This is my evaluation of my coursework.

1. Name: Taylor Sabga
Candidate Number: 6485
Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number:64770
OCR Media Studies – A2 Media Studies
Unit G324: Advanced Production Portfolio
Evaluation

2. Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
My magazine develops some forms and conventions of traditional soap opera magazines, in particular ‘Soap Opera Digest’.
Although my magazine is based on soap opera like ‘Soap Opera Digest’ the layout of my page is very different and only a
few of the conventions are similar. The conventions that are similar would be that there are loads of different soap operas
included on the main cover, each soap opera included on my front cover has its own individual image. This is because I felt
that an image for each soap opera will help it stand out on the page. However something I did differently would be the
inclusion of the social media logos at the bottom of the page. Also the price of the magazine is clear to see on mine, this is
because I have challenged this traditional convention as I am promoting the cheapness of my product. The reason it is
priced at this would be because the magazine is aimed at working class people. By researching similar products I was able
to create a product that can be easily identified as a soap opera magazine, the magazine can be identified through the use
of colors as the color scheme is a bright yellow, blue and black (for some of the text on page). Although my magazine of
inspiration does not use the color black for the text anywhere on the page I felt that if I used a bright color on the page it
may clash with the existing color scheme.
Main Task – Ancillary Products

3. Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
Main Task – Ancillary Products
My poster challenges traditional media products, this is because my poster is very dark and focuses on
three characters from the trailer. Stereotypical soap opera posters usually focus on one character whereas
my poster includes three characters.
This is a screenshot of an Eastenders poster, my poster is fairly similar as the color scheme is very similar
and has a dark feel to it. However my poster has more writing on it compared to this poster. One
convention both posters have is that both include a ‘hash tag’ (#), this is for users to share it on social
media sites such as Twitter. In addition my poster challenges conventions from existing media products, one
convention in particular would be including social media logos (Facebook and Twitter).

4. Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Main Task – Trailer
The scene of the pub can connote to the audience that the characters are working class lower status
people, the use of high key lighting in the scene also connotes that the environment in the pub is happy.
Compared to the scene with another character who is in low key lighting which can signify that she may
have been the killer. Our trailer used very similar conventions from two trailers, an Eastenders trailer and a
new drama called ‘Glue’. Both trailers use different conventions because they are different genres,
however both trailers use low key lighting as the theme for the trailers is both about death and mystery
which is similar to our trailer. In the ‘Glue’ trailer low key lighting is used in the same way, this can be a sign
which can act a signifiers (Ferdinand De Saussure), by using low key lighting the trailer can connote to the
audience that the character in the low key lighting may be the murderer in the trailer or a ‘bad character’.
The scene in the pub is very utopian as everyone in the scene is happy and having a good time.

5. Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Main Task – Trailer
The use of blood throughout the trailer can connote to
the audience that there has been a death or someone
has been hurt. In the trailer there is a long continuing
shot that is cut down into different parts of the trailer,
the shot is an extreme close up of the blood which
signifies to the audience that something has happened.
Blood is one of the main themes of the glue trailer is
blood, this is extremely similar to our trailer as the shot
of the blood is shown throughout the trailer. By having
blood as a main theme in the trailer can connote that the
setting and theme of the soap is dystopian, this is
because blood and a woodland setting which is fairly
unusual for a soap opera.

6. Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Main Task – Trailer
The BBC 2 logo is visible on a consistent basis
throughout the trailer, this is a convention which
soap opera trailers usually include .
The BBC 2 ident is the first shot of the
trailer, this is a convention that is also
commonly used in soap opera trailers,
however the ‘2’ allows the viewer to
see what is behind it which is
uncommon and something our trailer
challenges.

