Deconstructing of two soap adverts Waterloo road and Top Boy

Task 1
In this task I will be researching the structures and techniques of television advertisement. I will be talking about the key structures and characterise of the product. Also how they attract the audience by using different media techniques. The advert choice I have chosen for this task is waterloo road which has been TV series for a very long time, and has built a reputation for being a really goon TV series.
Waterloo Road
Waterloo road is a British television drama series that is based in the north of London near Manchester in Rochdale, England. It was first broadcasted on the 9th March 2006 on BBC one. It is very troubled school with so many different things happening within the school or outside of the school. The series focuses on the lives of the school teachers and students and confronts social issues like extramarital affairs, abortions, divorce, child abuse, and suicide. I will be deconstructing the last advert for waterloo road with Kyle stack.

Waterloo road endorses celebrity endorsement this is when they use celebrities to try and boost there ratings and waterloo road did this by using Britain’s got talent winner George Sampson. By adding this one celebrity the producers of waterloo road knew that it would boots their ratings and gain more of an audience but the audience will be people who know George Sampson from BGT (Britain got talent). This also helps the celebrity boast their status in life because before George Sampson appeared on waterloo road he wasn’t doing much to boats his career so the chance for him to become an actor to help boost his career.

The target audience for this drama series was initially for teenagers from the age of 14-18, but due to it becoming such a huge drama series the audience stretches out to adults mid 20s or early 30s. The reason why the target audience is aimed to teenagers is because of the school life that the characters are living either in or out of school and teenager can relate to a certain character because they might consider themselves to be the same as the character hence the viewer making that certain character there favorite because they relate to them the most. This can also be linked with personal identify
Waterloo road starts at 8pm this is in the peak time hours Peak time is when shows or programmers have to be shown at a certain time due to the age restriction.

In waterloo road there isn’t really any stereotyping, the only stereotype is that due to the schools new location (Scotland) you wouldn’t see a lot of black people in the school as the school is generally all white. So that would one of the stereotypes in the series. Another stereotype could be that the teens who are poor would underachieve in the education part and also have a tough life outside of school. The poor teens in waterloo road can be portrayed as bad
The music waterloo road was very intense and hyper as it matches the character in the advert, as they are all angry and mad so the music goes well with the advert. It makes it the viewers want to watch the advert more because of what they are seeing and the music, which backs it up.

There are many different types of transition; there are cuts, fades, mix, dissolve and many more. But the one used in this advert by waterloo is cut to because after when one scenes is done they cut straight too a different one and some scenes where inside and some where outside so when the scene was inside and then goes straight to a scene outside that’s a clear indication that that scene was a cut to.
Waterloo road has been on TV for a few years now since 2006 and the most recent series just ended this year so it has been on air for 5 years. This is mostly due to the viewers who love the series and watch it every week when it is on. So it has made a huge impact on their lives because this can be something that they look forward when they have a tough day at work or school this is called diversion.

Top Boy
Top boy is again another British drama series it was first broadcasted on channel 4 on the 31 October to the 3 November 2011. It is set on a fictional summerhouse housing estate in Hackney the series involves a group of people who live in summerhouse dealing drugs and gang violence. The series also show you peoples live so its not focusing on the main character you get to see how other people live and how the go about their daily lives in summerhouse. I will be deconstructing the Toy boy first series advert which got the TV series off and running.

Top boy also includes many celebrities from the like of Bashy, Kano, and Scorcher these celebrities are very well known by teenage due to them being rappers in the UK. Comparing the celebrity endorsement to Waterloo road I would say that Top boy would gain more of an audience because they have more than one celebrity and it’s a higher chance that people will know the celebrities in Top boy then the celebrity in Waterloo road.
Top boys target audience will be aim towards again teenagers 16+ and adults 20+. The series shows life in East London and how growing up in a rough areas can be hard and how young teens are fed into drugs and gangs, also teenagers can relate to Top boy because there are a few character in the series that are young and are involved in drugs so teenagers who do this in their daily life can relate to that character because they know how it feels to be apart you don’t want to be in and again this can be linked with personal identify.
The showing of top boy is in the peak time hours so between 6pm-10:30pm due to the language they use and violence. Shows after 9pm are classified as ‘watershed’ this will restrict children from watching my or another series and seeing content which could have a bad effect on them, but this time children will be going to sleep and the adults will just be coming home from work so it is an ideal time for them. The series is mainly aimed towards the working and middle class.

