After mapping our thoughts and ideas for the theme and content of our soap opera, we decided as a group that we wanted to take something old and out-of-date, and turn it into something new and modern. For this reason, we chose to base our soap in a small, rural village that stretches along a road called 'Mill Lane'.
This idea was inspired by the soap opera Emmerdale, as it started as a small farm-based soap with a very small selection of characters. As it became more popular, it expanded to a village setting and gained more residents and storylines.
The difference between our soap and existing soaps like Emmerdale is that the location of the soap, and the characters and storylines of the soap are conventional opposites. In our case, the location is rural, isolated and very small. But the characters spread over several generations and the storylines are exciting, extreme and shocking. The location is the old fashioned theme, while the characters who live in the location and the dramatic relationships between them introduce a fresh twist to the traditional soap.
The Location and Lifestyle
The name of the soap is called Mill Lane, as it informs the audience of the location of the soap. Mill Lane is divided into 3 main locations: The road 'Mill Lane' itself, 'Broomfield Mill' and 'The Kings Arms' pub.
'Mill Lane' is the residential area of all the characters in the soap. It only consists of housing and some greenery. 'Broomfield Mill' is located at the end of 'Mill Lane' and is sometimes referred to as 'The Mill'. The area is mainly public footpaths, large fields and farm housing. 'The Kings Arms' pub is the hot spot of Mill Lane, and tends to be the only location that residents of 'Mill Lane' gather for social events and celebrations.
Storylines and Characters
The most exciting part of Mill Lane is the characters and how they interact with each other to create storylines. The characters range from a young, essex female to an elderly farm owner. The conflict between characters, due to age, ethnicity, beliefs and interests, means that we can cook up a huge variety of interesting and engaging storylines that will captivate our audience members, no matter who they might be.
A quick and easy way to describe what our soap opera contains is to call it a hybrid between Hollyoaks and Emmerdale.
The Trailer
The trailer for Mill Lane will introduce several storylines. The main storyline will be the introduction of a new resident called Rachel Mannings. We created this storyline as Rachel's appearance on 'Mill Lane' disturbs the predictable, peaceful lifestyle of the existing residents and characters.
The less important storyline involves a series of secrets shared between the characters Jennifer Ward, Charlie Collins and Barry Brooker. The dilemma is centred around Jennifer, as she has had an affair with both men and is now pregnant with a child. The cliff-hanger is not knowing which of the two best friends is the father of Jennifer's baby, and entices the audience to want to find out who the father is and how the characters will react when the news breaks out.
The First Episode
The purpose of our particular trailer is to advertise the storylines and events that take place in the first episode of Mill Lane. The same storylines, involving Rachel Mannings and Jennifer Ward, will take up the majority of the first episode. The rest of the episode will be focused on getting to know the personalities and lifestyles of as many characters in the soap as possible.
Devon Dalton
