1. By Navisha Chauhan ‘ The Apple Takeover’ Evaluation
2. Target Audience For our target audience, we have decided to select people between the ages of 16 and 40. Although this may seem as a large age gap it is wide enough to fit the average amount of people that are genuinely interested in technology. Our documentary is about the brand, Apple which holds many apps within its products hence the reason we decided to target young adults is because they use technology for socialising, music and games to make the activities that young adults choose to do much more easier. We also target businessmen and women who reach up to the age of 40 as they use the handy organisers and software to help them with their professions ranging from events organisers, retailers, teachers, PAs and even self-employed people as well as many others. As we have targeted mainly adults we have tried to keep our products consistent by making it look sophisticated and professional.
3. Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
5. Similarities I have chosen to compare our documentary with a similar documentary, ‘Steve Jobs: iChanged The World’ that was shown on Channel 4. The reason why I chose to use this particular documentary is because it shares a similar target audience of 16 – 40 year olds of all sexes.
6. Comparing our documentary to the professional documentary, they both look very similar as they are both clear shots of using apps on an iPhone as background footage. I believe the image from our documentary contains good misé-en-scene as it allows the viewers to see what environment this clip was taken from. Professional Documentary Our Documentary
7. A title is used to show the status of the interviewee. It is usually placed in the corner so that it is doesn’t overpower the shot. Also shown is that both documentaries are done in a medium close up shot. We decided to use a clip of the interviewee using the product to relate it back to our project as well as giving an insight into what the interviewee does. Professional Documentary Our Documentary Professional Documentary Our Documentary
8. The vox pops are taken in a medium shot without a title to show the difference between a vox pop and a formal interview. Our documentary shows superb misé-en-scene which displays that the vox pop was taken in Solihull 6 th Form College revealing that the vox pop is a student. Similarly, the vox pop within the professional documentary shows misé-en-scene allowing the audience to see the vox pop’s working environment. We are targeting adults both young and middle aged thus the audience feel as though they can relate to the vox pop. The sound levels used in the vox pops are to make it seem more realistic. Professional Documentary Our Documentary
9. The use of misé-en-scene is used to evaluate the interviewee’s job role. Within both clips it shows that the interviewers are of a higher class. The connotation used in the formal interviews show how educated the interviewee is. For example, the use of Macs show that the interviewee is a specialist in Macs. There was also use of rule of thirds meaning that the screen was divided into nine squares to make the interviewee attract the attention of the audience, To highlight on the fact that the interviewer is important, they are always placed closer to the camera with only a little space above their heads. Professional Documentary Our Documentary
11. Comparing our documentary to Channel 4, ‘Steve Jobs: iChanged The World’, we decided that we didn’t need collect background footage within a different location because we were mainly focusing on young adults which we easily found located around Solihull 6 th Form College. Professional Documentary Although given the tools and options within Final Cut Express, we did not use is too many transitions such as dissolve and wipe. The reason why we chose to not use this is because we thought it was inappropriate for our documentary as we are trying to show a formal representation across to the audience.
13. Similarities I have chosen to compare our magazine article with other magazine articles that we used to compare and select ideas from when making our double page spread article. The two magazine articles that we chose to slightly imitate were ‘Binge Britain: Brighton’ which was about a documentary shown on the same channel as we decided to broadcast our documentary on; and ‘Vertigo Bikes’ which included a format that relates to our target audience of people aged between 16 and 40.
14. Page references are used to allow the audience to know what page to turn to after finding the article that they wish to read. A question and answer interview format is used to make the article easier to read. We decided to place the questions with a different background to make it stand out thus we went for a news paper background. We also set each of our names in different colours. The headline allows the audience to know what the article is about, and it makes the page look more image dominated. Professional Magazine Article Our Magazine Article Professional Magazine Article
15. The logo informs the audience what channel the documentary will be shown on. The columns separate the text so that the article doesn’t look too cramped with text. The main image is an image that dominates the double page spread. Professional Magazine Article Our Magazine Article Professional Magazine Article
16. The stand first gives a brief sentence describing what the article is about Promotion: A sentence separated from the article is used to promote the documentary. This allows the reader to know when and where the documentary will be shown. Professional Magazine Article Our Magazine Article Professional Magazine Article
18. The pick of the day informs the audience that the documentary is one that the magazine has advised readers to watch. The logo allows the readers to know exactly what the documentary is about. We have included a fact file to make the article more informative and separate the page into different sections. As Steve Jobs has recently passed away, we decided to include a short biography about him as he was the inventor who made Apple technology popular. Our Magazine Article
19. A large image is used to dominate the whole of one side of the article. We decided as a group that we felt that by dominating an image to take over one side of the page it will overpower the article and wouldn’t meet our target audience requirements. As this documentary would be mainly aimed at teenagers. By separating the text into paragraphs rather than columns makes it seem that it is reached at a younger target audience as it is not informative enough for adults. By having the heading across two pages, it constructs an eye-catching headline causing the reader to want to read more. However, we felt that by doing this it makes the article look informal which gives our the wrong message that we are trying to put across. Professional Magazine Article
20. The heading doesn’t seem very image dominant making the article seem dull and not engaging the reader to read more. Thus we decided to present a bold title that will encourage the reader to carrying on looking through the article. By including the cover title it informs the reader which magazine they are reading this article from. Unfortunately we were unable to include this within our magazine. When using lots of images around the double page spread it separates the article into different sections allowing the reader to feel as though they are given the freedom of choosing a section that they would prefer to view. We didn’t use many images as we felt the images that we used in the documentary didn’t give a professional look to the article. However, we did separate the article by including a fact file and a biography of Steve Jobs. Professional Magazine Article
22. Similarities When comparing our radio trailer to a professional one, I decided to use BBC Radio 1Xtra – It’s Grime Up North. This radio trailer is promoting the documentary It’s Grime Up North which is about a presenter who goes on a hunt to find the most successful rapper. Although the documentary and radio trailer do not promote the same type of topic that we have based our documentary on, and it does not meet the same target audience; it is presented on the same radio show and gives a feel of what you would find in all radio trailers. The link is as follows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdB62ZDGaIw
23. The similarities between my radio trailer and the professional radio trailer is that they are both created to be broadcasted on BBC Radio 1. Another similarity is that they both start with an upbeat music is noticeable yet disguised in the background so that the voiceover is clear and recognisable. The trailer is full of upbeat vox pops and clear quotes from interviews.
