Soap Opera Genre – Independent Textual Analysis

1. OCR Media Studies – A2 Level Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio Soap Opera Genre – Independent Textual Analysis Name: Nathan Cordero Candidate Number: 5884 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College Center Number: 64770

2. Hollyoaks: Valentines Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InV4JpVz5gU • Verbal Codes – • Soundtrack - “to suspend your disbelief she’s the girl you want her to be.” • There’s no dialogue present within the trailer, which seems to be conventional for Hollyoakstrailers, as the verbal codes presented solely consists of this soundtrack. The non-diegetic lyrics would ‘signify’ (De Saussure) an unwilling or broken relationship due to an unrequited love. The girl puts on a fake persona to please her partner and keep him with her. Conforms to Rebecca Feasey’s(2007) Ideology of a ‘strong woman’ as it suggests that the woman is misleading the man about her personality/identity. • Soundtrack - “a girl you’ve not seen a lot of before.” • These non-diegetic lyrics connote to the audience a new relationship between a mystery girl and maybe a needy guy and may give the audience something to ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with as they may have come across the situation themselves. • Soundtrack - “you’ll know never know” • These lyrics could ‘signify’ the female characters on screen are misleading the male character by hiding secrets between the two and could cause the audience to feel sympathetic towards the male character which shows the male gender to be emotionally engaged in relationships. • Soundtrack - “let her go” • These lyrics again connote a broken relationship, however, in this case, a love triangle where the male character is torn between two women. The impact on the audience is they could have mixed feelings as they could either feel a sense of scorn towards the guy or they could feel empathy for him. • Non-Verbal Codes – • Make up - Crying – Make-up running • The female character at the beginning has her make-up running which could signify she’s an “emotional wreck” and broken down to the audience. • Prop (Written message) - “Ruby? *number* x*heart*x” • This message ,written in red on a notepad sheet, immediately signifies to the audience the female character flirting with the male character and also the start of new love. This could be interpreted as a promiscuous interaction by the audience and may intentionally create a ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) with some members of the audience as they may have encountered a situation where they have been “hit on” before. • Setting - Red Diner • This represents a retro romantic setting for the two young adults’ love to bloom which could symbolize the innocence of their newfound relationship. The impact this has on the audience allows them to feel the romantic atmosphere. • Make up - Lip Balm • This could ‘signify’ romance and relationship again as the girl puts it on in a seductive manner while staring at the other female which connotes to the audience a female-female relationship and adultery as she is already dating the guy which, in a sense, conforms to Steve Neale’s ‘Repetition’ in soap opera’s.

3. Non-Verbal Codes – • Prop - Roulette Table • This connotes a sort of chance with the relationship, a gamble for which girl the guy would end up with but could also ‘signify’ the uncertainty he feels with his decision or his reluctance to decide himself. • Prop - Bursting Paint Filled Heart Balloons- • This could ‘signify’ heartbreak or malice towards the relationship as the male character pops the balloons and the paint splatters everywhere (could represent his life being all over the place since his heart was broken). The audience could then feel some empathy for the character. • Technical Codes – • Editing - Shot-reverse-shot • The shot-reverse-shot between the female and her reflection could possibly signify a personality divide as she’s emotionally unstable in which the audience may ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with the situation as a female in a relationship that is changing to what her partner wants her to be. • Camera shot - Two-shot • This shot could represent the world to revolve around the two characters to be shrouded in their own romance as it encapturesthe romantic setting and the relationship between them which connotes to the audience evidence of a “young and free” relationship as love blossoms in the exchange of numbers. • Camera angle - High angle • The high angle used on the male character could signify to the audience that he’s vulnerable to a new relationship and that he’s been hurt before and may be easily lead on. The ‘survivors’ (Maslow) of the audience may be able to relate to this as they could have been in the same situation before and it accommodatesto modern society of short relationships. • Camera angle - Low angle • The low angle used on the female waitress connotes she’s the more dominant and confident personality of the two within the scene and may also be interpreted as being the femme fatale who initiates the relationship to lead the male character into the relationship. • Camera shot - Cut-in • The cut-in towards each girls face beside the male could represent the sexual tension in the love triangle to the audience as the whispering of what seems to be the words “black” and “red” in relation to the roulette table for his decision or gamble to see who he will end up with in the end. This is commonly used to allure the audience to certain aspects of the soap opera and give a “push” in the right direction of the narrative.

