Typical Settings

 Characteristic of setting include the domestic, anti-romantic, empirical and secular contemporary world, frequently set in middle, lower-middle and working class settings, urban or suburban, and with an emphasis on leisure activities rather than work settings. Somewhere to drink seems to be the most popular place for people to meet, even though its ironic that half the street or square are there at that precise scene, viewers dont generally point this out as strange because its the most believable place to be used as you do tend to see alot of people at your local pub. 

Setting is an important piece of a story because it can be viewed as an extension of those already-crafted characters who might inhabit it. In soap operas, this is especially true, as not only does plot unfold in the setting, but it helps us understand the characters who frequently visit the location. A general example, Phil Mitchell from Eastenders, lives in a pub and has problems with battling alcohol throughout the years of the programme. Another example is Dot Cotton, the audience sees a lot of her when she is at the launderette, this is her place of work. Because we see her there a lot we think that she’s a hard worker.

Hollyoaks, a main setting is mainly pubs, clubs, and university areas like the SU club or their halls and lastly main characters households and places of work. This tells us the atmosphere, age group and types of issues you’d presume there to be in that kind of area. Audiences of a similar age group would relate to the surroundings more therefore possibly feel a connection with the issues, for example exams. There was an episode about reactions to different results (GSCE, A levels) and how the character deals with it e.g. lying to their parents, drinking etc. I myself can relate to how the characters feel more than a viewer at 45 years old. They would probably feel more interested or respond more to the characters who go to the local pub, a variety of characters but more of the mature characters.

A lot of the soaps titles are named after the area:  Coronation Street, Eastenders (set in the East End), Hollyoaks and Emmerdale.Setting matters, as it helps us further understand the characters while moving the plot forward.

EMMERDALE

Like other soaps, Emmerdale uses business's in the mix of the settings. However as it is a small village, the setting has to keep realistic, nightclubs wouldnt fit in. B&B's, farms, a cleaning services, a cafe, the stables and the list goes on following the village type places. It was originally known as Emmerdale Farm and focused on the farming business run by the Sugden family. Gradually the focus shifted to the inhabitants of Beckindale, the nearby village.

It consists of having Smithy Vottage at the top of Main Street with most of the residence on either side of the street and with a few houses and the parish church on Church Lane, just off Main Street.

Places: Mill Brook Cottage, Mulberry Cottage, Post Office/Cafe Hope, Keepers, Victoria Cottage, Connelton View Cottage, Dale View, The Grange B & B, The Woolpack, Pear Tree Cottage, Woodbine Cottage, Tug Ghyll, Oakwell Hall and a few more village/cottage like places.

 

Compared to the opther soaps on tv, Emmerdale is unique as it isnt set in a town, city or urban area.

It is in a calm and peaceful country area which i personally think makes the task of finding plot lines probably more difficult. In Eastenders, murders, drugs, sexual assault etc happen, but the audience is more mixed and the area is busier so the hecticness can be understood. Here, the contrast of drugs and country life would be very hard to make beleivable.  It has been said that the storylines tend to move very slowly and you can literally miss 2 episodes and come back and nothing has changed. This could be an attempt to make the story line more real (as you dont murder someone one day and get married the next), or it could be the result of having trouble finding story lines to fit in with the mood and type of area.

I think elder, country type/farmers would like this show. I wouldnt watch it, because when i think of Emmerdale and like alot of people who filled in our surveys autimatically think of Emmerdale as on old people programme. This demonstrates how setting can affect popularity and the type of audience.

   The series follows the lives of families who live in the six houses at the end of Ramsay Street. Their homes are therefore one of the main settings among Lassiter's Hotel and its shops, Grease Monkeys, a garage, a hospital and Erinsborough High.

 At the beginning of Neighbours, the show mainly focused on two families, the Robinsons & the Ramsays (after whom "Ramsay Street" is named) who were - as the name of the show suggests - neighbours. The real name of Ramsay Street is PinOak Court. Neighbours has become a very high demand place to visit, people like to take a tour of Ramsay Street and visit Madge's grave (a well known character from the soap) and other iconic places from the show.

The series primarily centres around the residents of Albert Square, a Victorian square of terraced houses, and its neighbouring streets, namely Bridge Street, Turpin Road and George Street, and which encompasses a pub, street market, night club, community centre, cafe and various small businesses, in addition to a park and allotments as well as a fictional tube station. It is set in the fictional London Borough of Walford and Albert Square was built around the early 20th century, named after Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria therefore linking with the main building of the show, the Queen Vic.

In reality, at least two Albert Squares do exist in the East End of London, one in Stratford and the other in Ratcliff. However, the show's producers actually based the Square's design on the real life Fassett Square in Dalston. Ridley Road Market is a short pedestrianised road that features a daily market and established street vendors, that includes Fasset Sqaure at one and Walford at the other.

