This document provides information about codes and conventions of soap operas, including examples from British soap operas like EastEnders and Coronation Street. It discusses several key elements: 1. Codes and conventions of soap operas include focusing on themes like love, conflict, and cliffhangers. They also have large casts, focus on working class communities, and use regional identities. 2. An analysis of a Coronation Street trailer identifies examples of codes like romance, family relationships, focus on working class communities, and disequilibrium. 3. A deconstruction of scenes from EastEnders and Coronation Street find examples of codes and conventions like multi-stranded narratives, family relationships and conflict,

1. 1
St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number: 64770
Candidate Number: 6515
Candidate Name: Von Aerol Soberano Villanueva
A2 Media Studies
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media –
Production Log
Evidence of Planning & Research

2. 2
SoapOpera Codes & Conventions – Lesson2
1) What are some of the Codes & Conventions of this genre?
YOU MUST demonstrate what youalready know by completing a
“Spider Diagram” ofwhat you know about OR expect from this genre:
Codes and
Conventions
Of Soap Operas
Each character servestwo main
purposes; they are a vehicle for the
plot, meaningthey entice the audience
by causingthe story to moveforward.
The second is to act as a figurefor the
audienceto relate to.
Many soap operastend to
base their characters on
basic stereotypesthat can
supportdifferentsortsof
storylines. For examplea
stereotypical ‘bully’ can
contribute to a more
dramatic storyline.
Soaps have large casts in
which the action moves
between. This helps to
keep the storyline
interesting rather than
focusingon a central
character.
British soaps tend to have a
strong regional identity, for
example, is set in East End
London whileManchester is the
setting for Coronation Street,
This will help to make it more
realistic by placing it in an
identifiable setting.
British soaps generally place a
lot of importanceon
community, asthey are often
set around asmall residential
area such as Albert Squarein
Eastenders.
The episodewill end on a
cliffhanger, which will create an
enigma code(Roland Barthes) as
a way of encouragingthe
audienceto watch the next
episodeto satisfy their wonder.

3. 3
2) Codes & Conventions of the SoapOpera Genre
The Soap Operagenre can be categorizedby the ‘repeated’
(Steve Neale) elements of:
1. Themes (Love, conflict)
2. Cliff hangers
3. Point of call & Ident
4. Strong regional identity (setting,accents)
5. Focus on working class communities
Eastenders (1985 – Present)
Key informationregarding this text:
 Exhibited on BBC1 and repeated on BBC Three
 One of the UK’s highest ratedprogrammes (6millionviewers per
episode)
 Exhibited every weekday on BBC1 at 7:30pm and repeatedevery
weekday on BBC3 at 10pm

4. 4
Textual Analysis Task
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye51O8WBVVM&feature=related -
In your opinion, accordingto Hartley’s Seven Subjectivities, whatis the
target audiencefor Eastenders?
Age 18-40 year olds
Gender Females but may appeal to families
Nationality British
Trailer 1) The Week Of Revelations – EastEnders 2015 Trailer - BBC
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+week+of+revelations-
eastenders+2015+trailer+bbc
What is the Focus of this trailer?
The focus of this trailer was to give a sense of wonder and to engage the audience more by
showing the characters that are suspected of killing Lucy Beale.
Code
&
Convention
Evidence
(Verbal, Non-Verbal,
Technical)
Impact on the Audience
(Katz, Maslow, Hartley)
Romance
N/A N/A
Family
relationships
and/or conflict
Has an effect on Bill’s
family.
-So the whole
community is affected.
Katz theory.
Focus on
working class
communities
People working in stalls
compared to people
working in pubs.
-Demonstrates
difference in statuses.
-(Levi Strauss – Binary
opposition theory).
Maslow’s Hierarch of needs.

5. 5
“Multi-Stranded
Narrative”
N/A N/A
‘Disequilibrium’
(Todorov)
Shirley arguing because
she was not allowed to
adopt a baby.
Hartley’s seven subjectivities.
Trailer 2) Hollyoaks Autumn 2014 Trailer: Featuring Hollyoaks End of the Line.
What is the Focus of this trailer?
The focus of this trailer was to inform the audience of the different characters that
will be involved in the ‘end’ concept.
Code
&
Convention
Evidence
(Verbal, Non-Verbal,
Technical)
Impact on the Audience
(Katz, Maslow, Hartley)
Romance
Romance was presented
in many ways such as a
homosexual proposing to
another man. This event
shows how significant
and how gay marriage is
increasing in the 21st
century.
Maslow (Explorers)
Family
relationships
and/or conflict
One of the characters
said “he loves us, and
we’re gonna start a new
life together”. This
suggests that something
in the past has negatively
affected them. This
causes the audience to
wonder what they did
and may entice them to
watch the program.
Maslow (Caregivers)
Focus on
working class
communities
N/A N/A
“Multi-Stranded
Narrative”
There are several scenes
that link as different
characters come together

