Evaluation Task 5- Audience Feedback

As we did research before our soap opera trailer, we wanted audience feedback for our project and see what peoples thoughts and opinions were of the trailer. I posted the video onto my Facebook page which enabled my peers and other people to view our trailer and see what they thought of it.

I also went onto Twitter and made a tweet which would make my friends go onto my facebook page and view the video.

Me and Gemma decided to get focus group interviews of two people that have viewed our trailer and see what they think of it.

Tahra Powell, 18

Badr Dehanni, 16

In conclusion, we were very pleased with the feedback we received from people, and mostly people that fit our target audience which showed that our trailer was successful in being appealing to our target audience.

Evaluation Task 4

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




I have learnt alot of methods and different types of technology which helped me to progress and improve my skills in producing a creative project. The Thriller opening and Soap Opera trailer are two projects which i have.


These are the different software/websites and social networking I have used:

Windows Movie Maker helped editing the trailer. It is a helpful editing software which was different to what i used for the Thriller opening which i used iMovie for on the imacs.

Blogger is a blogging website, blogger.com helps me to track my progress and update different things i need for the pre- production and post-production. By having all the posts saved electronically on the internet has a high reliability of not being able to lose work and it is easy accessible for anyone to see.

Youtube is a video streaming website in which people can upload videos for anyone to see. Youtube was extremely helpful because i was able to do research on soap opera trailers and other A2 students in the UK's trailers. Youtube also features different annotation tools which helps with evaluation and also audience feedback.

I used Microsoft Word to produce my TV Listings poster. I decided to use Word because i am very experienced in using the different tools. I would have used Microsoft Publisher or Adobe photoshop if i didn't use Word.

I used Adobe Photoshop to make the heading for 'The Street' website. We used London's city scape and the E4 logo to add a sense of realism.

This is the heading in which we used on the website.

Facebook is a popular social networking site where I used to receive audience feedback on electronically and also to boost our views on youtube.

Twitter is another popular social networking site where I used to receive audience feedback from.

FlipHD Camera was the most important tool we used during our filming process to capture the footage.

Video Annotations

Youtube Annotation

By using youtube annotations i have added speech bubbles and used different tools which highlight camera techniques and other conventions of soap genre.

We used the youtube annotation tools to help us find the distinctive points in which match to the conventions of a soap.

Evaluation Task 3

This is Vanessa Smith she is 19 years old, who lives in North London. Lauren is a student studying for her A-Levels which are Film Studies, Biology and Chemistry at Jersey High School She enjoys going to the park and doing lots of sports, she is part of a cheerleading team. Vanessa is loves watching documentaries/soap operas and TV shows on Channel 4 like Gok Wans Fashion fix. Vanessa is a prime target audience for 'The Street' as the storylines appeal to people of her age. The soap will tackles different issues which are in The Street that would want to make Vanessa and other people want to watch. As Vanessa watches TV shows and soap operas such as Eastenders as it has younger characters aswell as elder ones, this can assure us that she may want to watch a new soap opera.

Website

These are screenshots for the website which me and Gemma created. We included different features on the websites (below) due to the lack of time we didnt have time to be able to put poll, games and other things that real soap operas feature. We hadnt researched soap opera websites therefore we didnt include some things which they have.

Evaluation Task 2

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


Trailer

The Soap Opera trailer has the typical conventions of the Soap opera genre, we made sure we had all of them incorporated and made it look realistic as we could. The concept of 'The Street' is Hayley's return to the street. The location itself is an urban street in London. The trailer has six dominant characters which shows a sense of community and realism. Hayley's return to the street is dramatic, which is a main convention of a soap opera which entices audiences to carry on watching.

The trailer at first focused primarily on the storyline of Hayleys parents; Benjamin and Michelle arguing about their daughter who is about to return after a long time. We decided that there was a lack of community dominant to the trailer therefore we had to make a few minor adjustments and add a few more characters (Dwayne and Cameron) who are watching the car enter the street which can assure audiences that there are a variety of storylines which will happen in upcoming episodes.

Website

We used iWeb to produce 'The Street' website. The purpose for making a website for our soap opera was to include more insight into our Soap Opera, for example we included character profiles, blog, behind the scenes etc.

