What went well:
- Firstly my group really liked my idea, they told me they thought my synopsis was well thought out, I had made an effort into making it as original as I could but still making it based on popular TV programmes out that the moment. They liked the fact I had gone into detailed description when explaining not only what my two minute clip would be but also what I would do for a whole episode and even giving a brief series synopsis.
- They praised me on my visual mood board, they told me that it reflected my ideas well and that I had a clear vision of where I wanted to go with my production.
- My group liked the fact I had taken our research on board with creating an appealing synopsis for the programme, I had also bared in mind an easy location to film at when deciding the location that my programme was set in.
What I could have improved on:
- In my pitch I had a lot to get through, in such little time. Unfortunately I didn't manage to explain my script or show my script to any other member of my group. The area that I need to improve on for this is my time management.
- I think what I could have done better was explaining more about how I intend to make my production more beneficially and targeted toward our target audience. I think I went into too much detail into the synopsis of the series and where I intend to go with the programme, information that wasn't relevant. This time could have being used for explained something far more beneficial to how I intend to target my audience and/or my script.
Saturday, 17 November 2012
My Treatment - Including Pitch
The Pitch including my Treatment, Script and Visual Mood Board has being uploaded to Slideshare:
http://www.slideshare.net/ZacBowen
http://www.slideshare.net/ZacBowen
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Summary of Research
Me:
In my research I found out the while a lot of people in the demographic that is our target audience enjoy dramas and a lot of them enjoy dramas on e4 they enjoy seeing comedy within these dramas as they feel it makes the show more entertaining. I think this is defiantly something we will have to consider incorporating into are drama. I asked a question in a focus group saying, “do you prefer a storyline that runs though out an entire series or a few episode or a narrative structure were the storyline is different every episode” and the answers I got back were mixed. However, one answer I got back was both. This is defiantly a sensible option when considering how the narrative structure will go. In my secondary research I studied books to see if I could apply any knowledge of people who have being in the media business a long time. Some of the aspects for production seem helpful which we can apply when making our program however the information I gathered for audience doesn’t seem relevant and it seems as though my primary research would be more helpful for that. Although, the media book I read did say I was going about the right way for information.
Hannah: http://mediahannahw.blogspot.co.uk/
Hannah: http://mediahannahw.blogspot.co.uk/
In Hannah’s research a lot of people in her online questionnaire said they preferred characters that they can relate too and a lot people in the same questionnaire said they enjoyed paranormal dramas, this could be something to consider when thinking about storylines. Also a popular answer was that a lot of people would watch real life drama, this makes me think about my storyline for my drama and how I should write it so it is as ‘real life’ as possible.
For Jake’s research, he analysed a popular show on E4, with the same target audience as what our show is aiming for. This can be helpful as the show is very popular and we take the techniques used in this show and apply them to our own show to make it as popular as possible. He also looked into reviews for similar programs which can be helpful as this gives us an insight into what audiences like and what they dislike. He also researched into production companies and how they function and the tactics they use when creating a show, this can be helpful as it will make the production of our show more efficient. For his primary research he phoned up production companies such as Clerkenwell Productions and got them to answer question regarding our research. The answers he got back were very useful and gave us a wider insight into how these top production companies go about making their shows and appealing to their target audience. This will be most useful as we can defiantly apply this knowledge into our own show.
For Nathan’s research he firstly looked into the type of camera (Nikon D3100) we will be using to film our show. This can be very helpful as Nathan should now hopefully be able to operate the camera which should speed up production. Nathan also analysed the webpage for Misfit (a popular show on e4) which will be helpful, as another part of our task is to create a 3 page webpage for our show, using techniques off Nathan’s analysis we should be able to create a successful website that attracts more viewers. He also conducted audience reviews of shows similar to the ones we are going to make, this is helpful as it narrows down are target audience (as the research suggests that more male are interested in drama on e4 such as Skins, Misfits and Deadest) into a more specific target audience and even though we will not solely base are show towards this audience we can still take in this demographic to increase the popularity of the show.
Primary Audience Research - Survey Results
What is your gender?
Male: 17
Female: 21
What is your age?
1-13:
14-24: 37
25-35:1
35+: 0
What is your favourite genre of TV show?