6. 6
to the same situation, for
example the court room
scene.
N/A
‘Disequilibrium’
(Todorov)
Todorov’s disequilibrium
concept was presented
several times such as the
hostage situation, the
court room scene as well
as the argument between
the 2 male characters.
These scenes will
encourage the audience
to watch the soap opera
as they will be left
wondering whether the
scene will reach a new
equilibrium.
Todorov
Maslow (Survivors)
Multi-stranded narrative:
A Multi-stranded narrative can be defined as…..
Telling a story from more than one person’s point of view. Telling multiple stories
about multiple characters in an open narrative episode for example.
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
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
Adoption, purity,
Ramadan, Helping
Keeps the audience’s
attention by intriguing
them
 Family
relationships
and/or conflict
Adoption, daughter gets
the dress
Allows the audience to
relate to the family

7. 7
 Focus on working
class communities
Helping the homeless,
social needs
Inform and educate
Disequilibrium’ (Todorov) The party, Ramadan Keeps the audience
interested
 Romance Couple when gifts were
facing them
More personal
relationship and following
relative integration
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 women, and as such it
has long been said to appeal to the female viewer”
1) – I agree with Rebecca Feasey’s theory as, in general, more women watch
soap operas than men. This may also be due to the prevalent themes that are
conventional to most soaps like romance, family relationships/conflict and
strong woman. These 3 themes are common in the most well-known and
established soap operas such as Eastenders, Hollyoaks and Coronation Street.
This leads to other soap operas focusing on these themes. Themes such as the
‘strong woman’ allows the audience to ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with that
character which allows the audience to escape from their reality and, in a
way, live the life of the character (Katz- ‘Diversion’).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8_ApPT6isY (First 5 minutes)
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.

8. 8
Code & Convention Evidence Impact on the audience
Rebecca Feasey (2007) Ideology:
1. Plenty of examples of the ‘strong woman’ being presented. E.g. the nurse
breaking news about the death.
2. Stereotyping of gender roles. E.g. watching TV whilst the man was doing
other tasks.
3. Mise-en-scene= set within homes or involving families. E.g. the street is a
stereotypical example of community.
4. Impact of family deaths on the home.
5. Two women in the bar emasculating two men and putting them in their place.
Casting of the men showed short men, one was ft5’4 with a high pitched voice,
and the other was soft spoken and drank tomato juice.
6. Cross-cut between each scene showed women standing up to man. E.g.
Bethany bemoaning David for not having completed his chores.
“Multi-Stranded Narrative”
 Family
relationships
and/or conflict
The sisters were having an argument during dinner.
Friends were having an argument about football.
 Focus on working
class communities
N/A
Disequilibrium’ (Todorov)
A death occurring, which led to a funeral.
 Romance N/A
 Other Themes &
Issues represented:
N/A

9. 9
SoapOpera Codes & Conventions continued – Lesson4
Textual Analysis
1) What is the purpose of a trailer?
To promote and advertise the film before it is released in media platforms.
To inform the audience and therefore potential viewers.
2) What are the benefits of Multi-Platform promotion of a media text?
 Branding opportunities- encourage creative branding solutions.
 Integrated content across various platforms.
 Audience can gain extended knowledge on the soap opera.

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)
There seem to be people who are against the marriage as a woman said that the
groom is “a pathetic, vile little man”.
The groom is presenting an anxious expression which may suggest that he is
doubting whether he wants to get married. This is an example of a character
dilemma. Furthermore this is a scene where the audience can ‘personally identify’
(Katz) with the character as, usually, people are nervous rather than excited before
getting married.
There are many comments made by friends and families involved in the wedding
which are mostly negative.

10. 10
Since there are many different perspectives of the wedding from the different
characters, they will all come together eventually in once scene and area for the
wedding which is a representation of a multi-stranded narrative.
Next Page - Hollyoaks – “White Wedding Trailer” -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2sW-r9Vb4
1. 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
The non-diegetic music is not parallel with the pace and actions of the trailer. In this way,
a binary opposition (Levi Strauss) is demonstrated as the music is fast paced whereas the
pace of the trailer is slower. In addition, the lyrics of the song say “white” which is not in
conjunction with the costume (mise-en-scene) of the characters as they are all wearing
black clothing. The non-verbal code of the tear may act as a clue for the audience,
suggesting that she is distraught with the situation she is in but does not want to expose
her true feelings from her facial expressions. When the pregnant woman walks down the
aisle, another woman drops a plastic toy of a baby which shatters into pieces. This may
connote that she is against her pregnancy and wants the baby to die. The tear may also
suggest that she is having doubts about the wedding because other people do not approve.
Production Work
1) What is the role of a Producer?
Oversees the pre-production, production and post-production. Manage everyone
and ensure everything is in place in order for the text to look fit for purpose.
2) What is the role of a Director?
Oversee the creative aspects of the production, directing people in front of and
behind the camera.
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.
 The majority of the target audience is people aged 25-40 years old.
 The audience share is 8.4%.
 BBC 2 became the first channel in Europe to broadcast TV programs in colour
which was in July 1 1967.