Cultural Changes (Soaps)

How has British culture changed in the last quarter of a century?

British culture has changed drastically. I think soaps used to be very reserved about using different religions and people of different cultures.

If Britain is now a multi-cultural society, do we see evidence of this in British soap operas?

In my opinion we do see multiculturalism in soaps from day to day. For example if you watch an episode of Eastenders you can instantly see different social groups, cultures and religions. When soaps first started to air teenagers never used to get any on screen time whereas now the vast majority of soaps include teenagers in every storyline.

Do minority groups feel as represented in soaps as a majority culture?

I think a few cultures are represented but not all of them. This could indicate a lack of budget or laziness.

Types Of Narrative

Open - Open narrative is on going an example of this would be a series such as Eastenders and Coronation Street. They are both very good example as they have been running for many years.

Closed - A closed narrative is normally something that comes to an end. Examples of this would be films that do not end with a ciff hanger or an indication another film will be made.

Single Strand - Single strand have 1 main theme and 1 main storyline. This is unpopular with series but very popular in film. 

Multi Strand - Various amounts of stories in one big storyline this can be seen a lot in soaps.

Series - Episodes which usually get grouped togethor to make a series. An example of this would be Lost.

Serial - Serials are similar to series. The main difference is that the ending is not the same.

Linear - Linear tends to focus on time. Such as going in time more quickly

Non Linear - Tends to focus on events which have already happened, such as things in the past.

Realist - Using day to day life situations.

Anti-Realist - Is the complete opposite of realist using made up whacky ideas.

How Much Should Newspapers Cost?

The Guardian

The price raise will enable the newspaper to continue to invest in the kind of ground breaking investigate journalism.

Also the company had lost £33million over 2010/11 financial year. Also most of the profit was from the digital version of the newspaper.

I have found a quote which explains ‘The price increase will enable us to continue to invest in ground-breaking journalism that in 2011 has seen us win newspaper of the year.’

The price increased happened 19^th September 2011.

Other reasons they may have raised the price of the newspaper may be due to the recession, printing and also distribution prices.

How Soaps Have Evolved Over Time

am going to be comparing how the soap opera

Coronation Street

has changed over periods of time. I will be looking at the programme in 1961, 1979 and 2011.

From the extract in 1961 I can see that the colours it is filmed in are very basic, they use black and white with a slight green tint. In the shot seen there is very little glamour and the shot used is a dynamic diagonal shot. All these features add to the mise en scene. We can see from the extract that the street looks very cloudy, hazy and bunched together. The attached houses show us the economical state they were in as all the houses look very cramp and the long shot shows us that it stretches on for miles connotes that there is no escape. The shots we see are not smooth which shows the technology used is very budget. The first scene is set in a pub which is code used in most soaps. In the second shot we see two women arguing one women seems higher as they have used a low angle shot. The low angle ironically reverses the hierarchy of the lower women as she has most of the spoken dialogue and the people standing behind her create a sense of them taking sides. The clothing used shows us the time frame and also the women being ‘picked on’ is wearing a richer material (silk) which creates a sense of singling out. A wide establishing shot is used to show support for the character on the right. The scene then goes to a medium shot of the crowd their reactions show they are attentive.

In 1979 technology has changed in the shots we can see this as they have used an aerial shot to open the show, this may also be a crane shot, the houses are still tightly packed like they were in 1961. We can see from the opening shot that the tiles on the roofs are grim and we can see flats in the back that overlook the street which give a sense of escape. The houses give us the sense that people in the street are lost in an economic stranglehold. In this scene compared to 1961 we can see that the technology and colour has been improved which improved the mis en scene. In the opening scene we can see flowers which go above the rooftops, the flowers are a metaphor for people who rise out of the poverty. In the first scene a man enters a house without permission, we can see this as there is silence which creates tension. The character code works with code to create suspense, the character code is the cigarette and leather jacket which is a metaphor for the ‘bad guy’ in films. The old man is sterotypicalls portrayed as he in pyjamas and the low angle shot creates a sense of hierarchy as the old man is smaller than the ‘bad guy’. All the items in the scene create an atmosphere as all the furinute is mostly old fashioned and different shades of brown.

