Second Draft

In our second draft we intended to address the improvements needed which was suggested by some viewers. At the same time we wanted to ensure that the whole trailer ran smoothly.

Feedback for First Draft

At the moment we are deciding on changes but we thought it would be best to allow others to give us a different perspective.


Improvements Needed-

Improvements-
The voiceover was to vague and we need to make it louder and clearer to when the soap will start.
The title screen 'Cultural Differences' doesn't work.

Positives-
The music fit the shots well.
The pace is good for a soap trailer.
We have a range of different characters.

Our First Draft

This was our first draft and we received feedback which was very promising for our overall concept.

Editing Techiniques

Straight away we have realised how bright some of our shots are so therefore we have use vignette to darken the outlines in a border style.

The main font we are using is Hirigaguna kaku gothic font, we were stuck between two different fonts however we decided to go with our chosen font because it reflected proffessionalism and quality.

Our titles between shots and during shot simply fade in and out as we didn't want overcomplicate what is going on. We also used fade to black to make the shots link together in a simple wave so that the fluency and fast paced was still present.

Our channel 4 page we use at the end to show when our was going to be scheduled on television was a simple transition which we added text and the channel 4 logo to.

Equipment

As a cast we have many different pieces of equipment at our disposal.

Firstly we have decided on using the Panasonic HDC-SD80-



Tripod- This would be especially handy for our tracking and panning shots as there is very little hand held capturing.



iMacs- Due to our footage being filmed at different times of day with different environments colour match is helpful for keeping the continuity of the filming.



Final Cut Pro- This is a huge step up from adobe photoshop as it allows you to adjust effects and footage aswell as choosing from thousands of sound effects.








Voice Recorder- This will be mainly used to record our voiceover which will be shown at the end of our trailer when the title flashes up.

Actors

Liam Dawson (18 year old)- Although he is not seen in shot he has his hood up when driving to add tension for the audience as they are unsure on who he is and where he's going.

Tom Jenner (Exam Stress, 18)- He is used as being someone who studies hard but still finds exams challenging but his other side is of a stereotypical bad teenager who hangs around on street corners. We used this to reflect different levels of society.

We need to reflect cultural diversity and a result we are going to use Kieran Dale (17) who is mixed race and follows the sikh religion.

Malcolm Irons (Loneliness 70+)- We needed an older character who typically struggles when getting out the house. In our trailer we decide to have him buying a paper to reflect the different ages and lifestyles between characters.

Susanne Green (21 Female)- We wanted a shot of a lanlady pouring a pint and distributing it to the pub. We thought it would be an easy way to include a typical setting.

The Film Process

Saturday 24th November - Filming cancelled due to wrong conditions.

Monday 26th November - We gained footage of 2 storylines which we needed.

We have gathered almost three quarters of our footage during a week period. We have began to edit on the Mac's and we have decided on a soundtrack. Our nexts steps are to create a fast pace edited trailer with titles where neccessary. We probably have about 5 minutes of footage which will be helpful as we can cut the footage as much as we need to.

Changes-

We have changed all the titles when editing to suit the style of a soap trailer. The titles were to slow so therefore we chose titles which entered and exited the screen as quick as possible.

Our first soundtrack

It didn't suit our shot so therefore we changed it to a new one which was a modern guitar series which is similarly used in hollyoaks.

Filming Schedule

We have decided to shorten the amount of people in our cast so there is less problems when arranging a filming date.

Saturday 24^th November 10:30 AM – (People Present- Steven Kelly, Josh Davis, Liam Irons, Shane McDonald, Tom Jenner Kieran Dale.)

Shots-

 Shot of Sold Sign

Radio in car close up

Kieran hanging around the shops and contrast with him at home in different clothing.

Shane in his car staring as we drive by.

Monday 26^th November (Josh, Liam and Dawson)

Jaz Yorks day time- Shot of holly throwing Alan out of the pub.

Tom Staring at the car passing outside the chip shop,

Our First Storyboards

We thought that the most important way to begin our soap trailer was to create a view from the audience's perspective. As a result we upkept this to allow the audience to feel that the soap was new and they were arriving and creating relationships with characters immeadiately.

We thought it was important to reflect as many storylines as possible and support Propps theory by creating character functions and making the audience feel comfortable with each location.

