Despite our trailer being for a new show on BBC, we decided that it would be a good idea to also consider contemporary trailers for Soaps that follow a similar atmosphere to ours, with teen problems, drugs and all other kinds of factors common in the lives of younger people.
While we were planning our trailer, this trailer for the Hollyoaks wedding was released on Channel 4, being shown almost every day at the time.
In this trailer, there are multiple shots of various members all gathering in the church. There is also a low key lighting throughout casting a dark and sometimes oppressive atmosphere. There is also music playing throughout, giving the impression that despite it being a wedding, there is a sadness involved also.
We decided eventually that our Soap should show similar conventions whilst being slightly lighter toned, as the Hollyoaks trailer works mainly through established characters, whereas we required to portray our characters through the trailer, whilst also establishing them, and not giving away any plot points for the trailer itself.
We decided that, although we don't want our trailer to be as dark or contain as many complicated plot points, we decided to use some of the conventions such as the darker mise-en-scene for the atmosphere, and various slow motion shots and establishing shots to emphasize various scenes and shots as important to establishing characters.
The following 9 screenshots highlight various uses of conventions:
The first screenshot depicts the title of the film. The style of the title is conventional for BBC as it has the contains the famous red circling motions and the title of the Soap, thus establishing an up and coming production.
The title itself is conventional of Soaps, as Soap operas are typically named after the towns or communities in which they are set, as seen in shows such as Coronation Street, and sometimes also referring to the geographical location of the Soap, such as EastEnders, being set in the East of London.
Due to our Soap opera being set in the town of St Neots, we could not go for a geographical name such as EastEnders, as the town is not large enough or significant enough to draw a reference that audiences nationally will understand, so we decided the best avenue to pursue in naming our Soap would be to name it after the name of the street the Soap would focus on, thereby relating to the Coronation Street convention.
The second screenshot highlights the use of settings and locations of the Soap, as the settings will consist not only of larger areas such as the town center, but also thin and narrow streets, thereby challenging the typical convention of Soaps being set mainly in the pub.
In the trailer, the vast majority of the shots are taken in and around the town, with only one brief segment of the trailer taking place in the pub, which is also empty. A large convention in any Soap, as mentioned in the settings post, is the social hub, which is often a pub or bar. However, the vast majority of the goings on in the trailer are all around the town in multiple locations, which, while is not unheard of in Soaps, is still challenging the conventions of Soaps being set in a few key locations (residence, town and social hub).
The third screenshot highlights the costumes and props, and is used in key with the settings to add a tone of realism to the town, a typical convention of Soaps, as they are all set in believable settings with believable characters so that audiences everywhere can find something to relate to in Soaps.
The prop in this image is one of the few we actually used in this trailer, and is a laundry bag containing the gentleman's jacket. As mentioned, this works in key with the settings, as this shot is set directly next to the laundromats, keeping the relation between the settings and the props relevant. Another example of the use of costumes in this shot is my costume, wearing my coat with the hood down. Initially, I was not meant to portray this character, but when some of the actors didn't turn up to the filming, we had to improvise. By keeping my head down and my hood up, I was able to somewhat obscure my face in a way that doesn't distract from the trailer, but at the same time, works with the settings in the contrast between the formal shirt tie and trousers, and the informal hooded top and coat, adding some diversity to the characters in both age, and social class. A convention used in all Soaps to keep their characters fresh, and also offer more opportunity for more plot points and dynamic writing.
The fourth screenshot displays the use of editing, as it shows a fade wipe transition between scenes. This is uncommon in Soaps as all of the transitions are instant, making the show run much more fluently.
However, this is a trailer, and not an actual episode. The use of similar techniques in an actual episode would be out of place and distracting. However, using the Hollyoaks trailer we used for some inspiration as an example, most of the cuts are still instant without any type of transition. However, despite this, the Hollyoaks trailer is set in a single location, with the events unfolding in real time, and with established characters, whereas this transition is used to display the passing of time, even if a short time, and also offers a good opportunity to reintroduce our first character as an antagonist to the couple.
