Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Newspaper Advertisement

Newspaper Advertisement
For my first ancillary product for my documentary extract Beyond the Essex Girl I created a poster advertisement to go in a newspaper or magazine to attract my target audience. My newspaper advertisement conformed with the typical conventions of similar products regarding BBC Three in particular, the channel where my product would be broadcasted.
Similar to BBC Threes Snog Marry Avoid I chose to use large, bold fonts on a white background to stand out to the target audience. I chose to use two different fonts and font colours to correspond with the narrative of my documentary, how it represents two different sides of the Essex girl. This is technique Snog Marry Avoid represents as it uses metallic font to present the machine they use in the programme. However, my heading develops the conventions of others as it uses the BBC Three logo colours to coordinate with the typography. The main image uses a similar technique as the conventions of Snog Marry Avoid. I used a main image that had the same model but appeared as two different characters to narrate the documentary. My main image slightly challenged this convention as I used two different face halves of the same individual, a technique that I havent seen in other products for documentaries but I have for US hit drama Breaking Bad, which I used as a basis for the idea of the main image. This technique reflects Levi-Strauss theory of binary opposition to a certain extent regarding the two opposite sides to the models face which reflects human cultural understanding.

Newspaper Advertisement
The BBC Three logo is extremely significant to use as a convention on a newspaper advertisement, it allows the audience to recognize the channel that is broadcasting the documentary. The logo is a crucial part of any television advertisement and it present on all BBC Threes. Therefore, this is a convention that I definitely used and it can be present anywhere on the advert.

The date and time of the programme is also a crucial element of the advertisement poster and a convention that I have used because it signifies (Saussure) to the audience when the programme is actually on so they know when to watch it. BBC Threes Dont Call Me Crazy used this convention however, Snog Marry Avoid did not. This is probably because the programme is ongoing and on anytime whereas Dont Call Me Crazy is a three part series and Beyond the Essex Girl is a single episode. I added a # at the bottom of the newspaper advertisement #EssexGirl. This develops conventions of media products within television as it advances new platforms of media regarding social networking on Twitter. This convention allows the audience to become more active with the programme through social networking, the interaction with others also promotes the documentary which leads to a wider audience. As a convention this is more innovative and develops conventions online, this hasnt been done a lot in the past as recently the hash tag is displayed in the introduction of the programme.

Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread

The main image I used on the double page spread covers the whole left hand side of the page, this is a convention Ive used from magazines that promote music etc. but it is not a common feature for television review sections in magazines, therefore in that retrospect I have challenged the conventions of these real media products in particular. For example, in The Times: Culture magazine the main image is placed at the top middle of the page slightly to the right of the spread. I think the main image will attract the audience as it covers the whole page and there isnt huge amounts of text to bore my younger target demographic.

Double Page Spread

The heading of my double page spread review used and developed the conventions of two magazine reviews found in The Times: Culture magazine. I decided to use two bold contrasting colours for my heading and sub-heading, The Times used this technique for the date title at the top of their review, the boldness of the fonts would attract the audience to the page in order to read the article. I also used the conventions from the other review I analysed as it uses a witty phrase in the heading which I used but challenged as I put this in my sub-heading The only way is up. I chose this pun as it imitates the hit reality drama The Only Way Is Essex which most people would recognize and instantly assume the article was about Essex personnel but there is a double meaning to it as it suggests Essex girls are on the rise in society. Therefore, the heading has created these conventions in order to draw attention from readers and present a humorous but recognizable message. At the bottom of the right side of the double page spread magazine review I challenged forms of real television reviews by presenting three small freeze frames from the footage in my documentary extract. I havent seen this in the reviews I have analysed however, I think this is necessary for the audience to see as they get an inside look to what is in the documentary and if it looks interesting for them to watch. I chose to present pictures of the typical Essex girl as it shows a contrast to the other model in the main image. The use of this stereotype helps to express our values and beliefs and refers to the world according to Walter Lippman. There is a small caption in the photo on the left of the three to present clarity to what the images are of to the reader. The bright pink and dark black colouring in the photos also comply with the colour scheme in the heading.

Double Page Spread

I used the conventions for most real media double page magazine spreads regarding the text in the article. The layout of text is written into two columns which is a common technique for articles, either two or three so it is quick and easier to the eye when read by an audience. The typography is simple, small, black font on a plain white background, a convention used by most magazines as it is easy and clear to read, it also looks professional. However, the white and black colour scheme also corresponds with my overall branding for Beyond the Essex Girl, along with hot pink, a colour scheme I have used throughout all of my products as it corresponds with the BBC Three brand itself. The language used in the article also uses the conventions that real television critics use, judgmental and opinionated. I used the conventions of real magazine double page spreads by quoting from the article and randomly placing it within the text in a different typography that is bolder and larger than the rest of the text. This technique will allow the text to stand out on the page, drawing in the eye of a reader and intriguing them to read the whole article, therefore, the text should be an interesting quote. The reporters name is in small typography at the bottom of the article which uses the conventions of other real media products like this, the name would be presented somewhere on the page. However, I developed this convention as I added the logo of Twitter and Blogger, these social media sites will allow the reader to interact with the reporter online which is a key technique in our modern day society.

