- The document describes the results of a survey about audience preferences for soap opera elements and themes.
- Key results indicated that 50% of respondents preferred weekly episodes, audiences wanted to see young couples and alpha characters, and themes of murder and romance were most intriguing.
- The survey results impacted the creative decisions for the student's soap opera trailer, such as including cliffhangers, daily episodes, working class female characters, and locations like neighborhoods and pubs.
2. Question 1
• In this questions I wanted to
find out how long the interval
between each episode of a
soap opera should be and 50%
of those who I had asked said
it should be aired once a week.
I too think this is a good idea
as it gives the audience
something to look forward to
each week instead of watchign
the same soap opera everyday
which could get boring. This
result could benefit me and my
team as we could announce
that it would be aired once a
week which would attract the
50% of people.
3. Question 2
• It appears in this survey I got
the results that I wanted
except for the young couples, I
thought that young couples in
a soap opera is something the
audience could relate to
mostly. On the other hand I
knew it would always be a
good idea to have an alpha
male/female in a trailer as it is
an inspiring sight for audiences
as the character is dominant.
Because of this survey it could
really benefit my teams trailer
as we know what types of
characters the audience want
to see.
4. Question 3
• For this question I had three
choices for my audience and
they had mainly chosen a
mixture of both, I too thought
this would be most chosen as
it could separate out soap
opera from others by bringing
originality. Having originality in
my teams trailer could attract
larger audiences also the fact
that we will have different
types of narratives in our soap
opera would interest our
audience, especially if the
episode was to be mainly
related to one shocking events
instead for multiple.
5. Question 4
• Here I wanted to know what
themes the audience prefers
to be in a soap opera and it
seems as if they would be
really interested in all 4 of the
themes that I had mentioned
(action, romance, murder,
drama). But they specifically
think that murder and
romance would be the best to
structure our soap opera
around (85.71%), this is mainly
because these two themes can
really be intriguing to the
audience and interesting.
6. Question 5
• In this question it was a clear
answer to as what the
audience wants which would
help out I and my teams soap
opera. 71% of those who I had
asked said that they would
prefer a soap opera to have a
cliff-hanger in each episode as
it could increase desperate
levels for the audience. It will
encourage and persuade the
audience to watch the next
audience if they want to find
out what happens which is also
a good way to either increase
or maintain a soap operas
popularity.
7. Question 6
• This was also a multiple choice
question which was done
because I thought it was
important to find out what the
audience really want to see in
a soap opera. It has come to
my attention that all of the
dilemmas that I had
mentioned will possibly have
to be included in our trailer to
gain the maximum amount of
viewers. This is because these
dilemmas would attract the
attention and create dramatic
events which could lead to a
continuing soap opera.
8. Question 7
• For this question it was a
multiple choice which
enabled those who
answered to specifically
choose a type of person
such as upper class
male/female. It turned out
that Working class females
came out to be the most
picked which would
stereotypically be ideal for
soap operas. A high 64.29%
would be an ideal audience
for my teams trailer, this
would be enough to
captivate attentions.
9. Question 8
• These are the sort of locations
that are usually included in
some soap operas such as
Eastenders and could also
possibly be suited for our
trailer. It would be good if we
had a good amount of these
locations locally like Albert
Square from Eastenders. From
the results that was collected it
appears that the audience
really want to see a soap opera
based in a neighbourhood
(92%)with the stereotypical
pubs (85%) which is mainly
where the drama happens in
most soap operas.
10. What Impact these Survey Results have had in
the decisions relating to the direction of the
soap opera
• The results that I have collected in this survey has impacted
what direction our trailer has taken. We have looked closely
at the results such as what the audience should be which
then had an impact on the storyline. Instead of having two
actors, we had two actresses to make the soap opera trailer
seem dominated by the female gender. However in one of
our questions about when the intervals should be, the
highest voted option was that each episode should be
released each week. Myself and the group decided that if
we have the episode every day it would still create a slight
desperation for the audience but as well as keep them
watching it. Having an episode each day, will keep them
interested as well as it possibly merging with their daily
routine.
11. What Impact these Survey Results have had in
the decisions relating to the direction of the
soap opera
• The survey presented myself and the group
with what the audience would actually want
to see in the trailer. Having said, this, we
though it would be an obvious choice to make
sure that at the end of the trailer there is a
cliffhanger. We realised that having certain
dilemmas in the soap opera will entice the
audience to continue watching as they may
feel as if they are involved (Maslow).