Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms of real media products?
This year I have gained a much
greater knowledge of the media. One of the first things I learnt was that
successful media products can both use and subvert media conventions.
Conventions are the features we typically expect to see in a certain forms of
media product. In one sense conventions are very important as they help to make
a product seem professional and recognisable. Conventions have also normally
become a standard or expected feature as they serve some sort of purpose in
developing tone and establishing the audience.
Conventions can also be problematic as they can cause lots of media
products to look similar. This is something that worried me as I have always
wanted to create an original and creative product as I think this will give my
brand a unique identity. I also feel this will make my product stand out from
similar ones being offered to the target audience.
Before I began creating my website
I looked at other media products, such as, websites, charity posters and
adverts. I particularly decided to look
at how Barnardo’s presented its campaigns across a range of Media platforms. I
decided to focus alot of my research around Barnardo’s as this is a well-known
children’s charity that is exploring similar issues to my brand: ‘The Invisible
Children’. I also feel that my product is aimed at a similar target audience to
Barnardo’s so I felt I could gather lots of tips and ideas from looking at how
they shaped meaning. When looking at examples, I came across one particular
Barnardo’s TV advert that went in a loop. I like this advert because it was
surreal and gave an emotional sense to an audience. I felt this was memorable
and powerful and therefore inspired me more than anything else I had seen. At this point I decided that I could learn
alot from looking at different media platforms rather than just confining
myself to the conventions of websites. I
felt that I could build sound, images and video into my product and that would
allow me to create something that is powerful and memorable rather than just
something that is 100% conventional but lacks creativity.
Once I had decided to subvert
conventions and borrow ideas from different media platforms, I then decided
that it could be useful to research different genres of website. Because of
this I looked at a range of magazine and fashion websites. These are very
different in tone and style charity websites but I feel these are great places to
look to learn about engaging an audience. The Company magazine website really
appealed to me as they presented all 5 stages of the uses and gratifications
theory in a subtle way. Although this
type of research breaks conventions I felt it was important to think of my
website as something that was being sold, as I am aiming to ‘sell’ my brand to
the audience so they chose to come to me for help and advice rather than any
other website or charity brand. This meant I started to think about the
conventions of sales rather than just the conventions of charity websites.
After I had looked at a range of products from a range of
companies, platforms and genres I decided that I would both use and subvert
typical conventions in order to create something that is unique and engaging
but also recognisable and easy to navigate. Despite trying to create a surreal film, I felt that there were key concepts that I had to include for my website to make any sort of sense; these conventions are:
1. Logos-
Most websites and charities prominently brand their product. This creates a strong and recognisable brand
image and therefore builds trust in that company as people start to remember
it. Most logos tend to be simple and upbeat in tone. I felt that I also wanted
to create a positive feeling logo as a negative one might dissuade people from
looking at my website. The Barnardo’s logo also inspired mine; their logo is
three figures close together jumping in the air, holding each other’s hands.
For my logo I used the same concept, however, my three figures are not
touching. I did this to represent the fact that neglected, abused and exploited
children may feel alone and lost but because there are three figures it shows
that they are not entirely alone and we can help. I also did not use any other
colour in my logo apart from a black outline of the figures to relate to the
name of my website- The Invisible Children. By not using any colour it’s almost
like the figures are invisible, this relates to the fact many people are not
aware of how many children a year are abused in some way. I was also keen to make my figures resemble
the outline of ginger bread people. I feel that ginger bread people are a
symbol that invokes childhood and innocence. This is something that creates juxtaposition
with the content of my website and further highlights how heartbreaking it is
that alot of children lack this innocent protected up bring.
2. Colours-
From looking at charity websites I found that conventionally most stick to a
black and white colour scheme. I think this is because monochrome denotes a
serious factual tone. Although I want my website to appear serious and factual
I also felt it was important to include some sort of colour so it is appealing
for the audience to look at. I took
inspiration from the NSPCC website, the NSPCC use a simple colour scheme. The
colours consist of green and white, they predominantly use black text. This
allowed me to realise I could include an accent colour and still conform to
conventions. I decided to use a pale blue colour to brand my website. I think that this makes the website look more sophisticated
relating to an older target audience; pale blue is also a gender neutral colour
so it will appeal to both men and women. This is what I wanted from my website
as my target audience is adults between the ages of 21-35. The colour scheme
also used non- gender specific colours which I also wanted for my website as I
wanted my website to appeal to men and women. Finally I feel that pale blue is
a colour that can denote frailty and weakness as it is a ‘weak’ colour. This
links back to the purpose of my website as I am trying support and give a voice
to the weak in society.
