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.

WORD COUNT: 3,179

Our first choice was a very pale, minty green colour. We chose the colour from the very pale green at the top the characters shirt. We thought this colour worked really well because it stood out nicely from the background and it blended well within the colours in the rest of the shot. What we didn’t like about this colour was that it wasn’t very girly and didn’t really fit with the girly theme we were trying to keep throughout the production process.

The second colour we chose was the bright pink colour above. There weren’t any negatives with this colour as it stood out well from the background and didn’t appear to be sinking in the wall behind. It also fitted really well with the girly theme we were trying to keep throughout.

We decided on the pink colour by asking other people in the class to make a vote, and although the green title did recieve some votes because it fitted well, he majority went with the pink because it fitted with the girly theme.

Basic Idea
For our radio advert, we wanted to have a fun, happy feel to the sequence. We knew that we wanted to feature some of the show’s theme music at both the start and the end of advert. We wanted female voices on the advert, one as a narrator and one acting as Isabella. We wanted to whole advert to be upbeat and girly.
We decided to feature two female voices speaking in turn about a magazine (which we didn’t actually create) that was being released in compliment to the TV series and the DVD release.

Radio Script – ‘Isabella Ryan’ Magazine Advert

LIGHTER FLUID (THEME MUSIC) PLAYS – 2 seconds – fade to quieter

VOICEOVER: THIS WEEK. NEW. ISABELLA RYAN. YOU’VE SEEN THE SHOW. YOU’VE BROUGHT THE DVD. AND NOW. YOU’LL             READ THE MAGAZINE.

ISABELLA: JOIN ME, IN MY WEEKLY MAGAZINE WITH FREE GIFTS AND BEHIND THE SCENES GOSSIP FROM THE SHOW.
BUY ‘ISABELLA RYAN’S LIFE’ THIS FRIDAY AND GET YOUR FREE ISABELLA RYAN MAKE-UP KIT AND HEADBAND          SO YOU CAN BE JUST LIKE ME!

VOICEOVER: WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?
AVAILABLE IN ALL GOOD NEWSAGENT AND SUPERMARKETS. STARTING PRICE £2.99. WEEKLY FROM JANUARY 29TH.

ISABELLA: AND DON’T FORGET TO CATCH ME ON THE KTV AT 4.30PM EVERY WEEKDAY. SEE YOU SOON!

(LAST 5 SECONDS OF LIGHTER FLUID PLAYS)

Recording
The recording process went really well and we were able to knock the advert out in one filming without the need to re-record. We didn’t have to edit too much either, because the whole recording fitted together quite smoothly. The main issue we overcame when editing our advert was making the music fit and ensuring that it wasn’t too loud. We had to fade the music out slightly at the start and end of the advert so that the speech could be heard clearly. We wanted to feature the theme music because it meant that people could find association between the TV series and the radio advert without hearing what the product was.

IDEA CHANGE
We have decided to change the idea of our opening sequence due to several problems we’ve experienced during the process. After going back to our research, we’ve decided now that our title sequence is going to feature one actress and the title sequence will follow her daily journey and activities. We are going to use the same kind of idea as before with a happy, girly theme as it will allow us to use some of the things we have already worked on, including the music that we’ve found and want to use for our sequence and the work we’ve already done into the DVD cover. I plan to only alter the DVD cover by adding an image of the new actor and making a title change, as the current title would not fit with the new theme.

Below are several screen shots showing the development of the cover also showing changes that were made.
Firstly, I created the sparkly background by taking an image and copying and pasting it until the whole of the background was filled. I thought about changing the colour to a slightly darker pink but it proved too difficult to try and work around the sparkles. We decided together that the sparkly background created the theme and idea we wanted to put across with our DVD.

After adding the background, I started experimenting with different fonts that I found on copyright free font website www.dafont.com. We found a font that we felt was suitable.

We later decided that the font didn’t actually fit too well with the theme of children, and the cursive style seemed a bit too complex for a children’s DVD cover. I tried adjusting the placement of the title to make it look a bit better but I couldn’t find a way for it to look suitable and like it actually fitted the cover. We re-visited the same website and tried to find a font style suited more to the theme of children and attempted to find a font that children might understand better and one that would be easier for them to relate to (shown in shot below).

