History Of Soap Operas.

Soaps often begin with a ‘hook’ in which one or more of the storylines from a previous episode are continued. The episode will definitely end with a ‘cliff-hanger’ (a suspenseful, undeveloped piece of dialogue or action – for example, a character finding out that their fiancé has just died).

Three, four or even five storylines will be in progress during any one episode, with the action switching between them. As one storyline is resolved, another completely different from the previous one with other characters begins. The characters go from quiet, harmonic (but uninteresting) periods to chaotic, confusing (but interesting) dilemmas. The action simply concentrates solely on the later.

Characters

There are certain types of characters that can be seen to be common among many soaps:

• The Grandmother Figure – A wise old person, usually female. This character helps others with their problems with advice and support. He/She has lots of contact with many of the other characters.
• The Strong Woman – An independent, powerful, aggressive woman. She can usually be found at the centre of conflicts.
• Jack-The-Lad – A male character that manipulates others to his own ends. Often the stock ‘baddie’. This character may become softened over time, and this often leads to him becoming the comic relief of the soap.
• Young Couple – A couple that bravely face the difficulties of life, through their own, serious relationship problems.
• Troublesome Oldie – An older, grumpy, meddling, interfering character, always with his/her nose in everyone else’s business. For all his/her faults this character is still loved for his/her generally good intentions.
• Feisty Young Female –Almost always young, who is always looking for independence. She is usually argumentative and miserable.
• The Boss Figure – Usually male, in a position of authority. He continues his natural authority and leadership into his personal life. He may also be combined with the Jack-the-lad character.

Music and Camerawork

Music is rarely used in soaps, well except the theme tune and background music. Lighting varies from soap to soap and generally is pretty basic and natural again to make the soap realistic and believable - special effects are not used. This helps to create realistic light levels and adds to realism. Camera work is basic – shots such as ‘point of view’ or ‘high angle’ are not used in soaps. The camera shows the action very much like a casual observer would see it if they were actually in the scene. Scenes are generally short, to avoid the audience becoming bored - two minutes or so is considered to be the maximum viewing time for one scene. Instead, a soap opera features many short scenes, switching between different storylines.

Settings and Storylines

British soaps have a strong regional identity – for example, Eastenders is set in , Manchester is the setting for Coronation Street. This is not just to attract viewers from that specific area, but also to make it more realistic. Soaps set in rural areas are usually more community based, with fewer characters, who treat each other better than in a larger, urban-set soap.

They are deeply community based and usually have a central meeting point (often a pub) where all the characters meet. The Queen Vic from Eastenders and The Rover’s Return pubs from Coronation Street. These meeting points are featured in every episode and are often the settings for major events in the history of the soap. Their important position in the soap makes them important tourist places that fans visit from far to visit this meeting point in real life.

British soaps deal with real life issues people have such as homosexuality, drugs and underage pregnancies.

The Appeal of Soaps

Many people watch soaps because it pleases us to see and hear other people’s problems, because it distracts us from our own. However, a soap opera has no victims, as the characters, of course, are not real. We like to make guesses about their actions and reactions based on our knowledge of them. We like to see them develop as we get to know them, and we enjoy learning about the relationships between characters. We become experts on our favourite soaps, we like to watch other people’s lives, as, in the case of soap operas, they are just like ours, but more interesting.