3. Images- I have used 10 images to make the website more appealing, they
also visually demonstrate lots of points and are more engaging than just text.
4. Navigation
bar- a navigation bar has been included to show how much content is on the
webpage and also makes the product user friendly.
5. Name
of website- I have included the name of my website on the top of every webpage to
create institution and branding.
6. Forums-
forums allow the audience to shape meaning, the idea of giving the audience a
voice is what makes a website and the internet special. This is also an example
of new media theory. . Using hyperlinks- I used two hyperlinks within my
website, one of them guided the audience to the BBC’s charity- Children In
Need, and the other led to Fostering People. I chose to include both these
charities on my website as they relate to the charity I created. Both of these
charities main focus is children.
7. By
saying that one of our recipients is Children In Need it made my charity look
well recognised, as Children in Need is known worldwide as is known for helping
children all over the world.
8. I have also looked at a website called Fostering People , I want to include this as it shows that my charity also uses other local charities
and shows that we don’t just help children on a short time scale, but we help
them throughout their lives by finding them a foster family.
9. .
Leaving no blank spaces- by keeping my website full with no blank spaces it
keeps people more interested and makes it look more professional. I included
many features within my webpages so that the audience would stay engaged, for
example; I used message boards. In my questionnaire I found that many people
within my target audience preferred websites that included message boards. This
relates to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Maslow created a pyramid of basic human
needs and often many media products or conventions can fulfil these needs. By
using message boards my audience has a sense of belonging as they can talk to
other and share their opinions online.
10. I
also had a page within my website focusing on the stories of children my
charity have helped. This page included pictures of the children and detailed
text telling their story. Another theory proposed by Katz and Blummer- Uses and
Gratifications theory. This theory suggested that people seek out specific
media products to satisfy specific needs that they may have. By including
people’s stories the audience can identify themselves with those people. They
may identify themselves with these people because the same situation may have
happened to them.
11. .
Putting my film on the first page- by putting my film on the first page to
attracts my audience from the start. By watching the film first the audience
can also get an overview of what my charity is about without having to read
through the text. I also used a lot of text within my webpages, and my text
tends to be factual and formal. I used factual text for two main reasons.
12. Text- I also used a lot of text within my
webpages, and my text tends to be factual and formal. I used factual text for
two main reasons;
. I wanted my website to be
sophisticated due to the age of my target audience.
. Using facts and statistics bring more
of a shock factor when reading, by shocking the audience with facts and statistics
about children who have suffered a form of abuse; it will encourage people to
donate.
13. Video- I included a video as this is engaging for the audience as the mix of sound and images attracts them further.
As my target audience is for both
genders between the ages of 21-35, I decided to subvert some genders conventions
as most websites are rather for males or females. I subverted conventions again
by using the colour blue. Blue is stereotypically a gender specific colour
towards males. However, I used the colour blue focusing on the morals of the
charity and not the audience. This is because the colour blue connotes loyalty
and trust. I have tried to keep it gender neutral by using a pale shade of
blue.
When including text in media
products usually the text tends to have a male or female voice depending on the
type of product.
Mary Talbot proposed the theory synthetic
sisterhood. This theory suggests that all female media products e.g. gossip
magazine websites such as ‘Hello!’ have a ‘chatty’ voice behind them. When
conducting my research I looked at many online female magazines and found that
they all tended to use slang, text language and the common use of exclamation
marks. Talbot also suggested that the writers of female magazines ate talking
to you as if they were your older sister.
From the synthetic sisterhood
theory, people have also said that media products can have a male voice. The
male voice used within media products tends to be; factual, authoritative and
straight to the point. Whereas, the female voice used in media products tends
to be; caring and friendly.
