1. Question 1
In what ways does your media use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
2. Codes and Conventions of Genre
Soaps
There are several different types of sub genres within soap operas to suit different
audiences: Scripted Reality, Realism, Melodrama, Australian Soaps and American Fantasy.
These are the conventions structured in most soaps but vary to the type of soap it is. Most
of them are easy to identify in popular soap operas: Central Location, Dramatic stories,
Theme Tune, Multi strand narratives , Repeating characters, Named after a location, Diegetic
audio, Shot reverse shot, Regional, stereotypes.
Mise En Scene
Location: Represents where the characters are from. Could give information on there
backgrounds. Reflects who they mirror and relate to.
Costumes: Reflects the mood of the characters. Connote what they are feeling e.g. Re oat
could connote love or danger depending on what is happening in the scene. Reflect the
characters lifestyle, whether they are wealthy or poor.
Lighting
Reflects the mood of the characters or of the current setting. High key or low key lighting
depending on the soap and it’s background/location.
Sound
Combination of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sounds to represent what’s happening in the
scene and to suit the storyline.
3. Codes and Conventions of Sub-Genre
Scripted Reality
Includes real people who speak naturally but are put in pre-planned situations for audiences
entertainment. Not professional actors and actresses, they are real people not characters.
Target audience: younger people aged 16 – 30, mixed gender, this age can relate with the characters and
situations.
Mise En Scene
Costume: designer clothes, connotes that they all have rich lifestyles. All characters are extremely well
groomed, care about there appearance more than they would in real life.
Location: set in common places such as houses, cafes, restaurants, pubs and nightclubs. Show the
wealth and that they can afford things we wouldn’t normally be able to. Also shoes that that can do
normal stuff like us so we can relate to them.
Sound
Non-Diegetic sound is used a lot in scripted realities such as current chart songs to reflect the mood and
so the audience can relate to them. Diegetic sound is throughout to create the feeling of realism.
Shot types
Close ups: to see characters facial expressions and emotions.
Lighting
High key lighting which connotes riches and glamour. Also makes the shots look clean and crisp. Lighting
also reflects the mood and what is happening in the scene.
Choosing Sub -genre
I decided to focus on scripted reality as it was something I watched more often then realism or
melodrama which were the more popular choices.
4. Research
When researching into scripted reality programmes already out there, there wasn’t one
which focused on an all Manchester cast set in Manchester. This made me think that there
was a target audience out there for a scripted realty based in Manchester. In are research
we found that we wanted to base are scripted reality on the lines of Geordie shore, The
Valleys and Beauty School Copout.
I thought that to connect it into a students life would be appropriate considering
Manchester has two big Universities in the town centre and could some how revolve around
the lifestyle of a student but glamour it up with money and rules.
5. My trailer alongside Real trailer
My trailer fits into the genre of this category perfectly. In some way I've made it a long
teaser trailer showing clips from all over the ‘series’. From the screen shot below you can see
how I have given it the same feel as to it being an MTV programme which are unique in
there own way as you can tell when a programme is from MTV. It has the same fount, same
arrangement and a website and social media connection.
From the screen shot you can also see what I have called my scripted reality ‘The Mancunian
Way’. As most scripted realities relate there title to the place or the people it is set in, we
went with that initiative to try and incorporate both into the title of the show. This is when
we found out that there was a road running through Manchester called Mancunian Way,
very close the University which was perfect to fit are scripted reality with involves students
which is how we came up with the name.
6. Similarities
From the screen shots on the left you can see what we have
done similar in are trailer to one which is in Geordie
Shore, with the interview set out for the characters to
communicate with the audience and how they narrate
themselves. This is a great way to inform the audience on
what is going on in the trailer, and give them teasers as well.
We also tried to dress them in the same sorts of stuff , with
them showing expensive brands and looking well groomed
making the conventions of a scripted reality also included.
Form the screens shots on the right you
can also see how I have tried to get
similar the logo which is featured at the
end of the trailer where I have included
the whole cast instead of just one and
writing which again is in the same sort
of style as MTV have it as you can
compare with the both of them.
