My Soap Opera Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lssq2r7NiU&context=C420966eADvjVQa1PpcFNoG1j6VDF1Ve5ekllRofmTnWgKdrY7lUk=

My Ancillary Texts

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

1- Using the programme Paint was important during my evaluation stages as it allowed me to take screen grabs from the internet as well as images that showed the media technologies that i used throughout the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages of my media product. It was important to use Paint as i could put all the screen grabs and images together collectively rather than put them on separately onto my blog. By using Paint for the evaluation stages it allowed me to save the file as a Jpeg and upload it to my blog quickly and effectively. Paint also allowed me to show my prints screens of scenes from my soap opera trailer which illustrated certain effects i used such as 'directional angle' and 'radial effect'.

2- Blogger was essential throughout my construction and research, planning and evaluation stages as it allowed me to document my findings in one place. By using Blogger i could keep all my documents in one place and access them easily, as well as edit or adapt them effectively. It also allowed my fellow classmates a chance to comment on the work i was doing as well as the teachers tracking my collection of work. Blogger has helped me organise the research for my media product: for example, when researching other soap trailers i could copy and past the URL onto my blog. 

3- I used Facebook during my research as i could upload my video and get feedback from my friends and family; which was suitable as most of my Facebook friends are my target demographic. Facebook also gave us quick communication between group members so that we could plan for our soap trailer effectively.

4- I used Google as my search engine for the internet and it has helped me with all my research. I have researched conventions of the soap genre, costume ideas, real media products such as posters and magazine front covers which have influenced my planning. I used Google to find existing media products so that i could analyse them and develop the planning for my own soap trailer. 

5- We used a voice recorder to record the voice-over for our soap opera trailer as well as the voice-over for one of our evaluation stages. The voice recorder allowed use to record what we needed quickly and efficiently so then it could be transferred onto our products effectively by USB and import it into Final Cut Pro X.

6- We used a Panasonic HD C60 video camera to film the footage of our soap trailer. The camera was light and HD quality which was an advantage when filming and constructing my soap trailer. By using a tripod i was able to film conventional soap genre camera shot such as mid shots and shot reverse shots as well as taking more than one take. The tripod also allowed us to stick to the 180 degrees rule as well as the rule of thirds. By using a brand new video camera we were able to transfer the footage to the computers by a micro card which is more effective than the tapes in the Mini DV cameras that we used at AS level.

7- Adobe Photoshop is the software i used for the construction of my ancillary texts; soap opera poster and front cover magazine. By using the programme Adobe Photoshop it has allowed my media products to look professional and sophisticated as my skills of the tools on Photoshop have improved. For example, the magnetic lasso tool allowed me cut out my characters carefully and quickly so that they could be placed onto a transparent layer and then moved onto my poster and magazine front cover; this allowed me to manipulate my ancillary texts so that they were conventional to real media products. Furthermore, Adobe Photoshop aided me to create a realistic and professional looking magazine front cover as i was able to manipulate shapes, colours and text to the soap opera genre. 

8- Using a Digital Still Camera during the research and planning meant that we could take pictures of possible settings and characters to see what would look better. For example: we took many photographs of sign names which helped us come up with the name 'Conway' for our soap opera trailer. After gathering the images of possible locations we were then able to weigh the advantages and disadvantages as well as which places were more conventional of the soap genre. Using a Digital Still Camera was important during filming as it allowed us to document our filming which ensure our footage was our own.

9- By using mobiles phones during our planning it allowed our group members to keep in contact and communicate with one another so we created a successful plan for our soap trailer. We could also arrange meetings and sort out any queries and worries between the group. 

10- YouTube was important during my research and construction, planning and evaluation stages as it allowed me to research existing soap trailers, find the music for my soap opera trailer as well as uploading my final media product so that i could get feedback from the public. By researching existing trailers on YouTube it allowed me to see the convention of soap trailers as well as what appealed to the audience. 

11- Final Cut Pro X was the editing programme i used to construct my soap opera trailer. By using a relatively new editing software it took a while to get used to a new programme. Final Cut Pro X allowed us to try out video and audio effects and transitions on our soap opera trailer as there were many to choose from; this gave our trailer a sense of excitement and added to the fast pace which was ideal due to our demographic. It was easy to manipulate effects in Final Cut Pro X as you could transform, distort and change the balance of things quite simply. 

As i was unsure of what piece of music i wanted for my soap opera trailer, Final Cut Pro X allowed me to place three different types of music into audio bars so that i could listen to them and see which one suited my soap opera trailer the best. Furthermore, i also needed to find a piece of music that suited the demographic and appealed to the target audience. Final Cut Pro X helped me with the construction of my soap opera trailer as it allowed my trailer to look clean cut, exciting and professional. 

12&13- These two images show me using the video camera when filming my soap trailer.  

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Throughout the process of constructing my soap opera trailer i have created several different drafts; this gave me the opportunity to receive audience feedback for my media product. I created a questionnaire that was filled out by other a-level media students as well as uploading my soap opera trailer onto social networking site Facebook. This allowed people to watch my trailer and give me feedback and opinions, and from here i was able to analysis what i could do to improve my media product. 

I found from my feedback from Facebook that:

*my trailer fitted in with the soap genre

*It was exciting and was targeted at my demographic


However, some one stated that my trailer finished and there was still 4 minutes of blank footage. Therefore, i went back to my soap trailer on Final Cut Pro X and adjusted this problem so that it stops when my soap opera trailer is finished.

I found from my results from the questionnaire that:

*my music worked well with my trailer and suited the soap opera genre

*my transitions worked well to create a fast paced effect

*my editing was appropriate to my soap opera trailer

*i had used conventional soap opera characters

*i had included a variety of camera shots 

However, some of my feedback suggested that my trailer was too long and should be shortened down, i needed to make the story-line a bit clearer and i needed to turn up the volume of the voice-overs as they were very quiet. 


These were a few adjustments and changes after i had received feedback from my questionnaire: 


*I cut my soap trailer from 1 min 41 secs to 1 min which improved the pace of the trailer to make it more exciting and fast so that it appealed to my target audience. 
*I went back to my trailer on Final Cut Pro X and turned down the volume of the music and turned up the volume of my voice-overs so that they could be heard more clearly. 

I went back to my editing programme Final Cut Pro X and decided to add text to my soap opera trailer in order to make the story-line more clear. This screenshot shows a pregnant girl who is worrying about her unborn child. I added the words 'new choices' which connotes that she has a decision to either keep the baby or abort it; I feel that the text i added to my trailer makes the story-line a lot more clearer so that the audience understand exactly what is going on. Furthermore, the audience will therefore perhaps be able to relate to the character through the uses and gratifications theory as they may have gone through it them self therefore creating a sense of realism throughout my trailer.I chose to put the word 'new' with each of my text as i believe it promotes that the soap is new and coming soon. 

I looked back through my trailer and realised i was not promoting what channel my soap was going to be broadcasted on very well. Therefore, i decided that i would introduce my soap opera trailer with the channel logo 'BBC' at the bottom. This helps create continuity throughout my soap opera trailer as well as give the audience awareness of what channel my soap opera was going to be broadcast on.