EastEnders - And their unique trailers

Recently, EastEnderes have been twisting the rules of soap opera trailers. They have created a verisimilitude world of a different location or time period from that of the show. Yet, each still advertises the storyline effectively making them seem out of this world by the new location change. I agree with the majority of YouTube's comments such as ‘the trailers are better than the show’. This is what you need to attract your audience; a trailer that furthers the quality of the show.

This is my favourite trailer of all time. It is brilliantly corny and almost feels like its own cowboy show. The sound effects such as the gun reloading when Kat gets her mirror out it humorous and connotes that perhaps these characters will not have the most serious of roles to play to begin with. On the other hand the dialogue “Where do you get a drink around here?” (camera shot of the burned down pub) suggests that Kat and Alfie will become the new pub landlords of the Queen Vic.

The first shot in this trailer is an establishing one, in the frame the burnt down queen Vic pub. This already establishes the location of Albert Square as well as connoting the storyline regards the ruined pub. The other shot that stands out is the crane shot that reveals the character, Kat. This let the audience recognise her and it also goes with the stereotypical introduction from western films. Other shots fit with the western film genre such as Ian looking through the blinds with a close up, him hiding connoting that trouble is forming. Another humorous stereotypical western film shot is the over the shoulder shot which reveals a contender for the standoff duel.  It ends with a high angled shot which highlights the rivalry between the dual, another great shot.

The gap between Kat and Alfie connotes their relationship may be failing. The fast pace shots between their eyes suggest they are enemies and the colour of them have been edited to glow, showing power.  Further evidence that they are enemies is the non-diegetic voice over when Alfie appears, saying “It’s all kicking off in the square”. Alfie is also in the shadows connoting that perhaps he keeps secret from his wife or follows her, keeping an eye on her from afar.

The reactions of all the bystanders connote that the character, Kat is well-known within the square, perhaps too famous shown by the fearful reaction of Jane shutting the blinds. The wind which blows the rubbish around during the shots also connotes that Kat is bringing a storm with her; the storm being lots of expected drama.

The new location still advertises the show at the end with the theme tune, wording ‘EastEnders’, the voice over saying all next week (date) and the iconic locations such as the Queen Vic.

This trailer is brilliant in capturing the viewer’s attention. An iconic British women, Barbara Windsor, the actress for Peggy Mitchell (the damsel in distress) makes the viewer scream at the television screen warning her to avoid the clutches of dirty Den (the villain), as many people grew up with this well-known character, helping affect nerves of the audience. By including a damsel in distress and a villain the trailer starts building the foundations of Vladimir Propp’s theory of narrative, which concludes that all soaps include a hero, villain, damsel, helpers, princess, the dispatcher and finally the false hero.  If we further applying this theory to the trailer, you realise Peggy also plays the role of the hero and princess as well as the damsel. Den plays numerous roles also including the dispatcher (as he dispatches Peggy to his life via a engagement proposal) and a false hero. Peggy and Den can also been seen as binary opposites, Peggy being good and Den evil.

The juxtaposition of the child's lullaby framed with an old lady (Peggy) really highlights how vulnerable Peggy is, perhaps more vulnerable than a child. At the start there are several close ups of Peggy; she looks oblivious of the approaching danger, childlike. When the danger first appears (the arrival of Den on a lighted floor) it is seen through a mirror allowing the audience to both see Peggy reaction and the villains arrival, furthering this it is stereotypical of horrors to see danger appear in the mirror before facing and confronting it, showing the trailer in conveying that of a horror. Within eleven seconds the trailer already portray many of the same conventions of horror films, like the last trailer did with wild western films. This tells me that experimenting between soap trailers and movie genres is coming into play and works well grabbing the audience’s attention.

Also once again this trailer tells the viewer the time, date and channel of this episode.

This trailer shows several close up shots of the characters faces. These were used to show the gradual transition from Peggy being happy to vulnerable. Den is seen from kind/caring too evil. The trailer ends with an extreme close up of Peggy eyes becoming a zombie, a perfect shot for a horrifying ending.

This is another great original trailer, very cool and very interesting. It connotes several things, such as Max may die connoted by “Judgement day for Max.” However, Max doesn’t seem concerned in this trailer which suggests to me he will live and carry on fighting. To further this suggestion the question “But will he lye in it?” makes it apparent he won’t go down without fighting.

Once again it tells us which characters are include within the storyline, such as Bradley in his police uniform, connoting he is the one who will stick to the law no matter what is thrown his direction. Tanya who clinches the death bed connoting she misses the departed or she wants him desperately dead. Jack, who holds up Max's death label, is perhaps suggested to be the killer. Jack also wears distinct black gloves, connoting evil and darkness; are these gloves to hide fingerprint evidence?

I feel this trailer has connotations of a film genre, like the other two, however this genre is thriller. To be more precise, a psychological thriller, this could explain the confusion within the trailer and the disappearing of Tanya and the appearing of Jack. Also the lyrics use an enigma code to feed the audience key information about Maxes potential fate.

"God's Gonna Cut You Down", also known as "Run On" and "Run On for a Long Time", is a traditional folk song which has been recorded by numerous artists representing a variety of genres. The lyrics are a warning to sinners that no matter how hard they try, they will not avoid God's judgment; in the chorus, God tells the narrator of the song to

“

Go tell that long tongue liar, go and tell that midnight rider, tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter, tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down.

”

Wikipedia

The trailer also tells the date of the episode as well as the soaps name alongside its theme tune and logo. Yet, this trailer doesn’t show a time, which would confuse potential new audiences.

Each title appears differently. The first trailer, the western cowboy one, has the title appear in black font still within the frame. The second, the horror trailer, has the title appear on the red default/home screen of BBC ONE.  The third, the thriller trailer had the title appear in front of its London area shot logo as the show usually does.

I feel the reasons they did these different titles were simple. Trailer one – They wanted the tension between the stand of to remain, like a build up of a hugely anticipated film such as the last Harry Potter. They did this by introducing the title within the same shot which leaves the stand of remaining on a cliff hanger; this doesn’t give the audience any release, leaving the tension dwelling.

Trailer two – They wanted the audience to have relief after the hard hitting creepy trailer, so they allowed it by bringing in the BBC default/home screen. Release of tension meant the audience could think about what they just saw and draw up predictions.

Trailer three – This trailer built no tension but instead just told a rough outline of the narrative, meaning they had no reason for the title to release tension, nor keep it, allowing the iconic logo title to be featured.

Each trailer has a key line which clearly shows the narrative is open. Trailer one – “It’s all kicking off in the square.” Suggesting hell will brake lose.

Trailer two – “He’s got Peggy under control, but for how much longer?” Hinting that Peggy will escape Den’s claws.

Trailer three - “Judgement day for Max.” Connoting this is the end of Max.

Each one ends on a cliff hanger, and with the connotations of what to follow from these lines makes the audience very eager to watch the episode.