The stereotype in Toy boy is typical has they have the main characters as young black men and women living in a run down estate, selling drugs and involved with gangs warfare. This is a stereotype because due to the series being based in East London people will think instantly think that young black men will be involved in drugs and gangs in that area just due to the fact that the series is showing that. But when in fact some of the most notorious gangs in East London are ran by white people.

The music for Top boy is very up-tempo and the advert gives you an in sight into what the series drama is about. There is also a voiceover along with the music, so as you are listening to the music you also have to listen to the voice over which gives you hints on the series and what it about and why people do things. Whereas compared to waterloo road the music is also fast and up- tempo but there is no voiceover so every character you see have a line to say so you kind of get a in sight to what their story maybe be about.

The transition in Top boy vary from many different types like, cuts, fade etc.. The transitions in the advert. The advert has a slow tempo to it so it pin point some of the most interesting points of the series like for the first part you will see the main character standing and a voiceover in the back ground, then it cuts to a group of boys (black) this will grab attention of the views because they would think it is a gang. Then immediately after you see drugs and money. Whereas compared to waterloo road the transition are quick and simple from one scene to another and fast temp all with different character so you know their story and who they are.

The impact for top boy has grew by far the most out of any other TV series. It is a recent TV series only having come out in 2011 and has gathered a huge fan base in 2 years. Mostly likely due to people can relate their normal lives to some of the characters in the series this is called personal relationship. Compared to waterloo road you can also compare the way you live outside of school to a character or you can compare your school life to the same character. Either way compared to Toy boy a life style in school is completely different to the life style people live in Toy boy. So that is why if you watch both soaps you can see two aspects of life school life and gang life.

What makes a good soap opera?
A Soap opera is a television show that goes on air over a certain period of time depending on how successful it is. They usually have a story line and the whole series or show revolves around the story line or series. Soap are always based on a theme that is usually the most influencing factor for it success. But there are however, various other factors on which the success of a soap opera.

The theme must be something interesting and unique. It doesn’t always have to relate to human life or social society but It should always be something unique, if not them it has to be interesting to keep the viewers engaged and active. One successful formula for a theme could be family life which some soap often base their series on. Other usefully theme can be personal identify, personal relationship, diversion and some many other factors .

Although a good theme is he basis of a good soap opera, sometimes a good theme may not always be the successful area. For instance a good theme may be irrelevant but if it is not directed well. There are many examples of shows, which have good themes but are not really successful. For example there are a lot of TV series being shown today and only a few are chosen by the audience and get watched week in and week out. A good example of a successful soap opera is Eastenders it has been aired since the first episodes started on the 5th of February 1985 till this present day and has won multiple awards It has been nominated for a variety of different awards including 15 British Academy Television Awards (eight wins), 10 Royal Television Society Programme Awards (four wins), 18 Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Awards (12 wins) and 243 British Soap Awards (69 wins).

Another important aspect of a good or in other words a successful soap opera is its actors. Soaps may not always need big names stars to make it, into the big time. What all soap needs is a good, skilled actors who can tell the story and people start to get hooked on that particular actor. An example for this can be the Eastenders cast before the series started in the late 80s no one really knew the actors. But due to their good acting people started to recognize who they are and eventually begin to like them.

Lastly an important factor in a good or successful soap opera is its relevance to time. Because if it was a major hit back when it started that doesn’t mean it will be a major hit in this day of age due to the likes of other soaps and better soaps coming out. So it may not enjoy the same success. If they want to be a success them the theme of the soap must be unique, interesting and keeping with the time of today. The difference between a good or successful soap opera can be again referred to Eastenders, Eastenders is a very successful soap opera just due to the fact that’s its won so many awards and been one of the longest aired soap opera in Britain. A good soap opera can be Hollyoaks they are not as successfully as Eastenders and don’t get many viewers like Eastenders do so there for they are a good soap opera just because they are not on Eastenders caliber yet.
So overall what make a good soap opera is not just about the theme or storyline. If it is pointed in the right direction as in the director is good and the actors are good then the soap opera will have a good chance of being a success because they all (director and actors) play a major factor that can make a soap opera good and successful for many years.