Results from Questionnaire

After making our questionnaire we asked the Year 12 Media Students to watch our soaps and give us feedback on them. Some of the feedback isn't as detailed as I would like but I still get an idea of whether people liked my product and what I could do to improve.

Questions 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 10;

This table shows the results for the questions 1-7 and 10. Most of the people who filled out a questionnaire said that my product looked like a real media product and there was only a small percentage that said that it wasn't a trailer of a soap. On a lot of the questions the answers were one sided however for question 4 half of the class said that they liked the text with the voiceovers, however half of them didn't.


Questions 8 and 9;

Questions 8 and 9 were slightly different because they required people to write there answers instead of saying yes and no. What is shwon in the table above is a collection of all th answers written into a passage that I am able to understand. Some people said the same points so there wasn't any need for me to rewrite some of the points. 

Questionnaire for Soap Trailer

Questionnaire

1. After watching the soap trailer, would you say the trailer is advertising the soap genre?

2. Would you watch the soap after watching this trailer?

3. Is the music appropriate?

4. Should there be text with the voiceovers?

5. Is the trailer the right length?

6. Are there enough sterotypical characters for a soap?

7. Is there enough variety of shot types?

8. Is there anything that could be improved?

9. What works well?

10. Is the editing appropriate e.g the transitions and effects?

Research: Soap Magazine

 <This soap magazine is very full compared to what magazines usually look like. There is a lot to take in which could also mean that it catches people's eye because it is so different. It is not the typical colours of blue and red.

>This soap magazine is older than the others and you can see a lot more background. There aren't as many stories surrounding the main story like there are in magazines such as TV Choices. As you can see the colour of the background is pink so the title of the magazine doesn't stand out like it does on a blue background.

This Soaplife magazine reminds me of a normal gossip and fashion magazine .ie. Ok Magazine. The main story of the magazine is pregnancy and the whole magazine seems to be focused on Eastenders which suggests that it is specifically focused on one soap rather than several soaps at once.

Research: Soap Trailer Poster

 These posters are believed to have been made by fans of Eastenders not by the production team themselves. However they are quite effective in portraying an emotion and getting the audience to feel something and to react in some way. In the posters to the left and right the word "Alive" is in red which connotes danger and blood. The floor in the posters is also red, next to a gravestone, which connotes death. The poster below is quite bland and reminds me of posters you used to see in the Old West. This style of poster could be used to highlight the message that is being portrayed.

I believe that the poster below stating "Ian Beale" 'Stunt Double', was made to shame this part of Eastenders rather than promote it. A lot of posters that came up on Google were either pictures of the characters or madeup posters so it was hard to know whether a poster was real.

This poster was made by A2 students from 2011 to promote their soap. The characters seem to be grouped into 3 different types of character which suggests that there are a few rivalries in the soap. I like that they have used blue sky in the background to make the soap seem realistic.

I was unsure whether this poster was from a movie or a soap because it was made in the sixties. Even if it is not a soap poster I like the way that there is a focus on the car and that this focus starts from the edge of the poster and continues off of the poster.

There weren't many soap posters that looked like they were made by the production team however I can use the ones I have found to help me design my poster.

Feedback: Families

Positive:

• Like the slwoing down effect when used because it makes you look at it more and it is different to what you would usually see.
• The quality of them are good - could have been done by a professional.
• Genuine acting so it doesn't make you feel uncomfortable.

Negative:

• Sometimes they wondered about the storyline but were unsure whether that was meant to happen.
• Some of the quotes need to be cut down so that it is easier to read them.

Soap Trailer: Poster Plan

These are three different design ideas for my poster plan.

1. For my first design I have tried to incoporate all of my main characters so the audience know who the main people are. I have tried to place all of the characters that are opposed to each other on opposite sides of the page as to give some clue to the audience.

2. For my second design I have again used all of the main characters however they are more spread out so it doesn't look as 'blocky' as my first design. I have also placed the title and tag line at the top of the page so that it makes the audience notice it easier.