The postcode for the area, E8, was one of the working titles for the programme. Adding to the realism of the setting is the local newspaper, the fictional 'Walford Gazette', mirroring the area's own Hackney Gazette, in which local news events such as the arrests of murders or characters appear. The name Walford is both a street in Dalston where Tony Holland lived and a blend of Walthamstow and Stratford, the sreas of London where the creators were born.

The characters who have a particular main storyline, get followed throughout their journey of the day whether it be at their homes, pub or work. This is like all the other soaps. All the characters tend to have a base, like their homes. When one scene cuts to another, they could have one household getting ready in the morning and then cut to another family getting ready. This is to compare the lifestyles so you get to know their lifestyles and family dinamics but also to create realism. The main households would be the Slaters, the Beales, the Brannings, the Mitchells (the central family, the dominant status and building) and many more. This is a map of the entire area.

This area has everything that a normal town would, so people can recognize and relate to it. For a large majority of the popular of England, they could watch the show and be familiar with the type of surroundings that the characters have. Famous landmarks like 'Arthurs Bench'  and grave stones give a reminder of history like we would. Just because someone dies, doesnt mean the show deletes the traces of the character. In households their would be photos of occasions and props that would remind the viewers that the characters have history. This gives the audience a emotional response because they can emphasize.

All characters happen to ironcially gather in a scene, like a pub when a big announcement,or a fight happens. Even though this is ironic, the audience doesnt tend to think about it, as the characters seem like a tight community and the pub and the cafe are the main places of meeting. Also, it isnt uncommon for people to see people they know at a location like a pub, so therefore we can understand. It would however, be uncommon for everyone to just turn up at a persons house for no apparent reason, with the pub there is a reason and thats leisure.

The area is London based, so the accents of London will be familiar with alot of people. It is busy and hectic so therefore more exciting for some. In London, alot of things do happen, like drugs, violence etc, so therefore it is more beleivable when these events happen in the show (as it does alot). Their are family business's like the chippy, the pub and the cafe, and also young ones working on the market. Alot of school kids are in the show however we never actually see the school like Hollyoaks or Neighbours. Their is a church and a variety of elder characters also who go to the allotments or cafe. It has an evenly realistic cast and settings for the elder to have tea partys at home, and parks for kids to play in and even a nightclub for the other 18s, so it has a broad audience.

HOLLYOAKS

Hollyoaks village is the main setting for the series. It is a fictional villgae in Chester, Cheshire. The majority of the characters live in the centre of the village, however some, for example the McQueen's live just outside. Outside the centre is Hollyoaks Comprehensive school and a number of flats in which many characters live or have lived. Also a cemetery, swimming pool and a number of houses. Similar to the other soaps, Hollyoaks set is similar to real life. It doesn't pretend to be a happy, upper class place. People have ordinary jobs e.g the launderette and live everyday lives in flats or council houses. It also responds to the idea living at uni, most students are broke and this area can be recognized and understood by students who watch the programme. There are student accommodation, the life at uni, where people at uni go (the SU bar). Also there is a school, so not only do we follow older characters aswell like 40+, but we also see students and then even younger students. All characters are given a setting to support their characters lives, they all have a reason in the show.

The Student Union Bar is the ultra-popular meeting place for the village's expanding population of college students. The SU bar is the same building that was used as Bar Brookie in Channel 4 soap Brookside. There is also..like all the other soaps a local pub, "The Dog in the Pond" , a place where alot of the drama happens for example in 2006, it was caught on fire. It was then rebuilt and given a new look, just like the one in Eastenders. As the pubs are an important fixture in the programme, they have to keep themselves up to date and appealing like real life. Relating to the student life, there is 'the Loft', a nightclub. There is also a nightclub in Eastenders but it more classy, but also owned by the rich side of the population.

Also, Hollyoaks has a cafe "Il Gnosh" but also appears like quite a classy restaurant. There is a typical mini supermarket "Drive and Buy", which is a family business, "Evissa" a beauty salon, "Tan & Tumble" a laundrette and tanning shop, "M.O.Bs" a juice bar and "Relish" a takeaway.
Even though a student town, the place seems quite classy, compared to Walford. But the population of people vary but alot of them seem pretty middle class. The area seems like its based on the youth culture. Aswell as the public places, we also see the characters in their homes and student accomodation. Lastly, like i mentioned when talking about Eastenders, there is memorabilia of old characters who have died. There is a wall, with characters that have been graffitis on very nicely, and is seen in many episodes so we are always reminded, like the characters are in the show. Hollyoaks is like a modern soap, for example there is alot of scenes at a skating park for the youth culture, instead of the park in Eastenders.

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