Evaluation

Final evaluation powerpoint

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Audience Feedback

After I completed the main task and the ancillary texts, I targeted my audience for feedback. I simply asked the actors and actresses who featured in the media product and other people of the same age. This is the response they had on my media product:

- the part with the three girls in the park laughing is effective as it looks natural
- the music seems relevant to the piece and the tone
- looks professional
- looks like a TV programme
- the music sounds like a real tv show.
- I like the beginning and end shot where the characters come towards the screen as it gives it a unique style
- the font is good because it looks like it belongs to a children's TV drama genre
- I thought the timing overall was effective as you were able to read everything and the bold made it stand out against the images
- font style suits the pace of the music and characters
- some shots look more natural than others and the natural shots attract the attention the most
- the bold colouring accentuates the emotions within the character, emphasizing that it's a energetic and enthuastic programme
- the 'flashy' editing, shapes and colours make the piece stand out
- there were differences of opinion on the font choice - older ages of the target audience did not like it, in contrast to the younger ages of the target audience

The audience feedback that I gathered from the target audience was significant in underlining the improvements that could have been to, in particular, the main text. While the feedback was mostly positive, there was also a mixture of negative comments and suggestions on what could have been improved to make the final product more effective. The majority of people asked liked the ‘natural’ shots as they were said to increase the verisimilitude by making the audience believe that the gang were a genuine group of friends, and this helped the audience form a connection with the characters as individuals and as a gang. The shot that was said to have been most natural was the mid shot of the girls laughing and therefore, to improve my product, I could have used more natural shots to reinforce the relationship of the gang as a whole, and the relationships within the gang. Moreover, the younger ages of the target audience (8-12 year olds) stated that they liked the font choice as it connected with the genre, whereas the older ages of the target audience (13-16 years old) didn’t like the text as much, and this shows the differences between the ages of the audience and that more consideration should have been taken into meeting the needs of the viewer.

Final Main Task

Final Ancillary Tasks - Magazine and DVD cover

Magazine Cover:





DVD Cover:

Further Textual Analysis - Magazine Covers

Further Textual Analysis - DVD covers

Textual Analysis:

Ancillary Tasks

Having made some sketches of ideas for a DVD cover and a magazine cover, I started to work on them in Adobe Photoshop. I began by finding a DVD template and then using photographs and using the same font that was used in the opening of the TV drama.



This is the very basic DVD cover that I have started to put together, it is not finished yet as there are still areas missing and I will add some effects to the images and text. However, this may give a feel of the type of DVD I am aiming for and the final look. Having started this, I have a positive idea towards the DVD cover and its final look, but I still think I need more practice with using the effects in Photoshop effectively. Moreover, when completing textual analysis and looking at other DVD cover's from the same genre, I noticed that the design of most was quite basic - very little effects were used, instead a particular font was chosen and a few photographs of the drama.

Filming - 18 February

Today I completed new shots and re-shoots and this was successful.

Shots I completed:
- new shots of the girls and boys separated to create a more friendly feel in the group
- took an alternative of the jumping shot - a mid shot instead of a long shot
- new shot of Steph and Henry walking towards the camera whilst holding hands to reinforce their relationship through a different shot
- Emily's shot has been completed with better lighting and framing
- the walking shots were also changed, so the characters now walk past and towards the camera, allowing the audience to feel more connected-
- along with filming, I also took some photographs of the 'gang' to go towards the ancillary tasks

Overall, I feel today's filming was effective; the shots that I have completed will hopefully add more personality to the piece and allow the audience to connect with the characters much more, as before there was a lack of connection between the characters and the audience. Moreover, as many of the shots are now either a close up or a mid shot, this should be effective as it shows that the codes and conventions of children's TV drama have been taken into consideration closely. However, I could have taken more photographs of the 'gang' to help with the DVD cover and the magazine cover as the photos I have lack variety, but from mocking up ideas, I don't think this should be too much of an issue.

Photoshop Practice

As most of the class are unfamiliar with Photoshop, we starting to practice certain skills on the software.