Our storyboards were a group effort. At the first stage we decided to write down all the shots that we thought we needed. We didnt decide on an order because we thought it would work better if we captured the footage before hand to decide which shots worked when put next to each other. However we did decide on most of the editing techniques. We looked at certain extracts from soap trailers and decided that it was vital to use as many cuts as possible. Therefore the use of cuts in are trailer was very high because we wanted to reflect the soap trailer layout.

Location shots

At first we decided an area in which we thought would be suitable for filming. We then searched the surrounding areas for a pub, chipshop, offlicense and then a road sign so that we could use it as a title page at the end of our trailer.

Shot List Ideas

1. Low angle Shot of suitcases being place into the boot of my car: To suggest someone is moving house.

2. Tracking shot which is a POV from the car looking out onto the surrounding streets.

3. A mid shot of a mother beckoning her child off to school, which cuts to a shot of her opening a bill to suggest she is struggling.

4. A close up on Shane staring at our camera and then cutting to him looking down at his phone which says ' its over ' or another message.

5. A mid shot of kieran our sikh character walking passed the chip shop, he is wearing gangster clothing to suggest his place in society is as being an annoyance. We then cut to him at home in smart clothing acting polite.

6. We thought another good shot would be to include a grandad exiting an off license with paper in hand. He looks at the camera and then drops the paper. We then thought we could cut to him being home alone to suggests he is lonely and in need of a friend.

7. Finally we thought of including an attractive young female to introduce a male audience. We thought we could show a low angle shot of a girl getting out of a taxi or other car and showing her high heels.

8. Our final shot would be of our main character picking up a sold sign and putting it on the floor before entering a house. We decided on this shot to create a parrallel situation where the audience is new and being introduced at the same time as our character.

Letters Of Permission

Evidence of Planning

MindMapping-

We decided that it would be sensible to note down as many ideas as we had so that we could expand on specific ideas. I feel now looking back at this that without it we would have not been as creative because many of the points on our mind map have created the majority of our soap trailer.

Our 5 Minute Pitch

We had to create a presentation in which we would show to the entire class. Our main aim was to try and persuade the audience into thinking that our soap would be successful if shown on  television.

The main conventions we talked about was:
-Name
-Characters
-Title sequence
-Target audience
-Music
-Our roles
-Location
-Editing

We had 5 minutes to discuss each of these points in as much detail as possible. We broke the powerpoint down into sections and feedback. I feel that as a group we were given more of an idea on what our main aim was and it also allowed us to improve communications amongst the group.

Initial ideas

The Crescent
16-25 year olds
One Narrative
A range of Characters - (Age/Gender/Race)
A Grandad
A Mother and Son
A young attractive female
A 17 year old sikh teenager

-Monday-Friday 8o'clock
- Males and Females
-Channel 4

Settings:
Pub
Off License
Chip Shop
Dry Cleaners
Medical Centre

Our first idea was that we would have a scene which introduced as much about our soap as possible. Firstly the character would enter a car. We had the idea that our non diegetic sound (theme tune) would play as we press the radio button. From there we cut all the bits that are not worth seeing and have a tracking shot of the location. From their we zoom in onto certain characters and give the audience an idea of their roles. At the end we decided to have our character picking up and putting the sign down on the ground then entering his house. We have contacted Peter Lane through our family members and he has agreed to lend us a sign for our trailer.  Our main aim was to try and introduce our target audience to the soap in general by using a character in a similar situation.

Conventions of Soap Trailers

-Theme Tune

-Title and Date of Showing

-Fast Pace Editing- However the use of transitions and cuts is simple.

-Reflection of certain narratives and characters

-Diegetic Sound (However Non Diegetic sound is being used more often in modern times)

- The Emmerdale 40th year anniversary trailer used slow paced editing to express the relationships between characters to the audience.

-Usually between 30-60 seconds, e.g in Eastenders the branning brothers trailer was exactly 30 seconds however the hurricane sharon trailer was closer to 60 seconds.

Mise en Scene in Soaps

Taxis:



Park Benches:



Bus Stops:

Why are Soaps thought to be for Females?

Soaps tend to give freedom for mothers or housewives to sit down and watch something purely for entertainment. Soaps tend to use more Matriarchs to make women the more dominant in soap situations. Therefore women feel abliged to watch as they are enjoying the women being in charge. Another stereotype conveyed in soaps is that women tend to gossip. From there women feel comfortable to sit down and enjoy the soap as they have similar interests to the female characters on screen. Overall women as a general stereotype like to no whats going on in there surroundings as they are voyeuristic. Soaps give the viewer a chance to see exactly what is going on, and its comfortable for them because its other people's problems rather than their own.

