For my GCSE media coursework I have been asked to write about and analyse a television soap or series. During the course of the assignment I will be explaining the following - Definitions of soaps and series - Marketing,
Emma Jackson
Media Coursework
For my GCSE media coursework I have been asked to write about and analyse a television soap or series. During the course of the assignment I will be explaining the following;
Definitions of soaps and series,
Marketing,
Merchandising,
Audience,
Timings,
Plot/Issues,
Sub - plot,
Characters.
I have chosen to write about the popular soap, Eastenders. Eastenders is a fictional drama soap about a small community living in East London.
A soap is a television program that is all about peoples daily lives and the events that happen. Soaps are ongoing, contemporary dramas. Contemporary means that the plots and storylines are all based on on real - life events that can and do happen to real people. Ongoing means the plot of the soap is held out over the episodes. It is continous. Soaps can be split into different categories such as, countryside soaps, city soaps, or police soaps. Emmerdale is an example of countryside soap, Coronation Street and Eastenders, as city soaps, and The Bill as a police soap. The reason television soaps are called soaps is because the soap used to be advertised on the side of soap packets. Soaps always end with a cliffhanger. When I say cliffhanger, I mean that the writers leave an episode with high tension. This leaves the viewers wondering what will happen next, so they need watch the next episode to see how the plot unfolds.
On the other hand, television series have a different way of keeping the viewers interested. At the end of the episode they show you a sneak preview of what will be happening in the next episode. I don't think this is a good way to make sure you keep your viewers because its spoils the surprise. A series has a new main plot for every episode, the plot is introduced as the episode begins and finishes as it ends. Series always have smaller plots. The idea for these is for you to keep in the back of your mind, so you keep watching. The smaller plots are carried on over two or three episodes, like in soap.
To make sure viewers are kept hooked on the soap, Eastenders has its own website, which will attract people and if they find the website interesting they may chose to watch the show. This is called marketing.
All soaps and series have a way to identify them - Eastenders has the pub, The Queen Victoria and Coronation Street has the Rovers Return.
Another way they keep people watching is by letting newspapers and magazines inform their readers of the future storylines. I don't think they should be allowed to do this because most people would rather watch the soap without knowing what will happen next. It makes the soap or series more enjoyable. By doing this, it means more people watch so they get more money. Another Eastender makes its money is by merchandising. In other words, Eastenders produce product which have a connection to Eastenders and try to sell them. On the Eastenders website (www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders) they sell items such as, mugs, T-shirt, books etc. All of which have some connection to Eastenders. They may have a picture of a character or "Eastenders" written across it.
Series are not ongoing. They usually have about 12 episodes, then switch with a different series. Series also have different categories, such as, city and countryside series, relationship series, police, crime and prison series, comedy series, and hospital series.
Both soaps and series exaggerate the plot to make it more interesting and attract more viewers. We know that it doesn't really happen like that in life but we except and believe it to make the soap work, if we didn't they would be no point in watching. We suspend our disbelief. For example, in Eastenders, the ...
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Series are not ongoing. They usually have about 12 episodes, then switch with a different series. Series also have different categories, such as, city and countryside series, relationship series, police, crime and prison series, comedy series, and hospital series.
Both soaps and series exaggerate the plot to make it more interesting and attract more viewers. We know that it doesn't really happen like that in life but we except and believe it to make the soap work, if we didn't they would be no point in watching. We suspend our disbelief. For example, in Eastenders, the characters live in a fictional city called Albert Square in East London. We all know this place doesn't exist but we believe in it.
Julia Smith and Tony Holland created Eastenders as a rival for Coronation Street. The first ever episode was transmitted at 7pm on the 19th February 1985. For the first eight years, Eastenders was shown twice weekly but on the 11th April 1994, it was changed to three episodes per week.
Now, in the year 2002, the standard yearly output with four episodes a week is 208 episodes plus the omnibus repeat on Sundays. However, there are often additional episodes filmed throughout the year, increasing the figure to between 210 and 215 episodes. Eastenders is on our screens for approximaty 95 hours and 59 minutes per year. I think one of the reasons it was changed to four times a week is because that is how many times Coronation Street is shown.
