The document provides an analysis of how the author's media product uses and develops conventions of real media products. It discusses the conventions used in the main adverts, sponsorships, and ancillary radio advert for a new water drink brand. The author examines conventions around length, music, narratives, branding, editing, camera shots, and how the combination of the main and ancillary texts effectively create synergy between the different elements. Feedback from audiences demonstrated clear understanding of what was being advertised and generally positive views of the product after viewing the ads. The author learned that the combination of elements worked well to portray the brand.

1. Advanced Portfolio Evaluation
Lucy Taylor

2. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media
products?

3. In many ways, all media texts can be seen as highly conventional, employing conventional
advertising techniques and taking inspiration from the conventions of real media products. I
looked at many different water adverts in order to make sure that I used the same conventions in
order for the customers to understand the product better.
Main Adverts - During my research, I found that normal main adverts were around
20 - 30 seconds long. I tried to aim for the longer lengths, however Advert 1 ended
up at 22 seconds long, and advert 2 came to 19 seconds, so it was slightly short.
Music -
During my research, I found that most water adverts used
sound effects rather than music. Other water adverts used
upbeat, happy music which made you relate to the product. I
decided that I wanted to use some upbeat, happy music for
my advert in order to help distinguish the product as water.
Although the music wasn’t the most important part of the
advert, to me it was important that I had it so that the advert
felt complete. I think the music helped me set the tone and
the mood for the product, and made people want to buy the
product. I used ‘Icing – Charity Vance’, and I think I achieved
the conventional happy tone that I was looking for.

4. Narratives
The Narrative of each of the adverts
followed a very conventional type of
having the beginning, middle and end.
This is a conventional ad style with a
strong narrative in which the product is
placed in a situation where it is needed
or necessary. I feel like I followed this
for the main adverts, and I feel that
there was a clear beginning, which
always started with a shot of the fridge
or opening the fridge. The middle
always included the water coming out
the fridge and being packed into a
lunchbox and the end ended up with
logo. In advert 1, the sequence was
ended with a shot of the lunchbox
being picked up and taken away, whilst
in advert 2, it ended with a shot of the
full water. I did use a stop motion
however; this therefore shows that I
employed a conventional
narrative, which may have been used in
a stereotypical way.

5. However, the adverts to some extent are not aesthetically conventional. This is because most
water adverts include an image of nature, or where the water comes from, such as a river or a
valley. My advert does not include any images of this; therefore I am challenging the convention,
and instead show a fridge and the uses of the water, as well as showing each of the different
colours, therefore making it so that it is not aesthetically conventional. It is aesthetically
conventional on the basis that it shows the logo and the bottle very often. I do this because I felt
that it helps to get the message across about the water and reinstates what the advert is for. I
decided that I wanted to change it up because the nature is very common and obvious. I used the
lunchbox and made sure that the first and last shot was of the water so that it was clear what the
advert was for. My audience feedback shows that the challenge paid off as people were aware of
what the product was and therefore I was able to show my brand as a water product.
Highland Spring
conventional advert
My advert -
unconvetional

6. Mise-En-Scene
I decided that there were also important conventions to incorporate into my advert, as I wanted
people to be 100% sure on what my product traditionally was. The mise-en-scene is important to
me because I want everyone to be able to understand what the advert is for. I decided to use the
kitchen as a set because its normally where lunchboxes are packed and water is kept. Although
traditional water adverts didn’t show this, I felt that this is what I would try to do for my advert.
I used a modern lunchbox so that people knew
that the water was a new product. Not only
this, but I also wanted to get across that the
water product was for children. However, my
audience feedback shows that some people
were unsure of the audience. They didn’t know
whether the product was for adults or
children, especially once my slogan was ‘one the
kids will love too’. I chose that slogan because I
understand that adults prefer to drink normal
water, and therefore I created a drink which
children would want to drink too. This shows
that perhaps I wasn’t able to get across the
message that I wanted to with my mise-en-
scene or my slogan, confusing my audience.

7. Editing
I decided to use jump cuts as this is traditionally what adverts too. I took a group of different
pictures, around 200, and then edited them to create my adverts. I made sure to put the pictures at
the same amount of time, so that the advert flowed quickly and understandably.
Pictures are switched
within a few seconds.

8. Camera
I used a range of different shots throughout the sequence, ranging from long shots of the
water in the fridge to close ups of the bottle. I also have a shot from inside the fridge, which
therefore shows I have a range of different shot types. I did this because I wanted to have
some variation of shot types in order to make the advert more interesting. The shots
enabled me too look at different angles of the water and therefore was able to show off the
products full potential.
These show a range
of different shot
types within my
adverts. From
medium shots to
close ups, it shows
that I've used a
variety of different
shots.

