Focus Groups

A focus group is a small group of people, usually around 3-6, where someone is asking a series of questions on a certain topic of subject, which turns into a discussion used for market research. Focus groups are a chance to get more detailed answers and also to gain consumers opinions on the subject. Although this can be a good way of collecting useful data, it is considered quite a time consuming task and does not often provide a large number/variety of answers.

In our focus group we had a few questions that we wanted to ask and wrote this on a discussion template, here is the video clip of our focus group.

Here is a screenshot of the discussion template which we completed before the focus group, so I had an idea of what questions to ask within the discussion.

Last week we watched a YouTube video on focus groups, this video had different groups of people at a desk, three at a time, where they were asked the same questions on a smart phone they were given. The groups of people included young girls aged around 20, children aged 5, typical goths, muscly men and more. These people all had very different views on the smart phone and the video demonstrated the sheer variety of answers and opinions people have.

Here is a link to this video: Smart Phone Focus Group

Construction Toy Ideas

Today Blake and I brainstormed ideas on construction toys that we could sell. We came up with a variety of ideas, all of which we think has not been created before. For example a bake a build kit, wire string bridge construction kit and jelly mould construction. Although some of these ideas are a little out there and strange, they are certainly unique.

We have decided to go for the construction of a watch, which includes making the band as well. It will be for an older age range, however it will not be overly challenging as it is a toy. Although you can not make a variety of things, you can customise your watch and would not be just one design. The watch band will be made out of small magnets, so it is fairly simple to put together and can be changed for a new style.

For example there would be different designs and colours of watch faces, band magnets, clock hands and more.

Advert Campaign Textual Analysis

The advertisement campaign I have chosen is a series of public safety adverts. It is the 'Dumb ways to die'- (November 2012) for Metro Trains video, which went world wide and  numerous other sequels have been made since. Here is the video clip below:

The target audience for this campaign is mostly aimed towards adults, as this is most likely the age range to be using Metro Trains. However, because the short film is animated and uses lots of bright colours, this attracts younger audiences like pre-teens and teenagers, who may also use the train to get to school or college.

It uses a catchy song, when explaining the dangers of public transport (in this case trains) and uses clever rhymes and comical lyrics to make the campaign more rememberable.

The humours theme attracts a variety of people, yet still manages to get the message across, which is to be safe around trains. Although as the advertising campaign got more popular, in my opinion I think it just got to the case where people just wanted to watch the video for entertainment purposes, however this worked well for Metro Train.

Also an actual game has been created based on the success of the advertising campaign.

Filming Cold Fusion Continued

Today I continued with the filming of my 3 minute short film on cold fusion. However this time I focussed more on the more dramatic scenes with all the characters in, for example near the end of my film there is a struggle between all three characters which leads to Mai being badly hurt. This took quite a while to film as I also wanted the formula to be lost within the struggle. I wanted this to look realistic and therefore took longer that I would of liked, but I am happy with the footage now.

I used the same equipment as last time and used natural lighting for the majority of the filming, as there is lots of windows in the lab and is generally lit quite well. I used a Canon 500D, a Libec tripod and a Rode mic.

During the filming, I adapted some of the script so in the moment the dialogue is more realistic and blends in nicely with the rest of the scene. However in the end scene where theres the 'fight', swear words are exchanged which I did not write in the script originally, although this works within the context.

Gloucester Uni Trip Reflection

On Friday our media group went on a trip to Gloucestershire uni. Here we completed various tasks to gain an understanding of what the media courses there include and also to find out what the campus and 'uni life' is like.

The three area topics that we looked at was TV, journalism and animation. We also got a shot tour of the uni. In the journalism sector we discussed the target audiences for different magazines and reflected on our findings with the rest of the group. During the animation task we pieced together a stop motion clip on the specific topic we were given, it gave me an insight to how certain films were made. Finally in the TV task we were all given different jobs that helped make an episode of the uni's talk show. I was on camera 2 and worked on the lighting in the gallery behind the scenes. I enjoyed filming with the cameras, as I made sure to zoom, focus and slightly pan during the talk show on air.

Also during the breaks that we were given throughout the day, we got the chance to explore the campus and time to enjoy the food and refreshments that the uni offered. Overall I got a good understanding of what Gloucester uni is like and what it is like in general. The area I enjoyed the most was the TV sector, as the tasks were more hands on and gave me the chance to really get stuck in.

App Idea and Project Update

In todays' lesson we discussed teenage millionaires and the apps that they created that made them millions. One of which was Dong Nguyen, who was the creator of the app 'Flappy Birds' who supposedly earned over $50,000 a day, as the app was downloaded more than 50 million times.

Next we paired up and tried to come up with a unique app idea, that has not been done before. Imogen and I came up with an app called 'Try' where you can try different makeup products and brands on your own face digitally before you buy them. It would also include a reviews section, where people can write in what they think of the product once they have actually tried it.

In the second part of the lesson I continued with the Flash popcorn project.

I have now completely finished the first and second sequence on the popcorn project, after that I need to complete the 'how a steam engine works' sequence. The last stage of the project is to link the sequences to the menu, and to check that the buttons work.

Filming Cold Fusion

Today I started filming my cold fusion film, so made sure I had the science lab and the equipment booked and ready to be collected. I also made sure all the cast were there and available to start acting in my film.

I started by setting up the equipment and letting the actors and actresses read the script to get an idea of what they need to say. There are three characters in my film and they are played by Summer, Imogen and Kez. Who played the characters Jessica, Mai and Timothy.

Firstly I filmed the scenes with Mai by herself and the short, no dialogue clips that can be edited in, to intensify the scene. For example when Mai and Tim find out that Jess was in the lab when the formula was stolen, they both look at each other in realisation.

By the end of today I have filmed all the scenes with Mai alone and the small clips that I can have choice of when it comes to editing.

I have also booked the lab out for next Tuesday, ready to continue filming.

Here is an image of Immy acting in my film: