Evaluation Task 4

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.

The Street Website

During the lesson on Friday while looking at other websites, paying close attention to the Hollyoaks website, http://www.e4.com/hollyoaks/index.html I noticed that they had Character profiles accompanied by photographs of the cast, there was also a whole tab dedicated to 'picture's which consisted of things such as 'Episode Pictures' 'Picture Specials' 'Behind the scenes' and 'Photoshoot' pictures which gave me inspiration to take a whole load of pictures to make our website fun and entertaining. Interviews for website On seeing that alot of the soap websites had interview pages with different cast members we thought it would be nice to complete something like that for our website. So sitting in a group of Just me, Jack and Janki, Chris did the recording and asked us questions as if they'd been asked by a fan, questions such as "Are you excited for tonights episode?" and "what was it like working together on set?" we tried to answer these questions in a fun/joking manour but was serious when needed to be.

This is the home page of our soap opera website, it features an image of the street, or location that the soap opera will take place in. The banner at the top of the website informs newcomers on the name of the soap opera, clearly stating "The Street" and the E4 to tell them what channel the soap opera will be airing on.

This page features a brief paragraph introducing new visitors to our soap opera, informing them what The Street is and when it will be airing thus becoming one of the most important pages on our website.

The character profile pages sole purpose is the get the visitors familiar with the characters featured within the soap opera and give a little background information.

The cast interview section allows visitors who are much more intrigued with the soap opera to become familiar with not only the characters but the cast, a common feature found on the Eastenders website.

Behind the scene images gives visitors an insight into the work put into creating the soap opera.

The blog feature added to The Street website is unconventional and not common amongst any other websites we have studied, although it is a unique touch to the website.

Pictures were provided by Janki, the captions were added by Christopher and the opening paragraph to this blog was typed up by Gemma.

Janki's TV Listings Magazine

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

 

Here is my TV Listings Magazine

 

The Street Trailer

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.

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.

'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 Michelle returning to The Street ten years after disappearing whilst his ex-wife Hayley is still trying to blame Benjamin with the disappearance and Steve Rogers a young policeman and former understudy of Benjamin falling for Michelle, who does not know is Benjamin’s daughter.

Janki's Pitch Table

Possible Title	Content	Target Audience (age, gender, social class etc)	Channel and time of broadcast	Frequency
The Campus	A large university campus with a wide range of young people living there to fulfill their academic ambitions.	Youth between ages 12-18, girls, working class	Channel 5 at 5:00pm	Every weekday
Suburbia	A small suburban upper class road where the characters have dramatic lives.	Young adults (primary audience) to Middle age (secondary audience), working to middle class	Channel 4 at 8:00pm	Monday, Tuesday and Friday
Concrete Jungle	A group of employees at a business in the city, following everyday lives.	Broad audience, mostly targeted to young adults, girls, working and middle class	Channel 5 at 9:00pm	Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Town	A small town with different people with dramatic events.	Broad audience, Middle class	Channel 4 at 8:00pm	Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

Eastenders Episode Analysis – 20/09/2010

In this episode I felt that the main theme was about RELATIONSHIPS.
The relationships between the characters is important because the audience need to feel that they are watching something realistic and the characters can relate to them in any way.

The beginning of Eastenders show Ronnie jogging around the square and sees Sam, Ronnie has given her money to run away and start a new life with her new born baby Richard. This storyline disintegrates into Minty and Sam who have had a past of being together, she wants Minty to leave with her and he wants to go but he doesn’t want to because of his new girlfriend Heather and her son George who he feels attached to now. Coincidently, it is Georges christening on the day Sam is to leave, and Minty has a decision to make whether he is to stay with Heather or leave with Sam.