Action: 3
Comedy: 22
Sci - Fi: 3
Reality: 1
Horror: 1
Drama: 10
How many hours of television would you say you watch per
week?
none :0
0 to 3: 10
3 to 6: 8
6 to 9: 11
9+: 9
Do you watch E4:
Yes: 29
No: 12
If the answer to question 5 is yes, what is your favourite
E4 show and why?
-"The big bang theory because it’s awesome"
-"Misfits because it’s funny and interesting."
-"The Big Bang Theory, because it's clever, funny and
well written"
-"The big bang theory"
-"How I met your mother or The big bang theory because
Barney and Sheldon are just SOOOO good."
-"The Big Bang theory, just genially funny with
humorous actors"
-"Fresh meat"
-"Don't really have one. if i had to pick then probably
big bang theory but to be honest E4 is just something i put on when your
flicking through and there's f*** all else on."
-"How I met your mother because it's funny"
-"Mad Fat Diary (used to be Skins)"
-"Rules of engagement and bang theory"
-"Big Bang theory because its my type of humour,
awkward guys trying to get girls"
-"Skins good mix of humor and drama"
-"Big Bang Theory - it's funny."
-"Revenge, just think it's amazing"
-"My mad fat diary because it shows the aspects of life
today"
-"The Big Bang Theory, specific characters that are
somehow relatable"
-"My mad fat diary funny"
-"90210 and because I love the cast"
-"Big bang theory, it's really funny!
-"They always have good programs and series that are as
good and better than more popular channels."
-"I don't have a favourite show on E4 I tend to just
watch whatever's on and looks interesting. :)"
-"Fonejacker, the Inbetweeners, scrubs, misfits"
-"Big Bang theory - it's funny."
-"The Ricky Gervais show because it’s very
funny."Survey carried out and completed by Jake Hashdi
Primary Audience Research - Focus Group Responses
These are the responses I got in a focus group I conducted, I have had permission of all participants to release the recordings on this website. Some of the responses are very useful conserning what they want to see and don't want to see and what they would like to see conserning narrative structures and character types. It seems that a lot of our target audience enjoy dramas with comedic elements to them. This is something we will definitely consider when writing our script.
One of the appearance release forms for the focus group |
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Monday, 12 November 2012
Reverse Storyboard - Misfits
This is a reverse storyboard for my programme. I have analysed in detail the convention that are stuck to within creating your production. I found out that when shooting a new location (such as in a scene change) you need an establishing shot of that area. This gives the audience time to view the location the scene will take place in. The establishing shot may show the characters in the scene it may not, in this case, it does. I also learnt that within conversation in a scene you may show the conversation in a shot-reverse-shot editing action, which shows a close-up on one character and then a close-up on the other, cutting in between the two. It seems as though the average shot length is anything between 1-4 seconds so its not long as all. I found out that throughout every scene, there is some sort of ambient sound going on in the scene, this is something we will definitely have to consider when creating out own product.
Sunday, 4 November 2012
UK Tribes Styled Primary Research - Audience
For my primary research I logged onto UK Tribes, a website
full of information regarding what different sub-cultures of young adults are
into. However, the website maybe great for finding out what their favorite clothe brands and shops are but not as great for finding out what television
programmes they’re into, therefore I conducted my own research into what
television programmes different youths like to create my own UK Tribes styled
page but for television programmes.
Casuals
Summary:
To conclude, I think that I have found out a lot of what different youths of different sub-cultures are into which could lead us to creating a very successful program. The dilemma about carrying on a story line though out an entire series or just having a single story line for each episode needs to be discussed but can be solved by mixing the two, which will appeal to all. I think from this research I can gather that a lot of youths like a comedic value when watch programs as its more entertaining for them, this is something we defiantly have to take on when creating our program. For the girls it seemed as though they enjoyed the reality TV programmes rather than the scripted dramas, as we want to appeal to all our audiences I think we have to make our programmes as realist as possible with relatable characters so we get a wider spread audience.
To find candidates for my questions I headed to Facebook,
the home of youths, and asked around for people willing to answer my questions.
The questions I asked were:
- If you watch programmes on E4 which of them are your favourites and why?
- If you don’t watch programmes on E4, what are your favourite programmes in general?
- What draws you to these programmes?
