Our First Filming Day

I got dressed for filming before I went to Elena's house so that I would not have to change there. I was not going to be playing an important role, so I did not wear clothes that my character would be wearing, but I wore a navy dress with transparent beige tights and grey leather high heel shoes. I also wore contact lenses and feminine make-up. I think that, even though I was not playing an important role, I could still be playing the same character, however, at a point where Shiffa and Joanna are still not being obvious about their feelings, so my character is dressed feminine, and she is giving soft hints to Shiffa, like walking acroos the room, through everyone else just to touch her on the shoulder and say hello. I think this is realistic.

Shadei arrived late for good reasons, however this did not effect our schdual as we were not filming the party scene yet.

Anna brought her pink fairy lights which we used to add a nice lighten-up dark effect, and Elena had a spinning multi-coloured flashing disco ball, which worked really well once we figured out it needed a bulb.

We took many shots of Shadei and I holding glasses and dancing, and we also took shots of Elena and Anna talking and laughing with each other, aswell as us all dancing together and holding our glasses, drinking from them. We did not use alcohol, just water and apple juice. We had recent pop music on in the background, and although it was day-time when we were filming, we had the curtains closed to create a night-time-effect.

Elena filmed me taking a shot, which I have never done before, and I drank it, and the water almost spurted out of my mouth, so it did not go very well. Therefore, we had to film this serval times, and we needed to make it look like we were getting drunk, because of how Anna's drink gets spiked, and no-one notices.

I filmed the shot of Dervish leading Anna up the stairs, and Shadei filmed the shot of Dervish locking the door, while Elena filmed the shot of Anna lying unconscious on the bed and then Dervish walks towards her.

There was also a shot where Shadei is talking to Anna, and I walk through them, thouch Shadei on the arm and ask how she is. I think this was a nice effect...

Overall, this filming day was a success, and we are pleased with what we manged to get done in one day.

Starting Our Website at the CLC

Shadei and I managed to get to the CLC before Mr Sim and the rest of the class,so we decided to talk to the heleper about what we wanted to do and we said that it would be great if we could make a game for our website, but it would take too long, so we were going to just say on our website- 'Coming Soon'. But, the helper showed us an easy quick way of making games that we wanted and how we could incorporate our characters to make it ideal for our soap. This was brilliant! We could actually include a game afterall. I left Shadei to do the game,as she is in charge of extras for our website,and I went to do the main website with Anna and Elena.

As we were beginning our website, we realised that unfortunatly,the layout was restricted, so things that I planned for us to do for the layout, we could not do. This was really frustrating and dissapointing. However,along with Anna and Elena,I helped to acheive what the programme would allow us to. Elena brought along all of our photos,which we selected carefully to put on the website,and cropped accordingly so that they would fit where we wanted them to. Anna was writing the text for the website,where it needed to be. I am in charge of the layout,so I was telling Anna,as she was in charge of the mouse, where we could change things,where we could make the layout more presentable,and what we could do to make our website look more youthful and suited to our soap. I also made sure that we selected our photos correctly so that we did not select any with faults.

At the end,we had what we had acheived burned onto two CDs so that we could workon it in schoolon the Mac computers.

While we were working, we also changed some of our characters' names. I chose my character's name to be Joannah, we thought Maria would be a suitable name for Anna's character, and we chose Shiffa for Shadei's character. We are pleased with the changes.

Research- Magazine covers

Soap magazines portray soaps and their characters and their storylines as if they are the real lives of people, in a similar way to how celebrities are always shown and talked about in magazines. It means that these magazines are a main way of soaps getting known and talked about through gossip, and this is important for the soap getting an audience.

This is a photo of a magazine cover which I have uploaded. I aim to analyse this magazine cover in order to understand better the conventions of an average soap magazine so that I can create my own.

Large character photos are used to take up space against a white background. There are warm/hot colours used for the bold-fonted headings to make the writing and the story stand out against everything else. 'NEW AGONY!' and 'PREGNANT!' are only small tabs against the much larger headings and photos, but are in all-capitals and on bright orange tabs which works in making them stand out.