Eastenders is one of the most successful BBC programs in history and to date is topping the charts with viewing figures of 11.2milion viewers per weekday episode, which is equal to 53% share of television viewing.
Eastenders is mostly watched by people aged 25- 45 with 34% of the viewers fitting in that age group. Closely following is the under24's which make up 24% of the viewers. The remaining 42% of the audience are the over 45's. Over half of the viewers are female whilst only 33% are male and 12% of Eastenders' audience are children.
The reason for such a low percentage of children, I think, is because Eastenders is on our screens at round about 7:30pm or 8:00pm and stays there for roughly half an hour. Most children would be in or going to bed. Eastenders is transmitted for our enjoyment, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with a repeat every Sunday.
I timed an episode of Eastenders. The viewing time was 27:06:92 minutes and the credits were 00:31:38 seconds, which together, give a total o 27:38:25 minutes. This is slightly over the target length for Eastenders, which is 27 minutes and 15 seconds. The maximum is 27:40:00 minutes.
I also timed an episode of another popular soap, Coronation Street. I found out that Eastenders is on our screens for about 1 minute and 30 seconds longer than Coronation Street. The reason for this may be that, Coronation Street has a commercial break, which Eastenders doesn't have.
Currently, the main storyline (plot) of Eastenders includes Phil Mitchell, Peggy Mitchell, Sonja Jackson, Jamie Mitchell, Lisa Fowler and her and Phil's baby, Louise. Plots usually inculde two or more characters. In a recent episode, Lisa took her baby and fled to Portugal. Phil wasn't happy about this; after all she had taken his child. Phil followed her to find his daughter. In the last episode, Phil pulled up in a taxi and climbed out with Louise. The viewers were then expecting Lisa to get out, but then the taxi pulled away. Phil had returned. Without Lisa. People were very suspicious and refused to believe when Phil lied to them saying that he and Lisa had came to an agreement. He said Lisa was suicidal and they had agreed it was best for Phil to take the baby. We found out that this was a complete lie when Peggy, was unpacking for Phil and she came across two passports. One was Phil's and the other was Lisa's. Peggy knows he is lying but she refuses to believe it and keeps quiet about it. This is the main plot at the moment, it only involves a few characters, but it is interesting to watch. This plot is typical of the type of plots in Eastenders because it is very well - written and the characters act it well, with these two points, the story really pulls together and seems so real, which is the intention of the soap.
I think it is important that the audience of the episode become aware of the genre, plot and main characters during the first few minutes. It is vital that the director captures the attention and imagination of the viewers almost immediately. Otherwise the audience will lose interest in the story that is about to unfold.
Eastenders is a dark soap. It is very problematic and looks at the negative side of its storylines. I find the soap interesting because for me most of the characters are really believable. However, some of the characters are not acted very well, or have had their parts written poorly. Soap plots are over - exaggerated because I think Eastenders have to try and beat their rivals, Coronation Street. Eastenders and Coronation Street are the two most popular soap. I watch them both, but in my opinion, Eastenders is better. I think this because Eastenders plots are always so exciting and keep me entertained. The writers have to over - exaggerate the themes, to make sure they attract and keep veiwers, but sometimes the themes are not written well at all!
The issues that have been in the plot of Eastenders include, rape, abortion, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, drug addiction, prostitution, divorce, extra marital affairs, unmarried mothers, mixed marriages, murder, gambling, adoption, teenage runaways, Alzheimer's disease, HIV/AIDS, drink driving and euthanasia. I think that it is a good idea to broadcast these issues because all these subjects happen in real- life and it helps people to learn about it and how to cope if it should ever happen to them. People relate to how the characters feel and react in the situation they are pot in. In my opinion, one of the best plots that has been written into the soap, is when Janine was involved with Prostitution. This is because it was so well written and so believable, I really could relate to Janine. The way she had no body to turn to and was forced into doing something as horrific as prostitution, just to survive. On the other hand, I think the plot which happened quite a while ago, when Ian married Mel. I just think the whole idea was really unbeilable and was a pointless plot. In real - life there would be know way anyway would believe something as imaginary as that. It wasn't very convincing for me.
