowâs Hierarchy of Needs â Due to the
dramatic nature of this trailer I think that the
audience can be denoted as âthrill seekersâ and
âexplorersâ as there is a lot of conflict between the
characters which is presented in the fast-paced
trailer. The audience seek resolutions amongst the
characters much like the audience of âEastEndersâ.
This could be proved by the cliff hanger ending when
there is an eye level medium close up shot of the two
guilty characters in the doorway with the verbal code
âI wanna know where he isâ. The audience will want
to know if the issues get resolved which makes them
âsurvivorsâ.
Katzâ Uses & Gratifications theory â As mentioned
before, the audience are able to build up a âpersonal
relationshipâ with the characters in the opera due to
the personal conflicts and how the characters are of
the same class as the audience majority. Examples
such as the emotional scenes with the guilty female
protagonist where there is a close up shot of her
crying with the verbal code âI canât do thisâ helps to
prove this point. Much like âEastEndersâ there are set
running times which provides the audience with a
secure event in their day which gives them a sense of
routine.
Psychographics â The casual dress code and
lack of product placement in the âCoronation
Streetâ trailer could be an indicator that the
audience are âmainstreamersâ. An example
would be the pink tracksuit jumper and hoop
earing that the girl at the end is wearing as
these are typical casual clothing items. These
people lead fairly normal lives and use the
show as a form of âescapeâ to delve into
someone else's life. This is why the audience
are able to build up a âpersonal relationshipâ
with the characters. This could mean however,
that the audience may feel the need to act and
make decisions based on how people in the
show do.
6. Scheduling- The soap operas are scheduled to air between 7pm
â 11pm in the evening. This could help define the target
audience as this falls perfectly in line with when people come
home from work which could suggest that the soaps are aimed
at people who have jobs, rather than people who are still in
education. Both of these soaps are on before the watershed at
9pm which means that the target audience are not necessarily
people who like strong language and violence. This is also a
prime time slot which suggests that the soaps will be a big part
of peoples evenings who watch the shows.
General Overview - Overall I think that the stereotypical target
audience for these soap operas would be made up of mostly women
of a middle to working class from a predominantly white ethnicity.
These people are likely to have day jobs and they enjoy realism that
they can relate to. They are stereotypically âmainstreamersâ who live
a regular lifestyle and use soaps as a form of escapism. The age
range of the target audience is wide which is reflected in the wide
age range of characters featured in the soap opera trailers but would
be mainly middle aged people.