This document summarizes Liam Barnes' media production evaluating his soap opera trailer and ancillary texts. It discusses how the trailer uses conventions of real soap operas through its parallel storylines, enigma, and point of view narrative. It also analyzes how the trailer, magazine cover, and billboard maintain consistency through codes, genres, demographics, and reality representation. Audience feedback supported the effective soundtrack but suggested improving institutional representation. Media technologies like Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, YouTube and digital storyboarding supported production, research and evaluation stages.

1. Liam Barnes3042Evaluation Media A2 TrailerAQ092234Aquinas College 33435OCR G324-Advanced Productionhttp://liamaq092234.blogspot.com/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g31D-QxmIk

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

3. Enigmas and Parallel NarrativesI also ensured the two stories converged with each other meaning the audience could relate to them both.The narrative clearly shows two stories to keep the audience engaged with two storylines to look for.I also incorporated an enigma to leave the audience puzzled and to create a cliff-hanger.The type narrative I used in my soap is often found in most soaps therefore implying that I used the forms and conventions of real media productsThe narrative is clearly from a certain point of view to enable the audience to relate to the characters I want them to.Here is a screenshot of the enigma. This gives leaves the audience with an element of confusion.

4. Introduction to trailerMany soaps include a sequence at the start of a trailer to immediately grab the attention of the audience and to provoke debate. Soaps as shown below do this and is something I emulated in my trailer also.

5. Continued...In this shot from Eastenders there is a clear cause for debate with the bordered up pub which appears to have been set on fire. This would shock the audience and would make the audience question this shot.This shot from Waterloo Road at the start of the trailer suggests conflict and this is maintained throughout the trailer.Due to the inspiration I gathered from these two trailer I implemented this idea into my own trailer.

6. The selection and use of props played a massive part of our trailer and I felt we put them to good use.The bag was an integral part of this scene. Without the bag, the audience would have been left confused and we also took into consideration the type of bag as it was carrying clothes in itPropsThe inclusion of the phone was also a fundamental part of this scene. Again, we took into consideration the type of phone we used as it had to be one we could throw hard on the floor

7. Representation of timeMy trailer is predominantly conducted in chronological order.To emphasise this I ensured that cut to each scene was done quickly and effectively to make it seem like an obvious sequence of events.I felt a soap trailer should be kept short snappy and easy to follow and certain edits were not necessary in terms of keeping the continuity of a trailer.

8. The use of camera work, sound and lighting also influenced my trailer greatly. We ensured the lighting for the final scene was dark to generate a grim and sinister environment. How my trailer creates genre and meaningWhile deciding the storylines of the soap I came to the conclusion that plots relating to every day life would look more appealing to the reader i.e. arguments wit a boss and schoolmatesThis was a storyline I found in Hollyoaks and we included a very similar narrative and I feel it is the type that would appeal to audiences as this is a ‘problem’ that occurs in everyday life

9. Further Media LanguagesIn terms of camerawork it was important we took into consideration the positioning and angle in order to emphasise the narrative point of view from which it is told.For example an ‘over the shoulder’ shot was used to amplify who is the ‘subject’ of a particular scene. This is a shot commonly used in soaps particularly Hollyoaks as it allows you to project a conversation clearly.To add to the threatening appearance of the final scene we made sure the boss wore something which emphasised this. The dark jumper Adam wore personified his character perfectly.

10. Narrative CoherenceMy narrative definitely makes sense. I ensured there was a link in two of the three sequences to give the audience just two things to think about rather than three which may confuse and put them off. The fact that the story appears happy and content at the start, followed by a sequence suggesting conflict and trouble would attract the audience.

11. Inclusion of Non-diegetic SoundIn my trailer I included music. However I had to guarantee it was appealing and unthreatening towards the audience. I felt my song choice of the instrumental of The Arctic Monkeys Teddy Picker exemplifies this theory.It creates a beat that builds tension and compliments the trailer particularly the last sequence well due to the anger involved.

12. Camera workThe panning shoot allows us to identify who is taking place in the conversation and is common in most soaps.An over the shoulder shot is also frequent in soaps, allowing us to portray a conversation or object.This two shot combined with the slow zooming out is challenging the conventions of soaps as in trailers it is generally short and snappy.To improve my trailer I could have incorporated an establishing shot as this shows where the scene is taking place and gives a clear signal to the audience.

13. Further Mise En SceneWe ensured our setting and location was appropriate in terms of emphasising the characters education/employment status. Furthermore, we ensured that all characters were dressed suitably in order to convey this.Here I feel we could have made the lighting darker therefore creating a darker, gloomier atmosphere. It would have complimented his jumper as well implying he is some sort of manager/boss Here, what appears to be a school/college is clearly visible in the background, giving the reader a further impression that the three characters are students.

14. How my soap portrays equilibrium or disequilibriumMy soap trailer consistently shows a constant state of disequilibrium. Here there is clear signs of conflict/trouble throughout the video and this is something I included in my soap trailerThis is common in most soaps and it was something I felt would work well in my own trailer. For example in the Waterloo Road Trailer...

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

16. Progression of ancillary products-Front Cover1This is the first complete draft of a soap magazine. Despite its diversity in terms of soap magazines, it is not a good representation of what a soap is about. The font, colour and logo of the masthead do not exemplify the usual conventions of a soap magazine as seen in the example below.In future drafts I will attempt to emulate the conventions shown in the Radio times example

17. Progression of ancillary products-Front Cover2While this is an improvement of our original design, the tabs to the right of the front cover should stretch all the way down the page. Furthermore, most examples we have found have just the one cover star and so our third and final design should have just the one cover star.

