Tv listings magazine. Front cover research

Today it class we were given the task to compare to different tv listings magazines featuring the same headline 'story'. The storyline is based around Heather from Eastenders and creating suspence as to who the potential father is to her new born baby.

My first thought was how much this resembles a Jeremy Kyle slogan, this could be due to the target audience similarities and tv culture popularity. The other obvious contrast is that the messages being communicated from both magazines are quite different to each other. The Tv Chioce (TC) magazine features Heather to be appearing rather lonesome, she's not grinning nor does she appear glamourised. Whereas, What's on Tv (WTV) magazine shows Heather to be smiling holding her new baby, it appears very commercial as though she has had a glamourous photoshoot. I think there's a mixed message being represented with the WTV cover; due to Heathers doubt of the Father of her baby i doubt she'll be as gleeful as most mothers as it can cause a damaging effect on the Baby's life. It seems a more ignorent viewer would believe that she's overly extatic in the new chapter of her life and so i believe TC has a more realistic representation of her feelings. I also believe TC cover of Heather looking uncertain and worried is a reflection of how audience members are most likely to react.

The main Headline featured on WTV is "Who's the daddy?" which is a slang term and can be intended as a pun. This also adds slightly more depth, the sub title reads "Baby joy for Heather - but will the father come forward?" which gives a blanaced view on the situation. It mentions Heathers joy and also deals with the serious issue of who the father may be. It's enigmatic and allows viewers to continue guessing and at the same time drawing them deeper into the drama and mystery. To the right of Heather a pug is superimposed highlighting all the potential Fathers, there names are present beside there image and question marks are present after each name. This technique is used so viewers can begin peicing the puzzle together and begin thinking of past storylines revolving Heather to see if they can make a prediction before all is revealed. This creates greater enigma's and adds that extra depth to the storyline.

WTV main headline says "The father is REVEALED! Shock as heather gives birth" it has much more presence as the fonts differ between the sentence and the exclaimation mark creates a more intense mood. It seems there's no intial thought process involved for the viewer, their request for wanting to know who the father is has now been revealed and doesn't allow any excitment of enigmatic questioning. In comparison to the image of Heather it proves the techniques used are for intial response with no further thought as to the underlying and, obvious issue. The potential Fathers are featured more as a puff on the right corner, this proves the careless attitude towards concern of the baby, as the fathers are insignificant in comprison to Heathers happiness (which is a selfish and shallow minded perception). The 4 men have smaller images and their photographs appear as a mug shots which sets of a negative mood and creates an impression of their insignificance'.

Although i disagree and strongly dislike WTV representation it's never-the-less a positive technique for advertisment of the soap as Eastenders proves to be appealing to a diverse audience and proves successful in directive approach.

Researching Characters. Taken from forums.

I looked at an online forum discussing on a site called digitalspy.com . I had a look through some general discussions based on soaps then found one that was particularly interesting that gave me an insight into what audiences want. The discussions was about favourite or most memorable characters from soaps. The results were as followed;

Peggy Mitchell - Landlord of The Queen Vic, shows her businesses mind brain which is a rare thing in society today. Known to be 'feisty' and openly speaks her mind and come be aggressive at times. Holds the reputation of being a 'Mitchell'.

Chrissie Watts - Kills her husband showing shes in charge. She also buried him under the pub to show that she's strong and deranged.

Kat Slater - Is the popular independent women on the square. She appears very confident and seems to be the centre of things.

Pat Evans - domineering and known to be in fights.

I've chose these women at random as a case study. It's true that to make a successful soap a common convention is to show strong women, as the majority of viewers are middle aged women. Most of the female cast are not shown to be vulnerable, timid or insecure which is not a realistic representation as recent statistics show 1 in 6 women have been raped or 'taken advantage' of. So soaps house this element of realism but in the wrong context as, not every women clearly speaks her mind. It's a known social issue that communication is lacking in relationships (partners, families etc) so therefore all the confrontations that arise involving these women and other characters are false representations of realism.
'Little Mo' was one character that was shown to vulnerable and insecure and generally quite weak. She's stood out like a 'sore thumb' in comparisons to the other characters at the time. It just seems that now there's no real balanced representation. Stacey's Mum was another 'weak' female character and when she was first introduced (due to a big enigmatic build) she seemed in quite a sever statement yet her recovery procedure was not involved in a main storyline, possibly due to the taboo subject of mental health.


