Eastenders Christmas Trailer 2009

The very first shot in the trailer is of the Queen Vic which is a sociable place for all the community. This could suggest to the audience that the focus of the Christmas special is the Queen Vic or that something is going to happen there.

Throughout the trailer there are shots of different characters and just giving you a glimpse of what they are going to be doing. For exampe you see Phil holding a weapon and opening a door and then you see him being asked by another character what he is going to do. The trailer is all about setting the audience up to wanting to watch the soap.

Even though this is a christmas trailer for a soap that has been on for more the 25 years I believe that it can help us create our trailer for a new soap because it uses conventions of mystery.

The BBC

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936.

1932 to 1939
Mechanically scanned, 30-line television broadcasts by John Logie Baird began in 1929, using the BBC transmitter in London, and by 1930 a regular schedule of programmes was transmitted from the BBC antenna in Brookmans Park. Television production was switched from Baird's company to what is now known as BBC One on 2 August 1932, and continued until September 1935. 
 1946 to 1964
Television transmissions resumed from Alexandra Palace in 1946. The BBC Television Service (renamed "BBC tv" in 1960) showed popular programming, including drama, comedies, documentaries, game shows, and soap operas, covering a wide range of genres and regularly competed with ITV to become the channel with the highest ratings for that week.
 1964 to 1967
BBC TV was renamed BBC1 in 1964, after the launch of BBC2 the third television station for the UK; its remit, to provide more niche programming. The channel was due to launch on 20 April 1964, but was put off the air by a massive power failure that affected much of London, caused by a fire at Battersea Power Station. A videotape made on the opening night was rediscovered in 2003 by a BBC technician. In the end the launch went ahead the following night, hosted by Denis Tuohy holding a candle. BBC2 was the first British channel to use UHF and 625-line pictures, giving higher definition than the existing VHF 405-line system.
1967 to 2003
In March 2003 the BBC announced that from the end of May 2003 (subsequently deferred to 14 July) it intended to transmit all eight of its domestic television channels (including the 15 regional variations of BBC 1) unencrypted from the Astra 2D satellite. This move was estimated to save the BBC £85 million over the next five years.
While the "footprint" of the Astra 2D satellite was smaller than that of Astra 2A, from which it was previously broadcast encrypted, it meant that viewers with appropriate equipment were able to receive BBC channels "free-to-air" over much of Western Europe. Consequently, some rights concerns have needed to be resolved with programme providers such as Hollywood Studios and sporting organisations, which have expressed concern about the unencrypted signal leaking out.

Home and Away Conventions

I watched an episode of Home and Away so I could determine what conventions were used. These was a theme tune at the start like any other soap and it was quite short.

In the episode there was a continuous storyline and also a multi stranded narrative, however the different storylines were linked by one character who was a psychic. Unlike most other soaps Home and Away had background music through most of the episode which took away some of the realism. There were two examples of typical characters; a fiesty young female who was angry at her dad and his new girlfriend and a young couple who got married quickly and were worried what the future holds for them. Although Home and Away seems to centred around the Bay the characters spent a lot of time in the cafe which could suggest that is where the characters like to relax.

How does an extract from Eastenders demonstrate soap conventions?

In the extract we watched, Eastenders displayed several different soap conventions. One example is family breakups. Two of the characters were planning to kill Dot behind everybody's back. Bianca and Whitney also have a fight during the episode about Whitney purposely missing a maths exam. She says there isn't any point in her going because "everyone else will be working and I will just be sat there". Bianca also hints that she has missed school before which means that this narrative has been continued through some previous episodes. There is naturalistic lighting and diagetic sound through the episode to create realism. Keeping in the background noises creates a better scene for the audience and makes them feel like one of the characters or as if it is happening in real life.


In terms of characters there are a wide range of ages starting from about 10-11 and reaching Dot's age. As well as mixed ages there are also mixed genders. Mixing the age and gender mean that there can be a wide range of storylines to shock the audience and make them want to watch more. If there was only one gender and one age then the audience would become bored and it may also cause an uproar of discrimination. In this particular extract there was only one 'coloured' male which could suggest something about discrimination from past episodes. We see two characters walking through the square which fits the convention of setting as it is set mainly around the square. Another example is Coronation Street which has Manchester as its main setting.

Hollyoaks Theme Tune and Opening Sequence

Hollyoaks and Eastenders theme tunes are totally different. Hollyoaks used to start an episode showing the audience what happened in the previous episode however now that has changed. The opening sequence is approximately 1 minute 10 because all of the characters are shown with something that represents them and every time there is a new character the title sequence changes. The colours, characters and music that they have used contrasts strongly to the opening sequence of Eastenders. The music that is used as Hollyoaks theme tune is faster than Eastenders and it also doesn't have repetition. What is similiar between the two opening sequences is the end when they show the name of the soap. You can link Hollyoaks to Barthes theory of enigma codes because the first scene is introduced with music that flows from the theme tune and it relies more on visual clues that narrative clues which is what Eastenders does.

Eastenders Theme Tune and Opening Sequence

The Eastenders theme tune has been the same for the past 25 years and although it is only approximately 40 seconds long people remember it because it is repetitive, simple and memorable. Another thing people recognise is the shape of the themes in the opening sequence as that hasn't changed either except the quality of the showing. The font of "Eastenders" is serif and it catches people's eye because the letters have little flicks and it makes it stand out more.

