Article ideas

Billboard Evaluation Ancillary

Billboard Codes & Conventions

Most billboards are very simplistic in nature, and use minimal text and just try and show the product, I’m assuming this is because the locations of billboards are usually on roads, so the cars aren’t going to have much time to read.

As you can see by the above McDonalds Billboard, the text uses a pun which relates back to the product (Ice Mocha), in my opinion the pun is very weak and doesn’t really make sense in the context, which is clever in itself as I am going to be thinking about it for a while which will make me think of the Iced Mocha.

Notice the word ‘you’, this is an example of direct address as it involves the audience and speaks to them personally. The advertisement is also visually pleasing, McDonalds uses their very recognisable logo in the bottom right corner which is the first thing I noticed about the billboard because of its familiarity, the background is very red which contrasts with the white text. Finally the product is aligned to the left and takes up about a third of the billboard to show what is being advertised.

A fair amount of billboards try to be clever, like the one above. It catches your attention immediately as it is unnatural, and the audience may doubt if it was intentional or not therefore drawing more attention to it. The gimmick of this billboard relates back to the product as well which adds a lot more to the advert, because the tooth formula hyperbolizes that the consumer would be able to bend metal with their teeth.

The man in the picture is the sole subject and the white background adds simplicity and therefore adds focus on the man in the picture.

Overview

Documentary

This was the first brief and the goal was to make a documentary using typical codes and conventions that documentaries use. In lesson time we were given the task to research different kinds of codes and conventions of documentaries and then applied some of them to the final edit of the documentary which I personally edited, whilst the rest of the team picked out important parts of the video to include.
Unfortunately in the end, the documentary looked strange and it took on an odd style of a panel show whilst the documentary experts were being interviewed, if I were to do the documentary again I would've changed the format and contents, but I think that it was okay considering the little time I had in shooting and editing the video.
After some thorough consideration, me and my partner Micheal decided not to do a documentary, as it may have been too difficult for us and doesn't well suit our skills.

Music Video

The music video brief task was to create a poster full of codes and conventions of different music videos, along with examples of different music videos. This task taught me how to effectively use codes and conventions to show a song by using moving images in a variety of different ways.
At the end of the project and after looking at the pros and cons, I decided not to make a Music Video for my final task, mainly because I lack musical talent.

Video Game Trailers

I worked with Cameron McCall and Joe Kershaw on creating a short video featuring the different codes and conventions of music videos over time and how they've changed whilst showing different examples. We then had to export the video and upload it to the internet, and then embed the video into a website we created. I also decided not to choose this option for my main task as it didn't seem too appealing, and I also felt like I would've had to make a game before I made a trailer for a game.

Regional Magazines 

Finally I looked at doing a regional magazine, I began this task by grouping up with a few of my classmates and we researched different codes and conventions of regional magazines and looked at things like 'Straplines', 'Selling lines' and 'Pull Quotes'.
We also looked at an example of a local regional magazine called 'Lincolnshire Life', which I based my final product around, using a wildlife theme. Immediately I had doubts on this task as I didn't like using the software, and struggled with the tools. Although I had my doubts, I've decided to do the regional magazine for my main task as I think I'd do best writing articles rather than making and shooting a video.

Moodboard