Textual Analysis of Soap Opera Trailer

1. Soap Opera Genre –
Independent Textual
Analysis
Name: Abigail Ronald
Candidate Number: 2121
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

2. Trailer 1 – EastEnders –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oYy5TUqMXA
Verbal Codes – in this advert there is no dialogue present, the only verbal code used is a soundtrack and the traditional EastEnders
theme tune at the end. The Soundtrack is Lana Delray’s ‘God’s and Monsters’. There is a major significance in the lyrics in which the
producers chose to cut into the trailer, the following lyrics are presented throughout:
• “In the land of God’s and Monsters, I was an angel, in the garden of evil”
The trailer shows the several different suspects involved with the murder of the female protagonist Lucy Beale, these lyrics denote how
one of the characters shown is innocent surrounded by the murderer/murderers of Lucy, However in order to keep the viewers involved
with the storyline the faces shown are those whom you wouldn’t expect to have been involved in the murder e.g. her dad, brother and
step mum.
The use of the original EastEnders theme tune helps to keep the brand identity of the soap.
Non-Verbal Codes – The use of setting in this trailer is effective because the different suspects are located in the square which means that
the viewer is given no hints as to if the suspects are in or around the place of the crime, therefore not knowing who may be guilty. The lighting
throughout the trailer is extremely dark and low key which adds to the mystery, the costumes in which the protagonists are wearing are not
significant in this trailer as the outfits are the same as the ones that they wear regularly in the soap besides the storyline they are advertising. The
facial expressions in which the characters are portraying make them all look guilty of the crime, this is done too baffle the viewer yet again so they
do not know who murdered Lucy. The characters whom which are presented in the trailer all have some significance to the victim, from her Dad to
her Best friend, at the end of the trailer the viewer is presented with the faces of all the characters who appear on EastEnders all looking up, at the
very end of the trailer there is a shot of Lucy stood at the top of a building looking down at all these characters, this not only creates a sense of
pathos from the viewers who liked the character of Lucy, but makes them even more eager to know who killed her.
Technical Codes – By using close up shots of each of the characters, which in turn all have straight faces which could all be perceived as
guilty, the trailer is confusing the audience so that there are no hints as to who killed Lucy Beale. The over shoulder shot of one of the female
characters holding a top with blood on it is also effective because before the shot reverses, the audience doesn’t know which character is holding
the bloody top, creating more suspense. There is then a broken frame shot of Lucy’s brother Peter, by using a broken shot it portrays his
brokenness, fragmented emotions after his sister has been murdered, yet there is later a close up shot of the same character holding a shovel, which
sparks further questions. At the end of the trailer when there Birdseye View shot of the square, depicting all of the characters it creates quite an
emotive feeling for the viewer as the shot shows every single character that features on the show all looking up. This shot type makes all the
characters look helpless, as they are no closer to finding out who the murderer is than the audience is.

4. Trailer 2 – Hollyoaks -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIg64
PbVRjgVerbal Codes – throughout the trailer, the soundtrack is very fast paced and dramatic, which makes the viewer feel
very on edge as you don’t know what storyline is going to be presented to you next. The use of this non diegetic
sounds adds to the dramatic feel of the trailer, the producers did this to keep the audience intrigued in the soap.
Another way in which the producers used sound to keep the audience intrigued was through the use of dialogue.
Unlike the EastEnders trailer, this trailer has dialogue, this is very effective as it gives the viewer a snippet of of the
storylines and what they entail, this is because you witness the characters discussions, which, reveal very little which
in turn keeps the viewer interested in the soap. Conversely, the Eastenders trailer uses no dialogue which is not as
effective as the use of dialogue in this trailer.
Non-Verbal Codes – Setting is a key feature in this trailer, this is because a variety of different locations are featured,
this makes the trailer more relatable and realistic for the viewer. The more diverse settings such as the hospital, and
prison make the storylines and trailer more interesting as these are more serious. Furthermore, the trailer fails to
elaborate on each setting, only showing snippets which makes the viewer even more intrigued as they question why
the characters are where they are presented. By also including both sexes of varied ages the trailer is also widening
its potential audience as its allowing more people to relate to it. If they were to only present only one particular age
group they would limit the audience as only that age group would be interested in watching the soap.
Technical Codes – the use of shot types is also very effective in this trailer, one shot type which was used particularly well was
the crane shot. This is shown when two characters are presented in a filed, but the use of this shot type makes these characters look
extremely vulnerable because they are very small compared to the space around them. The use of high and low angle shots are also
present in the trailer when a character is presented on the floor while the low angle shot reveals someone looking down on him. These
shot types make the person on the floor look threatened and weak compared to the other character. Long shots are also used in this
trailer, the use of this is to emphasis a particular character and draw attention to them. An example of when this shot is used in the
trailer is when a bride is walking down the aisle. Finally, close up shots are used frequently to portray the characters facial expressions,
ranging from shocked to admiringly.

6. Conclusion
• To conclude, I would like to ‘repeat’ (Neale) many of the
conventions presented throughout the first trailer I analyzed.
These include:
1. Over the shoulder shot
2. Extreme close ups
3. Still shots
• I would also ‘repeat’ some of the features from the Hollyoaks
trailer, such as:
1. Crane shot
2. Effective, dramatic soundtrack