To begin with we took a photo of a celebrity from Google using a specific search and opened this in Photoshop. This was followed by cutting out the celebrity from the image and placing it into a new A4 size image. I used the Magnetic Lasso tool; being beginner of Photoshop I felt that this would be the most effective way of cutting the image out without any noticeable errors. In addition to this, once the image was placed on the new A4 image, we used the text tool and inserted text over the image and then created a text box - adding a shadow effect to it and also adding effect to the celebrity by changing his opacity.

Practice 1...



In another lesson, we were given cameras and took photos of each other and imported one of the photos into Photoshop to do a similar task and to strengthen our skills on Photoshop. Similarly to the celebrity image, I used text over the image but added a shadow to the text and also added a shadow to the photograph, but the shadow was created by duplicating the image and changing the brightness/contrast levels.

Practice 2...

Codes and Conventions - Secondary Media

As beginning the ancillary tasks is approaching, I have completed research into the codes and conventions of my secondary media - a DVD cover for the series and the front cover for the magazine series. I have chosen specific children's TV drama series to give me an insight into the common features of DVD covers and magazine covers for the series. Particularly looking at Saved by the Bell and Everybody Hates Chris, as they were strong influences of my final piece.

Codes and Conventions:
- the main characters are typically centered in the piece
- a logo or a unique font is always evident so the audience visually recognise the series
- a small amount of writing, most attention is on the visual imagery
- quite basic techniques are used, which makes it easy for the young audience to associate with
- bright colours
- an obvious relation between the covers and the series itself should be evident

Textual Analysis:




I have completed some initial textual analysis of Everybody Hates Chris to give me a starting point for my ancillary tasks. I have now have an effective idea of the codes and conventions and will now begin to create some initial ideas for possible pieces. I will analyse more series, such as Saved by the Bell, Grange Hill and Sabrina The Teenage Witch so I have a significant understanding of how I can create an effective DVD/magazine cover.

Feedback

I received feedback from my teacher highlighting the areas that needed change to create a piece with codes and conventions evident, and to engage the target audience more:

- Improve the generated background from After Effects as it causes distraction and doesn't entirely fit with the piece
- The opening shot of the gang walking changed from an ELS to a MLS and have the gang walk closer to the camera to add a character engagement with the audience
- Shot 4's size to be reduced slightly to fit with the first shot of the character
- Shots 5-8 change the background to all pink to keep with the colours signifying gender and keeping to stereotypes
- Change the text colour of shot 6
- Shot of Heather is too far away, change to a CU or MS
- Shot of Emily is poorly framed and the lighting could be better - re-shoot
- Football shot doesn't work in the piece and the same for the shot of the girls laughing - create more effect by changing location so the boys and girls are laughing/messing around
- The shot of the gang walking back needs to be centralised
- Final shot to be changed to a close up of them jumping

To stick to the codes and conventions of the children's TV drama genre, I need to use close ups and mid shots of the characters as this is typically used in this genre to create an engagement with the characters and the audience. This is especially evident in Saved by the Bell. It was also established that the background music that has been chosen is not the right tempo to engage viewers as it becomes quite monotone, therefore I will aim to find a more up-tempo piece of music for the final piece.

So far I am happy with the progress that is being made towards creating a final piece; from gathering a variety of feedback I am aware of how I can show that I have paid close attention to the codes and conventions of the genre and I have a clear plan and idea of what to re-shoot/shoot, what to alter and what to add to create an effective piece. I do feel that such areas as the music and the generated background used from After Effects could have been altered earlier, but I still feel that progress is going well.

Initial final cut

Changes from the rough cut:

- action montage added at the end
- change of background music
- change of the amount of shots all characters have
- more of a narrative added to the intro - shot of characters walking down a road together and returning together - adds to the concept of a gang

This is my initial final cut as there are a few amendments that need to be made, including:

- a change of background music to fit more with the pace and tone of the piece
- changes to the diegetic sound as some sound can be heard that isn't meant to be there

Audience Feedback
To establish whether my piece was effective to the target audience, getting feedback from my target audience (7-13 years old) was essential. The response was:
- many liked the introduction of the characters with the animated background
- many said that it became monotone with all characters having two different shots, so I changed the pattern of the characters shots
- change of background music would prove more effective, as it didn't fit with the target audience or the piece itself
- the overall response was better than the rough cut; the audience felt there was more connection with the characters and this was particularly as a result of the action montage

So far, I am happy with the initial final cut; I feel a lot of progress and improvement has been made from the rough cut and that the piece is started to feel like a children's TV drama. However, there are still some obvious changes that need to be made to create a better effect and to enable the target audience to relate to the piece.

