Evaluation Task 1

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

I had to choose 9 images to represent the following 9 areas of forms and conventions. Use these as sub-headings and briefly explain each one.

1. Title

This title is used to formally and clearly present the name of our soap opera trailer. The basic font, complimented by the boldness of the text makes it clear to the audience to the name of soap opera without giving anything away as the next extreme long shot establishes the setting/location. However it can be argued that this title challenges the conventions of the soap opera genre due to the fact the majority of the popular soap operas featured on TV in the contemporary UK feature some sort of establishing shot or image of the location/setting of the soap opera.

2. Setting

This is an extreme long shot/establishing shot which immediately establishes the setting of the soap opera which is located within a small street in North London. The terraced housing is synonymous with the working class thus being an appropriate class representation within soap operas as the lower classes are often prominent. The significance of the car is later revealed when the daughter of the Michael family exits due to her surprises return to The Street. This shot conforms with the soap opera genre based on the realism of the road, nothing out of the ordinary is featured within this shot which is conventional of the genre.

3. Costume

The shirt that Benjamin is seen wearing is typical of working class service sector occupations such as admin jobs. The costume, more specifically mise-en-scene helps establish the class of the characters due to the audience using social class/cultural indicators.

The costume worn by Dwayne clearly represents the stereotypical image of Afro-Caribbean youth who are portrayed in the media as rebellious and troublesome creating anarchy in the streets of London. Immediatley Dwayne's character seems troublesome due to his clothing which is synonymous with the youth gang culture in modern society e.g. 'Hoodies', therefore Dwayne is conforming to the stereotype.

4. Props

The cars used within the soap opera trailer are the biggest and most significant props, especially the van seen in the background as vans are often associated with the working class as those who drive them are blue collar skilled manual workers.

5. Cinematography

Michelle is not revealed entirely within this shot as the camera maintains its low angle position.  Despite this, the viewer can gather that she is a female based on her provocative clothing (mise en scene), but it provokes curiosity as he role within the narrative is unknown. Nevertheless the audience know she is an important contribution to the narrative as the car is such a prominent prop within this particular shot thus assuming the passenger is of equal importance.

This is a medium shot of Benjamin which utilizes the rule of thirds as you can clearly see his characters face is only features within the left third of the frame thus focusing the audience’s attention on his character. This shot is close enough to show both the characters facial expressions and body language in order to convey certain aspects of the narrative without the use of dialogue, hence the non diagetic soundtrack overwhelming the dialogue within this particular scene.

6. Narrative

Including all three characters within one shot (medium long shot) allows the audience to see the significance of the characters, thus introducing them as a family. The return of Michelle, the troublesome daughter of both Hayley and Benjamin is introduced by the dialogue during the argument where Benjamin shouts, “She’s our daughter, alright!” therefore ensuring the audience is aware of the parents and eventually their daughter.

7. Introduction of Characters

Michelle is concealed beneath the shadows within the car thus remaining anonymous until the very end of the trailer. However the constant arguing between Benjamin and Hayley hints to the audience throughout the trailer that Michelle is returning to the street.

Michelle still remains anonymous as her face is not revealed until the very end, however as she approaches the door the audience assume she is participating within the central narrative thus possibly being the daughter returning to the street.

8. Genre

Conventions of the soap opera genre include using issues within other media text such as newspaper and portray them within a narrative. For example Benjamin is on the verge of hitting Hayley, domestic abuse is a prevalent issue within the media and is also very controversial thus appropriate and typical for the soap opera genre.

This shot in particular is the epitome of the soap opera genre, this shot is similar to the title shot of Coronation Street and Emmerdale as they feature establishing shots of the location/setting. Based on the conventions of the soap opera genre, realism is an important aspect thus choosing a realistic and gritty location to host our soap opera, therefore conforming to the conventions of the genre.

Overall I feel our media product, more specifically our soap opera trailer conforms to the conventions of the soap opera genre as it was necessary in order to consider it a 'soap'. Very rarely does our trailer challenge the conventions of the genre, for instance in terms of characters, location, mise en scene and narrative our soap opera follows the soap conventions. However the title is considerably bland based on the title being placed over a black background, although this isn't challenging the conventions of the genre, instead it just doesn't follow them rigidly. Rather taking a more modern and contemporary approach with the use of slow motion during the argument scene, this doesn't disengage the audience from the illusion that the soap is rea, instead it enhances the experience and intensifies Benjamin's emotions. To conclude our advanced production generally conforms to the soap opera genre.

TV Listing Magazine Annotated

In order satisfy the conventions of TV listings magazine i must achieve the house style which includes:

• Colour
• Images
• Typography
• Language
• Layout

The colour used within the TV listings magazine are very vibrant in order to attract the attention of potential buyers whilst on sale, also the colours are attractive to the eye thus making the headlines, coverlines and pictures stand out significantly more. The main image on the TV listing magazine includes the characters features within our soap opera thus advertising it significantly more than the other cover lines. Also the characters within the image are looking directly into the lens of the camera thus addressing the reader. The typography/font is extremely bold as the text (masthead) has to be clear in order to convey potential narrative, advertise a new soap, etc. In our case the main coverline introduces the new soap opera, otherwise known as 'The Street'. In addition the text above the picture stating 'She's Back' partially introduces the narrative for the opening episode which attracts potential viewers. The language used on the TV listings magazine cover is very colloquial in order to address all readers in a user friendly way. The layout of the TV listings magazine is asymmetrical, possibly messy, although this is a convention of these particular types of magazines as they are cheap yet presentable in a contradictory way.