4. EastEnders – BBC One Christmas 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLI5fXKAt8 • Verbal Codes – • Dialogue - “Don’t give up on me, just don’t give up on me!” • This emotional diegeticdialogue connotes to the audience how desperate and needy the female character feels and may signify the end of the relationship as she is begging the man not to give up on her.This representation of the female gender as “appears” (John Berger) weak and/or clingy which is uncommon in the soap opera’s as the females are usually the lead roles and play an ‘active’ role in the community. • Soundtrack • The non-diegetic soundtrack connotes a sense of an impending climax as the incidental music builds the tension within the situation with dramatic instrumentals playing over the trailer, for example the drums increasing tempo that anchors to the point of the door being kicked open and the burning papers. • Voiceover - Strong, powerful • The strong and powerful sounding voice presented in the voiceover could be interpreted as the atmosphere of a serious nature that connotes the issues shown within the trailer. The verbal code “Eastenders thrilling christmas” connotes a major disequilibrium in the upcoming episode that will have a large effect on both the characters and the audience that can relate (Katz) to the situations that may occur. • Non-Verbal Codes – • Lighting - Low key lighting • This signifies to the audience the dark nature of the issues presented within the trailer and could also foreshadow the future events to be of a negative outcome for the characters in Albert Square which is reflective of the tough, gritty working class ethos of this soap opera in particular. • Setting - Local street • This could signify, to the audience, a community based turmoil which involves the multi-stranded narrative of each character and how one huge dilemma is portrayed from each of their perspectives and how it has affected them. This non-verbal code could also help the audience to ‘personally identify’(Katz) to the characters and could appeal to ‘survivors’ (Maslow) as we do not know the outcome. • Props – Burning paper • This signifies a sense of destruction or a means to an end of the turmoil to the audience in which is a typical aspect of an exaggeration in a soap opera compared to real life situations which ‘diverts’ the audience from reality and becomes the build of tension within the trailer.

5. EastEnders – BBC One Christmas 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLI5fXKAt8 • Technical Codes – • Editing - Fast-paced cuts • This could represent the pace of the action in the scene as it gets out of hand and more unstable with human emotions. The audience would desire more of an action based argument to keep them on the edge of their seats. • Editing - Cross-cutting • This technical code signifies the multi-stranded narrative of the story in which different characters have different perspectives of the situation. This could give the audience a different sense on their own perspective of the narrative/dilemma and maybe feel different emotions and loyalties for the characters that are frowned upon within the scene or it could strengthen their scorn. • Shot types – Close-ups • Typical of the soap opera genre which focuses on the emotional lives of its characters presented which is conforming to the genre by the book as it also allows them to create a multi-stranded narrative on single and multiple issues within the trailer. • Camera angles – High angle on Kat • This technical code signifies Kat to be the weaker character of the trailer which challenges Rebecca Feasey’s ‘strong woman’ perspective as she begs another character to not give up on herand may appeal to the ‘survivors’ in the audience that want her to get through the situation in a happy and stable state.

6. Evaluation of Textual Analysis – Compare and Contrast Trailer 1) – Areas of Strength and what you would ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale) and/or ‘exploit’ (Abercrombie – 1995) I would ‘repeat’ the use of the shot-reverse-shot as it had a massive impact on me and I could easily come up with an interpretation of the possible situations the girl in Hollyoakswas in. I think it’s important to make it easy for the audience to establish a forefront in the situation of the character presented in the trailer, as well as the stereotypes/character role they fulfill. I would also ‘repeat’ the symbiotic relationship of the lyrics with the scene as the soundtrack completely matches each situation denoted to the audience.Another area of strength would be the use of the Red Diner setting to help create the atmosphere between the young teenagers of romance. What I also found appealing was the connotations the roulette table had given as it creates an enigma for the audience to think about in terms of how the characters are gambling with each others emotions. Trailer 1) – Areas of Strength and what you would ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale) and/or ‘exploit’ (Abercrombie – 1995) I would ‘exploit’ the use of a strong and powerful non-diegeticvoiceover as I think it would help denote the nature of the dark narrative that I intend to create for my own trailer within the group I will be working with. An area of strength would be the cross-cutting to develop the multi-stranded narrative as it gave each character their own perspective and allowed the audience to choose who to sympathise with instead of giving the audience a vague character view, which would help us, as producers, to develop our character profiles and to give the audience a sense of who’s in the wrong.