Evaluation Question 4

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

In the making of our film we had to use lots of different types of technologies, these all were used in a number of ways. We used technology in the planning, research, construction and evaluation. Without the use of this technology we would not have been able to create such a large portfolio of information on the ways of which media is used and created in everyday life.

In the planning of our piece I had to do a lot of research into similar products which where on the market and how they became large through advertisement. I had to do this research using the Internet. I used the network websites alongside fan websites, this is due to the type of information which you can find on each. The official websites give one sided views and do not give gossip and behind the scenes footage, whereas unofficial websites contain individual views which I could then use to gauge the target audience of each major soap which in turn allowed me to work out the target audience for my piece which resulted in me being able to target my audience specifically.

I used Youtube alongside other video sharing website in the research stage to allow me to view the ways of which other soap trailers where set out. This was done so I could view the conventions found in each so my piece would follow the same lines as others. I also used television to view the timings of soap trailers which again allowed me to view what type of audience the soap was after and enabled me to plan to target my audience in the same ways.

During the construction of my final piece I used a variety of technologies which would enhance each aspect of my piece. I used a HD camera (Sony HDR- CX700VE) for the filming of our piece because this would stop blurry pictures along side its better display and lack of jogging. This technology allowed us to achieve the shots which we wanted. We then used different editing software to enable the shots to be placed together in the most professional way possible. We used iMovie alongside Final Cut Express, the use of both software enabled us to edit all aspects of the piece to make the shots fit together over the top of a soundtrack which we had found on Youtube.

For my evaluation I tried to incorporate as many different types of media as I could. I used Scribd to allow pictures and documents to be placed within Prezi documents which improved the aesthetics of the piece. I also used iMovie to create a short film on the feedback which I had received for my final products.

When creating my poster and magazine I used a range of different computer programmes such as Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Word. This was done due to the easy interface which would allow me to create the poster and magazine exactly how I had envisioned. When uploading the posters to Blogger I had used Scribd to enable them to be added to the blog post uninterrupted and as found on the initial programmes.

With the use of technologies I have been able to create these three media products with minimal problems, this is good as it allows me to achieve more work and create them to the best of my abilities. Without technologies these products would not have been achieved in the best way possible.

Will Howlett



Evaluation Question 2

How Effective is the combination of the Main Product and Ancillary task? on Prezi

By Will Howlett

Evaluation Question 1

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

Evaluation Question 3

Analysis of Soap Poster

Production companies use many different techniques to attract a viewer to their show, one of the biggest and well known about one is posters. These can be placed in full view to many people which would increase the number of people thinking about the Soap. There is not one set of ideals which would create a perfect poster but when attracting a new audience there are certain conventions which the poster can follow which would attract many people.

I have found 3 posters for three of the biggest Soaps in the UK, from these I will be able to see what they have done well and what conventions are found in a good poster.


Eastenders:

Positives:

This poster has many positives, it gives the impression of being a film by having the characters names at the top, this would increase interest as people would be unsure about what the poster is telling them. The background can be viewed as a positive or negative due to it not being a scene that is usually coupled with Eastenders, it is this which could cause people the want to find out what is going to happen or would lower interest.

Negatives:

This poster doesn't have any timings or channel information on it, this means that new audiences would have to become an active audience and find out when it is on, this in turn would lower demand for it. The titles are catchy but aren't big enough to capture the attention which they need. Another issue with this poster is the pictures of the characters doesn't give any clear reasoning of their motives or what is about to happen.

This poster could be improved by making the titles and tag lines larger and having a more stereotypical background which would cause the audience to familiarise themselves with.

Hollyoaks:

Positives:

This poster has kept to many conventions found in a strong poster, it has a good tag line and gives the audience the timings and channel it is on, this will encourage people to watch it. The theme of fire connotes death or mystery which would again create a buzz surrounding the plot. This poster is very strong with the use of attractive females and males, this would cause the poster to be viewed in a different light to others. The use of colours makes the characters very eye catching which would in turn cause many people to become interested in this poster.


Negatives:

This poster is very well laid out but the theme of the drama is not clear to the audience as some viewers may find different story lines offencive.

This poster is much more eye catching and allows the viewer to be pulled in and begin to wonder what issues are going to happen, this poster is very well thought out and would encourage many people to start watching that soap.


Will Howlett

Soap Opera Trailer Timings

I have been watching television recently to try and find the timings for different soap trailers. I have watched a variety of channels to catch the trailers and have found three good examples.

Saturday- After Doctor Who BBC1 8pm- Trailer for Eastenders

• This trailer has been placed here to target a younger audience and to entice a family audience to the soap.

Saturday- After News BBC1 10PM- Trailer for Eastenders

• This trailer would have been placed here to target a higher demographic group, the different groups that they are aiming for is obvious, the audiences between shows such as Doctor Who and The News are very different so they are tar getting a larger range of people.

Saturday- In between Inbetweeners Countdown on E4- 10.45- Trailer for Hollyoaks

• The Inbetweeners bring in a young audience, the age group that usually view the show is between 16-20. The trailer has been placed here to get people that wouldn't usually watch soap operas become interested in soaps such as Hollyoaks.

From doing this you can clearly see the audience which the production team is aiming for, at earlier times in the day the trailers are sad and slow whereas later on different trailer techniques can be used such as in Hollyoaks where the trailer becomes dark, sexy and evil.

Will Howlett

Soap Opera Magazine

I have purchased a soap opera magazine to get a better view of how soaps are portrayed and how audiences are enticed into watching a certain episodes along with how magazines set them selves out to attract the reader to buy them.

On the front of this magazine it has a picture of a couple who have both recently re entered the soap. The headline is " Kat's Baby Tragedy!" This title is stereotypical of these types of magazines, they use large headlines which strike a nerve with the reader to make them want to find out more. Other storylines which feature on the front page is a character in coronation street being run over and left for dead and a unwanted pregnancy. These issues are quite common place in soaps, they use scenarios which can happen in everyday life and show how other people deal with it.

The magazine uses a large rounded font for the title, this is to draw the readers eye in, other storylines are wrote in similar styles but smaller. The use of colour is very important, one side of the magazine is pink which shows that the audience it is targetting is females. Then the headline is written in white with a bold black outline. All headlines have bold outlines to draw the focus in on them.

I think this magazine is a stereotypical depiction of a soap opera magazine, the use of bright colours, large writing and pictures all draw the reader in with out explaining any storylines. This is a good example of how to set out a magazine to draw the reader in. The need for these techniques is great, in a shop with many different magazines, its the front cover which draws the most attention that gets bought.

I have found images to show the change in soap opera magazines since the explosion of soap operas on television:

By looking at these Soap opera magazines in age order i can view the changes in styles and will create the front cover of my magazine accordingly, so my magazine would be up to date with trends of the time. This way people will notice the soap that i am advertising.