Question 1- evaluation A2

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products
The first way in which I have followed conventions of real media products was
through the use of location. When producing my soap opera we planned to use
conventional locations in order for our production to appeal to our target
audience. For example we used locations such as a street and the interior of a
house. We chose to incorporate these locations into our production as our target
audience would be likely to associate these locations with a soap opera. My
research into similar texts also supported this as I was able to see that these
locations were conventional of a soap opera, some other locations I could have
used that I found during research were: a pub, caf and local restaurant
business. We featured internal areas of the house such as: the living room,
kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. This is mainly due to my target audience being
familiar with and enjoying already existing soaps. We thought by including
conventional locations into our production that our target audience would likely
enjoy our production as they are used to seeing these locations and will
additionally be able to relate the locations included as soap operas are mainly
based on ordinary peoples lives.
The second convention we followed was costume. From previous research tasks I
found that soap operas often feature their characters wearing casual loose fitting
costumes. Examples of this would be: coats, jumpers, and loose fitting trousers.
We thought it was a good idea to follow the convention of casual loose fitting
costumes as it has previously made soap operas very successful. In our
production we dressed our characters similarly and additionally tried to follow
character archetypes when doing this; for example the costume of a bad boy. In
order to follow the archetype of a bad boy, we dressed the character Jamie in
dark baggy clothing. He wore loose fitting jeans and a dark coat. The use of the
dark coloured clothing portrays him to be evil and suspicious. This helped us
develop Jamie as a character as we planned Jamies character to come across as
guilty and criminal. The dark clothing additionally portrayed him as the
antagonist as it hid his true identity. There were 4 main characters in my
production and each of them were dressed differently according to their
character profile. Another example was Sophie who was supposed to look
ordinary but nave, so therefore we decided to dress her in light blue jeans, a
fluffy cardigan and she wore flowers in her hair. I feel that costumes are an
important way to portray each character to the audience so the audience are
therefore able to develop personal relationships with each character after a short
period of the soap being aired. One of the questions I asked my target audience
was based upon character types and my feedback allowed me to see that the
audience could make out some of the character types I had planned to
incorporate. For example my first interviewee stated that she could clearly see
the villain a helpless friend and the popular person. This was positive feedback
as it meant the inclusion of my characters through costume was successful and
allowed the audience to see the characters we were trying to portray.

A third way in which we maintained conventional elements of soaps was through

the use of props. We decided we didnt need a vast amount of props, but we did
make sure that the props we did use were conventional and reflected the genre
of the production well and would reflect and support the multi-strand narratives.
For example the props we included were: a gun, drugs, alcohol, a mobile phone,
a computer and books/stationary. The inclusion of these props added to the
conventions associated with soaps, thus creating a more dramatic feel to our
trailer. We felt because our audience were likely to be either explorers or
strugglers that we needed to include a variety of different props. For instance we
needed some mainstream props that appeal to a struggling audience base and
we additionally needed more elaborate props such as a gun and drugs that
would appeal to audience members of a different nature, with different tastes
and expectations. In order to make our production professional, and for us to be
able to create a sense of verisimilitude for the audience we needed to make sure
that the props we selected were conventional. Once we had made sure they
were conventional we had to make sure the props chosen were relevant and
appropriate for each of the characters. The audience would be able to affiliate
these props with a soap opera, and therefore our production would be more likely
to appeal to the target audience as we are supplying what they expect to see.
They may additionally be able to relate to some of the props being included
especially as they are young- for example the phone. The target audience will be
able to relate to these props especially the phone as the characters in the
production are mainly from socio-economic groups C1 and C2 and therefore they
are likely to have the same possessions and material items as the audience (as
they are also from socio economic groups C1 and C2). Consequently, the
audience will feel as though they understand and feel part of the production
themselves. My audience feedback suggested that they could tell we had
included a villain through the use of the gun. This allows me to believe that I
have been successful when including the correct props as they are representing
my characters in the correct way. My audience are decoding the messages we
have incorporated into the production and therefore are able to understand our
narrative and the genre of our production without us having to make it too
obvious.
Another way in which we made our production conventional was through the use
of camera work. I had completed a lot of research into already existing soaps and
had particularly focused on the camerawork they use throughout their episodes.
After carrying out primary research in the form of observations, watching clips
from already existing soaps we decided to incorporate the use of: close up shots,
mid shots, long shots and point of view shots as well as a long take into our
production. These shots tended to be used to create relationships between the
audience and the characters, forming personal relationships and personal
identity. An example of when we used these shots was: a point of view shot at
the party as the two characters walk in and a close up shot at the beginning of
the production when Jamie is walking away from the camera. The close up shot
allowed the audience to become familiar with the costume of the characters in
my soap, and additionally the point of view shot was included to catch the

