Question 4

QUESTION 3!

Question 2 Evaluation

Copy of How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts on Prezi

Question 1

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The use of an establishing shot at the start of the trailer is used to show the main centre of the soap and where the stars usually meet and this is the location where the majority of the drama happens. This is used throughout many soap for example in Coronation Street with the rovers return. Also using a pub as the central location to the soap uses the conventions of Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Eastenders. Following the conventions of existing soap operas shows that this soap trailer which has been made is fitting in with what the public sees as a soap opera therefore appealing to the audience more by following the codes and conventions of what they already consume.

The use of a chapel for the wedding reflects the shotgun wedding which is taking place also the emptiness of the chapel depicts that the wedding hasn’t had a lot of planning put into it as there is only 4 people involved in the ceremony, the bride to be, vicar and two witnesses. This reflects the fact that the wedding is not legitimate and that the two people involved have not informed their friends and family as they are not present. This is present in many of day to day issues with young adults who don’t want to do as their parents say they want. This idea is also used in the American soap ‘The young and the restless’ where two of the characters leave home together and get married without the consent and knowledge of the parents. To reflect that the wedding is a cheap rushed wedding the bride is wearing a pink dress with tights and normal shoes as this shows how casual the wedding is and it doesn’t actually mean anything to the two people who are involved in the wedding. The fact that the ‘groom’ does not show up and leaves the bride at the altar furthers the knowledge that the wedding doesn’t mean anything to him as he doesn’t want to spend his life with her. Again this is present in many of today’s soap operas as on a regular basis married couples are getting divorced or failing to get married because they don’t want to be together.

The use of title cards is used in the majority of soaps as this creates the narrative for the audience. In the soap Bamford title cards are used to give a narrative to what is going on which keeps the audience aware of what is happening as this is an original soap opera. The title cards are being centred on one character as this is the character that has come into the soap to cause trouble and make the equilibrium of the soap alter so that not everything is okay. In many of the soap operas the story line which is taking place is centred around one character in particular many popular soaps have had the main ‘evil’ character for example in Coronation Street with ‘Richard Hillman’ and in Eastenders with ‘Dirty Den’ similarly in the original soap opera of ‘Bamford’ the character who the plot is centred around is ‘Mason’ who is the stereotypical ‘Bad Boy’ who disturbs the equilibrium in the community on his return to the town.

 The use of a slow motion shot  when  ‘Kate’ drops the flowers when she has been jilted at the altar creates a much more dramatic effect as the slow motion reflects her feels as though time has slowed right down when she has been given the news that she has been jilted at the altar. This camera technique is very common to create suspense as the effect of slowing time down makes the audience feel as though they are involved with the character and makes them feel the same way that the character is feeling. This is a common convention throughout British soaps as the grittiness of the British soap opera allows the audience to relate to the working class lives that the characters live.

I also used different camera angles which are often used in many soap operas such as tracking shots, pans, Big close ups and medium close ups as well as long shots. The use of these different angles allow for the audience to feel more involved as they are seeing the trailer from many different angles, this allows the audience to feel they are seeing everything that is happening in the trailer in detail. I feel that this is shown most when the trailer uses the audience as the 4^th wall and this shot really makes the audience feel as though they are in the soap opera watching what’s happening from firsthand experience as they feel that they are in the room with the characters and that they are part of what is happening. This is a way to make the audience feel as though they are the ‘fly on the wall’ in a room when a particular moment is happening. This technique is used throughout soaps and sitcoms across the world as it allows the audience to feel more involved with the characters this is used mainly in British soaps when the characters are in a house for example in Coronation Street for example if part of the storyline takes place in a house you will be able to see three of the four walls in the room therefore making the audience feel like what is taking place is happening right in front of their eyes.

 The editing used throughout the trailer gives the trailer a quick pacey feel to it as the song used in the trailer is a fast paced song and therefore the editing matches it. The song which I chose started out fairly slow but kicks in half way through this helped when to add in a freeze frame to add dramatic effect when the drug scene is happening. When the drugs are passed and the freeze frame happens the drum beat kicks in and the music picks up this shows that the things that the character mason is about to do will alter everything good in the soap. As well as the music becoming sharper so does the editing as quick cuts become the main edit for the last part of the trailer when the majority of Mason’s acts take place. This reflects the fact that Mason causes most of the issues in the soap.

