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When introduced to the brief for our A2 media production task, I was torn between quite a few questions. It took me a while to decide on which question I actually wanted to complete. Eventually I decided that I wanted to work as part of a partnership with someone else in my class. This seemed like a good idea because it meant that we could share the responsibilities within the group and we’d both be able to work together and create a group achievement. We decided that we would create the opening sequence to a children’s TV drama, and then create a DVD cover and a radio advert to accompany and support the video. The radio advert that we were asked to create was to promote a magazine based on the TV series which wasn’t required for us to make if we were making a DVD cover. From my AS studies, I found that I did struggle to work in a group because I like having control and being able to have my own creative management over things. However, I decided to work as part of a partnership because this time around the work load was a lot heavier and it meant that we’d each be able to focus on certain elements of the project, whilst overlooking each other’s work and assisting them when necessary. We decided to choose this question because we found that we would easily be able to relate to theme, as we’d obviously grown up being exposed to children’s TV dramas.
To start, I decided that research into each of the three elements of the project was essential. First, I decided to research title sequences for popular TV dramas from both the past and present. This proved extremely beneficial for me as it gave me a clear idea of what entertained young children, and what they would want to see to draw them to watch the rest of the show. It was important that we looked at what the sequences from the past had consisted of, and that I analysed the differences between now and then. It was important to look at shows that had a similar audience to the audience that we would be targeting. My title sequence research can be found here: http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/initial-research-of-childrens-tv-programme-title-sequences/ . During this process, I also looked at the title sequence for the TV drama ‘Hollyoaks’. This has an older audience that our target, however I really liked the way the sequence worked and how the studio shooting looked really nice and professional. We talked a lot about using this kind of idea for our own title sequence, and shooting multiple characters in this way. A report of my findings can also be found on my blog at: http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/more-research-hollyoaks-openings/ . After looking in depth at popular children’s TV drama opening sequences, I then decided to look at different DVD covers. I looked very closely at 4 DVD covers for TV dramas with the same target audience as ours. I also analysed them in depth to relate them to the ideas that we had for our own project and the things we wanted to include. My DVD cover research can be found at http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/research-dvd-covers/ . Researching radio adverts online proved extremely difficult for us, especially finding ones that had a similar target audience to ours. I decided that the only way I was going to be able to carry out any research was to actually listen to the radio and gather any ideas I could from listening live. The whole research procedure actually proved extremely useful because it allowed me to focus on exactly what the target audience were looking for in a title sequence and surrounding products.
Firstly we had to write out three initial ideas, and select which one would fit best in the current market and which was most professional and believable. Our original idea was to have four or five best friends and create a production called ‘Best of Friends’. We wanted to shoot this idea in a photography studio to look similar to the ‘Hollyoaks’ opening. We decided that the girls we chose would move around the set in a lot of still shots and a few moving shots. We storyboarded this idea and also wrote a short script to accommodate this.
However, when we came to selecting locations, we encountered a major problem. Our first choice location was the photography studio on the college campus, however when we went to speak to one of the members of staff in the department, we were informed that we weren’t allowed to shoot our models there, as they were all under the age of 16. This angered us because we had already made all the plans to fit this set. After much stress and deliberation, we came to the decision that we could find another location and would have to. We decided to shoot at my aunt’s house, because one room had a plain wall which resembled that of a photography studio. Just when we were finally ready to film, we experienced yet another issue; one of our characters had dropped out. By this point the whole production process had already proved quite stressful for us and we were finding it really hard to motivate ourselves when we kept hitting brick walls. This wasn’t the only dilemma that we were to face either. On the day that we had planned to film, one of our characters fell really ill and was unable to film. We had thought about continuing without her, but it became apparent that the idea wouldn’t work with only two girls, so we decided to postpone for another week. Eventually, we got around to filming and this in itself became very challenging. It was really hard for us because each of our characters felt very nervous filming and it then became clear to us that picking such young actresses might have been a mistake. However, we persevered and finished filming that day. The negative filming experience was reflecting when we got out footage back to college and ready to edit. Basically, the footage that we had got wasn’t particularly strong, which left us with yet another dilemma. Did we re-shoot, or did we change our whole idea all together? We started to try and edit bits of the film together to prepare to re-shoot the next week, but the idea itself just wasn’t strong enough, and the same with our actresses.