25. The differences between my radio trailer and the professional one is that my radio trailer mentions a clear slogan and constantly promotes the documentary telling the audience when and where to watch the documentary. It is short yet informative whereas the professional one is quite long making the message drag on longer rather than being quite snappy and straightforward. Also their target audience is a minority of youths who are interested in Rap. Our radio trailer was extremely clear as the sound levels were adjusted to make each statement from the voiceover, vox pops and formal interviews understandable and easy to listen to where as in most radio trailers that we listened to when analysing other radio trailers were hard to recall what the voice over was saying as the background music overpowered it.
26. Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
27. In order to promote our documentary we have made two ancillary texts one being a double page spread magazine article and the other being a radio trailer. Both ancillary texts include brand identity which makes all the products more consistent. They draw the attention of the audience as they are informative and clearly state when and where the documentary will be broadcasted on television. The way in which we made our products appeal to our audience is by suiting the house style to suit that particular age range which is people between the ages of 16 and 40. By knowing what our target audience is, it allowed us to concentrate on what to include in our documentary and how to make it informative and look professional for the middle aged audience as well as using upbeat background music to appeal to the younger adults.
29. In order to include brand identity within the documentary and the magazine article, we have used the same font and colour for the titles as we did for the article. We tried to use the same colour scheme in some areas of our magazine to make it identical to the documentary by using specs of different colours around the page. The main colour scheme that ran continually through the documentary was the colours black and white thus for our magazine we decided to use the same colour scheme.
30. To keep the brand identity consistent we have used images in our magazine that originated from our documentary. The reason we chose this image is because we thought it gives a different effect and image to the way the Mac books are stacked. It also relates as our documentary focuses on this product as well as iPods and iPhones. The logo is shown to prove that this is an Apple product.
31. The background music we used in our radio trailer derived from our documentary. The music is an instrumental piece which has an upbeat tone to it all the way through. We made the background music noticeable yet quiet so that the other sounds are clearly heard and understood. The reason we included the background music in both products is because it shows clear brand identity which makes the audience know that the radio trailer relates to the documentary. We felt that by using the same person for the voiceover, the radio trailer and documentary have a clear brand identity whi ch allows the audience to recognise that both products are similar and made for the same topic. The person doing the voiceover had a loud, deep but clear voice making sure that everything that was said was clearly spoken and highlighted by the audience as a benefit to both products. The voiceover allowed the promotion of the documentary from the radio trailer to be memorised so that the target audience knew exactly what was said and when to watch the documentary.
32. The vox pops we used from the documentary were placed into the radio trailer in a quick snappy layout. This was done to attract the audience as it grabs the attention particularly of the younger adults as they are used to messages being put across quickly and informatively. Although the vox pops were presented in a quick snappy format, it was easy to make awareness of and to understand.
34. The main contrast I feel was made was by having t he magazine article set out in a simple format which took the brand identity away from the documentary and the magazine article as it make the audience think that the documentary is simple, and dull rather than putting across a point that the documentary is in fact lively and full of information. This could have been done by making the different colours used more visible rather than using them in specific places.
35. Question 3: What have you learned from your audience feedback?
36. To gain audience feedback I have carried out both a questionnaire and a focus group. I did this because I felt that it was vital to get more opinions on how we could improve our products if we had an opportunity to change it. The questionnaire gave an overall basic view of what our target audience thought of the main product and the two ancillary texts. Whereas the focus group allows me to get a more detailed response of what they felt needed to be changed and what features they personally thought was a success. For my research, I received 30 questionnaires back from people who have an interest in Apple technology. The 30 respondents are within the age range of 16 – 40, which is believed to be a large gap. However, I feel that the wider the age range, the more feedback and ideas you will receive. The people that I asked to answer my questionnaire are from both genders. For my focus group I asked a group of people that were in between the same age range as our target audience a number of questions about our three products and told them to answer in depth to build up ideas on ways to improve our media products.
37. For the documentary, the changes I would make would be to have a good selection of professional background footage as we took footage of images off the Mac screen which wasn’t clear and you were able to see the shadows reflecting off the screen of the room. The reason why we kept it simply by using mainly black and white was because we were reaching a middle-aged target audience as well as young adults so we had to present a formal, sophisticated look. Nevertheless, at least one brighter colour wouldn’t affect that approach. On a personal level, I thought that our products were a success overall. However, the changes I would make would be to use a better image for the magazine and a brighter colour scheme.
