Eastenders

Eastenders

In the opening scene of the eastenders omnibus, Phil is getting his house prepared because he is fighting for custody for his Granddaughter, It shows him speaking to Lexi about the baby because the court case for custody of her is approaching. The characters that were involved in the opening scene were Phil Mitchell and Lexi.

I think that the primary audience that Eastenders would attract would be females ages between 16-30 because its all about families and the problems they have within everyday life that people can relate to in their own lives. Also the Secondary audience i would say would be males and females aged between 30-50. This is because males may also like the show because of certain characters that they can relate too. What I really liked about the episode is that all of the storylines within the show are all building up towards christmas when all of the storylines are going to come together. However what I disliked about the episode was some of the things that happen seem a bit unrealistic to happen in everyday life of everyones family.

Edge of darkness

In the opening scene of Edge of Darkness, it shows the character Ronald Craven and Godbolt holding a conversation in a community centre. The characters that were involved in the opening scene Ronald Craven  and James Godbolt.  

I would say the primary audience for this drama would be males of the age of 35-55. I think it would be to slow for younger audiences and it is very dark and graphic. Also i would say the secondary audience would be younger adults aged between 18-30 and some would like dark themed drama scene.

From the clips that I have seen on YouTube, I dont think that Edge of Darkess would be enjoyable to watch. This is because it doesn't strike me as an exciting drama with lots of things happening and therefore I would loose interest in the programme striaght away. However, I would say that the drama is set out well and the characters are really dark.

Sherlock

In the opening scene for Sherlock Holmes, it recaps from what happened in the last episode. Its set in a swimming pool with Sherlock and Dr. Watson having guns aimed at them in which they then get away.
The characters involved in the first scene are Sherlock, Dr.Watson and Benedict Cumberbatch.
 I think the primary audience for Sherlock would be older teenagers and younger adults. Also i think the second primary audience for the drama would be older adults.
The things I liked about the episode was the characters involved especially Sherlock. The storyline was easy to follow and enjoyed watching it and would watch it again at home.
The things I disliked about was It was sometimes hard to follow because it was hard to follow.

Silent Witness

As part as research we had to watch the drama series 'Silent Witness' from the 1st and 2nd August 2005. The episodes were split up into two parts with one being shown on the Saturday and the other on the Sunday. The episode was the second episode in the 9th series of silent witness and were the 63-64 episodes ever made of silent witness. For Part 1 on the 1st August it recieved 6.32 million viewers and for Part 2 it had 6.13 millon viewers.  The episode was written by Doug Milburn and Directed by Andy Hay.

Silent Witness if broadcast on the BBC who have many dramas on offer for viewers to watch. Here is a list of some of them :

• Eastenders(1985)
• Holby City(1999)
• Casualty(1986)
• Merlin(2008)
• Doctors(2000)
• Sherlock(2010)

In the opening scene, we see the owner of the nightclub Modest and his girlfriend Helen pull up in his car after he has just given her an engagement ring. They then get out of the car and a car pulls up outside the nightclub and starts shoting out of the car towards the club at people. Modest girlfriend is also shot. The character that was involved were Modest, Modest Girlfriend, nightclub goes and the gangsters shooting at the club.

The Primary audience for Silent Witness would be middle class 35-50. The secondary audience would be working class 25-35. The things I liked about the drama was the tense storyline and I was looking forward throughtout it to find out what happened next. However, what I least like about the drama was how throughtout the programme it all builded up to a big finale at the end which never seemed to happen.

Animation Evaluation

My Esting for E4 consists of a footballer shooting into a goal and celebrating with the E4 logo. My aim was to make my animation as smooth as possible and enjoyable for my target audience.

The things that I liked most about my animation was the structure of the video and the shots that I done. I also liked how it fits in well with advertising E4 at the start and also at the end. What I mainly disliked about my video was it could have been made a lot smoother if i took my time when taking the images. I also thought my character movements were a bit rusty and could be improved.

The feedback I was looking to receive was for topics such as the genre of the Esting, the content and what was happening throughout the video, the style in which it was created, the character/characters itself and how they looked, the technique i used when creating my Esting and the creative quality of the video. The way I was looking to receive responses and feedback for my animation was having discussions with people including fellow peers who were also creating a Esting and my tutor who kept me up to date in what I had to do next. I also handed out questionnaires to a number of people and gave them questions to answer on what they thought of the video. Focus groups were also a key part once I and my peers had finished our work to evaluate each other’s. I also used online exhibitions by using social networking sites and emailing people my questionnaire to fill in once they had watched my video.