It them leads onto the Slater family, Moe is very anxious and is looking for Zoes birth certificate for Kat, her granddaughter who sounded desperately in trouble. She goes to the café and finds Kat with a blonde wig on to try and hide her identity and then talk about how people are after Kat and her husband Alfie because they scammed off a mafia. It sounds very unrealistic because of the term ‘mafia’ which is usually associated in films. Moe then persuades Kat to go back with her to the house to meet the family, she says ‘ let me look after you, we’re family’ which reflects the grandma and granddaughter bond between them.

It moves onto Patrick and Dot who are reciting their speeches for Georges christening, as they are his godparents, this shows the older generation in Eastenders as they take religious events very seriously and have different morals. Dot meets these northerners who are enquiring about Kat, no one is aware of her being back, except the audience.

At the christening Heather who is very excited and happy and kisses Minty, she is not aware that Minty is planning to leave with Sam soon after he gets a phone call that she is waiting outside in a cab. In Slater house, Moe comes back with Kat through the back door in the kitchen and everyone is happily surprised, as they rejoice, in the background the radio is playing Amy Winehouse, Jean who is making a cup of tea for Kat says ‘what a coincidence I was only just saying to those men that we would hardly see you’ Kat replies ‘what men’, Jean says ‘the northern fellas sitting in our living room waiting for you’. This is the end of the episode and it is ended with a cliff-hanger to make audiences interested, so they can watch the next one to see if Kat does get caught.

The representation of characters are important because they make the narrative realistic and interesting for the audience. The realism is shown through the character relationships, for example Moe and Kats grandma/granddaughter relationship, Moe went to see her when she was in trouble and persuaded her by saying ‘we’re family’, the narrative is appealing as there are interweaving story lines happening, also the audience are aware of things that the characters aren’t which makes us feel at edge of what could happen.

Eastenders Opening Analysis

After being a religious viewer of Eastenders, I never really payed any attention to detail of the opening, i have analysed the connotation and denotation and other conventions that i saw when watching it on Youtube/BBC iPlayer.

Editing:

•               Compared to the old Eastenders opening the new one has clouds and the colour is enhanced.

•               The camera from the very start, starts from a boat and zooms out on rotation to East London.

•               The title ' Eastenders' appears bottom upwards.

Camerawork:

•               The camera starts on a boat and zooms and rotates out which could mean that a small problem   can turn into a big problem.

•               A birds eye view which communicates a view of the location for the audience.

Mise en Scene:

•               We can see the trademarks of London representing the area in which it is based.

•               River Thames, o2 arena, buildings, rural areas

•               The river thames looks bright and stands out from the rest which is quite dull- which shows the greyness of London.

•               Detailed view of everything (houses, buildings, streets etc.)

Sound:

•               Sound is quite dramatic at start could relate to the drama in the serial.

•               Memorable , recognisable theme tune.

                 Orchestral music

Drumroll emphasizes drama and tension coming up.

Soap Opera Characteristics

The characteristics of a soap opera are significant to what we see and recognise when we are watching.

Narrative - audiences are eavesdropping on the characters lives.

Character Representation - the way characters are presented to the audience in soap operas.

Cliffhangers - the unfolding action is cut off at a crucial point which entices audiences.

Realism - a soap opera must have the state of being actual or real.

Relating to everyday life - soap operas attract audiences because the things that go on can relate to audiences.

Relationship problems - this is a key feature that is shown in soap operas which is why it can relate to audiences.

Interweaving of stories - this is a characteristic of a continuous serial is the way in which two or three stories are happening at the same time.

Sensationalised - soap operas are contradicting as they have a realistic element but then events like people being shot are sensationalised.

Current Affairs/Controversy - Events like Christmas, Easter and holidays are viewed in the soap operas to show that they are in the present.

Mise en Scene - the arrangement of scenery which represents where soap opera is enacted.

Archetypes - Soap operas include different Age, Ethnicity, Gender, Social class, Homosexuality which makes it versatile.

Real life Issues - such as disabilities and illnesses are shown on soap operas which show a gritty and realistic side to soap operas.

Audience - is a major aspect of soap operas as they have to cater to different types of audiences.

