3. Planning...
Before our group began planning
our final piece we were given the
task on filming a short sequence
in college lasting approximately
30 seconds to help ease us into
the idea of creating our own soap
opera.
We first each watched a different soap
opera and chose a scene to replicate
ourselves. We chose scenes from
Hollyoaks, Coronation street etc and
attempted to make them our own.
Link to our first in college trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-aiuwNflos
4. Planning... What are the interests of my target audience?
Audience profile Teenagers 14-21, Male & Female
Mood Board
5. Planning... Scripting:
Before acting out our soap opera trailer
we first had to come up with character
names, storylines and scripts. This
allowed us to plan the scenes and
discuss what lines would work well in
certain situations.
6. Planning... Tyson’s character has a name James’ character played the role
which we felt reflected his of a nervous buyer. We felt that
identity as a drug dealer. We in keeping with the stereotype
also came up with a costume and conventions of how this sub
that anchored the role he group look we dressed James in
way playing. All black with a a similar manner only not as
baseball cap, leather jacket dark coloured to connote who
and hoodie created an was the veteran in this
intertextual link to his dark James sequence.
way of living.
Craig's character played the role of a guy
who was secretly seeing someone knowing Characters Jack and Charlotte
she was already with someone else. This role played the role of
was difficult to anchor with costume ideas so couple that appear
we therefore stayed neutral and dressed him Max & to be doing just
fine. However,
like the everyday teenager. Craig character
also has a secret dark side in the soap that the Sophie Charlotte acts out
the role of a sort of
audience should look out for.
Max and Sophie were the goody girl but is
soap operas main characters actually cheating
so it was vital for them to on boyfriend Jack.
stand out. However as they Jack costume is
were a couple they also had that of a well
to dress in a similar costume. dressed teenager
This we did by using an emo
subculture costume so they
who has a car and
what appears to be
Jack &
Craig were a distinctive part of the everything going Charlotte
trailer. for him.
7. Q1. In what ways does your product
use, develop or challenge existing
codes and conventions?
In coming up with a media
product I was put into a team of
highly skilled media students.
When designing my product we
had to consider how our
camerawork and mis en scene
would challenge existing codes
and conventions. Controversially I,
myself had to consider the editing
and sound and how they
developed/challenged existing
codes and conventions.
8. Evaluation Question 1.
Our first sequence/storyline was in an establishing medium long shot
which we decided to use to represent the genre of the sequence. We
decided to use this scene and shot type as we felt it related to the
stereotype of what popular drug dealing scenes take place, in our soap
opera it was in a rundown alleyway of a back road. The alley’s walls were
old and the floor was a mixture on broken pieces on concrete and rubble.
This represented the characters roles in relation to James being in pieces
and resorting to drugs. In using an establishing shot we were also able to
represent power and status. For example, in this shot Tyson appears as a
larger character compared with the nervous James. This creates a deeper
meaning in getting the message across to the audience of who is in
control.
When planning this scene we had not come across a drug dealing
sequence in this sort of mis en scene in our background research,
therefore we had to come up with the setting our self. In looking back we
feel as though this mis en scene was perfect in developing existing codes
and conventions to how a stereotypical drug dealing scene would take
place.
9. Evaluation Question 1.
Our second sequence /storyline consists of a heartbreak scene by where
Charlotte is at home with Craig after what appears to be some sort of
behind closed doors cheating scene when her boyfriend Jack
unexpectedly turns up as he’s leaving. In the first section of this sequence
we decided to use a pan shot when the two characters are walking out of
the room to make the audience feel as though they are stood in the
position of the camera. We then continued the pan into an establishing
over the shoulder shot of Jack who walks through the front door. This
combined with a zoom in on Jacks face allows the audience to truly feel
the emotions given off when he discovers this hugging scene. When the
camera did zoom in it was vital that we kept the conventions on a close
up shot that would result from the zoom. This meant making sure the
characters face was centre on screen and correctly aligned so the
audience felt the full force on his feelings.
10. Evaluation Question 1.
The music I decided to use was an instrumental backing track of ‘Kings of
Leon’s’ Radioactive. This version of Radioactive had no lyrics. The reason I
chose the version that had no lyrics was because I felt that it may distract
viewers from the visuals and diegetic sound. The song consisted of steady
beats and occasionally sped up, I felt that using and making the most of
this sudden change in tempo would allow my audience to feel both
excitement and concern all in the space of my trailer. The change in
tempo would also anchor the images on screen. One section of my trailer
consisted of a fight scene between drug deal Tyson and buyer James. This
was an ideal point to edit the music around this point so that the fats
tempo matched the intensity of the violence. Later on in the trailer
Sophie gets a phone call telling her that Max has been involved in a fatal
car accident. The presented an ideal opportunity to exploit the section of
the song where the tempo slows down. This require pin point editing and
timing and would ideally play into my audiences’ emotions.
