1

St. Andrew’s Catholic School

Center Number: 64135

Candidate Number: 4137

Candidate Name: Bethany Vaughan

A2 Media Studies

Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio in Media –

Production Log

Evidence of Planning & Research

2

Aims and Objectives

AO2 – Assess candidates’ application of knowledge and understanding in evaluating their own work, showing how meanings and responses are created.

AO3 – Assess candidates’ ability to plan and construct media products using appropriate technical and creative skills.

AO4 – Assess candidates’ ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research.

Brief Chosen

A 45 second – 1 minute 30 second trailer for a NEW Soap Opera

that will be exhibited on at 8:30pm (after Eastenders) that will appeal to a Male and Female audience. YOU SHOULD research when Eastenders is scheduled (Day – Time)

3

Contents

Textual Analysis

Eastenders - Soap Opera Codes & Conventions - Multi Strand Narrative

Coronation Street “..the home, the family, domestic tribulations and the strong woman, and as such, it has long been said to appeal to the female viewer”

‘Masculinity and Popular television’ – Rebecca Feasey (2007)

- Is this evident and how is this presented to the audience?

Research

Purpose of a Trailer Multi-Platform promotion

Textual Analysis – Coronation Street and Hollyoaks

Deadlines – Production Work Filming Dates: Edited Trailer – Complete: Promotional Poster – Complete: Promotional Magazine Cover – Complete: Evaluation – Complete:

Production Work

Director – Roles & Responsibilities? Producer – Roles & Responsibilities?

Institution research – BBC Two

4

Soap Opera Codes & Conventions – Lesson 2 1) What are some of the Codes & Conventions of this genre? Setting Pub House (estate flats and terrace houses) Market Square or street Club Characters Manipulative Motherly Fatherly Femme fatale Bully Aggressive Romantic Active Passive Icons Regional identity Family Community spirit Theme tune Interlinking storylines Gossip Verisimilitude Specials Plots and subplots Criminals Narrative Relationships Sexuality Violence/murder Family problems Adultery Pregnancy

5

2) Codes & Conventions of the Soap Opera Genre The Soap Opera genre can be categorized by the ‘repeated’ (Steve Neale) elements of:

1. Romance 2. Family conflict and relationships 3. Focus on working class community 4. Antagonism and conflict 5. Murderous behavior

Eastenders (1985 – Present)

Key information regarding this text:

Exhibited on BBC1 and repeated on BBC3 One of the most popular TV shows (over 6 million views) Set in the “Kitchen Sink” setting of fictional Watford East London

Textual Analysis Task http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye51O8WBVVM&feature=related -

YOU MUST complete the Table below whilst watching the TWO promotional trailers for the BBC Soap Opera Eastenders. YOU SHOULD aim to identify key examples (Verbal, Non-Verbal, Technical) from each trailer that demonstrates your understanding.

6

Extension - YOU COULD apply relevant audience theory to explain what impact these key examples would have on the target demographic. In your opinion, according to Hartley’s Seven Subjectivities, what is the target audience for Eastenders?

Age

15-60+

Gender

Female

Nationality

English

Trailer 1) What is the Focus of this trailer? The takeover of the vic pub, themes of violence, the murder of Michael

Code &

Convention

Evidence

(Verbal, Non-Verbal, Technical)

Impact on the Audience

(Katz, Maslow, Hartley)

Romance

Roxie and male Romance attracts adults as they enjoy and relate to the romantic themes (Hartley- Young 20-40)

Family relationships and/or conflict

Ronnie and man fighting ‘Ma brother’ ‘swear on my mother’s grave’ ‘stay away from my sister’ ‘Family pub’

Taking over pub appeals to Maslow’s ‘Social climbers’ because of the need for money as it highlights a want for money and improvement of life which they will try to repeat. Maslow’s ‘Care givers’ will sympathize with Ronnie’s want to care for and protect her little sister.

Focus on working class communities

Mid shot of all in pub ‘EastEnders this Christmas’ narrative Accents

Hartley – Nationality (Accent) All in pub together highlights community and is relatable for working class areas, which is something an audience would stereotypically expect from a Soap Opera.

“Multi-Stranded Narrative”

Roxie and man romance murder New Vic owner

Multiple storylines create drama as they all intertwine so there is a lot for the audience to focus on, this increases tension and causes it to be interesting for the audience.

7

‘Disequilibrium’ (Todorov)

Pub being taken over Murder Romance

These cause tension and drama between characters which creates an interesting narrative for the audience.

Trailer 2) What is the Focus of this trailer? Who is Kat cheating with?

