The document discusses the evaluation of a media project creating a soap opera trailer. It summarizes how the project challenged conventions of the soap opera genre through the use of nonlinear narratives, cliffhangers, and a strong female protagonist. Research was conducted on popular soap operas to incorporate successful elements into the trailer. Ancillary tasks like a storyboard, props list, and magazine cover helped plan and develop creative elements for the trailer. The combination of main and ancillary texts was effective at representing the target audience and conveying the message of mental health issues in an entertaining way through symbols and character contrasts.

1. Evaluation Q1 and 2
Q1) In whatwaysdoesyour mediause,developorchallengeformsandconventionsof real media
products.
In the beginningof the projectandbefore creatingthe soapoperatrailer,Icompletedresearchon
the soap operagenre inorderto have a clearunderstandingof the formsandconventionsinvolved
insoap operas.
Interestingly,Icouldidentify features, whichare presentinsoapoperas, andthisincludesnon-linear
narratives,which are presentinall soapoperas.Non-linearnarrativescanhave fouror five different
story lines,which couldinterlinkandconclude inamajorepisode.Thisinturnisa convention,which
keepsthe viewerinclinedtowatchmore of the soap operaas theyare interestedinthe outcome of
a certaincharacter or how theirfavourite charactermayevolve tobecome somethingdarkeror
lighter. Byintegrating(DenisMcQuail - 1987) a non-linearnarrative itgivesthe viewersinsightinto
the circumstancesof othersand createssocial empathy,whichthereforeteachesthe viewerto
understandotherpeople’ssituations, andevokesthemtohelpone anotherinordertoimprove
societyas a whole. We usedthe non – linearnarrative inorderto conformto the featuresthat
make a soap opera, bydoingthiswe were alsoable to introduce amulti strandednarrative which
createsa varietyof differentstorylinesforthe audience tofollow. The soapmagazine Icreatedalso
followedthe convention
Furthermore,soapoperaepisodesusuallyendin cliff-hangers,which are commonfeaturesinsoap
operas. Thispresentsthe audience with anenigmacode’(RolandBarthes) sotheycontinuetowatch
the showin orderto see howthe story unravels. Cliff-hangersare acommon conventiontoalso
shape the story anddevelopthe characters.Inour soapoperatrailerwe endour clipon a cliff-
hangerinorder to successfullyenticethe audience toeagerlywantmore of the new soap.We used
the conventionfrominspirationof the insanelypopular Eastender’s (KatandAlfie) trailer,which
incorporatesthe conventionandwasverysuccessfulbecause of itingaining over500,000 viewson
YouTube (5/03/16).
The presence of a strongwoman (RebeccaFeasey - 2007) is ideal ina soapoperaand we utilizedthis
conventionwiththe upmostimportancewhencreatingoursoapoperatrailer.Thisisdue tothe
majoraudience beingfemale forwatchingsoapoperas.The use of a strongwomanenablesusto
connectwiththe target audience,thatbeing female 15-24year olds.The ideaof empowering
womenhasbeenusedinsuccessful soapssuchasEastEnders(Rosie) andSkins(Effie),italsoreflects
on society,aswomenare becomingafigure of strengthandby usingthemas the protagonistit
mirrorshowsocietyhas changed.

2. The graph showsthe percentage if womenwhowatchsoapoperas.Thispie chart includesall ages
and we can clearlysee that15-24 isthe prime targetfor soaps.So bydevelopingoursoapoperaand
targetingthatspecificaudience we are clearlyable tosee thatthe mostsuccesswill be comingfrom
targetingthe 15 – 24 yearoldfemale audience.
Our soapopera alsohas a touch of realism, oursoapoperaunderlinesthe issuesof mental health
and the dangersithas on oneself andthe peoplearoundthem. We usedthisinorderfor the
audience to PersonallyIdentify(Katz) withthe characterswe have usedinoursoap.Mental health
has become akeyissue insocietyandby targetingthisissue we are able toraise awarenessfor
mental healthproblemsspecificallyinyounger ages,which are becomingmore prevalentastime
goeson.We alsousedthe realism of everydayactivitiessuchasourpark scene;thisshowshow our
soap operaconformstoreal life aswe have embedded keyconventionsessential increating
escapism(DenisMcQuail - 1987) for the audience.
In our soapoperatrailerwe Repeated(SteveNeil)the conventionsof soapoperatrailers.We useda
flashbackinorderto setthe scene and enable the audiencetofigure the directionof the trailer
before the trailerends.Thisspeculationaddstothe intense guessinggame of how the soapwill play
out andkeepsthe audience onedge astheybegintowantto watch the soap opera. By doingthis
we ensuredtokeepthe successful elementsof asoapoperawhile incorporatingourownideasin
orderto make the productour own.