So we're following this trend as a female will be in control of the organisation and therefore being shown dominating and in power. We'll develop this idea and show her at a more vulnerable stage to have a fully established and realistic characterisation.

TV listings. front cover magazine. Research

Borders are around images and titles. It helps to create an eye catching appeal. The fonts very bold and would probably be apart of the house style. The images seem very stylised, it's noted that the characters shown have been air brush and they have all been taken photo shoots to ensure they look their best to win over the younger more impressionable viewers. As you can tell every one's smiling and it's made to look as friendly as possible (notice how it shows so much realism with it's all white, blue eyed characterise). The main title, 'Secret lovers!' is obviously revolving around a lustful affair (selling sex and good looks). There's sub-titles that are highlighted with capital letters/highlighted/larger font/colour change/font change. There's no continuation of font standards, this can become quite scrambled for the viewer if they're looking for something to read. It seems audiences for this magazine would instantly recognise it by it's house themes, clearly displayed and presented title. The colours used are very conflicting, the bright turquoise and pink aren't particularly themed and would heighten the contexts on the page. This conflict is also seen in the mixed messages it's portraying to viewers. It's very glamorised with wedding gowns and pretty blonde's although it's mentioning story lines of kidnap and conviction. It's sending out more than one message and this could be to get as many potential readers as possible.

Freefall. new BBC drama.

Freefall – the director and main actor from the new drama series was interviewed on BBC 1 morning show. They mentioned how the actors improvised the script first to get a general understanding of the characters and to create more realism. We can trial this out and see if it does represent a more realistic perception of the characters and the environment. He mentions how it’s not structure, filming is not scheduled as it could be filming for hours and then within the editing process the scenes are then divided.
The characters in the drama appear to be very delusion, within the dynamics of the relations between the characters they tell each other what the other wishes to hear. This has an essence of realism in an ironic fashion as people today would rather wish everything is okay and things will get better with time. This is an optimistic point of view but the characters show no drive to work harder to create better lives for themselves therefore just dreaming about what may happen, not what will.






Dominic Savage writes and directs the sort of TV drama (Out of Control, Born Equal) that traditionally attracts the adjective “gritty”. Perhaps for this reason, his work generally appeals to critics, who always appreciate a break from their usual bland diet of adultery and murder. Here at last, the argument runs, is somebody willing to tackle big issues – and to make television that comes palpably from the heart.
Yet, while both of these things are true, that does’t necessarily make the results as brilliant as his champions claim. In last night’s Freefall (BBC Two), Savage took on the credit crunch. Once again, his heartfelt approach was on full display – but so was its most obvious downside: a complete lack of subtlety.



This is a short extract from a review of Freefall. I believe this director has a similar intention to what we would like to do as a group. Freefall not only bases itself within an office environment centralising around the recession and how it truly effects real people. It's said to be done more subtly and i think as we're producing a soap and not a drama it will house the perfect blend of reality.



It turned out, too, that Dave had some serious competition in the greedy-villain stakes. In the City of London, banker Gus (Aidan Gillen) was so excited by closing another deal that he went to the toilets to masturbate. Over lunch with his teenage daughter, his utter obsession with money meant that he gave her (and us) a handy explanation of mortgage collateralised debt obligations.
In the meantime Dave was chasing his biggest-baddie crown even harder than before. His old school-friend Jim (Joseph Mawle) had already been established as the very definition of “poor but happy”, joshing away with his loving family in their rented council house. Even so, Dave persuaded him to take out a discounted mortgage, without explaining how much the repayments would increase in the second year.



It's shocking how much this drama resembles our initial ideas. The boss who's money greedy with a disturbing focus on success. Obviously we shalln't involve such crude and controversial story lines as it's too pessimistic and too forceful to appeal to a larger audience.
The character of our caretaker was to be defined as 'poor but happy' although, we weren't going to make him vulnerable to deception but more as a friendly companion to the workers within the organisation.

We should research deeper into some of their story lines to give us a good stimulus for ideas.

