The document provides information for a media studies student's advanced portfolio project on producing a trailer for a new soap opera. It includes details on the student's aims, research conducted on soap opera codes and conventions, and an analysis of existing soaps like EastEnders and Coronation Street. Production elements like filming dates and roles of the director and producer are also outlined.

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St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number: 64770
Candidate Number: 6622
Candidate Name: Jade Cook
A2 Media Studies
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media –
Production Log
Evidence of Planning & Research

2. 2
Aims and Objectives
 AO2 – Assess candidates’ application of knowledge and
understanding in evaluating their own work, showing
how meanings and responses are created.
 AO3 – Assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct
media products using appropriate technical and creative
skills.
 AO4 – Assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and
present appropriate research.
Brief Chosen
A 45 second – 1 minute 30 second trailer for a NEW Soap Opera
that will be exhibited on at 8:30pm (after Eastenders)
that will appeal to a Male and Female audience.
YOU SHOULD research when Eastenders is scheduled (Day –
Time)

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Contents
Textual Analysis
 Eastenders
- Soap Opera Codes & Conventions
- Multi Strand Narrative
 Coronation Street
“..the home, the family, domestic tribulations and the strong woman, and as
such, it has long been said to appeal to the female viewer”
‘Masculinity and Popular television’ – Rebecca Feasey (2007)
- Is this evident and how is this presented to the audience?
Research
 Purpose of a Trailer
 Multi-Platform promotion
 Textual Analysis – Coronation Street and Hollyoaks
Deadlines – Production Work
Filming Dates:
Edited Trailer – Complete:
Promotional Poster – Complete:
Promotional Magazine Cover – Complete:
Evaluation– Complete:
Production Work
 Director – Roles & Responsibilities?
 Producer – Roles & Responsibilities?
 Institution research – BBC Two

4. 4
SoapOpera Codes & Conventions – Lesson2
1) What are some of the Codes & Conventions of this genre?
YOU MUST demonstrate what you already know by completing a
“Spider Diagram” ofwhat you know about OR expect from this genre:
Codes and
conventions of
soap operas
Typical storylinese.g.
love, conflict, secrets
Multi-stranded
narrative
Largely targets a
female audience, as
stereotypically
females like to gossip
Brand identity
(ident) such as a
theme tune
Can ‘personally
relate’ (Katz) and
‘personally identify’
(Katz) to characters
and situations
Characters conform
to Propp’scharacter
roles
Often contains racial
stereotypes
‘Strong’ women in
soaps
Stereotypical
characters
such as, Indian
family owning
a corner shop
Usually has
communal
locations such
as pubs, cafes

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2) Codes & Conventions of the SoapOpera Genre
The Soap Operagenre can be categorizedby the ‘repeated’
(Steve Neale) elements of:
1. Love
2. Conflict
3. Secrets
4. Disasters e.g. fire, car crash
5. Death
Eastenders (1985 – Present)
Key informationregarding this text:
 BBC during prime time (7-11pm
 Kitchen sinkrealism-familiar setting
 20 millionviewers tuned into the 30th anniversary (on average
10-15 million)
Textual Analysis Task
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye51O8WBVVM&feature=related -
YOU MUST complete the Table below whilst watching the TWO promotional
trailers for the BBC Soap Opera Eastenders.
YOU SHOULDaim to identify key examples(Verbal, Non-Verbal, Technical)
from each trailer that demonstratesyour understanding.

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Extension- YOU COULD apply relevantaudiencetheory to explain what
impact these key examples would haveon the target demographic.
In your opinion, accordingto Hartley’s Seven Subjectivities, whatis the
target audiencefor Eastenders?
Age 18-60
Gender Female (stereotypically)
Nationality British
Trailer 1) The Week of Revelations
What is the Focus of this trailer?
To build anticipation for the audience as it focuses on the murder of the character
Lucy Beale and leaves the audience in suspense.
Code
&
Convention
Evidence
(Verbal, Non-Verbal,
Technical)
Impact on the Audience
(Katz, Maslow, Hartley)
Romance
Jane’s red lipstick
(mise-en-scene)
May attract a male audience (Hartley) as red
lipstick is something associated with love
and passion
Family
relationships
and/or conflict
Beale family together in
the fish and chip shop
Links to Hartley (family) as the audience feel
a sense of family belonging and may be able
to ‘personally relate’ (Katz) to the characters
Focus on
working class
communities
At the end of the trailer,
all the characters
gather in the square
which shows a sense of
community
Links to Hartley (class) as the audience can
‘personally relate/identify’ (Katz) with the
characters
“Multi-Stranded
Narrative”
All characters involved
in one storyline
although they live
separate lives
Links to Katz, as the audience are ‘informed
and educated’
‘Disequilibrium’
(Todorov)
Lucy’s death-hands
dragged down
windows, CGI used for
scary effect
Caregivers (Maslow) may sympathize with
the Beale family. This can also create a
diversion (Katz) for viewers as it creates an
escapism.

