Research support Brief 1.pdf

8/14/2019 Research support Brief 1.pdf

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Research support

Brief 1 TV Drama

The Brief

You work for Silver Lining Productions, a multi-media productioncompany that has had recent television success with fly on the walldocumentaries, structured reality programming and fiction products.They have also developed supporting mediafor their broadcastproductions in print, audio and e-media. The company is known for itswork in pushing the boundaries of existing formats and so is willing toconsider original and creative approaches to existing formats..

What is a Production Company?

TV Production Companies

They provide the financing, filming and post-production forprogrammes

They then pitch these programmes to broadcasters

They may work in collaboration with the broadcasters and/or with otherproduction companies to share the costs

Selling their programmes is how they make their profits the morebroadcasters (including internationally) they can get to purchase their

programmes, the more return on their investment!

Also, DVD rights etc.

Production Company

http://www.hattrick.co.uk/

Hat Trick is one of the UKs most successfulindependent production companies, their output

immediately identified with popular and award-winningprogramming, light entertainment and drama, and nowalso emerging into digital media.

Working with the best writers and producers, who inturn attract the best on-screen talent, Hat Trick remainsat the forefront of the creation of new television. Someof the brightest names in British television began theircareers and continue to build them under the Hat Trickbrand.

How many production companies can you name?

Think about the closing credits on your favourite programmes. Followthis link to a list of UK TV production companies:


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http://thetvroom.com/misc/links-01-70.html

In particular, be aware of their understanding of their audiencesfollowing reviewing the clip.

Silver Lining Production Company

Remember to include this in your products. Youll need to create a logoformoving image and e-media work. Ignore the fact that there is already aproduction company under this name your task is to create one!

The Target Audience

The brief says that the programme will have a target audience similar to E4sdemographic (1535) Thats you!

You need to research E4s programming so that your offering will appeal totheir audiences. Youve been given age, but also need to consider: gender;socio-economics; genres they produceand other audience segmentationwhich you think will be relevant to your programme idea.

Suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting: you need to research what theimplicationsare for this!


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Moving Image 1. Titles and Opening

Produce the opening few scenes of your TV programme establishingnarrativethemes, charactersand location. You could include a titlesequence and your finished product should be approximately two minuteslong. Watch the following clips and analyse how they establish theseelements:

Sherlock Titles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYfBIDQfASo

Sherlock Opening scene:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT1avUwv2sA

Merlin Titles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aH3oJzs_k5I

Merlin Opening scene:


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Friends Titles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLisEEwYZvw

Depending on the genre you decide to work in, youll need to watch andanalyse a range of title sequences and first-episode openings. This pre-production research will then help you to make decisions about how your ownproduct will establish narrative themes, characters and location.

Moving Image 2. Viral

Create viral marketing products for a new broadcast production. This couldconsist of one, two-minute moving image product (not a trailer) or a number ofshorter pieces. You should consider how your products will encourageaudiences to become involved in passing your messages along.Watch these three teasers in sequence:

Sherlock Teaser 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRby5d9hL8s


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Sherlock Teaser 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUj4DOYe-gI

Sherlock Teaser 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF1Tndsfobc

What media language features link these teasers?

Similarities in use of text Similarities in use of fontand background Timing Similarities in use three different scenes Use of same music Teaser clips enigmas

Similarities in use of anagram at end Final one solves the anagram with Sherlock Returns

Look for other teaser campaigns and consider just how much (and how little)they reveal about the upcoming programme. Remember, youre specificallyasked NOT to produce a trailer, so these can be more enigmatic. Theirpurposeis to get the audience talkingabout your product and sharingyourteaser campaign with each other hopefully even waiting for the nextinstalment.


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Print

1. As part of the promotion for the TV programme, create a teaser adcampaignthat will be published beforebroadcast which aims togenerate discussionamongst your target audience. Your print basedcampaign may make reference to advertising materials on otherplatforms or

2. Create a front coverandtwofurther pages from a specialistsouvenir magazinethat will be produced to promote the broadcastproduction at the time of broadcast.

