Examining what makes a British Soap Opera Essay Example for Free

Examining what makes a British Soap Opera Essay In a general sense, Soaps are continuous, serialised dramas broadcast up to three or four times a week, usually with an omnibus at the weekends. They are filmed in the same settings from episode to episode and follow very contemporary themes (this is what makes them so appealing). A gender spilt between the audience reveals that around 70% are women, so the major Soaps have a clear target audience. The majority of new soaps seek not to disturb ongoing ratings battles, but break new ground and aim their productions at different age groups. For example, Hollyoaks is relatively new and aimed at teens. Soaps consistently win the biggest share of television ratings and capture the biggest share because their content appeals to their target audience. This content, on the surface may seem simply crafted, but after close examination reveals the numerous techniques, performances and styles that are harmonised in order to make the soap successful. As an art from, Soaps emerge as a highly complex form of drama. There are many features that have to be planned using very formulaic methods so that the final product will conform to expectations. The writers must produce content that is engaging, yet open further leads on to other potential storylines. However, they also stretch the storylines as long as possible in order to allow time to pass in which they can invent new stories and close others. A common tact is to obviously allow a storyline to occupy a majority of the 30-minute slot, but spilt it with intervening storylines (which delay it from completing its course). This achieves two main objectives- the delay creates time for further writing and expansion of the main story, whilst the short storylines in between can be refreshed