The use of red bricked terraced houses also gives the effect of a working class soap which appeals to most people who watch soaps as usually the target audience for soap operas are people who live in a working class family and want to feel as though their lives have as much excitement as the lives people lead on the soap. This is also true for most of the British soaps for example in Coronation Street the majority of the houses are small terraced houses as the people who live in them are working class and lead working class lives. This appeals to the audience as many of the people who watch soap operas are working class and therefore, as British viewers want to relate to the soaps they are watching, most of the viewers can relate to the working class background that the characters are living. The fact that the majority of the scenes are shot in the day time shows that the people who are in the soap do not have a job as they are not at work in the middle of the day. This also reflects some of the target audience as stereotypically some soap opera fans do not have a job and live their lives through soaps.

The soap opera has used many stereotypes throughout the trailer. The use of stereotypes such as ‘bad boys’ who take drugs, fight and wear hoodies with the hood up this is shown with the characters Mason and Johnny. This is a convention which is used throughout many soaps for example in Eastenders the character of Ben is portrayed as the bad boy as he has been to prison and more recently has killed somebody. These stereotypes live within every community in the UK and therefore everyone can relate to the ‘Bad Boy’ stereotype as everyone will know somebody who either is or wants to be seen as a ‘Bad Boy’ and therefore will always try and portray the stereotypical behaviour that we believe someone of that stereotype must show.  Other stereotypes used in the trailer are the over protective brother, Rav, and the gossiper who always tries to cause trouble, Brie. Again these stereotypes are very true to every soap for example the ‘gossiper’ is shown throughout all soaps for example in Coronation Street with ‘Norris’ who is always trying to get involved in other people’s business. Although stereotypically the ‘busy body’ in the soaps are older in the original soap trailer the gossiper is a young girl and therefore challenges the convention of the ‘gossiper’ being an old person.

In the trailer I have used a closed narrative as when Johnny and Mason are talking in the pub they plan to ‘get Rav’ and they discuss a time when to do it. However Rav doesn’t know its happening as he doesn’t know that both Mason and Johnny are out to get him. The fact that the audience know more than a character as to what is happening in the trailer lets the audience feel the suspense as they know something is going to happen but they don’t know when it will happen so whenever the characters involved meet the suspense builds up within the audience. This technique furthers the attempts to make the audience feel involved with the characters lives as they feel that they are in on a secret between them and the characters and they feel more involved than some of the other characters on the soap.

Throughout the trailer I have tried to use, develop and challenge conventions of existing soap operas, however to appeal more to existing soap fans I have use more conventions rather than changing them as it allows the audience to feel comfortable with a new soap as it follows many conventions of the existing soaps which they know and love.

Final Trailer

Final Billboard

This is the final draft of the billboard for the original soap opera. The images have been changed as this billboard reflects the fact that these two characters are attempting to disturb the equilibrium in the soap. The use of half of the faces either side of the billboard shows that the audience do not know all about these characters and there is still more to uncover. I have used a brick wall in the background to reflect the portrayal that it is a working class soap. I have used text which looks as though it has been graffitied on the wall behind the characters this furthers the image that these two characters are not going to abide by the law. I feel that this billboard works better than the previous one as it shows who the main antagonists are in the soap and therefore allowing for the narrative to be put across to the audience at a quick glance of the billboard. The text used in this billboard is also more effective than in the previous billboard as it shows that the two people in the billboard are there to cause trouble.

Billdboard Draft

This billboard has only changed slightly by just adding a strapline to the billboard however the amount of characters and the branding still need to be changed the branding needs to be changed to the ITV logo which will match that of the trailer. Also the narrative of the billboard is still that all the characters are in on something together and this needs to be addressed and changed because the narrative i am aiming for is that Mason is back and people are out to get him. This billboard doesn't reflect the narrative that I am aiming to put across as this billboard shows that the character 'Rav' played by Phil is the antagonist.