Documentary Extract

Documentary Extract
As my documentary extract begins a BBC Three advert briefly appears, I used this convention from real media productions created by BBC Three, this allows the establishment of the brand and signifies what channel the programme is being broadcasted on. This is a necessary convention for any television channel before a programme begins. The BBC Three advert I used is one of the range the channel uses at the moment, it promotes their new brand for the channel Threeworld, an imaginary world which reflects their young, quirky target audience, who I am also targeting with Beyond the Essex Girl. Beyond the Essex Girl uses an introduction before the title appears, this does use conventions of television programmes such as BBC Threes Snog Marry Avoid to a certain extent to draw the audience into the programme before the documentary actually begins. However, my introduction challenges the typical conventions as it is at a high speed pace with music and some voice overs, this is a technique I decided to create energy and excitement for the audience to draw them in to watch the entire documentary. The introduction also helps to illustrate the narrative for the audience to understand.

Documentary Extract
The title of the documentary appears after the introduction which uses the conventions of a variety of documentary such as Channel 4s My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and other genre television programmes to clarify the name of the programme and as a break point before the start of the documentaries unofficial beginning. The typography is in two contrasting fonts to represent the contrast between the two different types of Essex girls.

Documentary Extract
Throughout Beyond the Essex Girl each time a new character is introduced some small text appears at the bottom of the clip to allow the audience to identify with the person. This a a common convention used in most documentaries and documentary-dramas such as David Blaine: Real or Magic and The Only Way Is Essex. This is especially important when it comes to celebrities or expert opinions from doctors etc. similar to my sociologist Catherine Sweeney.

Documentary Extract
Rather than the documentary maker being featured in the programme I used the conventions that real media documentaries follow by allowing the characters narrate the programme themselves with the use of voiceovers lapping over footage and interviews without the interviewer present. This technique allows the documentary to flow throughout and project a professional aspect to make the idea of it being on television very realistic. This is fairly similar to programmes like Channel 4s Educating Yorkshire where the int erviews cut out the voice of interviewer speaking behind the cameras when asking the children questions. Overall, I also use the convention of typical documentaries shown on television for constructing interviews with the people involved, documentaries encapsulate real life which the interviews help to signify. The settings used for the interviews are typically locations that reflect the character in a particular way for example, in their house, in their hometown or at their work/school. This is a convention that many documentaries use such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. However, this technique also challenges the conventions for some documentaries which use interview rooms with set up backdrops for the interviews such as the whiteboard and school lockers that are behind the characters in Educating Yorkshire and Educating Essex.

Documentary Extract

I used forms of real media conventions regarding documentaries by occasionally presenting still images to illustrate what the person is talking about in the film. This is a common technique that can be used particularly with photographs from the past in historical documentaries etc. I used this convention to show an image of one of my characters doing her hobby, sailing and then further along in the documentary I show images from The Only Way Is Essex and a newspaper front page of Chantelle from Big Brother, to represent to the audience the stereotypical view of Essex within the media. These images are used for a sense of clarity to the audience in case they are not familiar with these celebrities.

Documentary Extract
In my documentary I used the conventions of typical documentaries shown on television by displaying various facts and statistics to reinforce the idea of it being research on a particular subject in our modern day society. This convention helps to establish that Beyond the Essex Girl is a documentary and it also reinforces the narrative of the programme. Some documentaries choose to present their facts and statistics through voiceovers by the narrator/presenter/researcher but I followed the conventions of the ones who present them visually to attract the audience to the text to read themselves and believe what it is saying. I challenged the convention of the documentary voiceovers. Typical documentaries choose to use an authoritative voice to encourage the audience they have specialist knowledge, which would usually be an older man. However, my occasional voiceovers from the documentary maker is the voice of a young Essex girl herself. This signifies (Saussure)that the documentary maker is trying to challenge the view of Essex girl, although she has an estuary accent she also has intelligence and is trying to persuade the audience that there is something beyond the stereotype.

Documentary Extract
Music is a crucial aspect to any television programme and therefore I used music within my documentary extract. Non-diegetic sound captures the attention of the audience and in documentaries it usually reflects what the documentary is about in one way or another. For example, in Beyond the Essex Girl the opening sequence has Im In Essex Girl as the backing track because is specifically signifies the key topic of the documentary. I also developed these conventions by ensure I use contemporary music to attract my younger target audience to the documentary and it suits the brand of BBC Three, similar to programmes like Sun, Sex & Suspicious Parents who use upbeat music to reflect the party scene on holiday.

I used a expert opinion in my documentary extract as it is a key convention that is used in most documentaries shown on television. They are used to authenticate the views expressed in the documentary either agreeing or disagreeing with them, sometimes even presenting facts and figures which comply with the subject. This is usually done in documentaries based on health where doctors or scientists are brought in such as Supersize vs. Superskinny etc. However, I developed this as I decided to use a sociologists opinion on stereotypes and the media. This technique makes the documentary more believable which attracts attention from viewers.