The masthead 'InsideSoap' is in bright red block text to stand out completly from the rest of the magazine, so that the customer makes no mistake about what magazine they are purchasing.

Sad facial expressions within the images emphasize daunting captions such as 'Reunited-then torn apart FOREVER!' and 'PREGNANT! ...by a dead man!'

Smaller juxtapositioned images add room for more stories and therefore more information, and more more the eye to look at, making the viewer want to buy the magazine because it has alot of information in it, and they are therefore getting more for their money.

The huge puff 'HEARTBREAK' across the magazine diagonally catches the eye immediatly and draws the audience into being intressted in the storylines given away in the magazine.

The white background at the top means that everything else stands out from it, and everything catches the eye so that nothing blends in with anything else.

The pug in the top right corner is brightly coloured and has a circle around it. This ensures that it gets noticed quickly- and the viewer sees it and believes what it says. In this case, the viewer wants to purchase the magazine because it says 'First for BIG soap news!' which makes the viwer think that this magazine will offer them the best information possible within soap magazines.

Website Planning- My Layout Draft of Website

This is my rough plan which I presented to the group which shows my thoughts and ideas about what we should or/could include within our website.

*We can have games.
*Main photo either either behind photo or beneath it.
*A block colour as the main background- behind everything you click on.
*We could have something else- a photo or something to add contrast to the main things you click on. This should go behind the main page- so therefore will appear on the sides.
*Music- optional= audience have the option of switching the music off if they want to.
*Webcam character's house- "Come and take a look at our setting!"
*More photos of characters around website.
*The photo underneath the title can be a group photo or a snapshot of a few, or one actor just being who they are- (in character of course).
*For the background image- we could have smudged make-up, crushed eye-liner, lipstick smudged, or a cigarette in an ash-tray with the smoke circling upwards.
*A chance for the audience to give their opinion/have a say- this will make them feel appreciated and welcomed.
*A video of a snippet of our trailer- or a short video of an up-coming episode of Liberty- teaser trailer- to make our audience want more. It could say "See early footage of our up-coming series!".
*There could be an advertisement above the title- advertising a company product or an online shopping company.
*We could give our audience the chance to make votes to say which episodes they prefer, and say if they like episodes or not. This will allow them the chance to be honest, and will also provide us with a constant source or feed-back on our series.

This is just a rough idea of the sum-up of all my ideas from my website layout research. I have given these ideas to the group, and we are organising our thoughts together as a group to ensure that our website is as good as we can make it.

Filming Dates which we decided last lesson

Last lesson, we decided on the filming dates which are going to be on the 29th November and the 6th of December. We all agreed that these dates are suitable and we will all be able to make them. The first filming date is for Anna and Dervish's scene so I will be wearing party clothes, as I will be in the background of the scene. The second filming date is for mine and Shadei's scene, so I will be wearing clothes suitable for my character.

Website for soap: Layout Research

I am going to analyse the 'Skins' website in order to gain some ideas and knowledge of how we could possibly present the layout for our own website. Here, I have provided a print screen of the 'Skins' homepage by putting the image into Paint, saving it, then uploading it.

The 'Skins' homepage shows a brightly coloured, information packed page set against a grey background.

The main photo at the top of the screen is dulled down and not as bright as the ones on the rest of the page. It shows two female characters; Effy and Naomi, the former in the foreground, the later in the background. Both have their mouths wide open as if the photo has been taken while they were laughing. This conveys youth and the fun that teenagers have with eachother which appeals to its young audience. Effy is wearing a red checked shirt which is very fashionable with both boys and girls at the moment and has smudged black make-up around her eyes. This shows the viewers her edgy and fuss-free character, while the pearl necklace around her neck shows her classy taste on how she likes to look. Her loose natural looking long curly hair also shows that she is a sort of go-with-the-flow kind of girl. Naomi seems to be wearing a black and white T-shirt and has a chunky silver bracelet around her wrist. This photo alone says alot about these two characters , and anyone who has not seen the programme before can definetly find out that Effy has a cheekiness to her, just by looking at the photo.

