Evaluation

A2 Evaluation on Prezi

Website Development

I've began construction of the Web Page from the initial design I have made here:

 During the initial stages the only content was placeholder content. This is common on many web design projects as you are making the structure, rather than organising the content.

The TV Guide is a section I have decided to keep basic. A Schedule should be simple to view, I don't think there is a need to play with the formatting on a key element like this.

As the site begins to take shape, I've began to add more multimedia to the pages. One aspect I am particularly proud of is that the Quick Guide will pull the time table for whichever part of the day it is. From the screenshot you can see it's "Friday Early" which corresponds to the item on the TV Guide page.

Finally I listened to some feedback from my audience about the TV Guide page. In the first screenshot you couldn't see the key, as it was down the bottom. Clearly this was a usability problem and thus I've moved it to the top of the page.

Another consideration to take with this is that I've designed it with the latest technology in mind. In particular the text orientation on the TV Guide is using CSS3, the latest version of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which only the latest browsers support. On a non supporting browser they show up like this:

The website can be found here: http://media.jamesy.me.uk/index.php

Scheduling Analysis

As outlined in my previous post, I undertook some research into the times my target audience watches most of their television. This is to enable me to plan my own channel schedule to suit their needs and to minimise the amount of programming needed when few people will be watching.

The results of the questionnaire are as follows. The most common times respondants began watching their TV were:

And for when they terminated their viewing:

From this I can deduce that the ideal times my channel should run programming is an 18:00 start, and finishing at 03:00. Prime time therefore is 22:00 - 00:00 when the majority of people will be viewing.

Analysis of Existing TV Line-ups

Television Channels employ a range of techniques to schedule their programming. Throughout this post I'll be looking at what they are, how they are used and possible reasons for their choice. Typically there are 5 main methods of scheduling.

Hammocking:
This is the method of placing a less popular show between two popular ones. The theory is that the audience will sit through the less popular show waiting for the second popular one to come on, therefore allowing them to sell advertising at a higher price. In the past this system worked better, but with the advent of Digital and Satellite TV audiences now have a far wider choice, and thus are not as willing to sit through something.

Inheritance Factor:
Similar to Hammocking, this places a new show immediately after an established one. The hope is that a significant proportion of the larger existing audience will continue watching the new programme.

Stripping / Stranding:
Stripping is scheduling the same show at the same time each day. This is commonly used in Soap Operas, such as Coronation Street. This allows the audience to know exactly when a programme would be on. Before Sky+ and On Demand viewing became established this would have been more important. Stranding is along similar lines, however it is about types of programming rather than a specific show.

Theming / Zoning:
This is where channels will run a large block of related programming for an evening, or part of an evening. You can observe this quite often on Dave, where they quite often run blocks of shows over the course of an entire evening.

Trailing and Promoting:

Because of the pressure numerous channels places on retaing viewing figures, many channels now self promote. Trailering shows being aired later that day, week or coming soon is a way of keeping their audience on their channel. Quite often related channels will cross promote - for example BBC1 will show promotional material for other BBC channels.

First up, Channel 5:

Channel 5 has a major contrast, as do most channels, between day and evening programming. Generally the day time audience is made up of mothers, students, the retired and the unemployed. Therefore during this time the programming will consist of inexpensive shows, for example above a repeat of a previous episode of The Gadget Show and an older film. A film has the benefit of taking up a larger amount of time on a schedule, while retaining the ability to insert advertising segments.

In the evening we can see an example of both theming and hammocking. CSI is dominant in this prime time line up, yet we can see highlighted a clip show which will most likely have a smaller audience than the main show.

Next I viewed Dave in the evenings.

Dave is another good example of Theming. At 7PM we can see That Mitchel and Webb Look is being shown in an hour long+ segment. Dave also regularly runs their own promotional advertising, most often for new themed nights which occur very frequently. Dave also frequent run promotions for further themed nights. It's rare for Dave to trailer anything, since it's primary base is on well known and established shows, catering for a traditionalist audience.

I also viewed BBC3 who have a different way to fill their schedule:

Ceasing transmission is a way of reducing costs for channels. Especially if they have a very specific target audience as BBC3 does, which is for hedonistic / post modern audiences. Typically young adults who would not be viewing the channel during the day.

After analysing this it's quite clear that there are multiple options available to me for my channel's scheduling. I'd like to do some further research into my audience's viewing times to evaluate the best options. It would be more cost effective to cease broadcasting when the audience is not watching, than use Channel 5's system simply due to the type of channel I am creating, the gap between the daytime audience and the one I have targeted is too great.

Ident Feedback

I presented my ident to my target audience, and asked their opinion immediately after viewing. The following video shows their responses:



The following points have been stated that are what I was aiming for

• Quirky
• Fitting the target audience
• A sense of retro, for the nintendo 64 generation.

The points raised about the length of time it takes for the logo to appear and the guitar strum are ones I can now go and improve on, to see if the audience prefers it.

Ident

Following up on yesterday's post, here is my ident fully animated but without receiving audience feedback - which is my next task.