- If you were to make a drama yourself, what sort of things would you include?
- And the final question, do you prefer a story line that runs though out an entire series or a story line that is different for each episode?
Skaters
The two answers I
got were:
"1. How I met your mother because it is funny
2. Walking dead
3. It is tense and entertaining
4.Tense drama with small outbursts of humour
5. Main story line running throughout but with side storyline in some episodes” – Joe , 16
3. It is tense and entertaining
4.Tense drama with small outbursts of humour
5. Main story line running throughout but with side storyline in some episodes” – Joe , 16
“I really enjoy scrubs/misfits on e4 because I enjoy
comedy drama, so you get both elements of humour and a story line. If I were to
make a drama i'd make a programme similar to Smallville but instead of Clark Kent,
I would use Peter Parker. And I prefer a different story line each episode, so
if I were to miss and episode, I would still understand what is going on.” Joe,
16
The two
skaters prefer different things in the way of series structure but you can
easily mix these two together, having a sub-story line running though out the
series yet having a the main story line individual for each episode, like how
CSI: Miami do it. Both of them seem to enjoy dramas with a comedic value to
them.
Rockers
The two answers
I got were:
“Um I like big bang theory
That’s on e4
I like it because it’s very witty
If I were to make my own drama I think would
evolve war or something
It would be a running plot line” – Tim, 16
“1 - skins, inbetweeners,
misfits, the midnight beast, big band theory and friends, I like them because
they're mostly comedy based, and I think are pretty good entertainment
2 - what draws me to the programs are good hyping done by the channel beforehand and the overall impressiveness of the comedy of the show
3 - It would have to be a comedy, and it would have to be set in a world different to ours, maybe it be a sci-fi or just a planet like ours where something is different, so it becomes something to learn about the programs. I often find programs that are based in somewhere new attract the most attention
4 - A mixture of both, where there is a story line running throughout the series, but each episode is something different that has relevance to the original story line” – John, 16
2 - what draws me to the programs are good hyping done by the channel beforehand and the overall impressiveness of the comedy of the show
3 - It would have to be a comedy, and it would have to be set in a world different to ours, maybe it be a sci-fi or just a planet like ours where something is different, so it becomes something to learn about the programs. I often find programs that are based in somewhere new attract the most attention
4 - A mixture of both, where there is a story line running throughout the series, but each episode is something different that has relevance to the original story line” – John, 16
With the rockers, they both
like the idea of a running plot line, however one of them did like the idea of
a mix of both which defiantly seems like something to consider when making our
own programme. John’s answer to question 3 is really interesting, the idea that
when a programme is located in a new or made up place makes the show a lot more
interesting.
Townies
The two answers I got were:
“Made in Chelsea,
cause there's lots of drama!
Storyline that changes each episode so
there's something new” – Lizzie, 17
“I watch TOWIE, Geordie
shore, keeping up with the Kardashians reality TV and stuff like that and soaps
like Eastenders and coronation street I don't no what draws me into these
programmes I suppose the drama of it some of them are funny and the people are
all young and stuff it relates to our age, and the soaps you just get into them
even though you no its fake its exciting seeing what happens next if I had a
drama id just include all my friends and family entertaining stuff gossip and I
prefer a storyline that runs through a whole series more interesting to watch
exciting to see what happens next you get more into it" – Lauren, 17
Both ‘townies’ seemed to
interested in the reality TV programmes, as our programme is a scripted drama
this would mean we would have to make our drama as real life as possible so
that our audience can relate to it. Lauren’s idea of a story that runs though
out the whole series keeps you interested in the program and makes you come
back for more is true, rather like ‘Heroes’. However, Lizzie’s idea of a story
line that changes though out each episode so there is something new every time
is also a good way to look at it. A problem like this is something we will have
to discuss as a group.
Sports Enthusiasts
The answers I got were:
“I don't watch programmes on E4, my favourite
programmes on TV are comedies like the inbetweeners, two and a half men, Gavin
and Stacey! Thy draw me because they have good story lines and have been
designed well! I prefer a story line that runs through an entire series! If I
were to make a drama I would make it entertaining and something that every
audience would enjoy!” – Jack, 16
“Big Bang theory,
because i find it humorous!
