PHOTOGRAPHIC STORYBOARD

Part 1) Marris lying on pavement
Part 2) People outside pub
Part 3) Houses
Part 4) Beryl reading book
Part 5) Marris in pain
Part 6) Kirk and Dan fleeing
Part 7) Hetty being depressed
Part 8) Marris in pain
Part 9) Pub sign
Part 10) People inside pub
Part 11) Loved-up couple
Part 12) Marris in pain

-Lauren Tween, Amy Bowman & Jordan Kenneally

ANIMATIC STORYBOARD

This is our animatic storyboard which will help us when we come to creating our final soap opera trailer.

-Amy Bowman, Jordan Kenneally & Lauren Tween

LOCATION SCOUTING

We would like to include these white houses into our soap opera trailer. This is because we feel they would add to the individuality of our soap, as these are the sort of houses that are uncommonly shown on TV. By using them, our audience would start to recognise these houses, and if they were to see them on an advert they would link them directly to our soap.

The sitting area is not only where people sit to eat but also to have important conversations; this is typical in soap operas such as Eastenders. We took this picture as a possible location as we feel it would suit our rural soap opera as it is a country pub.0

This is where conversations will go on, between people of the community as a bar within a pub is where people socialise.

Although not a lot happens outside the pub in soap operas, if anything, we thought we could this location to film characters walking into the pub to make it more clear for the viewer to understand where the character is in scenes.

In our soap opera, the pub is also where people can stay. This is to make our soap opera slightly unique from other soaps so viewers are able to see what life is like behind the bar at the pub and into the Inn house.

The sign post could be used to symbolise that the next scene will be set in the pub. Showing a character walking into a pub connotes that the following scene is based around them. If we show the viewers the sign post they won’t think this.

Showing the car park will develop the viewer’s knowledge of the characters as they will know whether they drive/ride bike/walk for example.  This area could also be used for village gatherings such as fetes and fund raising events.

 

This church is situated in the village we plan to film in. By including a shot of this in our trailer, we hope to display the traditional feel of the village to the audience.

This shop is in the village we plan to film in, in our trailer we will include at least one shot that involves this small independent shop. By doing this we hope to convey the community feel that we want our soap to have.

This is the road we plan to set our soap. We will use this end of the road as we think it's quite visually pleasing by the way it has houses, a road, greenery and trees. We also chose this end because of the road sign which we have decided to use at the end of our trailer to introduce the soap name to the viewers.

In an ideal world this location would be perfect for our rural original soap opera.  However, it is inconveniently located in Scotland which makes it out of the question.

 If we were creating a soap opera in a built up area this location would be appropriate.  This location was considered until we decided upon a rural setting. 

 This parade of shops stood out to us as we liked the idea of having numerous shops instead of one corner shop and/or pub as a meet-up area and place to work.

Unfortunately we couldn't get permission to use this pub. Luckily, with our contacts we acquired permission to use the pub featured above.

We liked this cathedral but it was located in a city centre and so was inappropriate as we wanted our soap opera to be a rural one.

-Jordan Kenneally & Lauren Tween & Amy Bowman

AUDITION SCRIPT

This is our audition script we have created for the specific characters we would like to cast for our soap opera trailer. We would like to follow all the common conventions found in soap opera trailers, this means no characters will speaking at all in our trailer. For casting purposes we need to ensure that the actors can act in front of a camera for the full-length episodes.  If we were to make full-length episodes, they would obviously have to speak.

Audition for Marris Morris
"Get out of my pub!" (angry)
"Where's Daisy?" (upset, confused, longing)
"Hello sir, welcome to the best pub in the village, what drinks would you like?" (casual, thinking he's funny)

Audition for Beryl Clark
"Hetty have you found a boyfriend yet? Come on, time's running out, what do you think of Marris?!" (concerned)
"Make us a cuppa Hetty!" (demanding)

Audition for Kirk Hudson
"Yo Dan, Mick and me are bowt to go park innit. You coming?" (friendly, intimidating, pressuring)
"Wonder if Marris has rethought his previous ideas about serving us alcohol." (questioning, thinking)

Audition for Hetty Clark
"Oh Mum, I just smashed my love mug, now I'll never find love" (sad, distraught, hopeless)
"Mum, how do you turn this device on?!" (pleading)

-Lauren Tween & Amy Bowman

COSTUME INFORMATION

Marris Morris
Shirt, jeans and belt.  He doesn't care much for his appearance and wears whatever is comfortable, which is usually the first thing yanked from his wardrobe.

