Apple Takeover Evaluation

THE APPLE TAKEOVER

Matt Long

Briefing

As part of our A2 Media coursework, we were tasked with creating a short documentary, radio trailer and magazine article for a specific topic of our choice.

Our group decided to go with ‘Apple Technology’ and explore how it has grown in popularity over recent years.

Target Audience

The target audience of our documentary is predominantly young adults, both men and women. This target also includes students who use the technology socially, not only in the work place.

We decided that this was a suitable target audience because the technology is also seen as a fashion accessory, not just a gadget.

Young adults therefore will be using the technology not only for its primary purpose but also because it looks fashionable.

We chose to make our documentary for BBC three. The reason for this is because it is a popular entertainment channel that attracts a similar age audience to our target.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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The research and planning of our documentary was paramount towards its overall success. To ensure that what we were doing followed the usual codes and conventions of documentaries, we watched other examples to gain a better understanding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHKCb0_2oD0

The following link will take you to ‘Supersize Me’ (2005) a documentary/film written and directed by Morgan Spurlock.



From watching ‘Supersize Me’ we were able to pick up certain conventions that are key when making a documentary.

Some areas where we found that the documentary proved helpful was;

• Editing

• Interviews and vox pops

• Mise en scene

• Camera positioning

• Music

• Voiceover


EDITING

One aspect of editing that we used in our documentary

was the fade to black transition.

This is an effective way of indicating the end of one particular scene, and the

picture then fades back up to indicate the next.

‘Supersize Me’

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3

1

2

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Our documentary


EDITING


If you watch from 1:30 in the ‘Supersize Me’ documentary you will see how the opening montage uses faster paced editing to show visuals relating to what the narrator is saying.

This use of faster paced editing and straight cuts, makes the documentary more visually appealing, and interests the reader especially at the beginning.

The use of straight cuts was especially important for our documentary, as it was informative, and the simple straight cuts allowed it to be taken seriously by the audience.


INTERVIEWS

The professional interviews are extremely important aspects of any documentary. They allow the documentary to have educated opinions and facts on the subject matter and as a result makes it seem a lot more serious.

Our documentary ‘Supersize Me’

They were important to ours especially, because the subject of our documentary needed expert information, because it was about technology and the company.


INTERVIEWS

One convention of documentaries that we

successfully followed was the use of titles on formal

interviews. These titles work to inform the audience who is

speaking and what their profession is.



INTERVIEWS

Our documentary ‘Supersize Me’Another convention we

successfully followed was to use a medium close up shot (or there about) for the formal interviews.

The other convention is to make sure there is not a

lot of room above the head, which we also did

correctly.

The effect of this is to draw attention to the

speaker, as they dominate the shot, illustrating their

importance.


INTERVIEWS

Another convention of interviews which we

followed successfully was the inclusion of background

footage to introduce the interviewee.

The effect of this is to show them in their place of work,

making them look more professional.

‘Supersize Me’Our documentary


INTERVIEWS MISE EN SCENE

When filming a professional interview, it is essential that the mise en scene is suitable to

the person talking.

In ours we have made sure that the background looks like he is at work, with the Apple computer turned on

and presenting on screen work. The effect is that it makes him look

more professional, making his comments seem much more expert

and valid.

For example in ‘Supersize Me’ at one point they use old fashioned

cabinets and books in the background, which hold

connotations of the interviewee being well educated.



VOX POPS

Our documentary ‘Supersize Me’Vox pops are an important

aspect of any documentary.

Vox pops are effective in representing the public

opinion on a subject matter.

We found vox pops particularly effective in our documentary, as they gave

the consumers’ point of view. This point of view was

vital in helping establish what the main attractions of the Apple technology are.


VOX POPS


One convention for vox pops is that they are usually filmed at a

medium shot.

The reason for this is that they are not as

important as the expert interviews, and the

difference in camera shot represents this.


VOX POPS

Another convention of vox pops is the fact that they usually only have short periods of time on screen.

Vox pops work more effectively if they are quick and snappy, giving them enough time to convey their point.

As they are not experts on the subject matter, they do not get prolonged camera time in comparison to those in the professional interviews.


MUSIC

It goes without saying that the music in any documentary is especially important in helping create the overall feel.

After watching ‘Supersize Me’ we realised that they had gone with very dramatic music to fit the mood on screen.

This was done by using upbeat non diegetic music to fit the controversial and slightly humorous approach that they used in the documentary.


MUSIC

We decided to go for high tempo, major key electronic background music in our documentary.

The effect that we were trying to create was that of excitement. By using an upbeat soundtrack we realised that this would suit the opinion of Apple technology that we were trying to give.