ADD/ADHD. Research.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or AD/HD) is a neurobehavioral[1] developmental disorder.[2] ADHD is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone."[3] While symptoms may appear to be innocent and merely annoying nuisances to observers, "if left untreated, the persistent and pervasive effects of ADHD symptoms can insidiously and severely interfere with one's ability to get the most out of education, fulfill one's potential in the workplace, establish and maintain interpersonal relationships, and maintain a generally positive sense of self."[


It has been estimated that about eight million adults have ADHD in the United States.[31] Untreated adults with ADHD often have chaotic lifestyles, may appear to be disorganized and may rely on non-prescribed drugs and alcohol to get by.[32] They often have such associated psychiatric comorbidities as depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, or a learning disability.[32] A diagnosis of ADHD may offer adults insight into their behaviors and allow patients to become more aware and seek help with coping and treatment strategies.[31] There is controversy amongst some experts on whether ADHD persists into adulthood. Recognized as occurring in adults in 1978, it is currently not addressed separately from ADHD in childhood. Obstacles that clinicians face when assessing adults who may have ADHD include developmentally inappropriate diagnostic criteria, age-related changes, comorbidities and the possibility that high intelligence or situational factors can mask ADHD


- could represent him to be a ‘bimbo’. It’s likely that the sexy women in programmes have a rather low IQ, we can reverse the roles and possible have the man to be stupid.

Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
Have difficulty focusing on one thing
Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless they are doing something enjoyable
Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new
Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
Not seem to listen when spoken to
Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
Struggle to follow instructions.
Predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type symptoms may include:[34]
Fidget and squirm in their seats
Talk nonstop
Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
Be constantly in motion
Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities.
and also these manifestations primarily of impulsivity:[34]
Be very impatient
Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games



The hunter vs. farmer theory is a hypothesis proposed by author Thom Hartmann about the origins of ADHD. The theory proposes that hyperactivity may be an adaptive behavior in pre modern humans.[48] And that those with ADHD retain some of the older "hunter" characteristics associated with early pre-agricultural human society. According to this theory, individuals with ADHD may be more adept at searching and seeking and less adept at staying put and managing complex tasks over time.[49] Further evidence showing hyperactivity may be evolutionarily beneficial was put forth in 2006 in a study which found it may carry specific benefits for a society.[50]


- Could play a recording of a lion roar to show the implications of this theory that it’s of more savage, less advanced human attribute taken from the history of humans


[edit] Diet
Main article: Diet and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
A study[60] conducted by researchers at Southampton University in the United Kingdom and published in The Lancet on November 3, 2007 found a definitive link between children’s ingestion of many commonly used artificial food colors, the preservative sodium benzoate and hyperactivity. In response to these findings, the British government took prompt action. According to the Food Standards Agency, the food regulatory agency in the UK, food manufacturers are being encouraged to voluntarily phase out the use of most artificial food colors by the end of 2009. Following the FSA’s actions, the European Commission ruled that any food products containing the “Southampton Six” must display warning labels on their packaging by 2010. In the US, little has been done to curb food manufacturer’s use of artificial food colors, despite the new evidence presented by the Southampton study. However, the existing US Food Drug and Cosmetic Act[61] had already required that artificial food colors be approved for use, that they must be given given FD&C numbers by the FDA, and the use of these colors must be indicated on the package[62]. This is why food packaging in the USA may state something to the effect of: "Contains FD&C Red


- Perhaps ‘PA’ can quote this to ‘sexy man’ in a short scene.


According to the low arousal theory, people with ADHD need excessive activity as self-stimulation because of their state of abnormally low arousal.[73][74] The theory states that those with ADHD cannot self-moderate, and their attention can only be gained by means of environmental stimuli,[73] which in turn results in disruption of attentional capacity and an increase in hyperactive behaviour.


Without enough stimulation coming from the environment, an ADHD child will create it him or herself by walking around, fidgeting, talking, etc. This theory also explains why stimulant medications have high success rates and can induce a calming effect at therapeutic dosages among children with ADHD. It establishes a strong link with scientific data that ADHD is connected to abnormalities with the neurochemical dopamine and a powerful link with low-stimulation PET scan results in ADHD subjects.


- The boss can find ways to control him so he’s constantly working, he can follow directions very well. When he’s seen fidgeting before he’s behaviour gets too out of hand another member of staff can demand a favour even if it’s of no priority or significance, just so he’s always got something to do.



All this research was taken from wikipedia (if your interested in further reading).

our Characters so far.

The organisation is based around the fashion trade and it breaks away from the normal conceptions. Most people see fashion from the media's view of stylised and filled with glamour but this will behind the works of the spectacles and highlight the production. It will show how it ranging no differently, in terms of structure, from most other business organisations.



