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OCR G324 Advanced Production
HUTTON, Georgina3410Aquinas College: 33435
(With Eleanor Boocock, Georgie Morton, Amy Hamilton & Lyndsey Page)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
If a slide relates to more than one question, two tabs will
appear in the top right hand corner indicating which
questions it is answering.
Planning & Final Pieces
http://georgiestardust.blogspot.com/
I used this BlogSpot blog to upload my planning documents as well as filling in entries such as my
audience research and similar trailers.
The final trailer, magazine front cover and billboard poster are in the blog, too.
In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing media products?
PlanningQ1
To keep my planning clear, concise and in chronological order, I uploaded it to a blogspot.com blog. This allowed all my storyboarding, note making and deconstruction of existing products to be presented in a tidy and clear manner.
GeorgieStardust.blogspot.com
Camera as the fourth wall.
Blue filters on the light to create dull, realistic atmosphere.
Conflict and disequilibrium in each episode.
On a set, not on location.
Very little makeup and casual clothes to
create realism
Soap Forms & Conventions
Multiple Main Characters.
•Allows for multiple parallel narratives and convergence. Keeps the audience interested
POV Over The Shoulder Shots
•Makes the audience feel like they are there, experiencing the characters emotions
¾ storylines in trailers and episodes
•Keep the viewers interested and allows the multiple narratives to be spread across multiple episodes .
Big Close Up’s to show emotion.
Q1
Soap Forms and Conventions
In order to create a trailer for a soap opera we first have to understand the codes and conventions and how they work in practice.
To understand the forms and conventions, Soaps must be deconstructed and evaluated. The following slides show some of these conventions and how I have used and challenged them in my Soap trailer.
Q1
Evaluating an existing Soap Opera.- Forms & Conventions
Low angle shot to show the character’s
dominance in the scene.
Over the shoulder shot creates a third person perspective. The viewer feels like they are there, experiencing the events.
Lighting creates realism and mood. Outside lighting is cast through blue filters to create night time. Indoor lighting is cast through a yellow filter to create the effect of an electric bulb.
Toned down Christmas decorations create realism of a budget Christmas without the extravagance of TV Drama.
Q1
Evaluating an existing Soap Opera.- Forms & Conventions
Outdoor shot uses blue filters to create gritty, realistic lighting. This allows the audience to relate to the soap. It also helps to construct the regional identity of the East End.
Realistic costumes represent the dreary day to day existence of the characters.
Southern accents are a key aspect of creating regional identity.
Sparse Christmas tree with thin tinsel represents the economic state of the country, creating realism.
Q1
Evaluating an existing Soap Opera.- Forms & Conventions
Camera as the fourth wall. This is never broken i.e there is never communication with the audience, this keeps the soap realistic and makes the audience feel as if they are watching someone’s life play out rather than being a part of it.
Shot-reverse-shot
The point of view shot allows the audience to feel a part of the soap without breaking the fourth wall. This maintains the realism.
The audience can engage with the conversation without the fourth wall being broken. Characters can also be seen reacting to lines and environment.
Point Of View Shot
The Fourth Wall
Q1
Comparison- How does my soap use and conform to conventions?
The fourth wall
Big close up to show emotion and reaction.
Natural light to keep the gritty, realistic mood to the soap.
Even when shooting inside we used the most natural light possible to avoid yellow tones and a happy atmosphere.
Minimal makeup on the characters to create realism.
Q1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Similarities•Dull lighting to represent the sombre mood and tell the audience to feel concerned or worried.•Point of view shots to allow the audience to engage with the events.•Fast paced to build tension.•Little or no soundtrack/vocals. The diegetic sound adds to the atmosphere of the shot.
Differences•Human Subject•Audience can relate to her scared expression
Q1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Similarities:•Medium close ups to show faces, actions and expressions.•Doing ‘normal’ day to day activites.• Stationary camera
Differences:•Blue lighting on our soap to foreshadow what is to come and represent a flashback. Yellow lighting on Coronation Street to represent happiness and normality.
Q1
Comparison- How does my soap use and conform to conventions?
By using title cards, the trailer engages with the audience, keeping them informed without giving
away too much about the storyline.
We decided that our trailer would be shown on e4 and so we studied the Hollyoaks
later trailers and colour schemes.
Q1
Comparison- How does my soap challenge conventions?
It is unusual to see slow motion shots in soap
opera but we used them to construct
flashback scenes as motivation for the
murder.
It is also unusual to see Blood in soaps because they are prime time viewing. We have chosen to ‘air’ our soap at 8pm, one hour before the watershed and because of the target audience’s age, the use of blood isn’t as shocking as it would be in a soap like Coronation Street.
Q1
Parallel NarrativesWe used three main characters and therefore three parallel narratives in our trailer.
The narratives, at the same time as being parallel were also converged by the ever-present Stacey.
Q1
Creating Flashbacks
We used a fade to white transition to represent the flashbacksas well as the echo on the instruments on the backing track.
Q1
What Makes Your Trailer Soap?The fourth
wall
Filtered, natural
looking light
Big close
Ups & multiple shot types.