Resolution - the stories resonate to the long term viewers but just begin for the new viewers.

Regional Accents- this can indicate the representation of social class.

Repetition - when things happen to characters, which can repeat later one for example affairs and fortunate affairs.

Time - audiences keep up with the pace even when the narrative goes on.

Peak viewing time- the time in which soaps are on TV (5pm-9pm)

Theme tune - all soap operas have a significant and memorable theme tune which most audiences recognise.

Gossip - Audiences, magazines, newspapers, radios all gossip about soap operas which spoil or trick the audience on the upcoming events.

Age group varies

What is a Soap Opera?

For A2 Media studies coursework, me and my group are going to create an opening for a soap opera, this blog will show the process in which will lead up to the making of the soap opera. The research, analysis, questionnaires, characteristics, conventions and other terms of insight into soap operas will help me along the way.

Soap operas are long-running serials which are about everyday life. A television serial, typically broadcast in the afternoon or evening, about the lives of melodramatic characters, situations and suspense.

They originated in American radio serials of the 1930s, soap opera is a genre originally drawn from radio rather than film. They were targeted directly at a female audience (presumed to be housewives) and so soap manufacturers sponsored the programmes to advertise their brands to their primary consumers. Using the word opera was a way of mocking the programmes that were considered to be trivial and domestic.

Introduction

Welcome to our A2 Advanced Production Group blog. The members of our group are Janki, Gemma, Jack and Chris.

This blog has been created in order for me to post blogs in regards to my A2 coursework, otherwise known as an advanced production which requires me and my group to create a Soap Opera trailer, TV listings magazine and a Webiste for our soap opera. In addition we must update the blog through all three stages of production including pre production, production and post production. Also we will include the evaluations of our advanced production on the blog where we review our Soap Opera trailer, determining whether or not the trailer fits into the conventions of the genre and if it appeals to its target audience.

My first post for the A2 advanced production blog is based on me independently finding the definiton  of a soap opera in order to understand the genre. TV drama is a broad genre. At its simplest, it is fictionalised action in narrative form. Genre means ‘kind’ or ‘type’, TV dramas are categorised by the things they have in common such as conventions. Conventions of a genre are the ingredients which all genres share. To create something specific to a genre you must follow conventions in order for the audience to recognise it. Many genres break down into sub genres; sub genres are even more specific than genres. Similarly hybrids are the result of two or more genres catalysed. Broadcasters, producers and audiences play a huge role in TV drama, whether it is the way they label them or how they are perceived by an audience. TV dramas have the following ingredients:

·         Characters

·         Narrative – both its overall structure and how it is constructed

·         Sets & setting – locations against which the story unfolds

·         Camera work – particular camera work is often

·         Dialogue – sound and music

·         Icons – these tend to be associated with sub-genres

A soap opera sometimes referred to as “soap” for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name soap opera initially came from original dramatic serials broadcasted on the radio that heavily featured soap manufacturers such as Colgate-Palmolive and others as sponsors and producers. These original soap operas were broadcast in weekday daytime slots where the majority of housewives could listen in, thus being targeted and consumed to a predominantly female audience.

The term soap opera has been applied to any romantic serial, but it is also used to describe the more naturalistic, unglamorous, gritty UK primetime drama serials such as Eastenders. A typical convention that defines soap opera is the open ended nature of the narrative, meaning the storylines can continue throughout several episodes.

Albert Moran states "that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative. Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode".

Soap opera stories run parallel meaning that they have multiple storylines which run concurrently and intersect leading in more storylines, thus potentially affecting other storylines or completely running independent of each other. Soap operas rarely bring all storylines to a conclusion at one time, typically once one ends there are several other storylines that branch off. The most common ways to end a storyline within a soap opera is through the death of a character and the typical way of ending an episode is with a dramatic cliffhanger.

To conclude, i have educated myself in the soap opera genre which will benefit me later on in the A2 advanced production.