Media Coursework Essay Example for Free

Media Coursework Essay For my GCSE media coursework I have been asked to write about a television soap or series. I have chosen to write about the popular soap, Eastenders. Eastenders is a fictional drama soap about a small community living in East London. First I shall explain what a soap is. A soap is a television program that is all about peoples daily lives and the events that happen. Soaps are ongoing, contemporary dramas. Contemporary means that the plots and storylines are all based on on real life events that can and do happen to real people. Ongoing means the plot of the soap is held out over the episodes. Soaps can be split into different categories such as, countryside soaps, city soaps, or police soaps. Emmerdale is an example of countryside soap, Coronation Street, Eastenders, as city soaps, and The Bill as a police soap. The reason television soaps are called soaps is because the soap used to be advertised on the side of soap packets. Soaps always end with a cliffhanger. When I say cliffhanger, I mean that at the end of the episode the main plot finishes half way through. This leaves the viewers wondering what will happen next, so they watch the next episode. On the other hand, series have a different way of keeping the viewers interested. At the end of the episode they show you a sneak preview of what will be happening in the next episode. I dont think this is a good way to make sure you keep your viewers because its spoils the surprise. A series has a new main plot for every episode, the plot is introduced as the episode begins and finishes as it ends. Series always have smaller plots. The idea for these is for you to keep in the back of your mind, so you keep watching. The smaller plots are carried on over two or three episodes, like in soap. Another way they keep people watching is by letting newspapers and magazines inform their readers of the future storylines. I dont think they should be allowed to do this because most people would rather watch the soap without knowing what will happen next. It makes the soap or series more enjoyable. By doing this, it means more people watch so they get more money. Another Eastender makes its money is by merchandising. In other words, Eastenders produce product which have a connection to Eastenders and try to sell them. On the Eastenders website (www. bbc. co. uk/eastenders) they sell items such as, mugs, T-shirt, books etc. All of which have some connection to Eastenders. They may have a picture of a character of Eastenders written across it. Series are not ongoing. They usually have about 12 episodes, then switch with a different series. Series also have different categories, such as, city and countryside series, relationship series, police, crime and prison series, comedy series, and hospital series. Both soaps and series exaggerate the plot to make it more interesting and attract more viewers. We know that it doesnt really happen like that in life but we except and believe it to make the soap work, if we didnt they would be no point in watching. Like in Eastenders, the characters live in a fictional city called Albert Square in East London. We all know this place doesnt exist but we believe in it. Julia Smith and Tony Holland created Eastenders as a rival for Coronation Street. The first ever episode was transmitted at 7pm on the 19th February 1985. For the first eight years, Eastenders was shown twice weekly but on the 11th April 1994, it was changed to three episodes per week. Now, in the year 2002, the standard yearly output with four episodes a week is 208 episodes plus the omnibus repeat on Sundays. However, there are often additional episodes filmed throughout the year, increasing the figure to between 210 and 215 episodes. I think one of the reasons it was changed to four times a week is because that is how many times Coronation Street is shown. Eastenders is one of the most successful BBC programs in history and to date is topping the charts with viewing figures of 11. 2milion viewers per weekday episode, which is equal to 53% share of television viewing. Eastenders is mostly watched by people aged 25- 45 with 34% of the viewers fitting in that age group. Closely following is the under24s which make up 24% of the viewers. The remaining 42% of the audience are the over 45s. Over half of the viewers are female whilst only 33% are male and 12% of Eastenders audience are children. The reason for such a low percentage of children, I think, is because Eastenders is on our screens at round about 7:30pm or 8:00pm and stays there for roughly half an hour. Most children would be in or going to bed. Eastenders is transmitted for our enjoyment, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday with a repeat every Sunday. I timed an episode of Eastenders. The viewing time was 27:06:92 minutes and the credits were 00:31:38 seconds, which together, give a total o 27:38:25 minutes. This is slightly over the target length for Eastenders, which is 27 minutes and 15 seconds. The maximum is 27:40:00 minutes. I also timed an episode of another popular soap, Coronation Street. I found out that Eastenders is on our screens for about 1 minute and 30 seconds longer than Coronation Street. The reason for this may be that, Coronation Street has a commercial break, which Eastenders doesnt have. A plot is the main storyline of the program. It usually involves two or