Here, I have posted a jpg saved version of my 9 box grid I created using photoshop. Each box represents something different about our soap. Box number 1 is in the top left corner, box number 2 is at the top in the middle, number 4 is top right, then number 5 is left middle, and ect.1: Title:
In box 1, I have placed images which for me, represent 'Liberty'- the title of our soap opera. I have typed up the definition of liberty which is: 'The condition in which one has th e freedom to act according to his or her own will'. This is what our soap is about; young people breaking free from the rules that they feel trapped by and doing what they feel is right. I have placed images of alcohol and drugs because sometimes people like to use these to turn to them, or just act silly for a night and get drunk. I have put a lip print to represent make-up looking after ones appearance, and butterflies fo symbolise freedom and free spirit. We wanted to keep the name of our soap simple by having only one word in it. We wanted this one word to reflect what our soap is about; which is breaking free and freedom. i think our title has kept with the conventions for soap names, because soap names are usually one word, and it is good that way because it is kept simple and easy to remember.
2: Location:
I have placed images to do with the location of Liberty into box 2. The images are of central London, Elena's house where we did our filming, and the London underground logo to show the main method of transport for young people travelling to and from central london, for university lectures and for going out with friends. Some soaps like 'Eastenders' keep within the premesis of a few streets for location, but we wanted our soap to do more. We did not want our soap to be confined and limited to just the road that our school is on or one street because then, there is only so mush that can happen. Although it is typical of soaps to stay in a small area in terms of location, some dramas like 'Skins' have almost a different location each episode to show how the characters are individual and move around seperatly. So in this way, we have developed on the conventions of location for soap because we ra enot limiting ourselves on location, but doing more, and this is not common within soaps.
3: Costume/Props:
Within box 3, I have placed images of the props we used during filming to add to the realism, and the costumes which we wore because we felt it was important for our character roles. We have pretty much kept with the conventions of realism on the costume front. We did not want to make our characters look like models or too glamorous like in '90210', so our characters are wearing normal every day outfits to look like average young Londoners. The props we used improved our sets. Mise en scene was important for our soap. We gave Shadei a headscarf to wear during the praying scene because she was acting as a Muslim, and because she had to throw it off to show her being rebelious. We also used a real pregnancy test for Maria to use, and some sort of fizzy pill to use as a drug to put in the drink which Maria drinks. Using realistic props like this means that we were able to make our soap look very realistic, but we pretty much kept to the conventions with this, and we are happy with the props that we used.
4: Filming/Editing:
In box 4, I have placed images of the filming equipment that we used and images of our filming in progress to show the points wen we held the camera in our hands only to film, and when we had to use the tripod. I have also placed images of a mac and a dell computer because these are what we used for our practical work. We edited our film on a mac. We used simple and easy ways of filming and editing. The camera shots we used were to show perspective from certain characters views, or to show only what the audience can see and no one else can. Whilst editing, adding sound effects and the correct effect to make the camera look like it was moving meant that the audience can understand that the beginning of our trailer is a blurry memory and the pill is added by someone trying to drug Maria who we later see being led up the stairs by a strange man, and then again being crept up on by this man when she is unconscious on the bed. We kept with the conventions because we used simple filming methods and did not go to the extreme with our editing. We used special effects, but only because this is a trailer, and in a normal episode, we would obtain the conventions of the fly-on-the-wall effect.
5: Font:
I have included the fonts I have used within box 5 to show the kinds of fonts that we used for our project. The words I have used for the fonts describe them, and shows why we chose the different fonts for different reasons. With our font, we wanted to develope on the conventions for font and try something different. We wanted our soap to look modern, young, stylish and unique. So we used fonts to reflect this. I think the style which we created for our soap and website is also quite sophisticated, considering the soap has teenagers for characters, they are mature, and the neat style reflects this.
6: Storylines:
In box 6, I have included images which relate to the storylines which we have included in our soap, and the kinds of storylines and issues that will remain in our soap. I have put an image of maria looking miserable to show the effect her storyline of rape is having on her, and I have included religious symbols to show a clash of religious beliefs and how, this represents the storylines of religion and how it can sometimes cause problems for young people if they are in a relationship with someone from anothe religion and are finding it difficult to follow theirs. We definetly kept to the conventions with storylines. Storylines in soaps are nearly always very dramatic, so we started off ours with lesbian issues, rape, one sided celibacy and religion issues, as well as an arranged marriage. This is quite alot going on for our characters but is not too extreme. Its is extremly realistic, and of course can happen to anyone, so these storylines are also to raise awareness of such issues.
7: Themes:
In box 7, I have typed a variety of words just to how the kinds of themes and emotions that run high in Liberty. It is a very modern soap, so it has issues with relationships and what comes with them such as sex, love and troubles. But it also has university life because the characters that are students in our soap are about to attend university and people of this age which are in our target audience will be able to relate to how these young people cope with their new environments and independancy. Some of these themes are present in every soap, but we built on the conventions for this and had university life to our soap, and party life of teenagers. It is the relationships between the teenagers that our audiences will be seeing.
8: Characters and how they are introduced:
We started off our characters with dramatic storylines to introduce them to our audience at the point in their lives when they are most troubled- for our audiences to see them in their true colours. But also to start off our soap with alot of drama and interesting storylines within all the characters to draw our audiences in. This way- with the big storylines, they will continue for a very long time and the smaller storylines will begin to interlink as the soap progresses and our audiences will not get bored. We built on the conventions for this. We did not want any of our characters to be boring at first, so we made sure that every one was introduced through their storylines in an interesting way and that our audiences can begin to tell what they are like as personalities.
9: Soundtrack:
We found the music that was right for our kind of soap and the episode it was on the london grid for learning website. I have put words and pictures that describe the kind of music it is in box 9. We kept this simple and kept with the conventions of soundtrack. We only muted some scenes, but the scenes where the audience needed to hear what was going on, we had the music on more faintly, and then more loudly when there was no dialogue.
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