Chosen Treatment - "Notice Us"

After holding the group discussion it was clear that Tamika Smiths treatment was best suited to teenagers and we all felt we could include our own input into this soap in order to gain the best possible outcome. I felt it would be a good idea for me to try and relate characters who will appear in our soap "Notice Us" with key characters in "Eastenders". The treatment with my own ideas is explained below.

Characters:-

Ruth Smith 42 a mother of one, her first husband and father of her child passed away. She is currently going though a divorce with her 2nd husband. She is very protective over her only son and depends on him regularly. She is also employed as a cashier at the local newsagents.

Whilst watching soap operas, we got the inspiration from Carol Jackson (Eastenders). She is smilar to Ruth as they both would do anything for there children and are very protected of them. Carol's son Billy passed away in his sleep due to his friends who were seen as a bad influence.

Michael Smith 18 is Ruth's son, he is a vulnerable character, tries his best to stay out of trouble. He has a girlfriend Esther who he has been with since a very young age. He doesn't depend on any one. He had lost his father when he was 12, and mum divorced his step dad recently. Michael is killed tragically for no reason, leaving his girlfriend alone.

A character which we as a group feel has similar character traits to Michael would be Billy Jackson (Eastenders). Billy is portrayed as vounrable and trustworthy. He has done his best to better his life and make a new start. He sadly dies in his sleep one night. He has a great relationship with his girlfriend Whitney. In our Soap "Notice Us" we plan to express the relationship between Michael and Esther in a similar way.

Esther Clarke 18 she is currently in university studying Accounting and Economics part-time. She falls pregnant and considers having an abortion. She is deeply in love with her boyfriend Michael. Tragedy hits her life when Michael is tragically killed. She lives with her sister Emily, mother Judy and father Jim.

Esthers current position in "Notice Us" is similar to "Stacey Slater" (Eastenders). Stacey had to make a decision whether she should have an abortion or keep her baby Lilly. Staceys world feel apart when her husband Bradly died, leaving her to bring up the child alone.

Billy Gordon is 20. Currently a leader of a gang in North London . He is unemployed and loves to party with friends and gang mates. He has both parents who care about him dearly but he rebels and disobeys them.

Connor (Eastenders) plays a similar role to Billy Gorden within the soap. For example Connor is the leader of a gang in East London. Billy is also a leader and is looked up to by other members. Connor insists he is going to change, however he always gets stuck in the middle of gang battles. We intend to express the consequences for being in a gang.

Content:-

It contains a bunch of teens terrorizing the city. Gangs are also involved with both girls and boys in them. They will be different issues portrayed such as teenage pregnancy, drugs, family issues and moderate violence.

Location:-

The setting will be in North London . We could shoot some parts of the city such as bus stops, restaurants, pubs, local shops, streets and homes. We would also try to shoot the landmark that makes North London famous so the audience can relate and notice where it is.

Target Audience:-

The target audience for this soap will be mostly aimed at teens 16+, this is because the characters portrayed are mainly teenagers and their issues they go through on a day to day basis. However I feel parents could also find our soap interesting as there is also an adult cast which go through common issues with their children such as dishonestly and misbehaviour along with this they will also gain an insight to the lives of teenagers. I intend to attract male viewers by introducing a lead male character in this soap.

Channel, time of broadcast and frequency:-

The channel that this soap is suitable for is Channel 4 at 8:00pm and will be broadcast three times a week; Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I feel with heavy advertising this soap can compete with Eastenders and Coronation Street as this is something fresh and will attract many teenagers. I choose this soap to be on three times a week on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because this will allow it to get maximum exposure. i will end each episode with a mini r large cliffhanger leaving the audience to wait a day for the new episode, this will create some sspense and interest in the soap opera however main cliffhangers will be on Thursdays to Episode 1:-

In the first episode a bunch of gang members witnesses a murder and are traumatize by what they see. They were considering of going into the police and telling them what they have seen. The death of the character changes the lives of many people in the community.

Future Episodes:-

One of the gang members loses their parents in a car crash. Esther is finding her course at university difficult and now has to make a decision if she wants to continue or leave to go work. Esther finds out she is pregnant but is unsure if she should keep the baby of have an abortion.

The next step we need to make is to produce a script and storyboard for our soap "Lopen Road" I feel a group meeting is needed to now, to ensure that all members of the group are aware of the next steps needed.