3. Q2) How effective is the combinationof yourmainandancillarytexts.
The effectivenessof bothof myancillaryandmaintextsare successful tothe conventionsof asoap
opera,the posterhoweveritisespeciallyeffectiveinpresentingthe message of depression.The
coloursusedinthe logoare red,white anda woodencrossto represent the somewhatfall from
grace as one of the charactershave committedmurderwithinthe soapopera. The redindicatesthe
blood,whichisforeshadowedinthe posterasIhave implementedthe blackbackgroundtobringto
lightthe darkerside of the characters.
The ancillarytasksallowedme todevelopaninitialideaof how the soapoperamagazine will take
shape.Thisallowedme toexplore tocreative elementsIwoulduse andembedintomyownsoap
operamagazine.The handdrawndesignwasa great advantage inshowinghow Ihad an ideaof
whatI wantedthe designtobe.I woulduse botha female anda male forthe mainimage,which
enablesamale gaze (Laura Mulvey) fromthe male readership. The femaleinthe mainimage inflicts
the Female Gaze (DianaSaco) and thisinturn wouldcapture the attentionof the female audience,
whichisthe majorityinthe soap operaviewership.Sobyusingthisconventionof usingamale
model Ihave capturedthe main audience.ButIhave alsouseda female model,whichinturndiverts
the viewershipdownthe middle andrepresentsthe audience we have beentargeting.Therefore I
have developedmyancillarytaskandmymaintask focusingonthe target audience of mysoap
operaand effectivelyutilizingthisthroughthe modelsIhave usedinmymaintask.
The storyboard was usedas a guideline of whatwe wantedtounfoldinthe trailer,there were some
changesthroughoutthe filmingbutthe storyboardwasstill utilizedasakeypart of our planning.
Thiswas successful indevelopingthe finalproductasmy teamand I knew whatwe wantedtofilm
as a basisof the soap opera.The minorchangeswere tofocus onthe multi-strandednarrativeand
not followthe eventsof one character.Thisinturn made our soap operatrailerbetterasit isa
prominentfeature insoapoperas,sousingthe feature will make oursoapoperamore successful
and realisticintermsof soapoperato appearon BBC Two.
Interestingly,the proplistwasanothertaskwhichhelpedwiththe planningsignificantly,when
filmingwe came upwithnewideasforthe final product.Thisincludesascene withchangingthe top
of one of the characters inorder to make the mirrorscene more effective inshowing the insanityof
the character. Thissignificantlyhelpedwiththe planning, asIwas able to initialiseamore varied
soap operatrailerwithgreatercreativity,whichis available inthe trailer. However,we didn’tneed
to use all of the propsbut we still attemptedtouse the propsas bestwe couldto capture any
essential footage,whichwill have agreaterimpactonthe soap trailerbeingsuccessful.
Our researchonthe differentsoapopera’sinspiredandaidedthe craftingof ourwork,skins(season
5 trailer) wasperhapsthe greatestinspirationasithada similartargetaudience andwascreative in
presentinganinterestingstorywhichinstantlygrabbedthe attentionof the targetaudience and
otheraudiencesalike. Thiswasgreatforpresentingthe scenarioof whatthe characterswill face
throughhiddenmeaningsandsymbols.We triedtouse thisas muchas possible,symbolsbeingkey
for hintingcertainevents,whichcouldpotentiallyunfold inthe soap.IlookedatEastEndersand

4. Hollyoakstoreviewhowwe couldspinamore sinisterglare onthe soapopera,whichwasa element
we were particularlylookingfor.
Lastly, I wantedtouse two characters thatare BinaryOpposites(Levi Strauss) toeachotherinorder
to showhoweach character will varyinthe soap opera. Thisisalsohelpsthe audience topersonally
identify(Katz)withthe characters,asall people are differentinsocietyandsuffers fromemotional
differences.Soby capturingthese two charactersthatare polar opposites itwouldhelpthe
audience toidentify withhowall individualsare different. Thisaffectedthe mainpostertask,asI
was able touse two of the character effectivelyandshow how theyare indifferentspectrumsto
one another,therefore myancillarytaskhadandramatic effectinshowinghow the characters
representthe average personinsociety.