Final evaluation of practical work

As a closing post on this blog, I will be writing a quick evaluation and summary of my aims, process and outcome with each practical part of the coursework (AV piece, magazine cover and double page spread). Links to view all of the pieces are in my previous post.

Audio-visual piece: clip from 'Partners', a new crime drama

From the offset, I was fairly certain that I wanted to produce a TV show for ITV, given that I wanted to do fiction and virtually all of Channel 5's content is documentary-based. After this, I came to the decision that I wanted to make a crime drama, given that I watch quite a bit of crime drama in my spare time, so feel like I understand the genre. I went for a fairly generic concept and style for the show, the USP being that the two main characters are gay. I decided to focus on typical themes of crime dramas like Prime Suspect and Broadchurch such as the balance between work and personal life, moral dilemmas, and whether murder is ever justified. I also set the drama in a gritty, urban location which added to the overall mood.

I chose a fairly old-fashioned style to film the crime drama in - particularly for the chase scene at the beginning - with lots of fairly long takes, wide angles and in-camera zooms, not like the handheld, quick-cutting style that we're used to nowadays. I tried to choose a section of the drama which would be reflective of the show as a whole and would also show an understanding of crime conventions. I chose to film a section from near the very end of the show (or at least the first season) which acted as the resolution to the show. It also was both a significant turning point and moment of conflict. One of my main influences was the final episode in season 2 of The Bridge, where Saga has to decide whether or not to put Martin in prison. This particularly influenced the arrest scene in my piece, in which Dave stands and watches Michael being handcuffed and taken away in a police car.

Overall, I am pleased with the final result. I think that I had some good camerawork and managed to get great performances from both lead actors which really added to the emotion and the show's overall authenticity. This was definitely something which everyone I showed it to noticed and agreed with. I think that I also was able to find good stock music which felt very conventional of a crime drama. In particular, the scene which I am most pleased with is the afformentioned arrest scene. I think that it says a lot about the characters and has some nice visuals. The sound also turned out surprisingly well, given the circumstances. On the day of the shoot, when we turned up to the location, there was construction work happening very nearby which had not been there when I had recced the location a few days before. Despite this, the boom operator was able to capture decent audio under my direction and, with a bit of tweaking and careful editing and mixing in post production, it sounds pretty solid overall. I am also pleased with the editing and overall flow of the piece. I think that the pacing feels pretty authentic as a crime drama, and the footage I got cuts together quite nicely. I'm also pleased with the costumes which I pulled together, particularly a police officer costume which appears very briefly, adding to the overall production value.

In terms of what I would do differently, the main thing would be the basic concept. I decided to pick a very generic concept for a crime drama and to focus more on the execution. I stand by this decision as I think that my time was better used tweaking the script and planning storyboards, etc. however if I had had more time to think about it then I would have liked to try a concept which was a bit more edgy, whilst also being the kind of thing that ITV would broadcast. The script was also not great by any means. Writing is certainly not one of my strengths, and it shows. While the acting definitely elevates the dialogue massively, a lot of it still seems quite awkward and cliché. The cinematography is not great, either. The camerawork is mostly pretty solid, but some of the lighting and colour palette looks quite amateurish. I filmed mostly during the golden hour and blue hour on a day with very clear skies, which definitely enhanced the overall look, but I could have thought more about positioning the camera in accordance with the available light beforehand. It is, of course, virtually impossible to produce a completely professional-looking video with the resources I had, however in future I would probably allow myself a bit more time to film, so that I could get more takes and spend a bit longer making each shot look good. In future I might also try to have some more stylized shots, although I think that it worked fairly well for this show. I am a big fan of cinematography which is understated and allows you to get more sucked into the story, but I probably could have picked some more memorable shot types and angles to use to emphasise certain moments. If I had more time, I would also go and record some foley and other sound effects to use, just to add extra depth and realism to the audio track. If I was going to be really picky too, then I might dub some of the dialogue to eliminate background noise which cuts in and out of certain shots and is slightly jarring at times. A couple of other things which some mentioned when I showed them the video is that the knife which Michael threatens Dave with is very small and not very threatening, so comes off as slightly comedic. Also, the car which I used in the arrest scene is very clearly not a police car. It looks vaguely like it could be an unmarked police car, and of course I didn't have any police cars at my disposal, but again, if I had more time I could have used after effects to add a police stripe to it in post and make it look a bit more authentic.