9. Sponsorships
Narrative and Mise-en-scene
My sponsorship sequences both fit into the conventional time space of sponsorships. Both
sponsorships were 8 seconds, which is normal for a sponsorship sequence. They fit into the
conventional mise-en-scene and narrative as they were simple and didn’t have a storyline, which
I found out during my research. Instead, they just showed each of the water and the logo, as well
as helping to associate my product with the programme. I developed the convention in the fact
that I used a lunchbox in which the water was placed in advert one, this is developing because it
is linking it back to my other adverts and is therefore different to the normal, no storyline
sponsorship. I decided to go with this convention because it is what people are used to and
therefore is better for the advert.
Advert 1 Sponsorship 1
I also didn’t incorporate the programme into my
sponsorship, which is often common as it creates an
association between the product and programme for
the viewer. I did this because I chose to sponsor
‘daytime television on four’, and therefore kept the
advert open to different audiences.

10. I also incorporated the most important convention, and this was the strong branding of the
product. I knew that in my research that each sponsorship sequence portrays a strong brand
image through the uses of colour, logo, mise-en-scene and slogan. You need to do this because of
the short time you have and this is the purpose of the sponsorship. The sponsorship doesn’t try
to sell a product to the projected audience, and they aim to build up the association of the
product with the television programme. Once this is done, it is a successful sponsorship.
Slogan
Logo/Product
name
Green
hills/nature
Nature
Specific font type – also on the bottles
I used branding in my sponsorship by showing the logo on the bottle
of water – which is traditional for a water bottle. I also had the logo
at the end with the Channel four logo which helps associate the two.
I didn’t however have the slogan written anywhere and I didn’t add it
in the speech, which I feel I should have perhaps done.

11. I had the separate video for the beginning sequence and the end sequence. The beginning
sequence started with the name of the product being said, so that the audience could relate
straight away, whilst the end sequence ended with the saying ‘Aqua-blast’. I feel this helped with
the association of the product.
I used branding in my sponsorship by showing the logo on the bottle of water – which is
traditional for a water bottle. I also had the logo at the end with the Channel four logo
which helps associate the two. I didn’t however have the slogan written anywhere and I
didn’t add it in the speech, which I feel I should have perhaps done.
Product
Logo Channel
Logo

12. Music
During my research, I found that most water adverts used sound effects rather
than music. Other water adverts used upbeat, happy music which made you relate
to the product. I decided that I wanted to use some upbeat, happy music for my
sponsorship in order to help distinguish the product as water as well as linking the
advert to the sponsorship. Although the music wasn’t the most important part of
the sponsorship, to me it was important that I had it so that the sponsorship felt
complete. I think the music helped me set the tone and the mood for the
product, and made people want to buy the product. I used ‘Icing – Charity
Vance’, and I think I achieved the conventional happy tone that I was looking for.
Editing
I decided to use jump cuts as this is traditionally what adverts too. I took a group of
different pictures, around 200, and then edited them to create my adverts. I made sure to
put the pictures at the same amount of time, so that the advert flowed quickly and
understandably.

13. Camera
I used a steady shot throughout the sequence, as I didn't have as much time to show off different
angles like I did within my full adverts. The shots that I used were steady and were long shots.
These shots showed off the water and their colours and was therefore better for me within the
advert to show off what I wanted to do.

14. My Radio Advert
Traditionally, adverts last around 30 seconds. For my ancillary text, I decided to do a radio advert
rather than a pop up, as this is what I felt more comfortable doing. As it is only voice, I didn't have
to worry about the mise-en-scene or the shot types, but only how I edit it together as well as the
scripting.
Narrative
'Aqua-Blast, the brand new drink coming to stores near you. Theres four new
colours, Red, Green, Blue and Yellow. Quench your thirst! Aqua-Blast, one that the kids will love
too.'
I decided to use this script because it was repetitive of the name and therefore got the message
across as to what i wanted it to say. This was good because I felt that this helped get the audience
to understand what the product was. I also used the sound of water being poured – which i
recorded myself from pouring water back into a bottle – which helped to reinforce that this was a
water product.
Music
I very faintly used the same song as my adverts – Charity Vance – ‘Icing’, in the background of my
radio advert. This helped to create synergy throughout all the adverts as people could now relate
the product to the adverts, and if someone saw the television advert they would be able to link it
to the radio advert.
Editing
I wanted the advert to flow smoothly and that's why I didn't use any dramatic cuts. The one
pause I had within the advert was when the water was being poured, to help reinforce the
product. The soundtrack was very quietly behind the speech, which was done by Fran LeGall. This
meant that the advert flowed smoothly and everyone knew what the product was about.

