Research into Television Programmes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/programmes/schedules

I've had a look at the cbeebies website and I have noticed that they have a schedule online which I think is very useful. For example, I think that my product could be aired in between 'The Tinga Tales' at 12.20 and 'Telly tales' at 12.35. Obviously, this would appeal to the children who finish nursery at 12, but it would also mean it had to be aired only for 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the opening sequence of my product starts with Mimmies presenting her world but also going after Ray O'Sunshine in the late evenining which would contrast the time of day i.e 12.20 to the time in the story i.e. 5-6 maybe. However, it could also work being aired in the morning because it could also add to the sense of mystery if we could say that the times are different in Mimmie's story and land and maybe the whole day in Mimmie's land only lasts for about 15 minutes, as long as the it is aired. Even though the opnening sequence starts as it if it was a story, an adventure it could be easiliy divided into 15 minute episodes, where all the action happens around Mimmie and her fairies, especially Ray O'Sunshine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/programmes/schedules

I would probably avoid Cbbc to air  my programme because it seems that they promote mainly stories, which attract boys in particular. It could also be a challenge for the programme itself to add a bit of something different like my fairies but in my opinion it wouldn't really work.

questionnaire sample for children

Note: This questionnare will be completed by children with the help of parents.



·         How old are you?
      ..........................
·         Are you boy or a girl?
      .........................................
·         Do you watch Tv in the morning, before you go to school?
              Yes/ No
             Sometimes
·         What do you usually watch?
       ...................................................
·         Why do you like it?
      .............................................................................................
      .............................................................................................
·         Which programme is your favourite?
      ...............................................................................
·         Which one would you chose from fairies, princesses or heroes?
      ...............................................................
      ................................................................
·         Do you watch any TV after school as well?
      Yes/ No
      Sometimes
·         Which one do you like the most, the TV programme or Dvds/Videos?
      .........................................................................
      ...........................................................................
·         Why?
      ...........................................................................
 
 
 
Thank you very much for your time! Have a good day!
 

Interviews

 

 

First ideas for the media product

My first idea of the media product I wanted to produce was that the opening sequence of the Kids' series starts with images regarding nature with light and dark shots of leaves, sky and flowers. 

• Close-up and zoom-in shots will help me create a sense of mystery. 
• The tone of my voice when I'm reading the poem on the background will also help me achieve the atmosphere of interest and surprise. 
• Altogether, my shots and the way I have chosen my sound creates an impression of 'hypnosis' which is usually used by producers to achieve their target. 
• Therefore, my idea conveys to the theory that Gauntlett sustained that 'media is overpowering and overwhelming'. 

Children are easier to influence than adults so that even though the fairies don't appear in the opening sequence it implies that they are there.

I would have used still images and pictures as well as short sequences, in order to connect a range of different materials in a short video.

these are the images that I intended to use intially for my opening sequence:

                    http://bamfbackgrounds.com/upload/13jufxpt-appletreeblossom.jpg
                                    

         http://www.hotdw.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/butterfly-1680x1050.jpg

  http://express.howstuffworks.com/gif/exp-rainbow-mai

 

http://wallpapers.free-review.net/wallpapers/42/Golden_clouds.jpg

   http://www.marvelsphoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/green_leaf_border.jpg

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://images.twitrounds.com/nature-backgrounds/up-in-clouds.jpg

  http://csscreme.com/inspiration_images/free_twitter_backgrounds/zen-birds-twitter-background.jpg

The Fairies In The Sunshine

The little sunshine fairies
Are out on sunny days.
They gaily go a-dancing
Along the country ways.

They paint the flower faces,
The leaves of forest trees,
And tint the little grasses
All waving in the breeze.

They color all the apples
And work for days and weeks
To make the grapes bloom purple
And paint the peaches’ cheeks.

Ah! There’s a tiny fairy!
She’s in the garden bed!
It’s little Ray O’ Sunshine
Who makes the roses red.

~ Laura Ingalls Wilder ~ 

Initial storyboard for final product:

Intial story board for Dvd cover - front and back

I have tried to do it that way but unfortunately putting still images together it didn't really make sense, it did not give any sense of realism, it looked boring and unprofessional. Instead, I have asked my little sister to play the role if my Mimmie and therefore I have change the plot completely. there was no animation and no presence of any fairies (I could not use any animation because i did not have the resources that I needed) but a real fairy who is human, and walkd mainly, but with the help of the editing and the quick transitions in certain momments we have the illusion that Mimmie is actually flying but in reality she is not. However, this works very well because it adds to the fantasy that children need to see and understand in this programme.