Freeze Frame effect

In the final shot for my children's TV drama coursework, I chose to a shot of the 'gang' jumping and then freezing this shot to allow the title to appear, whilst having the group visible in the background. However, as this was a new effect that I have no experience with, I chose to look on YouTube for some tutorials on how to create a freeze frame. I found this tutorial and it provided with the steps shown below to add the effect:



Step 1


Step 2


Step 3


Finished shot

Rough Cut

This is my rough cut for my children's TV drama opening. From watching my rough cut and gaining feedback from the teacher, I have instantly recognised the changes that I need to make for the final piece.

Main changes and improvements that need to be made:

- Music that builds the pace
- Less zoom on characters
- Title at the beginning needs to be more prominent
- Increase font size to avoid distraction
- Action based montage at the end

The main response to my rough cut is that it stays the same throughout - the footage and order of my piece flows, however there is little that builds the pace, most significantly the music, which inevitably loses the engagement of the audience. In addition to this, there is little action in my rough cut, therefore I need to add possibly a montage of action to give more of an insight into the gang, as it is quite easy to lose focus that this children's TV drama is fixating on a gang of friends. I will also alter the duration of time on each character - choosing two main characters within the gang that will be longer than the others; this will engage the audience in establishing the roles of each of the gang. Additionally, the length is longer than anticipated and with the action montage and other shots that will be added, I will need to ensure in the final piece that the length isn't too long - as children's TV dramas are typically under a minute in length. Furthermore, the titles I used proved to be ineffective; while I received positive feedback on the positioning and font of the titles, as there is so much going on in the background, it was easy to be distracted from the titles, making it difficult to read. Thus, I will stick to the positioning and font but make the text bigger for the audience.

It is evident that I have used Saved by the Bell as an influence for my children's TV drama piece, this meant that I had to use a mixture of different software to create my rough cut. I predominantly used Adobe After Effects, and after creating the rough cut, I'm still learning new skills for ways to improve the piece. I aim to change the shape of the footage on screen, as this appears in only one shape throughout, so by changing the shape this makes it more interesting to view and will create a distinction between characters.

Comparison with Saved by the Bell:

Shooting

First filming session - 8 November

I completed my first filming session, which went very well. I was able to shoot all the footage I needed to create a rough cut in time for the deadline and also get a feel of any location choices that I may need to change. I filmed two sets of characters at the same bench, and watching this back it is evident that I will need to re-shoot this at a different location for one of the characters. What's more, there were no issues with equipment or any actors/actresses unable to make it, and with all the filming I needed to get completed, I feel this was very successful.

Second filming session - 27 November

This filming session was also successful - from creating a rough cut and getting feedback, I knew what I need to re-shoot and any new shots that I needed to do. I re-shot certain shots that needed zoom to be removed and also changed location for a few, as well as improving lighting that affected the quality of certain shots. Again there were no issues on this filming session.

Images

From left to right: Kieran Mcdonald, Emily O'Connell, Stephanie Harding, Henry Warren, David Austin and Heather Casey



From taking this image of the 'gang' jumping, I have decided that this would be effective in my intro as an action shot; it would link in with children and create entertainment and increase the action in my intro.

First character titles in Adobe After Effects

As I successfully made my main title for the children's TV drama, I moved onto creating the titles and individual shots for the characters being introduced. I was now able to use the software comfortably for the intended purpose, and had a feel for the style of the entire piece.

These are my first attempts at making the titles and background for the male and female characters. They will each be shown for 3-4 seconds. From watching the pieces, it is evident that the colours are different for each gender, this not only allows the audience to recognise the gender, but also connects with the stereotypical colours associated with the gender. For instance, I have chosen different shades of blue for the male characters and pink and orange for the female characters.

