Post by RitaLittlewood on Feb 7, 2009 0:03:35 GMT
From Media Guardian:
The secrets of making a good soap
Posted by
Leigh Holmwood Monday 26 January 2009 08.07 GMT
Prepare yourselves. Tonight will see the "terrible climax" to Coronation Street's murder storyline – with more than 10 million people expected to watch as Maria Sutherland takes revenge on the man she believes killed her husband. Not bad for a programme that will reach its 7,000th episode on Wednesday.
But at almost 50 years old, Corrie is not the only long-running show that still pulls in the punters. Next year EastEnders will celebrate 25 years on screen, and The Archers will mark 60 years since its pilot episode. Even relative newcomer Hollyoaks will be 15. Surely there can't be many storylines left for them to employ?
Steve Frost, the controller of continuing drama at ITV and the newly installed executive producer of Emmerdale, admits it is "extremely hard" to keep soaps fresh because of viewers' high expectations, but says it is vital to do so. "I can't overstate the importance of these shows," he says.
But while it's important to keep soaps fresh, doing so can be tricky. Viewers feel they own the shows, says Frost. "It is always a constant question of keeping them familiar. That is absolutely key. But they can't be too familiar, as you might as well just watch repeats. They need to have a constant new angle as well."
Although nothing too ridiculous. Long-running shows have often resorted to dramatic stunts, but the spectre of Brookside – the Channel 4 soap was axed after failing to top its infamous body under the patio storyline – means there has been a move away from the sensational. "Brookside is a fantastic example of something that outdid itself," Frost says. According to Johnathan Young, the executive producer of The Bill, at one time "all the shows tried to outdo themselves". Unfortunately, the audience "just becomes desensitised".
Vanessa Whitburn, the editor of The Archers, says it is important to mix big storylines with more gentle ones. "The danger of hyperinflation in storylines is simply the exhaustion of trying to fulfil that. If you do more and more, and bigger and bigger stories there must be a boom and bust because people can't take any more and switch off."
But publicity still matters. Most long-running dramas operate around quarterly storyline meetings – a time to "thrash out and argue about the key characters, what we are enjoying and what is missing," according to Diederick Santer, the executive producer of EastEnders. Down in Walford, Santer is currently overseeing plots for June. He says: "I am looking at the storylines for the week now and I am thinking what would make it on to the front of TV Quick."
But that doesn't need to involve a fire, plane crash or bodies under the patio. Despite an urge to relentlessly court controversy, it is the more everyday issues that keep viewers coming back for more. "There will be recurring themes – there will be a lot about parents and children and the difficulties of growing up," says Santer. "Love is a really good theme, sex and romance and issues around fidelity and betrayal."
For soaps' close relations, continuing dramas – including programmes such as the Bill, Casualty and Holby City – the central themes are slighly different. The fact they are based around professions makes them easier to keep from getting stale, says Young. "We get a lot of our stories from our guest characters who come in for a few episodes, while in the soaps it is about the families," he says.
"We are principally interested in how our characters relate to the guest characters rather than putting their own storylines at the forefront. We don't want our cops walking into a murder scene talking about their relationships."
Working out which plotlines will be well-received can be a difficult art – particularly in recent years. Audiences have changed, says Susan Bower, new executive producer of Neighbours. "People are more educated and very, very savvy now," she says. "We have changed the storylining, we have researched them a bit more thoroughly to just to keep up with the expectation of the audience.
"There are, however, some soap storylines that don't work. So how do shows deal with ideas that are stale before they even hit the screen? The lagtime between filming and transmission means that producers usually know early on if a storyline might not work, says Santer (for EastEnders it's eight weeks).
"Sometimes it is hard to be objective. We can put an episode and storyline out and think 'it is not really doing it for me, but maybe other people will like it', but then it falls a bit flat. If something seriously doesn't work, we can try and remedy it but what is glorious about this medium is that things move on pretty quickly."