The background shows jagged rough writing in pencil that I cannot quite make out on lined paper. There is broken glass across this. This conveys that the characters like drinking, but at the same time, attend school , but do not exactly put effort in to be academic. This shows to the audience their ruthless and humorous behavior and perhaps, this is why the small paper-torn notice in the corner of the photo says 'Adult content alert! You must be 18 to proceed'.

Furthur down the page, there are videos of clips from previous episode, where viewers can vote on how much they like it. There is a competition for viewers for a chance to be an editor for 'Skins'.

The web page seems very friendly to its audience which is appealing because it reminds us that the stars themselves are as normal as the audience are. This may be an approach that our group would want to try.

There is also a video of the beginning of series four. I think this is a good idea, as it is being generous with the audience and reeling them in before the new series has even begun.

By researching this web-page, I have gained in ideas and my understanding about website- layout has grown. I will take this information back to the group where we will find it very useful research for our own website.

Website Layout Research

'90210', 'Skins'. I will be analyzing the websites of these soaps and dramas, because, although some of them are not soaps and are not really aimed at the same primary audience as ours is, I think it will still be good to consider them within my research towards the layout of our website so that we have more of a choice to go on. I think this will be effective because, even if a certain website is about a drama, rather than a soap, it can still give us very useful information and ideas about what we could include in the layout of our own website, so soap or not, we need all the information we can get, and this will also mean that our approach will not be biased either. Therefore, researching widely has all round benefits.

Filming Dates and Plans for Group which we discussed in class today

Our filming dates are as follows:

Sunday 22nd November

Sunday 29th November

My job for Thursday is to do research into the layout of existing soap websites in order to provide my group and I with the right amount of understanding and knoledge so that we can have a better idea of how we can present the layout of our own website.

My own analysis of a soap website- 90210

As a group, we will also be making a website aswell as a trailer, our individual blogs, the group blog and individual magazine covers. So each group member has had the job of doing individual research into different soap's websites, and we decided that we should each look at the websites of soaps that appeal to a younger audience and the same focus audience as us. These soaps are typically 'Eastenders' and 'Hollyoaks', however Anna has also looked at 'Gossip Girl' and I have also looked at '90210'.

Each group member has posted their individual research onto the group blog aswell as on their own individual blogs.

The '90210' website is fresh- using bright colours such as bright green and bright yellow to make it look young and attractive and asociated with young life and spring. There are cast and character photos on almost every page of the website- making it intressting and showing their audience their personalities through what they are wearing and their body language. The audience can relate to this and find it crucial to the overall programme, and they feel drawn to watch it. Henceforth, the website is very important.

The images are large and invite the eye to look and observe the attractive characters which makes them interested in watching the soap because they want to see what happenes to the characters.

There is alot to do on the website. There are many pages and things to click on, inviting the audience furthur into the information contained.

The colourful pages and bright colours used keep the website modern and youthful, as well as attractive.

There is an advertisement at the top of the home page saying 'views too good to ignore' which means that the programmes are being advertised to watch, because '90210' is not the only programme that is availuable on this website.

There is a different main image on every page of the website which shows the characters looking like models- all beautiful, slim and sexually attractive and wearing the latest fashion. The audience which probablly consists of mostly girls and women see their outfits and how good they look and want to wear the same thing so that they look good and fashionable.

The website works as a whole in harmony with itself and with the soap so that it is extremly appealing to its audiences and they get what they want from the website. This is what we want to acheive with our website, only we wont be so determined to make our characters look like models, as this is pretty unrealistic and we want our characters to look like average Londoners. For this reason, this research has been really useful.

Group effort written by Anna Constantinou

Research- Skins review and magazine photos shoot

show

"It's like a more adult Gossip Girl with better humor and more likable characters. They may have a different cast now but it is honestly one of the best shows on TV right now. You have to relate to one of the characters or know someone who is like them, they are too human to not relate to. While the story line may be a little far fetched at times it is always interesting and always has something to teach you. You can always pick up a message about how love isn't perfect, or friendships are fragile things only with a twist of humor which all of us need now-a-days. Personal Favorite, and I hope it continues."

