While writing the Coronation Street textual analysis I decided to do some genre research on the side to help me identify some of the codes and conventions of soap operas.
I found a slideshow which was created for the BFI Media Conference 2013 called: Stories and Audiences
Since it was created in 2013 it is quite old but as I read through it I do believe that most of the information is still relevant.
The writer of this slide show has also written the 2017 BFI Media Conference subject, which was: When is a TV Genre, Not a TV Genre.
This slideshow explains what genre's are and then also includes genre theorists to further explain different points about genres and the types of them. There are quite a few useful points in there so I will also refer to that slideshow.
Now...
One thing I have learnt from reading through the slideshow was that soap operas are actually sub-genres stemmed from television drama's rather than just a whole genre on their own. Sub-Genres are more specific sub-classes of the larger main genre, and they have their own distinctive subject matter, style, formulas and iconography.
A theorist named Rick Altman has suggested that genres are defined by semantics which are simply recognisable elements placed in a text in a given genre that will communicate a meaning.
The different semantics include:
- Language
- Codes including iconography
- Actors
- Ideology
However, also need to note that these semantics aren't rigid and exact at all times, they are always changing over time.
With television dramas audiences will have certain expectations regarding the narrative depending on the genre, this makes it possible for people to recognise certain aspects of a show and make assumptions on the plot.
The types narrative techniques which are often used within television dramas are:
- Flexi-narratives
- Three strand narratives
- Split screen narratives
- Manipulation of Time and Space
Three strand narratives are very common in soap operas and if anything they are more than likely to have more than three narratives, coronation street had roughly four main ones to follow within one episode.
Narrative conventions which are also commonly used are apparently:
- Flashbacks: These are used to influence audiences feelings.
With some soaps such as 'Hollyoaks' they would have a main idea running through a show but once we would see a flashback at the end of the episode it would change the whole perspective of the plot for the audience and someone whom may have seemed bad may then be seen as good and vice versa.
The idea for my soap is that the show is mainly centred around a "whodunnit" story line therefore I would want to incorporate flashbacks into my show.
- Point of view shots: These also manipulate audiences perceptions and emotions, as well as occasionally create empathetic responses.
Another theorist which I have recently discovered since reading the slides is Daniel Chandler.
His idea is that genres position audiences differently and therefore elicit different responses linked to audiences expectations.
For example
With a crime drama, you could be in the point of view of a murderer and he could kill someone and it would most likely make you the audience, squeamish, angry, sad, either way, it would make you not like the killer because you know that for the rest of the episode, you are going to be cheering on the guy who goes out looking for the killer.
Now with an episode on skins, something similar happened where we are in the point of view of someone who has killed someone else. But as he mentioned in regards to genres using different positions, with this episode it's the good guy who kills someone and it's out of revenge as the guy being killed, murdered his best friend. Now with this episode, although the crimes are the same, many skins fans will tell you that they are a fan of that episode because of the sense of justice and closure which came with it.
It just shows what a change in position, situations and reasons could do to impact the response to a certain storyline.
Audiences are said to also be positioned within narratives to enhance their pleasure.
This is by giving them:
- Apparently impossible positions
- Privileged spectator positions
- Enigma codes
- Action codes
- Dialogue/Voice overs
In terms of characters there are certain behaviour expectations depending on the genre.
So with soap opera they would most likely be expected to act normally but then may be expected to act as stereotypes of the town in which the show is based in.
In terms of settings and iconography, both are expected to be recognisable and related to said genre.
A theorists which I am familiar with from looking at in class is Steve Neale. His theory is that genre is basically made up of
instances of repetition and difference.
Difference is essential to sustain and a genre. That being said audiences also get pleasure from seeing something recognisable but it being slightly manipulated making it "technically" different. This could be how coronation street are still relevant. Even though there have been practically a billion deaths, because they change the methods of death each time it remains expected but with the element of excitement looming round the corner as people wonder how.
So with this research, I now have a more specific list of what to try and incorporate into my own show and how and why it will help.
:)
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