Camerawork, Editing and Sound Conventions of Soaps

Editing:

SoundBridges- They are used to link narratives together and show that the events are happening at the same time, e.g In eastenders when a song is playing on the radio and we here it playing several times at different settingss.

Two Shots- The main purpose is to convey dialogue between two characters at one time. This also shows that mainly Diegetic Sound is used in traditional soaps. Hollyoaks challenges this convention as it uses Non Diegetic Sound.


Camerawork:

Close Ups- These are mainly used to show different characters emotions and thoughts.

Tracking and Panning-  These are most common camera movements of soaps as they reflect how narratives are moving from place to place and that there is always something going on.

Sound:

All soaps have a theme tune which gives that certain soap its brand identity. This is used so that when people here the sound they think '......is on I need to go and watch it'.

How does Brown's Theory Relate to Soaps?

Soaps look at Brown's theory for guidance when creating soap narratives.

Uses and Gratifications Theory Conists of:

-Diversion - This is pure entertainment, although this may not be the main purpose of the soap it takes a lead role as people watch soaps for the drama and entertainment.

-Personal Identity- This is used to allow the audience to relate to different characters and narratives. This opens the opportunity for the audience to relate characters mistakes to their own and therefore they become humurous.

-Personal Relationship- Stereotypically females tend to discuss topics they have seen on soaps when sitting down in a social situation

-Surveillance- Surveillance helps to give the audience the feeling that what they are watching is real because the events on screen are up to date and display current events.

Browns theory is important when creating soaps because it relates to all the purposes of soaps. Soaps should be entertaining and have the sense of realism which is reflected by the Uses and Gratification Theory.

Gender Stereotypes in Soaps

In Traditional Soaps we would always have at least one Matriarchs:

Eastenders - Peggy Mitchell

Peggy mitchell was portrayed as a matriarch as she was the landlady at the local pub on albert square. She is given a lot of power even though she's female and everybody knows exactly who she is. This is deliberately done to allow women to feel satisfied that it isn't always the men who are dominant.

Coronation Street - Tracy Barlow

This is a traditional convention in soaps and there dominant actions help to link storylines together. For example they may gossip and then create controversy because of there dominance creating a chain reaction.

Modern soaps use more Patriarchs:

Hollyoaks - Brendan Brady



He is a dominant male and his actions affect all the characters around him. The director will look for him to drive the narratives and link different stories together. He is looked at as being a powerful character and other characters will either shy away or try to create a good relationship with him.

Eastenders - Ian Beale



He is a weaker character and although he is a businessman and head of a family he seems to be quite vulnerable and weak when it comes to conflicts. So Eastenders is trying to challenge the major gender stereotypes.

Typical Soap Settings

A Local Pub, E.g The Queen Victoria (Eastenders)



Off Licence/ Corner Shop, E.g Corner Shop (Coronation Street)



Mechanic Service Station, E.g The Arches (Eastenders)




More modern soaps such as hollyoaks tend to use more lively settings which appeal to a younger audience, E.g nightclubs:




Sixth Form College:




The traditional soaps such as Eastenders, Coronation Street and Emmerdale all tend to use similar comfortable settings. On the other hand more modern soaps express new trends which appeal to a younger audience and begin to challenge traditional stereotypes.

Audience Theories

CopyCat- This theory relates to how some people tend to copy characters actions from movies. For example in 'a childs play' the final scene is very similar to the kidnapping of James Bulger by Thomson and Venables. They carried out the killing of the young boy in a similar way to which the film 'a childs play' finishes.

Hyperdermic Syringe- The audience wants to be filled with information from the programme.

Desensitisation- This is when the actions on screen effects the audience and makes them think about the actions in a more natural way. The audience begins to think that the scenes they are seeing are real and therefore acceptable in society.

Uses and Gratifaction (Blumer and Katz) - This is broken down into different audience pleasures. Diversion, Personal Identity, Personal Relationship and Surveillance. The theory refers to how the audience enjoy what they watch and how they share it with others.

Diversion- Fatboy from Eastenders could say something humurous and as a result it makes you laugh.

