EVALUATION – MEDIA STUDIESCARMEN ISABELA STERIAN 6210

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

Main Product : A short opening sequence of a new kids programme Name: ‘Mimmie’s Fairies’ Ancillary texts: DVD cover ‘Mimmie’s Fairies’ Magazine cover ‘Kids mgazine’

Media plays a very important role in our everyday life through media devices and through these devices we, as an audience find a representation of ourselves or look for an identity. Most of the times, people chose consciously or unconsciously a role model that they see in the media, and media takes advantage of this by offering the consumers more opportunities to admire and escape from the everyday life through means such as Television, Radio, Magazines, Internet and DVDs.

This can be often reflected in many media products such as films, series and Tv shows which are often promoted through more than one media device. For example, Kids Magazines in particular, it’s easy to observe that in real life, many magazines have used their covers to promote programmes or series that we watch on TV. A good example to look at would be the tale from Disney releases in 2011 ‘Tangled’ who has featured in many magazines and has been advertised through posters and commercials on Television. Usually, new releases such as ‘Tangled’ help producers to boost up their sales and profit because people are always interested in something new and exciting.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

Also, older series such as ‘Bob the Builder’ and ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ have had a lot of success and due to this, the producers of these series have decided to offer to the public a range of different episodes that they can watch in their own time and so the children don’t have to wait to see it. The DVDs have not only brought joy to the children but also have given the chance to parents to manage their time more easily.

In my opinion, the magazine cover is extremely useful for marketing and advertising, because it introduces the product to people and creates interest. On one hand, I think that the fact that many series are first aired on Television is a good way of analyzing trends and see if the product appeals to people and through their feedback the producer can see if the product is worth marketed through DvDs. On the other hand, when planning a product is always very important to have a good look and evaluate existent products similar to the one you intend to produce, because the audience is always looking for something new but something that also accomplishes the standards of new technologies.

Nowadays, Dvds are very popular, which is a good and a bad thing for producers because there are plenty of ‘kids series’ DVDs on the market but also the market develops every day, and the producer has to be prepared to make slight changes to how the product is marketed.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

Box SetSpecial Edition

Blu-Ray Disc

3 D DimensionsNew Release

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE COMBINATION OF YOUR MAIN PRODUCT AND ANCILLARY TEXTS?

However, the combination of the main product and the ancillary texts helps not only to the advertising and marketing of the main product, but also gives more freedom to people and it is easy to thrive over other products which maybe are only on television or games or stories that are only limited to the inside of the magazines

Another way of promoting my main product would be through little toys given with the magazine, which could be for example, maybe a little colouring book with pictures of Mimmie or maybe a little set of make-up. I assume that the little toys always have to be accessible not only for the targeted audience but also for little children i.e not dangerous for babies or also easy to share with parents, activities that parents and children can do together.

Overall, the combination of main product and ancillary texts can be at times challenging but also can be very pleasing if the results are noticeable and the work is rewarded.

HOW DID YOU USE MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND RESEARCH, PLANNING AND EVALUATION STAGES?

Ancillary texts : Fireworks Media product: Imovie In order to summarise my interviews and to construct them I have used Microsoft Word.

Also when I have analysed similar products to the one I have produced it helped me especially to compare and contrast as well as take ideas and follow conventions when constructing my actual product.

I have used very much Microsoft Word mostly for planning my work but also to construct my final product. I found that by following my plan through the bullet points has been a constructive method in order to develop later my original ideas.

Blog – has been very useful for the presentation of my work not only to my teachers but also to friends an audiences. In my opinion, the blog has been a good of saving my work safely as well as sharing it with the public. For me, the ‘blog’ has been very significant, just as a ‘digital file’.