When showing my work to others I used many areas that meant it would be watched by many people from different walks of life and different ages. I firstly started off receiving my feedback by online exhibitions and posting my video onto social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Once i posted it I left a message asking people to comment on my video in order to receive feedback. The feedback i received was mainly positive. I had over 15 comments on the video which I put on YouTube, most of which people liked the idea of my video and the character. However, they were critical over the footage being improved and his feet not connecting with the ball and the music didn't seem to fit well with the music.

Another way I got feedback was handling out questionnaires for people to fill in once they had watched my video. My aim was to ask people from different ages to watch my video. I asked some fellow peers and family and friends to watch my video and give me feedback on it. The feedback I got was also positive mainly from younger people. The older audience didn't really get it, however my audience for E4 will be a younger audience. In addition to this, I also had a group discussing with my peers to discuss and watch each other’s videos. This gave me the chance to watch everyone else's and give them feedback on their work and also receive feedback on my work and find out what people thought. I found the work that other people had done was very impressive and decided that when I make changes to my work I could make it smoother because I found that my video was much more jumpy. A lot of my peers liked the idea of my video but also gave me some points on how it could be improved such as making my character look like he is dribbling the ball and also having a goalkeeper in the goal and have the two characters moving at the same time to make it look better.


I am currently doing a written report of my findings using a blog. In which I state what people thought of the animation, what they liked about it, what they disliked about it, if it would attract the target audience and how could it be improved. Another way I could have reported my findings was giving an oral presentation or doing a review on my progress.


Personally I was impressed with my work and shocked myself with how well I had done because I concentrated on getting it right. I feel as though I have gained a lot of experience from this in terms of working to a brief, working to a time limit and meeting deadlines. In addition to this I also know how to create a stop-motion animation and have experience in creating a video. Although some amendments could be made to my work I am pleased with my work ethic and the final result of my Esting.

PART 2

This blog post I have written is my evaluation on how I worked to a brief in using stop-frame animation and creating a video for my EStings on the channel E4. I was given a brief by channel 4 in which consisted of making a 10 second video that the channel would be able to use as an ESting. I will also give feedback from people that watched my video as they commented on what they thought of it. I aimed to create an ESting that would attract the E4 audience. I had to develop an idea for how I was going to create my character, and create the set and using stop-motion animation and take up to 130 pictures. I also had to take note I what I was going to need to make what I needed for the ESting.

During the process of making my ESting’s there were many obstacles I had to overcome. One of these was the legal issues because I had to be careful of using music that I didn’t have copyright for. Channel 4 allowed us to use 10 second tracks from a range of tracks they allowed us to use so as a result I used one of the tracks for my video. The financial circumstances I had to face were not having a big budget and make deal with what we were given. We were given plasticine to create our characters; box’s to create our set and was allowed to use HD cameras to take the pictures for the animation. With a bigger budget I believe I would have been able to broaden my ideas. In addition to this I had to consider that my video would be deemed appropriate the audience of E4. Watching my video I believe it would be deemed appropriate for all ages.

At the start of the unit I was given a deadline in which had to meet to have all of our work done by. As a result of this I got my filming and editing done in time to meet the deadline and didn’t have any problems reaching it. I found this was the case because I was organised with my work and had planned out what I was going to do next. If I got stuck with work and needed help I would ask my tutor or peers for help in which they would. The praised that I received from my tutor was the fact she liked the camera angles that I used and that I managed to meet all my deadlines for my planning, editing, filming, creating the character and creating the set.

My tutor also gave me some criticism as she thought I could have challenged myself a little bit more, for example in the video instead of my character sliding across the floor she would have liked to have seen him running.

Another way in which I was able to get feedback was putting my finished video on Facebook and Twitter to let people comment to see what they think. I also gave relatives and friends questionnaires to fill in to give me feedback on my work. In doing this I made sure that I gave my questionnaires to people from a range of different ages and occupations. I found that the response from the people that watch the video was positive. The majority of people deemed the video suitable and enjoyable to watch and like what I had done. However, some people also thought that I could have made the video a lot more smoother as at times it was hard to follow what was happening and thought that the music didn’t linked in well with the video.