15. 2. How effective is the combination of
your main and ancillary texts?

16. I recognised the importance of creating synergy between all five media texts so that they were
viewed as advertising campaigns which were all linked. I also wanted to make sure that all of them
would be able to stand alone and would be understandable.
The main way which I created synergy was through the lunchbox and the base of the
kitchen, therefore also using the mise-en-scene and the props. I felt that this was important
because I wanted people to relate to each advert, and the audience would be able to relate to this.
Not only this, but I used the same song for each one which helped to link the adverts together. As I
decided to do a radio advert for my ancillary text, I needed to make sure that there was some form
of identity to the ad, therefore showing why I used the same song. This therefore meant that the
audience was able to relate these together. I therefore think that the Lunchbox and the song were
the most iconic of the brand, which ties them all together. I continued the soundtrack throughout
all 5 of the texts. This means that the tune follows on throughout all of the ads and becomes a
recognisable tune which is symbolic of the brand. The viewer would associate the tune with the
brand and immediately recognise it as an Aqua-Blast ad, no matter which media text they are
watching.

17. Another thing I did to combine the main and ancillary texts was to use a stop motion. This is
because I wanted all of the adverts to be made the same way, and I wanted them to all be
symbolic of the brand. I also made sure to have the same water bottle in each picture,
therefore having the same colours and the same labels in each advert, therefore helping people
to relate to the adverts. This was difficult to link to my radio advert to however, so the most
important thing to combine these was using the song ‘Icing – Charity Vance’ to help people
relate the radio advert to the actual advert.
Ad 1
Ad 2
Sponsorship 1
Sponsorship 2

18. I also made sure to re-use props, which was the fridge and the lunchbox. I don’t think that I did
this subtly, however I was trying to spark memories from each advert.
The lunchbox was used in Advert 1 as well as Sponsorship 1. This shows the link between the
adverts and the sponsorships.
Sponsorship 2 uses the same bottles as they all have used, whilst advert 2 also uses the same
bottles and the same fridge as advert 1.

19. I asked in my audience feedback whether the audience felt like all 5 of the media adverts
worked well together and overall the responses where wholly positive. Most of the audience
answered ‘5’ which was ‘I completely agree that they work well together’ and a few answering
‘4’ which was the next step down. I got nothing lower than this, showing that they all thought
that the adverts create synergy and the audience looked at them cohesively.
In all, I believe that all 5 texts support each other and the sponsorship sequences link well with
the main adverts. I also think that due to the radio advert, the music works will in linking all of
the 5 media texts together. The main adverts have a conventional narrative, which helps to
describe the products attributes and then the sponsorship just shows all the bottles and the
colours they come in. I believe that each text would be able to stand separately, each support
each other and each build up a strong picture of the brand.

20. 3. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?

21. I first posted my adverts on Youtube and tried to get people to watch them, however I realised
that this was pointless and didn’t give me any feedback, as people didn’t really watch them.
I then created a questionnaire on Google Docs, which was a range of open and closed
questions. The closed questions helped me to see the age of people and quick answers about
my adverts getting data analysis. The open questions help to gain the audience opinions. I put
this onto Twitter and Facebook and asked my friends to fill it in. I didn’t specifically need any
age group and therefore left it open for anyone to do.

22. ‘How old are you?’
I decided to ask how old people were so that I was able to see whether I was getting a range of
different answers, however it wasn’t completely necessary if I didn’t have a range. I wanted to
know so that I could see if my product appealed to people in a range of different ages, and I
managed to get people in different age groups. 6 people were within the age group of 16 –
25, which was 40% of all questioned. 3 people were within the 26 – 35 age group, 2 in the 36 – 45
age, 3 in the age of 46 – 55 and 1 person was in the 56 – 65 age groups. This shows that I got a
variety of different age groups answering my questionnaire.

23. ‘On a scale of 1 to 5, Did you clearly understand what each advert was advertising?’
I felt like this was the most important question and this was therefore why I placed it straight after
asking the age question. The main aim of my advertisement was to capture peoples attention and
want them to buy the product, which meant that I needed a positive response from the advert and
people to know what the advert was actually advertising. The results were extremely positive, with
3 people saying ‘4’ and 12 people saying ‘5’. This assures me that the advert did the right
job, connoting the product and getting positive responses from the audience.