I have challenged this convention
as I have tended to use a male voice throughout my text even though my target
audience is both genders. I chose to have a male voice in my website because I
wanted my website to be serious rather than having a ‘chatty’ voice. It was
important to me to keep the text formal because my charity is a serious problem
within society that needs to be addressed properly as well as receiving the
right awareness.
When researching media products I
also found that there was a gap in the market for websites that have an audience
of both male and female. For example, online charities that focused on breast
cancer or anorexia tended to adapt their websites for women. Whereas, online
charities that focused on high cholesterol or coronary heart disease tended to
be focused on male target audiences. Although these charities were only focused
on one gender the conditions they charities focused on could have been based on
males or females. My charity is something that can also affect both genders, so
by challenging conventions I adapted my website to accommodate both male and
females.
Parts of the advert gave me
inspiration for my own video. I took the use of a surreal factor and applied it
to my video, which you see at the beginning when the boy verbally and
physically abuses the girl. This is also inspired from the Barnardo’s advert as
this also happens throughout the video. This was a convention that I followed,
as the role of the abuser was played by a male which can be seen as
stereotypical. Propp’s character theory would suggest that the actors in my
video are represented by roles similar to fairy tale characters. The male
character in my video would be seen as the villain and the girl would be seen
as the ‘damsel in distress’ also referred to as the princess. Although this can
be criticised as stereotypical or conventional, I wanted to create a narrative
character that my audience would recognise and respond to immediately.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As my target audience is adults
between the ages of 21-35, I didn’t include many stereotypical concepts within
my website. However, some parts of my website, I would consider to be gender
bias towards males or females. For example, the main colour in the colour
scheme was blue and blue tends to be gender bias towards men.
When creating my website I didn’t
want to make assumptions of what I should include when as I do not fully know
what my target audience would want without doing research. To avoid making
assumptions I created two questionnaires. One of the questionnaires I handed
out to 10 people who fitted the criteria for my target audience, the
questionnaire was made up of 10 questions. One question I asked was “Do you
like websites that include real life stories of people who we have helped?”
From this question I found that the majority of people who ticked yes were
women. I took this piece of research on board, so when I wrote the stories I
used caring language which from previous research others have proposed e.g.
Mary Talbot, I know this is what women prefer when consuming media products.
By conducting different types of
research I gave my audience a chance to tell me what they liked and dislike; it
was also a chance for them to represent themselves without me making
assumptions for them. The most helpful research I conducted was the focus group
that I videoed; again this was a questionnaire I had created before I began my
website. It was helpful because I got to ask the questions myself and hear
feedback from my target audience in great detail. Although, I have made a lot
of changes in my website within my website since my first stages of
researching, I have tried not to stray too far away from what my audience
wants. However, there was a problem with this focus group; all of the people I asked
were women. When recruiting people to take part in this focus group I found
that there were no men available at this time. This was a problem for me, but
to overcome this I made sure when I handed out my second questionnaire I handed
it to both men and women.
Throughout this course I have
researched other websites with the same sort of target audience frequently,
charity and non-charity. The main charity website I kept referring too was the
NSPCC. The social group/ target audience for this website tended to
sophisticated. I knew this because I would often ask older family members/
peers which charity they donated to and a majority answered the NSPCC; a
majority of these people also tended to be middle class. I think that the
audience tends to be sophisticated due to the simple colour scheme and factual
text. This was exactly what I wanted from my website, so this was the main
inspiration for me.
A non-charity website I looked a
lot at throughout my research was The Independent online. The Independent is a
newspaper, who again had the same criteria and target audience I was looking
for. Although both of these websites had target audiences that ranged between
21-65 they did have an audience for both genders.
Even though both of these
websites have an audience for both genders, I do feel like there is a gap in
the market for websites of that kind. I did look at websites that were gender
specific to see what stereotypes I needed to avoid. For example, I tried to
stay away from stereotypical images e.g. women who were represented as a
‘damsel in distress’ or men who represented the ‘hero’. All the images I used
were of both males and females who had all overcome their abuse and have
smiling pictures to show that they are in a happier place now. So, my images tended
to subvert stereotypes.