more of the characters. Currently, the main plot of Eastenders includes Phil Mitchell, Peggy Mitchell, Sonja Jackson, Jamie Mitchell, Lisa Fowler and her and Phils baby, Louise. In a recent episode, Lisa took her baby and fled to Portugal. Phil wasnt happy about this; after all she had taken his child. Phil followed her to find his daughter. In the last episode, Phil pulled up in a taxi and climbed out with Louise. The viewers were then expecting Lisa to get out, but then the taxi pulled away. Phil had returned. Without Lisa. People were very suspicious and refused to believe when Phil lied to them saying that he and Lisa had came to an agreement. He said Lisa was suicidal and they had agreed it was best for Phil to take the baby. We found out that this was a complete lie when Peggy, was unpacking for Phil and she came across two passports. One was Phils and the other was Lisas. Peggy knows he is lying but she refuses to believe it and keeps quiet about it. This is the main plot at the moment, it only involves a few characters, but it is interesting to watch. Other issues that have been in the plot of Eastenders include, rape, abortion, teenage pregnancy, homosexuality, drug addiction, prostitution, divorce, extra marital affairs, unmarried mothers, mixed marriages, murder, gambling, adoption, teenage runaways, Alzheimers disease, HIV/AIDS, drink driving and euthanasia. I think that it is a good idea to broadcast these issues because all these subjects happen in real- life and it helps people to learn about it and how to cope if it should ever happen to them. These issues could also be involved in the sub- plot. Sub- plots are just like main plots but they involve fewer characters and are just there for us to keep in the back of our minds. If soaps only had one storyline, it might not involve your favourite character so you might not be interested in watching. The most recent sub- plots in Eastenders are involving Ian and his wife, Laura. Laura is pregnant, but we all know it isnt Ians child because he has had a vasectomy. Steven, Ians son has found out that Ian is not his real dad and that his real dad doesnt even live in England or know he has a son. Sonja made her boyfriend Jamie, sneak into Phils pub to find Lisas passport. Soaps usually have about three or four sub- plots. This means only about half of the cast is actually involved in one episode. They are roughly 35 different characters in the cast, two of whom have been in Eastenders since the first episode. The two characters that have been in Eastenders since the first episode are Adam Woodyatt, who plays Ian Beale and Wendy Richard, better known as Pauline Fowler. Adam Woodyatt is my favourite character. He is 34 years old and was born on the 28th June 1968. He was born in Walthamstow. Adam is one of the few cast members to actually come from the East End of London. Ian Beale is my favourite character because he is a very believable character. This is because if you combine Adams wonderful acting with the skill of the scriptwriters, it creates a real, believable character. Also, Ian is nearly always written into the script. So far, Ian has been through divorce more than twice, bankruptcy, his wife tried to murder him, he has slept with a prostitute, told his old fianci e, Mel, that his child was ill just so she would marry him and his most recent plot is that his current wife, Laura, is pregnant but the child is definitely not Ians. Ian Beale comes across as a sneaky, sly, wimp and he likes to get his own way. He always seems to be plotting something but his plans never work. He is a bit of a failure. As a businessman, as a husband and as a dad. His business failed when he went bankrupt, he has been married three or four times and his son has left him, to go see his real dad. Ian does not seem like a nice man. The reason I like him is because I feel quite sorry for him. Everything goes wrong and I think he deserves something nice to happen. Underneath, I think he is really sensitive. He cries a lot, I must have seen him cry about 5 times, usually to do with his children. Ian is a character I definitely wouldnt like to be, because he has a hard life. However, the character I would love to be is Janine Butcher. The actress Charlie Brooks has the task of being Janine Butcher. Charlies date of birth is 3rd May 1981 and is originally from Barmouth, North Wales. Her first appearance in the soap was on 22nd June 1989 when she was only eight years of age. She was the third actress to play Janine Butcher. Janine is a fairly pleasant character although she is awful to the people she dislikes. I think she is greatly misunderstood. She likes to get her own way, and if she doesnt she really can be a frightful person to be near. She is also uses people. She once made friends with a man called Terry, just to get her hands on his money and have a job and a place to stay. But, I would still like to be Janine because she knows how to have fun and is very witty. Janine also knows how to take care of herself. These are the reasons I admire her. On a whole, I think Eastenders is really realistic because they dont exaggerate the issues too much unlike other soaps. It is also fun and easy to watch. It doesnt matter if you miss one or two episodes because it is so easy to catch up on the plot. I really enjoy watching Eastenders along with 53% of television viewing and I think it is one of the best soaps to watch.