Print Teaser Ad

As part of the promotion for the TV programme, create a teaser ad campaignthat will be published before broadcast which aims to generate discussionamongst your target audience. Your print based campaign may makereference to advertising materials on other platforms

2 and a Half Men | Cloverfield

Front Cover and Inside Pages

Create a front coverand twofurther pages from a specialist souvenirmagazine that will be produced to promote the broadcast production at thetime of broadcast.

Pay close attention to the brief it is very specific on what you need toproduce here in terms of quantity.


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Front Cover

Official Promotional Magazines

The brief asks for a specialist souvenir magazinebut doesnt specifywhether this is an existingpublication or a one-off, so you can choose towork on either.

If using an existing publication, analysea number of promotional front coversto give you a sense of their house-style. Look carefully at elements such asfonts; singleor multipleimage(s); placingof images; placing of text;

relationship between text and image(s) in terms of overlays; colourthemes;use of off-settext/images; sizeof bar-code. Notice that all of the magazinesabove have a coloured circle with a brief promotional statement in them in thetop third of the page. It is attention to detail such as this which will help yougain the highest marks.

Two Further Pages


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Pay close attention to layout, including rangeand typeof images(studio shots / action shots) and their placement(in-line / offset) andmise-en-scene. Also use of white-space/ densityof text and image /use of columns/ font size/ pull-quotes/ cover lines/ mode ofaddress/ camera angle/ framingand type of shotand typography.

Pay close attention tojournalism/ mode of address to your targetaudience.

The most common elements which prevent candidates from gettingreally top marks here include poor qualityphotos; inappropriatestretching of images; overlargefonts; errorsin spelling, grammar andpunctuation; poor use of columns.

Dont just look at one article in one magazine and slavishly follow it. Analyse arangeof articles from your chosen publication so that you can demonstrateyour creativityand flairwhen making your own article fit-for-purpose.


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E-Media

Analyse the following fan-sites, considering how they have used medialanguage to create a sense of the shows themselves and the creators sharedenthusiasm for them. Look through the pages to see the type of contentincluded in them so that you can recreate this in your own site:

http://www.sherlockology.com/

http://www.farfarawaysite.com/merlin/


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E-Media Marketing Campaign

Banner Advertising

In Page Promotion

Official Web-page / Site

Differentfrom fan websites, this has a more corporate image; considercarefully the distinctionbetween the two so that it is clear which element ofthe brief you have chosen to respond to. In your evaluation you may wish toanalyse the features which identify your website as either the official or the fanwebsite.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mjlxv


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018ttws

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g2kjm

http://www.cwtv.com/shows/90210


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http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/index.html

E-Media Social Networking Page

https://twitter.com/#!/merlinfansite/


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http://www.facebook.com/Sherlockology

Analysehow these and similar products have been constructed so that youcan use these ideas to create your own products. Remember, an e-mediaproducts need to be produced as fully-functioning, so you can demonstratehow audiencesare encouraged to interactwith this type of media product.

Remember:

The company is known for its work in pushing the boundaries of existing

formats and so is willing to consider original and creative approaches toexisting formats.This gives you the opportunity to work in a genreof your choice, whichyouve researched as one that will appealto the audienceyouve been askedto reach.

Rules and regulations!

Avoid use of found images- exam board say no more than 20%, butfor this you shouldnt need to use any

Avoid over-use of templates (eg. for websites) as they dont allow you

to demonstrate your technical competencewith the chosentechnology or your own flairand creativity.

Get pre-production researchdone before production Dont forget to leave time for all elements this production is marked

holistically, so all of your work should be of a similar qualityto getyou the best possible mark overall.

Leave time for the writing of the evaluation(see other MEST2 Advicefor this)

Sourced from; http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/mest2-silver-lining-productions/

Caroline Bagshaw | Tuesday September 17, 2013

Research support Brief 1.pdf

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