24. ‘What is your view on the product now after watching the adverts?’
I then left an open question asking people for their view on the product after watching the
adverts, seeing if people had a positive or negative response to the product. I wanted to see if the
audience would pick up on what I was trying to do, to see if they felt that the product would be one
that they would buy.
‘I would buy it, I think that it seems exciting and will make more people drink water’ – this was one of
the main things that I was trying to achieve as I wanted to get more people to drink water. This
therefore shows that my advert was picked up well.
‘I love the product. I think that its child friendly and looked exciting. Id definitely want to try it.’-
Another thing I was trying to do was get it to be aimed more at children, which therefore suggests that
‘child friendly’ was exactly the word I wanted people to use.

25. ‘What within the adverts did you think worked well?’
I also wanted to know what people liked about the advert, making me see what the best thing was
and seeing if people thought that the advert worked as a whole. I wanted to know what people
liked the most as I wanted to see if anyone picked up on something which I had perhaps not
intended to do.
‘I liked the variety of different shots and the stop motion. I feel that it was done well and each image
linked to the next.’- This was a positive comment for me because I wanted to make sure that each
advert made sense, and the fact that this person is saying that each image linked meant that I was
able to run the story well.
‘I liked the voice overs, the voice was calm and nice to listen to’ – During my research, I stumbled
upon some information that audiences respond better to female voices. This therefore makes me
believe that I have achieved this convention and I am pleased that this was the response.

26. ‘What within the adverts do you feel could be improved?’
I also wanted some constructive criticism so that I was able to look back and see that if I did the
project again, what I would do differently. I feel that this is important to ask so that the audience is
involved more and next time I will be able to see what they would prefer.
‘I didn’t like how one of the sponsorships had a white back-ground and wasn’t in the kitchen like the
others’ – now that this has been pointed out, I have seen how my synergy was perhaps broken.
Although the advert still worked because it had the bottles and the lunchbox. If I did the project
again then I would probably take this on and redo it in the kitchen.
‘The number of photos for your frames to make it quicker, it was a bit slow’ – Another comment I
received was this one, which I feel mixed emotions about. I agree with it because I could have made
it quicker in some areas, however if I made it even faster and then it would have been short and very
quick, meaning people may not have understood it.

27. ‘Within my five media texts, do you think that the logo and slogan were effective and
memorable?’
This was a simple question to see if my audience thought the advertising campaign was successful
in terms of its branding. The results for this were all positive, with 67% (10 people) saying and 1
person saying no.
Some people also said ‘other’, which I asked for further feedback on.
‘I felt that the logo was strong in all of the adverts, however the slogan could have been said at
the beginning and the end of each advert so that it was remembered, rather than just at the end.’
‘I felt they were memorable for the 2 adverts and the radio advert, but I didn’t hear the slogan at
all in the sponsorships.’
Both of these are perhaps something which I need to build up on, however the positive feedback
confirms that the adverts achieved the most important aim, which is to communicate a
memorable brand.

28. ‘Do you feel the music within the adverts helped to create a positive atmosphere?’
I wanted to know what people thought about the music that I used within my advert and this is
why I decided to ask this question. I wanted to know if people thought that the music helped
the advert or if they felt that id challenged the convention in the wrong way. In all, I got 100%
positive responses, and so I feel that I have chosen the right song for this advert and am very
confident towards it.

29. ‘What Feelings/Moods did you gain from the advert?’
This was a simple question in order to evaluate whether my main adverts had connoted what I had
hoped for the viewer. I was hoping that the advert would make the viewer happy, excited, intrigued
and interested given the right connotations. I thought that the music would help this and the Mise-
en-scene in the advert.
I was very pleased with the results in the question, suggesting to me that the audience had
responded in the exact way I was trying to achieve. Words such as ‘happy’, ‘relaxed’, ‘joy’ and
‘Intrigued’ were used throughout by all of the people who were questioned, with the music
mentioned more than once. This therefore largely suggested that my aim was carried out and
worked well.

30. ‘Do you feel that all 5 adverts work well together?’
The last and possibly most important question was asking if all 5 adverts worked well
together, creating synergy. I wanted to ask this because I wanted to see if the audience
understood that each of them are linked via little things such as the lunchbox. I felt that I
wanted to be able to achieve the link and this is because I wanted to know that my adverts
were received in a positive way. Overall, I had great feedback for this question. I had many
people answering ‘5’, which was ‘yes, they work perfectly together’ and the rest of the people
answered ‘4’ which was the second highest.