Theorists and their Theories

Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian theorist who analysed folk stories. He argued that "whatever surface differences there might be in stories, it was possible to group together all characters into eight character roles".
These roles were;

• The Villain
• The Hero
• The Donor
• The Helper
• The Princess
• The Father of the Princess (who gives award to hero)
• The Despatcher
• The False Hero

Clause Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss examined how stories unconciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture. These are usually expressed by binary oppositions. His research has been adapted by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbollic oppositions in media texts.




One of his examples is:

Homesteaders                                           Native Americans

Christian                                                          Pagan

Domestic                                                          Weak

Weak                                                                Strong

Garden                                                             Wilderness

Inner Society                                                  Outside Society

Tzvetan Todorov II

Todorov was a theorist of narrative. It is often divided into three areas but the theory is only complete when we consider the transformations bewteen these stages.


Stage One: Equilibrium - all is in order
Stage Two: A disruption of the ordered state by an event
Stage Three: Recognition that a disruption has taken place
Stage Four: An attempt to repair the damage
Stage Five: A return to a new kind of Equilibrium




Roland Bartes

Bartes said stories told through 5 different codes;


Action Codes - a narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action e.g shoot out.
Enigma Codes - a narratice device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved.
Symbolic - Connotation
Semic - Denotation
Cultural - a narrative device which the audience can recognise as being part of a culture. e.g a "made man" in a gangster film is part of the mafia culture.

Conventions and Characters of a Soap

Soaps usually have the certain conventions:

• Serialised Drama
• Continuous storylines/narratives
• Well known theme tune
• Focus on a smaller number of characters
• Plots are open-ended and often interlinked in an episode
• Often set around a small, central area(e.g The Square in Eastenders)
• At Christmas/Millenium they focus on long-departed characters
• British soaps often feature working class characters
• British soaps are realistic
• Episodes often begin with a hook
• They have a multi-stranded narrative

Characters
There seem to be certain types of characters that are common in many soaps:

• The Grandparent figure
• The strong woman
• Jack - the - Lad
• Young couple
• Feisty young female
• Troublesome oldie
• The boss figure

Background of Soaps

"Soap Opera" is a phrase that was first used in the 1930's in the USA. It was used to describe Radio series that were sponsored by the manufacturers of soap powder hence 'Soap'. The 'Opera' part came from the fact that operas were about dilemmas and other dramatic or melodramatic situations. By the 1950's the serials had made the transition to TV. They spread across the world and grew in popualrity.

Coronation Street is the longest running TV soap in the world, however it is predated by a Radio Soap "The Archers" which was a rural soap broadcasted on BBC Radio 4. After the success of several American soaps on the 1980's they began to gain more popularity again. This encouraged British soaps such as Brookside and Eastenders and also Australian soaps such as Neighbours and Home and Away. Australian soaps caused British soaps to reconsider their audiences and therefore their characters. Australian soaps tended to be aimed at teenagers and so Britain followed suit, which proved to be a very good move and now soaps are more popular than ever.

Tv On Demand Annotation - Own Magazine

This is my own magazine. I used the examples of Tv Listings magazines to help me to create my own one.

Tv Choices Annotation

This is an annotation of TV Choices. All of the boxes around it show why I think that the magazine has chosen to do/use what they have.

Tv Times Annotation

Strapline/Lure

This catches the readers eye even though the colours aren't bright like some of the other text. This suggests that it is going to be a happy episode. However "Marlon" is in yellow which emphasizes the characters  which suggests that it could be a shock. This is supported by "Emerdale Exclusive".

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These coverlines are set out like a film reel wich could portray the fact that there are good prgrammes on all the time and they are just flowing. The text "Family" is emphasized in yellow so people know that they are great for all the family. This could appeak to people that want to have a family night in but don't know what to watch.

Dominant Main Image

Again the dominant main image is taking up about 60% of the page. In the background there is a green balloon which looks seperate from the main image but is being used for the same thing, to advertise fathers day. The baby and the mug support this because the baby is wearing a bib that says daddy and the mug says fab dad.

Masthead

Although this masthead follows the usual colour scheme it is slightly different because the dominant colour is red and has a white outline. I think that this is going to make the magazine stand out from the others.

Pug

There is a small image of Andy Murray. This could show the magazines support for him which means they could be encouraged to supports Andy Murray as well. "Wimbledon" and "Come on Andy" are in different colours which makes it stand out.

Whats On Tv Annotation

Pug/Masthead
The colour scheme of red and white draws emphasis to the name of the magazine. It also makes it feel like a newspaper and more professional. The name of the magazine is in the left hand corner of the page because naturally you read it from left to right so it would be the first thing you would read.


Strapline(Lure)
This is the main story headline which goes with the dominant main image. It is in bright colours so it draws the readers attention.


Dominant/Main Image
The dominant/main image covers 3/4 of the page. You can mainly just see their heads because the reader is then able to try and read their facial expressions so see if they fit in with the strapline.


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This coverline stands out because it is yellow and red and there is a spiky pattern around the picture. It is also on the left hand side of the page so it would be natural to look at it. The picture itself gives the illusion that he is already in jail however you can that they are animated. This creates a sense of realism.


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Although the strapline of this says 'DIVORCE' the picture behind it suggests different things. It could be suggesting that it wont be as simple as it sounds. This makes the reader want to read the full story inside.


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This is a coverline that covers another story that isnt to do with a soap. This enables the reader to have a break from reading about the soapsand it also portrays an image that the magazine supports all different types of programmes. 


Date
They have to show the date so that people know when to next buy the magazine.


Vouchers/Pug
This is to lure readers into buying the magazine. It persuades people to buy the magazine because it gives a family a chance to wina better holiday.