How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?
For the brief I chose to do, we had to produce a news programme, a title sequence for the news programme and finally a website for the news programme. When doing my research on different news programmes they all had some form of a title sequence and a linked website to the programme. The ways in which media is consumed is constantly changing, from the dependence of getting the latest news from newspapers to getting the latest stories via the Internet. We wanted to produce products which kept up with the changing trends.
The news programme
After doing our research we had a clear idea of what we wanted our news programme to be about. With the media focusing on the downfall of youth behaviour we thought that this would be an interesting topic. As not all of the younger generation are involved in anti-social behaviour we wanted to high light this in our product. Also with the changing trends we wanted to produce a product which related to real life situations which is a ‘real’ news programmes purpose. Also producing a weather report which highlighted the bad weather that hit the UK in December/January also applied to real life situations included in real media products.
With producing the news programme it was not just simply selecting a song and producing a video to go with it, a lot of research needed to be done to produce the correct narrative for the product. As I watch the news regularly to keep up with the latest stories, I had a good idea of the narrative that was used. The narrative used in the researched news programmes is carefully selected to add suspense on the top stories which are going to be discussed. One clip I looked at during my research showed how the narrative is carefully selected to draw the viewer in; ‘the ultimate sacrifice’. Those two words add drama and suspense to the topic which is going to be discussed straight away. The words are harsh and bold in the sentence drawing the viewer in. We wanted our product to be as ‘real’ as possible targeting the news audience. As people get older they become more interested and concerned with what is happening in the media. When I was younger I did not watch the news as I was to naive to realise the serious topics discussed in the news, however now that seriousness is effectively portrayed in the media.
After doing my research it provided me with a clear idea of the colour, fonts, texts, images and sound that should be used to create a real media product. When selecting the theme tune for our news programme we both decided that we would use ITV’s music. The beat in the music creates a serious tone for the topics which are going to be discussed. The loud trumpet noises set a harsh tone and draw the viewer in again adding to the seriousness of the topics. As the main topic that was going to be discussed in our product was a serious issue that more of society need to address we wanted music to address this.
Also during our research sad stories such as Rhys Jones of whom was shot by a group of teenagers who were caught up in gang culture. We thought doing a story on anti-social behaviour would allow us to look at what could be done to prevent or high light why this was happening and in fact who was to blame. Looking at what could be done may even provide the real world with suggestions on what could actually be done for trouble youths. I feel that the topics we chose to include in our product could potentially have an effect on real life and maybe provide answers to the real world.
The news programme
After doing our research we had a clear idea of what we wanted our news programme to be about. With the media focusing on the downfall of youth behaviour we thought that this would be an interesting topic. As not all of the younger generation are involved in anti-social behaviour we wanted to high light this in our product. Also with the changing trends we wanted to produce a product which related to real life situations which is a ‘real’ news programmes purpose. Also producing a weather report which highlighted the bad weather that hit the UK in December/January also applied to real life situations included in real media products.
With producing the news programme it was not just simply selecting a song and producing a video to go with it, a lot of research needed to be done to produce the correct narrative for the product. As I watch the news regularly to keep up with the latest stories, I had a good idea of the narrative that was used. The narrative used in the researched news programmes is carefully selected to add suspense on the top stories which are going to be discussed. One clip I looked at during my research showed how the narrative is carefully selected to draw the viewer in; ‘the ultimate sacrifice’. Those two words add drama and suspense to the topic which is going to be discussed straight away. The words are harsh and bold in the sentence drawing the viewer in. We wanted our product to be as ‘real’ as possible targeting the news audience. As people get older they become more interested and concerned with what is happening in the media. When I was younger I did not watch the news as I was to naive to realise the serious topics discussed in the news, however now that seriousness is effectively portrayed in the media.
After doing my research it provided me with a clear idea of the colour, fonts, texts, images and sound that should be used to create a real media product. When selecting the theme tune for our news programme we both decided that we would use ITV’s music. The beat in the music creates a serious tone for the topics which are going to be discussed. The loud trumpet noises set a harsh tone and draw the viewer in again adding to the seriousness of the topics. As the main topic that was going to be discussed in our product was a serious issue that more of society need to address we wanted music to address this.
Also during our research sad stories such as Rhys Jones of whom was shot by a group of teenagers who were caught up in gang culture. We thought doing a story on anti-social behaviour would allow us to look at what could be done to prevent or high light why this was happening and in fact who was to blame. Looking at what could be done may even provide the real world with suggestions on what could actually be done for trouble youths. I feel that the topics we chose to include in our product could potentially have an effect on real life and maybe provide answers to the real world.