Magazine Cover

Having looking at other TV listing magazines and their front covers, i had a template of how the media entice audiences into making them purchase/read their magazines. The symbolic and different significant headings helped me think of my own ideas for my magazine cover.
Having done a magazine cover in Year 11 media studies i was able to recognise and have the prior knowledge of magazines and what the necessities are. The main three characters in the trailer is the dominant image featured on the magazine, the main headline under the image says 'SHE'S BACK!' which is very big and bold aswell as having a yellow background to make the font stand out.
The magazine cover does have improvements that can be made for example the layout is not in proportion aswell as the mix of colours (navy blue background) which can look abit tacky, but other than that the magazine addresses to target audience and hopefully make them want to watch the soap opera.

Evaluation Task 1

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



1. TITLE

The title which is purposely in white front with a black background and in bold makes it look clear to the audience.

2.Location/Setting

This is an establishing shot of the street which is the main setting of the trailer. The long shot of the urban street in London already gives an audience an idea of what the soap will be about as if gives away the first impression of a community.

3. Costume

Dwayne and Cameron's costume represents the stereotypical image of teenagers. The wooly hat and hoody Dwayne is wearing can reflect on gang culture in modern society. The costume of these two characters show some of the conventions of a soap opera genre.

4. Props

We decided to use a local british newspaper as one of our props which we put in slow motion as Benjamin threw to the ground. The connotation of the newspaper shows realism. Having 'The Daily Mirror'as the newspaper shows that they are a typical working class family and read the same things as people in reality would.


5. Cinematography

The use of cinematography helped the narrative move along, by having different camera positions and shots we were able to keep the mysterious character Hayley anonymous to the viewer. This particular shot of Dwayne and Cameron looking at the car driving by is a 'over-the-shoulder shot' and as an audience are able to see from the characters perspectives but are able to see the characters and the car in one frame.

6. Narrative

This particular shot of Michelle and Benjamin arguing suggests that they are arguing and the mirror reflecting on the right side shows Michelles reaction. The medium shot suggests that they are a couple and Benjamin is angry at Michelle. The voices of the characters arent heard for effect but when Benjamin says 'Shes our daughter alright!' giving the audience a clue as to what they are arguing about which is their daughter Hayley.

The build-up in which the Michelle and Benjamin are arguing, Dwayne and Cameron are watching the car drive by, aswell as the audience following along, we are introduced to the character who is mysterious and unknown, but we do gather that she is a female due to her appearance from behind. As she waits at the front door we as an audience are able figure out as she is waiting there that Benjamin and Michelle have an unexpected visitor.

7. Genre

The conventions of a soap opera in which we incorporated as much as we could in our soap is dominant in our trailer when Benjamin and Michelle are arguing. It shows realistic, gritty issues which include in the genre of soaps. The scenes where Benjamin and Michelle are arguing could suggest domestic violence which usually arise in soap operas (i.e.Eastenders).

Music Research

Sound is a very important element and convention for soap operas. For our trailer we had to be able to find a website with copyright free music to use in our trailer.

The typical theme tunes for soap operas are recognisable for the fixed viewers.

Coronation Street – The theme tune for Coronation street is very gentle and relaxed. The instrument used is the trumpet.
Eastenders – The theme is largely based upon percussion, strings and the piano, it is widely known for its dramatic use of sound, particularly the drums that begin at the end of an episode – which adds a sense of importance, suspense and drama to the cliff-hanger.
Hollyoaks - Hollyoaks is the only British soap to make use of incidental music, usually a variation of the show's theme music. It is used either as a transition between scenes or as part of a dream-like sequence.

The Street – We used orchestral music to add tension to the soap opera trailer, we decided to use that type of music because even though we have a younger target audience we used this type of sound because it goes with the concept as Hayley is returning and it adds dramatic effect for the viewer.

Soap Opera Trailer

My TV Listings Magazine

This is the final edit of my TV Listings Magazine cover.
By making the additional changes I thought that this final version of it was much more full and looked like a TV listings magazine.

This is my final poster with annotations of the different things that would be on a real TV listings magazine. The colours and different fonts make it more appealing and interesting.

Before




The first draft of my tv listings magazine shows less information on

the pictures rather than the final one. The final magazine cover has

more information on them and is more appealing.

 

After

Tv Listing Magazines

Tv listing magazines are another form of text from the media which helps to promote tv shows, soap operas, films and celebrities. They usually issue magazines either every week,every two weeks or every fortnight.
The front cover of a tv listing magazine is the most important part of the maagzine as it has to attract audiences from other tv listing magazines, They usually feature a storyline from a soap opera (Eastenders). The use of having an upcoming storylines from a soap opera on the front cover give the audience a realistic effect on the audience as they  make it so realistic.

