Soap opera trailer conventions

1. CODES & CONVENTIONS OF SOAP
OPERA TRAILER
• Can feature small aspects of multiple story
lines (and the narratives tend to be very
dramatic.) Additionally, while story lines tend
to be quite realistic, the way they are
presented in the trailer tends to be more
abstract e.g. the 'Hollyoaks Enchanted Forest'
trailer and the use of masks etc

2. CODES & CONVENTIONS OF SOAP
OPERA TRAILER
• Soap Opera trailers can be as short as 30sec
and as long as 2mins, the average is 60 sec.
The length depends on the ‘type’ of trailer it
is.
• e.g. 'Hollyoaks Enchanted Forest' is just over a
minute long. Identifies main characters in
relation to the story line quickly e.g. in
'Hollyoaks The Wedding' it focuses mainly on
the bride.

3. CODES & CONVENTIONS OF SOAP
OPERA TRAILER
• Has a voice over of the title and date of
broadcast at the end of the trailer. Locations
generally linked to a social element e.g pubs
like in 'Eastenders'.

4. CODES & CONVENTIONS OF SOAP
OPERA TRAILER
• Tends to have non-diegetic music through it to
help set the tone e.g. 'White Wedding' by Billy
Idol runs over the Hollyoaks Wedding trailer. If
the show has a jingle, it tends to be played as
a sound bridge from the last scene to the title
screen e.g. the 'Eastenders' jingle.

5. CODES & CONVENTIONS OF SOAP
OPERA TRAILER
• Shot timing/edits are short (between 1-5
seconds) so as not to give too much of the
story line away.
• Titles of the Soap tend to be named after the
place that they are set e.g. Eastenders,
Hollyoaks, Holby City.