audiences attention and to make them feel as though they themselves were
being featured in the trailer. I felt that the inclusion of these different shots was
successful as it followed the conventions I had found in other soaps and
additionally allowed the audience to see the facial expressions of the characters
as well as their body language and relationships towards other. This is typical
within soap operas as the narratives are based around each characters life. It
was important to me that this was portrayed correctly throughout our product so
the audience understand our characters and storyline as best as possible.
We developed forms within our media product. For example character types, as
our audience are aged between 16 and 25 we had to adapt our character types
to fit the characteristics of both our characters and the target audience. For
example we had to develop our characters so we could include aspects such as
drinking. Usually in soap operas drinking is seen within a pub, however as our
characters were young people, some of them would not be old enough to drink in
a pub and therefore we had to develop our storyline so that the characters were
drinking illegally at a house party. The progressed storyline emphasises to the
audience how dangerous a health risk drinking alcohol can be if it gets out of
hand. For example when Sophie comes downstairs at the end and witnesses Tilly
lying dead on her kitchen floor. The use of young characters in this way is not
usually typical and therefore it engages the audience as they are interested in
finding out more. As our target audience were so young we did include just
young character types and this paid off as the majority of our target audience
identified the audience of the trailer correctly. Most of them suggested that our
target audience were young people, either teenagers or individuals in their early
20s. The genre theory I can apply to this is Steve Neales theory of repetition and
difference, he states that in order to have a successful production, you must
ensure you keep some elements conventional, and some elements of the
production new and different. This can be applied to my production as I have
kept some elements the same for example: the conventional locations and
character types, but have changed some elements of already existing soaps by
including only young characters and adding some additional techniques within
the camerawork. Neale states that the audience dont want to see the same
production over and over again and therefore he states the audience need some
repetition in order for them to understand the genre and production that is being
created but also needs something different so the audience are enticed and
excited by exploring something new. This supports the fact that my target
audience come under the category of explorers when using psychographic
grouping as they like to experience new and interesting things.
In addition, we developed our characters ages, for example we decided it would
be a good idea to not be conventional in this way and to make all of our
characters young. Usually soaps include a range of different characters of
different ages; however we wanted to give our soap a unique selling point and
therefore decided just to feature young characters all between the ages of 14
and 20. This was difficult in some respects as we needed to choose and adapt
storylines to suit the lives of our characters, thus appealing to our target
audience. For example we included storylines such as: homework, partying and

meeting friends. Many members of our target audience will have experienced
similar situations and therefore it is likely that our soap is being aimed at the
correct target audience. This point was proved by my target audience feedback.
For example my third interviewee stated that he could definitely relate to the
characters featured in the production as he had previously experienced some of
the same situations in his own life. My other respondents said that they were
able to relate because all of the characters were young and they therefore
understood their storylines.
Similarly, we developed the characters costumes to appeal to our young target
audience and to suit the character profile of each character. We dressed the
characters in fashionable clothes that the target audience would additionally like
and may also wear themselves. For example Sophie wore ripped jeans and Tilly
wore Topshop jeans and a modern top. Bens character was dressed in a tracksuit
which may appeal to some of our male target audience as they would be able to
grasp what kind of characteristics each character was to portray. His tracksuit
was a nike tracksuit and therefore this is creating brand awareness and is a
form of intertextual reference. Nike is likely to be popular within my target
audience and therefore they will feel as though they can relate to this character.
We used these costumes in order to create a sense of verisimilitude for the
audience and to show the audience that the characters lives are very similar to
their own.
Lastly, we tried to challenge certain conventions of already existing soap operas,
for example the choice of our characters. We used all young characters and
actors in our production and this isnt very conventional. We chose to do this to
make our production unique and to differentiate from the target audiences of
already existing soaps. We felt there were too many soaps that appealed to a
similar audience for instance: Eastenders, Emmerdale and Coronation Street. For
this reason we chose to use young characters between the ages of 14 and 20 to
appeal to a young target audience. I feel that this was successful as from our
research some members of our target audience stated that they felt they
couldnt relate to any already existing characters. By the inclusion of just young
characters I feel it is much more likely that the audience will be able to relate to
at least 1 character in our soap.
An editing technique that we included challenged the way in which already soaps
are filmed, for example the inclusion of our 360 degree turn. We included this in
an external location outside of Mels house; this took place during the drug deal.
It allows the audience to see the drugs, body language and facial expressions of
the two characters. From reviewing other soaps we felt that this could
sometimes be really effective when applied at the right place during the soap. As
our product was a trailer I felt this would be a great way to show the facial
expressions of both Jamie and Ben without them having to be active. The 360 we
included surrounds the boys when they are in the middle of their drug deal. This
isnt seen often in other soap trailers; however I do feel our production has
benefited from this editing technique as it has improved the continuity and has

allowed the audience to further develop their personal relationship with two of
the main characters.
Furthermore, some aspects of the camerawork were slightly unconventional;
from my research tasks I have found that long takes are featured in soaps
occasionally however, they wouldnt be classed as conventional. The inclusion of
a long take in our trailer was to allow the audience to see the locations included
in the actual soap. Additionally the long take took the audience from one
character to the other without breaking continuity. For instance the long take
included Sophie coming down the stairs from her room, Tilly dead on the kitchen
floor and Jamie acting suspiciously round the side of the house. Showing these
to the audience would allow them to grasp the concept of our soap and may also
attract them into watching the soap once aired, due to being able to relate to the
characters and locations. I feel this was successful as it improved the continuity
of the production and additionally showed the relationship between some of the
characters. Subsequently, the point of view shots throughout the production
were a challenge to the normal forms and conventions associated with our genre
of production. For example during the party scene it consisted mainly of point of
view shots for instance the drug taking, drinking and entering the party. This isnt
very conventional of already existing trailers, however I feel that this was
successful as it appeals to a young target audience and additionally allows the
audience to see directly what the character can see. This can create realism and
may make the audience feel like they are also involved within the production.