In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms & Conventions of Real Media Products

Kaylan Bland

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I used the Tony Returns trailer from Coronation Street to re-create a trailer of my own which would ultimately help me to copy and gain an understanding of conventions used in soaps specifically the conventions of the realism soap sub-genre. I made my version of the trailer as accurate and detailed to the original as possible regardless of the lack o mise-en-scene and costume available at my disposal, for example I have a scene which reflects the 2 shot over shoulder mid shot at the introduction to the original which portrays 2 police men breaking news to Carla. I re-created this specific scenes shot types, length and dialogue but was un able to convert the element of mise-en-scene through the costume used in the original trailer, to my trailer however the location was a good comparison between the two shots as they both are set in an office-like setting with surrounding windows and doors.

SECTION 1 A scene which I though I created most like the original was the tracking from a low angle mid-shot in which it shows Tony Gordon slowly pacing down a cobbled path which I think we re-created extremely well as we got the camera angle, shot and tracking speed near perfect, the costume was near enough precise (jeans, boots and a black hood) but most of all what I feel Made this shot more successful than the others we created is the location we filmed it in which was an alleyway close to college used as a car park, this was the perfect location to create this shot as it shares a similar cobbled ground as the original trailer and has the few patches of weeds and grass growing through the stones which the original also has and these are the factors which I thought were measured accurately to make this the best scene in the reconstructed trailer.

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A shot which I think we reconstructed terribly is the over shoulder mid-shot of Carla being confronted by the two policemen. The clear reasons I think this shot was poorly captured is because although both are the same shot type (mid-shot) the distance from our camera could have been adjusted to the position of the characters in the shot, not only Carla but also the shoulder of the policeman could be positioned lower and include some of the policeman's ear and cheek as shown in the original shot to create a more professional frame as shown in the original. I also think the setting which we captured this shot was too bland for the scene and I would of filmed it in the same locatio0n we filmed the policemen as I feel that was the most accurate background to the scene as it includes shutter blinds, large windows and a door, very similar to the original. The costumes I dont think were too bad in this scene as both the original and re-created Carla are wearing dark clothes and the policeman jacket, as stated previously was not at our disposal. Although despite these points, this was the first scene we filmed and we did not prepare well for the scene and think about when/where we would film the other characters involved in the shot and therefore I think the overall problem with this scene was lack of planning and thought.

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I found this shot of Claire breaking the news about Tonys escape could of also been improved on our part as the framing again isnt very accurate compared to some of the other shots we re -created and our model of Claire isnt angled at the best position before taking the shot which I feel lacks the impression she is talking to another person in the scene. I feel that considering we filmed in a college we could of chose a location such as the canteen with fridges in the background to relate our copy more to the original set. The costume however I think works, the use of dark colours which is kept throughout the original trailer is still in place and nothing to extravagant is being worn.

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Finally, I think this shot was a good take on our behalf as although the framing could be slightly altered and mise-en scene of the background massively improved as well as suits for our character I feel the overall shot was a well constructed two shot with the correct spacing between the two characters and they are centred appropriately but moreover the dialogue in this scene I think is the best in our re-construction as our actors playing Nick captures the same conviction as portrayed in the original.

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What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

From my audience feedback I learnt that I have a good knowledge of sequencing which is reflected in the trailer as it is said as one of the key things in my trailer re-construction that all shots are aligned and accurate to that of the original trailer. It was also mentioned in my feedback that the camera shots are well done and the same as in the original and it is just the framing which is done wrong in the actual camera shot, it is also said that the best shot with the correct camera angle and movement is the sequence of Tony walking down the path which I agree with as I also think this is the best shot we put together as we closely monitored the tracking movement and time beforehand. Furthermore, I have received some constructive criticism on certain over shoulder shots which were incorrectly presented which I agree with and can take away from the feedback as something to think about when preparing to put together the trailer of my own which will make it appeal as more professional than my preliminary trailer. My feedback also discusses my use of editing and how I could use the iMacs to generate the voice over's used in the original Coronation Street trailer to build the dramatic effect especially of Tonys final scene where his voice is heard over the shots of Maria, Haley and Carla before stating he is going to kill them.

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How Did You Use Media Technologies In The Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?
I used YouTube to constantly watch and revise the original coronation street trailer which we eventually re-constructed into our own. I then used a PowerPoint slide to store the screenshots which I took from the original trailer before printing them off on a sheet to have whilst using the cameras and tripods so as a group we could refer back to the original, this helped us capture the accurate shots whether it was a mid-shot or a close-up as we would simply compare the shot we took to that of the screenshots on the pages we had. After filming we then used the iMac suite along with the iMovie software to chop the unwanted scenes using the backspace tool on the keyboard and dragging and dropping the best takes which we could then edit and align into the same sequence as the original. Once we sequenced the shots in the correct order we used a small piece of sample soundtrack available on iMovie to play over the trailer and make it an even closer copy of the original as the music is near the same high pace and creates the same feeling of a rush. Finally, we used a print screen of the corrie title sequence which was used in the original trailer to end our re-created trailer in the same way as adding this print screen allowed us to have all the same sequences as the original.

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What Can You Do To Improve The Quality of Your Production on Your Final, Original Soap Trailer?

To improve the quality of my final and original soap trailer production I will take note of the areas which I received feedback on to improve upon such as using the iMac suite and iMovie software to my advantage to create authentic conventions of soap such as voice overs to build on the drama and enticing of audience like is used with Tonys voice towards the end of the original coronation street trailer. I will also analyse other trailers of the sub-genre I choose to create to see where I need to use transitions between certain shot types in the trailer using the iMovie software creating a professional looking trailer which includes conventions of real soap trailers. Furthermore I will look and plan the most suitable locations to film each of my shots as this was a problem in my preliminary trailer therefore I will like to plan this first with screenshots from other trailers giving me an idea before filming with sets in mind. On the other hand, if I choose to create a scripted reality soap trailer I will use the green screen technology with the cameras, tripods and the iMovie software to generate backgrounds such as the plain bright pinks, greens and yellows used in shows such as The Only Way Is Essex and Made In Chelsea to create a real comparison. I will also use the across screen sub-title effects available on iMovie if choosing this sub-genre.