I have never really considered pursuing a career in animation or the media industry but I do find it interesting. I thought the project was good experience though having to meet deadlines and having to use timekeeping skills to get my work done on time. Although I don’t think would be taking on a job in the media industry, I do believe from this experience I would be able to take on a job where I had to meet deadlines and use timekeeping skills to get work done. I also think that if I ever wanted to make a video again using stop-frame animation I would be able to because I have learned how to use the software and have experience from creating my ESting’s.

Understanding The Requirements of working to a Brief

 

In relation to working to a brief, there are many ways in which it can be presented.

One of these in regards to the structure of the brief is contractual where the brief is a contract written up for employment. Also, a television company such as ITV could approach or be approached to make a television series. For example the series drama of titanic was made for ITV and the company could have been approached to air the series but would have a written publication so that they could negotiate how long the programme would be on for and how many episodes of it would be made. This is all written up in a contract that is agreed by both parties and signed.

  Another way to brief could be presented is negotiated. A client discuss developing the brief and working with them to improve and aim to reaching objectives. This could involve negotiating the content of the programme, how long it is going to be and how long it is going to be on for.

 Formal is where a face to face meeting is organised is held in order for the company to outline what they would like you to do. For example, if a producer of a television series holds a meeting with a host of people in order to discuss ideas. For example 'The Apprentice' when Lord Sugar gives the apprentices a task to do and once they have done the task they have to report back to Lord Sugar with how they found the task. He then assesses what certain apprentices did wrong which results in one of them losing their opportunity of becoming an apprentice. Informal which is similar in relation to contractual is a casual phone call that could take place between a client and you to discuss the aims and objectives you need to reach.

Commission is where you approach or either approached for work. This is similar in relation to contractual and there would be a contract agreement to the work that either you or you expect someone else to do. Tender is where briefs are sent by email and/or post to several companies in which a response is sent back with ideas. From the feedback that is received, each company ideas are in competition with others in the hope there ideas are used.

 On a Grand Designs website is offers you the chance to enter a competition. The competition states to the participants to do a 60 second film about persuading people to be more eco-friendly. The prize for the winner is £1.500 and £5000 that is put towards making the next campaign film. In the brief it states who will be judging the short film, the rules and regulation of what you can and can't do and when they want the films to be entered by. In the brief they give detail of how long they want the film to be, what the content of the film has to be and gives you terms and conditions to read so you fully understand what you can and can't do when making the film.

The brief that I was given for the Esting's project of creating a short video demanded of us and what they expected if you wanted to take part in the competition. The first thing they ask you to do is research on the company in order to aim to reach the right target audience and in order to give you an idea of what sort of video to make they give you a link to their website to look at other Esting's. You are also given a 10 second limit in making the video and you're only to submit a maximum of 3 videos. The brief will tell you the date you have to enter your Esting's by and if you have entered it after that date it won't be considered.

Once i finished making my video I had a face-to-face consultation with my tutor about my finished video about what she thought was good about my video and what she thought could be improved. Her job was to give me feedback and to make sure I was meeting deadlines and keeping up with my work. Once I read the brief I came to the conclusion it wasn't very strict as I was given plenty of time to create what I wanted and I could use my own ideas for what I wanted to make. We was allowed to come up with our themes for example, I created theme of a footballer. When making my Estings i had to consider issues such as legal, ethical and regulatory issues. On the channel 4 editorial guidelines it states points regarding what you can't use because it has to be appropriate for the target audience. Such as using bad language, racist, sexist or any relation to drugs or alcohol.

To enable myself to receive feedback from my work I created a questionnaire which I asked a range of people from different ages to watch my video and then fill in the questionnaire. I also posted my video on social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter and YouTube which enabled people to comment and post to me what they thought of it. The feedback I got was positive and a lot of people were impressed. However, some others thought they video could be improved by being a lot smoother. In terms of the budget I didn't have much of a budget to work with. However I was given resources such as Plastercine, Digital camera, and a box to create my set. With the recourses I handled it well but feel I would have been able to improve it if my budget was more.

While doing this project I learnt a lot about animation and creating a video using stop-motion animation. Despite me not wanting to pursue a career in animation in any sort I still think that creating the Esting would be a good experience with working to deadlines and with very little recourses to use. At some point I also had to multi-skill when keeping my character in place and having to stay images at the same time. In addition to this I also had to move two characters at the same time. When proceeding with the project, I wanted to create something that people would find entertaining and could relate too. For example, I thought the idea of a football player would have been good because of the younger generation audience that watch E4 could relate to it if they like the sport. I also integrated the E4 logo into the Esting at any giving opportunity.