question one

Question OneHow did my media products USE, DEVELOP or

CHALLENGE codes and conventions?

Scripted RealityTo USE = Demonstrate understanding of common Codes and Conventions.

To DEVELOP = If you've made a parody or hybrid.To CHALLENGE = Actively go against what you expect from

this genre or sub-genre.

In this PowerPoint I will explain how I used, challenged and developed codes and conventions whilst making my scripted reality trailer and ancillary products

I will know go on to point out some similarities and differences between my trailer and the

one we used. Some differences were just budget and time related and others I thought

would enhance my trailer.

TrailerSimilarities:-Neither give too much away but leave the audience wanting more-The score is simple yet catchy-There is a variety of shot types and camera angles-Both tell us when the show is on and are on a particular channel (E4)-Both in a regional location

Differences: -My trailer contains title cards at the end which convey emotions and themes from the programme-My trailer is slightly longer-My trailer contains more actors and has a few storylines rather than just the one (cheating and moving away)

How did we USE, DEVELOP, CHALLENGEcodes and conventions?...

Mise en scene

USE: When deciding on the locations of shooting our trailer we decided to mimic places the Made In Chelsea trailer was shot. E.g. Every day places such as restaurants/bars that look slightly upper

class to tie in with upper class lifestyle MIC conveys.DEVELOP:WE developed this by sometimes pretending places were

something else e.g. By giving one of a stars a mug in a room in college it looked like she was in a cafe.

CHALLENGE: We challenged the convention of blurring out the background, as we felt it important to show the audience where the stars were as location was often important e.g. Saphire in the train

station

The stars of MIC in a bar

Our shot at Kro Bar

Inside Kro Bar

Location CostumeUSE: We knew that the stars in MIC wear clothes that connote wealth and high status so we tried to mimic this by getting the

guys to wear shirts and the girls to wear fitted clothing. We also used make up to portray this. We copied the girls’ style by having

subtle make up and looking very bronze.DEVELOP: We developed this by adding edgy leather jackets.

CHALLENGE: We challenged this by letting the boys wear chinos as we thought this matched our location more.

Spencer in a casual looking shirt in MIC

Ste wearing a casual looking shirt

in our trailer Mancunian Way

Subtle make up on Louise in MIC. Bronzed skin,

subtle eye make up and nude lips

Katie with subtle make up in MW.

Bronzer skin, simple eye make up and nude lips


Lighting

USE: The lighting in scripted realities tends to be very bright to enhance the beauty and glamour of the stars and make sure they are always looking their best. We tried our best to mimic this by trying to film on bright days or in locations where the artificial lighting would help us out.DEVELOP: we developed the convention by using artificial lighting such as lights and lamps to help us achieve our desired effect.CHALLENGE: We challenged this convention by filming a couple of shots outside on a miserable day but luckily the shots werent’ effected too much.

Artificial lightingCan tell artificial lighting is used because of the highlights on stars face


Camera

Over the shoulder shot: This is probably the most common shot in a scripted reality show. It shows the audience who is talking to who and makes the audience feel as though they are peeking into the conversation.. They are getting the gossip first hand!

USE: we used this shot in a similar way to MIC by using it whilst two of the stars were having a personal conversation.DEVELOPED: we developed the shot by zooming it out a bit as this makes it seem as though the audience is just peeking over the shoulder of the

star rather than right up in his face.CHALLENGE: we challenged it again by not blurring the backgrounds as we felt that this makes the story seem more false

Reaction Shot: This kind of shot is normally used in an interesting conversation... The first star says something, we see the second stars reaction and then the camera cuts back to the first star. We used it when Sapphire told her best friend she was moving away.

USE: we used this by mimicking the exact same sequence (star 1, star 2, star1) it allows us to see reactions from both stars after the other has spoken

DEVELOP: we developed it by making the shot a bit closer to Saphires’s face in the last shot. This makes the audience feel as though they are getting involved and deeper into the conversation.

CHALLENGE: we challenged the second shot by not using an over the shoulder shot. We did this because we wanted to focus more on the expression of the star and the shock of what has been said.


Camera

Close up: close ups allow the audience to see the emotion of the star. We used it in a crying scene, as did MIC. A lot of close ups are also used to show off the make up

USE: we used this shot in the same way, to show the star crying at what has been said DEVELOP: we developed the shot by getting a tiny bit closer to the star so they audience feels involved in the conversation and can feel the

tension.CHALLENGE: we challenged the shot by not blurring the background as we felt in not doing so it made it seem more realistic.


Sound

Digetic Sound

USE: The majority of the digetic sound in the trailer, as you would expect is dialogue. I made sure that all our actors were nicely

spoken to convey the high class status that MIC does.DEVELOP: We have developed this convention by using our own

Northern accent and not tried to mimic their’s.CHALLENGED: I have natural background noises such a people

walking up steps, the wind whistling etc. Sometimes I have kept these in to create realism but kept them low. Other times I have

completely cut the sound altogether. For example on a scene where we want to focus more on the stars reaction.

Non-digetic Sound

USE: I think my trailer, alike to the MIC one has an upbeat tune and matches the edits well.

DEVELOPED: The track isn’t that well known but this is good as people will then associate it with the show when they hear it.

Creating brand identity.CHALLENGE: My soundtrack has a tiny bit of vocals in whereas

most soundtracks don’t.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNzZFrlKz64 = my soundtrack

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNzZFrlKz64

Similarities:-One main cover star-Single image rather than a few from different soaps-Masthead slightly covered by star-Both given away with newspaper (creates mass audience)-Story anchors star-Multiple features-Bold masthead-Direct address of reader

Differences:-Our main image is in black and white-Different colour scheme-Different masthead

Front Cover


USE: We mimicked the fact that our magazine would be given away with a newspaper as we thought this would reach a wider target audience. We have also copied the style of the title and masthead and given it a similar name which makes it sound desirable to the audience. I used the same layout by making the features frame the star and using the stars story anchor him. We used the main protagonist of our storyline doing a similar pose to Olly Murrs on Fabulous magazine. This pose connotes cockiness and a big ego which is something we wanted to convey to the

audience about his personality.DEVELOPED: I have developed the magazine by making the masthead and the mast head and the main feature the dominant accent colour and

the background dull as I want these parts to stand out to my audience.CHALLENGED: I challenged codes and conventions by making the cover star’s image black and white. I have done this in this way as i think it

makes him look sophisticated

Billboard

Similarities:-Both contain all the stars-Both use bright coloured background boxes-The poses being pulled say a bit about the storyline

Differences:-Mine has a separate part which gives the audience vital

information e.g.: When it’s on and where you can watch it-Mine has E4 logo on it-Mine has the title of the programme on it


USE: As you can see from the image below I have replicated the brightly coloured tiles as i believe these will catch the attention of the target audience. I have also included all of the stars that appear in the scripted reality as these will be

recognisable to the audience. Although the Towie billboard doesn’t use them, i knew that the name of the programme, time and where it was and logo were an important convention of billboards and added them to my own.DEVELOPED: we have developed this by using the direction the stars are looking. We have done this in this way to tell

the audience something about the storyline. Tarquin is the only character giving direct eye contact to the audience and all the rest of the stars are looking at him. This is because he is the main protagonist in the storyline.

CHALLENGED: I haven’t really done much to challenge codes and conventions in this product as I wanted the billboard to attract the target audience and allow them to gain all the information they need so they can tune into

the show.