11. Q2. How effective is the combination of
your main product and your ancillary?
Our Poster
Our first ancillary was to
create a poster to advertise
our Soap Opera. In
designing this we first had
to use technologies such as
a high pixel camera, a
tripod, lights and a green
screen to capture each
image perfectly. We
decided to take small group
and two shot photos so
that our storyline was
connoted through an
image. We had images on
Craig, Charlotte and Jack
together anchoring their
narrative. Tyson and James
together anchoring their
drug dealing narrative and
finally Max and Sophie at
the front to show they are
the main characters and
have the main storyline.
12. Evaluation Question 2.
When it came to editing and producing the
poster we used a software called Photoshop
where we could cut our images to be exactly
what we wanted. After cropping the photos
down to the image we wanted we then
needed to arrange them in a way that would
fit them all in with enough space but also to
retain the separate storyline. We therefore
chose an arrow formation with Max and
Sophie at the from being the main characters.
The placed Tyson & James and Jack, Charlotte
& Jack either side of the main characters.
When editing the images we made Tyson’s
character a darker fade and dressed him in all
black to reflect his dark personality. Once we
had positioned our stars we had to choose a
background which we felt best suited the mis
en scene of the soap opera and the intertexual
link in relation to characters. We decided to
use a brick wall background as it connotes that
the soap is one of the street. We chose a wall
that had been run down to link into the
persona we were trying to create.
13. Evaluation Question 2.
Our final two aspects of the poster we need to address were the name of the show
and the branding of the channel it would be shown on. Our station branding was
relatively simple, we just needed to locate an E4 logo with no name or time on it
and edit into the bottom corner of the poster. We placed it in the bottom right
corner as after our research into poster found that this followed convention. Our
own branding in terms of the name and how we would show it was more difficult.
We had to select a colour, font, size and the positioning that would work perfectly.
We chose a colour that would stand out but that wouldn't be too bright to distract
the audience from the images. We used a red colour with a black effect over the top
to do this. The font we chose was an urban graffiti style font to assist in
communicating to our audience that this was a street based soap opera and so
would anchor our genre. Our final task with the soap name was positioning this
again we did whilst following conventions so we placed it at the top of the poster
away from character faces.
14. Evaluation Question 2.
Our Second ancillary was to
create a TV guide front cover.
To do this we were able to use
both our pictures and pictures
from other group so the cover
didn’t look like a one show
magazine. In creating our own
it was vita we followed Our TV guide
established conventions of cover to go
here
other magazines such as
‘What's on TV’ and ‘TV
Choice’. All TV guide front
covers and designed to look
trashy and cheap, we
therefore had to replicate this
in the cover we would be
creating.
15. Evaluation Question 2.
In piecing it together we again followed the conventions of established magazine by placing
bright buttons with prices slightly un-centred, the title of our TV guide in the top right
corner and our main stars right in the middle of the magazine with other pictures
representing other soap moulded around the cover stars. Accompanied with the cover stars
we needed a heading in big bold letters with a sub heading underneath either asking a
question or delivering a shocking pieces of drama from the soap relating to the characters
16. Q3. What have you learnt from
your audience feedback?
Once I had completed my soap opera trailer it was shown to an audience of A level
media students who after, gave me some constructive criticisms on what I could
improve and make more engaging. This helped me get an insight of what teenagers
who I was ideally targeting for my trailer look for in a soap opera. Questions that
were asked were pointers such as, was the dialogue clear? Were there a variety of
shot types? Is it clear what is happening at all points? (Etc).
17. Evaluation Question 3.
An interesting suggestion I received was the flip the
trailer on its head and use the opening sequence at the
end. This, when I was editing the trailer I contemplated,
but was unsure on what would be more interesting and
engaging to my audience. Therefore, hearing it off my
audience themselves confirmed that maybe I should
Swap opening sequence indeed change the order of the sequence. All parts of
with ending sequence? my trailer were analysed, including my music which
plays a key roles in anchoring and making a good trailer.
