1.
I chose to develop a local newspaper for the North Somerset region. When planning my newspaper I researched the typical conventions which they followed I.e.
· Content: I found that stories used within local newspapers were mainly positive which help reflect one the area, Newspapers use mastheads as a way of advertising the newspaper and also acting as part of the newspaper identity. Another convention was the use of captions under the pictures. This helped as a teaser and telling the story, they tend to add humour, particularly in local newspapers. creating an image of the community as being supportive and as one. I.e. stories such as campaigns, local interest, crime, development, celebration etc.
· Mode of address: Over all the tone of the stories in local newspapers is quite light hearted and “cheesy” with use of puns i.e. “Bristol’s big toss up”. This adds humour and helps to differentiate them from national press. I decided to replicate the use of puns into my A2 portfolio and used one for my main stories head line “Dog’s bite worse than its bark”. This adds humour and plays on the actual phrase; it also establishes briefly what the story may be about.
The language is quite basic and not very sophisticated i.e. “National grid info”. This is expected to be seen in local newspapers as their target audience are not upper class people, they people who want to receive news quick and easy.
· Layout: This is generally quite basic, clearly laid out with use of up to eight adverts on one page, varying from windows and conservatories, carpets, repairs, restaurants, beds etc. The use of many adverts makes it seem quite busy, cluttered and colourful. The use of “tacky”, garish colours on local newspaper adverts is another feature which differs itself from national press as they look unprofessional and cheap. I decided to follow this convention as it is one which people associate with local press and also, local press tends to be free, therefore depend on the use of adverts and sponsors to finance it.
The typography is mainly in Times New Roman which is the main house style used in most local press, giving it a classic look and feel as well as being simplistic.
As this is an obvious and widely used house style in local press, I decided to use it during the production of my A2 portfolio as it will look more realistic and professional.
Newspapers use mastheads as a way of advertising the newspaper and also acting as part of the newspaper identity. Another convention was the use of captions under the pictures. This helped as a teaser and telling the story, they tend to add humour, particularly in local newspapers. I.e. “Mystery accomplice known only as “DB”. Fred Hooper and Ron Morgan with Alfred”. It liked this feature as it adds to the story and tone of the newspaper and applied captions such as “Bradbeer with her bling’” to my A2 portfolio product.
· Images: They tend to not have editorial, artistic shots in local press pictures as this wouldn’t fit in with the identity of local press as they are not high brow and don’t tend to be very creative and artistic. The poses taken in the pictures are not of typical subjects, they come across as forced and fake I.e. Happy would be reinforced with huge grins, sad- lips pulled down etc. The main subjects mainly taken in local press are of children achieving minor or huge things i.e. campaigning for new play area.
I researched various types of newspapers beginning with national press such as “Daily Mail” and “The Independent”. I also researched other British local press in Birmingham and Stroud. These local newspapers seemed more sophisticated, using a higher level of language, layout and house style in comparison to local newspapers in North Somerset. The stories covered also appeared more high brow, touching on financial issues as well as national and international news. This wouldn’t be seen or expected in local newspapers such as “The Times” as local press only cover local news within the area and not big national news, it wouldn’t fit the criteria. There was a definite difference in the amount of adverts and types of adverts features. I.e. Birmingham local newspaper only featured maximum of 3 adverts per page and would advertise subjects such as private schooling and first class holidays. They were much more professional looking and would feature adverts for national companies such as DFS. I followed the use of unprofessional and garish looking adverts in my local newspaper as this would be more appropriate and fitting than high brow adverts. They advertised local companies such as bathroom show room, estate agency, kitchen fittings etc.
Once I had decided which region the news paper would be targeted at, I started researching newspapers such as “The Mercury”, “The Times” and “The Evening Post” which are specific to North Somerset region.
The narrative structure of the stories within those newspapers differed from Toderov’s structure. They begin by establishing the obstacles of the story, and finishing with the present situation. Understanding that this is the structure of the local newspaper stories, and is an important convention, I decided to replicate this narrative structure by applying it in my stories i.e. the story “Dog’s bite worse than its bark” is about a post man who gets attacked by a Rottweiler so began by establishing who, what, when, where and why these events occurred, and gradually becomes more positive through out the rest of the story, describing how the subject in the story has learned from the event etc.