3. My third design is slightly different because I have just focused on the 'alpha male' as I wanted the audience to feel that my soap was full of drama and appealing.



First Draft of Soap Trailer: 7.12.11

 

Progress: 28.11.11

Our group has finished filming everything that we wanted and are now into the process of editing our film. We are using iMacs and although we have never used these before we are quickly exploring and getting the hang of the program Final Cut Pro.

The quality of the film is excellent as we used special HD cameras which were compatible with the iMacs. However, any music that we wish to import to the iMacs must be transferred with a special memory stick. We also have to record the voice overs for our soap trailer and we are going to use the characters themselves so the trailer is more believable.

Evidence of Filming: 24.11.11

We took these photos during our first day of filming to show that we thought about what we were filming and to prove that we were actually the ones filming.

In this photo I am directing the characters into their correct positions because they were slightly unsure about what they should do and where to stand.

In this photo it is showing that we are telling the characters what to do and where to stand to make the setting how we wanted it to be.

Tagline

This is the tagline for our soap:

"There's Two Sides To Every Story".

We decided to use this as our tagline because we wanted to imply that everyone can have a different opinion. We want the audience to be able to have a different opinion to the character in the soap. It also means that just because you might have heard one side of the story you shouldn't jump to conclusions because it may turn out to be the wrong conclusion. You need to wait until you have heard another side of the story before you do something that you will regret. That is the message that we wanted to portray with this tagline.

Storyboard Ideas

This is the storyboard where we planned our ideas. We planned severla different narratives on the storyboard and we gave an idea of what camera angles we thought would be best so that we wouldnt have to think about them when we were filming. We also had ideas for sound although some of those ideas we changed when it came to editing.

Costumes

Jack- the - lad; Dull coloured clothing
Druggie; Hoddie and worn looking jeans
Gay Couple; Bright colours/ 'fashionable' clothing
Love Triangle; Normal clothes
Alpha Male; Short sleeved t shirt, ripped jeans
Extras; Normal clothes
Geek; Shirt, trousers, glasses

We tried to dress the characters in the way that an audience would be most likely to relate them and recognise who they are meant to be. We also tried to make sure that the costumes would make a suggestion on how the characters would dress in the rest of the soap.

Location Photos 2

These are some more of our location photos. We have a variety of locations although we may not use all of them.

We thought that this alley would be a good place for one of our scenes to take place. Although it is stereotypical we feel that it would fit in well with our soap trailer.

We have chosen the market as a possible location to film because this is a place where the whole community can go and it is a soap convention. We have taken several different shots of different places in the market to give us some variation.

All of these photos are examples of locations that we could use in our soap trailer because they are appropriate for what we want. We will not use all of the locations featured but they are all locations we are considering.

Location Photos

These are photos of locations that could be used in our soap trailer. Where there is a shop name we made sure that we had permission from the shop to include the name of it. We explained that we were making a short film for our media coursework and we were considering places that we could use to film.

This is a picture of a Polish Food Shop. We wanted mixed nationalities in our soap trailer so we thought this would be perfect.

There is a pub down this road which we think is a good place to include in our soap trailer because it is a place where the community can go and have a drink. We also considered using a cafe for a place where the community could come together but we haven't decided which one would be the best to use.

This also relates to different nationalities as there is a Thai Restraunt called the Oriental Delight. We were unable to ask permission if we could use this restraunt which is why we have tried to make it unreadable.

This is a flower shop and we thought it was ideal for our soap trailer as it is quaint and looks like it could be used in a soap.

This is an isolated place and we though that we could film here because one of our scenes may start in an isolated place.

We thought that this alley would be the perfect place to film a scene in which a character is threatened.

These two photos are to show that we went and took the photos ourselves and didn't copy them off the internet.

