Academic Research- Media Theory in 'Bathwood'

Barthe's Enigma Code
This is the theory that suggests a text portrays a mystery to draw the audience in. We included this theory within our soap opera while only indicating the character's problem's with idexical icons such as: wine = alcoholism, pack of cards= gambling etc.

Aristotle's Unities
This is the theory that narratives should be created with a unity of time, place and action. So the story should take place at the same location, in chronological order and with all actions moving towards are logical and moral conclusion.
This theory is already strongly present within soap opera conventions, all of which Bathwood has adherred to.

Evaluation

 Here is a link to our soap opera trailer-

http://www.youtube.com/embed/M-UKUX80cew?rel=0 

During the making of our trailer for the fictional soap opera Bathwood, my group and I both stuck to existing genre conventions, as well as challenging them using a mixture of creative techniques; all within productive features of the editing, camera shots, mise-en-scene etc.

                Ways in which we followed the soap opera conventions are varied. Firstly we had to decide on the characteristics of the core elements of the soap such as: setting, characters, plot starting points, names for locations and characters, etc. When choosing the setting we chose to put emphasis on the fact that we were filming in the working class areas of East Midlands suburbia, providing a theme of gritty realism and pathetic fallacy that would be present within the soap’s storylines.

                Within the trailer we mainly focus on the lives of four members of the Malone family. Barry, the father, who is deeply in debt due to his gambling addiction and moves his family all over the country; on the run from those he owes thousands of pounds to. Michelle, the mother, is the powerful female figure who is having an affair behind her husband’s back, with local troublemaker Tommy Bagwell.

                The two teenage characters within the family allow the soap to reach a wider age range in target audience, by presenting issues that people of all generations could relate to. Scott is distraught over discovering his mother is having an affair, and is in the dilemma of deciding whether or not to tell his father. Whilst Frieda is in a stage of rebellion, going binge drinking and making friends with the ‘bad crowd’ at school.

                All this is similar to the types of plotlines and character types present in existing soaps, yet have enough originality to seem fresh and new. Other ways in which we stick to soap opera conventions is that the soap’s name- Bathwood, is named after the fictional location where the soap is set, similarly to existing soaps such as Emmerdale or Coronation Street.

                Furthermore when analysing exiting soap opera trailers we noticed that in order to convey an idea of plot, without showing direct dialogue, non-diegetic voiceovers where used to give the audience a clearer knowledge of context. This is a convention that we used in the making of our own trailer, such as when Michelle slaps Barry with the voice over saying “I can’t do this.”

                In terms of sticking to trailer conventions we took a more cinematic approach, so that our soap opera trailer would stand out compared to others which tend to always follow a similar format. Ways in which we challenged conventions includes the usage of close ups of each characters face before introducing their storyline, using an eye line match to create more intimacy between screen and audience.

Also the music which we edited together for the sound aspect has a more modern twist opposed to that used in most soap opera trailers, which would help to entice a younger generation of audience. Here is a link to the sound clip: http://soundcloud.com/jaysanderson/alibis-remix.

I believe that the ancillary texts that I have created, of an advertisement poster and the cover of the television soaps magazine, contrast well with the imagery we have portrayed in the trailer. The poster consists of the Malones posing sternly, faces towards the camera lens as if they were looking straight at the audience, almost intimidating them. This is consistent with their working class and troubled lifestyles, making them interesting to a voyeuristic audience.

The colour scheme of this is black and white along with bursts of red text; this keeps the look of the poster modern along with adding colour connotations of passion and anger within the appearance. The magazine cover design has the soap Bathwood as the main article, the theme of red text is continued, and so viewers will immediately relate this colour scheme to the soap. Barry and Tommy are used as the main cover’s characters due to their rivalry over Michelle, a love triangle is a common storyline which shows up in soap opera conventions.

The taglines to these advertisements include “Bad News for Bathwood”, which makes use of persuasive techniques such as alliteration, and “Home Sweet Home, or not so sweet?”, relating to the fact that they are moving into a new home and it isn’t going to turn out as well for them as they’d hoped.

Through audience feedback I have found that reception to our trailer have been extremely positive, with wide age ranges and backgrounds saying that they would wish to watch the soap if it were in fact really running. Due to the fact that we have included characters of all ages in our soap they felt that there was no sign of present absence, because each character had their own individual storyline which was just as important as the others.

