Saul-Conventions of soap

Carrying on research into Soaps as a Genre, I have found more information on the typical conventions featured in most soaps seen on television.

Representation within soaps determines the ways in which most characters are ofter represented for e.g. social class, cultral background age and gender are ofter used to fill the common or specific stereotypes present in everyday society and create a fictional society that mirrors a realistic society that audiences can almost believe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYclw5FJ2Eo

Within the extract of Eastenders featured above we see the character Phil fiting into the characteristics of a stereotypical East London Hard Nut through his agression and violence towards Ian as as he attempts to winds him up over his son being jailed. Many audience members Might be able to relate to Phil's situation because a wide majority of the audience Estenders secures may be parents themselves and may not want there children to incur the same events. The ways in which characters are represented within the Genre of Soaps can vary to enable programmes to appeal within wider audiences and enable particular audiences to relate to Individual characters for e.g. Within the narrative of Eastenders teenage character Lucy becomes pregnant and has an abortion this Particular story line highlights the huge issue of Teenage Pregnancy and also the effect in which Abortion can Have on people and this can cause many audience members to relate to this storyline which is so common in real-life society. Deiderick Santer's main aim as director of Eastenders was to make the programme feel more 21st century by broadening the minority representation and providing a range of different characters for Audiences to be able to Identify with and relate with.

Below: this image features Muslim character Syed entering into a Homosexual Relationship with character Christian.

Above: Picture of character Phil Mitchell Drunk and abusing Drugs after His son Ben was taken into Prison and his daughter Was taken by her Mother..

Realism/Social Realism

Within many British soap operas there are always attempts to create a reflection of the social issues currently being faced by society within Narratives/Storylines. This can be seen within British soap Opera Eastenders where there is a variety of negative storylines within the narrative which can be used to reflect the characteristics of people or specific issues currently being faced within the News and society. A good example of a negative storyline in Eastenders is when Muslim Character Syed Has a Homosexual affair behind his wife Amira's back with character Christian.

Sometimes soap Operas can produce a Very Conflicting Response due to the fact that they can sometimes raise controversial issues which are sometimes sensitive amongst specific members of the Public Most common Issues Highlighted within soap Operas Include:- * Sexuality * Religion * Politics * Alcoholism/addiction *Rape *Immigration *Depression *Teenage Pregnancy * Bullying Realism within a soap Helps to make a soap opera Look as ordinary as Possible to the audience. Realism is crucial within soaps as it helps determine how believable a soap opera is to its audience.

An example of realism within soaps is in the setting of Eastenders and coroination and how it is made to look like an everyday street with no futuristic or non-fictional features as seen in programmes like Doctor Who? so that it is as believable to the audience as possible. However some soaps do bare unrealistic features for example in Coronation Street and Eastenders Narratives all of the characters seem to know everything about one another and in the typical society it is very rare to know every single person on your street. Most of the time the Audiences do not pay attention to these small unrealistic features within a soap due to the High level of Social representation within the narrative and also how the storylines challenge many controversial issues being faced within society.

Also articles which contain gossip based on current affairs within the soap operas can cause audiences to get caught up in the narrative outside of the soap and refer to the characters as if they were real people. Another Realistic element within soap operas is the way in which the narratives are run in accordance to Real-time. The use of night and day within the narrative causes the soap to appeal to particular audiences because it makes the soap feel as if it is happening at the current time. in addition to real time most stories within the soap narratives are run parallel to one another this helps focus on many events and helps the audience to relate to the way in which there are many things going on at one time for e.g. there are many different problems occurring within different peoples lives at the same time.

Above: here is a road sign for the fictional Eastenders Location of 'Albert Square' we know the soap is set in East London but there is no road in London under the postcode E20 or an east London Bourough named Walford.

Left: this a birds eye View of coronation street.

Narrative

The narrative is a crucial part of any Soap opera due to the fact that it is what shapes the storylines within soaps and is responsible for the events which occur within the soap.