Schedule

As a group we came up with a rough schedule on when we wanted to film our soap trailer and with whom.
We decided that our main days to film would be Thursday's and Monday's because that would be easiest for most people who are in our soap trailer to do.


Taking Possible Setting Pictures - Thursday 17th November


Filming
Monday's - 1.20pm - 4.30pm
Thursday's - 9.00am - 3.00pm
Sunday's - Anytime till 3.00pm


Filming Extras and Adults - Thursday 24th November - 12.00pm - 3.00pm

Thursday:

• Drug Scene, Gay Scene, Love Triangle Scene,

Sunday:

• Pub Scene, End Scene

Ideas for Voice Overs

This is a list of the possible voice overs that could be used in our soap trailer from each scene. We have tried to include thoughts and lines that could be used in a script to give us more choice to choose from when we are editing our soap trailer. 

Ideas for Soap Theme Tune

This is a link to a website that has uncopyrighted music that could be used as a theme tune for my soap trailer: http://freeplaymusic.com/search/category_search.php?t=v&i=1716
Some examples of songs are:

• Misfit
• Blue
• Mod Indigo
• Funky Haunted House
• Boohama
• Stepping Out
• Logo 5
• No Love Like This
• Snowy Beat
• Clever Little Gent
• Dyno Streets

These are my favourite choices for a theme tune for my soap trailer. Some of them are full songs so I would cut the part that I would want but some of them are very short and would be ideal.

Ideas For Background Music

These are some examples of music that could be used for our soap trailer:

Blue Foundation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUGzY-ihqWc

JavanDee: Final Escape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjOfXkcjyjk&feature=relmfu

Heartbeat(Chase and Status): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ3FQ86Ed6s

These are some examples of music that I may use in my soap trailer as background music. I want background music because I feel that it sets up the soap.

Settings and Camera Shots

• These are possible settings for our soap trailer. Although they may not all be used it is good to have a variety of settings in case one of the settings is unavailable.

Settings:


Market - public place - socialisation
Pub - meeting place for the characters
Park - romantic place/social place people go to have fun
Street - ties all the settings together as it is a way to get to places
Shop - a sense of community
Home - a place of safety for the characters

• This is a list of all the possible camera shots that we could use for our soap trailer to give variety and create an interesting trailer.

Camera Shots:


Long Shot - show all of the character
Close Up - establishing the characters face so it is recognisable by the audience
Mid Shot -
Panning Shot - following the characters point of view
Tracking Shot - follwoing the characters
Establishing Shot - introducing the characters
Dutch Tilt? - different view point?
Stationary -
Point Of View - realism - different views of characters/scenes

Characters and Story Lines

This is a list of all the possible people that could play characters in our soap trailer.

Mind Map - Ideas

This is the mind map of all of our original ideas. It includes Narratives, Theme Tune, Characters, Filming Style, Settings, Schedule, Target Audience, Trailer Images and Title.

Eastenders Christmas Trailer 2009

The very first shot in the trailer is of the Queen Vic which is a sociable place for all the community. This could suggest to the audience that the focus of the Christmas special is the Queen Vic or that something is going to happen there.

Throughout the trailer there are shots of different characters and just giving you a glimpse of what they are going to be doing. For exampe you see Phil holding a weapon and opening a door and then you see him being asked by another character what he is going to do. The trailer is all about setting the audience up to wanting to watch the soap.

Even though this is a christmas trailer for a soap that has been on for more the 25 years I believe that it can help us create our trailer for a new soap because it uses conventions of mystery.

The BBC

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936.