In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles. Some issues have also featured horoscope listings.
This is an example of a current TV Listing magazine

Storyboard for 'The Street'

This is my version of 'The Street' storyboard. I chose the main plot points of the soap opera trailer and drew them, I added captions to reflect on what was happening in the scene and what if represents to the viewer.

Group Schedule for Shooting

Recce Form

Recce Form

PRODUCTION: The Street

DATE: Wednesday 2^nd March 2011

TIMES OF DAY: Anytime between 11:00 - 3:30pm

ADDRESS: 45 Steeplestone Close, London, N18 1JH

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS: None

MISCELLANOUS: N/A

OBSERVATIONS: Good space to film, easily accessible

LOCATION: The filming location where our soap opera is based in is Steeplestone Close where there is a narrow road and the houses are conjoined. This road will be the main set in which our soap will be filmed in.

FILMING: We will film the scenes of where the car drives into the road and outside the house.

NECESSITIES: The location had no interruption from drivers and pedestrians. The summer daylight is a key factor, which we had to keep consistent if we had more shooting to do. The reason for choosing this particular road is because it has the main setting and an establishing sense of community which is necessary for soap operas.

Minutes of Group Meeting

As a group we had meetings to track our progress and what we had to do and what deadlines we had to make for individual tasks.

Monday 10th January 2011

Start of Meeting: 8:50am

Janki Parmar, Christopher Michael, Jack Fairback, Gemma Wenman

- We discussed how we are doing with the group blogs and what each individual has contributed onto it aswell as make all the preparations for the Filming day.

- We finalised our concept of the soap opera trailer

- Christopher decided he was going to produce the Shooting Script for the day of filming

- Jack decided he was going to produce the Risk Assessment

- Janki decided she was going to produce the Recce form

- Gemma decided she was going to draft the storyboard to help us use on the day of filming.

Location

The location for the day of filming was decided that it was going to be on Steeplestone close where Christopher lives.

The inside scenes where characters Michelle and Benjamin are arguing
The outside of Christophers house where Hayley walks upto

Roles/Characters

Hayley - Played by Janki
Benjamin - Played by Jack
Michelle - Played by Gemma
Cameron - Played by Phillip
Dwayne - Played by Ashley
Sally - Played by Sally

Camera/Director - Christopher

The purpose of this meeting was to give the members of the group time to prepare for the day of filming.

Person logging down the minutes: Janki Parmar

End of Meeting: 9:05am (15 minutes)

Emmerdale Trailer Analysis

I decided to look at a variety of different trailers from soap operas. I found that the Emmerdale trailer was a very interesting trailer because i could relate it to the soap opera trailer that im doing with my group. The concept of someone coming back, or a mysterious person relates to the concept of my soap opera trailer because the character Hayley is coming back.

The time of day is at night which makes it hard to see whats going on. We see a medium shot of a car arriving to the town. A mysterious male character steps out of the car, there is no use of artificial lighing(street lamps). There is minimal lighting which is reflected onto the back of the character which gives a dominant effect, reminds me of the famous image of 'The Exorcist' which is used ont he DVD cover. The non-diagetic sounds creates an eery and tense atmosphere which entices audiences to want to watch ahead to see who this mysterious character is. We see the character begin to pour the petrol can which changes the equilibrium of the trailer.

The different camera shots are used on purpose to hide the characters idendtity for example we can see his body  build but his face is unidentified. We see quick cuts of the fire and an fire engine rushing tot he fire. We hear sounds of the fire engine which is very alarming and can attract audiences attention. 'There are people still in there' keep audiences glued to the trailer, it ends everyone rushing to the fire and smoke appears in the title sequence.

I chose to do an analysis on this trailer because it would help me and my group see how we can have a mystery person come back to the 'The Street'.

Image from 'The Exorcist'

The Street Character Profile

Character Profile:

