Media Evaluation

Jake Hashdi

How successful were your products? Did you fulfil the intentions set out at the beginning of the assignment?

I originally intended to create a product that was of the highest possible quality I could produce. Furthermore, I intended to appeal to young people aged 15-35 as the primary target audience, but males aged 18-29 as the secondary target audience. I intended to create appealing characters, with a gritty tone reflecting the content of my programme, that was recognisable as part of the drama genre. Finally, even though the programme was part of the science fiction drama genre, I wanted to reflect real life issues within it. In observing my audience feedback, I feel that I have achieved these aims successfully. From my audience feedback, I can assess that I have successfully appealed to my chosen target audience, as the members of the chosen demographic responded positively to the programme. Furthermore, the audience responded very positively to the characters within the show,

“Q: What did you like about the clip you just watched?

A: Characters seemed believable”

Overall many of those who responded in giving feedback enjoyed the show, and praised parts of its productions (e.g. camera angles) which proves its quality, which was one of my main intentions, to produce a show of high quality. Although, upon reflection with feedback, I feel that I did not fully communicate the science fiction aspect of the show fully to the audience, which somewhat diminished the quality of the show.

How successful were your products? Did you fulfil the

intentions set out at the beginning of the assignment?When producing my website, I intended to again create a product that was of as high a quality that I could achieve, whilst still appealing to the target audience. Furthermore, I intended to create a website that was both simple to use and reflected the themes and tones of the TV segment that I produced. I feel that I achieved this very successfully.

Q: “What did you like about the website?

A: Mirrors the show itself and what it implies.”

From my audience feedback I can see at the very least, all users found the website very easy to use and navigate around. Another popular aspect which was recognised was the reflection of the show’s ‘gritty’ theme through the website, which was one of my key intentions in creating the website. Additionally, whilst not directly intending to achieve this, I did recognise that a popular and common feature of modern websites was the interactivity available within websites, e.g. a twitter page available to follow. This element was included on the website and also proved very popular.

The productions were created under the knowledge that the broadcaster of the programme would be E4. This ultimately meant that the products were created to ‘fit in’ with the content that the broadcaster currently produces/broadcasts. The programme fit into the ethos of E4 as when creating the productions , we recognised that products of a similar genre and tone are or were popular on E4, most namely, Dead set and Misfits, Both of which incorporated elements, which we sought to mimic. In observing their popularity and success, we attempted to add elements from these shows into our own, thus it can be assumed that the production fit into the E4 ethos. The ability to fit into the ‘ethos’ of E4 was made easier for me, as I conducted primary production research, which entailed calling the executive producer of the show ‘Misfits,’ Petra Fried. From this telephone call I learnt that E4 wanted Clerkenwell (producers of Misfits) to produce something that ‘felt real,’ even though Misfits is a science fiction show. As such this influenced our decisions when in making our product as we attempted to add in ‘real’ life elements/ problems such as the death/loss of a loved one

Image sources:

Misfits: http://images.tvrage.com/shows/9/8784.jpg

Dead Set: http://www.internalbleeding.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/dead-set-8.jpg

What kind of institutional context did the productions fit into?

What genre were you working in and how was this apparent to your audience?The genre that I was working within was Science fiction drama. This was apparent to my audience in a multitude of ways. The drama aspect of the show was identified through the use of tension in the show, which was an identified convention of drama. Furthermore, the genre of drama was further conveyed through the setting of the production, which was a harsh, seemingly post-apocalyptic setting. The character’s costumes also reflected the drama of the show. The costumes were predominantly winter clothing that were mainly grey and other dark colours. The colours and content of the website reflected the drama element of the show, as the colours were again dark, and the content was heavily about the narrative of the show, something again common of drama programmes. This again reflects the dark tone of the show as these colours have dark connotations, further connoting the programmes genre. The science fiction aspect of the show was somewhat lacking in presentation. The aspects that did show the science fiction genre were the post-apocalyptic back drop, and the use of guns, which see little use pre watershed outside of science fiction (for example they are often feature in Doctor Who). The post-apocalyptic theme was somewhat represented by the simplistic layout of the website.

Image source: http://www.artboiled.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/doctorwho-gun.jpg

How well did you target your audience?

Our audience was targeted fairly successfully. This can be assesed from the audience feedback we received. The majority of those who responded were within our target audience demographic of young people aged 15-35. this meant that our feedback was valid. As such, from our audiences mainly positive feedback, it can be assessed that we target our audience. The audience responded well to most aspects of both productions. Within the TV show, the main praise was regards to the representation of the genre, the ‘hook’ ending and the characters.

Q: “What did you like about the clip you just watched?

A: Characters and set all seemed believable.”

To create our ending in such a fashion, we made use of an enigma code that saw a mysterious knock at the door at the end of the clip. This ultimately raised the question; “who was that?” which intrigued our audience, leaving them with a desire to continue watching.

The website was praised for its reflection of the TV segment, its simplicity and its interactivity. These are good examples of successful audience targeting for two main reasons. Firstly, the very fact these elements were noticed and praised, shows that the audience has responded positively to the production. Secondly (as previously mentioned) the fact that the majority of our feedback is from those who fit our audience demographic, and is positive shows that we have successfully targeted and engaged the audience.

How successful were each of your products in communicating their key ideas and concepts?

One of the Key concepts for the show was to seem ‘real’ a factor that was learnt to be important through primary production research, which consisted of making a phone call to Clerkenwellfilms, creators of ‘Misfits’. Even though the show was science fiction, this concept was communicated through the features of real life issues within the show, such as the loss of a parent, relationships, and general togetherness and cooperation. These were all represented as parts of the narrative within the TV segment. However the products were for entertainment value, and were kept in mind as such. The Mise En Scene of the production, was chosen with the post apocalyptic theme in mind, as was the production of the website. These elements ultimately helped to engage and entertain the audience more.