After this, we took the collective decision to completely change our idea. This was also a stressful choice and created a slight tension between my partner and I because neither of us could think of a reasonable idea, but our main issue was someone to feature in the sequence. After many discussions, we came to the decision that I would feature as the main character in the sequence, leaving my partner to the filming and directing. This actually proved a positive decision which actually benefited me because filming and directing is not my strong point. We storyboarded this idea so that we had something to work with when we went out to shoot. Fortunately, the day we went out to shoot the weather was quite nice. We had two locations where we planned to shoot; one was an underpass with stairs and a slope, and the other was the local town park. I was originally quite nervous about shooting and being in the video, but after a while I became slightly more comfortable. Once we had finished filming, we came back to edit and it turned out that filming this time around had actually gone really well. Because we took a lot more footage and shot each part a few times, it allowed us to have options when editing, and when one shot didn’t look perfect, another did. It took us about three weeks to get the video edited completely with music completely fitted in. The music that we chose to use was selected by my partner during a lesson when I wasn’t in. She selected a really catchy tune with no lyrics. When I returned and she showed me it, I was really impressed because it resembled a song that could feature in a title sequence in the current industry. It also fitted well because it was a catchy tune that a younger audience would be able to pick up on and recognise if it was played in another place.
During the editing process we experienced, on numerous occasions, issues with saving our work. On two occasions the program Final Cut Pro terminated with no reasoning behind the quit. After the second time, we realised that our issue with the program quitting was to do with us adding text and the way in which we were editing it. The first time the program quit we hadn’t saved our work to that point, meaning we had to re-edit a lot of the footage. The second time this happened we had in fact saved our work, yet the program still lost it, resulting in us having to re-re-edit the work we’d already done. Third time lucky, and our work saved successfully and we were able to add text. However this did hold us back a lesson as we were advised not to continue editing as we would still keep losing our work. Eventually everything was fixed and we were able to finish.
When deciding to create a DVD cover to support the video production we decided that there would be a lot involved as we would need to create mock up covers. After we had carried out some research, creating initial idea mock ups were essential and we decided that we would both create one each. Our mock up covers were very basic but they gave a brief overview of what we decided would be necessary. We decided that our cover would need to feature a dominating image of our character and also titles and information about the DVD itself.
The actual process of creating a final mock up cover happened whilst my partner was away. I didn’t want to continue with the editing process (this was before our idea change) without her support and idea input, so I made a start on the mock up. My partner was away for two consecutive lessons allowing me to complete a full mock up during this time; this was too before the idea change. However, after out idea change, I found it quite easy to adapt my first cover to the new idea because all I really had to do was change the title and replace the image of three girls with one of a girl by herself. I was genuinely so happy with how the mock up came out, that I decided, and after discussing with my partner, that we would use this idea for our real DVD cover but just replace the images with some of me to represent our character. Once I replaced the photos, the cover was complete and I am actually really proud of it. I feel that is part of the whole package that I have really put my own stamp on and put my up most effort into. It was the part of the project that I was most interested in creating and I was really impressed when I managed to complete the whole thing to quite a high standard.
Because radio is an element of the radio industry that I am really interested in, I was particularly happy when we were given the chance to create our own radio advert. In the future I hope to work in the radio industry and this gave me a taste of the kind of thing that I would be doing. We chose that we would feature both of our voices on the advert. We also wanted to include our theme music because this would mean that it was recognisable to our audience, as they should hopefully recognise it and relate it to our TV show. We chose two voices so that one could act as our character and one as a voice over advertising the product of the magazine and where it was available. We recorded our radio advert in a studio in the National Diploma media area where we were provided with a camera and a boom mike. We had to be in a really quite room so that we didn’t get any background sounds in our recording. The whole recording process actually went really well and we didn’t need to re-record anything. When editing our advert, It was really simple because we’d recorded it in order and it was already quite perfect. We only really had to cut a few bits and add in our theme music. I’m really proud with how the radio advert turned out, and how easy the editing process actually was.
