Time Update

Here I have evaluated whether I have stuck to my time plan so far, Keeping to my time plan is crucial for the development of this project as I do not want to fall behind because my work will become rushed and not to the best of my ability. 
In these two months I have already not stuck to my initial time plan, instead I have done various tasks that I feel are more important for helping me develop my ideas later on in the project.  In these two months I planned to complete several research and planning tasks, I feel that in depth research is essential to any project as it inspires you when designing and making your own media products.  I have crossed out the ones I have completed;

• Target audience Research
• Mood board 
• Magazine research 
• DVD research  
• Title sequence Research 
• Research Evaluation
• Magazine cover Plan
• DVD cover plan 
• Storyboard 

I have completed many of the research tasks however, I have not completed any planning tasks such as, my storyboard and DVD cover plans. This is because I have   prioritised my research as I feel that research is essential creating professional products that follow media conventions. I also prioritised creating a theme and Logo   for my Title sequence as you cannot create a storyboard when you do not know the basic theme for your children's TV drama. 

Logo Development

Here I have experimented with a variety of fonts that I feel convey my theme and are appropriate for the logo for my children's TV Drama. many of these fonts have positives and negatives so here I have made a table to compare my logos and gather feedback on each logo to help me decide which is best for my TV programme. Following up from my research of existing Children's TV Logos I found that the most effective ones were the simple easy to read ones as they stand out against any background. also when researching existing TV programme logos they all conveyed their theme and target audience through the fonts and images they used. Also when researching existing logos I found that they all used bright eye catching colours that are appealing to young target audiences. When designing my logo I will use a simple yet eye-catching colour so that I can easily incorporate it in my DVD and magazine covers.



Experimenting with Colour

 

Here I have experimented with a variety of colours with my chosen font for my logo, I feel that adding colour makes the logo bolder and more appealing to my young target audience. I personally like the maroon coloured logo at the top as maroon is a unisex colour that will appeal to boys and girls therefore allowing my programme to appeal to a mass audience. I also like the maroon as it emphasises the time travelling theme as it isn't a modern colour like the electric blue and hot pink that I could of used. overall for my final logo I have chosen the maroon coloured logo as it is versatile and will appeal to everyone.

Existing Logo Research

Before creating a logo for my TV drama I wanted to look at existing logos that attract a similar target audience to my own program. With well known TV programs such as Bob the builder, Sesame Street and Doctor Who, among other popular Children’s TV shows that all attract the same age range for my target audience. Are all competing to actrract younger views with bright colours to funky typefaces. When analysing existing logos I will analyse the typeface, colour used and overall appearance in order to see what works best and is appealing to my audience.

Overall, from my research of existing logos I have found that all children's TV program logos are bold and bright in order to capture the audiences attention. I have found that the type face must be clear and easy for the young target audience to read independently, the type face must also highlight the theme of the program to the audience so that they know what the show is about before they watch it. When designing my logo I will keep these features in mind so that i can create a professional and appealing logo for my time traveling program. 

TV Drama Name

Here I have Brainstormed potential names for my Children's TV drama that is based on the theme of time. After Brainstorming a range of potential names I conducted a survey amongst my target audience so that I could find out what name appealed to them the most. I chose five of the names I felt were the most appropriate and used these in the survey. For my survey I asked 30 children both boys and, girls aged 6-10 what name they thought was catchy and appealing to them. The results from the survey can be found in the the table below.

Overall from my survey I found out that ‘Time Travellers’ was the most popular name as 1/3 of the children I asked found it catchy and appealing. I also think this was the most suitable name for my TV drama as it clearly conveys the time traveling theme to the young target audience. Even though it is a very simple name I feel that it is catchy and memorable and will work well of TV and DVD covers on shop shelves.

Proposal of TV Drama Theme

For my children’s TV drama title sequence I am basing it on the theme time travel  through history. I was inspired to choose this theme through my research on children’s TV programmes, in which I have taken particular inspiration from Doctor Who. I have chosen to show my characters travelling to famous periods in time to not only make the show interesting and fun but also educational. Hopefully my title sequence will convey the fun and entertaining side to history and will encourage children to engage with their studies at school. My TV drama will be aimed at children aged 8-12 this is so that they can clearly understand the plot and theme of the show. 

My TV drama will include two main characters, both a girl and a boy who are the same age as the audience; this is so that my programme will appeal to a wider target audience. It will contain no stereotypical colours that may imply that the programme is aimed at a gender specific audience. I have also chosen to make the TV drama educational so that parents will also enjoy the show and allow their children to watch the programme. Also, with my audiences parents supporting and watching the show means that they will be more likely to buy merchandise that supports the programme such as magazines and DVD’s. 

Mise and scene will play a key part in producing an accurate representation of famous periods of time , in order to achieve a high quality and accurate TV drama I will have to research a large variety of historically famous locations in which I can film and, historically recognisable costumes that my characters can wear. Finally my title sequence will include snapshots from the children exploring famous periods of time from World War II evacuees to the 1960’s.

Brainstorming Themes

Here I have brainstormed a variety of potential themes for my children's TV drama. I brainstormed a variety of themes that I feel are popular amongst my target audience, I would like my TV drama to be educational for my young target audience so tat they learn whilst they watch without realising. After brainstorming potential themes I Then chose four Themes and asked fifteen members of my chosen target audience for their opinions on what theme would appeal to them. 

From research of what will appeal to my target audience, I found that the most popular theme is Time travel. I like this theme because, not only is it popular amongst my audience but i can also encorporate the educational  side within this topic. 

Sub-Task Research Conclusion

What Was Effective?

I personally feel that all the DVD and magazine covers I researched were highly effective and appealing to their specific target audiences. All magazine and DVD covers followed all the typical media conventions that I feel worked to their advantage and make the overall product look more professional and eye catching to the customers when on the shop shelves. When designing my covers I will take these features that I have found effective into account in order to make a professional and appealing cover for my target audience that relates to my TV drama series. 

Magazine Cover - Similarities

Here I have made a mind map of all the similarities between the Magazine covers I have researched; this is so that I can clearly see all the conventional features of children’s TV Drama magazine covers quickly and effectively. I will also refer back to the mind map when designing the cover for for my magazine so I know what conventional features I should include in order to make a successful and memorable Magazine cover that will appeal to my target audience. 

DVD Cover - Similarities 

Here I have made a mind map of all the similarities between the Children's DVD covers I have researched; this is so that I can clearly see all the conventional features of children’s TV DVD covers quickly and effectively. I will also refer back to the mind map when designing the cover for my DVD so that I know what conventional features I should include in order to make a successful and professional looking DVD cover.