ASMEDIA STUDIES

AS• Explore the concept of television drama. Students to mind-map what they understand by television

drama• Show an episode of a television drama• Ask students to complete a learning grid which will help them understand the conventions of the

soap opera• Evaluation exercise: what meaning is constructed for the audience?• Students in groups of 2/3 brainstorm of what meaning was created by the case study• What do you understand by the concept of television drama?A2• What does it mean to be British? Students explore the concept of British-ness. Mind map out ideas

in pairs and feedback to the class• Categorise into historical and current values and also into specific countries e.g. Scottish, Welsh etc• What is a British film? Students to list as many films they consider British as possible justifying why• Compile central list and identify common features e.g. cast, crew, funding, location and contentNotes• Students should try to think of Britain as a collective and avoid just thinking of English, Scottish,

Welsh or Irish identity. If this occurs it can form the basis of a useful discussion• This will be primarily based on students own knowledge and supported by the teachers knowledge.

A definition of what a British film is can be found at www.culture.gov.uk • The IMDB can also be used as this has images of posters used alongside production companies

involved in the film

Do NowOn the sheets on your table write down as many soap operas as you can possibly think of.

What is a Soap Opera

A soap opera is an on-going, open ended, multi-strand, fictionalised,

drama serial on radio or television. It can be broadcast daily or twice or

more weekly.

History of the Soap Opera• Soap operas started on the radio in America and in South America

where they were wildly popular in the 1930s. Radio companies developed a serial format of popular fiction that attracted female listeners at home. Commercial companies including detergent manufacturers wanted to advertise their new products to this expanding consumer audience.

• The term ‘soap opera’ was coined by the American press in the 1930s to describe these extraordinarily popular melodramatic radio serials, which by 1940, accounted for 90% of commercially-sponsored daytime broadcast hours. The sponsors were usually soap manufacturers, hence the term soap opera.

• When commercial television started in the UK in the fifties the on-going serial seemed an ideal format for attracting large audiences, and so it proved when ITV began broadcasting a serial set in a typical Manchester urban setting Coronation Street.

Qualities of a Soap Opera• The main quality that defines a soap is that it is a serial. A

serial narrative is a story told through a series of separate, but linked episodes.

• British soaps expect to continue broadcasting for the foreseeable future and so have no end as such. Occasionally soaps stop performing well enough for the broadcasting institution and so end – e.g C4 Brookside (1982- 2003)

• Each serial episode is multi-stranded and leaves narrative loose ends for the next episode to continue, and usually the episode ends with a narrative cliffhanger that keeps the viewer in suspense until the next episode.

Audience• The audience has a special relationship with the major

characters in a serial, as it has a chance to get to know them over the weeks and years. Serial characters do change across episodes and they get older and occasionally die.

• The main drivers in a modern soap are the relationships between the characters.

Audience• The audience has a special relationship with the major

characters in a serial, as it has a chance to get to know them over the weeks and years. Serial characters do change across episodes and they get older and occasionally die.

• The main drivers in a modern soap are the relationships between the characters.

Who is the audience of Coronation Street?

Audience• Audiences are invited to make intimate connections with

the characters, and see in their ordinariness elements of themselves.

• Audiences obtain enjoyment from being able to see the underlying truth of a character’s emotions.

• Some soaps such as Hollyoaks and Eastenders offer telephone line support for a range of life issues raised in the programmes.

• British soaps are realistic with their emphasis on the happenings of everyday life, and their representations of the working classes or people with working class backgrounds who make up the mass of the British population.

Audience• Soaps are filmed using the close-up so the audience can

focus on a character’s emotions, and to see in the face the character’s mind at work coping with the latest life event to have befallen him or her.

• All soaps are about working class people and aim for the very large working class audience, as well as the large audience that is now middle class in financial terms but originates from a working class environment.

Audience• Soaps are filmed using the close-up so the audience can

focus on a character’s emotions, and to see in the face the character’s mind at work coping with the latest life event to have befallen him or her.

• All soaps are about working class people and aim for the very large working class audience, as well as the large audience that is now middle class in financial terms but originates from a working class environment.

Which soap opera character are you most like?

What are the conventions of a soap

opera?

Conventions of Soap Operas1. Naturalistic settings2. On-going serial format broadcast frequently (Eastenders 4 X a week)3. Each episode has many short scenes – typically less than 2 minutes4. Multiple characters, with strong female characters5. Storylines are fragmented and segmented6. Plot lines address topical issues, currently health, and sexually transmitted diseases (STD)7. Domestic settings and families are important8. Male characters tend to be more stereotypical9. Events take place in a form of real time suggesting action is 24/7.10. Emphasis on dialogue expressing emotional issues and intimate conversations

MelodramaA dramatic work where emotions and language are exaggerated, and the characters are portrayed simply and stereotypically. The sensationalised plots are full of emotional conflict with a simplistic morality – good is rewarded and bad behaviour is punished.

Modern soaps aim for realism rather than melodrama, although some plot lines can still be exaggerated, and there is always a good dollop of emotionalism.

Coronation Street and Me1. Define in about 100 words what it is that you find appealing about the characters and plotlines of this soap? Are there aspects that you do not like?

2. In the episode you watch what is believable and realistic

3. List the elements that are melodrama

ANSWER THIS QUESTION AND UPLOAD A INAL DRAFT WITH A PICTIURE ONTO YOUR BLOGS THIS WEEK/WEEKEND

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJZ0xTHnnc0

Uses and Gratifications Theory• Uses and gratifications theory (UGT) is an

approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs.

• UGT is an audience-centred approach to understanding mass communication. Diverging from other media effect theories that question "what do media do to people?", UGT focuses on "what do people do with media?

Analysis of a Soap OperaAnalysis of an episode of HollyoaksBreaking down an episode like this reveals the workings of the plot and how the five plot lines interweave over one day – Zoe’s birthday.

The time structure creaks as the day seems too long, and there is no celebration of her birthday. The casino/sex between Darren and Jess would have to take place over about 4 hours, which is only just realistic given the time to travel, win the money and get back to bed etc – but it is plausible in terms of a soap.

There is something for the thirties something viewers with the baby plot and the teacher stories.

I found the plot and characterisation of the Head teacher and teacher Tina melodramatic and not at all realistic. It is possible that this could happen but the situation was not sufficiently well set up, nor was the head teacher believable.

The main driver of this episode is the five plot lines. Regular viewers know these characters intimately and will be intrigued to see how things play out. This is a mature soap that knows its audience and has developed characters that can engage its established audience, and involved new viewers.

Four of the plot lines worked well and would certainly engage the target audience. The plot with the most screen time in this episode was the Zoe/Jess plot(3). This was well conceived and emotional without being unrealistic.

The Nancy student teacher story kept her character bubbling along with plenty of room for future developments.

The serious issue plot line about adopting another’s baby and telling the world it is yours is in essence Dickensian. However this is a good way to bring in the modern issue of surrogate motherhood without using the clinical language and making it a socio/political debate. The issue is handled well and the characters are engaging if not entirely sympathetic.

The oleaginous Jackie makes a good character to dislike although it does tend to make the issue into one of – there is no way that woman brings up my baby! The rather naïve Mercedes seems a victim but there is no doubt more to her than is apparent in this episode.

This is England Task

DUE MONDAY

16th AUGUST