I agree with this person. They have talked about why Skins is so good at attracting their audience, and I agree with them completly. This is why 'Skins' is such a good drama to look at as research. It has a wide range of personalities, issues and relationships portrayed that keep its auidiences constantly wanting more, especially mature teenagers who find this programme a good way of taking them away from their own daily stresses and probelems and enjoying 50 minutes of stimulating and realistic footage every week.


I have posted videos from Youtube showing 'Skins' participating in magazine shoots. I found these videos interessting because 'Skins' is a very successful drama that has been going on for 3 series now, and the young cast still seem to be learning when it comes to group photo shoots for magazines. I think these videos are good to watch as research because we are producing magazine covers aswell as photographs, and I am able to see what an exising soap get up to when they are not filming; distributing and advertising their soap furthur- which is something we are also doing, apart from producing our trailer.

Research- Soap Posters

The 'Hollyoaks' logo is clear in the bottom right-hand corner of this poster. Perhaps why the 'Hollyoaks' stars are on so many posters in this way is because of the theme within the soap which is the two genders: male and famale, and how these interact. In this sense, the posters work in advertising their soap opera.



This 'Friends' poster communicates the close relationship of the characters to the viewer. We are able to see that they are together, on a biulding site, all happy together. They are also all wearing funky clothes. For example, Rachael is wearing boyish 'builder' clothes, but at the same time, she looks attractive and fashionable. The poster is kept simple black and white, with only the name of the programme at the top of the poster. As 'Friends' is such a well-known programme and is loved for the loving relationships between all the main characters, this poster needs nothing else and works, conveying its point straight to its audience.

This 'Skins' poster has a lot going on at once. It has a lot of skin showing, and perhaps this is the selling point of the poster. The female actress in the middle of the poster is only in her underwear and is posing in a way that makes her seem tired, alluring or bored. Her make-up is smudged which makes her look like she has either splet in it or she has been crying. It is probablly not the later, because she does not look upset, but like she truly has just woken up, looking rough, and she is sitting on a bed. It looks as though many characters have slept in the same room over night, and they are still kissing each other when there is daylight coming through the window whose shadow is on the wall. The boy lying in bed is staring at the girl sitting on the bed which suggests he loves her or is having sexual fantasies about her. The girl sitting on the bed also seems completly careless, not at all bothered by what is going on around her, whilst everyone on the floor around her is involved in kissing eachother half naked. The overall message of the poster is the care-free attitude of the teenager characters portrayed within 'Skins'.

This poster is only a photograph- but it works because it has every main character of series three dressed in their own individual way, and the way the characters are positioned tells us alot about them. Effy is the closest to us- in the middle- perhaps conveying that she is a very big character within the drama, or that she has a loud personality. She is not looking at any other character, but at us, which in itself tells us about her, saying that she is mysterious and looks at people to maybe see their reaction- and if it is negative (which is unlikely- then she does not care). The fact that Freddie and Cook are on either side of her suggests that they are both infactuated by her and are both wanting her for themselves, yet she is care-free and does not really care much about 'love' at the moment. Freddie's sister is perched on a mini stage and seems completly self-centered, emersed in her imaginary singing, whilst the twins next to her look odd and blank, standing up straight with no individual poses, showing that they are perhaps awkward, or awkward together. JJ looks very nervous- this shows his personality- because although he is extremly bright, he has some sort of problem which makes him different to everyone else, and even if someone was not a fan who knew the characters, they would be able to tell this, just by looking at this photo.

This is a 'Hollyoaks' poster and is obviously created, solely to attract the opposite sex within its audience.

'Hollyoaks' have many revealing posters which are looked at and admired, showing the women or men in swimming costumes. I think this is because, as well as portraying a stylised way of life within 'Hollyoaks', they are also portraying that image in real life- as actors and actresses, showing that this is one main thing that is recognisable about 'Hollyoaks'. If I am to make a poster, I want to portray our characters across within it, therefore, I would not use sexually attractive images.