EastEnders first Trailer

Released in 1985, this was the launch of EastEnders. The short, twelve second trailer included a lot of information on EastEnders and related themes, it’s incredible. It was basic and probably low budget which coincides with this. It included the date it was released; time it is aired; location of the show shown by the location but more so by the iconography of the red London buses; its name; theme tune and logo all within twelve seconds.

The position of the logo being on the side of the lorry is humorous; it’s literally suggesting that the EastEnders is coming to their new home, being BBC1. Also, by positioning the logo on a vehicle it can suggest that the show will be intense and snappy like a vehicle moving.

However, this trailer makes me wonder if all Soap trailers appear in such a basic manner or is this a low budget stroke of genius that captivates their audience with the question ‘what the heck is EastEnders?’. To answer this I will do further research into first trailers for Soaps.  

Soap opera analysis of EastEnders

I watched ten minutes of an EastEnders episode, screened on the 17/06/2011. During this time I recorded some data concerning gender, ethnicity, age, locations and scene count. Here are my results:

Gender

13 Males

13 Females

Both genders have equal appearances throughout the episode and are represented equally. This makes the show appealing both to male and female audiences. However, during the episode the women seemed to be more powerful shown by the manipulation of men and taking roles in arguments.

Age

1 Child

8 Teenagers

6 Young adults

10 Older adults

1 Senior

I watched EastEnders when I was younger and it used to feature more elderly people. The feedback now suggests that perhaps it is trying to attract a new, younger audience, highlighted by the increased numbers of teenagers featuring in the show. There is still a good mix of ages, however, and as a result this allows a broader range of stories to be performed. For example, a single child could be included into a paedophilia storyline. Teenagers also took part in storylines that are humorous and cheesy. This applies to mainly a teenager audience. An example of this story line is a dance battle between the male and female teenagers. This petty dispute can resemble childish stereotypes of gender rivalry. The young adults take on the roles that include 'night life' (clubbing, bars, drinking, sex, etc) because they are still in their youth (like the teenagers) but they are legally old enough to explore this night life. This age group also attracts a younger audience of teenagers and young adults. However, their story lines include violence, drugs, alcohol and other negative plots which is often imitated by todays younger generation.

Ethnicity

 

2 black people featured in the show.

7 people with middle eastern origin featured in the show.

17 caucasian people featured in the show.

The verisimilitude of the soap opera, reflects true multi-cultural London. London is home of many different ethnic groups, and most soap operas show this. However, percentage wise, EastEnders is wrong. According to data collected in 2009 there are more mixed race and black people than caucasian. The caucasian percentage only makes up for 47% of the population in London. Applying this to EastEnders to get a realistic verisimilitude of Ethnicity they should have:

12 caucasian people featured in the show.

14 blacks and mixed race people featured in the show.

Locations

Traditionally soap operas try to represent real life, otherwise known as verisimilitude. So it is important that locations can apply to the average persons life.

Outside locations appeared twice.

Kitchens appeared just once.

Living rooms and dinning rooms appeared four times.

Cafes appeared once.

Salon appeared once.

A dance studio also featured though this is just a once off.

Though it did not feature in the first ten minutes of this episode most soap operas, including EastEnders, have a pub which is usually well known by the audience (Eg. The Queen Vic)

The scene count in ten minutes was eleven. Though only further research will reveal if this is the norm of a soap opera.

Soap opera analysis of Coronation Street

I watched an episode of 'Coronation Street' which was shown on the 27/06/2011. During this episode thirty three characters had dialogue. Nineteen were male and fourteen female, a reasonable ratio. Six characters were youths, eleven young adults, seven middle aged adults, seven elderly adults and two seniors. These results suggest that the show may be targeting a younger audience to ensure success for the next generation.

The episode has seventeen scenes which played host to five locations. A pub which featured seven times; living rooms in homes which appeared three times; the exterior location of the set which was shown three times; a fashion company which was only shown once and a shop which also appeared just once. These locations set the scene for many storylines, the most dramatic including family feuds, a pub ownership arguments, a capture of a criminal, adoption, a charity pitch, a delayed delivery argument, and a pub party which led to a complaint of sound and finally a pub fight.

What really shocked me with the episode was the unfair representation of ethnicity. Only one black person featured in the episode with a tokenistic role. This one character was seen as a stripper’s assistant and started a pub fight. This could be interpreted as racism from the Soap's behalf; in return to this it paints an unfair stereotype on British black people. After researching I found no complaints of the episode but is this a one off incident or can television soap operas push the boundaries of racism? In defence of the show, 'Coronation Street' is set in the north in a rural area which may have a small percentage of black people compared to the rest of their population. 'EastEnders', set in London, would be expected to show equal ratios of ethnicity as this is true to reality. However, is it better to be true with verisimilitude (such as the episode which could be interpreted as racism) or is it better to twist the truth in order to create a fair and equal representation?

History of soap operas

History of Soap Operas on Prezi

Facts found from several websites.