Slide 1

A2 Media Soap trailer and ancillaries Rebekah Carroll 3133Aquinas College 33435

Ancillary Tasks + Final ProductAudience ResearchQ4Click hereClick hereClick hereSoap Front Cover

Billboard

PlanningPlanning mostly done on blogger.com and following slides.

http://rebekahc091424.blogspot.com/Real media soap conventions Planning +Q1It is a serialised drama that usually runs week-in, week-out, all year round.It features continuous narratives dealing with domestic themes and personal or family relationships.The plots are open-ended and usually many storylines are featured or even interlinked in an episode. Often they follow the same issue, with, for example, two characters dealing with the break-up of a relationship. The storylines in these cases run parallel.They are often set around a small, central area such as a square (as in EastEnders) or a cul-de-sac (such as Brookside).As a rule, British soaps are realistic or, at least, aim for realism.

Real media soap conventions Also in PlanningPlanning +Q1Planning +Q1Source: uktribes.comSource: uktribes.comThis image displays the brands & media that stereotypical emos are interested this helped to choose the institution for the media products.

This image shows the media consumption of the target audience we want to aim our products at.TV is quite low whereas Internet is high.Click here to go back

Planning +Q1

Planning +Q1QuestionsQ1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?Q3: What have you learnt from audience feedback? Q4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation technologies?Adding sound clips to PPTQ4Click here to view slide with voice clipsI recorded the interview using webcam software: YouCam on my laptop and imported the clips into PowerPoint.

First I clicked insert> sound> sound from file.I then selected the sound file from my documents and clicked insert.

This is the finished product.Colour codesusedevelop challengeQ1Q1Similar media productshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EEdnfG-z490210Skinshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuzUrNdpk9w&feature=player_embeddedHollyoakshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAp0Z3_fyfU&feature=player_embeddedDownton Abbeyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M3moEeErr8&feature=player_embedded

16http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85EEdnfG-z490210

90210 Trailer

Q1

Camera focuses on female character- soaps conventionally aimed at women.Close up- can see emotions expressed- anger seen on own trailer (see screenshot below)Lighting bright on female character.Both female characters used in this scene.Can see faces of both characters better.Two shot- shows conflict between characters.Lighting is brighter- natural light used.usedevelop challenge90210 Trailer

Q1

usedevelop challengeClose up of male character looking off screen.Blurred background emphasises character in foreground.Shocked expression.Brightly lit.Colour red used- conveys anger.

BCU of main female character.Camera face on- see expression more clearly.Colour red used in background and lipstick.Gritty, dark lighting.Looking off-screen also- convention of soaps.90210 Trailer

Q1

usedevelop challengeLong shot- sense of distance and loneliness.Characters framed in the metal construction- centres focus.Dark, natural light.Both characters looking down- sense of despair.Costume- casual.Long shot also used- distanced from others.Colour red being used again- conveying emotions of anger/fear.Artificial light.Lots of open space.Character isn't framed but is the only character in the scene- attention focused.Skinshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuzUrNdpk9w&feature=player_embedded

Skins Trailer

Q1

usedevelop challengeBlurred edges- gives sense of chaos and confusion.Male characters used.Dark lighting- adds to effectiveness as faces cannot easily be seen.Conflict is happening in a pub- stereotypical.Long shot used- see what's happening in the scene.Female characters used- soap convention.Dark lighting- violence doesnt often take place in broad daylight.Conflict is in a college.Long shot used- see what's happening in the scene.

Skins Trailer

Q1

usedevelop challengeBlurred edges- gives sense of chaos and confusion.Background blurred- focus on characters.Indoor location- artificially lit.Faces cannot easily be seen- identities almost anonymous.

Blurred edges- gives sense of chaos and confusion.Faces cannot easily be seen- identity almost anonymous.Outdoor location- natural bright light on face makes it harder for audience to recognize character.

Hollyoakshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAp0Z3_fyfU&feature=player_embedded

Hollyoaks TrailerQ1

usedevelop challengeTitle cards used throughout trailer.Highlights what is happening in each scene.Zoom/Shake transition.Single words used in own trailer conveying different emotions in each scene.Letter by letter transition.Title cards used throughout trailer.Highlights what is happening in each scene.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?QUESTION 2Q2Link to soap trailerClick Here27

Main Characters- Genre

Red lipstick- convention of Borderline represents sexuality.Also Emily idolises Sasha and so wears heavy eyeliner and lipstick.Sasha- secretive, lost character.