The song I used was a backing track of ‘Radioactive’, the
reason I chose this was because the tempo was faced
an as a result increased tension. However, as my
audience pointed out there is a sequence in my trailer
where a bombshell is dropped, this sudden change in
feeling is in the shape of a car accident. Here my
audience advised me to change and add in a second
song to change the feeling so that all emotions are felt
come the end of the trailer. This addition of another,
possibly, slow and heartfelt track would anchor the
images coming from the accident sequence.
18. Evaluation Question 3.
Another piece of feedback I received
was off my teacher who advised me on
a shot I use at the end of the trailer. It is
the accident scene and I pan up to the
driver’s side, however, I do not show
the audience the drivers face and
instead cut the scene just before his
face is revealed. My teacher has advised
me to show his face to create drama. I
will therefore consider changing the
final shot in order to create a shock
effect. Before I hand this in I will show it
again to my audience and ask them
which version they prefer as this will In my trailer this shot then
confirm which sequence I should go cuts at this moment to
with another piece of footage.
This is where I have been
advised to carry on the pan
and show the drivers face.
19. Evaluation Question 3.
A final piece of feedback I received was to
include a sequence I originally left out as I felt
the camera work and acting wasn’t the
required standard. Controversially I have been
asked to first include it to see how the
audience react to its quality but also because
this short sequence has relevant information
regarding the storyline of the soap opera.
In talking part in this audience feedback
exercise I have learnt valuable pointers about
what my audience truly wants to watch, I have
had advice on including a second song to help
A section of footage I have anchor differencing images and to change the
not included showed the two order of my sequences to assist in beginning
characters Max & Sophie the trailer with shocking footage to hopefully
cuddling. I have been advised instantly interest them. Once I have fulfilled
to include this short piece of these feedback ideas I will ideally have a trailer
film to help my audience which my audience will enjoy.
understand their relationship
20. Q4. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
Construction:
When it came down to constructing our soap opera trailer we needed
technologies such as a recording camera, a tripod stand and a
microphone to help record voice over's such as the phone call.
The camera itself assisted us in getting all of our vital shots, from hand
help shots to mounting it onto our tripod and filming tracking shots.
The zoom on the camera lens enabled us to get up close and personal
shots on characters to drain out every emotion given off. The camera
itself also had a built in microphone which enabled us to record every
pieces of dialogue without using a separate piece of technology.
The tripod allowed us to track, pan and maintain focussed shots on
characters. Making sure each character was in focus on every shot
was vital in intriguing the audience. If the shots were blurry my
audience would be unsure on what is happening and become
uninterested in the sequence.
The microphone we only used after we had finished filming to provide
us with a voice over phone call we could dub over during the editing
process. Took us no more than a minute and was easy to upload onto
the computer and extract the audio.
21. Evaluation Question 4.
Research:
Before we went out and hot our footage we had to do some background research. This
involved accessing technologies such as YouTube to look up and watch other soap opera
trailers and episodes so that we had an idea of what existing codes and conventions we
would be following in recording our trailer.
Also when researching we were asked to set up our own blog so that we could publish
various pieces of established soap opera conventions for each of us to see. Not only did
this develop our existing knowledge on creating our own trailer but it also provided us
with ideas for our own.
Another part of our research was a practical
assignment in completing a preliminary
task. This (as previously discussed) involved
us being put into our group and told to
replicate 3-5 scenes out of an established
soap. This gave us an insight into how it
would feel to direct and produce our own
trailer for the very time. After filming our
preliminary task we were told to upload it to
YouTube were we could receive some
feedback to help us on our final trailer.
22. Evaluation Question 4.
Planning:
When planning our soap opera trailer we first created
our own storyboards. This gave us a chance to sit
down and discuss and plan out as a group how each
sequence would take place. This meant that on
shooting day we would know exactly what we were
trying to capture in the time we had. The assistance of
setting up our own individual blog helped as well. It
meant that any work each of us did at home by
ourselves, we could share online via our blogs for the
rest of the group to see, comment and advise on what
we could change or improve. The blog also allowed us
to publish existing products from YouTube so that if
we found a piece of footage from an established soap
opera we could send a link to our group mates and
discuss how we could use and develop some of the
conventions demonstrated.
23. Evaluation Question 4.
Evaluation:
When it came down to evaluating my soap opera trailer I was
given the choice of a PowerPoint, prezi presentation or a voice
over interview with visual aids. I chose to do a PowerPoint
simply because it was what I did last year for my music
magazine so I was familiar with the approach I had to take and
the way it needed to be laid out.
24. Link To Final
Trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhS496qNODQ