I feel that I have moved on dramatically in my understanding of media technology since the beginning of my AS year, through creating my poster and magazine cover I am now able to confidently use photographic editing programmes such as Adobe Photoshop and Adobe In Design, and enjoy the process at the same time.

Also through using video editing software of Premiere Elements, the same as with my AS project, I was familiar with its functions and was able to comfortably spend time editing the trailer, along with my fellow group members, to the best of our ability. Combining split up clips together so they flowed naturally, adding in sound, voiceovers, usage of slow motion special effects, etc.

During filming I was also already familiar with using video cameras and how long to film each particular shot which would be best used in the editing process. We aimed to use a vast range of camera angles to emphasize status, as well as close ups to show the character’s facial expression clearly throughout the trailer.

If our soap were to be a shown it would be on BBC1, the most popular TV channel instituion in the UK and therefore would ensure the most popularity and highest veiwing figures. 

Ancillary Text- Soap Opera Bathwood Poster Design

This is my design for the Bathwood advertisement poster, using the logo belonging to BBC1 and ensuring to including the dates and times of the episodes. The colour scheme is black, white and red to catch the viewers eye and the dramatic taglines ensure people will be intrigued.

Ancillary Text- Soap Magazine Cover Design

This is my design for the cover of a soap opera magazine which Bathwood may be included in. I have stuck with the classic Soap Magazine conventions which have been explained in the annotations surrounding the design.

Here is the pre-rough draft:

Stereotypical Characters used in Soaps (Academic Research)

The Grandparent Figure

A wise, older character. Male or female. This person usally provides advice and support to the soap's younger generation and family members. An example: Pat Butcher in Eastenders.



The Strong Independent Woman

This powerful, sometimes agressive woman can usually be found at the centre of the soap's conflicts. However a countertype quality is usually used where in some scenes she is shown to be soft on the inside of her hard nut image. Maybe shown if she becomes involved in a love interests, but dicipitates after a break up. For example: Kat Slater in Eastenders.



In our soap Bathwood Drive the character of Michelle Malone would fit this stereotype. She is the matriarch of the Malone family and is the rock that holds them all together.

Freida from our soap Bathwood

Jack-the-Lad

A male character that uses other people as means to his own ends, sometimes labelled as the 'baddie'. Over time he could be softened and used to include comedic humour within the soap. Such as Alfie Moon in Eastenders, he served time in prison but is also the shows main source of gaining laughs.



In Bathwood Tommy Bagwell would fit this stereotype. He is the comedic element when with his loved ones however he isn't afraid to get violent when Scott finds out about his affair with Michelle.

Tommy threatening Scott in our soap Bathwood


Young Couple

The puppy love storyline is a classic. Sometimes after facing adversity of being kept apart- maybe by their parents objections. A classic example of this would be Sonia and Jamie from Eastenders.




Feisty Young Female

A typical teenage girl, usually spoilt and argumentative, later in time she could portake the role of the Strong Independent Woman. For example Rosie Webster in Coronation Street.



In our soap Bathwood Freida Malone would fit this stereotype. She is the rebellious teenage daughter of the Malone family; represented when her drinking problem is hinted at in the soap trailer, with her passed out with a bottle of wine.

Freida from our soap Bathwood


Troublesome Oldie

An older, grumpy, humbug-type character, who is cynical and criticizes others. Stcking their noses into other people's business. However through their faults they are deep down good people. Such as Blanche in Coronation Street.



The Boss Figure

Usually a male in the role of authority. Sometimes the pub landlord or an entrepeneur of the local busniesses. He is like this in both his professional and personal life. Such as Warren in Hollyoaks.



In our soap Bathwood Barry Malone would fit this sterotype.He is the gambling business man, symbolised in the trailer with him shuffling a pack of cards with a determined facial expression.

Barry from our soap Bathwood

Soap Opera Conventions (Academic Research)

A soap opera is a dramatised programme which is aired in chronological order, often shown several times a week- all year round. Using the same core set of characters, locations and on-going plots that a dedicated fan will be able to follow through for months on end. When creating Bathwood we took this aspect into account and ensured that we had enough interesting characters for them to be involved in varied stroylines, as well as the potential to grow as individuals. As well as making them relatable for the audience by inclusing everyday issues as well as controversial.

  
Pubs from Right to Left: Eastenders: Queen Vic. Coronation Street: Rover's Return. Emmerdale: The Woolpack.