The opening sequence starts with Mimmie throwing stones in the lake and we as an audience we look at her withot coming any closer or trying to get in contact. this shows that the audience comes directly in contact with a different world, a world of fantasy and they see Mimmie who is a fairy but who hasn't noticed our presence yet.The voiceover has a great impact, because similar to other stories, where there is enthusiastic music in the background and voiceover we feel we are welcomed and we enter an unknwon but mysterious world. In one quick transition Mimmie is already in front of us which shows she has noticed us and comes to meet us. The sound bridge 'ah! There's a tiny fairy...is Mimmie' has a major effect because it makes the connection in between the medium long shot with Mimmie and close-up that follows.  In my opinion, is also very important how Mimmie feels free and happy in her world, in some of the shots where Mimmie jump and points her hand somewhere to the sky, or when she stands in front of the camera and she turns around, it gives the impression she is a bit shy but actually she is happy to see the audience. We can say is typical of a fairy or a mysterious character to feel that way but it also relates to how children often react when they meet a stranger or someone they haven't seen before. The cut in from the close-up of Mimmie when she talks to us to the cut in into a over-the-shoulder shot creates a moment of confusion, because all of the sudden Mimmie starts walking on an unknown path without telling us anything. this gives time for the voiceover to start againg, as a narrator to explain or try to exaplain what might be happening. We follow Mimmie from behind and as the narrator says, she probably expects us to follow her. she walks peacefully, there is no hurry but the qucik paced editing gives the impression  she might start flying any minute. she turns around, sees the audience standing there and she comes back to us. this works in terms of a connection between the character and the children watching, as if for example if we had another character who would represent the audience, Mimmie would probably take her/his hand and go together. This could be a an improvement idea. Mimmie starts walking again and this time she doesn't stop but dissappears after a tree. again, confusion slips in. A quick cut-in shot with mimmie in the frame smiling at us to show us she is still there, she's only playing, which could be pereceived as an elemnt of trust in a racking shot. voiceover comes in again when we see through an establishing shot that mimmie was smelling some flowers 'Surprise, surprise'.

Another humoristic element is a bit later when Mimmie starts showing us the steps we are supposed to follow. Again, this is a childish scene which helps children to feel more confident and trust Mimmie and believe that it is real and that we could all be like Mimmie.

In the next scene, Mimmie seems lost in her thoughts and confused because she can't find Ray O'sunshine and it's late. Even though the sound is low Mimmie is talking to herself and she is asking where Ray O'sunshine has gone. She needs to find desperately a solution, and immediately we her running. This cutaway shot shows that Mimmie has change her mind and something important is about to happen. Again, Mimmie disappears into the forest. Also the graphic match makes this scene even more realistic and worring because afterwards we see Mimmie shouting after Ray O'Sunshine. The break in between 'Ray O'Sunshine, where are you' and 'hiding' adds also to the rhythm and pace of the scene, when everyone shares Mimmie's worry. the final shot when Mimmie looks straight at the camera through a racking shot has a major impact because similar to the horror films or other children's programmes this shot represents a fearful character who begs for help, and in terms of convention this workd because it makes the story and the main character more true and more realistic, easy to believe.

 

Story board for final product:

Final storyboard:

Page 2

Page 1

                                                                                                         

Target Audience - Media Research

Target Audience- Research

It has been said that humans are not capable of acquiring the skill of reading until they are beyond the age of four or five because their minds have not matured to a point where such learning is possible. This might be a reason for which most of the children between the ages of 2 to 6 yrs prefer to watch and listen to easy to understand cartoons such as fairies, princesses and heroes. This sort of cartoons/series concentrates more on the movement on the image instead of the language. One good example for this sort of cartoons/series would be ‘In the Night Garden’, where the characters don’t necessarily talk but there is a voice over which probably attracts the children more because it is told in a story-like way.

My product will be probably targeted at an audience of small children between ranges of age like 2-4 yrs and 4 to 6 yrs olds, more likely to be girls. I will be using fairies as my character and I will name them after the colour of their dresses (but this will be evident only in the promotion of the series – magazine covers etc), pictures of nature and on the background there will be a poem by William Shakespeare read by me.

Common to both groups of children, girls and boys are the series/cartoons Scooby-Doo and Tom&Jerry. Also, the children are interested in the mystery of the cartoons which is very similar to what my opening sequence is going to be like.

Overall, from my interviews as well as the questionnaires most of the children will rather watch TV in the morning and less in the afternoon. 8 children out of 10 watch TV always in the morning and only 2 sometimes. This is a very high percentage of children who watch TV in the morning compared to only 6 children out of ten watching TV after school and only 2 sometimes and 2 children never. The fact that Cbeebies for example present the same programme in the afternoon as the one in the morning parents have said in the interviews that this makes the children get bored, some of them preferring to watch DVDs or play by themselves.

 There are also some statistics which affirm that the firm favourite channels for children are Nicheoldon, Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel but as I have observed from my research there are very small chances that actually children like these ones most. The outcome from the questionnaires as well as the interviews was that most of the children, without taking into consideration their sex choose as their favourite programme to be Charlie and Lola and also the CBBC documentaries. This shows that CBBC is one of children’s favourites.

What children choose to watch every day or usually as their favourite depends also upon their sex, either boy or girl. My research has shown that the majority of the boys watch series such as ‘Fireman Sam’  ‘Toy Story’ or ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’. It might also be a chance whereas small children will watch more cartoons or less, if there are older or younger brothers and sisters and also if there is a childminder for children with mental or physical disabilities. We can say that these children are an exception because they don’t develop as normal as others and therefore they might be watching less TV in the morning and less TV in the afternoon than a normal child which impacts directly on  my overall research results. On the other hand, girls would rather go for princesses and fairies but in the same time they could also share boys’ series and cartoons as for example, Scooby Doo and Bob the Builder.