18. Progression of ancillary products-Front Cover3This is my final design for my front cover. There are clear similarities between a real TV&Sattellite magazine and my own. There are clear similarities in the masthead font and the seriousness of the picture. Furthermore, the convention of the Monday- Sunday tabs also apply and I felt this was a good inclusion.

19. Progression of Ancillary Products-BillboardWhile this is a solid first attempt of our Billboard, there are certain conventions lacking on it. For example we should have took into consideration the BBC ‘house style’ i.e the red background as seen below. In addition, the BBC logo should have been bigger.

20. Progression of ancillary products-BillboardIn our final billboard design there are clear similarities between this and a common BBC billboard or a form of advertisement. We adopted the fading red background, therefore, giving the billboard more professionalism and it is now much more realistic. The use of the font for ‘friends and foes’ gives us our identity or brand. The font of the BBC is also consistent throughout.

21. Our brand identity was conveyed in three main forms; a trailer, a front cover and a billboard. While making them we ensured our distinct personal style was demonstrated.

22. How our products show genreThe Genre of our brand is clear; Soap Opera.All three of our products imply conflict and trouble through a number of different ways.We felt it was important to make this clear to ensure we can attract and maintain our target audience. Here there are clear similarities with our soap magazine and ‘TV choices’ particularly with facial expressions.

23. Mise-en-sceneSimilar costumes in each form. This shows consistency in my mise en scene and is a common stereotype of teenagers with them wearing jeans and a hoody/jumperArms folded and hands in pockets suggests cocky/arrogant impression of characters therefore giving further identity to our brand, clearly relating to our target audience of teenagers

24. Codes and Connotations - Facial expressionsThroughout all of my products there is clear comparatives that can be made in terms of facial expressions.

25. They all portray seriousness with the angry and irritated faces they show

26. This connotation is reinforced through the body language of the characters. We decided a back-to-back shot would be a good idea as it suggests conflict

27. This is also applied in the billboard where their arms are crossed and they are facing each other.Channel ConsistencyBranding our product also involved choosing one of the television channels. We felt BBC ONE was a good choice as the BBC has a very successful show called Waterloo Road which in itself is similar to ours. Colour and FontWe felt the use of red to highlight words suggesting danger would have a good effect. We decided to use this idea in the billboard and I decided to continue this in my trailer. I feel it works really well against the bland black and white and reinforces our aim of making Friends and Foes a brand.Our font of ‘destroy’, I think works extremely well. We felt it necessary to maintain this font in all of our products as this is integral with regards creating your own identity.

28. How my demographic is attractedI thought it was fundamental that the demographic we were attracting had to be similar to the characters involvedHere is a shot from our trailer and an example of the demographic we are looking to attract. There are clear the two pairs of males clearly resemble each other with the hoody and jeans.

29. Mood Board

30. Regional RepresentationWe conveyed a clear regional representation through the use of slang and common sayings heard in the Manchester area in our trailer such as ‘I’m not gonna hit you, you muppet!’ and ‘Who d’ya think you are?’ By portraying this regional identity the audience is able to relate to the soap more if they’re from a similar area or make it more interesting for an audience outside the area as they may be curious as to what it’s like in Manchester.The use of the hoodys also shows regional representation as hoody’s are common in the area we’re portraying.

31. The reality concept of our trailer is reinforced through our ancillaries. Here there is clear signs of a fall out due to the serious faces and body language.The reality in our soap is a crucial aspect. It allows our demographic to relate to our trailer as situations in our trailer often happen in real lifeReality RepresentationHere are examples of conflict in my trailer. Not only is it entertaining but it could be educating people in how to deal with these real life situations.

32. 3. What have you learnt from audience feedback?

33. Good soundtrackFrom my feedback it was clear that my opinion was shared in terms of the sound. The soundtrack matches the action extremely well because they both imply conflict or danger.Also because its a well known song, it makes it more attractive for my target demographic. Even if they don’t like the trailer the song will put it in good stead.

34. Audience and InstitutionThe audience of my soap is clearly male due to the soundtrack and all of the cast in the trailer are all boys.Regrettably I did not include the official logo of the BBC in my trailer therefore it possibly did not gain the professionalism it could have in the latter stages of my trailer.The genre of it is clear also. With it being a soap a lot of conflict is involved.

35. More on the institutionIt was argued that the BBC was not appropiate in relation to my soap. It was also suggested that some better alternatives would include BBC3 or E4 as they are channels that are more likely to attract our demographic of males.However I feel that with BBC ones Waterloo Road, there are clear similarities and I believe the BBC are now trying to broaden their target demographic.

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

37. CameraworkI further improved my camerawork in this task with the use of ‘over the shoulder shot’. I also incorporated a panning shot. This allowed me to establish the fact that the camera acted best when positioned in high key lighting.

38. Using Adobe PhotoshopI incorporated title cards into my trailer using adobe Photoshop. I used this application to introduce my trailer and then at the end remind the audience of the name, which channel and the time it is broadcasted.Because of this application we were able to experiment with different fonts and colours enabling us to be able to choose from a selection of title cards. We decided the best one was on the far right as it suggests conflict.

39. We were able to put our trailer up onto YouTube using Adobe Premiere, then allowing us to put it on our blog.It was very easy to edit using Adobe Premiere. It was a case of clicking and dragging each clip to where we wanted it on the timeline.Using Adobe PremiereWe were also able to add music to our sequence and we carried this out through ripping a song of YouTube

40. Audience Research

41. Continued...

42. Continued

43. Continued

44. Research-YouTubeWe conducted our research largely through YouTube. We found trailers from East enders and Waterloo Road and they helped us greatly in preparation for our trailer

45. Digital StoryboardingWe uploaded a storyboard similar to the trailer we were going to do to our blogs and slideshare made this very easy to do.