After researching the different newspapers; national and local press, I learned and understood the clear differences in the two in their layout, content, mode of address and images. I feel that I have successfully learned how to replicate a local newspaper and I have created a new one using typical local press conventions such as cheesy and sophisticated tone and language I.e. “Bling”, as well as reverse narrative structure, cluttered pages and basic photo shots and lack of editorial creativity.
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Evaluation- 2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tetxs?
2.
I chose to do a radio advert as we had the technology and soft ware to do so and this allowed me to work in a completely different medium.
I researched posters from “The Evening Post” and “The Daily Press”. The local newspaper poster topics were about local community, energy saving and local events I.e. carnival. “The guardian”, a national press covered more mainstream, international topics such as football and topics which featured within their newspaper. The typical conventions that were found were that the poster would have the same visual motif I.e. House style; font, colours, logo etc and the idea of “local” would be reinforced within the poster, covering local events talking place.
The idea of the two products; newspaper and poster having the same house style, gives it a feel of continuity which is essential as they need to link in order to promote brand identity and marketing. I therefore replicated this in the content, style and design. My poster is an advert to promote the house pages in the newspaper and followed the house style, Times New Roman, sea blue topography, logo, strap line;”The anchor of local life” and the email address. I used four pictures of local properties in the area to reinforce the idea of “local”.
The role of the radio advert is to promote the newspaper brand, profile and promote sales. I researched radio adverts for cars, international companies and a Somerset advert promoting awareness of the dangers of drugs. With in the national adverts, there was use of humour to help make up for the fact that the audience cannot see the action. The structure is also important as it needs to keep the audience interested so, therefore, they begin with the use of the enigma code, leaving the audience what is going to happen next followed by reaction in response to the original action I.e. in the Toyota car advert, two work colleagues are waiting for their boss, while they wait, they begin to mimic some ones voice, this is not yet made clear to the audience until we hear the person who they are mimicking voice. This is humours and doesn’t inform us what it is advertising until the very end. This structure was very evident in the majority of the adverts I researched.
The radio advert was created to help promote the property page in the newspaper and poster. This was to create a marketing campaign that all worked cohesively to help promote and compliment each other and work as a whole consistent brand.
The idea of the radio advert was to have two typical elderly women who read “North Somerset News” who are from the region, who are gathering at the local cafe for a catch up. We decided to give the ladies strong south West Country accents to reinforce that it is “local” and to add humour. While they are talking, one of them tells the other that they are thinking of moving, but doesn’t know where to look. The other woman tells her to use “The North Somerset News” property guide to help them find a house. We used two conventions which we found in radio adverts which were fast paced voice over and background music which is parallel to the mood in the advert.
As the two women were elderly, we decided to play with that and made humorous jokes I.e. bringing her remote control rather than her mobile phone, also referring to the internet as the “inter webby thingy”. These three elements worked well together as they all help to build the stereotype that people have of the elderly population, it is also quite humours as they are things which elderly people tend to do in real life and people joke about.
I chose to do a radio advert as we had the technology and soft ware to do so and this allowed me to work in a completely different medium.
I researched posters from “The Evening Post” and “The Daily Press”. The local newspaper poster topics were about local community, energy saving and local events I.e. carnival. “The guardian”, a national press covered more mainstream, international topics such as football and topics which featured within their newspaper. The typical conventions that were found were that the poster would have the same visual motif I.e. House style; font, colours, logo etc and the idea of “local” would be reinforced within the poster, covering local events talking place.
The idea of the two products; newspaper and poster having the same house style, gives it a feel of continuity which is essential as they need to link in order to promote brand identity and marketing. I therefore replicated this in the content, style and design. My poster is an advert to promote the house pages in the newspaper and followed the house style, Times New Roman, sea blue topography, logo, strap line;”The anchor of local life” and the email address. I used four pictures of local properties in the area to reinforce the idea of “local”.
