Sehbjot Hundal3129

A2 Media Coursework Evaluation

Question 1

• In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

Regarding my research into TV drama openings, I found that the concept of motifs and themes are used in order to hint the audience about the context of the show. This was seen in the opening of ‘Charmed’ as it uses a book of spells and the trinity symbol in order to show the audience that this show is about witches and superstitions.

I followed this convention by introducing the audience to the ‘eye’ at the beginning of the title sequence – see 0.26-0.30. This is also evident on the cover of my DVD cover, thus helping to reinforce the thematic convention of my TV drama. The addition of symbols further helps to identify the genre of the text. In this case, my TV drama genre is that of supernatural thriller. Although it is not within the extra terrestrial category, it still harbours a quality of supernatural occurrences. This helps to notify the audience of what the shows context will be about.

Title sequence DVD Cover

• Furthermore, the inclusion of close ups of the main characters are used in order to allow the audience to identify the main characters of the show. My TV drama opening depicts the stereotypical personas that are associated with teenagers. There are various depictions of characters such as ‘the troubled couple’ – see 0.35-0.39- and ‘the geek’ – see 0. 44- 0.47. This will allow my target audience to identify with the main characters.

• In regards to my ancillary task of producing a magazine cover I followed the commonality of having the main character(s) in the centre of the page and having articles that are both relevant to the show and the general interests of the female gender such as, fashion and gossip. This means that I am effectively pursuing my audience by meeting their needs whilst informing them on the content of the show.

Masthead depicting shows name for instant recognition.

These are all indicators that this is a TV magazine, therefore by including articles such as these, readers are reminded the magazines purpose of informing them about the show and entertaining.

The magazine further focuses on subjects relative to female interests.

• However, my DVD cover subverts the convention of having the main character(s) on the front cover. Instead of this I used a similar format to that of the DVD cover for ‘True Blood’. This DVD cover depicts a face with a fang and blood. Therefore, the intended audience will know that the show is about vampires. Likewise I used an eye to represent an oracle’s ability to see in to the past and future. Furthermore, I did adhere to the conventions of providing and episode list, screen grabs from the opening and a synopsis of the shows content in order to entice the audience.

Question 2:

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

• I believe that the combination of the two texts work quite effectively in terms of allowing the audience to identify the TV shows nature. My main task depicts all the characters and the typical drama thriller narrative with fast paced action shots. Also, the characters ages are similar to that of my target audience, thus making a connection between the text and the audience.

These three stills from the Charmed opening all depict the sort of age group that they are intended to target which appears to be females in their late teens to their early 30’s.

In terms of my magazine, I didn’t use any of the characters portrayed in the actual opening, but rather introduce a new character. This would allow me to engage my audience by offering them something new. However, they may reject this as they might want to conform back to the characters that were evident in the opening.

This magazine helped me identify how to target a younger audience and determine the conventional layouts of a young girls magazine

This magazine helped me identify what sort of articles I could use in order to help me draw reference back to the TV show’s content.

This magazine helped me look at how to target a mature audience. Also as this is a prominent fashion magazine for teenagers it helped me understand female interests so that I can provide content based around these topics.

On the other hand, my DVD cover, I included a motif that would be relative to the TV show itself, which was the eye as it helps to reinforce the nature of the show. Conversely, with there being an image that is relative to the show, there is no indication of any of the main characters which could serve as a flaw to the DVD cover, however I have included some screen grabs of the characters on the back of the cover in order to draw reference back to them.

The Charmed DVD cover influenced the way I laid out the episodes list of my DVD cover. Whilst Ghost Whisperer helped me understand what sort of screen grabs to include. Lastly, True Blood gave an insight into the sort of colour palette I was aiming for.

• The magazine cover, I believe is the text that supports my target market the most, as they are of females aged between 16-25 years of age. With the central image being of a young female within that age range, there will be an immediate connection with the audience. I also used screen grabs of the opening sequence in order to draw a reference back to the opening. In contrast, my DVD presents a more masculine portrayal with a strict colour palette of red, white and black. These are all stereotypical colours associated with the male gender connoting, danger, purity and mystery. Both establish a high sense of synergy by including screen grabs of the show on both ancillary texts. My magazine cover depicts my DVD cover as a prize and also has a screen grab of the rotary title sequence. Whilst my DVD cover simply has screen grabs from the opening sequence which reinforce the main text.

• My plan of release is to have this show on channels such as E4 or Living TV. The reason being is because that’s where most of the shows that my target audience come on. Shows such as Skins, Friends, 90210, Ghost Whisperer and True Blood all come on these channels. Therefore, I will be able to target my audience effectively by releasing my show with current content they are comfortable with.