But keeping a show engaging isn't just about scripts. When Tony McHale – Young's counterpart at Holby City – took over in 2006 he gave it a film effect to try to modernise it. "I thought it looked quite old-fashioned at the time," he says. And with the success of US imports such as The Wire and ER, homegrown series have had to adapt. "Everything was racing for pace at one point – we certainly were – but we have taken our foot off the pedal slightly," says Young.
A move to high definition filming will lead to further change. EastEnders could be one of the first, with speculation it could also soon move from its Elstree base – although Santer says it would involve most of the show's external sets being rebuilt. "If you get up close you can see the staples."
When Neighbours got an overhaul last year, having moved from BBC1 to Five, HD filming meant sets were remade. "It hadn't really been refreshed and refurbished for some time, but it was done with great love and affection," says Mark Fennessy, the chief executive of Neighbours producer FremantleMedia Australia. "There were no radical left hand turns taken. We really wanted to be respectful of heartland Neighbours and what had always made it so hugely popular."
Except, that popularity was in danger – the overhaul was prompted by Australian ratings beginning to "soften". But Bowen says the core of the show remains. "You can put all the whizz bang things in the world in …but they are not there just for that sake," she says. "If the audience love the characters and the story they won't care if sets wobble."
Bower says her workload since becoming exec producer has been "phenomenal". "It's like riding a tsunami every day to keep people buoyed and enthusiastic, because that reflects on the show. You see it and you can hear it and you look at a show that has been going for a long time and the boredom or the staleness comes off the screen."
Her UK counterparts agree that keeping their teams energised is crucial. "People talk about these shows as being sausage factories, but the trick is not to make it look like that and to make something special every day. You can't just sit back and think 'that was a mediocre episode.' Each episode has to have its own drive and bite," says McHale.
But being a boss on a long-running drama is also stressful. It is "relentless" says Whitburn. "The biggest strain is there is no downtime," she says. McHale is more blunt: "I am sure there is a point where your head bursts."
Santer adds: "It is one of those jobs where you think, 'I can't cope with going home and reading three scripts, I might have a little cry, I can't bear it', but the privilege of having this show and the audience enjoy it to the degree they do – a responsibility comes with that privilege."
The secrets of making a good soap
Posted by
Leigh Holmwood Monday 26 January 2009 08.07 GMT
Prepare yourselves. Tonight will see the "terrible climax" to Coronation Street's murder storyline – with more than 10 million people expected to watch as Maria Sutherland takes revenge on the man she believes killed her husband. Not bad for a programme that will reach its 7,000th episode on Wednesday.
But at almost 50 years old, Corrie is not the only long-running show that still pulls in the punters. Next year EastEnders will celebrate 25 years on screen, and The Archers will mark 60 years since its pilot episode. Even relative newcomer Hollyoaks will be 15. Surely there can't be many storylines left for them to employ?
Steve Frost, the controller of continuing drama at ITV and the newly installed executive producer of Emmerdale, admits it is "extremely hard" to keep soaps fresh because of viewers' high expectations, but says it is vital to do so. "I can't overstate the importance of these shows," he says.
But while it's important to keep soaps fresh, doing so can be tricky. Viewers feel they own the shows, says Frost. "It is always a constant question of keeping them familiar. That is absolutely key. But they can't be too familiar, as you might as well just watch repeats. They need to have a constant new angle as well."
Although nothing too ridiculous. Long-running shows have often resorted to dramatic stunts, but the spectre of Brookside – the Channel 4 soap was axed after failing to top its infamous body under the patio storyline – means there has been a move away from the sensational. "Brookside is a fantastic example of something that outdid itself," Frost says. According to Johnathan Young, the executive producer of The Bill, at one time "all the shows tried to outdo themselves". Unfortunately, the audience "just becomes desensitised".
Vanessa Whitburn, the editor of The Archers, says it is important to mix big storylines with more gentle ones. "The danger of hyperinflation in storylines is simply the exhaustion of trying to fulfil that. If you do more and more, and bigger and bigger stories there must be a boom and bust because people can't take any more and switch off."