Heavy eye make-up represents the stereotypical emo.Hoody & converse, main costume seen on Emily.Obsessive, confused character.EmilySasha

Other characters are mostly female- convention of soaps.Q2Logo- Brand

Q2Freestyle script font used on soap trailer and front cover- creates brand identity.Easily recognisable and memorable due to its simplicity.Can be changed to any font size without pixilation unlike an image logo.Colours can be inverted (black background and white text) as seen on soap trailer.Soap logos

Dark colours usually used convention of soaps- see soap logos below.Simple fonts used for logos.Name of soaps reflected by logo- e.g. EastEnders is set in London and location can be seen in background.

Q2

Used the same fonts, colour and logo according to the E4 style guide.http://www.channel4.com/about_c4/styleguide/e4styleguide/e4-brand-guidelines.pdf

Billboard AnalysisAudienceQ2

All 3 products look like they are from the same soap and institution and genre is clear throughout due to facial expressions, hair, make-up & costume.The same stars are used on the FC and Billboard as they are the main characters on Borderline.The same font freestyle script is used for the logo creating brand identity.Narrative is also clear, as there is obvious conflict between the characters.

Conventional two shot and glow around main characters- same characters on FC as on billboard.Borderline logo simple and memorable- used on main product also.Primary colours- convention of soap magazines effective as they are bold and stand out.Cheap price- similar with real products.Male characters- balances out gender bias in main product.Q2Main characters females- soap convention.

Buttons attract readers attention- as well as block capitals.Conventions from main product kept- red lipstick and emo stereotype.Brand identity of Borderline.Front Cover AnalysisHow institution was chosen

BBC one doesnt show many soaps/dramas as E4.

EastEnders is shown at a later time- due to the target audience being women aged 30-40.EastEnders isn't very modern and contains more older characters than younger characters.TV LISTING- FRIDAYQ2How institution was chosen

More variety of soaps compared to BBC One.

Soaps also aimed at an older audience- women aged between 30-50+.Coronation street shown again an hour later- portrays that the soap is aimed at older women due to the soap being on at a later time.TV LISTING- FRIDAYQ2How institution was chosen

Soaps and TV dramas aimed at a younger audience compared to BBC one and itv 1 e.g. Hollyoaks.Time of soap is weekdays at around 7pm.This is when the audience is likely to be at home and watching.Our group chose to use E4 as the institution for the soap as programmes are aimed at a younger audience and often include teenage characters and have relatable storylines e.g. Hollyoaks & Skins.TV LISTING- FRIDAYQ2What have you learnt from audience feedback? QUESTION 3QuestionnaireQ3From a sample of 100 people (35 male, 65 female), we found the following results regarding soap and television viewing habits;

Q3From a sample of 100 people (35 male, 65 female), we found the following results regarding soap and television viewing habits;

Audience ResearchAudience ResearchQ3From a sample of 100 people (35 male, 65 female), we found the following results regarding soap and television viewing habits;

Audience ResearchFrom the survey I conducted I learnt that the majority of people that watch soaps are women nearly half. (48%) This is the main reason we had more female characters than male characters to make the soap more relatable.52% of men and 55% of women who watch soaps started watching them between the ages of 13-20. Therefore we decided to aim our soap at women/teenagers this age.All males asked answered yes to the question: Do you think soaps can be improved? Whereas only 43% of women said yes. Because of this we challenged and developed some soap conventions.

Q3Audience quotesThe order of title cards doesnt match the action in the scenes.

I think the issues shown are typical to teenage life today for example the teenage pregnancy.

Q3- I realise now after this comment that the title cards may be confusing, as the title cards come after the clips. I now know that a convention of soap operas is to have the title cards before the clips e.g. ANGER followed by the angry clips rather than the other way round.- This comment shows that the narratives in my trailer are relatable to the target audience and that they find these issues thought-provoking and useful.

Age 15Intended audience

Stereotypical emos and teenagers can relate to Borderline- have similar features e.g. eyeliner.Q3Heavy eyelinerFringes covering facesCasual clothingHow did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation technologies?QUESTION 4Q4ConstructionVideo & Still CamerasWe used three different video cameras in the making of our soap trailer and one still camera.We used three different video cameras to gain shot reverse shots and over the shoulder shots, this added dimension to my soap trailer.We also used a still camera to take continuity shots, billboard shots, front cover shots, location shots & character shots. Continuity shots were very important so we could keep hair, make-up and costume as similar as possible in each scene.Q4

Continuity shotsPossible FC shotsLocation shotsVideo & Still CamerasI also wanted photos of the last scene in the trailer to use as flashback images. I thought this was effective as my trailer is based around the character Sasha having a flashback of recent events that have happened in her life. It creates the effect that the character is blinking fast trying to remove the images.Q4

12345678Adobe Premiere Elements 8

Q4I used Adobe Premiere Elements 8(APE 8) for the making of my final soap trailer and my ancillary soap task and comic strip soap. The ancillary task and comic strip soap were extremely useful tasks as I was new to APE 8 and so needed to learn the basics of the software e.g. adding video clips, cropping, adding title cards and sound.