7. Similarities
From the screen shots on the left you can see what we have
done similar in are trailer, which is in Geordie Shore, with
dramatic story lines even though it is hard to incorporate
one into a trailer, we still managed to do it. The two main
characters of the shown Lucy played by Niamh and JJ played
by Chris have a small story in the trailer after they have
developed some sort of relationship which obviously goes
wrong as shown. As they are the two main characters the
audience would want to know more after seeing the trailer.
From the screen shots on the right you can see Gary and
Charlotte from Geordie Shore which is where we have got
the idea from for the dramatic story line which is something
that is in the Geordie Shore trailers, where various bits of
story lines are shown. As you can see some parts they are
friends in them and in some there are ‘incidents’. This is
actually a good technique for the audience to be enticed as
they assume something goes wrong and makes them want
to watch the episode/series to find out what happens.
8. Differences
From the screen shot below you can see what we have done to
make it a bit different by trying to include the whole cast at the
end so the audience can get a good peak at the cast whilst
being told what the programme is called and only being told
that it is coming soon making them want to see as much as
they can of the characters as possible. Also I have tried to make
it less cluttered by not having boxes and to much colours
involved in the text as the audience don’t want to be feeling
that there reading to much as they will prefer to be watching.
Form the screens shots on the right you can
also see how the first frame of the trailer is
the location of where the programme it is
set and makes the audience aware,
especially
since they
are well
known
locations in
Manchester.
For the trailer we had to find
Non-Diegetic sounds, which
was hard as we had to use
royalty free music. This also
had to suit the genre for the
show which is normally very
happy and clubby music most
common chart music. I did find
some in the end which worked
effectively for the trailer.
9. Challenges
From the screen shots on the left you can see that we tried to
explore into a vehicle for filming and incorporate that into the
scripted reality. As you can see Geordie shore attempted this
with a plane but as more of a one off and as you don't normally
see them travel somewhere, its just normally snap shots. We
were trying to make his more interactive to the audience to
make them get a feel for what the characters might actually get
up to while in the car and make it more fun with audience. The
challenges faced were shooting angles, safety and dimensions.
From the screen shot on the right you can see we have attempted
to do some different camera angles which wouldn’t normally be
in a scripted reality. With this shot you can see all the characters
and where there going form a high angle shot. This makes the
audience more aware of what the characters are doing.
From the screen shot on the left you can see we have attempted
to do another different camera angle which would normally be in
a scripted reality, a birds eye view. We felt that we wanted to
explore more with the camera to see what would work for this
genre of soap compared to the regular shots in a scripted reality.
10. Billboard
My billboard is very similar to a current MTV billboard. It has all the conventions a billboard
should have, the institutional logo MTV, an enigma code, title The Mancunian
Way, Characters, and the layout. My billboard uses the same bold colours, follows the MTV
style, and is very simple but effective making suitable to be used for MTV.
This billboard however challenges what a billboard does for MTV as it doesn’t really
promote a lot about the programme, it only really promotes MTV. This is because it is a
coming soon billboard and wants to hide as much as possible from the audience and I
personally think this has worked more effective with this scripted reality. The main
differences with this billboard is that it doesn’t have an air time, the characters are covered
so you don’t know what they look like and there isn’t much of a style it’s just simple.
11. Magazine Front Cover
My magazine is very similar to a current Soap magazine. It has all
the conventions a magazine should have, a masthead Reality
TV, bleed, weekly publication, enigma, cover story, colour
scheme, secondary images, bold text, main image, tag line and
secondary cover story. My magazine uses the same sort of layout
and is a very simple but effective design.
This magazine is different as I feel I have tried to lower down the
bold and extreme colours used and make them a little bit more
softer on eyes, this makes the reader feel more welcome to the
magazine with a softer colour scheme. I have taken a lot of red out
of the cover and made it a eye catching colours which focuses more
on exclusives to the magazine, compared to everything being cover
in red. I have used less secondary images to make the page feel less
cramped but still made the page feel busy as there's always a lot
going on in any kind of soaps.
The challenges I faced with this magazine were to make a scripted
reality show relevant on a magazine cover as they aren't really on
magazine covers. This was to associate things on the next episode
and things associated with the characters and to the audience.