1. Boss - A women in charge, can be very dominant in the working environment and has tendencies to be a complete control freak. Normally someone in her position would often get very stressed, she's no different, she also has a few sneaky cigarettes when things get too much for her, these are hidden in her desk drawer. She also murmurs to herself prayers when things get tense, some people may mistake this for curses. She wears a headscarf as it shows she's spiritual although her mother who may feature from time to time won't. She's money greedy and is motivated by proving everyone wrong (including her childhood bullies). She has very small moments in the soap where she lets her guard down and shows her vulnerable side (this is only ever done to her PA). She is also a hypercondriact.



Bosses PA – a ‘normal’ man who has a wife and children at home. He’s an ambiguous character who may appear shady at times but this is due to recent gay feelings which he keeps very secretive from everyone. Although at times he lets on to the Boss as they have a very complex and trustworthy relationship. He acts as an ‘agony aunt’ to the boss when she gets too stressed. He appears bossy and arrogant towards other staff lower down the hierarchy to him, he’s known as a misfit to other workers and often gets teased by other employees (he’s made solitary). He’s a very good listener, well educated and is known as a health freak as he constantly reminds the others of their unhealthy lifestyles.



New girl – She’s been given a recent work placement in the office for 3 months as she’s studying fashion/business at university. She’s young, flirtatious and attractive. She’s gay and single and gets a lot of attention from the male staff. She gets very bored and attention seeking when there’s not much going on in the offices. She appears very helpful at first to make a good impression. She has many ambitions dreams to save the world and begins preaching that sweatshops are wrong and that there’s not enough recycling going on. She mirrors the audience as she too is new to the scene.



Production manager/sexy man – Tall dark and handsome (following the conventions of tv programmes). He’s a regular man with an eccentric laugh. He also has a mental disorder known as ADHD/ADD which summarises a lot of his characteristics. He gets prescribed medication for this.



Care taker – He’s a very intelligent man who is not highly rank in the organisation but is very well respected by most. He helps with the accounts as he’s a very good mathematician. He’s very humble, genuinely happy and smokes marijuana. He was previously prescribed marijuana as he suffered from anxiety issues therefore not being able to be employed by a professional organisation but as the boss as a sensitive side she was charmed by him.



Homeless man in the car park – very quiet man who spends his days outside the building as he’s very found of the workers. He recently lost everything due to the recession. He was already very lower class but the council refused him a home and is bound to the streets for several months. He’s able to use the shower in the warehouse and occasionally gets jobs unloading stock. He’s very wise and keeps the smokers company either with his guitar or general wisdom.

Eastenders review.

SOAP operas are mainly known for their less than realistic story lines, where drive-by shootings, long-lost children and bodies under the patio are everyday occurrences. But recently a rather more true-to-life plot has been unfolding on the BBC's EastEnders. Good-natured know-it-all Keith Miller has spent months regaling the residents of Albert Square with the breadth and depth of his knowledge on any given topic. But in an emotional episode last month, Keith, played by actor David Spinx, admitted he had never learned how to read. The usually buoyant Keith was ashamed of his revelation and in one particularly stark moment, explained he felt he'd let his whole family down, as his illiteracy meant he was unable to get a job and provide for them - unlike other "proper" fathers. According to the Scottish Executive, this storyline is not a scriptwriter's flight of fancy. The Executive estimates one in five people in Scotland experiences problems with basic literacy and numeracy in their everyday lives. Adult literacy courses are available but one of the difficulties of attracting people to them is often they failed at or loathed school - and going back to the classroom is the last thing on their mind.



I agree with this person. I'd come up with a few ideas that we may include in our story lines for example; happy people, a person that enjoys laughing and has a good spirit. Possibly a perfectly normal gay person, not one that as issues about coming out, not one that is struggling to admit their sexually but someone living comfortably with their sexuality. A cannabis user who doesn't have underlying mental issues or abuses the substance but someone who may be prescribed marijuana as a medication and functions normally within society.


These are ideas that go against the normal forms of these archetypes shown, people may be interested to see different dynamics to characters. Going with what the above review mentioned that the literacy and mathematics skills of the whole population in the UK is very low, there may be a market for more intellectual viewers. We discussed as a group that our soap may show on the BBC2 as they have more business minded and sophisticated programmes such as Dragon's Den. This is also challenging the conventions of traditional soaps structure.