The role of the radio advert is to promote the newspaper brand, profile and promote sales. I researched radio adverts for cars, international companies and a Somerset advert promoting awareness of the dangers of drugs. With in the national adverts, there was use of humour to help make up for the fact that the audience cannot see the action. The structure is also important as it needs to keep the audience interested so, therefore, they begin with the use of the enigma code, leaving the audience what is going to happen next followed by reaction in response to the original action I.e. in the Toyota car advert, two work colleagues are waiting for their boss, while they wait, they begin to mimic some ones voice, this is not yet made clear to the audience until we hear the person who they are mimicking voice. This is humours and doesn’t inform us what it is advertising until the very end. This structure was very evident in the majority of the adverts I researched.
The radio advert was created to help promote the property page in the newspaper and poster. This was to create a marketing campaign that all worked cohesively to help promote and compliment each other and work as a whole consistent brand.
The idea of the radio advert was to have two typical elderly women who read “North Somerset News” who are from the region, who are gathering at the local cafe for a catch up. We decided to give the ladies strong south West Country accents to reinforce that it is “local” and to add humour. While they are talking, one of them tells the other that they are thinking of moving, but doesn’t know where to look. The other woman tells her to use “The North Somerset News” property guide to help them find a house. We used two conventions which we found in radio adverts which were fast paced voice over and background music which is parallel to the mood in the advert.
As the two women were elderly, we decided to play with that and made humorous jokes I.e. bringing her remote control rather than her mobile phone, also referring to the internet as the “inter webby thingy”. These three elements worked well together as they all help to build the stereotype that people have of the elderly population, it is also quite humours as they are things which elderly people tend to do in real life and people joke about.
Evaluation- 3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
3.
We received feedback from class mates, teachers and family which has helped us develop our whole portfolio during the production and post production process.
We researched local newspapers; we established that they were targeted at families and elderly people who wanted to know what is happening in the area and community. This was reflected in the content of the newspaper.
We presented our rough cut to our class and teachers initially, though they are not our specific target audience, however they do read these papers.
They gave us positive point’s feedback and ways of which we could improve. The positive feedback was how overall it looked professional and how the logo; an anchor, fitted appropriately with the North Somerset maritime theme. This linked the strap line/pun fitted in with the logo “the anchor of local life”. They found that the adverts were made to a high standard and were appropriate with local newspaper conventions.
Ways in which we could have improved, were with the stories. The structure and style of our news stories were too chronological. I struggled with this though out the process and had to carefully analyse and compare real newspaper stories to mine. This helped me to understand the narrative structure they use and allowed me to get right.
We received feedback from class mates, teachers and family which has helped us develop our whole portfolio during the production and post production process.
We researched local newspapers; we established that they were targeted at families and elderly people who wanted to know what is happening in the area and community. This was reflected in the content of the newspaper.
We presented our rough cut to our class and teachers initially, though they are not our specific target audience, however they do read these papers.
They gave us positive point’s feedback and ways of which we could improve. The positive feedback was how overall it looked professional and how the logo; an anchor, fitted appropriately with the North Somerset maritime theme. This linked the strap line/pun fitted in with the logo “the anchor of local life”. They found that the adverts were made to a high standard and were appropriate with local newspaper conventions.
Ways in which we could have improved, were with the stories. The structure and style of our news stories were too chronological. I struggled with this though out the process and had to carefully analyse and compare real newspaper stories to mine. This helped me to understand the narrative structure they use and allowed me to get right.
Evaluation- 4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
4.
The whole production depended on media technologies. They were used for every aspect and part of the production.
I used a website called “Blogger” where we recorded our research process, planning and uploading pictures, videos etc. It’s an easy system and way of recording stages of our production. This helped as a way of reflecting back on what we have done and how we may want to change or redo things.
The internet was crucial in the development process as we used it for out initial research and as a way of finding inspiration.
I used online sites I.e. “The Times” to help to emulate the content and tone of the newspapers.
The use of Apple Mac’s, the software photo shop played a huge part in the manipulation of pictures for the main task and the print ancillary tasks.
The use of the crop and clone tool was important in editing and manipulating the photos e.g. removing objects such as cars which may be in the way of the picture and don’t add anything to the picture, act more as a distraction.
The colour correction tool helped remove the dark grey sky in the property poster images and changed it to a clear blue sky. This was done to help make it look more attractive and successfully achieve its purpose of advertising and attracting potential buyers.
(Before)
(After)
(Before)
(After)
Another software which I used was Mac’s garageband. This was vital in the making of our radio advert.