To add clips to APE 8 I clicked edit, get media and selected the clips by using ctrl + alt on the keyboard to select multiple clips.The clips then opened in the window where they could be dragged into the timeline and cropped.ADDING CLIPSAdobe Premiere Elements 8Q4

I selected this clip to create a fade in effect from black I did this by right clicking on the clip selecting fade > fade in video.

To add title cards in-between the clips I selected edit> title> and chose the music_video_text title card. I then edited the colour and font to suit my brand identity.I changed the colour to red and the font to Tw Cen MT.

vADDING FADE EFFECTSADDING TITLE CARDS50Adobe PhotoshopOur group used Adobe Photoshop for the creation of our front cover. We created a yellow glow around the main characters to make it eye-catching and make them stand out from the other characters. We also removed the background from the images so we could add the yellow glow. This gave a more professional feel to the front cover.

Q4

REMOVING BACKGROUND FROM FC IMAGEI used the magic eraser tool to remove the background.Adobe Photoshop

Q4

I selected paintbrush and changed the hardness to 10% and the diameter to 166px. I then changed the colour to yellow and coloured around the main characters and saved the image.ADDING THE YELLOW GLOWMicrosoft Publisher

Q4We used Publisher to piece together our front cover and billboard tasks as we were all familiar with the software and its tools. I created the E4 stylised logo for the billboard based on the E4 style guide.

I used a blank logo similar to this one and downloaded the font ITC American Typewriter to create a logo as similar to the E4 style guide as possible.Finished product.I downloaded the font from dafont.com

53Q4Slideshare.net

1.2.Firstly I logged into slideshare.net and entered my username and password.I then uploaded my shameless PowerPoint.

Slideshare.net

Screenshot of the video uploading.I also entered key details.This is what it looks like once uploaded. The slides can be viewed by clicking the arrows at the bottom.Q4Q4Slideshare.net

Here is the PowerPoint on my blog Q4ResearchYoutube.comI used YouTube to study a variety of soaps & TV dramas to pick up on soap conventions, camera shots, sound, mise en scene etc.From the new drama, Downton Abbey I could see that through costume and setting, genre is portrayed to the audience using these simple but significant codes. Also lighting can vary from natural lighting, artificial and candle lit scenes.

Q4

click to view trailerCandle lit dinner- gives an opulent feeling to the dinner and conveys the characters as wealthy.Costume looks expensive and hair and make-up is immaculate.Candle light can also be used in dark scenes for example to light a persons face or create eerie shadows- this is more suited to soap operas.Youtube.com

Q4

Please click to view trailerI also looked at the Hollyoaks trailer from 2009 as I wanted to aim my soap trailer at young women and men aged between 15-22 years. Hollyoaks has a similar demographic and so I found it useful to analyse this trailer.Two shot is very common in soaps.Makes audience feel like they are in the room watching the conversation.Costume, hair and make-up reflects characters personality.Soaps often are set in a small neighbourhood.This is shown by the small streets and houses.Stereotypical young teenagers look worried- may have done something wrong.Youtube.com

Q4I used YouTube to look for different songs that be suitable for my soap trailer. This was useful as I could look for acoustic versions of songs and also view users comments about different songs and evaluate this.Songs I considered:-All around me- FlyleafOver my head- The FrayYou found me- The Fray

These song choices all have a similar rhythm and soft piano music as I didnt want the music to be threatening, as soaps need to be relatable. I also want the lyrics to convey what is happening in the scene.I think the acoustic version of Over my head- The fray would be most suitable out of the three.

Some of the lyrics- Over my headI never knewI never knew that everything was falling throughThat everyone I knew was waiting on a queueTo turn and run when all I needed was the truth.

CLICK TO VIEW VIDEOComic soap trailerPlease click to view trailer and evaluationQ4Similar productsclick to view- evaluation of similar products in planningQ4Audience ResearchClick to view UK Tribes - Emo videoClick to view- Emo StereotypeI think these videos were very useful as I learnt more about my target audience, what they like and what they dont like. This helped with branding and choosing an institution for Borderline.Q4Evaluation