Soap opera trailer conventions

Soap opera trailer conventions

• 1.
  CODES & CONVENTIONSOF SOAP OPERA TRAILER • Can feature small aspects of multiple story lines (and the narratives tend to be very dramatic.) Additionally, while story lines tend to be quite realistic, the way they are presented in the trailer tends to be more abstract e.g. the 'Hollyoaks Enchanted Forest' trailer and the use of masks etc
• 2.
  CODES & CONVENTIONSOF SOAP OPERA TRAILER • Soap Opera trailers can be as short as 30sec and as long as 2mins, the average is 60 sec. The length depends on the ‘type’ of trailer it is. • e.g. 'Hollyoaks Enchanted Forest' is just over a minute long. Identifies main characters in relation to the story line quickly e.g. in 'Hollyoaks The Wedding' it focuses mainly on the bride.
• 3.
  CODES & CONVENTIONSOF SOAP OPERA TRAILER • Has a voice over of the title and date of broadcast at the end of the trailer. Locations generally linked to a social element e.g pubs like in 'Eastenders'.
• 4.
  CODES & CONVENTIONSOF SOAP OPERA TRAILER • Tends to have non-diegetic music through it to help set the tone e.g. 'White Wedding' by Billy Idol runs over the Hollyoaks Wedding trailer. If the show has a jingle, it tends to be played as a sound bridge from the last scene to the title screen e.g. the 'Eastenders' jingle.
• 5.
  CODES & CONVENTIONSOF SOAP OPERA TRAILER • Shot timing/edits are short (between 1-5 seconds) so as not to give too much of the story line away. • Titles of the Soap tend to be named after the place that they are set e.g. Eastenders, Hollyoaks, Holby City.