Code &

Convention

Evidence

(Verbal, Non-Verbal, Technical)

Impact on the Audience

(Katz, Maslow, Hartley)

Romance

Kat’s affair (possible men) Alfie and Kat kissing

Maslow – ‘care givers’, sympathize with Alfie Hartley – young 20-40 old viewers will ‘personally identify’ (Katz) with the romantic themes and themes of adultery attract an adult audience because is is most likely removed from their humble/normal existence.

Family relationships and/or conflict

Kat cheating on Alfie with one of the Brannings

Katz – ‘personal relationships’- Alfie. Feel pity for Alfie because he is being cheated on and is unaware of who it is. Moral ethics of the audience, they will disagree with what Kat is doing.

Focus on working class communities

Pub Market Accents

Hartley’s nationality – recognizable location within the Soap Opera genre in conveying a working class representation of the UK. Katz’ Personal Identity

“Multi-Stranded Narrative”

One story line The audience focuses on one story from different perspectives rather than multiple stories.

‘Disequilibrium’ (Todorov)

Kat and Alfie conflict The audience are encouraged to be sympathetic of the characters as they are fighting.

8

Multi-stranded narrative A Multi-stranded narrative can be defined as….. The telling of a story from more than one person’s point of view. Telling multiple stories from multiple characters pint of view in an ‘open narrative’ episode. YOU MUST deconstruct the 10-minute extract from Eastenders and identify where the following elements are presented to the audience:

Multi-stranded narrative

Family relationships and/or conflict Focus on working class communities ‘Disequilibrium’ (Todorov) Romance

YOU SHOULD write down x1-2 examples for EACH of the elements above that are presented. Code & Convention Evidence Impact on the audience

Multi-stranded narrative

Stag and hen do Jack locked in Lads in pub

The audience are focusing on multiple intertwining storylines making it interesting to the audience

Family relationships and/or conflict

Stag and Hen (friends) Phil and Jack Carol and man Max and woman

Maslow – ‘explorers’ Stag and Hens – ‘social climbers’

Focus on working class communities

Stag and Hen dos, beer and lager Pubs and Club

Relatable to the working class as they are common to the class.

Disequilibrium’ (Todorov)

Boys night out Girls night out Ronnie calling Jack

The multiple stories mean there is a lot going on at once causing conflict and disequilibrium

Romance

Jack and sharon The audience relate to romantic themes and are encouraged to watch

Soap Opera Codes & Conventions continued – Lesson 3 Textual Analysis According to Rebecca Feasey in ‘Masculinity and Popular television’ (2007), the Soap Opera genre tends to focus on:

9

“The home, the family, domestic tribulations and the strong woman, and as such, it has long been said to appeal to the female viewer.”

1) – Do you agree? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8_ApPT6isY (First 5 minutes)

Next Page - YOU MUST deconstruct the opening 5 minutes of a sequence from the popular ITV Soap Opera Coronation Street (1960 – Present) to identify examples of where this ideology is presented to the target audience. YOU SHOULD also try and identify, to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the genre, any Codes & Conventions associated to the Soap Opera genre.

Code & Convention Evidence Impact on the audience Rebecca Feasey (2007) Ideology: 1.Woman cleaning wearing yellow gloves – washing up. Men not helping or offering to help. 2. Mother believes that she is better and has a higher status than the other women. 3.Girl wants to go out for a meal and language like “swanky” and “slap up meal” connotes wanting to spend lots of money 4.Woman putting makeup on highlights vanity and care for appearance despite only going to the shop. 5.Girl at meal is a strong female character, she doesn’t feel the need to engage in romance suggests she is strong and independent.

10

“Multi-Stranded Narrative”

2 different family storylines at the same time.

Family relationships and/or conflict

Mother cleaning and dad caring for child. Conflict between mother and grandmother, both argumentative causing issues.

Focus on working class communities

“slap up meal” colloquial language is typical of working class Putting makeup on for the shop

Disequilibrium’ (Todorov)

Argument between mother and her mum, they obviously have conflicting status’ and this causes friction as they are trying to rival one another causing conflict and disequilibrium

Romance

Married couples, discussing future honeymoon -

Other Themes & Issues represented:

N/A

Soap Opera Codes & Conventions continued – Lesson 4 Textual Analysis

1) What is the purpose of a trailer? They are a device used to build excitement in the audience and to encourage a wider audience to watch. It gives a preview of the show which appeals to a large variety of people, promoting the show and encouraging discussion within the audience.

2) What are the benefits of Multi-Platform promotion of a media text?

Multiple platforms means more people will see the trailer therefore reaching a wider potential audience.