This background music was present throughout most of the documentary

MUSIC


It was important that in our documentary we got the sound levels correct, so that the music got quieter at points where a vox pop or interview was. It was also important to maintain a sound level that would allow our voiceover to be heard clearly.

The pink line on the timeline indicates the sound level. As you can see it slowly slopes downwards, which means the level of the sound will too decrease.


MUSIC

As you can see the sound level of the backing music is reduced to 0 for this section.

At one point in the documentary there is a section about iPod’s where we use the footage and soundtrack from a famous Apple advert.


VOICEOVER

In our groups documentary I was selected to do the voiceover. From listening to other documentaries, it was important that our voiceover was just as clear and easy to understand.

I feel as though we achieved this successfully. We managed to produce a good quality voiceover that was slowly and clearly spoken. It was also formal, adding to the seriousness of the documentary.


We listened to some of the radio stations from the BBC website to gain a better understanding as to what makes an effective trailer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/

It was not just the adverts themselves that we took into account. The tone of the presenter was important as well, because we were then able to see whether our trailer would be suitable for that particular station.


RADIO TRAILER

If our radio trailer was to be broadcast on an established radio station we thought that Radio 1 would probably be most suitable.

The reason for this is because the station seems to have an energetic approach to it; similar to our documentary.

The target audience for Radio 1 would most likely be young adults, judging by the songs being played. This is also our target audience, therefore it is all the more appropriate.


RADIO TRAILER

We made sure that we followed all the normal

conventions of a radio trailer. The quotes from

the documentary that we have included are

short and snappy, with a clear voiceover that

gives vital information about the time, channel

and date of the documentary.

Our trailer is fast paced

and upbeat, a typical convention of a radio

trailer.


We had a look at some other examples of magazine articles to see what was an effective approach and style to do ours.This is the article we created, annotated to show how we have followed the usual codes and conventions…

HeadlineLarge and bold, draw attention to the article.

Main ImageStands out, illustrates what the documentary is about.

TagUsed to draw the reader in, and tempt them to read.

Side barA different feature of the article which may interest the reader.

Smaller picturesOffers other interesting visuals for reader to look at.

TextOur text is in the form of an interview, held with us on our documentary and the technology.

Final word paragraphFinishing paragraph to round up the article, indicating the end.

2How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Is there a clear ‘brand identity’ between the three texts?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I believe all three of the products successfully appeal to the target audience, and that there is a clear ‘brand identity’ between them.

•The documentary includes vox pops from students at a local college, who are part of the target audience.

•The documentary has a fast paced and up beat feel to it, which is more suited to the young adult target audience, as they will find it visually more interesting to watch.

•The documentary is made for a channel like BBC three or similar. This is a channel that attracts a similar target audience, as they specialise in entertainment programmes, which is what our documentary does to a degree.


• The radio trailer like the documentary has a fast paced and enthusiastic approach to it. There is a clear link between the documentary and radio trailer, as the voiceovers are both done in the same tone of voice.

• Another clear link between the documentary and radio trailer are the vox pop quotes that we used. The quotes that we selected to use are those also used in the documentary.

• The major key, electronic music is used in both pieces also. This helps to create a clearer ‘brand identity’ between the products.

• Radio 1 attracts a similar target audience to that of our documentary.


• Another way in which there is a clear and noticeable brand identity between the products is the fact that the documentary and magazine both use the distinctive Apple logo. This reminds the audience just by glancing at it what the documentary is about.

• The magazine makes sure to mention the date, channel and time of the documentary like the radio trailer. This is another way that there is a clear ‘brand identity’.

• All three of the products make sure to mention the title of the documentary ‘The Apple Takeover’.

• The main image of the magazine is also used in the documentary, this also helps to create a ‘brand identity’.


Promoting the documentary

I felt as though the radio trailer and magazine article both successfully and effectively promote the documentary. Both products clearly tell the audience what it is about, and the date, channel and time it is being shown at, which is vital.


The radio trailer made use of the vox pops in the documentary to entice people into watching.

It uses techniques such as quoting what newspapers have said about the documentary, as receiving high praise from an established newspaper can sometimes persuade people to watch.




The magazine had the advantage of being able to include finer detail that may attract the audience.

In the article we had a detailed interview about the technology, so the audience would know what to expect if they watched the documentary. Other features such as the fact file and profile on Steve Jobs are aspects designed to generate interest and to entice the reader to wanting to know more about the modern day technology.


I would say that overall there is a clear ‘brand identity’ between the three products. They all make sure that they tell the audience clearly what the documentary is about, and they do this in a way that is energetic and exciting- appealing to the intended target

audience.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

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After finishing the documentary and ancillary texts, we then conducted a questionnaire to see what our audience thought.

We asked a total of 26 people after watching the documentary to answer the following questions, and here are the results…


This was our first question, and this was to gain an overall response about our documentary. We wanted to see whether the documentary looked professional on the whole.