 

The Eastenders character Patrick Trumens costume is similar to in elements to our character of Marris, however Patrick likes to look smart whereas Marris does not care for his appearance.

Another soap character that we would base Marris on, would be Coronation Streets, Roy Cropper. When we cast Marris we will be looking for his sort of hair style.
Our soap trailer will be partly set outside, meaning our character Marris would need to wear a coat, we think Roys coat would be perfect and a good costume idea we could use.














Beryl Clark
Floral frock, glasses.  Even though she is no longer at her prime she still likes to look her best and always puts on a bit of lippy in the morning.

 
Our character Beryl Clark will dress sense is familiar the Eastenders character, Dot Branning. While out and about she likes to look her best as the community looks up to her, but at home she prefers to be comfortable and is seen in her dressing gown or night ware.

Hetty Clark
Unflattering clothing, tight top, leggings.  Wants to blend in and be liked by the village and so wears clothes she feels make her seem young and fresh.

 
Bianca Butcher from Eastenders is just like our character of Hetty Clark, as she always tries to dress well, impress and look young, yet mostof the time, it doesn't always work.

Kirk Hudson
Hoodie, chains, low baggy jeans, trainers.  Likes to wear the latest sport brands and designer wear with money that he has gotten from somewhere.

 

Emmerdales Sean Spencer matches the profile we would like for our character of Kirk Hudson as he dresses as we can imagine our character Kirk to dress.

Dan Smith
Hoodie, chains, low baggy jeans, trainers.  He is easily influenced and wears whatever Kirk wears to be 'cool', to please, and be accepted by, him.

Coronation Streets, Ryan Connor, dresses how we would like our character Dan to look. He tries to look like Kirk to fit in, but it hasn't quite got his style yet.

Dom Morris
Shirt with marks on/overall.  Dom is a hard worker and is always on call so rarely changes out of his work kit which is usually covered in grime.

 
We think the Eastenders character, Minty Petersons dress sense suits our character Dom Morris. He doesn't really care for what he wears because he knows it will get ruined at work, meaning he just prefers to put on old and dirty overalls.

.
Georgia Stimpson
Low cut, revealing dress.  This flirty barmaid loves attention and dresses to impress.  She usually gets her own way because of it, especially from the lads.


We think Eastenders Kat Moon suits our character of Georgia, as she is also a flirty barmaid. She wears revealing clothing and usually dresses, whatever the weather.


-Lauren Tween & Amy Bowman

PROPS INFORMATION

The consideration of props is very important when making a soap opera as the audience have to got to feel as if they are watching real life, so the props need to be everyday items, yet the set and props should not be boring. When deciding what props to have in our soap opera trailer, we thought about items that would mean something and be interesting to watch.
Here are some props we will use:

Props in Pub

As a lot of our trailer is set in a pub, we would like our scenes to look as verisimilitude as possible. To achieve this we will use many stereotypical pub like props as possible. We will take clips from behind the bar of the till, beer pumps, and fridges of drinks, as if it were Marris' memory's. We will also take clips of people making use of the pubs furniture, such as tables in the restaurant area, bar stalls at the bar and benches outside the pub, all showing that people in the community feel comfortable and at home in the pub surroundings. We will include props such as beer glasses, wine glasses, charity boxes, beer mats, spirit bottles, ashtrays and coasters to make our pub scenes realistic to a genuine, working, busy pub.

Hettys cup of tea mug
In the short section which introduces the character of Hetty Clark, we see her in our trailer looking upset with a cup of tea in her hand, trying to console herself. The chipped, old mug which holds the tea will display the word 'love' on it, this relates to the character in question and is also ironic, as she is looking for love but has never fount it.


Kirks dog and lead
In our trailer we hope to have a dog, this will play the role of Kirks best friend and accomplice. In our soap, Krik sees his dog as a status figure, although no one else in the village sees it that way, they just think he has a dog, this angers and provokes Kirk.

Car
In our trailer we will use a car, the reason for this is we hope it will adds to the many questions that our trailer poses to the audience. Who is in the car? And where are they going? We also hope it makes our location show more verisimilitude, as cars are very prominent in todays modern society.
 