Title Sequence
With the news programme we produced a title sequence, again with the changing trends we wanted to produce a sequence that was ‘up to date’. When doing my research I looked out how ITV did a complete revamp of their title sequence. They went from the old focus on Big Ben to a high tech title sequence involving a range of media. I really liked how ITV had taken a risk and completely changed their title sequence and we decided that we wanted to produce a product with similar qualities. We wanted to combine the old title sequence features with the new revamped sequence. So we decided that we would start with a focus on our version of Big Ben and then combine the new sequence features which would involve a range of different shots related to the topics mentioned in the news programme. To make sure there was a clear link between our three products we made sure that the clips in the title sequence related to the news programme. We used the CCTV footage clip again during the actual news programme and placed a shot our main focus; the clock, at the end of the sequence. This allowed the viewer to have a clear link with the two products.
Website
For the website I looked at different news websites to get an idea of what we should include, content wise. A clear feature was that the main topics mentioned in the actual news programme were then linked on the website also as main stories, being displayed on the main page. Again as we wanted to produce real life products we took these ideas on board and produced a website with real life qualities. To make sure that there was a clear link between all three products we used SE1 NEWS’ logo on all three. This provided a brand image for the three products produced. We decided that we would have our top story mentioned in the news programme as the main feature on the website, placing it on the main page. The font used throughout the researched websites was simple and easy to read allowing the imagery to do ‘the talking’. However although a wide range of imagery was used in each of the websites the stories covered were very informative appealing to the target audience. The images I used in the website related to the chosen topics discussed and also had a link with the other two tasks. For example in the title sequence there is a shot of newspapers being dropped onto a table representing the story ‘today’s papers’, on the website I placed this story title and an image of different newspapers displaying a clear link. Also to create this ‘brand image’ we used a set colour scheme throughout allowing the viewer to relate to all three products. The yellow, black, white and elements of red that we used were features in all three of the products aiding us to creating a brand image.
Due to this brand image that I feel we created through our three products, they work very well together. The viewer can easily relate between the three products and real life issues are covered in each. However there is always room for improvements, if I had an opportunity to produce the products again I would change several things to improve the project overall. The main feature that I would change would be the website as there are an endless number of features which can be added, but there simply was not the time. Although I feel that the website looks professional, the features used are quite simple, more hot spots could have been used providing the audience with extra information and also maybe adding more text to the stories. Also in the title sequence I feel that if I could make it again I would cut out the graph shot as I feel it is not as of good quality as the other shots in the sequence. Although it represents the interest rates story I feel a better shot could be taken to present this story in a better light.
Overall I really like how we managed to keep good links between the three tasks. The logo, colour scheme and font styles were used in each and created a successful brand image. I also really like the cut a way’s during the interviews as they make the clips look more interesting and provide visual information for what is being discussed. I am generally very pleased with the final news programme which we produced.
For the website I looked at different news websites to get an idea of what we should include, content wise. A clear feature was that the main topics mentioned in the actual news programme were then linked on the website also as main stories, being displayed on the main page. Again as we wanted to produce real life products we took these ideas on board and produced a website with real life qualities. To make sure that there was a clear link between all three products we used SE1 NEWS’ logo on all three. This provided a brand image for the three products produced. We decided that we would have our top story mentioned in the news programme as the main feature on the website, placing it on the main page. The font used throughout the researched websites was simple and easy to read allowing the imagery to do ‘the talking’. However although a wide range of imagery was used in each of the websites the stories covered were very informative appealing to the target audience. The images I used in the website related to the chosen topics discussed and also had a link with the other two tasks. For example in the title sequence there is a shot of newspapers being dropped onto a table representing the story ‘today’s papers’, on the website I placed this story title and an image of different newspapers displaying a clear link. Also to create this ‘brand image’ we used a set colour scheme throughout allowing the viewer to relate to all three products. The yellow, black, white and elements of red that we used were features in all three of the products aiding us to creating a brand image.
Due to this brand image that I feel we created through our three products, they work very well together. The viewer can easily relate between the three products and real life issues are covered in each. However there is always room for improvements, if I had an opportunity to produce the products again I would change several things to improve the project overall. The main feature that I would change would be the website as there are an endless number of features which can be added, but there simply was not the time. Although I feel that the website looks professional, the features used are quite simple, more hot spots could have been used providing the audience with extra information and also maybe adding more text to the stories. Also in the title sequence I feel that if I could make it again I would cut out the graph shot as I feel it is not as of good quality as the other shots in the sequence. Although it represents the interest rates story I feel a better shot could be taken to present this story in a better light.
Overall I really like how we managed to keep good links between the three tasks. The logo, colour scheme and font styles were used in each and created a successful brand image. I also really like the cut a way’s during the interviews as they make the clips look more interesting and provide visual information for what is being discussed. I am generally very pleased with the final news programme which we produced.
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