Though it was new to us, I think that we got a quick grasp and understanding of the software and produced a high quality finished product. We applied two different back ground tracks; one is to create ambient noise to give it a sense of reality and place, the other track is music. We used an echo on the singer’s vocals singing the jingle “North Somerset News”. During the process we learned how to cut tracks at the appropriate time in order to add in another track. We added people’s voices in, replacing others which we didn’t want to use anymore; this was simply done by clicking on the already existing track and recording over it.
I used desk top publishing software to create the main product and the poster. I have already used this software during my AS foundation production and learned how to use features such as text box and how to use the appropriate layout format for newspapers and posters. I believe that I bought these skills learned with me to A2 and progressed my understanding.
The whole production depended on media technologies. They were used for every aspect and part of the production.
I used a website called “Blogger” where we recorded our research process, planning and uploading pictures, videos etc. It’s an easy system and way of recording stages of our production. This helped as a way of reflecting back on what we have done and how we may want to change or redo things.
The internet was crucial in the development process as we used it for out initial research and as a way of finding inspiration.
I used online sites I.e. “The Times” to help to emulate the content and tone of the newspapers.
The use of Apple Mac’s, the software photo shop played a huge part in the manipulation of pictures for the main task and the print ancillary tasks.
The use of the crop and clone tool was important in editing and manipulating the photos e.g. removing objects such as cars which may be in the way of the picture and don’t add anything to the picture, act more as a distraction.
The colour correction tool helped remove the dark grey sky in the property poster images and changed it to a clear blue sky. This was done to help make it look more attractive and successfully achieve its purpose of advertising and attracting potential buyers.
(Before)
(After)
(Before)
(After)Another software which I used was Mac’s garageband. This was vital in the making of our radio advert.
Though it was new to us, I think that we got a quick grasp and understanding of the software and produced a high quality finished product. We applied two different back ground tracks; one is to create ambient noise to give it a sense of reality and place, the other track is music. We used an echo on the singer’s vocals singing the jingle “North Somerset News”. During the process we learned how to cut tracks at the appropriate time in order to add in another track. We added people’s voices in, replacing others which we didn’t want to use anymore; this was simply done by clicking on the already existing track and recording over it.
I used desk top publishing software to create the main product and the poster. I have already used this software during my AS foundation production and learned how to use features such as text box and how to use the appropriate layout format for newspapers and posters. I believe that I bought these skills learned with me to A2 and progressed my understanding.
Radio Advert- script
Setting: A busy cafe with lots of commotion in the background, two eldery ladies are discussing properties.
Barbara: Alright there our Deardry? How are you?
Deardry: Not too good, me and pat have been looking for a new house. I've been trying to use that new interwebby thingy, but its all so confusing.
Barbara: What you need to do is get yourself a copy of the north somerset news.
(A fast pased musical tune comes into play and the male voice talks quickly over it).
Male Voiceover: Grab a copy of the north somerset news today to find the best deals on propertys in your area. Houses in clevedon, Portishead and Weston-Super-Mare at the lowest prices with professional help to help you move today.Sports, news, weather, celebrities and more at n somersetnews.co.uk
Female Voiceover: (Singing) North somerset news.
Male Voiceover: The anchor of local life.We return to the busycafe at the beginning of the advert and the commotion backing sounds come back into play.
Deardry: Oh Barbara, help me find the texts on my new mobile phone.
Barbara: Thats not your mobile phone Deardry thats your TV remote, you silly goose!
Commotion backing sounds fade out.
We decided to use features such as the FADE OUTS as we have heard this being used in other radio adverts, we also believe that it will make our radio advert seem more professional and real as we our using real conventions. Another feature which we have replicated is the use of a jingle with singing vocals- we liked this idea as it fits in perfectly with put image as it gives it a degree of cheesiness which is the general tone of local newspapers. This also applies for the choice of the fast voice over and fast pace music, it reinforces the idea of "local " and cheesiness.
Barbara: Alright there our Deardry? How are you?
Deardry: Not too good, me and pat have been looking for a new house. I've been trying to use that new interwebby thingy, but its all so confusing.
Barbara: What you need to do is get yourself a copy of the north somerset news.
(A fast pased musical tune comes into play and the male voice talks quickly over it).