13. Comparison
When I looking at the effectiveness of the combination of my main product and ancillary
products I need to ensure that they are each effective on their own first. They would be
deemed effective if they fulfilled their purpose and if they were appropriate for my target
audience.
I think the soap trailer fulfils it’s
purposes as it address the
audience with sneak peaks of
the series as a whole, different
storylines throughout and what
the show will be involved in.
This is what we aimed as a
group for are trailer to be.
I think the magazine
fulfils it’s purposes
as tells the audience
what to expect in the
next episode and
exclusives from the
characters.
I think the billboard fulfils it’s
purpose as it address the
audience of the characters and
the style the show will follow,
not much because this is a
coming soon billboard.
14. Comparison
There are a few convincing links between all three of the products. One being the name of
the show, on everyone one of the products quite obviously the name of the scripted reality
is quite clear. I did try and keep the text the same, with the same font but didn’t always work
considering that the magazines don’t really have a logo of the show but I tired to get this in
all my products.
The channel is clear on the trailer and the billboard MTV but I didn’t feel it was something
that was necessary to be put on the front page of a magazine but something more that
would be clear inside of it.
The characters names are clearly shown in the trailer and in the magazine cover but as the
billboard is coming soon I couldn't reveal the characters names but you can quite clearly see
how many characters there are and which ones are girls and which ones are boys.
15. Comparison
With the billboard being coming soon it was very difficult to put any storyline in as I wanted
the audience to now as little as possible about the programme, storylines were a lot easier
to link with between the trailer and the magazine with the relationship on JJ and Lucy the
most popular characters in both as this is a big feature in the show.
The characters representation stays the same in all as they all act the same and are
represented in the same way, as outrageous, mad students, wearing designer clothes and
getting drunk.
16. Comparison
The soap name is also
featured in the magazine
with it telling the audience
that there are exclusives to
this specific programme.
I didn’t think it was
necessary to put the
channel logo on the font
cover at it’s not
something you normally
see on a magazine cover,
normally it’s inside.
Characters representation
is clear, as the characters
are wearing designer
clothes, target the age
group if the audience and
are doing what audiences
there age would be doing.
Matches the sub-genre
which is scripted
reality, with the masthead
being called RealityTV
which tells the audience
the magazine focuses on
reality TV programmes but
doesn’t necessarily matter
how scripted the
programme is.
Characters names feature
in the magazine with there
names and pictures
indicating to the audience
who the characters are.
Storylines feature in the
magazine which are
included in the trailer also,
this being JJ and his
relationship with Lucy and
the ‘Bromance’.
17. Comparison
The channels logo is
clear in the top left
hand of the page this
is therefore represent
the institution it is
associated with and
will make the
audience aware of
what programme the
show will be
featuring. This also
matches the
conventions of the
channel MTV by it
featuring the logo.
The soap name is also featured in
the magazine with it telling the
audience that there are exclusives
to this specific programme.
Characters representation is no to clear as the billboard
is coming soon billboard and is trying to hind more
about the characters then gives away. This makes the
audience want to know more about the characters.
The billboard is set out very similar to
the conventions of the channel MTV
with the characters at the bottom
and title, logo and air time at the top.
There aren't really
any storylines
featured in the
billboard as its a
coming soon billboard
and I want to hide as
much from the
audience as possible
as I want them to be
wanting to find out
more about the show
instead of being told
everything at once.
Characters names feature aren't featured
in the billboard but you can clearly see
how many characters are in the show and
how many girls and boys there are.
19. Feedback
I asked for feedback on my products to see if I had achieved what I had planned with my
target audience and other features including what I could possible do to improve my
trailer, billboard and magazine front cover if it was still possible.
21. Feedback Results
1.Would you watch this Soap after seeing the
trailer, billboard and magazine?
NO: Genre doesn't
interest me.
NO: Don’t understand
what it’s about.
YES: Looks funny and
something I would
watch.
2.Can you easily understand what the show is
about?
NO: Don’t understand what
the show is about.
YES: Yes, drunk teenagers.
YES: Spinoff from Geordie
Shore/Jersey Shore.
22. Feedback Results
3.Who do you think is the target audience?
