Mind map of ideas for a Soap Opera

1. Soap Opera mind map.
Locations – Lower
Sunbury, Southbank
(London).
Long, narrow road which
has a church, pubs, parks,
a river, bus stops, car
parks and restaurants.
These can all be locations
for our Soap opera.
Narrative and characters – Emmerdale
Judgment day trailer: main character (villain
– Freddie Brown) who is linked and
connected to everyone. Villain walks down
the dark road passing all the locations
where other character's are introduced.
Share eye contact as each person has
history with the villain.
Little detail and aspects are revealed
between characters, for example: removing
a wedding ring – divorce, affairs, rumors
and secrets, couples walking into the pub,
family around a table in a restaurant,
abortion – young girl at bus stop crying,
group of friends walking by the river
individual character's walking down the
street, character's driving past.
Set at early evening
(sunset) bright enough to
have clear footage but dark
enough to show an eerie
atmosphere. Potentially on
a cold/ wet rainy day.
Use big torch lights to create shadows and
highlight main characters and key features.
Title – Southbank, set along side a river.
South Dairy – narrative told.
The Meadows (another option)
Title revealed at the end with BBC2 sign. Tittle will be bold white writing.
Mise en scene
Props – A wedding ring to signify the
divorce.
Pregnancy test to foreshadow abortion.
A car will be used to signify everyday life.
Phone, texts messages to signify affair.
Group chat on phone “He’s here/arrived”
or “What’s he doing here”.
Fake blood for the villain's hands, this will
be the last shot.
Costumes – villain in black clothes, trench jacket,
gloves, smartly presented, middle class.
Other characters – All character's will wear black,
for example black jeans and a blouse, black
dress, black suit with a blazer. This will
foreshadow a funeral which is further signified
through the setting of the church.
Shot types - Slow zooms onto each
group/ individual character. Close
ups of important aspects such as
wedding ring. Mid shots showing
costumes and setting. Establishing
shot further showing settings. Low
angle to show the villain signifying
power and dominance. Over the
shoulder shot and point of view
shots.
Last shot – blood on villain's hands,
close up.
Target audience – 16 -24 years (primary
audience) 24- 50 years (secondary audience).
This is because Soap Opera’s contains
sensitive issues and subjects such as violence.
BBC2 is also known to be a more
sophisticated channel, therefore older people
are more likely to watch the soaps on BBC2.
Also eerie/ a thriller which may effect the
younger audience. Both female and male
audience as every individual can relate to a
character in some way.
Music – Non diegetic soundtrack throughout.
Option 1 : ‘Rhythm of the night’ McDonald's –
we are awake.
Option 2 : Avicii – feeling good.
Option 3 : Bastille – Durban Skies.
Option 4 : The XX – intro.
All of these songs could be potential
soundtracks because they either build tension
and they are dramatic. Durban skies
particularly focus on our narrative as it
describes all of the situations happening with
our soap opera. Rhythm of the night could be
suitable although it is more upbeat it describes
the narrative of the night. The XX doesn't’t
involve any lyrics, engaging beat. Feeling good
could describe how the villain is feeling as he is
the main character and focus of the soap
opera.