How do the Opening credits of Coronation Street and Emmerdale prepare the Audience for the Soaps in Different ways.

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Kate Parkin, 11HB

Soap Operas

How do the Opening credits of Coronation Street and Emmerdale prepare the Audience for the Soaps in Different ways

I'm going to compare the credits of two soap operas and consider how they gently introduce the audience to the soap. The two soaps I will be studying are Coronation Street and Emmerdale. I will be thinking about how each shot creates a certain atmosphere and what helps create the impression the audience receives. I will also be taking into account how characters lives and the locations of the two soaps are portrayed. Finally I will consider the difference in the styles of the music and how this helps to prepare the audience for the story lines that will face them.

The story lines in soap operas relate to the ongoing stories happening in real life. However they are blown up out of proportion because of the small community the soap has to be set in. An audience can only appreciate the different values of a character if there are a small number of them. Current issues that have come through in soaps recently are prostitution in EastEnders and bullying in Brookside. Teenage pregnancies have also occurred in most soap's.

The credits of a soap are very important as it is the first thing the audience will see to prepare them for the story lines that will face them. They have to introduce the characters and the sorts of lives they lead. Audiences watch soaps mainly for entertainment value. However they also expect to receive many other things for example social interaction (be able to debate about story lines with their friends and family) they want to find events they can identify with and learn from in a soap. The producers understand this and therefore incorporate these expectations in to the credits.

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The credits of Emmerdale make it seem as though we are being drawn into the character's lives by long sweeping shots of the Yorkshire dales. These credits take us from rural to urban connoting that Emmerdale is set in a small village surrounded by countryside. Coronations street’s credits also use the same method to show that this soap is set in a big city.

Coronations streets first shot is taken from a high angle position and is of a few terraced houses in the foreground and big tower blocks in the background denoting that the soap we ...

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