5 people answered ‘5’18 people answered ‘4’ 3 people answered ‘3’

This shows that overall, the majority of people, 23, which is 88%, thought it was very good or good and only a small percentage rated it as OK, giving it a score of ‘3’


Other questions we asked were about the interviews and vox pops that we included in our documentary.

We wanted to see whether this was another aspect of the documentary that our audience believed looked professional, and worked effectively in presenting an opinion or point.

We asked whether they thought the mise en scene looked professional in both the vox pops and interviews.

16 answered ‘professional’, 10 answered ‘very professional’. Nobody answered ‘not very’.


How effective and professional do you think our camera shots are?

Very poor

Poor

Okay

Good

Very good

In relation to camera shots our audience rated our effectiveness and professionalism as follows:

6 people answered very good18 people answered good2 people answered OK

So 24 people of our audience, 92%, thought our camera shots were effective.

The reason we included this question is because we wanted to see what area of our documentary looked most professional and worked the best.


Arguably the most successful aspect of our documentary was the sound, both diegetic and non diegetic. This was reflected in our feedback.

We asked the audience whether they thought the upbeat background music that we used was suitable for our documentary.

96% of our audience, 25 people, said ‘yes’.4%, only 1 person, said ‘no’.

This proves that our decision making was very effective, and we selected the appropriate music that enhanced the professionalism of our documentary.


Sound levels are a hugely important aspect of any documentary as stated earlier in the evaluation. Therefore it was vital that we made sure that these were correctly edited.

Judging from the results we successfully used sound levels in our documentary with only one person answering ‘not very’.


We conducted a separate questionnaire for the magazine article to the documentary with an audience of 12 people.

Arguably the most important question we asked was whether it would persuade you to watch the documentary?

This was met with a unanimous 12/12 people answering ‘yes’, meaning that we were successful with the magazine article in promoting the main product.


The appearance of a magazine article is always vital to its overall success. For it to be especially popular with the target audience it needs to be attractive, and interesting.

We found that 75% of people rated the attractiveness of our magazine article a ‘4’. 25% rated it a satisfactory ‘3’ with nobody giving it a maximum mark.

This is not as impressive as previous feedback, but it is important. The reason for the audience questionnaires was to discover where we can improve and where things may not have worked as well as we would have hoped. From the feedback gathered we realise that we may have needed to invest more time into making the magazine article more visually appealing.


We gained verbal feedback in a group discussion about the radio trailer, taking notes on what was being said.

The overall opinion, like the magazine article, was that it would persuade the majority of the audience to watch our documentary. The sound levels again were complemented, and we were told that, like the documentary, the voiceover was formal and clearly spoken.


Most of feedback we gathered was in a quantitative form, which proved a lot more efficient when it came to analysing the results. Quantitative data is generally a lot easier to analyse as it means we can categorize it, using graphs to illustrate our findings.

We went about getting this quantitative data by asking closed questions where the audience were given a choice of answers.


We also tried gathering some qualitative data for the radio trailer by holding a group discussion. This was effective in the sense that we were able to get more detailed responses, however it was less efficient.

In hindsight, if we were going to gain feedback in a discussion, we would have done this using a focus group. The focus group would allow us to gain more precise information in a much more controlled environment. We found the discussion gave very broad feedback that was hard to analyse.


Overall we were extremely pleased with the feedback we gained from the audience. The majority of our audience said that all three products were professionally constructed and that the micro elements; sound, mise en scene, camera and editing were all up to a good standard.

The audience feedback has also proved helpful in pointing out areas of improvement. In hindsight I think we would possibly spend more time on the article given that was where we received the most negative feedback.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

BLOGGER

When our groups were decided, we were next introduced to Blogger.

Blogger was what we used in our groups to record our progress along the way. This could be anything from the research into our radio trailer to a scan of a risk assessment sheet we filled out when taking the camera to film.

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BLOGGER

I found Blogger helpful in the sense that you could easily access planning material that was important when it came to the creation of the media products.

It was relatively easy to use, and allowed the group to upload details of what we had done in lesson, so we knew where to pick up from the next time we went back to it.


VIDEO CAMERA

The cameras that we used to record the footage for the documentary were ‘Canon HG’.

When using the camera, we would switch the dial to the small red video camera icon ‘video record’. When in this mode we were able to video whatever we needed after pressing the centre ‘record/pause’ button.


VIDEO CAMERA

For all of the footage we recorded we used a tripod to balance the camera, which ensured that our footage was steady and that the shot was level.

The tripod allowed us to film pans and tilts smoothly and professionally. The care we took in using the camera and recording good quality footage was noticeable in our documentary.