Embedding interviews – In order to embed my interviews it has been necessary to use a new digital method,

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

For example, my product has a lot of voiceover, to make the audience – children feel more involved, as part of the action. The purpose of the majority of the voiceover as well as Mimmie’s voice is to make the story more realistic. Relating to a real media text, ‘In the night garden’ is a good example of the forms and conventions that I have used and developed in my main product. This includes the voiceover and also taking by surprise the main character, Mimmies when she is doing an action. Also, another way in which my product uses and develops conventions of the real media products specifically ‘In the night garden’ is near the end of the sequence, when Mimmies almost finds herself lost in the forest still looking for Ray O’Sunshine. The use of colours in my product is similar to the one in ‘In the night garden’ where the colours are a bit dark and give a slight sense of mysterious through the shades of green and browns.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS? Another very important example of real media text which differs in terms of

forms and conventions from my media product is ‘Peter Pan’ and Tinkerbelle. The little fairy Tinkerbelle is extremely small and also uses her wings very often to hide or fly away. However in my opening sequence of my media product, even though Mimmie has the main characteristic of a fairy, which is the wings she doesn’t fly, she runs in a very childish way which is specific to a story, much resembling to ‘Little Red riding hood.’

Also, I have used very slow motion editing to give a sense of continuity so that Mimmie looks like she’s almost flying when she isn’t actually.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Similarly, my media product challenges the forms and conventions of another real media text such as the good fairy in ‘Pinocchio’ or the one in ‘Cinderella’.

Even though all three media texts have the same narrative with the exception of my product which is produced in series different to the other two which have been produced as stories. The major difference in terms of conventions between ‘Mimmie’s fairies’ and ‘Pinocchio’ is the presentation of fairies which is almost opposite. In ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Pinocchio’ the good fairy is representative of a woman compared to the little child in my media product. In the stories mentioned above the fairy is old enough to give advice and judge or punish and is able to establish limits or restrictions (Cinderella’s spell only lasts untill midnight’). Contrastingly, in my media product, Mimmie is more friendly and more accessible as a character for children aged 4 to 6 yrs, particularly girls. Given that Mimmie is very active and always prepared for activities and fun encourages children to stop being shy and afraid and also make more friends.On one hand, this convention of exploring and even gpoing into the dark ‘It’s late and Ray O’Sunshine isn’t here yet’ can inspire fear for some children but also give them and impulse and the idea that doing something like that might be good or permited. Unfortunately, at this stage some children will not be able to understand that Mimmie may do something naughty when she goes into the forest and I am sure that if I was to continue the opening sequence I would try to avoid a bad example. On the other hand, it can be said that when Mimmie advances into the forest follows the conventions of ‘cinderella’ and ‘Pinocchio’ because something unexpected or bad happens,

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

Primarily tastes of the children concerning what they are watching is expressed through the objective point of view of the parent. However, even though the parent might be or may be not totally sure of what the child likes the most, the fact that I have conducted my research through these interviews gives a wider sense of realism especially because the child cannot fully express its opinion and also it doesn’t imply my interpretation.

The audience who will review my blog and will watch my interviews will be certain that the parents have answered the questions clearly and honestly. It is also easier for the audience to understand given that they can visualise and listen in the same time.

Additionally in my audience target research I have used a certain amount of questionnaires which is an easier and quicker way compared to the interviews but it doesn’t give a specific answer which can obviously be at times ambiguous.

However, I can work out an average answer and therefore have a general opinion towards the majority of boys and girls who watch the same programme or when, if at different time and so, when is the best time to put my programme on.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM YOUR AUDIENCE FEEDBACK?

When completing the questionnaires people feel more free to criticise whereas through filming people may feel a bit uncomfortable and may not always say their true opinion, therefore I have decided I will use the questionnaires for more audience feedback concerning my final product.

Feedback is very well perceived verbally as well which makes me think that I could use another feedback through short opinions and thoughts from my classmates. I hope that by going against some conventions throughout my final product as well as the ancillary texts the outcome will reflect my original ideas.

Obviously, because in the majority of the time, children are at school or nursery in this case, their time for playing and watching TV is very limited. Taking this into consideration, in my opinion, weekends and holidays is probably the best time for my programme to be aired. However, the fact that similar to other media products such as ‘Dora the Explorer’ ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’ and ‘Bob the Builder’ my products has also ancillary texts such DVDs and is often commercialised through the media, e.g. Magazine covers.