Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The preliminary product would be a scene in a TV programme; the main aspect of the series would be drama. It contains typical conventions of a TV drama; including a close-up of the secretary's face to show emotion and a sinister facial expression. The camera shots/angles used clearly show an insight of the characters' personalities. I think it is a realistic representation of a typical modern working day. We achieved this by the office-like location, characters formal costume and props (such as a laptop and a whiteboard). One way of identifying markets is to use a system of grouping people according to their job. In the scene, they are office staff; therefore, they are in the grade C1.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product clearly represents a working class of the females; there are only women in this short office scene. This shows the dominance of women, and how society has changed so that women can have high-level jobs as well as men. In previous years this has not always been the case as men were controlling more power in the employment industry.

3. What kinds of media institution distribute your media product and why?
I think the media institution Channel 4/E4 would distribute this media product because they already show Drama series, and I think this product would fit their criteria with the other programmes and target the same audience. Millions of viewer's watch E4’s best programming whether it is on premiere, repeat or through their VOD service. They are very successful with the commissioned programmes such as, Skins, The Inbetweeners and Hollyoaks.
http://www.channel4.com/corporate/4producers/commissioning/e4.html

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
E4 is the UK’s most-watched digital channel amongst 16-34 year olds, so we aim for this age group to watch our product on Channel 4. However, I believe the scene is quite formal, and maybe too complex or bromidic for younger viewers, so the audience might differ slightly to 18-40 year olds.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We want to keep the audience interested and attentive but we also want to keep it realistic. At the start of the scene, a woman is walking down the corridors, so this may build tension for the audience because they want to know where she's going and why etc. In addition, at the end of the scene there is a close-up shot of the woman's sinister facial expression. This makes it more interesting and intense for the audience. Also, it ends on a cliffhanger because the audience doesn't know what is going to happen next. This keeps them in suspension, and creates an attachment to the programme.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
By constructing this product, I have learnt how to use editing technology. This is called 'Windows Movie Maker'. I found by using this programme, I have learnt many different transitions and effects I can use in the piece. For example, I know how to adjust sound to make it louder and to change a short clip in the scene black and white. I have also learnt that camera angles can represent a character's mood. For example, a close-up will be used to show emotion on the character's face, and if the camera is at an high angle, looking down on the character, it may show that the character is feeling low or not very good about themselves.

7. What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from to the full product?
I haven't got a lot of previous media experience so I think I have learnt several aspects of the filming industry by doing this preliminary task. Firstly, working as a team was very useful because we all listened to each other's opinions and discussed ideas on the types of camera angles and dialogue, which I feel will help in later life. In addition, I think I am better at creating storyboards. Next time, I know to write the storyboard in much more detail and be as specific as I can with colours and images.
We also came across a fault in our scene. We didn't follow the task completely, as in our scene no one came into the office and sat down. I have learnt to read in depth and use more time for planning.