Throughout my research I also
found that my audience like to get involved with my website e.g. by creating
their own online profiles. New Media theory suggests that audiences now like to
‘shape’ media. So I included a webpage that allows my audience to sign in and
have their own online profile. This also allows my audience to represent
themselves and allows them to get involved. I also included message boards so
my audience could voice their opinions and comments; which again stopped me
from making assumptions for my audience.
Throughout my media product I
have made it clear that I have represented both genders. In every aspect I have
included men and women, for example; in my film, the ‘their stories’ page and
the ‘our youth team’ column.
The biggest way in which I have
represented social groups is through my video. I decided to be conventional and
stereotypical in the way I presented gender roles as I felt this would make my
product more engaging with the audience as they will be automatically aware of
these stereotypes.
I have supported traditional
representations of women by having the girl in my film represented as a ’weak’
character. I decided to use a blonde haired actress as this links with stereotypes
about blonde hair denoting innocence, youth and vulnerability. I asked my
actress to wear natural looking makeup so she appeared sweet and ‘natural’.
This should imply the character is honest and not able to hide who she is and
how she feels. I also asked my actress to wear a t-shirt so she seems like an
‘everyday’ character. I wanted this character to be someone who the audience
feels they can relate to, to make the point that anyone can suffer. Finally, I
chose a 6’4 male character to play the abuser. Height is normally presented as
being linked to power and intimidation; this matched what I wanted to do.
What kind of media institution might describe your media products and
why?
My media product is a website so
I am not really using an institution because it is on the internet, meaning it
is available to anybody who can access the internet. This means that my website
is discreet which matches the sensitive nature of my website.
However, I have incorporated
other institutions into my website, such as, YouTube; this is where my video
can also be viewed. I have done this because YouTube is a place my target
audience tends to go for information as it’s recognised, trustworthy and a
worldwide institution. YouTube is also associated with a younger audience and
is full of content which is modern and new. With my video being on YouTube it
also makes the audience react the same way towards my website. Within my
website, I have also used hyperlinks to other websites, this makes my website
seem more official and legitimate.
From my research I found that a
lot of media institutions associate with celebrities or use celebrity
endorsements. Although this could create a larger target audience, I did not
associate my website with celebrities for two main reasons;
. Having a larger target audience can eventually make your website
appeal to no one as you have incorporated too many different features and
conventions.
. My research showed that celebrity endorsements can attract a
younger target audience, such as teenagers; as my target audience is between
the ages of 21-35 I did not want this.
However, if I did use a star
endorsement I would use someone of importance/ significance e.g. the Prime
Minister. I would use the Prime Minister because he has great significance in
our country. If my audience seen the leader of our countries government
associating with my charity, it will show that my website I legitimate and
shows a serious problem that needs to be addressed. I also feel that the Prime
Minister would add a greater level of respectability to the topic than just a
celebrity who may make the product seem frivolous.
Although I didn’t use celebrity
endorsements I did make partnerships to shops that would sell pin badges to
supporters of the charity. The shops I chose to stock the pin badges were;
Dorothy Perkins, Topman, Waitrose and Tesco’s. These are shops I found my
target audience tended to shop. If I did have money and contacts I would like
my product to be widely advertised. By making my product a ‘brand’ I hope
people would feel more able to discuss the topics I am exploring.
When creating my website I tried
to include ways I could turn my brand into a widely recognised brand. To make
it recognisable I uniformed every page with the name of my website, a colour
scheme and a logo.
When choosing the font I consider
a range of types, but from my plan I knew that I wanted it to be simple and
formal. At first I considered using New Times Roman, but as my target audience
are of a younger age I decided that this was too plain and recognised as
‘boring’. So the font I used was Noticia Text which was plain and formal but is
also recognisable and distinctive.
For my logo, I used three figures
that had no colour apart from a faint black outline; the three figures were
separated equally apart. I spaced them equally apart to represent the children
that my charity would help. It represents the fact that the abused, neglected
or exploited children feel as if they are alone, however, the fact that they
are spread equally apart, almost touching shows that there is help and support
for them. I chose not to include colour in my logo as it relates to the name of
my website The Invisible Children. However, it also relates to the children
themselves, children who have suffered abuse may feel worthless.