31. How well did I think that the advert worked?
I liked the way which all my adverts flowed, however I am now unsure about my sponsorship sequence
which I filmed with the white background. I feel that this breaks the synergy of the brand and therefore
if I were to redo the adverts I would change this. In terms of the editing, If I now got the option I would
try and make these jump cuts flow more smoothly, as sometimes they look choppy and therefore the
advert doesn't flow as well. In terms of Narrative, I am very happy with the way the adverts worked and
so would not change this at all. I feel that the products worked well with each advert type and therefore
I would keep this together as I have done.
Overall, I am pleased with the progress that I have made this year. Although there is some choppy
editing, I feel as if I were able to choose the correct song and a product which helped me, and I also got
some very positive feedback from everyone who did my survey. This makes me think that my adverts
were to a higher standard, and therefore I would only change the things stated above.

32. 4. How did you use new media
technologies in the construction and
research, planning and evaluation
stages?

33. Planning and Research
Before starting filming, I had to make
sure that I took time to do some
research and planning. This is a crucial
part of the process as it allows me to
fully understand the codes and
conventions of advertising, both radio
and TV. I used YouTube to research into
advertising, looking at previous water
adverts and analysing them, all which
can be seen on my Blogspot. I also
looked on previous students blogs in
order to find out what kind of stuff I
should look for. I did 2 audience
surveys, one as a questionnaire on
Google Docs, which I circulated on
Twitter and Facebook, and one for my
logo choice which I circulated by hand,
as this was easier for me.

34. I used programmes such as
Preview, Adobe Audition, Photoshop and
Premier Pro in order to experiment, and
made sure to use all the different tools
within this. This helped me to know what
I needed to do as well as what transitions
I preferred. I was able to create a
storyboard, and analyse my actions
deeper and see if I needed to change
anything.

35. Construction
The construction of my media was predominantly in Premier Pro CS6. I chose this because I was
comfortable with it as I used a version of it last year, however I still had to get used to the new version
and therefore decided to use this for the creating of my adverts and my radio advert. I took many
pictures of each bottle, the fridge, the lunchbox and numerous sequences. Before I put them onto the
programme, I made sure to crop and resize the pictures on preview, then uploaded them onto
premier pro. I found this much easier to edit and change, and then exported them as QuickTime
movies. I was able to use many different effects and transitions to help me, although as a stop motion
you do not need to use transitions. I also created my radio advert in premier pro, which was an
unusual choice. I did this because I felt comfortable editing within this and this is therefore why I
chose to use this adobe programme. I used Adobe Audition to edit the soundtrack used within my
adverts, which was easy to use to change the volume coming into the track and ending the track.
I used Photoshop in order to create my logo and the channel four sign which were put on the end of
my adverts. I decided to do it in Photoshop because I had previous experience and wanted to do this
because I was able to make it look more professional. I got the image for the logo off Google, then
inputted my own text to say Aqua-Blast. I created a group of different ones so that I could ask my
target audience which one they preferred, so that I was able to choose something that the audience
could relate to. I feel that this looked professional and am pleased with the outcome.

36. I also used other technologies in the process of filming, such as an SLR camera and a Fujifilm
camera. The SLR was important, and made me know exactly how in control I was from the
pictures that it created. I was able to control the shutter speed and make sure they were the
same in each photo and a standard digital camera, which is used for adverts 1 and 2 and
sponsorship 2. I was able to use the other digital camera in my other adverts because it is mine
and therefore I know how to work it. I also used a voice recorder to record Fran, who was
saying my speech. I made sure to get quality sound, and was able to get it as loud or as soft as
I wanted it. I was able to put it close to Fran or further away and therefore had full control
over this.

37. Evaluation
For the evaluation, I still used technologies. I uploaded my final videos to YouTube and then
linked them to my BlogSpot so that they could reach a group of different audiences. I then
created a questionnaire on Google Docs which helped me conduct my audience feedback, and
this is because it’s an easy tool to make a questionnaire and is easy for people to fill in. It’s a
convenient tool which converts all the answers to graphs, which makes it easy to read. I was also
able to post links to all five texts on the questionnaire so that the audience cause watch the
adverts before they answered, getting the most reliable answers. I posted links of these onto
Facebook or Twitter in order to get feedback from friends and family. I also posted the link onto
BlogSpot so that I was able to reach out to everyone who read my blog.