Character	Appearance	Personality	Storyline
Benjamin Michael	Benjamin is tall, blonde, blue eyes, pale skin and a chiselled jaw who wears a suit and tie.	Benjamin is a very calm and caring family man, but has the potential to snap and react violently.	Benjamin is undergoing the stressful divorce between him and his wife due to her missing daughter.
Michelle Thornton	Michelle is a tall, brunette, green eyes, pale skin with freckles who dresses casually.	Michelle is an independent, powerful, aggressive woman, found in the centre of conflicts.	Michelle is the evil ex wife of Benjamin who is desperately looking for her daughter.
Hayley Michael	Hayley is young, petite, brunette with a tan who dresses provocatively.	Hayley is a strong willed girl who desires independence, she is argumentative and miserable.	Hayley is returning to the street after 5 long years.
Sally Cole	Sally is a young girl in her teens who is now 3 months pregnant, with blonde hair and green eyes	Sally is an innocent girl who is very easily manipulated by her peers and shy.	Sally faces the dilemma whether or not to tell Dwayne that she is pregnant with Cameron’s baby.
Dwayne David	Dwayne is a young Afro-Caribbean boy in his late teens, dressed in baggy clothing and wears hats and bandanas	Dwayne keeps himself to himself thus being very independent but has a short temper which leads to him lashing out violently.	Dwayne’s father left when he was nine years old and ever since has been dealing drugs. He assumes Sally is pregnant with his child.
Cameron Roberts	Cameron is a chubby teenager, black scruffy hair and beard with brown eyes.	Cameron is quiet and shy, easily tempted by Dwayne to deal drugs with him.	Cameron has always loved Sally who live next-door and got her pregnant at a party but doesn’t remember.

The Streets Treatment - Group

The Streets is a weekly televised serial soap opera which will air Monday to Friday with an omnibus on the weekend, on a Sunday. 

The Streets will be entirely focused within a small community in South London. The significantly large cast of characters will be of a particular class, more specifically of a lower / working class as it will coincide with the location thus being set within a sub-urban area consisting of sets which include the pub, community centre, estate, park, etc. The characters within the soap opera will be of diverse ethnicities as the area of south London is multicultural. However there will be a particular focus on current stereotypes of youth crime, especially those within the Afro-Caribbean community. The streets will have a broad target audience although it focus on primarily younger audiences, especially young teenager hence the airing time will be scheduled after popular soap operas targeted to a similar audience such as Hollyoaks, therefore the broadcasting time will be at 7:30 to 8pm. The channel it will air on will be E4 as it already has established a young audience thus ensuring The Streets will gain momentum due to its being aired after Hollyoaks.

The first episode of The Streets will start with a very dramatic introduction, which will include the establishment of characters and where the narrative is headed. Benjamin Michael’s daughter Hayley returning to The Street ten years after disappearing whilst his ex-wife Michelle is still trying to blame Benjamin with the disappearance, when Hayley was in the town she caused alot of trouble with neighbours and after leaving lead to Michelle and Benjamin's failing relationship. The return of Hayley also shows viewers her newly fond relationship with Steve Rogers a young policeman and former understudy of Benjamin falling for Hayley, who does not know is Benjamin’s daughter.

Community in Soap Operas

In the soap opera genre, communities are one of the crucial conventions that contribute significantly to the realism. The realism is necessary in order to help viewers relate to the narrative and the characters as certain aspects of both may be very similar to their own lives thus creating certain empathy for particular character or narrative. 

The community aspect of soap operas keeps the area secluded from the rest of the world within the typically fictional areas, creating another small world which contains everything necessary to be self sufficient. 

This can potentially make the viewer switch off consciously and become a spectator of the world within the soap opera, possible member of the community hence the reason why soap operas are so habit forming. Therefore in my soap opera the Streets I hope to create a similar sense of community within the small trailer similar to that of Coronation Street which will significantly benefit the soap opera and make it more appealing.


The different examples of communities in which I am familiar to are:


In Coronation Street, there are different places where the residents gather, as they all know each other they are very knowledgeable about peoples pasts, presents and perhaps future due to the different generations of people. The places where the residents of Weatherfield meet are:


- The Rovers (Pub)
- The factory
- Garage
- Roys Rolls (Cafe)
- Devs shop
- Bookies
- Hairdresser
- The Joinery (club)
- Butchers


In Eastenders, the community is also similar to Coronation Street, families tend to own businesses and multiple ones, we as a viewer see the characters as working class working within the square and there arent any characters to travel outside of Albert square to work.
- The Queen Vic (Pub)
- Cafe
- Chip shop
- Beauty Salon
- Market stalls
- Indian restaurant/ take away
- Car Dealer
- Garage
- Community Centre
- R & R Nightclub
- Laundrette




Hollyoaks shows a different type of community compared to Eastenders and Coronation Street. The target audience is aimed at a younger audience (teenagers). The different locations in which a viewer can gather a sense of community are:
- The Dog (Pub)
- The SU Bar
- Skate Park
- Beauty Salon
- Laundrette
- Community College


The uses of different locations within a community has helped me gather knowledge of what relationships the different characters have and how these places help effect the realism of the soap operas.