In all of the trailers we used to study conventions, I have not seen any transitions such as this being used, and so it is likely to be unconventional.
The fifth screenshot is used to display the title font and style. Although this is the same screenshot as the first screenshot (highlighting the use of the title), this screenshot displays the font and style more clearly, as the transition is more complete in this screenshot.
The font used for the title is typical for the BBC, as their show announcements usually are written in a bold white font that is usually very straight and businesslike, with the exception of EastEnders, which keeps the show's original font, which is much more of a rounded font.
As of such, by keeping a bold text that is relatively businesslike, we are able to keep our trailer font in between the two ends, allowing us to retain the BBC's standards of font, but at the same time creating an original type of font for the show to use outside of the trailer also.
The sixth screenshot details the story and how it is set up. Being a Soap trailer, we had to pursue multiple narratives to convey as many of the main characters as possible, and therefore we didn't have one individual story. However, I consider the character in the intro to be one of the two main characters in the Soap, and so his story is one of the more important ones.
However, as mentioned, seeing as the film is a trailer, we need to also focus some attention on the stories of the other characters involved, thereby restricting us to focus the narrative on a single character. This is a convention of Soaps, as each episode would typically shift it's narrative between many characters each episode, thereby making the community feel more dynamic, and also allowing the stories to be conveyed in real-time, as opposed to a film for example, which would focus entirely on one narrative, and therefore, have a main character and supporting cast, as opposed to several main characters. This means that our trailer follows the conventions of Soap storytelling.
This is also true for the seventh screenshot, which is used to identify the genre, and how it is set up.
A common source for writing in a Soap opera comes from the anguish and problems of a character, and therefore establishes a narrative that can run for a while through a Soap, and therefore we figured the best way to open a Soap trailer was to establish an existing problem for a character, and therefore it establishes a convention of Soap operas.
However, this wasn't the only example of this. Each character segment opens as though it has already begun, such as the section where the hooded character knocks into the businessman, thereby suggesting previous tensions with each other, or a bad back story for the hooded character. Each of which could be exploited for a running narrative in a Soap.
The eighth screenshot details how characters are introduced. Throughout the trailer, I used small captions to provide a small amount of back story to the characters, whilst still leaving it open to interpretation.
Each character has their own caption, with the homosexual couple having the shunned caption. This also allows us to show how other characters are viewed by the community they're in, with brief summarising statements about their background. However, despite this, we also detail a large amount of back story through the voice overs, with the man with the flowers for example describing his situation by thinking "She'll never love me", implying that he has been attempting to win her over, or at least possess feelings for her, for quite some time. Another example is with one of the homosexual lovers saying "sometimes I wonder whether our love is worth the abuse we get", suggesting they're constantly being abused and shunned for their sexual preferences.
The final screenshot details the special effects. Despite the transition between various scenes and a few overlays, such as the darkened corners in the 8th screenshot, most of our special effects were purely done through the camera work:
This car was parked near the florists, opposite the road where the couple are sitting with each other. Although the original plan was for Josh (the character with the flowers) to look at his hair in the window of a shop, and see the couple's reflection in the window next to him, we figured that, seeing as this car had a highly reflective window, it would be more effective for him to do his hair in the reflection of the car window, and then look up and spot them. This also allows us to show some more of the character, as he notices his own reflection before noticing his love interest and her boyfriend across the street, implying that his is somewhat self absorbed, and may prioritise himself before others.
The use of special effects were limited, aside from the occasional slow motion or filter for effect, deliberately to maintain the reality of the Soap. We decided that, in the end, it would be more effective, and conventional, to only use special effects where there was no other alternative, and therefore by using common items such as the car to create a special effect, we maintain the show's reality - a significant convention of the Soap genre.
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