I chose the colour blue as my
main colour because the shade of blue I chose connotes trust and loyalty. This
is important to the website because I wanted to show the audience that we care
for the children and that we are a trustworthy charity. My research also showed
that many non-specific charities use mainly primary colours in their colour
schemes.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
When thinking about my target
audience I mostly turned to my research to seek out the gap in the market. I found
that there are two main gaps in the market;
. Websites of any genre for both genders over 60 years old.
. Websites that had a target audience of 21-45 years old.
I chose to create a website with
a target audience of people 21-45 years old. I chose this gap rather than the
people over 60 because I felt like I understand and relate more to a younger
audience. I also chose a wider target audience so I could include a wider range
of conventions and features that relate to both genders.
To try and learn about my target
audience I undertook my own formal/ informal market research. With the idea of
who I wanted my target audience to be I used informal research by asking people
of the right criteria what they liked to see in a website. My formal research
consisted of questionnaires that I handed out to people. I have tried to use a
range of research at different points in my product to ensure I am constantly
gaining feedback and new ideas from my target audience.
At first before I knew about what
gaps there where in the market I was going to make a website for teenage girls
on eating disorders. However, after my research I found that this genre of
website was extremely common so I chose to go for something more original. I
thought this was easier as I could look at a wider range of different websites
and get inspiration from each one.
Each convention I used I tried to
make it sophisticated for example, my logo. I made my logo simple and
sophisticated by keeping it simple which I believe indicates my audience. By
keeping the figures simple it is easy to remember making it identifiable with
my website. However, to attract it to my more sophisticated target audience I
gave a meaning behind my logo.
When doing my research I found
that audiences can be defined by many things e.g. their age, gender, social
class, level of income or level of education. I also found that audiences have
different personality type’s e.g. ‘arty’ creative types. Cross-Cultural
Consumer Characterisation Model suggests that there are 4 main consumers within
media; ‘Mainstreamers’, ‘Aspirers’, ‘Reformers’ and ‘Succeeders’. All of these
personalities consume media differently. For example, Mainstreamers prefer to
consume what the majority of society consumes. For my media product I found
that my target audience tends to be ‘Mainstreamers’; I have tried to show this
by using simplistic conventions. I have avoided using creative ‘out-going’
features which the ‘reformers’ tend to be attracted too.
I have tended to use a lot of
text within my webpage which is mostly formal language. So my audience may need
a higher level of education to stay engaged whilst reading the text. However,
my film tends to be surreal with an ‘arty’ beginning and it is silent and in
black and white; so my audience may also have to be creative to be interested
in this. I wanted this from my audience as there are very few websites that
include this type of criteria from an audience.
How did you attract/engage your audience?
To attract my audience I put my
film on the top of my homepage, this is the first thing that my audience can
see. The mix of sound and images is engaging and will encourage my audience to
view more of the website. The mix of sound and images is also effective because
it can appeal to lot of people in lots of ways. My video may be more
informative to other people within my audience as they may find it more
attention grabbing than reading just text; this may appeal to the younger
people within my target audience. The use of music in my film is also engaging
and appealing to the target audience as it is modern and current. As my video
is also on YouTube it gives my audience more opportunities for my target
audience to find it; this is because YouTube is a popular institution among my
target audience. It also makes my charity look more legitimate as YouTube is
also a trusted institution. The type of film I used was a mix of surreal/
testimonial, the benefit of using a surreal video is that it’s easy to grab the
audience’s attention and because its testimonial too another benefit is that it
shows what the charity is about quickly. I feel this mix up is the most
engaging as it is unusual and will stand out as surreal films are memorable. It
is also emotionally engaging as we will hear someone’s story.
New media theory suggests that
audiences are now in charge of media and are controlling it for themselves e.g.
by using online features that allow them to voice their opinions. They can now
voice their opinions on social networking sites such as Facebook were they can
‘like’, ‘comment’ or share content. So within the header of my webpages I have
included social media buttons were my target audience can have a link to their
favourite social media sites.
To appeal to my audience I tried
to make the name of my website stand out, by calling it ‘The Invisible
Children’ I believe it intrigues my audience and encourages them to read about
my website to find why it has been named that. By having a meaning behind it,
it can make the name of my website stand out as it will become something my
target audience thinks about and recognises.
