Soap Opera Genre –

Independent Textual Analysis

Name: Hannah D’SouzaCandidate Number: 6827Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

OCR Media Studies – A2 Level

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio

Trailer 1 – Eastenders: Hurricane Sharon Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1v_2Xf7Xss

Verbal CodesDialogue – The trailer consists of no dialogue between the characters as it is mainly taken up by the non-diegetic sounds. This is significant as non-verbal codes such as facial expressions usually express the emotions of the characters without revealing a lot of the narrative through the trailer. Voiceover – “There’s one heck of a storm coming. Sharon’s back.” The use of this voiceover at the end of the trailer ‘signifies’ (De Saussure) the importance of the episode available to the audience on BBC1. It also links in with the theme of the trailer as the lexis ‘storm’ has a polysemic meaning which connotes the ‘storm’ is personified to Sharon, or could also connote her bringing a storm with her. Additionally, the short sentence “Sharon’s back” creates excitement or maybe worry in the minds of the audience, thus compelling them to tune in to watch the show so they don’t miss out. Sound Effects – The first shot of the trailer consists of the diegetic sound of the pub sign swaying by the harsh winds. This immediately attracts the audience attention due to the ‘haunting’ sound of effect of the creaking sign. The ambient sound of thunder and winds blowing also create an effect of chaos in the audience minds. Soundtrack – “Oh a storm is threatening my very life today.” These lyrics imply Sharon could be threatening and dangerous to the East End community. “War, children it’s just a shot away.” These lyrics ‘signify’ that just as the storm is around the corner, so is the war coming with Sharon.

Non-Verbal Codes –Setting- The setting of the trailer is in the ‘East End’ which links in with the name of the soap. The audience are able to ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with this as the text is based around the working class community in this area. Also, the trailer itself starts with a dystopian setting that’s dark and chaotic due to the ‘storm’ which is Sharon. The first shot of the ‘Queen Victoria’ pub is a place the audience are able to relate to and immediately know the trailer is from EastEnders. Furthermore, the trailer is shot on the streets of the East End where the community usually interact with one another. However, the presence of Sharon makes people run into their houses and hide which gives the audience a negative feeling about her character. Lighting- Low key lighting is used in the trailer to connote the dark, mysterious character of Sharon. This works well with the personification of her being the ‘storm’ as it gets cloudy before a storm is coming. This could also connote a ‘disequilibrium’ (Todorov) that the episode might bring, causing the audience to want to watch it so they don’t miss out. The non-verbal codes of everyone hiding from the ‘storm’ for-shadows the upcoming danger that people might want to avoid. Costumes- Everyone in the trailer is dressed in working class clothing which demonstrates the working class attire the audience identifies with. However, the irony is Sharon wearing white in the middle of the dystopian, chaotic setting. The colour white is usually associated with purity and holiness; therefore Sharon could be seen as a saviour to some people as she descends from heaven in an angelic manner in the midst of a storm. This conforms to the polysemic meaning of her character.

Technical Codes – Camera Angles- The trailer begins with a zoom low angle zoom into the ‘Queen Victoria’ sign which the audience can identify with as being part of EastEnders. It also has a lot of long shots with fast pace cuts to add to the chaotic environment and make the audience feel like they’re part of it. It also shows the eye line match of the characters looking at the Tornado which could be personified as Sharon. A high angle shot is also used to portray Sharon looking down at the little working class community of East End making her look dominant over it. Additionally, a broken frame shot of car screen vipers used near the end to hide the character in the cars facial expression as he looks at Sharon in confusion and shock.

Facial Expressions- In addition to this, the facial expressions of the characters used in the trailer reveal that they aren’t happy and maybe don’t see her as the ‘saviour’ but more like trouble. This is revealed through their ‘shocked’ and ‘scared’ facial expressions as they look up at the ‘storm.’ On the other hand, the revelation of the lady in white being revealed as Sharon as she lifts up her veil clearly demonstrates her facial expression as being serious and down to business as well. Character roles- The trailer consists of an antagonists or possibly a villain (Propp) as Sharon is described as a storm, messing up peoples lives. This creates drama within the narrative enabling females to tune in to watch it stereotypically according to Rebecca Feasey’s (2007) ideology.

Long shot of the hurricane (Sharon) approaching their town signifying she’s like a storm.

Facial expressions of characters reveal how they’re not happy to see Sharon back

Editing technique of Sharon descending from the sky wearing white to create an effect on the audience

Establishing shot of pub reveals prime locations of the soap which audience relate to

Trailer 2 – Hollyoaks: Valentines Day Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InV4JpVz5gU

