Soap Opera Trailer Timings

As a group we went off and found out at least one time a soap opera advert was shown. This is the research we found and we went on to compare the times and found out why they were on at certain times. This will help us determine when out soap would be played and therefore enabling us to know what would be included and acceptable in the trailer. This could change the premise of our soap as if it is showed after the watershed it could include conventions used for teenager aimed shows e.g sexual and drug referances.

To get an idea of what we should and can include in our trailer. By looking at what times soap opera trailers are played, we were able to gain knowledge of the most popular time to play them. These are some of the results we found:

Emmerdale, 4pm, ITV, just before Midsummer Murders

This result shows that the advertisement is played before another show with a similar target audience. It is also at a peak time, 4pm just after everyone has finished school etc. So there is a large 'parent' audience that would be watching television at this time.

Hollyoaks, around 9-10pm, in between a documentary on Skateboarding

We thought this was played at a suitable time as Hollyoaks is aimed at a younger audience as is the documentary on Skateboarding.

We also looked at what day was most popular. We found all three of these adverts were on a saturday, which is a popular day for the public to watch television. As you can see they are also on quite late as this is a day people often go to bed later as they have no work or school Sunday. It is also after all of the 'usual' shows are on (like X factor and Strictly Come Dancing) so the companies know people are watching the television already.

10pm after the news on BBC One, an Eastenders advertisement

10.45pm during The Inbetweeners best bits on E4 an Hollyoaks advert shown

8pm during Doctor Who on BBC One an Eastenders advertisement shown.

Emily Wallace

Conventions Found in Trailers Compared To Full Episodes

Soap Opera Conventions Video

Initial Storyboard

This was our first storyboard. It was used to create a basic understanding of the structure to our trailer. From it we have discussed various issues and parts we liked and have re-begun a second draft storyboard.

Created by Scott Collins

Improved Storyboard

This is our second storyboard. Although it is not as detailed as the other, the story line has changed slightly. We plan to create a final storyboard when we know exactly what we are going to film. This storyboard has been changed as we have changed the actual story. In this storyboard we start on the other characters then end up on the final main girl. Whereas in the first one we start with the main female.
In this story board we have not included fade to blacks as it seemed a waste of time as we would be adding them in the editing process. This saved us time and made it easier to read.

 

Emily Wallace

Final Storyboard

Please click to enlarge images.

This is our final storyboard for our trailer.

Scott Collins and Emily Wallace

Photographic Storyboard

This is the photographic storyboard that we have created based on our original storyboard, from which we have used ideas to produce a more realistic and visual plan for our trailer. The images were not taken of the real cast or in the set locations as they have not been decided at this stage and are irrelevant to the planning of how we will film our soap trailer. Each picture was taken using the camera angle we intend to use at that point.

Creating a photographic storyboard was an important stage of planning as it allows us to visualise how we want our trailer to run, and still allows time for improvement.

Scott Collins and Devon Dalton