Phew, that's enough talking about that.

Magazine cover

This is probably the bit which I am least pleased with. I set out to design a fairly up-market men's lifestyle magazine, similar to GQ and Esquire. I looked through lots of different covers online, getting design ideas, and also read through articles and analysed layouts in each magazine.

I chose to focus more on the actors than the show, as I found that lifestyle magazines were about people more than anything, and the people they featured were their main selling point (hence why you'd want to put big actors on the cover).

First, the positives. I quite like the layout design which I chose, and think the cover feels well-balanced and easy to navigate. I also like the simple colour scheme, including the use of a grayscale image, which gives it quite a luxurious look. I also think that I effectively used contrasting serif and sans serif fonts to make different bits of text stand out from one another. It has lots of the conventions of magazine covers, such as a barcode, price and date.

It looks ok. But it has an amateurish feel to it, and it's very hard to put my finger on the exact cause of it, mainly because it's probably the result of lots of different things. I spent hours tweaking tiny details in the magazine, but really didn't make much progress and struggled to find the cause of the problem. I think that the main two things are probably the main image and the masthead (which also happen to be the two largest things in the cover). The image isn't bad, but it could definitely be better. The posing is a little awkward and the expressions of the two models are more serious than they normally would be on a lifestyle magazine cover. The lighting looks fine but could also be better, which isn't entirely my fault as there was a problem with syncing the flash in the photography studio with my camera. The masthead, again, looks fine but a bit lifeless and newspaper-like. Other than this, the only other thing I can point to as a possible cause of the slightly amateurish look is the fonts I used, as I only used ones included in photoshop, which tend to be very mixed.

Double page spread

I'm definitely more pleased with this part of the magazine, as I think that it looks much more professional than the former. Like with the magazine cover, I was aiming for a luxurious look which you might see in GQ or Esquire.

I spent a long time tweaking the layout and fonts, having looked through lots of similar articles for inspiration, and I think the time I spent paid off. I think the layout is very clear and easy to navigate, and looks pretty close to a professional magazine article. I also included details like drop caps and clothing prices which give it extra authenticity. For the text itself, I recorded quick interviews with each of the actors as a starting point, and I got some really good material to use. From there, I complied the best answers, wrote extra ones, and added in an introduction etc. I used a very simple colour scheme, including grayscale images, to link back to the main cover and make it look sleek and luxurious.

In terms of things which could be improved, the main thing is the image, for lots of the same reasons as in the cover. The lighting isn't great, the poses are quite awkward (Luca is at an awkward profile angle and looks a bit uncomfortable) and it's quite noisy, which wouldn't look good when printed at A4 size. I chose this particular image as I wanted something a bit lighter in tone than the cover image, and this was the most natural-looking shot I had available.

Peace out guys, thanks for reading my blog religiously for the last 5 months as I know you all have done.

Final aims and intentions

For my media production, I chose the genre of crime drama as I found, through my research, that this genre is popular with my target demographic of 18-35 year old 'millennials'. I will use media language to conform to my product's industry context and to create liberal representations which would appeal to this audience. The colour palette for my audio-visual sequence will include lots of natural, muted colours like greys and blues - similar to recent successful ITV crime dramas such as Broadchurch – giving the show a sense of realism. In one scene, I will use handheld camera for shots of Michael, the killer, to show his instability, whereas stable shots will be used for Dave to show how he is calm and has the moral high ground. I will direct my actors to give very opposing performances in order to create a sense of conflict. The character of Michael will be very physical and intense whilst Dave will remain quiet and understated. Contrasting pieces of music will be used at the beginning and end of the video to emphasise the character arcs and set the tone for the different scenes. I aim to create a luxury men’s lifestyle magazine in order to promote my programme. I will use a very limited colour palette on the cover, with a grayscale image and accents of gold, which function as iconic signs for luxury. For my double page spread, I will use areas of empty space, which is used to suggest luxury in magazines like ‘Esquire’.