Wider promotion of a text through multi-platform marketing encourages more audience discussion, often on social media. Being suggested to watch

11

something by a friend is very effective so audience discussion increases viewers.

Ultimately, some form of convergence is important when promoting a text to the target audience.

3) Textual Analysis –

Next Page - YOU MUST make notes on the following areas when deconstructing this sequence from Coronation Street:

Multi-stranded narrative Character dilemmas

‘Personal Identification’ (Katz) Coronation Street: Goodbye Hayley TRAILER (20th January 14) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg3BslqpqKc

Multi-stranded narrative – the death of the character is seen from multiple peoples perspectives so creates more emotion

o Man looking into her eyes and holding hands shows he cares romantically and connotes that he is there for her

o Woman in hospital setting with a sad crying facial expression and being comforted by ill woman suggesting she is a daughter, people may relate to her emotion as they could have been in a similar situation with a loved one (Katz ‘personal identification’)

o Woman lets out a sob and turns to man for comfort, suggests romance and the male to be caring. They are obviously upset about the woman’s illness so she means a lot to them.

o Out of focus hands stroking thumbs connotes care and love and is reinforced by the in focus prop wedding picture in the background which also suggest they are reminiscing old happy memories.

The verbal code diegetic dialogue “I’m just determined to make the most of what I’ve got left” connotes the woman is strong, as the line is delivered in a very emotional manner as it makes explicit the little time the woman has and would therefore make an audience already watching the show emotional as they will miss the character.

Some shots appear to be ideal through use of bright colours and soft focus, for example the extreme long shot of the man and woman dancing, the extreme long shot causes it to appear out of reach and like a distant memory.

12

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hollyoaks/4od

The above link will take you to some of the latest episodes of Hollyoaks.

1. What are the connotations of the ident for the popular Channel Four Teen

Soap Opera Hollyoaks (1995 – Present)? Heterosexuality signified by the male and female symbols, male and female together in logo suggests sex. Binary opposition of the sexes from the pink and blue, colors often associated with the male and female gender. The highlighting of the genders may signify gender issues within the show. Next Page - Hollyoaks – “White Wedding Trailer” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2sW-r9Vb4

2. YOU MUST make notes on the following areas when deconstructing this sequence from Hollyoaks:

Binary opposition of the non-diegetic music

Symbolism of the non-verbal code of the tear Representation of Pregnancy Any other examples that would impact the audience

Black

Connotes death as typical of funeral

Foreboding Forbidden

Soundtrack is “white wedding” which is in binary opposition (Levi Strauss) to the mise-en-scene of the trailer (blacks used in the décor and costume)

The verbal code of the lyric “hey little sister what have you done” connotes some kind of blame on the bride and suggests that she has done something (perhaps getting pregnant) which has caused the scene.

“It’s a nice day to start again” highlights how marrying the man may not be a good idea and that she has the choice to start again, however it could also connote that the wedding is her starting afresh.

The lyric “It’s a nice day for a white wedding” is opposed by the bride revealing her face and the black tear, the sadness of the tear contrasts the use of nice as it suggests sadness and the white wedding conflicts with the black colour scheme of the trailer.

Black gloves could ‘signify’ (De Saussure) hiding something as gloves are worn to stop spread of evidence

China doll shattering

Death of baby Strained fake looking expression

everyone is fake

people do not agree with the wedding

13

black rose

death bad relationship which will not last, the man waving with the gloves is

connoted to be a ‘villain’ (Propp) as the gloves suggest he is trying to hide something or remove evidence. The woman looking at the bride with a sinister expression while dropping a doll so it smashes is also portrayed as a ‘villain’ through the facial expression and destruction of the doll smashing.

Black tear sadness caused by wedding depression pain

‘Love, Honor, Betray.’ – Non-Diegetic Voiceover Connotes how the relationship is flawed

Someone has lied “Betray” connotes cheating or marrying with intentions to be unfaithful Baby may not be the husbands.

Production Work

1) What is the role of a Producer? The producer oversees all aspects of the production e.g. making sure all equipment for filming is in the right place at the right time to film the trailer. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

2) What is the role of a Director? The director oversees all creative aspects of the production, directing people in front and behind the camera.

3) Institution research – YOU MUST research the institution that your trailer will be exhibited on. Tips: Programming, Target audience, Audience figures, History of the channel.

Launched in 1964 Delivers less mainstream content in comparison to BBC1 e.g. Top Gear and

The Culture Show

Aimed to an older audience of 35-54. Annual % share of viewing – individuals 2013 = 5.7 Total share of viewings September 2014

It was the third television channel in the UK and second the BBC channel.