Title: Hollyoaks - SOAP Narrative: What happens in the story? In each episode there is always a dilemma that affects a large portion of the village. At least two problems at a minimum to keep the viewers entertained, as that is the purpose of soap. Is it Linear or Non-Linear? It is Linear The story’s gets left on a clift hanger every episode so that the next episode can’t start with the problem they left you last episode. It’s a constant story that never ends – There is always new problems and problems to be solved. Genre: How can you tell? I can tell that this is a SOAP because in every SOAP you have a certain amount of drama in a common episode. Their always is a problem and the characters are always trying to find a solution to the problem Another key thing that gives away that Hollyoaks is a SOA.P is that. In all SOAP’s towards the end the leave a clift hanger for the audience so that they are determined to find out what happens in the next episode. That is how SOAP’s keep their viewers, by always keeping them interested. Lighting: Is it natural or unnatural lighting? A lot of the lighting is natural lightings as the majority of scenes are outside. Why is this? As the soap is meant to be like everyday life, natural lighting gives it that life like feel to the episodes. Little things like lighting will create such a feeling to make the viewers believe how close to life hollyoaks is. Camera Angles: What angles are used? A range of basic shots such as mid shot, close ups and long shots are used to easily show the characters to the viewers so they have a clear understanding. who’s doing what and if there are many problems happening in the village the viewers need to clearly see when the scene has changed by seeing who’s in which problem. Why is this? A range of camera angles can add a different perspective for audience. The director can tell the audience what is going on in the episode by a range of interesting shot types EXAMPLE: in a fight or argument a low and high angle can tell the audience who is the one who is the strongest out of the two. A low angle can tell the audience who’s the empowered individual and who is the less empowered. When there are intense scenes in the episode particular camera angles such as a POV angle can make the scene even more intense. How quick the camera angles change from one to another can also add intensity Editing Techniques: What editing techniques are used? Many editing techniques are used in the episodes of Hollyoaks. Special effects are used to create intensity during the scenes full of action. When there are guns involved the special effects make them look and sound like the real thing. It’s important for SOAP’s to have a unique intro to other SOAP’s so that it stands out. Music and special effects are used to create a memorising intro for the audience. Why is this? The reason why these editing techniques are needed in SOAP’s especially is to keep the audience/viewers interested in the episodes. Special effects especially can make certain episodes exciting for the audience as it’s a chance to add something interesting and action packed into the episode. Special effects gives that opportunity of making episodes different from any others as it can be used from setting a scene to a different location to adding exciting action into the episode. Sound: What sound techniques are used? When tense action is going on such as a chase in a car many non-diegetic SFX are used to grab the viewers attention. When there is action in hollyoaks I noticed that there is a mix of diegetic and non-diegetic which creates good tension because not only do you get their reactions of panicking in situations such as a car chase but SFX to top of the tension. EXAMPLE: In a car chase shouting to each other which was diegetic sound gives you the reality of the situation. Fast paced music to make viewers feel the tension. Mise-en-Scene: What is the mise-en-scene like? There is a village that has a range of different scenes some used in almost every episode and some not regularly used. For example, the village pub is one is a scene that gets used almost every episode Why is this? To make the viewers feel like they easily understand the setting and surroundings of the village. Every episode is set in hollyoaks village so the viewers will get used to different settings. The mise-en-scene is a great way to present characters in hollyoaks, the viewers will understand hollyoaks ore knowing were certain people are in their environments. Title: Modern Family - Sitcom
Narrative: What happens in the story? In every episode all the characters are filmed during their normal lives with no unexpected or major problems. But as it gets into the middle of the episodes a problem occurs that affects most of the family’s in different ways. During the episode all of the characters try to fix the problem so that everyone is back to their normal life style like it were at the start of the episode. Every episode has the same narrative structure were by they are always end up being as happy as they were at the start of the episode. Is it Linear or Non-Linear? Non-linear as every episode ends as happy as they were at the start of the episode before any problems occurred. Every episode goes around in a circle in terms of narrative.
4. The problem gets solved and everyone is as happy as they were at the start of the episode. This happens in every episode. You can tell that this is a sitcom for those exact reasons. Its reparative and the story never carrys on to another episode like a drama would. Genre: How can you tell? In every sitcom the scene starts with the daily life of the certain characters, happy but with minor regular problems. |