But publicity still matters. Most long-running dramas operate around quarterly storyline meetings – a time to "thrash out and argue about the key characters, what we are enjoying and what is missing," according to Diederick Santer, the executive producer of EastEnders. Down in Walford, Santer is currently overseeing plots for June. He says: "I am looking at the storylines for the week now and I am thinking what would make it on to the front of TV Quick."
But that doesn't need to involve a fire, plane crash or bodies under the patio. Despite an urge to relentlessly court controversy, it is the more everyday issues that keep viewers coming back for more. "There will be recurring themes – there will be a lot about parents and children and the difficulties of growing up," says Santer. "Love is a really good theme, sex and romance and issues around fidelity and betrayal."
For soaps' close relations, continuing dramas – including programmes such as the Bill, Casualty and Holby City – the central themes are slighly different. The fact they are based around professions makes them easier to keep from getting stale, says Young. "We get a lot of our stories from our guest characters who come in for a few episodes, while in the soaps it is about the families," he says.
"We are principally interested in how our characters relate to the guest characters rather than putting their own storylines at the forefront. We don't want our cops walking into a murder scene talking about their relationships."
Working out which plotlines will be well-received can be a difficult art – particularly in recent years. Audiences have changed, says Susan Bower, new executive producer of Neighbours. "People are more educated and very, very savvy now," she says. "We have changed the storylining, we have researched them a bit more thoroughly to just to keep up with the expectation of the audience.
"There are, however, some soap storylines that don't work. So how do shows deal with ideas that are stale before they even hit the screen? The lagtime between filming and transmission means that producers usually know early on if a storyline might not work, says Santer (for EastEnders it's eight weeks).
"Sometimes it is hard to be objective. We can put an episode and storyline out and think 'it is not really doing it for me, but maybe other people will like it', but then it falls a bit flat. If something seriously doesn't work, we can try and remedy it but what is glorious about this medium is that things move on pretty quickly."
But keeping a show engaging isn't just about scripts. When Tony McHale – Young's counterpart at Holby City – took over in 2006 he gave it a film effect to try to modernise it. "I thought it looked quite old-fashioned at the time," he says. And with the success of US imports such as The Wire and ER, homegrown series have had to adapt. "Everything was racing for pace at one point – we certainly were – but we have taken our foot off the pedal slightly," says Young.
A move to high definition filming will lead to further change. EastEnders could be one of the first, with speculation it could also soon move from its Elstree base – although Santer says it would involve most of the show's external sets being rebuilt. "If you get up close you can see the staples."
When Neighbours got an overhaul last year, having moved from BBC1 to Five, HD filming meant sets were remade. "It hadn't really been refreshed and refurbished for some time, but it was done with great love and affection," says Mark Fennessy, the chief executive of Neighbours producer FremantleMedia Australia. "There were no radical left hand turns taken. We really wanted to be respectful of heartland Neighbours and what had always made it so hugely popular."
Except, that popularity was in danger – the overhaul was prompted by Australian ratings beginning to "soften". But Bowen says the core of the show remains. "You can put all the whizz bang things in the world in …but they are not there just for that sake," she says. "If the audience love the characters and the story they won't care if sets wobble."
Bower says her workload since becoming exec producer has been "phenomenal". "It's like riding a tsunami every day to keep people buoyed and enthusiastic, because that reflects on the show. You see it and you can hear it and you look at a show that has been going for a long time and the boredom or the staleness comes off the screen."
Her UK counterparts agree that keeping their teams energised is crucial. "People talk about these shows as being sausage factories, but the trick is not to make it look like that and to make something special every day. You can't just sit back and think 'that was a mediocre episode.' Each episode has to have its own drive and bite," says McHale.
But being a boss on a long-running drama is also stressful. It is "relentless" says Whitburn. "The biggest strain is there is no downtime," she says. McHale is more blunt: "I am sure there is a point where your head bursts."
Santer adds: "It is one of those jobs where you think, 'I can't cope with going home and reading three scripts, I might have a little cry, I can't bear it', but the privilege of having this show and the audience enjoy it to the degree they do – a responsibility comes with that privilege."
