Name: Catherine Tansey
Candidate Number: 6885
Centre Name: Aquinas College
Centre Number: 33435
Wednesday 19 December 2012
Soap Brief
SOAP BRIEF:
- a listings magazine front cover featuring the new soap;
- two hyperlinked web pages (with video extract) for the soap’s website;
- a poster for the soap.
Evaluation Q3: What have you learned from audience feedback?
First Draft of Trailer
- Really good framing in the shot, maybe limited the background noise in some scenes. - Amelia Lancaster
- Nice framing in some shots. Your soundtrack works well with the editing - Thought beats. Also your transititons are very good. Try to limit the amount of background noise to a minimum and make sure all voices are heard - Victoria Bellairs
- Music works well and the clips run in a good sequence, the background sound on some clips is just too loud.- Stephen Lyons
- This works really well! make sure you can always hear the actors - Lily Berrisford
From this feed back I learned that I needed to reduce the background noise and make sure that the characters' voices are heard. By learning this I improved my trailer by reducing the background noise through iMovie, using ducking to raise the characters' voices and re-filming scenes where the background noise was too over powering.
Second Draft of Trailer
- your music fits in with the theme of the trailer its really intence and draws the audience in probably just put a few fast cuts in there to make it more intence and speed up the pace - Harriet Thompson
- transitions work really well and the structure is great. the E4 title card at the beginning is a good idea. i'd suggest turning up the volume when stephen's in the library its a bit quiet.-Samuel Moore
- Good trailer! On the text scene I think you should slow it down so the audience can read it fully and understand what is going on. Also, on the scenes with no dialogue I think you should reduce the volume so the background noise doesnt over ride the soundtrack. I think your music works great with your transitions and edits - your thought beats are very good!-Victoria Bellairs
- I think the order is great and the music works well with the transitions.-Stephen Lyons
Note: For both of my ancillaries, I worked with another member of my group - Victoria Bellairs
First/Second Draft Soap Billboard
- Narrative is very clear from posture, eye contact and physical contact, well done. Social realism genre is clear from brick wall background. Beth's representation as unfaithful girlfriend is clear from her costume. Just need to work on branding- E4 sticky tape isn't transparent and should be at a slight angle. Carl can help you with the Photoshoppy stuff. Font's not quite right as well, should be American Typewriter. Fix these little things and get a hash tag/twitter/Facebook feed on the poster to make the brand easy for audiences to access. :) - Sheena (Teacher)
From this feedback we learned that we needed to include the original E4 'sticky tape' in our poster as well as using the same font as E4 (American Typewriter). We took the advice for both of these points and edited our Billboard making it look more realistic and professional.
First Draft Soap Magazine Front Cover
- Good but needs an accent colour to make this stand out on the shelf e.g programme names in yellow. This is how TV and Satellite week draw attention to their product. Under Beth you need the name of your soap- strangely this is the main feature but the only show you've chosen not to name! Get rid of box outline over Beth's face, it crowds her. Also needs a price. Good, just needs these tweaks
Evaluation Question 4
How did you use TECHNOLOGIES in the research and planning, construction and evaluation stages?
List of technologies:
- Garageband
- Keynote
- Photoshop
- iMovie
- Publisher
- Blogger
- Powerpoint
- YouTube
- Stills Cameras
- HD Cameras
- Green Screen
- Slideshare
Monday 17 December 2012
Q4:Shooting and Filming Equipment
Green Screen
During the photo shoot for our ancillaries we decided to use the green screen as a background so that it was a block colour that would contrast with the subjects making it easier to edit on photoshop. There were different extras included when using the green screen such as lights and reflectors to make sure the characters didn't have shadows on their faces.
Cameras
For our photo shoot we used the DSLR camera as it was a high quality camera when used for stills and allowed a manual focus making it easier to focus perfectly. They were easy and simple to use and the photographs came out a good quality.
For the filming, we used a selection of Stills Cameras, DSLR Cameras and the Hand Held HD Cameras. Reasons we used them:
- Stills Cameras - We used these to film some small sections such as High Angle close ups which needed a smaller camera so that it was easier to hold.
- DSLR Camera - We used this as it had an external sound boom for scenes in quieter places (e.g. Living Room Scene) so that the sound would be higher quality but it would not pick up any background noise.
- Hand Held HD Camera - We used this camera for the rest of our filming as it was the Highest Quality filming camera and was easy to use for hand held shots as it has a strap which keeps it steady.
Sunday 16 December 2012
Friday 14 December 2012
Q4: Blogger
Throughout my whole media project including planning, construction and evaluation, I used Blogger as a way to post all of my work and keep it together. It is a useful site for uploading pictures, writing text posts and embedding YouTube videos to show my progress in the project.