1932 to 1939
Mechanically scanned, 30-line television broadcasts by John Logie Baird began in 1929, using the BBC transmitter in London, and by 1930 a regular schedule of programmes was transmitted from the BBC antenna in Brookmans Park. Television production was switched from Baird's company to what is now known as BBC One on 2 August 1932, and continued until September 1935. 
 1946 to 1964
Television transmissions resumed from Alexandra Palace in 1946. The BBC Television Service (renamed "BBC tv" in 1960) showed popular programming, including drama, comedies, documentaries, game shows, and soap operas, covering a wide range of genres and regularly competed with ITV to become the channel with the highest ratings for that week.
 1964 to 1967
BBC TV was renamed BBC1 in 1964, after the launch of BBC2 the third television station for the UK; its remit, to provide more niche programming. The channel was due to launch on 20 April 1964, but was put off the air by a massive power failure that affected much of London, caused by a fire at Battersea Power Station. A videotape made on the opening night was rediscovered in 2003 by a BBC technician. In the end the launch went ahead the following night, hosted by Denis Tuohy holding a candle. BBC2 was the first British channel to use UHF and 625-line pictures, giving higher definition than the existing VHF 405-line system.
1967 to 2003
In March 2003 the BBC announced that from the end of May 2003 (subsequently deferred to 14 July) it intended to transmit all eight of its domestic television channels (including the 15 regional variations of BBC 1) unencrypted from the Astra 2D satellite. This move was estimated to save the BBC £85 million over the next five years.
While the "footprint" of the Astra 2D satellite was smaller than that of Astra 2A, from which it was previously broadcast encrypted, it meant that viewers with appropriate equipment were able to receive BBC channels "free-to-air" over much of Western Europe. Consequently, some rights concerns have needed to be resolved with programme providers such as Hollywood Studios and sporting organisations, which have expressed concern about the unencrypted signal leaking out.

Home and Away Conventions

I watched an episode of Home and Away so I could determine what conventions were used. These was a theme tune at the start like any other soap and it was quite short.

In the episode there was a continuous storyline and also a multi stranded narrative, however the different storylines were linked by one character who was a psychic. Unlike most other soaps Home and Away had background music through most of the episode which took away some of the realism. There were two examples of typical characters; a fiesty young female who was angry at her dad and his new girlfriend and a young couple who got married quickly and were worried what the future holds for them. Although Home and Away seems to centred around the Bay the characters spent a lot of time in the cafe which could suggest that is where the characters like to relax.

How does an extract from Eastenders demonstrate soap conventions?

In the extract we watched, Eastenders displayed several different soap conventions. One example is family breakups. Two of the characters were planning to kill Dot behind everybody's back. Bianca and Whitney also have a fight during the episode about Whitney purposely missing a maths exam. She says there isn't any point in her going because "everyone else will be working and I will just be sat there". Bianca also hints that she has missed school before which means that this narrative has been continued through some previous episodes. There is naturalistic lighting and diagetic sound through the episode to create realism. Keeping in the background noises creates a better scene for the audience and makes them feel like one of the characters or as if it is happening in real life.


In terms of characters there are a wide range of ages starting from about 10-11 and reaching Dot's age. As well as mixed ages there are also mixed genders. Mixing the age and gender mean that there can be a wide range of storylines to shock the audience and make them want to watch more. If there was only one gender and one age then the audience would become bored and it may also cause an uproar of discrimination. In this particular extract there was only one 'coloured' male which could suggest something about discrimination from past episodes. We see two characters walking through the square which fits the convention of setting as it is set mainly around the square. Another example is Coronation Street which has Manchester as its main setting.

Hollyoaks Theme Tune and Opening Sequence

Hollyoaks and Eastenders theme tunes are totally different. Hollyoaks used to start an episode showing the audience what happened in the previous episode however now that has changed. The opening sequence is approximately 1 minute 10 because all of the characters are shown with something that represents them and every time there is a new character the title sequence changes. The colours, characters and music that they have used contrasts strongly to the opening sequence of Eastenders. The music that is used as Hollyoaks theme tune is faster than Eastenders and it also doesn't have repetition. What is similiar between the two opening sequences is the end when they show the name of the soap. You can link Hollyoaks to Barthes theory of enigma codes because the first scene is introduced with music that flows from the theme tune and it relies more on visual clues that narrative clues which is what Eastenders does.