Having created these pieces, I have decided that there needs to be more added to the piece to engage the audience further, however when producing the final piece, I must ensure that any background animation I add doesn't distract the audience from the characters being introduced.

An example of a male character's piece


This is the first piece of the couple in the gang's shot
As both genders appear in this shot, I chose to combine the colours used in the separate gender shots. I have also chosen to use one colour as stronger to convey that the relationship is not equal. For example, in my first attempt more pink and orange is shown, which suggests that the female holds more power.



This is the first rough title I created that contains a shot of the character, in the final piece it will be shown for 3 - 4 seconds, allowing plenty of time for the audience to engage with the character and establish the representation that has been used.



Moreover, each of the character titles possesses a contrasting effect that gives each character a sense of individuality, and keeps the audience engaged; unlike my animatic, I have started to remove the repetition first seen in the animatic.

It is also evident that Saved By The Bell has played a heavy influence in my final decision to use animation within my children's TV drama intro, along with the way in which the characters are presented on screen. However, I have chosen a more modernised introduction than Saved By The Bell, but I must ensure that my intro isn't too similar.

The beginning of Our Gang

As I am creating an animated background and using colour and movement to engage the younger audience, I chose to use the software Adobe After Effects as a starting point to allow create the titles and enable to grasp the use of the software. Following the feedback from my animatic, I chose a title as 'Our Gang' - this was chosen as I feel conveys the narrative well, and people who viewed my animatic quickly established that the characters were part of a gang. In addition to this, 'Our Gang' is simple for the target audience to associate with.

I began by creating a main title...

The main title will be shown for 4-5 seconds to instantly engage the audience.



From watching the main title, I felt that the colours were too feminine, and this was reinforced with feedback from people who viewed the title. As the target audience is a young male and female audience it was essential that I changed the colours to attract both genders. Nevertheless, the font chosen for the title is effective in linking with the theme of youth and the title itself. I also changed the effect of the title to a bolder effect, which is instantly in the audience's vision when the intro begins.



Shot 2


I have chosen the same colour scheme as the main title shot for the second shot, containing the 'Produced By...' title. This highlights that they are both the main titles of the intro.

Animatic and Storyboard

My initial storyboard can be seen on the first two pages, however I established that the length each of the shots were held for, was too long and while my intended time is acceptable for the genre, it didn't match with the length of the shots and this was fortified through feedback from the teacher. Therefore, I needed to add more shots to complete the time, and to make my opening more engaging and effective and I changed my storyboard and animatic by adding additional shots.



Feedback: I received positive feedback for my animatic - people were able to recognise quite well that it was a children's TV drama for young audience, which was said to be fortified through the background of the 'swirls' and the presentation of the characters. What's more, what interested people by watching the animatic was how the characters would be presented, for example would I use stereotypes or look at using characters of a different culture and race? Additionally, the audience were able to engage with the group of characters being a gang or a group of friends, which has encouraged me to name my piece 'Our Gang' to really allow the audience to understand the theme of the narrative.

However, I was informed that the editing style I used was repetitive that resulted in the animatic losing audience engagement, so for my final piece I will use a different editing style. In addition to this, the editing style resulted in the presentation of characters becoming quite similar, thus losing focus on the representation of the characters.

Conclusion and Evaluation of animatic:
Therefore, I am pleased with my final animatic; I feel that the feedback I received and from watching my animatic back will aid with my final piece and what I am going to change, and what issues I will develop - such as using stereotypes for my characters. Moreover, as making the animatic was an independent project that meant using the Adobe Premiere Pro software, which I struggled with at the beginning of creating the animatic, I now feel confident with using the software.

Furthermore, while I am pleased on the most part with the final animatic, I do feel that the style I used is quite repetitive and continues with the same theme, thus I intend on using, not just a different editing style, but also a different style of animation - with each character having animation and a background that reflects their characteristics and personality.

Final decision

I have decided to go with a teen sit-come drama, as I have collected some ideas and now have effective ideas to meet the codes and convetions, and to target the intended audience of 7-13 years old.