7. Question 2
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
There is a symbiotic relationship that has ben used between my two media products, my magazine which is called ‘Soap
Guide’ and my poster which is called ‘Forge Lane’. Both my media products challenge traditional media conventions as
they have a form synergy, an example would be my two products both have a dark theme which can also be a form of
continuity. Our soap opera trailer contains many characters, this meant that I could contain a variety of characters on the
front of my magazine front cover and poster. By using synergy throughout my media products it will help promote the
soap opera and is also an essential part of securing our soap operas popularity and the success of the show.
In addition, our group challenged some of the conventions which are stereotypically used in the soap opera genre, an
example of this would be by creating a ‘dystopian’ feel/atmosphere throughout our trailer especially when the character
is running through the woodland area. A good example of us challenging traditional methods would be that most of the
characters in our trailer have a villain (Propp) look/feel to them. Another aspect which combined my ancillary tasks and
the trailer would be that the point of call which was used in the trailer is also used on my magazine as a small logo which
says ‘Forge Lane’. I also included social media logos on both of my ancillary products, this is because this will help
promote our trailer on social media sites in particular Facebook and Twitter. I also included the #forgeLane on the poster,
I did this because it will help the popularity of the trailer and soap.

8. Question 3
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
Audience feedback
Audience feedback was a very important part of my evaluation as it helped me know what aspects of my groups trailer our
audience liked and did not like. This was done to look at the strengths of my trailer but also the weaknesses the trailer
may have. I interviewed a few people and asked them three questions, the questions were as follows –
What did you like about the trailer?
What did you think of the song choice?
What can be improved in the trailer?
I felt that these were the only questions that needed to be answered to give me the correct feedback. By asking questions
in the interview I was able to get a deeper and more detailed feedback from the person who was watching my trailer. I
chose to do a video instead of a survey as I felt that the feedback would be more clear to annotate compared to a survey.
The Feedback
Liam –
From Liam's feedback I found that he liked the use of lots of characters and liked the bland storyline used as it is fairly
linear and straightforward which makes it easy for the audience to follow. Liam also liked the the song choice as he felt
that the song went well with the trailer and the storyline. However he felt that the length of the trailer could have been
longer as he thought that it was too short.
Hannah –
From Hannah's feedback I found out that she liked the slow motion used from the trailer, also the focus shot that was used
in one of the shots in the trailer. There was also synchronous sound that had been used in the trailer which she said she
liked as the timing of the shots went in sync with the music. Hannah felt that the song choice was really good as it built up
throughout the trailer and then reached a climax near the end of the trailer which kept the suspense. However there was
one thing that could have been improved in the trailer which was the use of the blood as she felt that it was easy to tell
that it was fake blood.

9. Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Construction
For the trailer our group used Adobe CS6 Premier. As I was the director of the group I was expected to organize the group meetings and the
times we had to film for the trailer beforehand so that the dates were as organized as possible. To film the shots we used a Digital SLR camera,
once the shots were filmed the group then edited the footage on premier to make sure that the footage that we had filmed was as
professional as possible to help the soaps popularity. Most shots taken on filming days had multiple takes which meant we had a variety of
shots to chose from when the editing process began on Premier. Our group chose the best shots and the shots that fit the purpose well, some
shots were ‘shaky’ or out of focus which meant those clips could not be used or had to be reshot on a different filming day as our group felt
that it would ruin the continuity of the trailer.
On some shots we decreased the colour saturation as some shots were filmed when it was sunny but because our trailer theme was murder
and death we made the shots darker, this was only done to achieve a disequilibrium as we needed the shots to be darker than they actually
were. In our trailer we included slow motion in particular the shots of the girl running through the woods, this was to add tension to the
trailer. Premier also allowed us to edit sound and import songs and lots of different audio files such as MP3 and WAV. Files. This allowed us to
use the song we originally planned to use in the planning process which was ‘Lorde – Everybody Wants to Rule The World’. The trailer only
includes two non-diegetic sound which is the soundtrack and the voice over which is included at the end of the trailer. Premier allowed our
group to cut the song down as it is 4 minutes long but the trailer is 1minute 15seconds long. The trailer is dominated by a non-diegetic
soundtrack as there is no diegetic sound used during the trailer. The ability to import different audio files onto premier is a benefit as the file
our group saved the voice over at the end of the trailer was an uncommon sound file.
For my ancillary tasks (Magazine Front Cover & Poster) I used Photoshop, this is because the software allowed me to edit and manipulate
images in a professional way compared to other software. In Photoshop I am able to use tools such as the ‘quick selection tool’ which allows
me to select what I want from a certain image and remove the background. As I removed the background from most of my images I was able
to add a background of my choice to make sure the image was fit for purpose. An example of this would be an image on my magazine front
cover I added a brick wall and linked the two layers together. For my poster I took three pictures in a room with low key lighting, this is because
I wanted the poster to have a suspense/conspiracy feel to it as our trailers main theme is murder. Because the room I chose to take pictures in
was really dark I used my smartphones torch to light up a side of the characters face, the end result was good for two pictures but for one
image I had to increase the colour saturation as it came out a bit too dark and looked odd compared to the other two images.

10. Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Research
In the research stages of our trailer and into the genre I made a production log, in the production log it has a lot of
information about the soap opera genre. The production log also includes analysis of soap opera magazines, by doing this I
gained information about what conventions are used on soap opera magazines. Conventions stereotypically used on a
soap opera magazine are bright colours and lots of images. By researching into the genre I was able to replicate a soap
opera magazine and make it look professional yet unique, this is because I used ideas from different magazines along with
my own ideas. In the research stage I used technologies such as Powerpoint as I am familiar with the software, PowerPoint
also allowed me to present my research and lay it out in an easy way.
For our trailer we used two trailers of inspiration which we found through our research, we used Youtube and typed in
‘New Soap Opera Trailers’, this was so we found the latest soap opera trailers. By watching a variety of different trailers
such as Hollyoaks and Eastenders we found a new soap called ‘Glue’, the trailer was very fast paced and included lots of
characters. Our group then researched into the trailer and we decided that the ‘Glue’ trailer would be our main trailer of
inspiration. From my own research I noticed that a lot of the trailers had a theme of death but there was a multi-stranded
narrative so it was’t always the main theme. Our trailer focuses on one murder and a lot of characters who are suspects.

11. Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Planning
In the planning process of our soap opera we had to plan what was going to happen on filming days to
make sure the days ran as smoothly as possible. Our group made a group chat to communicate with one
another outside of school time. We had to create a storyboard, this included an analysis of the technical
codes which had been used in our trailer. We also had to create a shot list, the shot list included the
camera angles, camera movement and the length of the shot. By making these documents it greatly helped
our group as we were well organized and prepared on filming days. For extra preparation our group created
a prop list which included all the props that were going to be used in the trailer an example of a prop that
was used would be the knife which was used in two shots in our trailer. This really helped us organize all of
the aspects that needed to be sorted out, all aspects of our mise-en scene which was necessary for a
professional look and effect.
Another part of the planning stage was our group sending a letter to the council asking for permission to
film in the park as it was owned by the Surrey Council, without permission we would not have been able to
film in that particular location as we would not of had permission to do so. This is one reason why planning
beforehand was crucial to making the filming dates as organized as possible. The final part of our planning
stage was creating meeting notes every time our group had a meeting, by doing this we were able to recap
what we discussed in that meeting and what actions needed to be taken from each meeting. An example of
an action that was needed would be purchasing certain props like the ‘Fake Blood’. I also completed hand
drawn tasks, by doing this I was able to refer back to them whilst I was creating my ancillary products, I also
did this to ‘repeat’(Steve Neale) certain conventions of the soap opera genre.

12. Question 4
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Evaluation
By using PowerPoint to complete my evaluation it allowed me to create a neat and presentable evaluation
which includes images and a clear layout. It also allowed me to reflect to whole production process of both
our groups trailer and my ancillary products (magazine Front Cover & Poster).
In conclusion I personally feel that my ancillary tasks are both effective at helping to promote the new soap
opera ‘Forge Lane’ which will be broadcast on BBC2 to my target audience which is 15-25 year olds. This is
evident through many different aspects of my work such as my research, production and the planning
stage.