Ident Development

I've began the process of producing my ident sequence. The one I've chosen is the clip featuring the ringed city, and I've chosen to animate it in Flash.

A key part I wanted to get done was animating the ring that goes around the city (and moon). I completed this using photoshop, flash and the various masking tools within them. Below are some screenshots explaining how I did this:

The green section shows the mask. This essentially acts like a window - anything outside the coloured band will be hidden from view - producing the ringed shape.

Exported from photoshop, a version of the ring that has no fill - however it still has the effects overlayed (the translucent white band you see in the center). This is put over the mask which is what gives it the same look as the non-animated version.

 Finally, by working together and rotating the gradient behind them on a loop it will produce the effect that the light is beaming round and round - you can see the final product below:

Print Advertisement Audience Research

For my print advert getting an idea of where to place the advert is a priority. Once more I presented my target audience with a form to fill in about their news reading habits. The following trends became clear:

Firstly, my target audience does consume news media - and the majority of it is online based:

Results for whether they consume news media

From which source news is gathered

In addition to this, I wanted to find out whether my audience used their smart devices (tablets, phones) to view the news. This is because I have to consider the possibility that an advertisement may not reach the correct audience if it is a printed news paper - especially in this day and age.

People who owned a smart device

Response to whether they use it to view online news

What this response indicated is that although a majority do have smart devices, they tend not to use them to view online news.

Finally, I sought to find out what type of news paper my target audience favours. As a more educated middle class audience, I did not expect the lower end of the tabloid spectrum to rank highly in the results. This theory was vindicated by the results received:

So my summary is that my advertisement should be placed within the Guardian newspaper, both in print and on their website - as this would maximise exposure. Smart devices are negligible as the majority do not browse on them.

Status

This post is to reflect on what I have, and haven't done so far.
Have Done and Evidenced / Have Done, but not Evidenced / Not Done

Print Media

• Using IT appropriately.
• Showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design.
• Showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size.
• Accurate use of language and register.
• Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• Shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scéne including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting
• Manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including within text, within particular IT programmes, cropping and resizing.

Web Based Media  

• Combining some or all of images, text, sound and video as appropriate for the task set.
• Using ICT effectively to facilitate the combination of such material.
• Producing material so that it communcates clearly to the "reader".
• Using the conventions of web publishing to enable the "reader" to navigate the material appropriately.

Research and Planning

• There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience
• There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props 
• There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding
• Time Management is excellent
• There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning
• There is excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the presentation
• There are execllent communication skills 

Evaluative Criteria:

• There is excellent understanding of the forums and conventions used in the productions.
• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is exellent skill in the choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is excellent ability to communicate.
• There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

These are in line in where I expect to be at the current point in time. The website layout is made to a basic structure, however it has not had content put onto it. I have not evidenced the need for variety of font usages and as such will need to make sure I do before I can declare the print section completed.

My targets this week are:

•  To complete the Print Advertisement section, including prospective locations it should be placed.
• Capture footage for the idents, and experiment with other forms of media they can be created in
• Plan structure of website in order to assess content needed for it. 

Ident Animatics

I've begun the task of planning my ident sequence. I've come up with a range of ideas, all based upon the signifier of the orbital ring present on my logo. The idea is that it shows a person is switched on and engaged about my channel and it's content.

At first I thought they should all be in one sequence, however research indicated that most of the time they are around 15-30 seconds rather than a full minute. As such I split my ideas into seperate ones, and will attempt one or more of them individually.

As of yet I am unsure of the style of the idents, I am considering live-action with animated portions (the ring super imposed on top), however 3D and Flash are considerations too.

Here is the Animatic Reel of my ideas:

Print Advertisement

Here is the completed print ad, sans audience feedback. I am hoping it will suit my target audience, initial feedback from my peers indicates it does however I am yet to do any formal focus group related activities.

Click to view high resolution version

Print Advertisement Progress

I've begun the task of constructing my print advertisement. Here are some screenshots through the development:

Screenshot one is cutting out the photograph taken on Thursday, the background isn't needed as I am adding my own to it. Using the magnetic lasso tool, careful use of the eraser and the marquee tools to chop away unneeded background. The eraser tool is used to reshape and refine areas that did not come out well with the lasso tool.

Setting the scene, sofa, shading and the positions of the floor and scale of the elements are all being worked out here. Using a very high feather creates the soft shadow effect.

The colours are done, and shading is added to the sofa and table to give the impression of depth and 3D. Realism wont be acheived due to the simple nature of the background. An inner shadow creates the 3d look to the back wall. For the shadow behind the sofa, a duplicate was made of the layer which was then coloured black, made transparent and skewed where the floor meets the wall.

Adding the light beam from the television, the reason for the expression on his face is added in this screen. Blending options and the way layers affect each others colours created the blue tint, and a faint lighter glow at the edges makes the beam not look simply flat.

 

The final screenshot this evening is a test with a brush to create the telly bursting forth from out of the screen. The Laptop is also added, fitting in with the T.A. I'm not too sure of the way the light effect looks - I think it is something like a horror movie rather than bursting technological goodness.