Conventions of a Soap Opera
Coronation Street's opening sequences throughout the years.  A relationship scene in EastEnders (2010)  Set of Coronation Street in a town environment  Dramatic homosexuality story featuring Aaron and Jackson in Emmerdale (2011)  Whole cast of Hollyoaks (2010) | British soap operas almost always follow the same similar conventions. They usually run as a serial drama that never-end, running week-in and week-out all year round applying times of years to the time within the soap. e.g. EastEnders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, etc. run all year around even showing on holiday occasions such as Christmas Day having a special applying to the holiday. The continuous storylines deal with domestic themes and personal relationships within the characters within the show enabling the viewer to delve into the lives of the characters on screen and connect with them easily. e.g. Storylines to do with relationship problems which are usually shown in all soaps are similar to real life in order to ensure that viewers can relate to the characters. There is usually a general theme tune that becomes well known to all television watchers that helps the viewers the theme instantly recognize the jingle instantly without needing to watch the programme. e.g the original opening titles on the left.. Continuous soaps are used so that new viewers can start watching midway through storylines or episodes and be able to pick up on what is going on and be hooked quickly. e.g. In Hollyoaks a brief recap of what happened in the previous episode is shown so they are aware of what they are going to be watching. In most soaps, storylines run parallel to eachother and there can be several storylines going on at once which are shown by being switched between throughout an episode. Within soap casts there is usually a larger cast than any usual television series as there are usually families and groups based within the soap which the storylines are based around. However, as the storylines move around the audience is allowed to familiarize with all the characters. Soaps are usually set within a small area which includes all families and characters within it such as a small town or a cul-de-sac etc. e.g. EastEnders is set in the square, Brookside was set in a cul-de-sac, Coronation Street is set in a town etc. Dramatic events are always presented to the audience within soaps including recurring, deaths, break-ups, marriages, illnesses, disappearances etc. e.g. The recent cancer story of Tanya Branning in EastEnders in 2011 which has been shown previously through Peggy Mitchell in 1996. Soaps often feature normal characters that the viewers could expect to meet on the street and just be normal people, this works so that the characters can relate and understand the stories and problems that the characters are going through. e.g Audrey Roberts in Coronation Street is expected to be the typical hairdresser as shown within the soap. Most soaps decide to include special episodes through holiday periods adding extra important episodes on important days of the year including Christmas and New Year, the soap working in conjunction to the time throughout the year. Other special episodes can also include times when the characters leave their homes and go to another area where the story is set elsewhere. e.g Whitney running away to Southend to escape her rapist Rob in EastEnders 2011 The majority of soaps end with cliffhangers to ensure that the viewer is tempted to make sure they watch the next episode, this is a technique to increase viewers and make new viewers want to watch the next episode and be 'hooked' from their first episode. |
