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.
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.
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