Image source: http://www.joannabriscoe.com/img/clerkenwell.jpg

How were the narratives constructed and what part did they play in the creation of meaning and experience of your products?The narratives of the show were constructed using the knowledge of Todorov, Propp and Barthes’ theory of narratives. In creating the narrative in such a manner, meant that the programme was kept conventional and thus appealed to the target audience. This also meant that issues that were represented through connotations rather than denotations were better accepted as the audience were not distracted by complicated narratives. For example, our segment featured equilibrium to begin with wherein the characters are safe within their camp, followed by the disruption of equilibrium, which saw a mysterious figure attempting to enter the camp.

These theories also helped us create a conventional set of characters that audiences could find appealing and relate to. For example, we attempted to create a dynamic of Hero and Helper characters between Harry and Dan. We attempted to establish Harry as a ‘hero’ character. This element of sympathy was established for the character due to the fact it is revealed he lost his father, making him a character whom the audience can relate to, as he is experiencing somewhat of an everyday problem. Whereas Dan was established as ‘helper’ character, given his attitude and aim towards guiding the group (including Harry) towards safety and survival. The construction of the narratives in such a manner meant that the product was ultimately appealing, as in being kept conventional, but original in its concept, the audience were engaged by the product.

How were the narratives constructed and what part did they play in the creation of meaning and experience of your products?

We also created the product with Knowledge of Barthes and made use of an ‘enigma code.’ We did this by creating a ‘mystery’ as to who was attempting to enter the survivors camp at the end of the segment. This proved successful, as we incorporated this as a ‘hook’ that would engage the audience and encourage them to continue watching.

Q: “Would you watch a full series of this show?

A:Yes

Q:Why?

A: It was entertaining and grabbed my attention to see what was going to happen next.”

The narratives of the show also helped in creating a theme for the website, which again was popular with audiences. The fact that our product was set in the countryside as opposed to an urban setting, emphasised the apocalypse element of the narrative. It did this as in having a rural setting, it suggests that only those who were far away from civilization survived. This was an important part of the narrative as it creates a more gritty and immersive atmosphere for the audience.

What kind of values and ideologies did the productions promote or attack?

The production itself somewhat promoted cooperation. This was due to the teamwork that was carried out by the characters within the segment. This theme was further built upon with the theme of valuing others, with characters being concerned about the well-being of other characters. The idea/premise of losing a loved one was also touched upon within the segment. This was not so much attacked; however it was heavily portrayed as a negative/ troubling thing, so it could be argued that the programme attacked this. Touching upon real life issues within the science fiction/fantasy genre has proved popular before with audiences. A notable example of which is seen in, The ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Season 5 episode; ‘The Body’. This raised issues such as the trauma of loosing a loved one even though it is a fantasy TV show. This ultimately benefited the product as it engaged the audience more so, and was somewhat relatable.

Q: “What did you like about the clip you just watched?A: I liked the way you can understand the relationships easily and how it reflects social problems/issues.”

Image source: http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5zd2qy5LP1qfsm5w.png

What representations do the Productions raise?

The productions raise somewhat stereotypical representations of characters. For example, within the TV segment, like the vast majority of drama shows, and indeed shows in general, the dominant character(s) who is shown to be ‘in charge’ is a Caucasian male (Dan), which is indeed very stereotypical in TV shows. However within the TV segment, we somewhat portrayed our female character unconventionally, as we chose to have her holding a gun. This was significant in representation as a gun is something that is often conative of power within TV shows and films, so we indeed somewhat portrayed our female character as powerful, and equal to the male characters of the show. However this representation is somewhat contradicted on the website for the show, where she is described as being “optimistic and always cheerful,” which are traits that are considered stereotypical of young women, due to their frequent use in fairy-tale. Whilst we did represent women in such a fashion, in only including one female character we somewhat marginalised women within our segment. This was done due to the secondary target audience; we aimed to appeal to (males aged 18 – 29). This marginalisation was adopted due to its use and success in a show a the same genre, Misfits. Misfits appeals to the same audience that our product is targeted at, and sees a larger percentage of male characters. This is successful in appealing to our secondary audience as it creates a more diverse range of characters that the secondary audience can relate to.

How might you apply your ideas to a third media platform?

There are multiple ways that the production could have been applied to a third media platform. A poster campaign is one aspect that could be considered. Multiple posters work well to spread knowledge of TV shows. Furthermore they work effectively when disguised as something else. For example, due to the fact the full programme would contain hostile alien life, false posters with a website address (for the show) could be put up, that inform the public about how to defend yourself from an alien attack, featuring an image of the aliens. This would be much like the poster campaign for the 2009 film ‘District 9’. Due to the fact that it is unclear whether this is a serious warning or not, the public would be intrigued to further explore the show. A billboard campaign would also be effective. E4 as a broadcaster has already used this technique to advertise some of its shows (Skins) so this would in part be institutionally conventional. This is also an effective way of promoting a programme, as it can be presented in multiple ways (including in the afore mentioned ‘warning’ manner), which prove effective due to the placement and size of billboard ads. Both of these print adverts would be constructed with images taken from the TV products, and a font or graphic used on the website.

Image sources: District 9: http://collider.com/wp-content/image-base/Movies/D/District_9/Movie_Posters/.thumbs/.District%209%20movie%20poster%20-%20viral%20poster.jpg

Skins: http://farm1.staticflickr.com/222/492985556_c9c2d0caff_z.jpg