Programme Hollyoaks 2009 Channel Channel 4, E4, E4+1, Channel 4+1 Time Channel 4 at 18:30 Features The whole trailer has no speech from the characters, it relies completely of the actions and movement of the characters. All we hear is a popular song that is appealing to the target audience as it is a party, dance 'cool' song. The lyrics play an important part 'Dance till your dead'. |
This links with two things which is very clever in my opinion. 1. The fact that the storyline is heading towards the death of the man that features in the trailer the most, a man called Calvin who seems to have upset a lot of people. 2. Also, the actor who plays Calvin was also taking part in a reality show called 'Strictly come dancing' on a different channel. This is a good publicity technique keeping everything very relevant. At the end the only speech is a voice over saying 'Strictly not for the faint hearted'.
There is also a simile used to represent the storyline. A character called Jackie spills red wine over Calvin's chest, this is representing the bloody wound he will receive at some point from one of his enemies who are all on the dance floor.
The suspense is the fact that we do not know which one will kill him, we have to watch and see. Also, the music adds to the adrenaline of the entire trailer as its quite feisty and ends with the lyrics 'Dance till your dead'.
My opinion
I think the whole trailer is very artistic and it shows that you don't need any speech to get a point across. They used another form of art and that was dance and their expressions. Even though the trailer doesn't seem naturalistic like a soap opera, i think it makes the audience want to watch it even though we know it may not necessarily be this surreal in the show. Hollyoaks does step out of the reality box sometimes though but it works in appealing the audience.
Programme Eastenders 2007 Channel BBC 1, BBC 3 Time Usually 19:30 or 20:00m, but on Christomas day 18:20 and 20:00 Features In this 35 second trailer we have a montage of cheesy smiles, happiness, pulling crackers and basically a nice family atmosphere at Christmas...at first. The setting is realistic and relates to most Christmas times which the audience can relate to. There are dining tables, Xmas dinner with lots of family and sitting on the sofa..probably watching the Xmas Speech. Suitably, the 3 main families of the soap are featured for the Xmas show, The Beales, The Mitchells and The Brannings. The storyline is about the reveal of an affair between Bradley's father and his wife that has been kept in the dark between the two for ages. But as its a Xmas episode, everyone will be watching because this is the time where the story reaches the climax. |
Everything is exposed. A video camera in a previous episode has recorded them before Stacey's wedding kissing, the video has been seen by Max's daughter. The audience till this episode only knows that lauren his daughter knows, we dont know what she is planning. But we see in the trailer that she has given the DVD as a presant, therefore the secret it out. The trailer makes sure not to include any of the reactions after between the characters but just the shock when they see because it makes you wonder what they are going to do next because they look horrified.
Similar to Hollyoaks, no speech has been included because the trailer in itself is telling the story of the Eastenders Xmas but a brief one. We hear jingling and sparkly sounds emphasizing the special time of the year. Also an Xmas Carol, Silent night relevant in representing the season. I think maybe Silent night is used to indicate the silence of the affair, or to contrast with the consequences as the lyrics say 'Sleep in heavenly peace'..which there will be none. The carol has been slowed down to appear spooky and sad.
The trademark Eastenders sound, “Dum Dum Dum Dum Dadada” only comes in when the trailor is finished and BBC are talking about details of the show (time, day).
My opinion
I personally really like the structure of this trailer. In such a short space we have a start, middle and a finish, a complete journey of emotions. We start of happy, then tension and awkwardness starts to reveal itself, and then the ending, the climax. It starts off with a lot of family on scene to get a sense of togetherness. By the end we see lots of close ups of reactions to the video. This creates a mighty sense of tension.
Programme Coronation Street 2009 Channel ITV 1, also on ITV+1 Time Isn't displayed on the trailer, which is an odd decision to make. However instead, the date is the focus as it draws the attention. Friday the 13th. A famous day for bad luck. Features What I gather from watching the trailer is the preparation for an uncoming wedding. There is a variety of happy faces,excitement and glamour, but then occasionally there are faces expressing concern and worry. This tells me, as you can guess with most soaps, that the wedding is going to be ruined or have 'bad luck' as there is an undercover secret that is under threat of being exposed. The music enhances the fact that it is |
Friday the 13th, "This is my Lucky Day". It is used as it should be for a wedding and it is upbeat and wedding suitable. However, the fact that it is Friday the 13th, suggests its used as a contrast or maybe even sarcasm. The fact that 'Good luck' appears so many times in the trailer suggests that the couple need it to get through the day. Once again, no voice is used in the trailer apart from a voice over at the ending. "The perfect date for a Coronation Street wedding". This suggests that we all should expect something bad.
My opinion
I like how the trailer focus's on the preparation as it isn't an obvious decision, it explores and shows the amount of effort that has been put into this day..which is clearly going to hit rock bottom. In a way, I want the wedding to go to well because the music and the effort and the beautiful dress emphasized 41 minutes in. Its like a princess wedding, the trailer has made it like a fairy tale. It all seems so perfect that you cannot imagine how it could go wrong. There isn't as much tension in this as the other two though and I think it may because of the subject matter. You cant really make a wedding too depressing to begin with otherwise there's less to be disappointed and shocked about. People seem to enjoy watching people at their happiness, sink to the bottom and this is a classic example.