I like two and a half men, and friend
It would include, murder and comedy
Series because its more interesting” – Rob,
17
“I don’t watch
E4 (not sure whether south park/family guy are on E4 though haha).
I like shows like family guy, south park, breaking bad and prison break, also all sports programmes like Match of The Day and Super Sunday.
I like comedy along with action and programmes with puzzles.
I would create an action comedy similar to breaking bad have a family which is split in certain ways with drug dealing action and a constant problem to solve keeping watchers interested.
I prefer a storyline which runs throughout and entire series personally.” - Chris, 16
I like shows like family guy, south park, breaking bad and prison break, also all sports programmes like Match of The Day and Super Sunday.
I like comedy along with action and programmes with puzzles.
I would create an action comedy similar to breaking bad have a family which is split in certain ways with drug dealing action and a constant problem to solve keeping watchers interested.
I prefer a storyline which runs throughout and entire series personally.” - Chris, 16
The
3 sports enthusiasts seem to all enjoy comedy, so did the two skaters. This
seems like an accruing thing for male audiences. The way we can promote our
program to male audiences and to get them interested is to have a comedic value
in our drama, but not too much comedy for it to be seen as a sitcom.
Casuals
The answers I got were:
“My favourites are
new girl, suburgatory
Because they're funny
and I like the characters
The adverts draw me
to watch them cause I think, "that looks good"
If I were to make a
drama myself I would include characters that the audience can relate to
I prefer a story line
that is different each episode because I don't always have time to watch all the
episodes
But then again if the
storyline carries on to the next episode it makes me want to keep watching the
program to find out what's going to happen” – Lucy, 16
“erm
big bang theory is pretty much the only e4 thingy I watch because its funny. I
don’t know what I would put in a drama too be honest people would be a good
start :) and
different every episode” – Beth, 17
The
casuals are people who don’t really fir into a category, they’re just people
who go about their daily business. The idea has popped up again that the
audience want characters that they can relate to, this defiantly seems like
something we need to include into our program.
Summary:
To conclude, I think that I have found out a lot of what different youths of different sub-cultures are into which could lead us to creating a very successful program. The dilemma about carrying on a story line though out an entire series or just having a single story line for each episode needs to be discussed but can be solved by mixing the two, which will appeal to all. I think from this research I can gather that a lot of youths like a comedic value when watch programs as its more entertaining for them, this is something we defiantly have to take on when creating our program. For the girls it seemed as though they enjoyed the reality TV programmes rather than the scripted dramas, as we want to appeal to all our audiences I think we have to make our programmes as realist as possible with relatable characters so we get a wider spread audience.
The Media Students Book - Secondary Audience Research
Summary
These scans are taken out of The Media Student Book and basically explains the effects the media has on audiences and the representations of audiences though the media. In this book it doesn't really help much into conducting any primary research into audience for TV programmes so for my primary research i'm going to make a post similar to the UK Tribes website but solely base it around TV programmes.
The Media Students Book - Secondary Production Research
Summary:
These images are taken out of Gill Branston and Roy Staffords 'The Media Student's Book' and explains how the organisation of production works. The two paragraphs for research state that in part of research finding contestants for a game show so that the show is compelling towards the target audience, I could apply this theory in my research for my drama in finding actors to star in my drama, I obviously want actors at an age that appeals to the audience that I am aiming for. Other parts of the book indicate production techniques that could make our work more a efficient making our final product overall better and advise from professionals can really be helpful as there understanding of production is a lot greater that ours.
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Primary Production Research - E-mailing Production Companies
In conducting my primary reseach for production companies I e-mailed 5 production companies.
The e-mail I sent them said :
"Hello,
My name is Zac Bowen and I am an A-Level Student at Stratford-Upon-Avon College. My coursework scenario explains that I work for a production company (Silver Lining Productions), a multimedia company that has had recent television success. We have being given the opportunity to prepare a pitch for and up and coming program. This program will be targeted at audiences similar to E4’s demographic (15-35) and will be suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting. Before achieving this we need to execute primary research into similar products, for this we would be extremely grateful if you could spare us a few moments of your time to answer a few questions regarding our research ?
How do you present your content to an audience?