I aim to create a positive, non-stereotypical representation of gay men, as this is a social group which has not been sufficiently portrayed in crime dramas and I think that it would be an important step forward in inclusiveness. From my research on millennials, I found that most millennials are liberal and forward-thinking, so would appreciate this kind of representation. In order to create this representation, the TV show’s protagonist will be gay, and I will avoid stereotypes like flamboyant clothing and performance elements such as feminine mannerisms. In my magazine article, I will discuss the issue of casting straight actors as gay characters and how this can offend people, which would be of interest to the magazine’s audience of feminist men.

In my crime drama sequence, I will include conventions of the crime drama genre such as urban locations, narrative twists, natural lighting and themes of good, evil, and the relationship between police officers' work and personal life, applying Steve Neale’s theory of repetition and difference. This also applies David Hesmondhalgh’s theory of the cultural industries, which states that that producers repeat tried and tested elements of other productions in order to minimise risk. However, I will also subvert expectations in some areas, following Neale's theory in order to please the audience - not only will the two main characters be gay, but one of them will also turn out to be the killer which they have been chasing for the whole series, subverting the audience’s expectations.

My magazine will feature images, including on-set stills, of the two main actors, making them icons for the show and creating a brand identity. I will also include a link to a website for the magazine, showing the use of online promotion and digital convergence.

Final practical work

It's here! It's here! It's finally here! No, not Yandhi, my final audio visual piece! (Also the magazine cover and double-page spread).


I've attached images to this post, but here are the links to the high quality versions of them all:
https://youtu.be/GJIyQGpD6Jw
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n0Gb3GIUNKJDjKtSotHsGMcf3pC82Zr1/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G1ZYt2tdT9euwtjkZd0RhnfegEjEmtPJ/view?usp=sharing

Final touches to my audio-visual piece

I just wanted to post some quick updates about my audio-visual piece (a clip from a new crime drama, Partners). Since posting my rough cut and receiving feedback from a number of people, I have modified several elements of my piece. Firstly, I cut down the opening chase scene considerably by cutting faster and paying less attention to continuity, which I think adds a lot to the energy and overall pace of the scene. I changed the music used for this scene also as I felt that the original music was too hyperbolised and didn't feel like music which would be in an actual crime drama. I am very happy with the new piece which I have found, and think that it goes well with the other piece used later on in the piece. I also tweaked the confrontation scene and arrest scene slightly. I have begun cleaning up the audio, and don't think I will bother doing any foley as I have enough audio from on set.

I filmed a very quick flashback scene which was intended to go in the middle of the confrontation scene, however I tried this but it really didn't work - it came off as very comedic (a friend who I showed it to laughed at it) and out of place. In order to satisfy the specification that we must use at least two locations (and because it should make the piece a bit more impressive) I will be filming a very short scene (around 20 seconds) to go after the current end of the piece. It will simply show the main character, Dave, in his apartment, deleting photos on his phone of him and Michael. This will be filmed in my house at some point next week. I may also see if I can get an exterior shot of an apartment somewhere in Cambridge to use as an establishing shot (if I feel this is necessary).

I will be posting my fine cut on this blog as soon as it's ready! (I know you can't wait!)