Looking at the project as a complete promotional package, I am confident that it is doing the intended job in targeting a young audience and fitting well into the current industry. The film covers all the conventions of a children’s TV drama title sequence as the main character is clear and she looks happy. We focussed on using a lot of different camera angles and fast camera movements which also sticks well to the conventions of what a title sequence of this kind of show should and would look like. We tried to link the film to the ‘girly’ theme, which is typically pink, bright and happy. This is a convention that I managed to carry well through into the DVD cover, making it pink and sparkly and so it stands out. The DVD cover resembles one that could fit well on the shelves of a store selling DVD’s and would look professional and not out of place. I had planned very early on what I wanted the DVD cover to look like and consist of, and I feel that I was successful in sticking to my thoughts. I feel that the radio advert really helps to round of the successful package as it too resembles what an advert of this kind should be like. It features a character voice and a narrator voice who both introduce the product. By having the character voice on the advert, it allows listeners to recognise that voice and associate with it, in the same way that they would the show’s theme music which we also chose to feature. Both of these are typical conventions of a radio advert selling this kind of product to this type of audience.
I feel that the finished package looks really presentable and specialized even though we experienced so many problems along the way. I really felt that our many issues with filming were really going to hold us back and bring down our work, but we managed to stick it out, and the whole package has come out looking pretty good.
I do feel that the film slightly lets us down because I honestly don’t think it’s as strong as it could have been. It doesn’t look as professional as the other parts of the package and there are some small mistakes that we made that we shouldn’t have. However, I do feel that with the time that we had and the many issues that we faced whilst trying to film and our complete idea re-think, we really have done ourselves proud. I feel that the radio advert is definitely the strongest section of the package because we really did put a lot of time and effort into getting it completely perfect. I think with the fading in and out of the theme music and the alternating voices really strengthen it and it compares well to similar products in the market.
I feel that as a partnership our planning skills could have been a bit stronger because we didn’t tend to plan much in advance. We rarely made a strict plan, apart from out storyboards and scripts, of what were going to do in that session. However sometimes I feel that our spare of the moment tendencies allowed us to complete things in a better way, as we spent more time analysing and discussing more that planning. Our whole editing process is a prime example of this. If I had the chance to do this production again, I feel that I would need to plan a lot more and stick to any original plans I make. I also don’t think that I’d work in a partnership again. I like to have a lot of creative control and sometimes I felt a little like me and my partner were fighting to get things done, because we both wanted to have taken part. I think we could maybe have discussed things more and planned together better on some things. On the other hand, having a partner with me was really beneficial because it meant that I had someone to over look the work I was doing and give me constructive criticisms. This was especially helpful while I was making the DVD cover; because it meant that I had someone there once I had completed the mock up to tell me what wasn’t so good, and what I should definitely keep for the real cover.
I feel that we have been successful in targeting our specific audience because of the strength of our final product, its professionalism and how well it would fit into the current industry. Each of the products in the package has different jobs in targeting our specific audience in different ways, and I feel that we have been triumphant in achieving these. I feel that if our product was presented to a group of our target audience it would be received well. I don’t think the title sequence would be as successful in gaining good reactions as maybe the DVD cover and radio advert might because these two products are the stronger in the package. I feel that people would react positively to the theme music in the video and would react well to the happiness of the character. The negative responses would be towards the location we picked, and the characters clothing. We’re aware of this from the feedback we received. The DVD cover would receive mainly positive feedback and did because it is very girly and sparkly similar to some products available for similar audiences in the current market. The pink and sparkles and the characters happy poses were received well by audience members because they target our specific audience well. The radio advert received from our feedback mainly positive comments because of the use of two voices introducing the product. People liked that the character voice was featured because it allowed listeners to already be able to associate with it, and recognise it from the show. The character voice also would draw in buyers of the magazine because the audience would think that the product was being directly sold to them by that character, a convention that a lot of children’s adverts use to maintain sales and audiences.
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