Should the press be able to say what they like?

I think in terms of politics anything should be able to be said as they are portraying different opinions. I think the government are very secretive about our country. Why should the residents be held in the dark of our own country?

Information about the press complaints commission (PCC)

They cover newspapersand magazines. They do not cover advertisments, book, blogs or content on newspaper websites. They are voluntary.

Print regulation

Sensationlism – This would relate to the London riots. This is a good example because at the time they were over exaggerated and the stories included very eye catching images which were literally domination the front page of most news papers.

Libel – this could relate to The News Of The World phone hacking scandal.

Inaccurate reports – an example of this is when Princess Dianna tragically died. The press got a whisper of her passing away and blew stories out of proportion and made their own assumptions and conspiracies.

Offensive Material – The Big Brother racist story is a prime example of this.

Negative Representation – An example of this could be Victoria Beckham being size 6. She is represented badly whereas she could have a medical condicton such as anorexia.

Public right to know.

I think in terms of politics anything should be able to be said as they are portraying different opinions. I think the government are very secretive about our country. Why should the residents be held in the dark of our own country?

Information about the press complaints commission (PCC)

They cover newspapersand magazines. They do not cover advertisments, book, blogs or content on newspaper websites. They are voluntary.

Print regulation

Sensationlism – This would relate to the London riots. This is a good example because at the time they were over exaggerated and the stories included very eye catching images which were literally domination the front page of most news papers.

Libel – this could relate to The News Of The World phone hacking scandal.

Inaccurate reports – an example of this is when Princess Dianna tragically died. The press got a whisper of her passing away and blew stories out of proportion and made their own assumptions and conspiracies.

Offensive Material – The Big Brother racist story is a prime example of this.

Negative Representation – An example of this could be Victoria Beckham being size 6. She is represented badly whereas she could have a medical condicton such as anorexia.

Public right to know.

Print - Audience Needs & Lifestyles

Hard News consists of  Politics, War, Crime, Economy. All the stuff written is normally factual.

Examples of Hard News:
Violence, Riots, Kidnappings, Murders and also politics.


Soft News consist of Celebrity stotires, Cooking, Entertainment, Lifestyles and TV Programmes. Soft news stories tend to be more relaxed.
Examples of soft news is a celebrity divorce.


 Tabloids Normally contain soft news which are overtaken by celebrites. The articles are normally short and gets to the point. The tend to use slang and basic language.
Exampled of a tabloid are The Sun, Metro and Daily Star.

Broadsheets are opposite to tabloids. They are far more factual and longer.

Who Regulates TV?

OFCOM regulate what is shown on TV.

Anyone can complain to OFCOM. They can then investigate what you have complained and set the standard for particular programmes.

After 9pm adult programmed are allowed to be shown. Adult themes and material are shown after 9pm as the government suggest young children should be asleep.

Here is list of what is shown after 9pm – Sexual Content, Nudity, Swearing and Drugs and alcohol.

Task 2.
You are an angry viewer. You watched Corrie on 16th January 2012 and are very unhappy about an adult smacking a child who is not his. In this episode, builder Owen Armstrong (played by Ian Puleston-Davies), smacked 10 year old trouble maker Faye ( played by Ellie-Louise Leach)- his girlfriend's adopted daughter- after discovering she had killed his fish by poisoning the fish pond.

YOU ARE GOING TO WRITE A LETTER TO OFCOM
In this letter, you will say that you found the scene to be OFFENSIVE and it made you feel UPSET.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing in response to the episode shown on the 16th January 2012 in which Owen abused the character Faye, who I believe to be around 10 years old.

After watching this controversial episode I became offended over the fact that he abused a child that was not even his own child. I do not think that this was appropriate for the thousands of viewers that watch this programme. It is not only us adults that watch it, but teenagers are now also starting to tune in.

As I watch the show regulary I think the show should go back to hard solid storylines.
Yours Sincerely
Shafique Khan