Soap Opera Trailer Proposal

Prepared by Samantha Hancock

13/10/14

ITV

2014

Aquinas: Media and Film Studies Department

Title Here

PROPOSAL
Prepared by
Samantha Hancock

Project name: Mersey Way

Outline of idea:

Main storyline is a murder but the murderer is not obvious in the trailer as we want the
audience to be wondering as this will entice the audience to watch the full episodes of the soap
on the TV.
The victim is an eighteen year old girl that goes to university. She has a boyfriend that she
cheats on, resulting in her being murdered however it is a mystery who did the vicious act.
The victim is found at the bottom of a stone staircase, the events are a mystery though.
Someone finds the victim unconscious and ring for assistance from the emergency services.
Flashes to someone removing a jacket and phone from the victim and then placing them in a
fire.
Footsteps seen as the killer walks up to the fire and places the items in the fire to burn
Characters are seen gossiping about what has happened, asking who saw her last, where she
was and accusing people of being with her last.

Start of trailer:
(Sound bridging where were you, screams, gossiping, I didnt see them last night, scenes cut away
from murder scene throughout), fade to blacks, music dying, crescendo up to the fire (trying to figure out
who killed her/ what happened)
The trailer will start with a text being seen on Hollys iPhone from a mystery number reading Meet me
at the plaza staircase xx. This number is actually the murderers number however this is not obvious to
the audience; they will just see it as a random number.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
It will follow with the victim (Holly) being seen at the bottom of the stairs (in the late hours of the night)
with blood under her head as she has a serious head injury. She is fully clothed with a jacket on and
also has her phone next to her but it is smashed.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
Someone finds Holly unconscious the next day (in daylight) and rings 999 to get assistance from the
police and calls for an ambulance.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
A flash to the night again shows someone removing the jacket from Holly viciously and taking her
phone.(This is where the killer removes items that would track the police to them through texts and
DNA).
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
An ambulance being seen with a siren on coming to the scene.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
Scenes of the other people speaking about it, where were you?, you were with her last
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
A tracking shot of footsteps walking towards the fire.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
A body bag is seen being zipped up.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)

Someone is seen holding the phone and jacket. The phone is ringing.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
A body bag is seen being zipped up.
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
The killer places the items in the fire
(Fade to black, quick cut into the next)
A shot of the flames going wild is seen and then a pull focus is used to focus the person (a silhouette).
End of trailer

Narratives:

Murder story line

Cheating storyline
Alibis throughout
Text is shown at the beginning on the girls phone
Cuts to the victim being at the bottom of some stone stairs, dead.
A woman walks over sees the girl and calls the police
Alibis being played through out by sound bridges such as where were you?, when
did you last see her? you were with her last night
The trailer ends with a silhouette walking up to the fire, putting the jacket into the fire,
with the camera shot through the flames, then pull focus to see the murderer.

Character Profiles:
Holly:
Girl is murdered, she is 18 and lives away from home at university. She is in a
relationship with Craig who does not go to university or have a job and lives with his
older brother (Mike). She recently cheated on Craig with Mike one night while he was
away, she is ashamed and wants to tell him but Mike refuses which causes an argument
and results in him pushing her down stairs and killing her accidentally.
Mike:
Mike is 21 and Craigs older brother, him and Holly have always got along and they know
each other well through her coming to the flat for Craig. Holly comes round one night
looking for Craig but he is not in, she stays anyway and her and Mike spend the night
together. Mike does not want his brother to find out for obvious reasons but Holly is
adamant she must tell him, Mike is angry and asks to meet up with her to try and
convince her to keep quiet. This results in him physically threatening her and she falls
down stone steps and dies. In a panic he takes her jacket which would have his DNA on
it and her phone as it has messages talking about meeting up, at the end of the trailer
we see him throwing these into a fire.
Craig:
Craig is Hollys boyfriend; they met when they were at college. When Holly went on to
university he moved away from home and went to live with his brother Mike in his flat.
He has decided not to go to university but is looking for a full time job. He is oblivious to
anything going on between Holly and Mike, he has a close relationship with his brother
and does not suspect anything of him, even when Holly has been killed. After her death
he is devastated and thinks it was an accident on her behalf, he speaks to Mike about
these things and eventually starts to think that maybe it wasnt an accident through the
way Mike has been acting.
Other Characters
Jenny a friend of Hollys
Niamh a witness to the death (doesnt see who the killer is)
Joe Craigs friend, we see them talking in the trailer

Production Team, roles and skills:

Producer:
Sam, Alex, Connor, Elena, Rory, Connor, Siobhan
Director:
Sam, Alex, Connor, Elena, Rory, Connor, Siobhan
Cast:
Sam, Alex, Connor, Elena, Rory, Connor, Siobhan
Camera:
Sam, Alex, Connor, Elena, Rory, Connor, Siobhan
Sound:
Sam, Alex, Connor, Elena, Rory, Connor, Siobhan
Assistant Camera/director:
Sam, Alex, Connor, Elena, Rory, Connor, Siobhan

Target Audience
Our target audience will be females aged 16-21. We decided upon this audience from the
results of our survey as the audience research showed that more women watch soaps and also
more young people watch soaps than older people.
The demographic audience will be teenagers in higher education, such as university, which we
have based the characters around as they will be able to relate to the soap and use it as
escapism as the characters will be relatable to the audience.

Reasons as to why the idea will work (broadcast time, demand for
style of show, mass/niche appeal)

Our trailer is a social realism soap opera, which is the most popular sub-genre from our
audience research, therefore it complies to the mass appeal, however it does have a
niche appeal as it is set with young people/teenagers as the main characters, and this
would give the show loyalty from the watchers.
Broadcast time will also contribute to the idea working as it will be shown after 9pm
(the watershed) to allow for a more graphic storyline, and this was the most popular
time for TV to be watched.

The murder story line idea will work as our research found that it was in demand from
the audience and also their favourite therefore would like to see more of this storyline

Locations, permissions
and resources:

The locations to make this trailer would be quite accessible and not as high end and
glamorous this is because we want to present a gritty and working class environment
to a teenage life.
Staircase Stockport, next to the Plaza. Scene of murder, calling the police and body
bag (needed for the scene) as well as a phone and jacket. We have chosen this
location as the walls are quite high which represents a secluded area which is perfect
for a murder scene.
Fire burning the jacket. Either at Alexs or Sams house in the back garden (no
permissions needed). A fire pit, jacket and phone needed for the scene.
Costa in Stockport scene of discussion about alibis and the murder however we will
need permission to film therefore will someone who works there (Wendy) to ask the
boss. We have chosen Costa as it is a satisfactory place where the characters go to
meet up and relax.
We will need to inform the council that we will be using a body bag as a prop in our
soap when filming. We will write a letter to ask permission and to inform them of when
we will be filming so there are no problems occurring.

Certified suitable for development:

Client.............................................................................
Executive Producer.......................................................
End