When producing new or existing programs, what kind of things do you consider? Typical conventions for example
When conducting research into your target audience, what key aspects do you look for? How can you tell you are appealing to the right audience correctly?
And finally, how do you communicate with your target audience ?
It would be most appreciated if you could get in touch at the earliest of your convenience. Any information you can give will be a great help. Finally, if you are aware of any external sources you could point me towards, don't hesitate in doing so, as any information from your professional experience is valued greatly.
Regards,
Zac Bowen
Student
Stratford-Upon-Avon College
Reply Forward"
I have recieved one e-mail back which unfortunatly contained no information helpful towards our research, this e-mail stated:
"Dear Zac,
Unfortunately we're very busy at present and as such are unable to assist with any academic research projects.
All the best,
Jen"
I have yet to receive any other e-mails back from the other 4 production companies. This is very unfortunate as it would have being great to receive advise at a high professional standard and would have being very useful when conducting our own programme.
The e-mail I sent them said :
"Hello,
My name is Zac Bowen and I am an A-Level Student at Stratford-Upon-Avon College. My coursework scenario explains that I work for a production company (Silver Lining Productions), a multimedia company that has had recent television success. We have being given the opportunity to prepare a pitch for and up and coming program. This program will be targeted at audiences similar to E4’s demographic (15-35) and will be suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting. Before achieving this we need to execute primary research into similar products, for this we would be extremely grateful if you could spare us a few moments of your time to answer a few questions regarding our research ?
How do you present your content to an audience?
When producing new or existing programs, what kind of things do you consider? Typical conventions for example
When conducting research into your target audience, what key aspects do you look for? How can you tell you are appealing to the right audience correctly?
And finally, how do you communicate with your target audience ?
It would be most appreciated if you could get in touch at the earliest of your convenience. Any information you can give will be a great help. Finally, if you are aware of any external sources you could point me towards, don't hesitate in doing so, as any information from your professional experience is valued greatly.
Regards,
Zac Bowen
Student
Stratford-Upon-Avon College
Reply Forward"
I have recieved one e-mail back which unfortunatly contained no information helpful towards our research, this e-mail stated:
"Dear Zac,
Unfortunately we're very busy at present and as such are unable to assist with any academic research projects.
All the best,
Jen"
I have yet to receive any other e-mails back from the other 4 production companies. This is very unfortunate as it would have being great to receive advise at a high professional standard and would have being very useful when conducting our own programme.
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Institutional Context of E4
Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded public service broadcaster. They do not receive any public funding and have a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Channel 4 works across television, film and digital media to deliver our public service remit, as outlined in the 2003 Communications Act and most recently the 2010 Digital Economy Act.
Channel 4 was launched on 2nd November 1982 with a unique business model, under the Broadcasting Act 1981. They are funded predominantly by advertising and sponsorship, but unlike other broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 is not shareholder owned. Channel 4 is a statutory corporation, independent of Government, and governed by a unitary board made up of executive and non-executive directors, who are responsible for ensuring that Channel 4 fulfils its remit and delivers its financial responsibilities. Non-executive directors are appointed by OFCOM in agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. This system ensures they're not-for-profit status; that they are held accountable and that all profit generated by their commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of their public service remit.
In addition to the main Channel 4 service, which is available on all digital platforms as well as through traditional analogue transmission, their portfolio includes E4, More4, Film4 and 4Music, as well as an ever-growing range of online activities that includes channel4.com, Channel 4's bespoke video-on-demand service 4oD and standalone digital projects. Through its film arm Film4 Channel 4 is also a key supporter of British film making talent.
As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is required to commission UK content from the independent production sector. We are a major investor in the UK's creative economy, working with around 300 creative companies from across the UK every year and investing significantly in training and talent development throughout the industry.
Channel 4 does not provide a public service, like the police or the NHS, so it does not maintain a list of organisations with which it works in partnership, as typical public authorities may.
However, as a publisher/broadcaster, Channel 4 does not produce its own programmes but commissions them to over 300 independent production companies across the United Kingdom every year. Some of these independent production companies include: 12 Yard Productions, Vertigo Films and Lime Pictures (who make shows such as The Only Way is Essex and Hollyoaks)
Information Relating To The Legislation Relevant To The Authority's Functions and Regulatory Responsibilities:
The board members responsibilities are set out in the Communications Act and the Remit.
