For the creation of our soap opera trailer it is important that we analyse a few soaps along with their trailers in order for us to gain a full understanding of the codes and conventions. Also by doing this we can gain an understanding of how they are created in a way which is designed to keep the audience hooked and interested in wanting to find out what is going to happen in the next episode. Trailers are important to the making of a Soap as it is a way of advertising what will be happening in the each episode and it gives a basic outline of the plots and storylines. Although it does this in a way that the trailer is left on a cliffhanger meaning the viewers will have to watch it too find out what will happen.
The first trailer that we will analyse is from Eastenders. This trailer shows the return of two characters who disappeared from the Soap a few years and they are now making a big entry back into the square. The theme of the trailer is Wild West and therefore this gives the impression that they have been missing for awhile and when they return its like coming back to a ghost town after the pub has been burnt down. The use of camera shots and angles is also a way of representing key ideas and showing who has the authority and what these characters meant in the Soap. Also the trailer is cleverly pieced together by the use of different props that actually would have been something else in the Wild West whilst in the EastEnd they are represented by simple but affective everyday objects. An example of this would be the way in which Kat pulls out a compact mirror from her bag anc flicks it open as though she is a diva. Whereas in the Wild West she would have been pulling out a gun so therefore they have used modern day representations to replace those things from that time era.
The opening of the trailer shows medium shot of the Queen Victoria pub. This is very iconic as this pub is the central meeting point throughtout every episode of Eastenders. Its also very important to the relationship to the two characters shown in the trailer and this is because they both used to work here and spend alot of their time in here with family also. Although the pub has now been burnt down, this also plays a role in the affect of the wild west, deserted and burnt out area. A newspaper is fluttering infront of the pub and this is in replacement of what would be a tumbleweed in the wild west. There is the use of diagetic sound which is the rustling of the paper, creating the affect that no one is around and someone is going to enter this deserted area. A hanging sign is swinging from the top of the bridge, the use of wind and tumbleweeds gives the impression to the viewer that everything has been still and quiet for too long and something or someone is going to come in and cause some kind of disturbance.
The next thing that is then seen in the trailer is a close up shot of some cow boy boots strolling across the road. The face of the person still isnt revealed, there is no hint as to whether they are male or female. The noise of the boots clipping along the floor can be heard above this non diagetic sound that has been playing from the beginning of the trailer. The use of non diagetic sound such as music is to create an atmosphere that helps to set the scene and give the audience a sense of realism in the theme of the trailer. Although Eastenders is quite obviously set in the East End the way in which they have given it the sense of the Wild West is effective. This is because the Wild West is typically pictured and represented as somewhere that is isolated and separated from the rest of society. By using this for the trailer of EastEnders it gives the impression that these characters have been isolated and away from everyone else for a period of time.