Beryls glasses, book and special chair
The character of Beryl will wear glasses when she is reading her book. Glasses tend to have connotations linked to wisdom and intelligence, and this is exactly the type of role we would like Beryl to play in our soap, so hopefully the glasses will help portray her personality to the audience.
In the short time we see Beryl, she will be reading a book, once again displaying her intelligence  The fact that she is using a book instead of the Internet as a source of information or entertainment, tells us that in her life she likes to stick to a traditional, old fashioned way of doing things.
We have decided that if we were to create an actual soap episode, the chair we see Beryl sat in within the trailer, would be a reoccurring prop, it would be Beryls special chair. The fact that she has her own chair, that everybody knows not to sit in, shows Beryls authority and the respect others have for her.


Marris' wedding ring and watch
The main character of our soap trailer, Marris will wear a ring. Audience members who view the trailer, would automatically presume that he has a wife. They would then find out when they watch the actual soap, that Marris had a wife who left him many years ago but he cannot get over her.
He will also wear a watch, this has links to fact he likes to be organised and on time. It also shows how he likes to be out and about where he would need to know what the time is.




- Amy Bowman

SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE COVER

Idea 1

Idea 2

Idea 3

These are magazine covers we designed by following the conventions of soap opera magazines.  We created more than one to explore the different shots we could use and the way we could display them.

In the end we decided upon using idea 2 for our template for our final magazine. We chose this idea as it seems original and different to those you see everyday in newsagents, therefore it would make it stand out on a shelf. The space on this page has been used well, as there is room for the main magazine title, a main story and seven other smaller stories.  

-Lauren Tween, Jordan Kenneally & Amy Bowman

DRAFT SHOT LIST

	Type	Length
Shot 1	Low pan of Marris' body finishing close to face	6 seconds
Shot 2	Pan of people surrounding pub	6 seconds
Shot 3	Tracking shot of houses	4 seconds
Shot 4	Tilt shot from Beryls book to face	5 seconds
Shot 5	Close up of Marris' face	4 seconds
Shot 6	Hand held tracking shot of boys and dog	6 seconds
Shot 7	Close up, low angle of pub sign	4 seconds
Shot 8	Mid shot of Hetty and tea	6 seconds
Shot 9	Close up of Marris' face	4 seconds
Shot 10	Long shot on people outside pub	5 seconds
Shot 11	Mid shot of happy couple	5 seconds
Shot 12	Close up of Marris' face	5 seconds

-Lauren Tween & Amy Bowman

DRAFT SCRIPT 2

Marris Morris: laying on right side on pavement confused/dazed/blinking/wincing
cut
Inside of pub, we see various characters having a chat and drink.
cut
After a shot of houses, cut to Beryl Clark reading, looking interested in the book.
cut
Marris Morris: Blinking as he has flashback of important memories
cut
Kirk Hudson and Dan Smith run away with dog on lead, looking worried and frantic.
cut
After shot of pub sign, we see Hetty Clark with cup of tea looking depressed.
cut
Marris Morris: looking ill
cut
Shot of pub, once again we see various characters, enjoying socialising with each other.
cut
A shot of happy couple
cut
Marris Morris: Distraught at his memories

This script differs from our first draft script in the respect that we have made some minor changes to it in the hope that it would improve the overall trailer.  The biggest change is at the very beginning from Marris walking down the street before being punched to him laying on the floor after being punched.  We feel this will be more interesting for the viewer as they will be questioning what has happened to him.  The rest of the script we have kept the same - we want to create the illusion of flashbacks.  However we have added in the shot of Kirk and Dan running away with the dog to create a sense of urgency, hysteria and excitement to the opening the other shots are mostly slow-paced.

-Lauren Tween & Amy Bowman

PLOT AND NARRATIVE WORK

Soap Opera Narratives

Soap operas are first and for mostly serials , whose conflicts are not resolved at the end of each episode, although cliff-hangers are still commonly employed! In EastEnders, the actors talk of the last page in scripts as the ‘dum-dum, dum, doosh!’-the dramatic high point with which the programme ends. Some soaps employ the Block pot style, where one central story line is resolved but the series still remains a serial with many narratives not resolved. Brown (1987)suggested that soaps have an infinite middle Emotional complications & climaxes : The emotions of the characters are crucial in soaps. Plot Expansion : A plot develops/extends over a long period of tike in soaps; often this can be over many years! Rotating Plot Lines : Shifts from one set of characters to another…this is part of the serial structure.

Soap Opera Themes

 Soap Opera Themes LOVE: From relationships come ambition, jealousy, happiness etc which can all be used in a soap plot. CONFLICT: Always based on personal relationships rather than problems at work. The sphere of action in soaps is definitely based on the domestic setting. SECRETS: The exchange of secrets sets up dramatic irony and conflict where the audience is invited to know more than the characters. (Uses & gratifications theory) SKELETONS in the CUPBOARD: Stops the plot getting boring when new information surfaces about a character’s past!



