Continuous Drama

Continuous Drama - Why are They so Popular?

There are two types of continuous dramas and they are soaps and cops + docs. Soaps are episodes which are based on everyday life with drama inflicted on them. Cops + docs are usually stories that drag over a long period of time and are on TV less often than soaps. With both of these, there are some things that are on both of these such as convention which is something that happens on a regular basis within a media text (rules of the text). The code of the text is the visual clue to what you are watching. Continuous dramas are very important to our TV life and are very popular among the audience; there are a few techniques and other things that suggest why they are so popular.

The camera work is very important because the use very simple camera techniques. They use a two shot, over the shoulder shot, mid shots and keep to the 180 degrees rule most of the time. They also use establishing shots which determine the geography of the location. Overall, they use very simple camera angles which make them popular because it requires little thought. Making it very simple also gives the audience the impression that it is very realistic and believable in many ways. So the audience can relate to the dramas.

The sound is also use similarly to the camera work because again, the sound is predominantly diegetic and uses real sounds. Every sound that you hear is usually natural sounds that are made to that scene. Also, if the radio is played, it always plays the current music played and usually the music that is at the top of the charts. This adds to the reality and it creates atmosphere which people like. The only real soap to differ from this is ‘Hollyoaks’ where it uses music to open each episode or crop up throughout the episode. This is a different technique which appeals more to a younger audience such as teenagers as it is less realistic in some terms than ‘Eastenders’ or ‘Coronation Street’ who opt for more older audiences.

The editing of a continuous drama is chronologically ordered and is continuity editing. This again is so no real thinking is required, the audience just watches and it tells them what is happening. Each episode usually tries to follow the idea of a 12 hour day which is again realistic. There are no wipes or fades between cuts and they are straight cuts; this allows multiple storylines and again is very simple. So the editing creates an illusion of realism and real time filming.

The costume of the character adds to the popularity because we become accustomed to the character and what we know them as. The costume that they wear mostly every episode they are in is important because we know them for what they wear. For e.g. Pat from ‘Eastenders’ always wears the over-the-top earrings and that is how we see her and recognise her. The costume provides characters traits which become familiar and provide comfort for the viewer. Familiarity is good for soaps.

Mìse on scene such as photos in characters houses that have left or died such as the picture of Mark Fowler in Pauline Fowler’s house creates depth to the characters. Mìse on scene is used for illusion of reality. Things like wallpaper that stays the same over the years in the characters houses like Dot from ‘Eastenders’ provides comfort for the viewer. Other things such as symbolic settings like the launderette which links the idea of dirty washing linking to dirty gossip or the shops which also exchange gossip like in ’Coronation Street’. The pub seems to always pose the case for the big showdown or where the big part of the story is revealed or just developed. This is usually where the episode ends leaving us with a big cliff-hanger.

Narrative conventions keep us hooked on to the continuous dramas as well. There are usually 4 or 5 stories that are going on in the same episode where some stories might be reaching its peak, where other stories may just be beginning. This is used to create something for everyone and it adds appeal to different sectors for the audience. The different peaks for the different stories are also used to keep things moving so the audience doesn’t get bored. A cliff-hanger is usually used at the end of the episode to get the audience to tune in next time. There are occasionally episodes which are a tow hander where two big characters in the story have a whole episode to themselves. This is used to do something different to maintain the audience’s interest but surprisingly, they have not been as successful as a normal episode which suggests that the audience prefer the normal rotor for an episode.

These are a number of reasons why continuous dramas are so popular. They use very simple techniques and everything is normal which adds to the realism. Soaps deal with issues as well as stories and also deal with current issues that reflect real life such as knife crime. This is sociological reflection. They also use the odd little scene which would have been filmed last minute to comment on England at the world cup or the Olympics just to add to the realism. Outsiders that are not local usually become the bad guys and local people don’t trust others. Again, this could add to the reflection of people’s views. Overall, continuous dramas are very simple and realistic which is why people are so interested and hooked on them, but continuous dramas are beginning to become more farfetched because of the ever growing popularity of ‘Big Brother’: reality TV. So soaps have had to adapt and become more farfetched with a murder once a month and storylines that are sugar coated and dramatized to gain the audience back.