‘Hollenbeck & Slaby, 1979’ – ‘children begin paying attention to the TV Screen as early as 6 months of age, by age 3, many children have developed regular patterns of viewing of about an hour or two per day (Huston et al…,1983)’. This has been proven by my interviews whereas the majority of the parents have recognised that their children watch approximately an hour of cartoons/series before they go to school and in average and hour to an hour and a half after school. Another source also confirms my results which is ‘Childewise 08/09; Barb 2008’ who says that children watch 2.7 hours per day in general. The majority of the children watch more TV in the morning, for example the average time in the morning that the children watch cartoons is between 7.30 and 9.30 which decreases dramatically in the afternoon, because of the repetition of the programmes. However, the children who have favourite series such as Peppa Pig, which has been predominant in the questionnaires as being preferred by both girls and boys, will chose also to see DVDS or Videos with either the same series or other series such as Ben 10 for boys or Princesses & Fairy Tales for girls.  Even though Peppa Pig is on top of all other series, there is a variation of programmes/series that children tend to watch as well. For example, Charlie and Lola, Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, Postman Pat and Fireman Sam are between children’s favourite but not watched as intensely as the Cbeebies programmes in the morning. Therefore, I would definitely put my cartoons on in the morning because the ratings would be much higher than in the afternoon.

From my research I found out that CBBC is the most watched channel (amongst 6-12 yr old children). However, through my questionnaires I have noticed that a range of 2-5 yr olds also prefer the CBeebies.

At the question ‘would they rather watch princesses, fairies or heroes’ the majority of the parents have answered princesses but this can be justified by the fact that 7 out of ten parents have daughters and only 4 have sons (one parent has answered for both children). Unfortunately, when choosing between these three categories it has been only one answer for fairies which could be interpreted as a prediction that my product will not be so well received by the public, however at the question ‘which is the favourite cartoon/series’ one parent has answered ‘Tinkerbelle DVD series’ (one for each season), which is good because my product will be promoted as well and launched on DVD and advertised in children’s magazines. The Disney programmes have the same percentage as the ‘Thinkerbelle series’, equally followed by series such as ‘Tom&Jerry’ , ‘Thomas the tank engine’ and ‘Ben 10’.

Questionnaire

·         Does your child watch TV in the morning?

Yes, always /No, never/Only sometimes

·         If you answered yes: About what time?

..................................................

·         What do they prefer to watch?

......................................................

·         Do they have a favourite children’s programme or series?

Yes/No

·         If chosen yes: Which one?

..........................................................

·         Would they prefer to watch fairies, princesses or heroes?

........................................................

·         Which one would they rather watch from these three most of the times?

.........................................................

·         Do they watch TV programmes/series after school?

.........................................................

·         If answered yes: which one?

.........................................................

·         Does the child have a favourite cartoon that he/she prefers to watch on video/DVD player?

Yes / No

If yes which one? ........................

·         What age is your child?

...........

·         What sex is your child?

M / F


Results of 11 questionnaires:

1st question:
Yes, always                                                               8
No, never                                                                  0
Only sometimes                                                       3


2nd question
between     7-8                                                        6
between     8-9                                                        2
between     9-10                                                      2
left blank                                                                   1


3rd question


Kids Channel                                                            1
Peppa Pig                                                                  3
Postman Pat                                                             1
Noddy                                                                         1
Cbeebies Documentarries                                   3
Charlie and Lola                                                      1
Fireman Sam/Tiny Pop                                           1


4th question
Yes                                                                              11
No                                                                                0


5th question                                                            2
Peppa Pig                                                                1
Postman Pat                                                           1
Little Princess                                                           1
Ben 10                                                                       1
Bottle Top Bill                                                           1
Chuggington/Charlie and Lola                        1
The Twinnies                                                            1
Fireman Sam                                                           1
Dora the Explora                                                    1
Octonauts                                                               1


6th question
Fairies                                                                         1
Princesses                                                                  4
Heroes                                                                        5
None                                                                           1


7th question
Fairies                                                                          2
Princesses                                                                   3
Heroes                                                                         6
None                                                                            0


8th question
Yes                                                                               5
No                                                                                 3
Sometimes                                                                 3



9th question
Cbbc/Cbeebies                                                     2
Tom and Jerry                                                          1
Peppa Pig                                                                  1
Fifi and the Flower Tots                                          1
Tiny Pop                                                                     1
I can cook/Nina and the Neurons                    2


10th question                            
Yes                                                                             8
No                                                                               3



which one
Postman Pat                                                         1
Ben 10                                                                      1
Meg and Mog                                                       1
Thomas the Tank Engine                                   1
Tom and Jerry                                                        1
New Tinkerbell Series                                            2
Disney film                                                                1


11th question
one year old
2 yrs old                                                                
3 yrs old                                                                    3
4 yrs old                                                                    3
5 yrs old                                                                    4
6 yrs old                                                                    1


12th question
F                                                                                 8
M                                                                                3