Uses and Gratifications theory
suggests that audiences consume media for 5 main reasons, the reasons being;
. Identification- media content can show us situations we are
similar too. For example, magazines include articles about people’s problems.
When people find they can relate to the situation of these people they get a
sense of identification.
. Entertainment- media content can give us something to do or think
about. For example, many websites now involve an entertainment section in their
navigation bar. This section can involve activities such as games, quizzes or
competitions.
. Escapism- media content can help us escape the horrors of
everyday life. Many people find reading about other people lives, such as
celebrities, a way to escape the complications of their day.
. Social Interaction- media content allows us to talk/ bond with
other people by using media content. For example, when we have watched
something on television that we find interesting we may talk about it with
others. If the other person is also interested it brings interaction.
Interaction can give us a sense of community. We can also interact online with
others in chat rooms or discussion boards.
. Educational- media content can teach the audience something or
help them learn. For example, there are many magazines which specialise in
different subjects, such as knitting or fishing. These magazines can instruct
people step by step on the subject or teach them to master the subject.
I have tried to take these 5
reasons people consume media and apply them into parts of my website. For
example, on my webpage ‘their stories’ some of my target audience may find that
they can identify with someone’s story because they might of suffered the same
ordeal.
People can find social
interaction within my website as I have included comment sections and links to
social networking sights, as well as a ‘like’ Facebook button and a ‘tweet’
Twitter button.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
When looking at what programme to
use to construct my product I had to decide between two choices, Wix and Webex
Plus. I did not know much about either but I did some research; I made to small
fake products on each and showed my friends and asked their opinion on each. I
took feedback from my friends and they had decided that Wix was a better choice
as Wix gave a better quality finish. Although Webex Plus looked easier to use I
found that it looked simple and only included basic features. So when
constructing my product I used the website Wix, this allowed me to use a blank
template so I could use my own ideas. I have never used Wix before so I decided
to experiment with the functions on offer. At first I decided to experiment
with colour and backgrounds. At first I considered using a background that
showed the sky, but I decided not to use this as I thought it looked childish.
I then considered creating a blue boarder as I felt like this would frame my
content and act as a brand motif. At first the boarder went all around however,
I felt this made the page look smaller and caused my content to look
squashed.so, I cropped the top and bottom bands off and now the blue is only
and the left and right side.
I then decided to add images, at
first I tried to take the images on my phone as I wanted them to look
naturalistic and non- posed. I also felt a phone would allow me to capture
action shots. Having put the images on my website I found the picture quality
was poor to use as they were grainy, pixelated and became distorted when I
tried to enlarge or change shape. Another significant problem was the lighting;
many of the images looked very dark and this created a gloomy feel that didn’t
match the hopeful brand image I was hoping to create. Because of this I retook
several of my images and this time I used a camera, I asked my friend Emily to
hold a torch by the person being photographed to ensure images were light.
Light is an important semiotic code for positivity and hope. I then attempted
to use a colour lightening tool to further bleach the colour in the images.
When I looked at this I decided to remove it as the effect was too bleached and
made the images look non-naturalistic. This vintage look did not match the
brand image of my website. I also experimented with Photo-shop editing photos
but I also felt these looked non-naturalistic. I knew I wanted my images to be
focused upon people. I felt close up shots would give my website a friendly
human face. I felt it was important to make the people the focus of my website
to show that my brand cares about people. To ensure that the people were the
focus, I used Photo-shop again to crop out the background so they appeared as
head and shoulder silhouettes. After looking at the finished effect I decided
to undo the cropping as cropped and irregular images shapes break conventions.
Instead I decided to retake the images against a plain brick wall; this created
a blank mis-en-scene but also ensures the people are the focus point of the
images.
I also
found that I had more access to other technologies by using a computer e.g.
adding links from google maps onto one of my webpages. At first, I found it
difficult using Wix as I hadn’t used a programme like this before and I had
limited knowledge on using computers. To overcome this frequently used the
internet to search how to use certain aspects of Wix, such as adding
hyperlinks; I am glad I learnt to use this as it is an important convention.