Male Voiceover: Grab a copy of the north somerset news today to find the best deals on propertys in your area. Houses in clevedon, Portishead and Weston-Super-Mare at the lowest prices with professional help to help you move today.Sports, news, weather, celebrities and more at n somersetnews.co.uk
Female Voiceover: (Singing) North somerset news.
Male Voiceover: The anchor of local life.We return to the busycafe at the beginning of the advert and the commotion backing sounds come back into play.
Deardry: Oh Barbara, help me find the texts on my new mobile phone.
Barbara: Thats not your mobile phone Deardry thats your TV remote, you silly goose!
Commotion backing sounds fade out.
We decided to use features such as the FADE OUTS as we have heard this being used in other radio adverts, we also believe that it will make our radio advert seem more professional and real as we our using real conventions. Another feature which we have replicated is the use of a jingle with singing vocals- we liked this idea as it fits in perfectly with put image as it gives it a degree of cheesiness which is the general tone of local newspapers. This also applies for the choice of the fast voice over and fast pace music, it reinforces the idea of "local " and cheesiness.
Radio Advert
After researching radio adverts, and identifying their conventions I.e. structure, language, content etc we decided to replicate conventions such as the use of region dialect voice over, use of the enigma code narrative structure, jingle, fast paced voice over etc.
We have decided to do a radio advert advertising the property pages in our newspaper "North Somerset News". The radio advert will join and reunite the main A2 task and the ancillary task- the poster. The whole portfolio (newspaper, poster and radio advert) will work well together to create a strong marketing campaign.
The advert will featuring two elderly women with strong Somerset accents to emphasise the fact that the newspaper is specific to that region and also to represent the idea of being "local" and of exclusivity. It is also used to ask as a humorous feature as many people find the accent funny and replicate it. As a result the advert will be memorable and people will recognise it.
The idea for the advert is that the two women meet at a cafe and during their conversation and one of the women mention that she wants to move house, but doesn't know where to look. The other women recommends her to look at North Somerset News's property page as it's simple and easy to use and is guaranteed to find her dream property.
During our research we noticed that the vast majority of radio adverts use humour. We have decided to emulate this feature as we believe it will work to our advantage in creating a successful and conventional radio advert. As we are using elderly women in our advert, we have decided to play on the stereotypes associated with the elderly I.e. forgetful. At the end of the advert one of the women will ask the other to help her use her phone, but instead she has taken her TV remote. We have also played on the act that they our not very technology savvy, so therefore one of the women refers to the Internet as "the interwebby thingy". These are all done for entertainment purposes.
We have decided to do a radio advert advertising the property pages in our newspaper "North Somerset News". The radio advert will join and reunite the main A2 task and the ancillary task- the poster. The whole portfolio (newspaper, poster and radio advert) will work well together to create a strong marketing campaign.
The advert will featuring two elderly women with strong Somerset accents to emphasise the fact that the newspaper is specific to that region and also to represent the idea of being "local" and of exclusivity. It is also used to ask as a humorous feature as many people find the accent funny and replicate it. As a result the advert will be memorable and people will recognise it.
The idea for the advert is that the two women meet at a cafe and during their conversation and one of the women mention that she wants to move house, but doesn't know where to look. The other women recommends her to look at North Somerset News's property page as it's simple and easy to use and is guaranteed to find her dream property.
During our research we noticed that the vast majority of radio adverts use humour. We have decided to emulate this feature as we believe it will work to our advantage in creating a successful and conventional radio advert. As we are using elderly women in our advert, we have decided to play on the stereotypes associated with the elderly I.e. forgetful. At the end of the advert one of the women will ask the other to help her use her phone, but instead she has taken her TV remote. We have also played on the act that they our not very technology savvy, so therefore one of the women refers to the Internet as "the interwebby thingy". These are all done for entertainment purposes.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Radio adverts- Research
We have decided to make a radio advert as part of the second half of the ancillary task , we will research national radio station adverts first as they are much more accessible to us. During the process we hope that we will be able to get an understanding of the structure, language, content etc of the adverts. We expect the national radio adverts to be different in comparison to local radio adverts as the content of national radio adverts will cover more main stream topics and feature adverts for products such as cars i.e. Toyota , international supermarkets etc.