VIDEO CAMERA

The picture opposite shows where the inputs for the microphone and headphones were found on the camera that we used.

Before recording we would trial test the microphone, and judge the whether the sound being picked up was at an appropriate level by listening through the headphones.

This was important and necessary as it potentially saved us a lot of time re recording footage due to poor sound.


VIDEO CAMERA

After recording what was needed we then had to use the technology to upload the footage to the Apple Mac computers for editing.

Using a USB cable supplied with the camera we would link the camera up to the computer and upload the footage into a folder, making sure to change the name of the folder to the date of filming, so that we could easily find material we needed at a later stage.


VIDEO CAMERA

I personally found the camera easy to use once I was fully comfortable with how it worked. After learning the functions of each of the icons on the camera we were able to use the camera to its full potential and record some good quality material.

However using the tripod would sometimes prove time consuming, as we had to make sure that the tripod was secured level before we could begin to record.

I feel overall that my skills with the camera have improved dramatically having used them regularly over a long period of time.

FINAL CUT EXPRESS


Arguably the most important technology that we used in the making of the documentary and radio trailer was ‘Final Cut Express’.

This is a programme on the Apple Macs that we would log and transfer our raw footage into. Here is where the editing took place, and the final products were made on the timeline.

FINAL CUT EXPRESS


This section of the Final Cut Express screen is where all the raw footage goes when transferred in.

As you can see there is a long list of footage, all renamed so that it allows you to easily find what your looking for instead of having to progressively work through the footage to find what you need.

From here you click and drag the clip that you want to use into the timeline at the bottom of the screen. There is where it can be edited.


FINAL CUT EXPRESS

This is the timeline, where the clips that we selected were edited and organised.

There is a time scale running across the top of the timeline which gives assistance when it comes to the length of shots and the timing of the documentary.

We were tasked with making a 5 minute specific documentary, so this timeline was useful in helping us to know how long we had left at certain points and deciding what footage would go where.


FINAL CUT EXPRESS

This toolbar was the key to most of the editing of the documentary and radio trailer. This toolbar had the features that would allow you to select and move particular clips, cut clips and edit the sound level very precisely.

Select tool

Cut tool

Pen tool


FINAL CUT EXPRESS

Here is an example of how the select tool would be used in Final Cut Express.

Here is an example of how the cut tool would be used in Final Cut Express.

Here is an example of how the pen tool would be used in Final Cut Express.

FINAL CUT EXPRESS


This is the screen where you watch back your documentary from when in Final Cut Express. As you can see there is a play button underneath similar to if you were streaming a video.

Using the rewind, fast forward and play buttons you can determine where exactly you want to watch your documentary from, and this is effective when trying to perfect one particular part of the documentary


FINAL CUT EXPRESS

To create the fade to black transition that we used at one particular point in the documentary we used the ‘Effects’ section of Final Cut Express.

As you can see from the drop down you are given a number of different transitions that are all available for use in your work.


FINAL CUT EXPRESS

This particular drop down helped to alter the sound of our documentary. However this is different to the pen tool.

This drop down is used to help correct the sound if for example it was only playing out of the right speaker. Selecting ‘pan left’ in this instance would help shift the sound and balance it out, making the documentary sound more professional.

The pen tool from the toolbar is only used to edit sound levels at a precise scale.


FINAL CUT EXPRESS

It goes without saying that Final Cut Express was an extremely important technology that we used in making our products.

I personally found it very intuitive, and if there were any areas I was slightly unsure about when using it, it wouldn’t take long until I managed to pick them up.

The main advantages of Final Cut Express I found were; the ability you have to be precise about where you want to cut individual clips and being able to drag clips into order on the timeline without it being to difficult or frustrating.


InDesign

InDesign is another programme that can be accessed on the Apple Mac computers.

This programme was where we constructed our double page spread. Using the toolbar along the side we were able to create a professional looking magazine article, which followed conventions such as the rule of thirds.


PowerPoint

PowerPoint is the programme I have used to produce my evaluation.

I was already very comfortable with using this technology, and I chose to use this as it allows the evaluation to be broken down into sections, giving a lot of room for graphics and other pictures.

Final Word

Overall I believe our group have done extremely well, and have produced three good quality and professional looking media products. We followed most, if not all, of the typical media conventions of a documentary, radio trailer and magazine article.

Our audience feedback also supported our products, and it is important to remember that those who answered the questionnaire were also part of our target audience.

I believe that my skills using the technology have improved significantly since the beginning of the project, and if ever tasked with something similar I know that I would be a lot more competent in completing the task.

Thank you for reading!

Apple Takeover Evaluation

Entertainment & Humor

media product use

documentary supersize

short documentary

challenge forms

use of titles

a2 media coursework

professional interviews

convention of interviews