1. Soap trailers
Soap never ends. Continuous.
Soaps on same channel, similar time slot each week. Routine, repetition makes them
so well known.
Each scene in soap. Follows formula. Establishing shot (position, location). Camera
as 4th wall. BCU, OTS, 2 shots, MCU. To fit audience and to show the facial
expression and emotion. Reaction. Camera stays on that face for 2/3 seconds. Lets
audience digest what has just happened.
Cheapest to produce. Small budget.
TV drama ends eventually, has a plot per episode, within each episode hints of a
narrative ark, bigger story.
Sit coms also end. But run over a longer time. Short cast. 4/5 characters.
Sit coms Balance at the beginning and the end, imbalance in the middle.
In soaps, the lighting and shadows tell time of day. The way that shadows may be
cast of faces and not on others, shows audience who the main character is. Also
bright coloured clothing and central positioning suggests importance too.
Eye lines show who they are looking at from the establishing shot, positions
slow zoom. Shot reverse shot. And panning. Common feature. Getting close to the
characters.
The music fits the acting. Thought beats. Moves and beats fir the edits.
Holly oaks example
MCU. Slow zoom Lots of movement. Facial expressions. Lots of light.
Low angle shot. Pans up. Black leather gloves, outside. Different to the rest of the cast.
Anomaly. Someone out of place to focus on. Eg. Murder.
Some walking into MCU shot. 2 sources of light.
Deep focus. Asymmetric framing.
Turning to face. / referred to in the scene. Shows connection. Links characters.
Shots lasted no longer than a second
Shot reverse shot. Point of view shot.
Mid shot. Way people are facing/ stood
Point of view shot. Birds eye view. High angle.
Track around room. Following characters. Pan. Characters crossing the camera out of focus.
Clothes tell a lot about a character. Stereotypes.
Shot reverse shot.
¾ perspectives. When people stand side on to the camera.
BCU.
Titles at the end. Name of soap. Twitter. Time. Day.