Question 3:

• What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Highly impressed response to the video, however slightly confused due to prior discussions.

This indicates that the ‘previously’ statement served as a crucial element to the structure of the opening sequence. Also, the addition of the ‘previously’ statement meant that this particular person may already be watching content that involves this convention. The soundtrack was further appraised due to the pace and tempo of it.

The rotary effect came across as the highlight to some of the viewers. Which shows that my decisions were effective in terms of getting my audiences attention.

This shows that the opening did not reveal much about the content of the show but provided enough to allow my audience to understand what the show would entail.

This comment is regarding my previous opening and having changed most of the content. Once again the rotary effect was popular as well as the sound and action shots which all helped emphasis the realism of the text.

These are the sort of responses I received from my Face book group:

• My target audience approved of the opening sequence, in particular the rotation of the main characters. Furthermore, the inclusion of having ‘Previously on Oracle’ gave the opening the definitive appearance of a TV Drama. This led to my viewers accepting the text in terms of the narrative which meant that most of them comprehended the genre of the text, which was supernatural thriller. Another feature that was praised was the effectiveness of the soundtrack.

• I personally thought that my opening was highly successful in terms of establishing the genre, the main characters and the narrative of the show. My audience also corresponded to the opening in this manner; however, some were unsure of the narrative. This was understandable as I attempted to subvert Todorov’s theory of a linear narrative as this is an opening; the narrative will be randomised in order to show the audience various aspects of the show.

Source: (http://sismedia.wetpaint.com/page/Narrative+theory)

Survey Monkey Results. MAIN TASK

Survey Monkey Results. ANCILLARY TASKS

• Some of the responses would have preferred a shorter beginning and something more to define the genre and narrative of the text. This means that the text was not initially engaging, it could be interpreted that my audience would prefer a more fast paced, anticipating opening.

• In terms of the ancillary texts, my magazine cover was praised for its colour scheme, content and presentation, however it was let down by the quality of the main image. This gave the cover an amateur look. This suggests that I appealed to my audience in the correct manner. In terms of my DVD cover, responses revealed that the eye on the front was captivating; however it did not help them clarify the sort of genre the show was.

Survey Monkey Analysis: ANCILLARY TASKS

Question 4

• How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and

evaluation stages?

Research and Planning.• For my research I utilised Google and YouTube predominantly in order to

find secondary forms of TV Drama openings as well as theory to help support my ideas. This allowed me to effectively analyse the conventions used and consider the possibilities of how I may use them in my opening. Through the process of researching, I originally planned to do a short film however, was indecisive with my narrative. Nonetheless, I researched into different short film genres which gave me further insight into what sort of genre I could choose for my TV Drama opening.

ConstructionWhen constructing my animatics and actual cuts, I used Adobe Premiere Pro initially to structure the footage and add the transitions and sounds as well as Adobe After Effects, which was used to create motion in the text, such as the beginning title, the main title and the titles over the main characters- see 0.30 – I had also used it previously in order to change the colour tone of a piece of footage- see Shot 14 process. I felt that I was much more able with this programme independently rather than having worked with a team in AS level; the reason being that there were always disputes about certain shots and how the narrative should have been presented. This was evident in my AS Continuity task as we had constant struggle with what sort of narrative to choose as well as my partners being inefficient with Adobe Premiere Pro. Furthermore, throughout AS and A2 I had discovered a website called www.freeplaymusic.com which meant that I was able to obtain various soundtracks that could be used in both of my final pieces.

Construction cont…

I was allotted little time with the post production of my final AS cut as I had travel issues, thus it was a personal fault, however, I did observe closely when I was with my partners and I picked the both Premiere Pro and After Effects up very quickly which gave me the benefit of being able to work competently. I also used Photoshop when constructing my ancillary texts. I had already had prior knowledge of Photoshop at GCSE and I practiced in my spare time. I had not used Photoshop in AS level, which meant that there was no requirement to learn it at the time.

Evaluation.• I had used Blogger in order to record my evaluation. This meant that I had

to blog more recently in order to ensure that I was keeping up to date with my work, however I fell I did that more in my AS blog than my A2 blog, but I included a lot more detail in my A2 blog posts. I also, used Face book in order to gain my audience feedback by creating a group page to which I asked people to evaluate my work and then ask them to fill out a questionnaire via Survey monkey which is an online questionnaire site. This created an easy approach for my audience as the traditional paper method would have wasted time. I had not used this website in my AS coursework, which mean that I had to adjust to this new programme and eventually it became easy to use and understand.