Scenario Concepts: We considered various scenarios and settings that would provide relevance with our target audience and referenced what we have been introduced to through the duration of the module. We examined several different concepts, before deciding on what would generate the most interest between our desired age category -
University / Societies - Building on the popularity of shows like Skins, The Inbetweeners and Hollyoaks but basing the theme on universities and societies.
Emergency Services - An alternative to Casualty, Scrubs, ER and London's Burning that incorporates every service.
Sailing Community - A glamorous setting that could be the UK alternative to The Hills.
Cartoon - This option would provide flexibility, creative freedom and unlimited boundaries to create any setting and culture.
Olympics - This would promote the games, athletics - what happens during the build up to games.
Rap Scene (East London) - Struggle for acceptance - pioneering a music scene.
We decided that the University / Societies setting was the most attractive concept for our target audience. This was because it would build on a genre that they would be familiar with and tackle issues that were important. We felt that the show should be UK based and provide an alternative perspective on how UK universities differ from their American counterpart. We also felt that through education we would be able to incorporate aspects of the other scenarios - studying to become a doctor; the athletics star working towards the Olympics; music production and attempting to make a break in the industry.
Title Semiotics: We choose the title Forward because the definition provided semiotics that we felt were relevant to our show.
As sign users we were able to identify many meanings that we felt were relevant. We applied the theory that Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguistic, introduced and founded for many significant developments in linguistics in the twentieth century.
A few examples from the free dictionary definition -
The notion of progress; being in front: moving towards a point
Being in front of trends: student protests being a political example
Deviating radically from convention or tradition: providing a different, possibly extreme approach to tackling issues
Moving in a prescribed direction: A clock and cassette are mentioned which we have referenced in our radio advert
Sports references which relate to the various sports played by societies
Promotion / Airplay: Ask some businesses about radio advertising and they will tell you it's the greatest investment they have ever made, while others will tell you it's a complete waste of time and money. We feel that radio isn't an ideal method of advertising a television show, especially when the radio commercial would be paired with multiple advertisements aiming to stand out! This meant that we needed to inspire and also extend the listening experience.
We wrote down a detailed description of our core audience and the potential time they would be listening to the radio.
As the advert would be aired on national syndicated radio, we decided on the 19:00 - 00:00 time slot.
We also wanted to extend the listening experience for our audience and make the radio advert more interactive. We opted for social media channels, they're easily accessible and provide scalable publishing techniques. This would provide additional content for the show and enable them to share with their network, thus raising exposure of the show.
Production: We used Cubase 4 which is music software, developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging and editing as part of Digital Audio Workstation to produce the advert.
Music: The intro to the advert is Imagine (1971) by John Lennon, with lyrics 'you may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one,' we felt that it signified aspirations and dreams about achievement. The lyrics mention not being the 'only one' which we felt related; being at university with others and working towards a better future. The chords for Imagine were later sampled by Oasis, in their track Don't Look Back In Anger (1996). The voices of my children accompanied the sample to imply childhood memories and not looking back in anger! The second sample is the Gives You Hell (2008) chords by All American Rejects, selected because the track implies rebellion and being given hell when being confronted!
Media Studies: We wanted to portray images of 'youth-as-trouble' and 'youth-as-fun' through the advert, suggested in wider reading material from Media studies: texts, institutions, and audiences. By Lisa Taylor and Andrew Willis.
Narratives: The voices provide the dreams of a child and the struggles of a teenager trying to make the right choices.
Movie References: We referenced movie dialogue throughout the script that would be instantly recognisable within the advert. These were the movies Fight Club (1999) and Trainspotting (1996), the repetition providing the listener with choices.
Sound Effects: We added cassette fast forward and vinyl fade out sound effects. Both being retro and iconic from youth, and Forward being the name of the show also influenced this decision!
Title Semiotics: We choose the title Forward because the definition provided semiotics that we felt were relevant to our show.
As sign users we were able to identify many meanings that we felt were relevant. We applied the theory that Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguistic, introduced and founded for many significant developments in linguistics in the twentieth century.
A few examples from the free dictionary definition -
The notion of progress; being in front: moving towards a point
Being in front of trends: student protests being a political example
Deviating radically from convention or tradition: providing a different, possibly extreme approach to tackling issues
Moving in a prescribed direction: A clock and cassette are mentioned which we have referenced in our radio advert
Sports references which relate to the various sports played by societies
Promotion / Airplay: Ask some businesses about radio advertising and they will tell you it's the greatest investment they have ever made, while others will tell you it's a complete waste of time and money. We feel that radio isn't an ideal method of advertising a television show, especially when the radio commercial would be paired with multiple advertisements aiming to stand out! This meant that we needed to inspire and also extend the listening experience.
We wrote down a detailed description of our core audience and the potential time they would be listening to the radio.
As the advert would be aired on national syndicated radio, we decided on the 19:00 - 00:00 time slot.
We also wanted to extend the listening experience for our audience and make the radio advert more interactive. We opted for social media channels, they're easily accessible and provide scalable publishing techniques. This would provide additional content for the show and enable them to share with their network, thus raising exposure of the show.
Production: We used Cubase 4 which is music software, developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging and editing as part of Digital Audio Workstation to produce the advert.
Music: The intro to the advert is Imagine (1971) by John Lennon, with lyrics 'you may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one,' we felt that it signified aspirations and dreams about achievement. The lyrics mention not being the 'only one' which we felt related; being at university with others and working towards a better future. The chords for Imagine were later sampled by Oasis, in their track Don't Look Back In Anger (1996). The voices of my children accompanied the sample to imply childhood memories and not looking back in anger! The second sample is the Gives You Hell (2008) chords by All American Rejects, selected because the track implies rebellion and being given hell when being confronted!
Media Studies: We wanted to portray images of 'youth-as-trouble' and 'youth-as-fun' through the advert, suggested in wider reading material from Media studies: texts, institutions, and audiences. By Lisa Taylor and Andrew Willis.
Narratives: The voices provide the dreams of a child and the struggles of a teenager trying to make the right choices.
Movie References: We referenced movie dialogue throughout the script that would be instantly recognisable within the advert. These were the movies Fight Club (1999) and Trainspotting (1996), the repetition providing the listener with choices.
Sound Effects: We added cassette fast forward and vinyl fade out sound effects. Both being retro and iconic from youth, and Forward being the name of the show also influenced this decision!