National radio adverts:
http://www.rab.co.uk/hof/full.htm
The TOYOTA AVENSIS WITH ELECTRONIC TRAFFIC AVOIDANCE “MEETING" advert( number 1) uses the common structure of action followed by consequence, they mimic a guy who later hears them and we understand why they were mimicking him- it follows the enigma code. The reason why they have used humour is to make up for the fact that it is a radio advert, there is no visual aid to help the audience understand and also it allows them to feel involved in the interaction therefore listening to the advert.
Just like the Toyota advert, the BT CALL STIMULATION “MAX AND HOLLIE” (number 3)advert uses humour to keep the audience interested and also follows the enigma code- keeping the audience guessing at what may happen next and what it is leading to. The fact that they have used a little girl helps as people may relate to the situation, therefore making the advert affective.
IKEA “MARRY ME” advert (number 3) follows the same structure as the two above. It is affective as just like the other two, it uses and plays on a real life experience and tries to make it into a disaster in order to make it funny. The difference with this advert, is the use of a famous actors voice for the role of the victor, this was done by Jim Broadbent. This adds familiarity to the audience and allows them to picture the situation better. There is use of the Swedish accent which people would associate with Ikea and again, gives it a humorous tone.
Local adverts:
SOMERSET DRUG ACTION TEAM “MYTH” (number 13) This is the only local radio advert I managed to find. It tackles a much darker and tougher subject in comparison to the national adverts. It differs again to the others as it informs the audience straight away what it is about. As it is an advert for the Somerset, they have chosen a guy with the areas accent and socialect, therefore, establishing who and where they are targeting at. The guy has quite a rough voice, which people may associate with drug users etc, therefore making it easier for people to imagine the situation and have a better understanding.
Just like the rest of the adverts, it finishes with a voice over, re-establishing or clarifying the situation and the aim of the advert, giving information on how to find out more I.e. website address etc.
Just as predicted, the national radio adverts cover much more mainstream issues and products than local radio adverts. The reason for this difference is purely because if it is advertising a well know product, brand etc, everyone will be able to relate to it rather than advertising something which is only specific to a particular area, it is a lot more affective.
National radio adverts:
http://www.rab.co.uk/hof/full.htm
The TOYOTA AVENSIS WITH ELECTRONIC TRAFFIC AVOIDANCE “MEETING" advert( number 1) uses the common structure of action followed by consequence, they mimic a guy who later hears them and we understand why they were mimicking him- it follows the enigma code. The reason why they have used humour is to make up for the fact that it is a radio advert, there is no visual aid to help the audience understand and also it allows them to feel involved in the interaction therefore listening to the advert.
Just like the Toyota advert, the BT CALL STIMULATION “MAX AND HOLLIE” (number 3)advert uses humour to keep the audience interested and also follows the enigma code- keeping the audience guessing at what may happen next and what it is leading to. The fact that they have used a little girl helps as people may relate to the situation, therefore making the advert affective.
IKEA “MARRY ME” advert (number 3) follows the same structure as the two above. It is affective as just like the other two, it uses and plays on a real life experience and tries to make it into a disaster in order to make it funny. The difference with this advert, is the use of a famous actors voice for the role of the victor, this was done by Jim Broadbent. This adds familiarity to the audience and allows them to picture the situation better. There is use of the Swedish accent which people would associate with Ikea and again, gives it a humorous tone.
Local adverts:
SOMERSET DRUG ACTION TEAM “MYTH” (number 13) This is the only local radio advert I managed to find. It tackles a much darker and tougher subject in comparison to the national adverts. It differs again to the others as it informs the audience straight away what it is about. As it is an advert for the Somerset, they have chosen a guy with the areas accent and socialect, therefore, establishing who and where they are targeting at. The guy has quite a rough voice, which people may associate with drug users etc, therefore making it easier for people to imagine the situation and have a better understanding.
Just like the rest of the adverts, it finishes with a voice over, re-establishing or clarifying the situation and the aim of the advert, giving information on how to find out more I.e. website address etc.
Just as predicted, the national radio adverts cover much more mainstream issues and products than local radio adverts. The reason for this difference is purely because if it is advertising a well know product, brand etc, everyone will be able to relate to it rather than advertising something which is only specific to a particular area, it is a lot more affective.
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