(This information is from

http://www.slideshare.net/nepaliain/soap-operas )

The Narrative research has helped us with ideas such as non diegectic music; the 'dum-dum, dum doosh!' that Eastenders use for their cliff hangers has helped us develop our ideas as to how we would end an episode. Also as we're doing a trailer and we want the audience to really get intrigued as to what is going to happen in order for them to actually watch the first episode; we need to portray conflict between characters and show their individual personalities behind non-diegectic music. The 'dum-dum, dum doosh!' leaves you wanting to know how the situation is resolved.

Regarding the Theory of Equilibrium we dont want to show too much within our trailer either, showing stage 1) equilibrium and 2) the distrubtion to the equilibrium. So we wont show too much about the characters in our trailer that it then becomes predictable as to what is going to happen.

The soap opera theme has helped us with our trailer ideas aswell and we now have a better understanding as to what themes we can 'distrubt' is you like. So we meet the conventions of a soap opera trailer for new soaps. Portraying stage one and two of the theory of equilibrium.




-Jordan Kenneally

DRAFT STORYBOARD

 

This is our draft storyboard.  We will need it when it comes to producing a photographic storyboard and to aid in filming for the camera angles, timings and framings.

-Lauren Tween

QUESTIONAIRE RESULTS CHARTS

Below is the questionnaire that we gave out, I've then presented our results in the form of pie charts.

 

Soap Opera Questionnaire

 

 

- Amy Bowman

SOAP OPERA QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

 

As soap operas are aimed at all age groups, we ensured we gave our questionnaire to people of different ages to find out what they expect to see from a soap opera/soap opera trailer.  In answer to the first question 'What is your favourite soap?', we discovered that teenagers favoured Hollyoaks, Neighbours and Eastenders.  This could be because of the large majority of the characters being youthful compared to soaps such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale.  Apart from the Neighbours watchers, this young audience were fairly reliable watchers of their soap; circling the options, "All the time, I even Sky+ the episodes and watch them 5 times over" and "I never miss an episode - i'm dedicated".  Oppositely, the teenage people who favoured Neighbours circled the options, "If there's nothing else on, I'll watch it" and "Every now and then".  Obviously, they aren't very bothered about the happenings in the soap and later confirmed this by saying they only watch the soap when they are free, suggesting they do not prioritise the soap highly by making time in their schedule to watch the episode.  A middle-aged woman chose Coronation Street as her favourite soap.  She isn't dedicated and only watches it "Every now and then", however this fits the stereotype that Coronation Street is a soap for older people compared with soaps supposedly for the younger generation like Hollyoaks, Neighbours and Eastenders.

Interestingly, the two non-dedicated Neighbours watchers both hadn't watched a soap after seeing it advertised on television, whereas everyone else that filled in our questionnaire had, of whom were more dedicated to their soaps.  This suggests that avid soap watchers want to watch new programs/soaps and would seek them out, unlike people who only watch television when it is convenient to.  Those viewers who did watch a soap after seeing it advertised did so because the trailer captured their attention for some reason. The more mature, middle-aged woman began watching the soap she'd seen advertised again because of the return of her 2 favourite characters, Kat and Alfie Moon from Eastenders, that were previously in the soap when she used to watch it.  The younger people said reasons such as: "It seemed really exciting because there was a cliff hanger"; "Dramatic music" and because of "Certain characters".

Both Neighbours watchers favourite character was Toadie.  They said this was the case as he was a funny character and "is quirky and interesting"; connoting they watch the soap for entertainment and to escape from their own life.  The other people that completed our questionnaire gave reasons that suggested they would like to know the characters personally connoting that they would be their idyllic friends and family in life; they get emotionally hooked and involved  in the soap opera.  The middle-aged woman's reasoning behind her favourite character, Alfie Moon, was "I have an embarrassing crush on Shane Richie and I like to think he is really just like Alfie".  This backs up the theory of the idealised life created inside the viewers mind.

The avid soap-watchers said they had watched a new soap after seeing it advertised on television, unlike the viewers who watch Neighbours if "there's nothing else on TV".  This suggests that the Neighbours watchers may not have seen a soap opera trailer at all as they do not watch as much television compared with the dedicated soap watchers. 
-Lauren Tween