Evaluation Question Four - Part 2

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

i-Movie

We used i-Movie as our main editing program for our soap opera. Compared to Adobe Premier, which we used a lot last year, this program was far more advanced and I was able to make our trailer look more professional because of this. I found that it was easier to upload the footage we had directly from the camera onto the Mac and then to arrange it in a storyboard. When it came to finding the right extra diegetic music and sound effects, this program benefited us hugely; the program itself had a wide selection of copyright free music and sound effects that we could use, making the time it took for production smaller than in previous products, because before we had to spend a long time trying to find these sounds. I was able to adjust the sound levels on the video files with this program, which I used to make the sound of Helen's footsteps louder at points of the trailer I wanted to enhance with this. Although the program did have sound effects on it, we did record several of our own, including the sound of Stephanie slapping Richard, which we did using the built-in microphone on the mac.

Cameras

We filmed every part of our trailer using four different Samsung cameras, which we set up in various positions and angles. I think that these cameras were good to use because they picked up every bit of sound made; we filmed Helen walking down the road and the camera picked up the sound of her footsteps which became a recurring theme throughout the trailer, and one of the main aspects we wanted to focus on. We could watch footage back on the camera and so could check we had the shots we needed whilst still on location, which mostly eliminated the risk of realising during the diting process that we didn't have all the footage we needed. The only downside to these camera was that they didnt have a very long battery life but we just made sure that we charged them after every use, and because of this the battery life didnt really become a major issue.

Tripods

We used four tripods throughout filming to keep the cameras as steady as possible, and to get as many variations of a shot as possible. This worked out well for us because it provided us with a larger choice of footage when it came to editing and so we could make the trailer more interesting and get it to the highest quality possible. We put the tripods at varying heights as well so that we could film from several different angles, for example at the end of the trailer we shot from a low angle which made the cast members look important, and connoted that they would be integral to the soap opera.

Computer programs

We used several different computer programs whilst completing this project also. Microsoft Word, Excell and Paint were those which I personally made use of, and they benefited me throughout the project. I used Excell to create shot lists and filming schedules, because it helped me to put all the information I needed into one place and then create tables displaying this. I used Microsoft word throughout for various written pices. I also used this for my magazine cover analysis because I placed the imagine in the middle and then used text boxes around it to analyse the colours, fonts and images used. I found that it was helpful also in creating my magazine cover because I could use various shapes when making the masthead and I used word art for the titles and tag lines.

Evaluation Question 4 Part one - social networking

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

1) Facebook
We used http://www.facebook.com/ as a usual tool for communicating with both our actors and

each other. Because it has become such a widely used social networking site nowadays, we found it was quicker and more effective than any other method to send out notices of filming schedules, costume notes and any other information to needed to relay. It was also useful for gaining feedback on because we could share videos of our trailer, rough drafts of posters and magazine covers and have people leave comments on them. This meant that we had a wider range of people able to access our products and so could reach more people in our target audience.

2) Scribd

http://www.scribd.com/bd.com/ has been one of the most useful websites I have used during the rearch and planning stages of this project. With this website I have been able to upload Microsoft Word and Excell documents and have them in a format I could upload onto my personal blog. It was expecially useful when trying to get feedback for y poster and magazine drafts because you could send the website link to friends and family which would take them directly to the page with it on. This has been useful because it has meant I havent had to print out lots of copies and send them or pass them around groups of people; it also makes these documents far more accessible because links can be sent to friends and family who don't live near to you, meaning you are gaining feedback from people in many different areas, ensuring you are getting as wide an audience feedback as possible.

3) Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/ is the website on which I have uploaded my animatic storyboard, my first draft trailer, research into soap opera conventions etc. This is possibly the most commonly used website to upload videos onto in the world, and the amount of people who use it every day is huge. Because of this, this has been a great help for us during the planning stage in particular. We made a video outlining what we percieved as being the most commonly used conventions in soap operas, and uploaded this to youtube to show to our classmates. We also did this with our soap opera trailer and so were able to broadcast this to huge amounts of people. It was a very useful website not only for sharing our own trailers but for accessing real soap opera trailers too. I found several "Eastenders" trailers on here, the original "Hollyoaks" launch trailer and some popular "Coronation Street" trailers. This was helpful during planning because I could compare the launch trailer for "Hollyoaks" to newer trailers and see what had changed, what had stayed the same, what was effective and what had been improved over time. Without the use of youtube, this would have been much more difficult and I would have been unable to analyse as many trailers as I have done.

4) Blogger

http://www.blogspot.com/ is the website on which I have created my individual and group blogs. The benefit of using a blog is that you can keep every part of your project together in one place and it is easily accessible at all times. It has allowed to me encorporate many different forms of media whilst working on my project because I am able to upload video files, Word documents, photographs and spreadsheet as several examples, and so have been able to learn new processes. It has also meant that I have been able to be creative with my research, as opposed to having to just write long pieces of text, when other methods may be more effective.

Evaluation Question 3

This question is regarding the significance of audience feedback. Audience feedback has been an essential part of our project - we ended up creating three drafts of our trailer due to this. Without it, we wouldn't have been able to create a trailer that appealed fully to our target audience, which would cut down on viewing figures. It was also useful in finding out whether our ideas for story lines and characters appealed to our target audience or whether we would have to reconsider anything. The questionnaire I carried out during the research and planning stages showed me that out of the people who answered, the majority preferred story lines that were shocking or based around relationships and so I tried to ensure that these types of story lines were evident in my trailer. For example, the central character in the trailer, Helen, is seen joining the community and how she has an impact on the other characters; the boys who cheer as she walks past and Richard winking at her connotes that she will be sought after by the male characters in the soap and implies that future story lines will focus on this. The reveal shot I used of Danielle being pregnant was intended to shock viewers because of her young age and would get viewers interested in seeing how the rest of the story line would be explored.

The majority of those who answered my survey were male and so the answers given perhaps represented a more masculine opinion. However, we didn't stick entirely to the ideas given in this survey and regularly asked for audience feedback throughout the creation of the trailer, magazine cover and poster, and so I think that we managed to get a more balanced opinion that wasn't gender specific. In regards to the magazine cover, I made three drafts, each of which I changed and adapted due to audience feed back. My final magazine cover looks very different to my first, and that is due to audience feedback I received from classmates, teachers and people in my target audience. My colour scheme changed in order to be in keeping with existing products - I was told that I needed to use brighter, bolder colours to make it more eye catching and so I stuck mainly to primary colours which I think was effective. It was also suggested that I make the font of the titles and tag lines bigger and bolder, which I did for my final draft. The significance of audience feedback regarding my magazine cover is I need to know what it is that people want so that I can make it stand out on a news stand next to established products.

My poster had minimal changes suggested but I took them all on board for the simple fact that I wanted to appeal directly to my target audience. It was suggested that I cut down on the amount of photographs used and when I did this it looked a lot more effective because it was simpler and less cluttered. If I hadn't received the audience feed back then I would have left it as it was and it wouldn't be as successful.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

Q1 In what ways does your media product use

Final Trailer

This is the final draft our our trailer. We tried to incorporate all of the feedback we received in order to make a final trailer which would appeal to our target audience as much as possible. I think that the finished piece looks professional and I am happy with it, because we took on board all the suggestions made and so I think that it would draw in as many people as possible. We looked at existing soap opera trailers when creating this, and used typical conventions when thinking of characters and story lines.

Final Draft Poster

FINISHED POSTER 2

I created my final draft of my poster after receiving feedback about my first one. The positive comments I received were "Good use of the road sign to establish the setting" and "I like the colour contrasts of the photographs, some in colour, some in black and white". However, I was told that there were too many photos and I could try cutting down on them by placing the road sign in the middle and photos of the characters around the outside. I liked this idea and so I made the photo of the road sign in full colour and put the character photographs into black and white. I think this looks effective, especially on the black background. It was also suggested that I make the font size bigger to enable easier reading.