(Age)
4.Can you tell the genre/sub-genre/hybrid genre
from the trailer, billboard and magazine front
cover?
Correct genre
Soap/Scripted Reality.
All of the people I asked guessed
the correct target audience.
Feedback
Feedback
Teens
Reality
16-25
Scripted Reality
16 – 30
Realism
Teens
Soap
16-25
Reality
23. Feedback Results
5.Do you have any of the features appeal to
you?
Feedback
6. What do you think would make the soap
more appealing?
Feedback
A
How Similar it is to MTV.
A
More characters.
B
Editing of the trailer is good.
B
More then just one song.
C
Billboard looks really
realistic.
C
Shorter clips.
D
All three products link very
well.
D
More storylines.
E
Short trailer.
E
Billboard is very good.
Most of the people I asked had some kind
of features that appealed to them.
All the people I asked had something
different that they fort could make my
soap more appealing.
24. Feedback Results
7. Do you think from watching the trailer and
seeing the billboard and magazine it would
appeal to the target audience?
8. Overall do you think from looking at the three
different products that this soap is a good idea?
YES: Perfect for target
audience.
YES: Suits the target
audience.
YES: Would appeal to
teens.
YES: Is perfect for the
genre.
YES: Can see why
teenagers enjoy these
types of shows.
NO: Is to similar to
scripted realities already
out there.
25. What I have learned from feedback
From my audiences feedback I learned something from every question I asked and whether
or not my products have been successful even though I could go back and make some
improvements from the feedback I have received.
Question 1 proved that audiences interested in my genre of soap would watch it meaning
that I had clearly portrayed good representation and enough happening to draw audiences
in to watch the soap.
Question 2 asked the audience whether or not they understood what the soap was about,
nearly everyone understood apart from one person but later explained that they had never
seen this sort of television before. This again then shows that from audiences already seen
similar genre shows that the representation is good from the genre.
Question 3 asked the who the target audience was, this was something which was quite is
represented in the three products and all the audiences feedback guessed the correct
answer.
Question 4 asked if you could tell the genre of the soap, which again was very successful
with the audience guessing correctly. This tells me that I had portrayed enough for the
audience to clearly understand the genre and what the soap would be about
26. What I have learned from feedback
Question 5 I asked the audience what I appealed to them. This gave me the knowledge of
what I felt I had good well with the products so I new if I could improve them else where to
make my products stronger overall.
Question 6 asked the audience what would make the soap more appealing. This again gave
me information are where I could still possibly improve on the three products if it was
possible in the time frame I still had. Some of which I did as to adding another song into my
trailer and also editing more of the clips to make them shorter and also make my overall
trailer shorter so the audience don’t think that it is too long to watch.
Question 7 asked if from the products it would appeal to the target audience. This again was
a successful response making it clear that it fit the genre of soaps and would also to appeal
to the target audience even though there are shows out there like it already.
Question 8 asked if this soap idea was a good idea. This again was a successful response as it
focuses on another regional identity not explored in the genre area but one response
explain it was to similar to products like it already out there but I have adapted the show to
make it not as similar to other products which would be explained in the show.
27. Question 4
How did you use technologies in the research
and planning, construction and evaluation
stages?
28. Weebly
Firstly I signed up for Weebly at the start of
the course so I could start on a blog and
website for all my coursework on the
internet.
I was then able to totally edit my Weebly
website with new pages, themes, styles,
designs, videos, picture, text, etc. This
made everyone’s Weebly site there own.
New pages (adding new pages)
Design (themes and styles)
Building (adding to the website)
Items which can be added
29. Weebly
After finishing the design of the website I
could then add my coursework to my
website depending on when I finished and
added it to the correct page.
As you can see this is how I did this with a
word document as I selected the document
button which download a specific
document on to the webpage.
After I had finished put the coursework on
the correct webpage's and didn’t need to
add anything till I had done the next set of
work I could then publish the page so it
was a live website which could look at the
work I saw. My official website is
www.mylesrichardson-weebly.weebly.com
30. Microsoft
Microsoft PowerPoint is quite an easy technology used which I am
using right know for this evaluation. It is a more clearer way to
present work and to address the audience better. After I have
created a PowerPoint I would then upload it to Slideshare online.