When shooting my video I used a
standard camcorder were I shot each part separately, to edit my video I used a
MacBook Pro with the programme Pro C6; on the programme I put all the parts of
my video together. Shot length is easy to change as some scenes went on to
long. C6 allowed me to crop parts of my video as once I finished shooting all
my film I found that the camcorder had left the date and time at the bottom of
my shot I also found the parts of my shots was too long. I cut and lengthened
shots until I reached shots I was happy with it.
I then decided to add sound to my
video. I decided to add the sound separately as I did not want background noise
and I wanted the sound to be high quality; as I was creating a surreal product.
I decided to voice record my friend Emily saying three phrases, “1 in 3 children
in the UK have been affected by a form of child abuse”, “Invisible Children
need your help” and “what if it was your child?” However, I then decided to
change these in to text and make them all into facts about child abuse, neglect
and exploitation as text would engage my audience as they would have to read
the text. I played these after each other to create a narrative effect. After
showing the video to my focus group, I decided that instead of using a voice
over I would add music. I felt the music made the video more emotional and made
the message more universal. I felt the voice over should be added at the end
once the emotional part had ended and I had engage my audience.
From the exam side of AS Media
Studies I learnt a lot about lighting and binary oppositions, this gave me the
idea to put the first part in black and white and Pro C6 gave me a choice of
different dark coloured scales. As darkness connotes sadness I felt this has a
great impact on the audience from my video.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt
in the progression from it to the full product?
Although I had studied GCSE Media
Studies, most of my work was based around magazines. This meant I knew very
little about the conventions of a webpage, ICT skills or media theories; these
are all things I have learnt much more about in the last year.
The big concept that had
completely changed my understanding of media is the notion of brand image. I
spent a lot of time learning about brand image at the start of the year and I
now understand that every media product has its own unique identity. This
identity plays a key role in making a product stand out, engaging a target
audience and shaping the mood of the product.
From the start I knew I wanted my
product to appear sophisticated and factual, I think that I have created this
image by using a largely monochrome colour scheme, using formal language and
including lots of content so my product looks like a fact based space. To help
me achieve this aim I needed to learn more about conventions like what to
include and not to include in a website, for example;
. Not leaving blank spaces- by leaving blank spaces it can make a
website look unprofessional as real media products do not waste space. A lack
of content can also make a product appear uniformed and this goes against my
desired brand image; I avoided leaving blank space by including text and images
wherever I could. These are powerful as they work on a polysemic level; this gave me lots more opportunities. This is
another thing I have learnt, I did not originally know what polysemic meant,
but this year through research and by completing deconstructions I have learnt
that meaning is often shaped by suggested and implication. I feel this is a
powerful tool as it is less aggressive than spelling things out, it also
empowers the audience as it allows them to interoperate their own meanings and
ideas.
I have learnt a lot about how
people are represented in media through stereotypes and Propp’s Character
Theory. Propp’s theory suggests that people are complicated and hard to
understand and because of this we can never truly represent someone. Instead of
accurately representing someone we represent them as stereotypes that are
linked with fairy tale characters. The representations include;
. The Hero- the hero tends to be more often male than female and is
a person who does well and is likeable by the audience. The hero often has
overcome an obstacle or has fought something.
. The Villain- the villain is a selfish person who is trying to
gain power. The villains are often a danger
to the audience.
. The Helper- the helper is someone who makes a situation better
and offers positive support for other characters.
. The Donor- the donors are often ‘older and wiser’ characters that
offer advice to other characters. The donor also helps to improve things.
. The Princess- the princess is usually portrayed as helpless,
innocent women e.g. ‘a damsel in distress.
I have found that stereotypes are
used much more frequently in the real media than I had thought. I have also
learnt about how these impressions are created; I now know that shot type,
costumes and setting all shape meaning in a big way even though they seemingly
appear quite unimportant. My knowledge of this subject has been further
developed my feminist media theory as I have learnt about the way power in
society is presented. I have also learnt about patriarchy and the way in which
men can be seen as keeping power by reducing women to stereotypes. I have tried
to comment on this theory in my own video as it is a man who is abusing the
female character. I have done this to represent something about the fact
feminist theorist think men can misuse their power.
