The primary purpose of an opening sequence is to introduce the program's themes and characters. This is reflected in the choices I made concerning forms and conventions, showing my program to the audience as clearly as possible in a short sequence.
Although many of the TV dramas I analysed were set primarily in a home environment, I wanted my program to be accessible to as many children as possible and so chose school as my setting. All my footage was filmed in school to establish the setting as well as have surroundings that the majority of viewers could relate to. Bright lighting was used throughout to create a positive, fun atmosphere, typical of the genre.
Therefore, I chose school uniform for costume, unusual for children's TV drama, most are set in a home environment meaning the characters wear their own clothing. (For example, Lizzie McGuire, see right). However with my choice, it grouped together my characters but still meant I could alter their costume to suit their individual personalities. I continued the same costume throughout all my products to maintain character and brand identity. Below are some visual examples of how I used costume to create instant indications to a character's personality.
Annie - Her high collared shirt with smart tie suggests she is a dedicated student, along with glasses (stereotypical "geek" attire) and goggles which portray her enthusiasm for science.
Ashley - The only character in school PE kit, she is clearly the most energetic character.
Daisy - Her low tie and unbuttoned shirt suggest she is laid back. The pink cardigan distinguishes her as the most feminine character.
Sam - Dressed in proper uniform, full with blazer, he is seen as a stickler for the rules.
In most opening sequences for children's TV dramas, characters aren't introduced fully. I wanted to challenge this by using a variety of props and set so that any new viewer could enjoy an episode, regardless of previous installments. Above are some visual examples of how I used props and setting to indicate instant indications to a character's personality.
Annie - In a classroom with books and science equipment, she is clearly intelligent and has a thirst for knowledge.
Ashley - On a sports field with brightly coloured cones and a football, she is the energetic, easy-going character.
Daisy - In a classroom but on her phone which, like the rest of the props I gave her, is pink, suggesting she is more interested in the social side of school rather than the academic.
Sam - In a music room with a piano and packet of biscuits, unlike Toby, he is the more sensitive boy in the group.
Annie - In a classroom with books and science equipment, she is clearly intelligent and has a thirst for knowledge.
Ashley - On a sports field with brightly coloured cones and a football, she is the energetic, easy-going character.
Daisy - In a classroom but on her phone which, like the rest of the props I gave her, is pink, suggesting she is more interested in the social side of school rather than the academic.
Sam - In a music room with a piano and packet of biscuits, unlike Toby, he is the more sensitive boy in the group.
I challenged conventions, including much more action than is typically seen in a short opening sequence. This was to introduce my characters the best I could, showing their personality as well as their faces. Camerawork therefore differed, I mostly used stationary wide shots to encompass the entire scene with the characters moving rather than the camera.
At the end of each scene, I purposely had the character in a mid-shot to show their expression and clear appearance for introduction to the audience. This common in the openings for children's TV dramas, such as Tracy Beaker which you can see pictured.When it came to editing, I decided to stick to a simple repeated action - freeze sequence which is not often used in modern examples of children's TV dramas. However, you can see a similar technique used in Famous Five below. The freeze frames I chose purposely to sum up each character's personality, meaning the audience are introduced to them without any need for dialogue.
Character names are conventionally shown in the opening sequence of children's TV dramas which I wanted to continue but develop, using them to identify each individual. I used a different colour for each character to reflect their varying personality traits. Here you can see that Daisy's name appears in pink, symbolising her feminine, delicate nature where as I chose yellow to represent Ashley as being a more energetic, fun character.
I developed the conventional heavy use of colour in existing opening sequences (such as The Sleepover Club, see right). Most programs of this genre are aimed primarily at a female audience, using stereotypically feminine Although I used colour with my text, I wanted to make an effort and not rely too heavily on using colour to portray my characters. I felt that through good use of costume, props and action, I could introduce my characters more effectively. By using attention to detail in the early production stages (planning mise-en-scene and camerawork) I didn't have to rely on editing, but just include the best aspects. Another convention of colour refers to the program title itself, which I wanted to follow. The use of bright, varied colours appeals to my young target audience without excluding any groups by using predominantly feminine colours as seen in The Sleepover Club. Here, Tracy Beaker was a good example to analyse, showing how to attract a wider range of viewers.
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
On both of my publication products, the magazine and DVD cover, the title is followed by the catchy alliterative slogan "Everyone's favourite friends" which again strongly combines the products as well as referring directly back to the actual program.
Another way of creating a strong brand identity was through consistent costume from all my characters. I ensured that my cast wore the same costume in every photoshoot and filming session. This meant that, as a group, they strongly represented "Hi Five!" and would be instantly recognisable to my customer, therefore increasing DVD and magazine sales as well as viewing figures for the program itself.
What have you learned from your audience feedback?
My initial questionnaire proved very useful when it came to making decisions referring to my own production. The feedback meant that I could make informed choices from real, honest answers which came from the people who mattered most, my target audience. The survey responses clearly influenced me and my final products were better because of it, as is apparent with the evaluative questionnaire I created below. To ensure accurate feedback, the only people who answered my evaluative questionnaire were of my target age range (7-16).
Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.
My Main Task, the opening sequence to "Hi Five!", was popular with my target audience, the lowest rating given was a respectable 4 stars. One common reason suggested for it's success was my effective use of editing, the personal character name freeze frames proved a popular element which I was told "introduced the characters really well".
The results of my final questionnaire showed a unanimous vote of positivity toward both my "Hi Five!" Magazine and DVD. 100% of my target audience said that these products appealed to them. Their feedback claimed that my ancillary tasks look professional and fitting of the genre, confirming that my research into similar existing products was successful.
Although my questionnaire results showed an overwhelmingly positive attitude to "Hi Five!", I am always looking to improve and so asked if my target audience could give any weaknesses to my products. Below are 2 of the responses, which are things I would have looked further into if I had had a larger production budget.
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Using Blogger itself has allowed me to clearly present my coursework and include various media technologies, for example embedding videos. I used SurveyMonkey for research which allowed me to reach a wider audience on the internet, gain more feedback and therefore make more educated decisions in the production process. When researching into similar exisiting products, the internet proved an invaluable source of information. After watching the programs on TV, I used YouTube for further analysis of their opening sequences, below are the links to the 3 featured on my blog.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQYO2tX7mOw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkK8WZgGJ4k&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIgTgklR9jM&feature=player_embedded
On my photoshoot for my publication products, I used a digital camera and tripod for the best quality results. In the editing stages, I used a program called PhotoImpact 10 which allowed me to alter the contrast, brightness and saturation to create the desired. Below you can see how I used the Lasso Tool to select the outline of my subject, meaning I could choose backgrounds freely. On the right is the orginal photograph and the cut out after using the Lasso Tool.
To create my magazine and DVD cover, I used Microsoft Publisher which resulted in realistic products. For the filming of my opening sequence, I used a digital video camera and tripod for steady, professional shots. Once I had all my footage, I began to think of a suitable soundtrack. It needed to be upbeat and I used Google, YouTube and various other search engines on the internet to find the right one. This led me to a copyright free music site which was exactly what I needed for my original children's TV drama opening sequence.
The track was called "Highway Five" and I trimmed it down to the exact length and desired part on iMovie before adding the clip to my project.
iMovie was the program I used to produce my main task. After using a PC for the entirity of my project, I then moved onto use an iMac to edit my footage. Below is a screen shot, showing how I altered the exposure, brightness, contrast and saturation to create a more appealing feel to my video.
My major editing was with the freeze frames at the end of each scene, which I have illustrated with the screenshots below. I then had to add text to the stills, changing the font and colour to suit each individual character name.