Realistic costumes
Q1
Using Music To Create Mood & Story• For the final trailer, I used an instrumental version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh
Daddy”, written and performed by Christine McVie from the album Rumours.
• The track is in the key of D Minor, which is typically the ‘saddest’ ofall keys. This automatically makesthe audience sense the disequilibriumin the trailer and forthcoming episodes.
• The use of the organ adds to theominous and melancholy sound, foreshadowing what is to come in the episode.
• The use of echo on the track createsthe feeling of a flashback as well as emphasising the key and mood.
Q1
How effective is the combination of your main
product and ancillary tasks?
Q2
Soap Magazines-Evaluating the forms and conventions of real media products: Soap magazines
Q2
Large masthead, to the left of the page. Top 1/3
Date
Price in a star or bubble.
Large font, all in capitals so it is
easy to read.
Other soaps & characters being referred to by first names Website
Tabs to allow the reader to
flick to the correct page.
Cover stars eyes are looking out at
the reader to engage.
Anchoring
No colour scheme or house style.
My ProductLarge masthead, to the left of the page. Top 1/3
Website
Price in a star or bubble.
Other soaps & characters being referred to by first names
Anchoring
Cover stars eyes are looking out
at the reader to engage.
Tabs to allow the reader to
flick to the correct page.
No colour scheme or house style.
Large font, all in capitals so it is
easy to read.
Q2
Choosing A Channel & Colour Schemes• We decided to use E4 as the channel for soap because of our target
audience. To create a house style, we used the Channel 4 style guide.
Q2
Making The Products Conform To The Style Guide.
Q2
Representing A Region.I used a street name for my trailer to create a regional representation. The audiences who relate to Coronation Street know that it is in Manchester. The same goes for East Enders and London and Emmerdale and Yorkshire.
The Coronation Street set represents working class Manchester. The Rovers Return pub and the terraced houses create a realistic representation of life in the suburbs of Manchester.
The birds eye view shot of the River Thames immediately shows the audience that the soap is set in London. The Market and the square represent people working hard to make ends meet. The audience can relate to feeling the pressure of finance problems and working to get by.
Q2
Audience & RepresentationQ2
• Aged 16-24• Part-time employment• Still in some form of education• Watch television and actively
use the internet
Q3
• Disposable income• Living at home• Interested in music• Go out on Friday nights
Storylines aimed at older audiences because the magazine has a much broader audience than the soap itself.
Representing Age
Cast wearing leggings and fur coats represent fashion as it is currently, keeping them ‘up to date’ and young.
Modern band t-shirt.
Using wigs and hair dye to engage with the audience and how they would style or colour their hair.
Actresses and characters are the same age as the target audience
School soap like Waterloo Road.
Q2
What have you learned from audience feedback?
Q3
Finding The AudienceQ3
Because of the ages of our group and the fact that we were acting in our trailer, we decided that our target audience would be students the same age as ourselves. Because of this, following channel research, we decided that the channel most likely to broadcast our soap would be E4.
http://www.channel4.com/corporate/4producers/commissioning/e4.html
“E4 is the UK’s most-watched digital
channel amongst 16-34 year olds”
•Skins•The Inbetweeners•Misfits •Dead Set•Hollyoaks Later
“All of our commissions will be fun, possibly
mischievous, witty and some may even be slightly
irresponsible.”
How The Audience Affects The ProductQ3
Do you watch Soaps?At what age did you start
watching Soaps?
Num
ber o
f peo
ple
Age in years
How do you watch Soaps?
Do you learn anything from watching Soaps?
How old are you?
Age in years
Num
ber o
f peo
ple
What is your employment status?
Audience Feedback For The Final PieceQ3
After seeing the trailer, magazine cover and poster, would you watch ‘Diamond Street’?
Who would you say the target audience was?
Age in years
Num
ber o
f vot
es
Number of votes
Do you watch soaps more than once a week? How old are you?
Which product do you think is the most effective form of advertising?
Num
ber o
f vot
es
Evaluating My ProductsQ3
After surveying both the audience that our soap is aimed at and people from different age groups, the comments were as follows:
“The reaction scene in the restaurant needs to be longer so we can engage with the character who is being insulted.”
“The adverts definitely look like they are from E4. It’s a lot like ‘Misfits’”
“Putting Stacey’s reaction to being stabbed in slow motion would work better. By lengthening it, it could be more dramatic”
“There is definitely a clear genre, brand and broadcaster.”
“The murder scenes could be darker with possibly more comical conflict.”
After gathering my audience feedback, the majority of the people I interviewed agreed that the most effective way to advertise my soap and reach my target audience was by using a combination of the TV trailer, Soap Magazine feature and roadside billboard.
How did you use Media Technologies in the
construction, research, planning and evaluation
stages?
Q4
Research
Creating My Preliminary TaskTo create the preliminary trailer, in a group of three we filmed the computer screen when the individual images from a comic strip were on it. This allowed us to practice using the moving image cameras and to understand how the microphones on them worked. It also helped us to understand some of the important camera angles that are conventions of Soap Opera and editing software we were going to use in our final piece.