These issues could also be involved in the sub- plot. Sub- plots are just like main plots but they involve fewer characters and are just there for us to keep in the back of our minds. A sub-plot coul be used as light relief from the main plot. Multiple storylines are kept on track to appeal to the widest range of viewers. Perhaps, a viewer may be bored with the main storyline but finds an interwoven narrative more interesting. This achieves one aim- to keep the viewer watching the whole episode in hope of more appearances of the other storyline. The most recent sub- plots in Eastenders are involving Ian and his wife, Laura. Laura is pregnant, but we all know it isn't Ian's child because he has had a vasectomy. Steven, Ian's son has found out that Ian is not his real dad and that his real dad doesn't even live in England or know he has a son. Sonja made her boyfriend Jamie, sneak into Phil's pub to find Lisa's passport. Soaps usually have about three or four sub- plots.
After watching an episode of Eastenders I feel unhappy. Eastenders is not the kind of program you watch to laugh at. It is entertaining but in a morbid way.
Only about half of the cast is actually involved in one episode. They are roughly 35 different characters in the cast, two of whom have been in Eastenders since the first episode.
The two characters that have been in Eastenders since the first episode are Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale and Wendy Richard, better known as Pauline Fowler.
Adam Woodyatt is my favourite character because his character is well -written. He is 34 years old and was born on the 28th June 1968. He was born in Walthamstow. Adam is one of the few cast members to actually come from the East End of London.
Ian Beale is my favourite character because he is a very believable character. This is because if you combine Adam's wonderful acting with the skill of the scriptwriters, it creates a real, believable character. Also, Ian is nearly always written into the script. So far, Ian has been through divorce more than twice, bankruptcy, his wife tried to murder him, he has slept with a prostitute, told his old fiancée, Mel, that his child was ill just so she would marry him and his most recent plot is that his current wife, Laura, is pregnant but the child is definitely not Ians.
Ian Beale comes across as a sneaky, sly, wimp and he likes to get his own way. His I a very weak person. He is selfish and childish. Some would say he is annoying. He always seems to be plotting something but his plans never work. He is also quite open about his feelings, he used to cold and nasty, but then his business failed and he changed as a person. I think he is a bit of a failure. As a businessman, as a husband and as a dad. His business failed when he went bankrupt, he has been married three or four times and his "son" has left him, to go see his real dad. Ian does not seem like a nice man. The reason I like him is because I feel quite sorry for him. Everything goes wrong and I think he deserves something nice to happen. Underneath, I think he is really sensitive. He cries a lot, I must have seen him cry about 5 times, usually to do with his children. Ian is a character I definitely wouldn't like to be, because he has a hard life.
However, the character I would love to be is Janine Butcher. The actress Charlie Brooks has the task of being Janine Butcher. Charlie's date of birth is 3rd May 1981 and is originally from Barmouth, North Wales. Her first appearance in the soap was on 22nd June 1989 when she was only eight years of age. She was the third actress to play Janine Butcher.
Janine is a fairly pleasant character although she is awful to the people she dislikes. She likes to get her own way, and if she doesn't she really can be a frightful person to be near. She is also uses people. She once made friends with a man called Terry, just to get her hands on his money and have a job and a place to stay. Underneath, Janine is lost and insecure, she has no family near her, and I think she just wants someone to care for her. She is very good at pretending to be something she is not. But, I would still like to be Janine because she knows how to have fun and is very witty. Janine also knows how to take care of herself. These are the reasons I admire her.
I watch Eastenders because overall, I find the program is really realistic because they don't exaggerate the issues too much - unlike other soaps. It is also fun and easy to watch. It doesn't matter if you miss one or two episodes because it is so easy to catch up on the plot.
By Emma Jackson
0 set 1.
The pictures and information I obtained to complete this assignment where found on the Eastenders website, www.bbc.co.uk/Eastenders.