Narratives sometimes include:-

* Regional accents

* Storylines based on social Realism for e.g. Within Eastenders and Coronation Street the lives of everyday working class Individuals are portrayed through 'realistic aesthetic'. This can sometimes be crucial in securing audiences as there are many Working class People in the UK. Many soap operas are created for entertainment purposes but sometimes the Issues being raised within their narratives are so realistic that they can sometimes cause the audience to get caught up and develop a need to find out more about specific Storylines which can sometimes cause gossip outside of the soaps. Some episodes end on cliff-hangers and sometimes this is purposely included within soap narratives in order to keep audiences coming back and urging to find out more. Within Many soap the narratives are extremely similar this is due to all of the different Companies attempting to attract audiences by feeding them narratives in which they can relate to.

Saul - Anaysis of Soap Opera Conventions

Analysis of the Conventions of a Soap opera Within 'Eastenders'.

Throughout Soap operas a Narrative is the key Convention in ensuring that the storyline has been correctly communicated to the audience. Within Eastenders I Had noticed that the Narrative is run in parallel storylines in order to give a Sense of real-time and also the idea that many Incidents and events are occurring at one time.

Within this specific episode of Eastenders scenes were extremely repetitive this was evident through the way in which we as an audience continuously re-visited the Narratives of Sam and her New born baby and also The narrative of Phil and His Drug Addiction. Within the episode I also realised the way in which Most of the Narrative was centred on the theme of Children this is seen through the ways in which Sam was represented as an unfit mother through her lack of knowledge of how to bring up a baby and also Stacey’s situation with her visit from social services.Within the Narrative there was a lot of Reference to Peggy Mitchell who had recently Left the Square due to the burning down of her Pub. This was interpreted gossip Within the Narrative as the whole of the square began to speculate and ask her close relatives about her disappearance this particular gossip amongst the cast can also stem into public gossip due to the fact that Barbra Windsor the character Who plays Peggy Has been a member of the Eastenders Cast since it started in 1985.Within the Narrative of this specific episode there are many events in which specific members of the Audience can strongly relate for example Phil Drug addiction can be used to highlight the High level of Drug addicts living in and Around London and also how easy it is for a person to become addicted to Drugs.Also there is a High level of Situations within the Narrative in which Might Stimulate Gossip within and Amongst the Public Audience for e.g. Sam is represented throughout the Narrative as Sly and cunning and this is shown through the way she attempts to play Minty, Ricky and Jack off against one another by asking them all to take a paternity test. This particular incident has the potential to cause Media speculation and gossip and also raises the current issue of promiscuity and contraception.


The narrative is continuous and also run on real-time and this enables the audience to feel as if Eastenders is a part of their every day life and that they can stop watching it for a long time but still manage to pick up the storyline and plot when they return to watching it. Eastenders also becomes very addictive amongst audiences due to the fact that the narrative is so realistic and believable and this why the programme attends to attract religious viewers.Within many soap Operas specific characters are represented in specific ways in order to deliberately portray certain characteristic or stereotypes to the audience. Within the episode I analysed Phil is represented as an extremely Violent drug addicted this is seen through the way in which he Phil confesses his problem to Shirley by saying “I’ve got to change I need you to help me, I put my life in your Hands shirl.” and also by the way in which he has a violent outburst and strangles jay whilst saying “you think your hard ey?.” The way Phil is represented can cause gossip amongst the public due to the fact that his specific character can help to raise issues of Addictions leading to Violence.

Within Eastenders there are many components that may come across as unrealistic a main example of this is the fact that all of the cast seem to know one another and in real life it is very rare and uncommon to live on a street in London and know every single person on your street. However sometimes these specific elements can be shadowed by the other realistic components of Eastenders for example the way in which the narrative runs in real time can some cause the audience feel as if the narrative is real and also become caught up within the narrative.The fact that Eastenders also continues out side of television can also give a sense of realism for example within Radio, television and magazines there is usually publicized gossip about the soap narrative.Within the episode of the Eastenders I analysed the relationships within the families helped to give a sense of realism due to the fact that as an audience member I could relate to certain characteristics for example arguments between relatives and also jeans concern as a mother for Stacy.

The scenery within Eastenders is also a key component of realism due to the fact that the scenery is very normal and that there are no futuristic elements that might be seen in television series such as Doctor Who. The diagetic sounds within the scenes like the sound of the Washing machines and also the radio playing in the background of the laundrette portrays realism to the audience by providing the key characteristics in which they’d expect to find within this particular location for example if the washing machines could not be heard it would seem extremely unrealistic because most people have a washing machine and many people know that they are not silent.