   Soaps generally have a well known logo and theme tune that changes as little as possible throughout the years. Bathwood follows this convention by obtaining a catchy melody throughout the trailer as well as using the bleak east midlands setting as an indexical reference for the pathetic fallacy of the soap.
   There tends to be set locations in soaps where the local people will meet up regularly and are the settings for the most important scenes such as public arguments, they tend to be Pubs (Queen Vic, Rover's Return, The Dog in the Pond). As is the main building for the Bathwood trailer, the Asfields pub serves as this particular necessity.
   Episodes tend to have one ongoing theme within each episode, in the first episode of Bathwood we feel the appropriate theme would be new beginnings and fresh starts. As it offers the chance to get to know the Malone family as they are in the process of reinventing themselves and therefore they won't be missing out on past events unless they are revealed through flashbacks etc.
   It is common to have special, extended episodes with riveting plots during holidays such as Christmas, New Year, or on Anniversaries (Coronations Street's recent 50th) of the show itself. Bathwood would stick to this convention as whilst it prides itself on being innovotive it would also be good nostalgia for the audience to be able to relate to television interperatations of events that everyone takes part in all over the country. Adding to the idea that soaps are windows on reality.

 
Special Edition Episodes: Eastenders Christmas, and Coronation Street 50th Anniversary.

   Cultural differences can also be seen as British soaps tend to be based around working class life (Eastenders) whereas American soaps tend to focus on the lives of the rich, glamourous lifestyles (Dynasty). In Bathwood we would include fair representations of all races and cultures fairly without falling into the traps of stereotypes, absent presence, present absence, tokenism, etc.

 
British vs. American Soap Operas: Everday family life opposed to upper class glamour

   Cliffhangers are often used to entice the audience back to watch the next episode, possibly ending with a close up of a character's anguished expression as the soap's theme song begins to play, indicating the end credits are about to appear. Bathwood has many storylines that could be used as cliffhangers whether it be the revelation of secrets or the impending consequences of a characters immoral actions.

 
Cliffhangers: Eastenders plotline of a car driven into a lake, character Phil Mitchell to the rescue.

   There are usually a maximum of four or five seperate stroylines per episode, just enough to keep the audience interested, but not so much that they lose track of what's happening. In Bathwood there are four main characters of all ages so the audience would be able to relate to atleast one storyline and then be introduced to other types of dilemmas in seperate parts of the plot. This is what is good about the soap opera media in that it opens people's minds to other ways of life away from their own.

Production Process

Detailed Treatment of Bathwood Drive Trailer

The trailer begins with low angle of the four main characters legs walking across a car park, we cannot yet see their faces so their idenities are currently anonymous, creating tension as the audience wonders who they are. A variety of angles are used to show the characters bodies walking as well as giving a more of a deatiled establishment of the location.

   There is then a side shot of Barry's face, this type of shot is usually used in more cinematic productions opposed to soap opers, challenging normal conventions and hinting to the audiences that this soap will be something new and fresh, providing a unique selling point.

   We then see a eye line close up shot of Barry's face, establishing his character's features, this is done when introducing the other three character's in this trailer, and helps the audiences to differentiate each of them. We are then provided with a long shot of Barry leaning against a brick wall playing with a pack of cards, the mise en scene in this shot hints to the backstory of Barry being a gambling addict.

   We are then introduced to the affair storyline, a mid shot shows Michelle and Tommy hugging, but then she pushes him away and runs off. Showing that their love is forbidden, as she runs away her voice saying "No!" echoes, which matches on action as the screen fades into the next shot.

   The next character's storyline is linked with the affair plot, helping the trailer to flow nicely. We see Tommy pushing Scott violently as he has discovered about the afffair. Showing the audiences that there is conflict between the families of this town. The deigetic banging sound of Scott hitting the wall emphasizes the level of violence that Tommy is threatening him with and alarms the veiwers.

   We then meet Frieda, a wide range of shots to accentuate the mise en scene are used such as seeing the wine bottle in the foreground and Frieda passed out in the background, hinting to her alcoholic nature.

   To finish the trailer wth the audience wanting more, we provide the main character of Barry staring directly that the camera intensely, connoting that there is much more to come in the story. The trailer finishes with a low angle shit tilting to show the Old Badger pub. The main meeting location of the soap and the Malone family's new home.

 The trailer then ends with the Bathwood Drive logo and non-diegetic sound of the soap's theme song, something that will become synonymous with the soap's reputation.