Draft double-page spread

Here is the first draft for my double page spread article layout. I went with the mock-up design which I drew out, without making any changes. I have just used placeholder text and images for now to give a rough idea of the layout. My next step is to do the actual interviews, type up the copy for the article and do a photoshoot with the two actors. I will make sure to get lots of different poses and angles so that I have plenty to work with, as I don't want to be restricted to my initial idea for the photo. The text in the main body of the article is currently 855 words (far longer than my article should be), so I will probably have to use more images, but it's hard to estimate using placeholder text.

Men's lifestyle magazines - industry info

I have gone back and done some research on men's magazines which are similar to the magazine I will be making, and have looked at press packs for each magazine.


Esquire


Mission statement: Esquire is for men who are ambitious in their lives and determined to shape the world.

"Esquire is quintessentially a study in style, from the sparkle of its prose to the cosmopolitan cool of the way it looks. It is a thinking man's guide for the curious, confident, and cultured." - Jay Fielden, editor-in-chief

At a time when most brands are experiencing declines, our audience is still growing with a rate base that has climbed to 750,000 over the past two years.

• 757,535 Total Circulation

• 3.28MM AUDIENCE

• 96% Subscriptions
• 4% Newsstands

• 95% of monthly content is unique to Esquire.com
• Strong coverage around Style, Entertainment, News and Politics, Lifestyle, Grooming, and Culture
• More UVs and growth than GQ, Men’s Health, and Men’s Journal*
  *Source: comScore Multi-Platform August-September 2017
• Low duplication rate across print (only 2% duplication)

GQ
"British GQ is the only brand in Britain dedicated to bringing together the very best in men's fashion, style, investigative journalism, comment, lifestyle and entertainment.


British GQ global reach: 4.1 million gross reach print + online + social.
Online unique users: 2.4 million
Social followers: 1.3 million + 21% YOY
Circulation :115k (83% higher than esquire)
Readership: 365k (reaching over 2 times as many readers as Esquire)
Men's magazine advertising share 47% (the largest in men's lifestyle market)


Audience profiles:


Average age: 34 (magazine) / 36 (online)
Average HHI: £103k (magazine) / £86k (online)
ABC1: 80% (magazine) / 67% (online)
AB: 41% (magazine) / 37% (online)
London / SE: 49% (magazine) / 51% (online)

Magazine treatment

The Magazine: Modern Man (see: arcade fire)




Target readership: The Modern Man reader is aged 18-35 and is (unsurprisingly) male. They have a steady income (ABC1) - enough to afford a fairly pricey, high-end magazine. Although this is a male lifestyle magazine, the content itself isn't reminiscent of your typical body-building and car magazines, but instead focuses on male-centric issues and interests with a liberal touch. The average reader will be left-wing, probably a labour voter, and will have a forward-thinking attitude. Similar to the reader, the magazine promotes liberal feminist and egalitarian values. The reader is sophisticated and intellectual, whilst also being down-to-Earth and having an interest in topics like entertainment and fashion.


Form and style: The magazine has a sleek, glamorous aesthetic, reminiscent of men's magazines such as esquire and GQ along with the likes of Vogue and Vanity Fair. The cover page and individual articles will use simple, stylish colour schemes which communicate luxury. The cover pages will tend to have a fairly simple and minimalist layout with a main title and a list of the main articles in the issue. The cover model will normally be either an actor, director or musician. The magazine will sell at £3.50 - fairly expensive for a magazine but affordable for someone in the ABC1 bracket.


Themes and Typical features: The magazine will contain sections for fashion, lifestyle, culture and entertainment. Articles will often focus on social issues such as traditional ideas of masculinity and sexuality. There may be some articles written by readers of the magazine, such as think-pieces and letters to particular people or companies. The tone will be fairly formal but not newspaper-like - the articles will focus on discussion rather than just news and exposition.


Potential advertisers: There will be lots of men's fashion brands (mostly fairly high-end) such as Ralph Lauren, Charles Tyrwhitt, Levi's and Lacoste. As the magazine also focuses a lot on entertainment, there will be advertisements for films, TV shows and new music.