Final Location

The google web definition for location scouting states: Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of film making and commercial photography (Reference:)

When location scouting we had to visualise how our trailer would be displayed and where we envisioned it to be set. We decided we would like to set it in the suburbs of a town in a modern village. We have chose a modern village because our target audience is Category D audience members and we feel that our audience members should be able to relate with our characters in a realistic setting. We would also like our characters to all be associated with each other as residents of villages often are.



A very generic convention of soap operas, is the local pub that residents all socialise in. We have decided to use a pub as this establishes to the audience the iconic convention that most soaps tend to share. We would like the pub to be the place where characters confide in each other, arguments happen and the whole village congregates. This is very typical of other soap operas, for example: The Queen Vic in Eastenders has seen many fights, wedding receptions and is always packed with locals.



A post office relates to our audience because it adds a sense of realism to our soap opera which is what we are aiming to achieve.











A village hall could be a possible place for the residents to gather together, this could be teenagers hanging around outside or it could be where the older residents take dance classes. This would be a good setting to use as it adds realism and our audience can relate more with going to a village hall than they could if we set our soap opera around posh restaurants and 5 star hotels.

We would like to film our soap opera trailer in a cul de sac, this is because all the residents are neighbours and will all be familiar with eachother. We aim to create storylines which involve multiple characters and their relations with eachother.

The reason we have chosen these locations is because they are all in one area, meaning that all the buildings look similiar. This will aid us during editing because when putting all the shots together it will look more consistant than if we had filmed in many different locations. In all soaps, the houses of the central characters tend to be fairly close together which is also fitting for this area,because the houses look onto each other. The fact that we all live in Great Leighs means that we don't need to gain permission to film outside houses because we can use our own.

Location scouting

Boreham, Chelmsford Essex

Public footpath- could be used for tracking shot, but it will be difficult to get good lighting when filming here.

These are the shops in the village, this is commonly seen in soap operas for example 'The Drive and buy' in Hollyoaks. This is something the audience will be able to relate to making the soap more believable which is what audience members look for in soaps according to Denis McQuail's Uses and Gratifications theory.

St Andrews Road- a road full of houses, gives the environment implying everyone knows eachother making the characters link easily.

Plantation Rd

Allens Close

Recreation Park-

New area, this would make the soap look new and connote that everyone has a fresh start in the soap making the audience want to watch and find out how the characters settle.

Also, the different colour houses could have connotations for different characters. For example, pink could be for the flirty female connoting femininity and blue for the gossiping elders because they are neutral in situations.

The butchers is a local business which are often present in villages also means it is a social place for the older characters in the soap.

The Six Bells pub, the main social meeting point for the Jack-the-lads.

The Recreation Park playground




The bench and swings are often seen in scenes of characters when miserable, this setting could be used in out soap.

Eastenders

Another shot of St Andrews Rd

Almonde Close

This Close has the houses in a square with grass in the middle this setting would make the characters always looking out over eachothers house, invading privacy. This is a main theme for arguments in soap operas.

Final storyboard

Storyboard Final

Stop Motion Narrative

We created a stop motion piece to give a more in depth portrayal of what we would like to include in our trailer. We created the trailer using stop motion photography of toys and a set we printed, this enabled explore the different filming techniques we could use for our trailer, we have started the trailer with a close up on Helen's feet. In our real trailer we would like her to be wearing red heels and the sound of her walking to be an extra diegetic sound of her heels clicking against the floor. We have tried to use the male gaze theory by using lots of low shots to sexualise Helen in order to appeal to our male audience. We have included our characters going about their daily business by using a man getting off of his motorbike to enter the pub, a man walking his dog and a character driving to the pub. All of these characters have been distracted by Helen's entrance to their neighbourhood. We have then revealed the rest of the family and by using Richard (a newly married man) looking at Helen and wolf whistling we are alluding to a storyline that may include the two. His wife, Stephanie, also slaps him and this also intrigues the audience into wanting to know about these characters. We have also used Helen's son, Deano, looking at Danielle who is a pregnant teenager. Teenage pregnancy is a typical convention in soap operas and this relates to a younger audience. As we are aiming our soap opera at a younger audience, we have included many young characters and story lines which are relevant and could be experience by younger people in our audience. Our stop motion ends here with all the residents looking at the new family and we have done this to introduce our characters slowly and intrigue our audience to find out more about these characters by watching the soap. We would like to use a voice over on our trailer to provide narration about the name of the show and what time and channel it will be broadcasted on.

Animatic Storyboard

This is our animatic storyboard. We have an animatic storyboard to explain the shots we wish to use and for use to have a clearer idea of what we need.

Photographic Storyboard

Whodunnit Photographic Storyboard

This is our photographic storyboard. The aim of this to provide a more realistic portrayal of how we imagine our trailer.

Original Story Board

We created a storyboard to aid us in planning exactly how we want our trailer to flow. This means that we have all of our ideas laid down and can work on finalising our script and sorting out props and locations. Me and Jade created the storyboard from the planning sessions we had done as a group.

This would be a close up of a pair of red shoes walking along a pavement, with the extra diegetic sound of the shoes enhanced as they click on the pavement. The colour red connotes sexuality and so the audience is instantly aware of the type of trailer it will be, and the type of character who is wearing the shoes.


This is the first of three quick shots - mainly mid shots - which show different people going about their normal daily life, but being distracted by the mysterious character walking past.

This is the third shot which again shows a different group of people in their ordinary lives. The people seen in these three shots are not central characters and their role is only to build suspense.


This is a wide shot looking straight down the middle of a straight road. The character in the red shoes is shown entirely for the first time and she is walking down the road pulling a suitcase behind her. This denotes that she is either moving in or out of the area, and in this case she is moving in. The red shoes and bag are subconsciously linked the Virgin Airways adverts and so the audience will be reminded of glamour. The way that people are grouped on the pavement either side of her is reminiscent of a cat walk.

This shot is a cross between a wide shot and a close up in that three pairs of shoes and the wheels of a pram are seen only. In this shot, the non diegetic music would change in tempo in that it becomes faster and more disorderly, insinuating that disorder will be bought to the soap opera.


Another wide shot is used to show the children all grouped around the main character, Helen. They are in an arrow formation walking behind her down the road, instantly making it obvious to the audience that they are family.


This shot starts as an over the shoulder shot as Helen walks past and then goes to a mid shot, where Richard and Stephanie are seen. In this, Richard winks at Helen, shifting away from Stephanie, who turns to slap him. Extra diegetic sound it used to enhance the sound of the slap.

This is a mid shot where Courtney is seen from behind. As he walks past, Deano smiles at her, and as she smiles back, a reveal shot is used to show that she is pregnant. An over the shoulder shot facing Deano is used to show her stood behind her as he hurries off.

The final shot is another wide shot from a dutch angle, showing the family stood positioned around Helen, with the other central characters slightly further back.