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.
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