Remit
Licence
Communications Act 2003
Broadcasting Act 1990
Broadcasting Act 1996
Digital Economy Act 2010
The format is electronic and the there is no cost.
Sources:
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Checklist of Duties
My roles within our research are:
Audience Research:
Audience Research:
- Focus Group
- UK Tribes Page
- Research from Books
- E-Mail Producers
- Set up Twitter account for an online poll
- Quote media production books
Summary of Assesment Brief
We work for a hypothetical production company, Silver Lining Productions; they have had recent success with fly on the wall documentaries, structured reality programming and fiction productions. They have developed supporting media for their shows in print, audio and e-media. This company is well known for its work in pushing the boundaries of existing formats.
We have being given the opportunity to prepare a pitch for and up and coming programme. This programme will be targeted at audiences similar to E4’s demographic (15-35) and will be suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting. We are working in groups of four, creating the opening few scenes to a fictional drama. Our page shall be supported by a three page fan site. We will use our website to promote our programme and encourage as much audience interactivity and communication as possible. Our production materials should be produced to a professional standard.
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
Todorov, Propp and Barthes - Skins, E4
Tzvetan Todorov
Equilibrium:
It seems like an everyday morning at the main characters house, the main
character Tony and he is phoning up his friends organising what they’re going
to do in the day. Disruption: Tony gets invited to an upper-class girl’s party but
Recognition of Disruption: Tony doesn’t know anybody who’s going so he tries to gather a group of his mates together to go to the party
Attempt to repair: Tony gets some of his friends to the party
New/Return to Equilibrium: Mid-way through the party Tony’s other friends turn up, after getting into a fight at the party Tony and his friends leave, the end scene shows Tony and his best mate lying in bed, the rest of the family take there usually morning routine again.
Vladimir Propp
Roland Propp
Barthes theory is based on 5 codes that readers use to
decode the text:
Action- events which have logical consequences
e.g. when food is presented, there is a probability that characters will eat
it.
Enigma- the mystery that audiences are left to decode, and
questions raised by the narrative.
Semics- signs used to express
stereotype, objects and sets etc. e.g. spaceships connote sci fi.
Symbolic Code - which is meaning expressed through juxtapositions and conflict
within the narrative.
Cultural Code - anything from stereotype to pop
culture references or even knowledge we know and share together. This is an
element very typical of spoof movies.
Monday, 8 October 2012
Skins,E4 Website Analysis
When you first enter the E4 website for Skins the main theme
colour for the website is purple, this colour runs throughout the webpage as it’s
the main colour you would associate with E4 which helps the audience of the
website easily make the link that Skins is an E4 broadcasted programme, the use
of purple in the E4 logo is gender neutral; this means there is no gender bias
within the channel, this can also be carried over to the programme itself to
say that the programme isn’t targeted at any specific gender. The main image (signifier)
of the website is two girls hugging each other and smiling, the connotations
(signified) for this would be happiness and friendliness which makes the
website feel more welcoming and as the two girls in the image seem between the
ages of 17-20 we presume that the targeted audience age for the programme is
17-20. The central image may also suggest that skins is aimed for an audience of more girl, over boys. This is suggested by the girly friendship bond, clearly visible in the header.
As you scroll down the webpage on the left hand side of the
screen is a sidebar with the Skins’ social networking links, there is one for Facebook
and one for Twitter. Www.kenburbary.com
did a breakdown of the US users (gender and age) of the Facebook website and
found that over 50 million people between the ages of 18-25 use Facebook and http://pandodaily.com
did the same for Twitter and found out that 31% (the highest per cent) of all
twitter users are between the ages 18-24, this shows that the website is using
social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to promote new series and
to keep fan involved with the series because it is very popular with the target
audience for the programme.
The website is well anchored in text, the language used is
very colloquial and seems as the words used are words that the target audience for
this show would use. Words such as ‘gang’ is used for the group of actors and ‘tele’
is used instead of television are used and just simple things like saying “they’re”
instead of “they are” making the text less formal and easier to read. The
paradigmatic choices such as the sans serif font make it less formal and give a
friendlier overall look to the page; the images are very linear down the middle
of the page and are also very colourful grabbing the audience’s attention to
the image.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Questions to Consider
From my analysis I have thought up a few questions to consider:
- Who will be the target audience for my product ?