To make a new post on Blogger I first had to log in and click the New Post icon:
Then I entered text into my post using the main text box:
I could also add a picture by clicking the picture icon:
And clicked Publish:
To make a new post on Blogger I first had to log in and click the New Post icon:
I then gave the post a title using the title bar at the top:
I did not enter a picture, instead I embeded a YouTube video into the post. I did this by going onto youtube.com and finding the video. Once I had found it, I went to Share>Embed and copied the code given:
I then came back onto blogger, clicked HTML and pasted the code in:
Q4 : Twitter
Whilst uploading drafts of my Trailer and Ancillaries onto Blogger, I needed to constantly communicate with my teacher to ask for/receive feedback and send links to my work etc. Twitter was the best way to do this as it was a quick and easy way to post links and is open so that other students can see my work and also feedback on it.
Ancillary Draft - Billboard
Our goup worked together to plan the billboard, we discussed ideas of who should be on the poster, what position they should be in, and how we will follow the conventions on a soap poster. We decided just to include the 3 main characters, Beth woul dbe in the middle of Sam and Steven as she is torn between the two of them. Beth would look worried, Steven would look happy and Sam would look angry. We also included a caption 'Who's the Daddy?' which would give a basic ide of the storyline. As the soap would be hosted in E4, we included the E4 logo and purple stickytape. We also included a sponsor - Blackberry. We didn't use this in the end as we felt it was not needed.
Ancillary Draft - Poster
For our poster draft we decided as a group to just have Beth on the cover as the storyline revolves around her and if we included the 3 main characters again it would be too similar to the billboard. We followed the conventions of Tv and Satellite Week magazine with the positioning of the features and the inclusion of different details like the strap at the top, the 'NEW' section and the website.
Rejected Images for Ancillaries
For our ancillaries, we made sure we took a sufficient amount of photographs so that we had alot to choose from to use. This meant that we also had some trial and error photographs from when we had changed the surroundings for the photo shoot (e.g. background, lighting etc.). Here are some of the images which were not good enough to use in our final ancillaries:
Photograph 1 - Magazine Front Cover: This image could not be used for our final ancillary as firstly, the camera was too far away from the subject (Beth). Also, because of the distance, the white background doesn't fit the screen and so lights, cables and the ceiling are visible. Although this image could have been cropped, that would result in a decrease in the image quality.
Photograph 2 - Billboard: This image had to be rejected as the lighting was incorrect and there are shadows on all of the characters' faces making them unclear to see. A billboard must be clear and visible, as the audience are usually passing in a vehicle and only manage to get a glance.
Photograph 3 - Billboard: This final image was rejected not because of technical issues but due to human error. The original plan for the billboard was for Steven to smile and Beth to have a worried expression on her face. In this shot, Beth ended up laughing making it an invalid choice for our final billboard.
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Kennedy Grove 2nd Draft
Changes made:
- Re filmed scenes with a lot of background noise
- Filmed more scenes to make the storyline more understandable
- The part where the music kicked in didn't match the build up of tension so I moved it back to the part where I felt it fitted
Soap Trailer Draft 3
Changes Made
- Ducking the music to make the dialogue easier to hear
- Using a jump cut to add emphasis
- Slow motion on the text clip so that the audience have time to read it properly
- Added more transitions between scenes
- Cut down the end scene to made it more snappy and intense
- Cut out crew talking from scene
4th Draft of Soap Trailer (Park Avenue)
Minor Change Made:
- Added 'Heartbeat' sound effect at intese major part of the trailer.
'Why Are Soap Operas So Popular?' Homework Reading Task
Why are soap operas so popular?
·
Soap Operas can be thought of by their regular
audience as easy viewing and do not require much attention, but can also be
demanding at times, especially if they are half an hour to an hour long and the
viewers have to drop everything to watch them. Overall, the soap operas concern
with the lives of everyday people seems to be the main reason why they are so
popular.
·
American soaps are usually referred to as being
‘fantasy’ but British and Australian soaps are more realistic as they include
everyday events in their storylines including problematic ones such as death,
marriage and violence. Coronation Street is an example of a soap which uses its
social realism by regarding the everyday life of inner-city working class
residents of Manchester.
·
Eastenders and Home & Away who contain these
social realist conventions gain a lot of audience as they enjoy watching these
storylines that portray things that are happening every day. The popularity
also comes partly from the viewers’ need, because of the realism of the soaps
it allows the audience to gain pleasure from the notion that the everyday lives
in the soaps are real and on-going like their own lives are.