Verbal Codes – Dialogue and Voiceover- There isn’t any diegetic verbal codes or voiceover used in the trailer. This is because the trailer itself is very descriptive through other aspects of the trailer like the characters facial expressions and soundtrack used. Most Soap opera trailers tend not to use a lot of verbal codes to prevent it from revealing a lot of the narrative. By not using any dialogue, the producers leave the trailer to interpretation of the audience itself. This is important as the trailer could ‘signify’ (De Saussure) polysemic meanings and creates anticipation in the minds of the audience as well. Voiceovers are generally important in trailers as they add to the conclusion of what the trailer was about. However, in this case, the logo ‘Hollyoaks’ fading in and out at the end create a mysterious effect which does reveal who’s trailer it was.Sound Effects- The only diegetic sound effect presented in this trailer is the bursting of the last red balloon at the end, along with an added sound effect to give it more emphasis and create a sense of urgency to the audience. The bursting of the red balloons added with the sound effect could emphasise the character bursting the balloon and could connote the fact that he might not like the concept of love or even Valentines Day itself.Soundtrack- “She’s the girl you want her to be.” The use of the non-diegetic lyrics linking with the upset ‘heartbroken’ character could connote her hearts been broken by a man and could signify she did whatever he wanted to and that he might have been in control of her. The second narrative of the trailer, which establishes the ‘repeated’ (Neale – 1980) theme of a multi-stranded narrative, seems to be a happier one as the boy seems to be in love with the girl. However, the song lyrics “Don’t come near, don’t touch…” reveal she might just be playing with his feelings. The third narrative demonstrate a guy with two girls. The non-diegetic song lyrics “take some friendly advice, let her go” ‘signify’ he should let go of one of them. This moves on to the fourth narrative of a man confused with which girl to marry. The song lyrics “let her go” makes the audience realise he has to let one of them go. Non-Verbal Codes –Lighting- The narratives denote low key lighting within the background with the spotlight on the characters within that narrative. This gives the trailer a more mysterious look and creates a lot of interest within the trailer amongst the audience. The narrative of the man with two girls in the photo booth have a higher key lighting which signifies a more happier time in comparison to the rest of the narratives with relationship problems.Costumes- The characters are all seen in dark, dull clothing which could infer secrets or emptiness of characters within the narrative. The narrative with the man going to propose have the two girls dressed in red and black. Both signified with evil, dangerous colours. This signifies villainous characters (Propp) within a narrative. Facial Expressions & Character roles- Different narratives have different facial expressions. For example, the first narrative demonstrates a girl with makeup smudged down her face which signifies her crying possibly due to heartbreak. Non-verbal codes of the girl writing in lipstick connotes femininity which relates to Rebecca Feasey’s (2007) ideology of soap operas appealing to female viewers.

Technical Codes – Camera Angles- The technical code of the mirror camera shot gives the audience a range of different emotions as the characters shown wiping away her tears in reality but is seen crying and frustrated as she gets up and walks away in the mirror. This could express various feelings in the trailer that keeps the audience interested.Shot Types- The shot-reverse-shot editing technique of the second narrative with the boy and girl in the bar establishes the different emotions felt by both characters through their facial expressions. Eye line match of the boy looking the girls phone number. Additionally, extreme close of the girl writing in lipstick. Black and white shots of the pictures taken in the picture booth. Lots of close ups to connote importance to a certain feature. Example, the man’s face with red paint splashed on it to connote he might be guilty of murder as red represents blood. Slow motion is used to create a major impact of importance to the audience. The non verbal code of the red paint splashing on the characters face would signify him being an antagonist with blood on his hands.Camera Movement- There isn’t any camera movement in this trailer.

Extreme close up of characters eye creates a deeper effect of suspicion in the minds of the audience

Eye line match of the girls number to demonstrate what the character is looking at

Girl writing in lipstick connotes feminism (Rebecca Feasey’s ideology)

Facial expressions of the characters are something the audience can relate to

Evaluation of Textual Analysis – Compare and Contrast

Trailer 1) – Areas of Strength and what you would ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale - 1980) and/or ‘exploit’ (Abercrombie – 1995) Trailer 1 has good diegetic sound of the pub sign swaying in the harsh winds which creates a haunted, ghostlike atmosphere for the audience. This also links in well with Sharon, the ‘storm’ appearing in white from the sky giving it a deeper effect. The diegetic sound is something I would want to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale-1980) in my trailer as it attracts the audience attention immediately from the beginning and keeps them interested throughout with the soundtrack. However, I would want to ‘exploit’ (Abercrombie-1995) some of the editing techniques used in this trailer as they are very professional in terms of the amount of CGI used. Despite this, some of the camera shots used in the trailer like the high angle shot looking downwards at the market place creates an effect of dominance in the character role of Sharon in contrast with the East End community looking scared and hiding in their homes. The whole concept of using the personification as Sharon being a storm is a good idea and would be something I would take inspiration from and like to ‘repeat’ when creating my own trailer. The voiceover at the end is also a strength I would repeat as it gives the audience a concluding comment about the trailer making them want to watch the episode even more. Trailer 2) – Areas of Strength and what you would ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale - 1980) and/or ‘exploit’ (Abercrombie – 1995) Trailer 2, like trailer 1 is very effective in terms of the ideas and themes used to demonstrate the concept of the episode itself. For example, the narrative of the man in the photo booth with 2 girls is a good example of a utopian, happy setting with snapshots in black and white used to capture these moments. However, I wouldn’t ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale) the 6 narratives used in this trailer, but would consider a multi-stranded narrative of 2/3 story lines. I think another area of strength are the shot types used in this trailer, especially in the end with the man holding a heart balloon. The close up of his eye and him bursting the balloon with a straight face really portrays him as a ‘villainous’ (Propp) character. The concept of bursting the balloon which could signify this character ruining Valentines Day would be something I would like to ‘repeat’ in my trailer as it demonstrates some variety in the trailer and gives the audience something to think about and intriguing, making them want to watch the episode. However, I would want to ‘exploit’ (Abercrombie-1995) the use of a lot of narratives in the trailer I create as the audience wouldn’t know what to focus on.