- How can I portray a certain characterist within a character to make them relatable with the audience ?
- How can I use lighting to portray a characters mood ?
- What locations can I use to make the characters relatable ?
- Who will I use to cast the main roles of my characters ?
- How can I use sounds to portay an atmosphere within a scene
- What costumes can I use to convey a character and make them relatable to the audience ?
- How can I target a specific audience and make sure they are drawn in to the programme ?
Sunday, 30 September 2012
Skins, E4. Texual Analysis
‘Skins’ is a popular British drama, set in Bristol, aimed at teens following the lives of a group of teenagers though their time at sixth form. The first 6-7 minutes of the first episode shows the main character’s daily routine of getting up in the morning. The first shot shows a close up of his face zooming out to a long shot to show him lying in bed. While this is happening non-diegetic music is being played over the top, the music is a hip-hop/rap sort of song which gives the feel of the age at which the character is. After this the main character causes a distraction for his sister to sneak back home after been out all night, the music he plays is diegetic as it is in the world of the programme, the music is loud so the character’s dad has to shout over the music which shows the audience his sense of anger. While the main character and his dad are arguing the camera switches between the two in a shot-reverse-shot which makes the convocation clear and makes it flow without you realising the cuts are happening. In mise-en-scene of the scene the whole thing is set in the main character’s room, the room is messy which gives off the sense of realism about the setting of the boy’s room; the characters are both wearing minimum cloths (no tops on and in pyjama bottoms) this shows the time of the scene that it is morning.
The next scene shows the main character downstairs at the breakfast table, the performance of the character is sort of a pretty boy, everybody loves you, boy next door kind of act. When the camera is close up on the characters face the lighting is quite high key to represent his angelic personality whereas, when the camera is close up on the fathers face the lighting is more low key but creates shadows in the background to give off a sense of dominance. The main character plays sort of a prank at the dinner table, making the characters father believe that he is still in the bathroom when he is actually down stairs eating breakfast, an overhead shot of the main character films his dads reaction to the prank however, also captures the characters reaction to playing this prank. The dialogue in the scene is very realistic, the character dad is made out to be a ruff sort of character and this is shown by the language, the dad uses a lot of swear words to portray across his angry which is what you would expect for that character.
The next scene shows the main character leaving his house walking down the street while being on the phone to his friends. The shot is a medium shot, showing his body from the waist up. The camera follows him down the road with a tracking shot. While on the phone to his friends the shots are cut between him walking and to his friends to show who he is talking to at that time, this makes it clear who is talking to so the audience doesn’t get confused. As set in Bristol the setting is built up to be a very cliché Britain with poor dull weather being shown in some wide shots of the character as he is walking down the road. When he phones up one friend ‘Jal’ the shot cuts to her picking up her phone, in her room the lighting is very low key however, the only light shown on her gives a chiaroscuro effect creating a contract of light and dark across her face adding mystery to that character. When the main character phones up his other friends, most of them are in bed, to show this the first shot of them is a bird’s eye view (long shot) of them lying in their beds, the lighting in their room also reflects their moods as the characters seem to be fairly happy so the lighting is high key.
(sources: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/skins/4od#2921869, first 5-7 minutes of the episode)
(sources: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/skins/4od#2921869, first 5-7 minutes of the episode)
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Definitions Of Genre Types
Fly on the wall documentary -
A 'fly on the wall documentary' came from the saying 'a fly on the wall' meaning to spy on something or someone, so a 'fly on the wall documentary' is basically a documentary filming the lifes of others with out camera crew getting to involved with the participants.
Examples include: Shipwrecked: The Island, Big Brother
Made in Chelsea |
Scripted reality televison -
A 'scripted reality television promgram' is a program where the characters are real and the dialogue is spontanous however, events and situations are pre-arranged by the production company.
Examples include: Made In Chelsea, Desperate Scousewives
The Inbetweeners |
Fiction Production-
'Fiction Production' is stories of imagenary places and characters, it is scripted by production companies for actors to act out.
Examples include: Misfits, The Inbetweeners, Hollyoaks, Skins
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