Microsoft Word is another easy technology used which I am used for
a lot of my coursework as it is simple for a lot of text but for
something which doesn’t need a lot of imagery. If you look on my
blog you will be able to notice the amount of work which has used it.
Microsoft Publisher is another easy technology used which I am used
for my coursework as it is simple for a lot of text and imagery but is
something which fits on a A3 page instead of a lot of quantity of
presentation. If you look on my blog you will be able to notice the
work where I have used it.
31. Slideshare
Firstly I signed up for Slideshare so that I
could start to upload PowerPoint's to the
website.
This was quite a simple process with only
an email required, and to create a
username and password.
I then upload PowerPoint's
to the website which on
the left you can see is quite
easy to do. On the right
you can see what it
actually looks like on the
website where anyone can
see and leave there
feedback.
32. Camera
The camera which I used for my project was the
Nixon Coolpix L120 which isn’t an SLR and as a
group we knew that we would have a lot of hand
held shots to shoot and would need a bit of a
smaller camera which was capable of doing that
which is why we picked this one.
I also used a tripod with this camera for still shots. This
provided accuracy and focus and was great when we
needed to use the green screen. We took a tripod when
we had to go into Manchester for some filming, it is a
very light and can be made smaller and bigger by
extending the legs.
33. Green Screen
From are planning and
research we knew we would
have to use a green screen in
are trailer. This is a very
important part of are soap
and the genre it represents as
its a way of the characters
communicating with the
audience in a personal and
direct way.
Some explains of
how the green
screen is used in
scripted realities
already out
there.
34. iMovie
iMovie was the technology which i did all my editing for my
Soap trailer. This took a lot of time but is a good simple editing
software for apple products.
From opening iMovie you can start a new project
and import videos very simply. Then you can select
certain parts of clips like on the left and drop then
into your project. This is easy for editing long clips
that the majority of the film you don’t actually need.
Form there you can do this
several times to develop
the start of a film for any
amount of clips, an example
of this is on the right.
35. iMovie
When I had got the majority of the clips i needed you can
add music over the film. This is easy as all you need to do
is download the music. You can make this as long as you
want including recorded audio which we also added
which is done exactly the same as music.
You also can edit the level of sound you want in the video which is
shown on the right. You can either have more music then audio for the
clip or the opposite way round or a mix of both. In my trailer there was
music right the way through just various levels of it at different points.
You can also filter the clips, add green screen images/clips and add text into the film which
is shown from the three images above which is very simple when in the software.
36. Photoshop
Photoshop was something which I used for my Ancillary
products more then my trailer. It was great for making the
characters representation to the audience more realistic and a
great software to make my billboard and magazine front cover.
It was also good for constructing several different images into
one, as not every picture on its on was good but bits from a lot
of pictures were good which the software helped me make on
image out of several images.
As you can see the
Photoshop software has
aloud me to edit
photographs with bits
from them that I want
with the tools on the
end. You can see the
difference this has
created in me products.
37. YouTube
Youtube is a great way of sharing videos on the internet for
anyone to watch. In my coursework I only used this to
upload videos which I had finished so then could go on
Youtube as well as my website.
Youtube will hopefully in
the end help me get more
feedback from different
audiences apart from the
people I have already asked.
On the left you can see how
my videos are on my Youtube
page and can was very simple
to get them uploaded as
Youtube is a simple platform
On the right you can see how
my videos look when you
watch them and see that you
can comment and see the
views it’s had.
38. Twitter
Social media is a great way of communicating with the
audience which is what I did with Twitter. I would personally
say it is the biggest social media platform at the this moment
in time which is why I have focused it in my product.
I didn’t think it was necessary to have another social media
response because of how popular Twitter is to audiences as
even celebrities use it.
From the above picture you can see in my trailer that it includes #THEMANCUNIANWAY,
this is something which is done on Twitter known as the form of hash tagging which I felt
was something that needed adding to get the audience talking about the show on a social
media network.
Another thing I did which was add a website to my products
which you can see from the left and picture above. This was
because I didn’t make an official website for the products just
a blog type website and didn’t make a actually Twitter page
because it wasn’t required.