·
It is also evident that the scriptwriters bring
humour into the storyline to make it more pleasurable to watch e.g. Coronation
Streets popularity comes from the realism and the language of the northern
stand-up comic.
·
Viewers also feel they are part of the families
on the soaps as they can relate to them and feel like they can ‘enter the
characters’ because they are all so familiar. They also like to from a type of
participatory relationship with the characters. This means that the viewers are
concerned with their lives just as they are with their friends and colleagues.
·
It is this formation of parasocial relationships
that make the viewers enjoy the soaps. This is because they can identify with
the character and their emotions, sometimes because they have been in a similar
situation to the character. It can be recognised in its extreme form when the
viewer starts to feel what the character feels by putting them in the
situation.
·
The viewers also sometimes form with the characters
is that of personal identity. They often use the events and behaviour of
characters in the soaps to justify their own real life behaviour to similar
situations.
·
Viewers also enjoy the soaps because they
identify themselves as being similar to the characters. For example, some
female viewers may say that they wish they looked like an attractive female
character.
·
These realism points mainly apply to the British
and Australian soaps, but we can also identify with characters from American
Soaps as they use realistic emotions and behaviours towards other characters
even though their storylines are not as realistic.
·
Soap opera is also popular due to continuity,
regularity and familiarity. This applies to the characters location and theme
tune, and even the storyline continues on from the previous episode making it
easy to watch and pleasurable.
Thursday 22 November 2012
Shooting Trailer
Through the day of filming our final trailer we used Twitter to communicate with our teacher and other students, this included taking photos and tweeting them to update them on our progress.
Here is one example:
Here is one example:
Friday 12 October 2012
Storyboard
The storyboard allowed me to easily match the
script with the scenes. It meant that the actors could see their lines and also
see where they were meant to be positioned. This also helped the camera
director so they could see the shot type and angle which the camera needed to
be at to copy the Hollyoaks scenes. The director also had a copy of the story
board so that if needed they could prompt the actors and could adjust their
positioning. All of this helped towards getting the mimicking of the Hollyoaks
trailer right.
Wednesday 10 October 2012
Monday 10 September 2012
Hollyoaks Trailer Analysis
Aims : Analyse Hollyoaks trailer make a blog entry find
origins and characteristics of British soap.
Notes
·
Opens with title card
·
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your life through your phone
·
Paul “nothing
you do will ever push me away” 2 shot of him and Mercedes. Paul dominates the
frame and is at least 50% of the frame, dominant in the relationship. Window is
out of shot but light is seen, shows that they are indoors in a house. Can see
all of Pauls face and his eyes are framed looking towards hers, his body is
also leaning towards hers.
·
Mercedes is in soft focus and is being dominated
in the frame, she is not looking in his eyes she is looking down. Also her hair
is hiding her face from Paul. Negative Body language.
·
Next shot,2 shot in a kitchen. We can tell it is a kitchen due to the mise en scene - tiles, cupboards etc. Following on from
other shot, Mercedes still in shot but times has moved on and she is with
Jaqui. Jaqui in the background looking at Mercedes. Light source coming from
the back coming from a lamp not natural daylight, establishes we are in a
house/flat at night. “I’ve never seen a man so obsessed with me”
·
We then cut to a 3 shot where Paul is watching
Mercedes talking to her ex Riley. Illustrating what Mercedes was saying about
Paul being obsessed with Mercedes.
·
Music sounds like a heartbeat, wants the
audience to feel suspense and to feel tense.
·
Next shot, Reese “the girl needs help” to Jaqui about
Mercedes.
·
It then cuts to a quick few shots of Jaqui sneaking around, each
shot is no longer than 2 seconds. She is crawling around an office, can tell it
is an office because of the mise en scene – plant, blinds, filing cabinet etc.
·
Jaqui has found his desk and going through his
drawers and next shot shows Jaquis shocked face showing she has found something
in the person’s drawers.
·
Next shot, Mercedes sat on bed, then POV shot of
phone (5 missed calls from Jaqui) showing that there is a sense of urgency. We
know that Jaqui is calling Mercedes about Paul (who’s office she was in.)
·
Next shot is Mercedes and Paul again. Paul
dominates the shot, he is looking at Mercedes intensely and in above her so is
literally dominating her. Also because you can’t see much of her face, she
appears vulnerable.
·
Next shot, Jaqui “ It’s Merce, she’s in danger” shot set in
a hospital, can tell by mise en scene - nurse in background and green walls. Then quick change
to her running in the building of either Paul or Mercedes’ flat.
·
Through editing and the changing of people and
places, it makes the audience want to watch.
·
1 storyline, shows it is the dominant storyline
at the moment.
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