After selecting the font together that we wanted to use and placing it in the place we wanted it on the background, it was time to add in an image. I found an image on www.google.co.uk for my mock up, but obviously for the real one, an original image will be used. I added the photo in the bottom left hand corner of the cover leaving me enough space to include possibly another image, a logo or maybe some more text. I think the placing of the image works really well here.

Having the large dominating image on the front cover is good and helpful to the younger audience that we are planning to target. It’s good for the audience because they can immediately relate to the cover as, if they are planning to buy the DVD they should recognize the main characters. The image also takes up some of the plain space making the cover look more professional and realistic. After adding the image we felt it would be appropriate to add in some information about some of the main features of the DVD itself. We wanted to add some dividers to the cover to separate out the few different sections that there’s going to be. I took another image of sparkles but this time purple and made them into thin lines to use as dividers but so they also followed the sparkly, girly theme that we had already agreed on.

I added one divider right underneath the title and then one slightly lower. We wanted to frame the DVD details around the dividers, maybe with the text either resting on the top or the bottom of the divider lines, or maybe both. I decided when adding the information I would do so in a different font so it didn’t look too similar to the title and doesn’t take away from the main focus of the title. The size would also have to be smaller otherwise the title wouldn’t stand out from the rest of the cover like it is supposed to.

I added a black outline to the text and filled the inside of the letters with the same purple colour as the shows title. I carefully placed them so they were touching each of the dividing lines so that they didn’t seem out of place and appear to just be thrown in anywhere. At this stage the cover seems a bit bare, and we thought maybe a logo could be added or maybe some smaller images to fill out the cover a bit more and make it not seem so plain and average.

We decided to add some hearts in the bottom right hand corner of the cover as a logo so the cover didn’t look empty. We also felt that the hearts connected well with the girly theme.

Above is the final idea for our DVD cover and the idea that we’re going to use for our mock up. This is the best of our ideas because it has a really girly feel to it assisted by the large image, the hearts logo and the colours used. The sparkly pink background colour and the sparkly purple dividers were inspired by other DVD covers for Children’s TV dramas that I have researched. The sparkly idea really gives the whole cover a really girly feel, something we were really planning to achieve with this cover idea.

IDEA CHANGE
Since we had to change our idea, it means we have to make some edits to the DVD cover idea. Because we still want to stick to the girly, happy theme I thought it would be a good idea to keep the cover much the same, just changing the things that no longer apply to our new idea, including the title and the image (which will now only feature one girl, and not three).

I added an image of a single girl to the DVD cover to show that the focus of the series is now just the one girl. It is important that the model is smiling and the photo looks posed and happy to compliment the positive, girly, happy theme of the DVD. Using a large image allows the audience to associate the DVD with a popular character therefore encouraging them to purchase the DVD. We plan to have our model wearing a girly outfit maybe in purple and pink colours to fit theme of that of the DVD cover.

I decided to make the image of the character bigger to take up more space at the bottom of the cover because previously the bottom half of the cover looked a bit empty, and I had no idea what to put there. Although the image is now a lot bigger at the bottom, there is still quite a large amount of empty space at the bottom so there is space for me to add a logo a bit later on if I decide that it is necessary and will compliment the cover. By including a logo, it will also give the audience a connection between the TV series and the DVD series release.

Where the font was quite childish on the previous cover, we wanted to make the font this time around a bit more sophisticated as we were now only focussing on one character and no longer the idea of a group of best friends. I went back onto copyright free website http://www.dafont.com to try and find another font. We decided on a curly font that added to the girly theme and I decided to make it purple to again add to the basic theme if girly-ness. Once we had picked the font we liked, we together decided on a name for our main character, ‘Isabella Ryan’. To accommodate for our new title, it meant that I had to make the image slightly smaller again and I also had to move the dividers and the DVD content information down a bit.

For a logo / picture in the corner to add something to the blank space, we decided to use two of the hearts we had on the previous cover. We also added in another heart that had a little curl it to add a bit of difference to the cover.
After I had made a full mock up of the front of the DVD cover, I then had to make the back cover. I decided that the back cover would need a photo of our character and some blurb information about the DVD itself. To make the DVD look realistic and like it fits in with other DVD’s on the shelf, I also needed to follow the conventions by adding information about the DVD running time, the languages available and the DVD quality.