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Trailer 2) Hollyoaks End of The Line
What is the Focus of this trailer?
Focuses on a multi-stranded narrative as it shows fast paced cuts of different
characters involved in different situations
Code
&
Convention
Evidence
(Verbal, Non-Verbal,
Technical)
Impact on the Audience
(Katz, Maslow, Hartley)
Romance Woman asking man to
marry her
Viewers may form a ‘personal relationship’
(Katz) or may be able to ‘personally identify’
(Katz) themselves with the character
Family
relationships
and/or conflict
Man asks his partner to
marry him
Viewers may form a ‘personal relationship’
(Katz) or may be able to ‘personally identify’
(Katz) themselves with the character
Focus on
working class
communities
Fast paced cuts of all
the different characters
Caregivers (Maslow) may sympathize with
some of the characters as they focus on the
character’s facial expressions and emotions
“Multi-Stranded
Narrative”
All characters are
involved in the same
storylines
Caregivers (Maslow) will feel sympathy
towards some of the character’s and their
situations
‘Disequilibrium’
(Todorov)
Train crash,
Car pulled out of water
Caregivers (Maslow) will sympathize with
the characters as there scenes connote
disaster and upset
Multi-stranded narrative
A Multi-stranded narrative can be defined as…..
Different storylines which link together to create a single storyline
YOU MUST deconstruct the 10-minute extract from Eastenders and identify where
the following elements are presented to the audience:
 Multi-stranded narrative
 Family relationships and/or conflict
 Focus on working class communities
 ‘Disequilibrium’ (Todorov)
 Romance

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YOU SHOULD write down x1-2 examples for EACH of the elements above that are
presented.
Code & Convention Evidence Impact on the audience
 Multi-stranded
narrative
All characters storylines
link together
Audience can ‘personally
identify’ (Katz)
themselves with some of
the character’s storylines
 Family
relationships
and/or conflict
Sister’s Ronnie and Roxy
arguing
Viewers may be able to
‘personally identify’
(Katz) themselves if they
have ever had arguments
with their siblings
 Focus on working
class communities
On the market, they all
know each other
Viewers can ‘personally
identify’ (Katz)
 ‘Disequilibrium’
(Todorov)
Closing down of surgery Caregivers (Maslow) may
sympathize with the
characters if they have
been in a similar situation
 Romance Kush getting married Audience may be able to
‘personally identify’
(Katz) with the character
SoapOpera Codes & Conventions continued – Lesson3
Textual Analysis
According to Rebecca Feasey in ‘Masculinity and Popular television’ (2007), the Soap
Opera genre tends to focus on:
“The home, the family, domestic tribulations and the strong woman and as such, it
has long been said to appeal to the female viewer”
1) – Do you agree?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8_ApPT6isY (First 5 minutes)

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Next Page - YOU MUST deconstruct the opening 5 minutes of a sequence from the
popular ITV Soap Opera Coronation Street (1960 – Present) to identify examples of
where this ideology is presented to the target audience.
YOU SHOULD also try and identify, to demonstrate your knowledge and
understanding of the genre, any Codes & Conventions associated to the Soap Opera
genre.
“Multi-Stranded Narrative” Focuses on the loss of family from a fire
 Family
relationships
and/or conflict
Jason supporting his mum and her friend in the pub
 Focus on working
class communities
Working in the pub-a place where everyone can meet
as a community
Disequilibrium’ (Todorov) Death from the fire,
At the hospital,
Breaking the bad news to Simon
 Other Themes &
Issues represented:
Domestic tribulations of Carla and Leanne arguing in
the street

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SoapOpera Codes & Conventions continued – Lesson4
Textual Analysis
1) What is the purpose of a trailer?
To give the audience a glimpse of the soap opera to see if it appeals to them
2) What are the benefits of Multi-Platform promotion of a media text?
 Targets a wider audience
 Increase viewing figures and popularity
Ultimately, some form of Convergence is important when promoting a text to the
target audience.
3)
Textual Analysis –
Next Page - YOU MUST make notes on the following areas when deconstructing this
sequence from Coronation Street:
 Multi-stranded narrative
 Character dilemmas
 ‘Personal Identification’ (Katz)

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http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hollyoaks/4od
The above link will take you to some of the latest episodes of Hollyoaks.
1. What are the connotations of the ident for the popular Channel Four Teen
Soap Opera Hollyoaks (1995 – Present)?
The Hollyoaks ident connotes and represents the relationships between the male
and female genders, from the gender symbols un the name
Next Page - Hollyoaks – “White Wedding Trailer” -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2sW-r9Vb4
2. YOU MUST make notes on the following areas when deconstructing this
sequence from Hollyoaks:
 Binary opposition of the non-diegetic music
 Symbolism of the non-verbal code of the tear
 Representation of Pregnancy
 Any other examples that would impact the audience

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Production Work
1) What is the role of a Producer?
Oversee all aspects of the production across the 3 stages: pre-production,
production and post-production
2) What is the role of a Director?
Oversee the creative aspects of the production and direct people from behind the
camera

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3) Institution research –
YOU MUST research the institution that your trailer will be exhibited on.
Tips: Programming, Target audience, Audience figures, History of the channel.
 Originally targets the arts, culture, drama and some comedy
 Appealing to the audiences not already served by BBC1 or ITV
 Broadcasts more ‘highbrow’ (intellectual) programs
 Appeals to an audience aged 35-54
 The channel’s ethos are programs that are surprising, celebratory, witty,
warm, adventurous, intelligent, playful, informative and authoritative