[D1] Evaluate how the Written Extract Meets the Requirements of a Pre-Production Script

 LO3 - Be able to produce a script for the media product, in response to a client brief.

Our original brief for this script was to write a new soap opera to be shown on the BBC. This would be:

• Shown on the BBC 4 nights a week at peak time
• Be aimed towards ages 15-24 year olds
• Showing the BBC's values and key messages 
• The final five minutes of an episode with a suitable ending for a soap opera

My script idea for this soap opera to meet the client brief given was 'No Body No Crime' a soap opera-crime hybrid genre in order to appeal to those aged 15-24. This soap intended to target the audience of any gender and ethnicity but mainly the 15-24 age range. This is because many soap operas tend to be more aimed towards older people due to the issues and characters presented within them. To combat this I have chosen to use mainly younger characters and younger issues such as love triangles. This therefore meets the requirements of a pre-production script for the intended brief by accurately targeting the audience described through the topics used and a hybrid crime genre while still sticking to the style of typical soap opera conventions.

Furthermore, my written extract meets the key requirements of the client brief by satisfying the target audience within the plotlines and characters used. I have done this by using characters similar to the people within my target audience psychographic and demographic and by using plot lines that are relatable to the target audience age range - therefore creating representation within my written extract through making the town of 'Evermore' and the events that happen within the soap opera seem both realistic and familiar. For example, cheating is a very common topic within young people - those within my target audience - so I have represented this through Este's experience of John cheating on her with Alana. I have also shown the key values of the BBC within the written extract of the final five minutes of an episode by including a message behind the actions - this particular one concerning Este's disappearance shows how friends should always have each others backs, appealing to the BBC's message of education as well as entertainment. However, I have slightly deviated from the key requirements of the client brief within my written extract by choosing to follow conventions of a crime drama along with the key conventions of soap opera in order to appeal more to the target audience of ages 15-24 - as found in my online survey which determined that the target audience are much more likely to enjoy a crime drama than a soap opera - therefore this soap would appeal to them more than an average soap due to combining these genres together.

As well as this, my written extract of script also meets the requirements of typical pre-production scripts within the way it is laid out. The layout and formatting of my script meets the typical conventions of a TV script by using the courier font, capitalisation and the correct intention to differentiate areas of my script such as the slugline, action, character names and dialogue. I have also chosen to use content regarding both informal dialogue between friends and formal style language used by a police officer. This therefore is successful in showing the way in which my script meets typical conventions and requirements of soap opera scripts while showing the way that the episodes would progress through the dialogue used. This also creates representation of real life and occupations within society in terms of showing the difference between characters and how people act in real life due to different roles. Within this representation however, my characters may be slightly stereotypical as a friendship group of young girls - with gossip occurring and a lack of trust.

In order to gain further information on the way in which my draft script actually meets the requirements of both a pre-production script and a soap opera script, I chose to receive some feedback on my script by asking several people to read it and asking them interview questions about it as followed:

• Do you think this fits the soap opera genre?
• What target audience age range do you think this fits best?
• Can you picture the setting of this soap opera based on the script?

Overall, when receiving answers to these questions, feedback was similar. The majority of people thought that my pre-production script fit the typical soap opera genre in places within the way dialogue was structured and how the characters chose to interact, however the storyline seemed to resemble a crime drama more than an actual soap opera meaning it would not fit the brief as well as hoped. It was clear this soap opera was targeted towards a more young adult audience than the typical soap opera with answers ranging from 13-30 meaning my pre-production mostly targeted the audience it was intended for on the brief. People could picture the setting of the soap opera from the script as a small town with a canal as detailed within the script however the surroundings of the town were not clear.

Regarding the feedback given from these interviews, my written extract of my soap opera seems to only meet the soap opera genre partially. While my extract is good as it follows soap opera conventions within the style of dialogue, settings used (an Italian restaurant) and the number of characters - only a few being in each storyline and setting, the general genre of it is only half soap opera related. This therefore means that my written extract falls short on correctly meeting the soap opera brief as it does not fully fit the soap opera genre. This is also because many soap opera topics are nowhere near as dramatic as a dissapearace and murder and tend to focus on more everyday topics such as cheating and money problems. This, however, was necessary in order to make my soap opera successful in a modern day market as this innovation is needed in order to make it more interesting. Genre hybridity is important within the modern day market - shown in other shows such as 'Riverdale' meaning I have chosen to keep this area of my soap opera in as it is the USP of my soap and is necessary to make it stand out and appeal to the target audience. Furthermore, my soap opera extract accurately represents the target audience by showing similar situations that they would experience. 

Furthermore, after my feedback regarding the target audience that this written extract of script seems to target, I have met the requirements of a pre-production script for my target audience by aiming the language towards younger people within the target audience of 15-24 year olds. I have done this by using informal language within the dialogue such as nicknames and colloquialisms which are common within young people. I have also used certain language related to the crime genre in order to further appeal to the audience based on feedback from my original online survey which proved the popularity of crime programmes in comparison to soap operas. However, based on feedback given I may have slightly fallen short on the way that dialogue in constructed to accurately target the audience necessary. This is because I have written this from the perspective of an 18 year old and the language and interactions that I experience. However, in order to target the audience accurately within my script and within other areas of the soap opera, I would need to converse with other age ranges to see how they interact with each other and the dialect used.

Feedback that was given based on the setting of the soap opera allowed me to determine that my written extract met the requirements of setting the scene of my soap opera by being able to show the atmosphere of the specific scene and the way in which the restaurant is laid out. However, the overall idea of my town of 'Evermore' is not properly represented in my written extract of script meaning that it falls short slightly and does not fully meet the requirements of the brief. The written extract and sections of action and sluglines do not properly show what the town of 'Evermore' looks and feels like so this must be added in the future in order to make creating the product easier. However, this may also be because there is only a small extract of script written so naturally the town would be given a stronger identity across scripts as other storylines and locations develop.

Overall, I think my written extract of script is good within meeting the requirements of a pre-production script as it is properly layed out with capitalisation and intentations in order to show that it is a TV soap opera script and meets the brief. Within the dialogue used within my extract of script I have correctly followed soap opera conventions and targeted the audience of ages 15-24 year olds accurately within the chosen colloquialisms and genre. However, it slightly falls short in areas as it does not fully show the conventions of a soap opera nor does it fully show the town of 'Evermore'. Therefore, I could make certain changes such as including more details of the location within the script and using more conventional soap opera language.