After doubling the dimensions of the DVD cover to create the front and back cover, I added the background colour to match the colour behind the sparkles on the front cover. I then copied the font from the front cover and wrote the words Isabella Ryan to title up the back of the cover. I added a small heart to the side of it to follow the continuity from the front cover, and I also added the DVD logo to the spine of the cover to follow DVD cover conventions.

Next I added a table to the bottom of the cover that included all the DVD information and running times. We also edited our own TV Channel logo into the table to make it look more legitimate. After placing it in, I added another.

FINAL COVER DEVELOPMENT

After I had made the full mock up of the cover, all I really had to do was add our photos of ‘Isabella Ryan’ onto the cover.

I replaced the front cover image with a medium close up of our character. I placed the image behind the heart logo and the text so that the image is dominant but the text is also important. On the back cover I added a full length photo of our character posing and connecting with the camera. This photo really fitted well with the happy theme of the DVD and the pose reflected the happy, girly idea.

FINAL COPY OF COVER.

]]> http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/mock-up-dvd-cover/feed/ 0 amymediafilm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 best of friends Screen shot 2010-01-21 at 2.37.23 PM Screen shot 2010-01-21 at 2.42.18 PM Screen shot 2010-01-21 at 3.29.57 PM Screen shot 2010-01-21 at 3.46.17 PM Untitled-1 Untitled-2 1 full dvd cover http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/03-12-2009-filming-day/ http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/03-12-2009-filming-day/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:53:34 +0000 Amy http://amymediafilm.wordpress.com/?p=402 ]]> Pre-filming note
Today we are finally going to film our title sequence. We need to collect our equipment that includes a camera and tripod because we want or camera movement to be steady. We’re leaving to set up the location at about 12 ready for our girls to arrive at 3pm. We now only have three girls to film for our sequence because another one of our girls dropped out, and it was almost essential that we filmed this week. After filming, we will be taking still-shots of our actresses for our DVD front cover, which we have already posted our mock-ups for (see separate post).

Post-filming note
The actual filming itself went quite well but during the setting up we had a few minor set backs, lighting being just one of the problems.
Our lighting caused us a problem during the filming because we kept getting shadows when we trying to film our girls in action. Becuse of the natural light source obviously getting darker as time went on, it created shadows from the artificial light we had set up in the room. The poor lighting, also meant we started filming later, leaving us less time as some of our actors had to leave quite quickly. With the time being cut short, it also meant that we didn’t have time to shoot our stills of our models. This isnt too much of an issue because we can take the stills next week (same time, same location).
All in all, filming went quite well, and the shots that we got arent too bad.

Idea One
Our first idea features a large image of the four characters that dominates the whole bottom half of the front cover of the DVD. The photo will not feature a background and we will be placing the character photos onto the cover background. We plan for the background of the cover to be a very pale pink, attracted our highly female audience. The top half of the cover will feature a purple, rough cut out box with the title in the centre. Our house font is going to be a font called Eight Track from the website www.dafont.com. We chose this font because it seems quite young and fun which we’re sure will be attractive to our audience. In the background we’re going to display the same little icons that appear in the background of the shows title sequence.

Idea Two
Our second idea follows quite a similar colour scheme to the first idea, although purple is the dominating colour here. The background will be a pale purple, almost lilac, with a darker purple box in the middle presenting the title of the show in our house font. The box will be outlined with two white lines, making it seem like its glowing. The cover will feature four individual images of each of the girls with a oval shape separating them from the rest of the background in each corner in the cover. In between the top two and bottom two images will be a small purple heart in a black oval, similar to the ones the images of the girls will be in. Around the cover, little different sized purple hearts will be dotted around to fill some of the blank space in the background.

26.11.09
It sounds an awful lot like we’re just putting off filming, but this week one of our actresses is ill, again creating a huge dent in our filming process. So this week instead we’re going to work on creating some mock up covers for our DVD and hopefully researching a bit more into radio adverts .