Soap Settings

Soaps share universal conventions regarding their settings, themes characters and other various elements of the genre.

Setting plays a very important role in a soap, as usually, the setting reflects the community and characters in the soap.
Typically, a soap will be set in an area that can have a small community, an example being a square or commune, like Albert Square from EastEnders, or a suburb of Chester for Hollyoaks. 

The purpose of this is that small areas allow the characters to mingle and communicate with each other more effortlessly, but it also allows the show's writers to write the drama much more seamlessly, with less characters to focus individual plots on.
The setting of the soap also consists of various locations that add to the realism of the settings, and allows for the writers to produce many differing social contexts for any particular scene.
A typical setting in a soap that seems to be a convention in itself is a social hub where much of the show is based at, with the pub "The Queen Vic" for EastEnders and "The Student Union Bar" in Hollyoaks, which also reflect the typical age range of an average viewer of each show, as adults can relate more to a pub than teenagers can, making EastEnders an ideal show for an older demographic, and many of the social hubs in Hollyoaks are clubs and bars and therefore is geared toward a teenage demographic.

The Student Bar (Left) juxtaposed with The Queen Victoria (Right)

The reason that these venues are popular in soaps is because it is a good place to gossip, and as of such, can act as an invaluable location to reveal plot points and set up tensions between characters, adding to the drama.

Another popular (and somewhat obvious) location for all soaps are the individual homes of the characters, these settings can act as locations where characters can discuss private things between their families and close friends, and also to add to the realism that soaps strive for.

Finally, another common setting for soaps are the workplaces of the characters, be it a local shop, a newsagents or the social hubs. These locations act more to add to the realism then to progress stories, although occasionally plot points and character developments can be revealed in these places.

Soap Themes

Soap themes are a convention in their own right in that each soap has a memorable theme tune, with a defining feature, our two examples being the drum roll in EastEnders, and the Guitar riff from Hollyoaks. This is usually to draw the attention of a viewer for quick and easy recognition of the show.
An explanation relating to this phenomenon is described by Louis Althusser in his theory of interpellation, which refers to church bells in the old days when people may not have access to the time, and so the bells would signal the beginning of church. Likewise, the beginning of the theme is usually the catchiest and signals the beginning of the show.
EastEnders
For EastEnders, the drum roll and theme tune had remained for years, and is so well known to the viewers that when they changed it, there was a large amount of complaints, and had to be changed back due to popular demand. The intro also remained the same, changing only to fit with the contemporary setting of the Thames and architectural additions:

(With correct timing it's eerie comparing the similarities between old and new...)

The tune also has a soundbridge at the end making the cut into the episode seem more fluent and natural.

The theme also is continuous, slow paced and fits perfectly with the visuals, in addition, the instruments used are classic, with pianos, drums and even clapping.

Hollyoaks:

Hollyoaks, being geared towards the youth culture demographic is a drastically different theme to EastEnders:

Due to the soap being geared toward a younger generation to EastEnders, the intro is performed by more contemporary instruments, such as guitars and a synthesiser. The imagery is also much more vivid, with multiple cuts to each character with colourful, computer animated backgrounds reflecting their personalities.

Soap reality contrast

One of the best things about soaps for those who watch them is that they are meant to be conveyed as a social document - something the viewers can relate to as they watch them.
However there has been a recent debate as to whether soaps can be conveyed as a social document and rather they patronise and play down to its viewers.
The argument for this theory consists of many points, the first point is that because soaps are so quickly made, they are often consist of very basic writing and the social problems conveyed in the episodes are very generic and stereotypical of the age groups they reflect. An example being part of an extract of one of the episodes we watched, in which the teenagers are skipping school and focus more on technology than their jobs, the adults are having affairs and sneaking around behind people's backs and that elderly people aren't particularly well respected.

Some would argue that this reflects our society, and that the plots represent troubles facing the age groups. However, it often comes across as stereotypical and is considered to be "easy viewing" for the audience, requiring little to no independent thought from the viewers.
The second point in the debate is that the soaps trivialise social issues. Again, this has been seen in the extract we watched, where the teenager skipping school turns her act when given a hearty talk from her mother, whereas in reality, a similar problem would not be fixed so easily. Again, this reflects the argument that soaps often down play to their audience, convincing them that things are much easier to fix in reality, and also encourage the audience to view life in a black and white way, another argument against soaps.

The final point relevant to the representation of every day life is that soaps are quickly written and usually have poor acting, this means that when there is a tender or emotional situation in the show, the actors may not be able to portray the emotions their characters are meant to feel, and the script writing could give audiences false information in how a similar situation would happen in reality.
However, on the other side of the argument, the fans say that because soaps reflect society, the characters and writing can encourage the viewers to act and speak from our minds, and can also make the viewers reflect on their own lives. Continuing from this argument, the fans also say that because the soaps are meant to reflect society in the time period it has been made, watching one from 1960 for example can also double as an historic document and that it reflects how social taboos and behaviours have changed or expanded throughout the time.

Another argument is that soaps reflect social issues faced by real people on a daily basis and that by watching the episodes, an audience member can better understand ways of tackling different discourses, due to the way that issues are solved in a topical and respectful way on the show.
My opinion personally is that soaps aren't social documents as of such, as they are often very downplayed and the characters couldn't possibly reflect the people you know due to various idioms and characteristics, and therefore the contrast between reality and drama, whilst blurred, is still heavily weighed to drama and that people should live independently and not based off an episode of a soap they saw on TV.