Surveillance- In one of the episodes of Eastenders there was olympic banners in the square advertising the Olympics. This makes the audience feel that they are up to date with current events and therefore receive an audience pleasure.

Personal Relationship- Hearing a Joke on Coronation Street and discussing it with your friend the day after.

Personal Identity- Different characters display different personalities as a result we can relate to there actions because it may be similar to something we have done or seen before. As a result we laugh because we have had the same thing happen to us.


Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Meeting a social need, and developing yourself.

Narrative Theories

Barthes - Gives the audience an enigma code, e.g a close up on a knife, which gives the audience a hint of danger to come.

Levi-Strauss - Binary oposition- Good vs evil, e.g Heather vs Ben.

Todorov- The sense of a beginning middle and end.

Vladimir Propp- He thought that characters had key functions. For example we would have a protagonist and antagonist a long with many different characters to show off different personalities.

Open Narrative- an open narrative is when a story carries on between episodes and doesn't show a sign of ending.

Example: Heathers murder in Eastenders, the first episode is when Heather is murdered by Ben Mitchell, this is an open narrative because it opens the door for the storyline to continue. Instantly you begin to ask yourself is he going to get caught? As a result you continue to watch because you are intent on finding out what happens in the end.

Close Narrative- This is the opposite to an open narrative, it addresses less issues and therefore when resolved the storyline finishes.

Example: Michael walks into the shop and buys some nappies. This is a close storyline because it doesnt open up the opportunity for this story to be continued into future episodes.
Multi-Stranded Narrative- This is when a number of storylines are linked together in an episode, this is a key convention as it is used effectively in multiple soaps.

Sterotypical Soap Editing Techniques: Eastenders

-Reflects the characters personalities and tries to create a relationship between the characters and the audience.

-Using lots of names to allow new viewers to quickly understand who the characters are.

-Lots of shot reverse shots to show dialogue, which allows the audience to understand who is speaker to who and engages the audience into the conversation.

-Cross cutting between scenes is a huge editing technique in all soaps as it gives you an idea of what is happening else where. This keeps the audience interested because it introduces all of the audience pleasures. For example Personal Identity where somebody viewing may be able to relate to a specific event/character.

- Sound bridges are used to link the different scenes together.

-Soaps tend to use comfortable settings to allow the audience to feel safe when watching.

-Cliffhangers are always used in Eastenders therefore there specific target audience tunes in for the next episode so they can see what happens.

Improved Tv Listings Magazine

I made a few changes, for example I changed my main background colour to grey as it made the magazine seem more proffessional. Also I altered the position of my main image so that it interlinked with my other images.

Finished Billboard Poster

As my film was horror i used a main image which was predominantly black as this connotes mystery and puts the audience on edge. I used a simple layout and manipulated a few images to give it a proffessional look. I displayed both my production and 'film four'. Therefore I could promote the television premier easily. I also used reviews to give others some input into what others thought and therefore to persuade them to come and see the film. To add to the horror I replaced the 't' in Ancestry with a crusifixs. I did this primarily to create a hidden meaning of horror and to make the billboard jump out at you.

The Masthead ‘TV Times’ was simple and clear. It gave the audience a clear idea on what the magazine contained.

The primary colour of red helps to connote masculine topics. However this is contrasted by the pug which advertises a competition which is a trip to Hawaii. This would appeal more to females because it is a luxurious location, and women tend to be more interested in scenic vacations.

As an improvement I could try to cover more of the green so that it doesn’t look as plain. I could also alter my main image and try to manipulate my images to create a professional all round finish.

I used simple transitions to make the images and words catch the reader’s eye. However I could put more effects on the pictures because they look quite out of place.

I used a question as my main strapline so that I could get the reader involved. I thought this would be a good ploy because it makes the reader want to find out more inside.

I used many coverlines so that I could appeal to more of a mass audience. Although all the programs I am advertising are male dominant programs, they could still appeal to women because every person has different interest. As a result using a variety of images opens a wider experience for the person reading the magazine.

My Target Audience was intended to be for men; therefore I included many masculine storylines and stereotypical topics such as football by advertising The European Championships 2012.

Completed Tv Magazine.

This was a tester poster. I wanted to try out a layout and colour choices. Therefore after creating the poster I annotated my work to see where I could improve.

Annotated Tv Listing's Magazine