1. Soap Opera Genre –
Propp’s Character Roles
Propp’s Narrative Functions
Name: Phoebe Regnault
Candidate Number: 1212
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
2. Propp’s Character Roles
Hollyoaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAE0V4ExSWo
Within the Hollyoaks trailer characters roles are presented. For example a ‘hero’
characters role is suggested when a girl says the line ‘He's the one who's be helping me
though my chemo, now its my turn to do the same for him’. By Hollyoaks including a
serious, well known illness they make an emotional connection with the audience as
most people watching will have a connection with someone with cancer.
The term hero stereotypically relates to a man saving the day and rescuing the princess.
The diegetic verbal code ‘helping me’ connotes that the boys the girl is talking about is
her ‘hero’ and she relies heavily on him. Then by the girl saying next that she is going to
help him reverses the role and makes her the hero for the boy.
3. Propp’s Character Roles
Hollyoaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAE0V4ExSWo
Secondly a ‘villain’ is suggested within the trailer revealing to the audience that there
is going to be some trouble coming up within the soap. A male character says ‘lets go
cause some mischief suggesting he is coming up with a plan to cause some disruption.
Stereotypically villains are evil and want to cause pain, and mischief is a mild version
of this. This idea is reinforced as straight after the male says this, it cuts to an
ambulance, which could put forward an idea that his story line may include sending
someone to hospital.
Another ‘villain’ is suggested when a female says in a tern voice ‘I will hunt her down
and make her pay’ connoting that the female is angry and want revenge. ‘make her
pay’ highlights that something previously has happened and those who regularly
watch Hollyoaks will have an insight of why the female is so angry.
4. Propp’s Character Roles
Hollyoaks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAE0V4ExSWo
Lastly a man is kissing a woman with the voice over saying ‘I spent all these years
looking for a good man, but now I don’t want a good man I want the best one’. This
would suggest to the audience that they are a happy couple and he is her hero for
looking after her and being a ‘good man’. However another woman's voice calls the
mans name ‘Trevor’ which causes the couple to stop kissing and looked shocked. This
implies to the audience that they are doing something wrong and the man goes from
being a hero to a villain for cheating on his wife. This can be called a ‘false hero’ which
is when a character is perceived as an hero but turns to be evil’.
5. Propp’s Narrative Functions
Hollyoaks
Within then trailer a narrative function which appears is victory. At the end of the
trailer a women asks another woman ‘are you the hospital killer?’ suggesting the
hero has caught out the villains and is now going to stop them. The hero (the
woman confronting the other woman) has used her skills to discovery a mystery of
the hospital killer, and being hero ‘saves the day’ be confronting her. Further
more the woman is also demonstrating another narrative of ‘solution’ as she
accomplishes a difficult task of working out who the murder was/is.
Whilst a her character role is highlighted when the girl says ‘He's the one who's
be helping me though my chemo, now its my turn to do the same for him’, the
trailer is also presenting a narrative of someone being rescued. A obstacle is in the
way, and in this example is cancer, but the hero is now being saved by another
hero as they offer support for each other in a hard time. They ‘rescue’ each other
from being alone and comfort each other.
6. Propp’s Character Roles
Eastenders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEZmd2mDwOA
As the music starts, red lights flash and a woman aggressively stabs a piece of meat. This
could represent that her character is a villain and her stabbing the meat is her revealing
that she is evil and can do harm. The meat could represent a person and cutlery she
uses to represent a knife, giving a guide line to the audience where the story lines is
going with that particular character. The camera then cuts to a mans face who looks
scared and his wine glass is over flowing. This demonstrates that the woman is a villain
as she threatens the man, which goes against the male stereotype of being macho and
women being inferior to men.
A false hero is suggested when a man is presenting flowers to a woman, suggesting he is
the woman's hero, and he is a stereotypical gentleman. However these flower die and
flop over, and the man looks cross, suggesting that he could also he a villain. The change
in character role could intrigued the audience as this is an interesting character and is
unexpected.
7. Propp’s Character Roles
EastEnders
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEZmd2mDwOA
A false hero is suggested when a man is presenting flowers to a woman,
suggesting he is the woman's hero, and he is a stereotypical gentleman.
However these flower die and flop over, and the man looks cross, suggesting
that he could also he a villain. The change in character role suddenly could
intrigue the audience as he is an interesting character as what he does is
unexpected, eg holding dead flowers. The flowers dying suddenly could be a
metaphor for the up and coming story line, such as a death, which involves
the villain holding them.
8. Propp’s Narrative Functions
EastEnders
Within the trailer trickery as a narrative function is present as when the male
gives the female flowers, it could be a attempt to deceive the victim, as the
flowers then die. The stereotype of a male giving a female flowers is twisted as
they become a symbol of something horrible and dead. By the villain deceiving
the woman for a short period of time in the trailer connotes that the evil
character is not to be trusted and is going to cause some issues with EastEnders.
Secondly a picture frame cracks which demonstrates that the family is being torn
apart by someone (an evil character). This is an example of villainy in the narrative
as a family member is being hurt by the villain, and is being banished from the
family. The frame then smashes and the glass hits a character who covers his face
protecting himself. This visual image could highlight to the audience that he is the
one being attacked and needs protecting.
