Soap Opera Trailers

Soap operas all use trailers to attract large amounts of viewers to the soap especially during the lead up to a major story line/event. Trailers are used to attract a wider audience to watch a particular episode of a soap or a certain storyline with most of these trailers being shown in between programmes who attract a similar audience or around a similar time that the episode is being scheduled for. This is known as prime time and enables a mass audience to become aware of the episode, this allows people of all ages, both genders and demographic groups between B-E mainly to see the trailer.

How does analysing trailers help?

When looking at these trailers it is interesting to see when the trailers are being shown on television, in-between which programmes and also how many times a day they are being shown. By looking at all of these things and taking them into consideration when we create our own trailer it allows us to obtain a better understanding of how the advertisement of soap operas can affect the viewer ratings and also allows us to see what successful soaps use within their own trailers that attract so many viewers. By analysing a range of soap trailers it enables us to see what conventions are used within trailers and also if there is any particular technique/convention that we all would like to include that we feel would add to our piece.

Eastenders- 

This trailer allows the audience to see what is going to be happening in EastEnders in the forthcoming week, we can clearly see that there are 4 different storylines that are going to be running alongside each other and may eventually give us some clues as to who really killed Lucy Beale. We see a number of characters within this trailer who all have something to hide and who are all telling some sort of lie, the tense, dramatic non-dietetic music that has been placed over the piece suggests that the lies they are telling are going to have devastating consequences. The sound also relates to the theme of the trailer. The piece also uses lots of fast paced cross cutting between different scenes to show that they are all in a sense of panic and there is also a sense of urgency. "A web of lies is closing in" also flashes up on screen suggesting to the audience that things may be troubled and more complicated than we first anticipated and for one or more members of Albert Square things may soon come to light and their lies may be found out. There is a lot of uncertainty and the trailer only adds to this creating more confusion leading to the viewer wanting to find out what is happening even if the do not necessarily like the soap. 

Coronation Street- 

This trailer is advertising the episode where Tina is murdered and gives us a series of suspects who may have pushed her to her death. The piece of footage showing these suspects is very jumpy and staggered suggesting that the footage may have been edited in some way to create artistic effect. We then see a series of short clips leading up to her death and also events that occurred in the weeks leading up to her death, these are also edited together using cross cutting and shown quickly to confuse and give the viewers lots of information at once forcing them to watch the trailer carefully and even watch the trailer more than once. The piece is accompanied with tense, dramatic non-dietetic music to help convey the emotion within the episode. The social media appeal at the end of this trailer also allows a wider audience to talk about Tina's death aswell as promotion Coronation Street without even realising it, the #WhoKillsTina means that people are able to interact with one another on Twitter and post their suggestions, with today's media concious generation this is extremely important and also something they do subconsciously whilst watching television.  

Emmerdale-

This trailer is to advertise Cain's Judgement Day and we see him walking through the village at night time with very dim lighting and only really focusing on the people he encounters along his walk. The piece has a very slow feel to it as everything has been put into slow motion to really emphasize every look and glare he gives to his fellow characters, this really makes us as a viewers focus on what he has put each individual through and all of the chaos he has caused. At the end of the piece we see Cain being followed by a hooded figure, this again intrigues us as an audience member as we want to know who it is and the reason behind them following him. We are also told that it is judgement day for Cain and want to know exactly what this means? 

Hollyoaks- 

"Some people have secrets" & "Some people can't see the truth" are two sentences that we see on screen integrated within the trailer. There are two main storylines that are being advertised in this trailer which involve the Lomaxes. The trailer presents to the audience the first major storyline which is linked to the Lomaxes, focusing on the affair which is introduced before the family eve arrives, between the father and colleague, John Paul. The narrative furthers introducing "child-snatcher", Sienna, believing that Perri,the youngest Lomax, is her daughter. The story includes cameos from popular UK band, The Vamps, which would attract the younger audience that are interested in the group, meeting Hollyoaks' aim to attract the audience between 16 and 24. The narrative could link to personal identity as it addresses a vast amount of storylines, including a divorcing family, an affair, family feuds and even kidnapping and covering narratives involving mental health. 

[Alice]