Q4
Researching Similar ProductsTo research similar products, the main thing I used was the search engine Google. This allowed me to find images of soap magazine covers and billboard adverts at ease.
I also went to my local supermarket to buy copies of different Soap magazines as a basis for comparison. This way, I was also able to study the content and not just the front cover.
Thirdly, I watched the Soaps on the television and on BBC iPlayer and ITV catchup. The two websites allowed me to go back and take print screens of the Soaps to study the forms and conventions.
Q4
Construction
Saving the video filesTo prevent my video files getting separated or lost, I stored them on an external hard drive. This allowed me to keep them all together and when elements was unable to find the files, I could easily go into the hard drive and locate them.
Q4
Using Premier ElementsTo import the media from the HD camera, I chose ‘Get media’. Then, by scrolling through the files on the card, I was able to select the clips that I was going to use in the trailer. By dragging and dropping them, I added them to the timeline for editing.
To add a transition, I went to the edit menu and selected transitions. This allowed me to select the ‘dip to white’ which then had to be dragged and dropped onto the correct clip before shortening or lengthening how long the transition would be.
Q4
Choosing A Soundtrack
To add a soundtrack, I ripped the audio from a YouTube video before adding it to
Elements in the same way I added the video footage. To get the audio from the video, I used the website fetchmp3.com.
Q4
Adding The Soundtrack
After downloading the audio, I uploaded it to elements before dragging and dropping it onto my timeline and editing the volume levels at different points in the trailer.
I then added different keyframes at multiple points in the audio.
When I had added 4 keyframes, I was able to make the audio dip gradually rather than coming to an abrupt halt and lower the volume from there.
Q4
Making The Title CardsI then copied a crumpled paper image from a stock website. Which I pasted onto a new layer.
I created the title card background in Photoshop.
I made a new image in photoshop, the same size as my video clips.
To make the paper e4 purple, I made a new layer and filled it purple.
I then chose the layer effect ‘linear burn’ to make the paper look purple.
After this, I created another new layer which I filled black before using a soft eraser to create a vignette.
I then uploaded this to elements before placing it where I wanted at multiple points on the timeline.
Q4
Making The Title Cards
I selected the text option on a new image, the same size as my video clips on which I typed each different slogan.
After inserting the text, I went to the FX button to add the drop shadow. I then set the distance, spread and size of the shadow.
I saved the text pictures as PNG files so that they didn’t have a background, enabling me to overlay them onto the same background in Elements.
Q4
Constructing Title CardsAfter uploading the background and dropping it into multiple points in the timeline, I put a dip to black transition between the title card and the clips before and after it.
I dragged the text images onto the video 2 timeline, so that they would play at the same time as the background, looking like one image. However, because it was on a different timeline, I was able to apply a zoom transition resembling the title cards on a Hollyoaks later trailer.
Q4
Making The Logos
In order to use the e4 logo on my products, I had to cut it out in Photoshop using the magic wand tool and the freehand eraser, re-add the drop shadow using the FX button and save it as a .png file so it didn’t have a white background.
Q4
Making The LogosTo make the tape logos, I had to type my Soap name and time into ITC American Typewriter on myfonts.com, print screen it and add it onto the tape logo that I had removed the Skins information from. I removed the Skins text by using the paintbrush tool and the blur tool in photoshop.
Q4
Planning & Evaluation
Using BlogspotI found the David Bowie theme I wanted to use on my blog on a theme garden. Unfortunately it had been written to fit the old blogger layout. Because of this I had to open both HTML documents and re-write the HTML and edit the colours through the template designer for my Media blog.
After saving the background image, I uploaded it to an external source and wrote that into the HTML.
I print screened the template into Photoshop to get the HTML colour codes for the text and borders.
Q4
Uploading To YouTube
After logging in to my YouTube account, I clicked upload>Upload video> selected the file I wished to upload> opened.
Whilst the video was uploading, I filled out the title, description and category.
The video uploaded to my YouTube account and ready to be viewed publicly.
Q4
Embedding YouTube Videos In A Blogger Post
To embed the video, I copy & pasted the HTML code into a new post on blogger under the “Edit HTML” tab.
Q4
SlideshareIn order to make my powerpoints accessible, I uploaded them to slideshare.net. This
allowed me to embed the presentations into my blog as separate posts, preventing my blog from looking messy and overcrowded.
After uploading the presentations, I used the embed tab at the top of the presentation. I coped and pasted the HTML code into a new blog post and published it.
Q4
EvaluationI decided to use Microsoft Power Point to evaluate my presentation because I am familiar with it and I knew I could successfully evaluate my product effectively using a combination of print screens and annotations.
The ability to use text boxes and images has made it possible for me to insert graphs to evaluate my audience feedback as well as existing soap print screens and prints from my trailer. I have also avoided the possibility of any websites going down for maintenance or work not saving because I have been able to save my evaluation to the computer hard drive and two different external drives. One flash and one a 250Gb external hard drive.
Q4