TV Listing Magazine

In order to create the TV listing magazine I used Microsoft Publisher as it was the most efficient program at my disposal as I had prior knowledge of the software.

Despite not being as professional and advanced as Photoshop, it allowed me to create a simple design using various different shapes, fonts, colours, etc. I used a copy of TV Guide as a template to prevent deviating from the conventions of a TV listings magazine.

I used images from the internet to such as www.google.com and www.photobucket.com to copy and paste into publisher where I applied them appropriately on the cover. I then used a camera and took a picture of the three main characters within our soap opera, which include: Benjamin, Michelle and Hayley.

It was vital to ensure the picture had significant lighting in order to the picture to seem professional thus using a torch and projecting it onto the characters. Once finished I took a screenshot of the cover and dragged it into paint where I cropped it and then saved it as a .jpeg.

Storyboard Re-Draft

Shooting Script Re-Draft

 

Shot	Timing	Description
1	2 seconds	“Welcome Too”
2	2 seconds	“The Street”
3	3 seconds	Benjamin arguing
4	4 seconds	Car pulling into the road
5	2 seconds	Hayley arguing
6	4 seconds	Jerome and Dwayne looking at car
7	4 seconds	Jerome and Dwayne watch car drive past
8	5 seconds	Benjamin arguing again
9	3 seconds	Car driving down road extreme long shot
10	3 seconds	Two shot of Benjamin and Hayley arguing
Q	3 seconds	Newspaper hitting the floor
12	3 seconds	Benjamin walking off
13	4 seconds	Couple kissing watching car driving  past
14	3 seconds	Car driving past
15	4 seconds	Benjamin pointing at Hayley
16	5 seconds	Car pulling up outside a house
17	4 seconds	Opening door and Michelle exits
18	4 seconds	Dog barking at Michelle
19	3 seconds	Michelle opening gate
20	3 seconds	Michelle walking towards front door
21	3 seconds	Michelle drops her bag on the floor
22	4 seconds	Benjamin and Hayley open the door to Michelle
23	2 seconds	Michelle looks into camera
24	3 seconds	“Welcome Back”

Soap Opera Ratings

Hollyoaks received ratings of 3.5 million between 1999 and 2004, now it has fallen to 1.2 million per episode. This has maintained throughout the years as Hollyoaks averages similar figures in the present day. Therefore this could indicate that the product within this soap is possibly becoming stale and repetitive thus requiring a new soap with fresh characters and narratives such as The Street in order to potentially gain the lost audience members of Hollyoaks, thus aiming to gain a very optimistic rating per episode such as 1.5 million viewers. Eventually challenging Hollyoaks when The Street builds an established audience, thus replacing Hollyoaks or taking its premiere spot on E4 to maximize viewers.

Still Images w/ Annotation

This camera shot is a shot-reverse-shot over the shoulder of Benjamin which is a high angle shot that empowers him and makes Hayley seem significantly inferior based on her lower position within the frame.

This shot is a low angle shot which empores Benjamin, in addition the medium shot displays both his body langauge and facial expressions which are both calm and collective.

This medium shot of both characters displays their interaction within one shot thus showing their responses to eachothers dialogue and bodylanguage immediately within the frame. 

This is a medium close up of Michelle's face which shows her facial expressions which are critical as she has no dialogue within the trailer, thus having to push the narrative foward through facial expression.

Copyright Free Music

Finding copyright free music was extremely difficult due to the fact the majority, if not all of mainstream music is copyrighted thus unable to use as we could risk copyright claim. Initially we used http://www.lgfl.net/Pages/index.aspx as it had a few copyright free songs that were available to students, however the music seemed to lack the pace and tone we were looking for within our soap opera ‘The Street’. Instead I researched further into copyright free music in order to find the most appropriate soundtrack for our advanced production. Therefore I utilized popular search engine such as www.google.com to find various sites offering copyright free symphonies and instrumentals.

Eventually I found http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Suspenseful&Search=Search which contains copyright free music.

The advanced search engine within the website allows the user to filter the music in significant depth, for example I searched for ‘suspenseful’ as this was the type of emotion I wanted to evoke from the viewer watching the trailer.

Therefore the copyright free music was found after researching into several websites, I found one song from www.incompletech.com called ‘Constancy Part One’. This soundtrack is a very basic song which primarily features violins in a suspenseful tone, which builds anticipation for the arrival of Michelle Michael returning to her family in ‘The Street’.

Storyboard

Television Listings Magazine Research

TV listings in the UK are the lists of programmes that will air on television during that particular day or week. In March 1991, the monopoly on listings magazines ended and the market became open for other TV listing magazines. Prior to 1991 there were two prominent magazines which included the Radio Times (1923) for BBC and TV Times for ITV and Channel 4 (1953). More TV listings magazines become prominent such as TV Quick, Whats on TV, etc.  During the 1990's Whats on TV was Britains best selling TV listings magazine. However in the 2008 TV Choice achieved higher circulation as it has a similar design but lower price. In the past these lists where in chronological order due to the fact there were only a few channels at the time as the only medium was paper. In contemporary society there are over 600 channels in the UK alone, therefore the internet offers TV listings based on the large scale increase of television channels as the approach to TV listings is changing.