. : Studio Brief 04 :.
Not in my backyard Spring 2015
Since the brief is to create branding for a BBC2 show about planning permission and developments in residential areas of Britain I began by analysing other programmes within similar genres and with a similar target audience.
Similar telivision shows
The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door Duration 1-2 seconds This intro is very ‘Channel 5’: It is short but still manages to be overly dramatic. This is in keeping with the rest of the programme which is edited in a way you might expect American reality TV or drama-documentaries to be. Though the subject is similar, I don’t think that this programme would have the same target audience as ‘Not in my backyard’. BBC2 is likely to be more factual and humble in its approach, drawing people in through intrerest in the programme’s subject rather than faux drama.
Similar telivision shows
Grand Designs Duration 15 seconds The Grand Designs intro is very simple, it shows a slideshow of clips and images of buildings from the series and then the logo animates on over an image. I do like the way the logo is very simple and therefore versatile. Grand designs certainly made use of this too with the decision to lay the logo over different images according to the point of the programme. I did take inspiration from this and intend to create a logo I can easily lay over my final piece.
Similar telivision shows
The restoration man Duration 15 seconds The intro shows a montage of the host George Clarke, drawing up plans on a wall. It is nicely paced and captures the creative design element of the programme. An intro like this is appropriate for The Restoration Man as it is centred around the host quite a lot, however I wouldn’t be able to incorporate an idea like this for Not In My Backyard as the host is not the main focus of the show.
Similar telivision shows
Amazing spaces Duration 20 seconds I was inspired most by the intro for this programme as I picked up on the idea of the miniature being used as a narrative tool. It was appropriate for the programme too as it incorporated themes of origami and craft which, similar to The Restoration Man intro, touches on the design side of building renovation. I think that the miniature, present in the space of the gigantic is an appropriate narrative tool for Not In My Backyard as it could be a good metaphor of how the affected people are overwhelmed by the issues in their residential areas.
Road map This is my initial Road Map. I found with this project it was difficult to find a starting point so I laid out all the themes that could be explored relating to the project. To begin the creation process, I started by illustrating any and all ideas that came to mind, including the awful ones, as this helped encourage lateral thinking. I then eventually landed with some potentially solid outcomes.
RIdiculous ideas
RIdiculous ideas cont’d
Ideas i considered
SLinkachu Slinkachu is a popular photographer who makes images of miniature railway models in real word environments. Most of his work makes use of a contrast between the two scales but he also makes a point of reframing everyday objects as something new from this alternative point of view. Slinkachu gets his tiny people from the German model railway company Preiser. Will cut, repose and repaint them as he requires. Occasionally he will also make clothing or props although a lot of the time, these props will be real world objects (Dead insects, cigarettes ect.).
I ordered the two sets from Preiser along with a special model that comes with a BBQ prop and then set about making a miniature garden inside a cereal box. I actually made the garden a little bigger than it needed to be by accident but i soon found that this was useful to me as it enabled me to get the camera very close into the scene.
Tiny people: giant issues
I intend to incorporate the same approach as Slinkachu by creating a miniature back garden using Model Railway figures.
Appealing to the audience The main reason why I think that using tiny model people is effective is because it subtly illustrates how government plans can appear very overwhelming when they happen right on your doorstep, especially when the people affected are unable to do much about it. I could have saved time and effort by animating the whole thing from the start, however I like the idea of using model figures. Not only because it stands out from the flat style of animation that is used a lot nowadays but also because it will appeal more to the generation that represents most of the target audience.
In the brief the main market was described as aged 30’s to 60’s this was a generation of people who grew up without new developments in technology and instead were likely to have played with models like these as children. It’s also proven that nostalgia is an effective selling technique so I felt it was a good idea to display an image of a garden they may be familiar with (the swingball in particular being a statement of the 80’s).
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Feedback “It would be interesting to see this mixed Perhaps the narrative could show that these with live action people. ” people are live action and then freeze into these figures when they realise the new developement towering over them. “The image of the gate is much more effective laid over the green of the garden”
“Try some more versions of this, with other types of urban development. There are some wind turbines out by Golar you can film”
“It might be worth making a small model of the gate and fitting it into the fence itself”
“Shooting on location is difficult, it might be easier to green screen this instead and film the backdrop seperate”
Future developments The next course of action for this project is to create space in the fence of my model for a 3-D printed gate. This will be a scaled down physical model of the 3d gate logo I cheered in cinema 4D. I am not yet sure if the model is suitable for 3D printing and I am aware that I may need to optimise it for this process.
I am also planning a reshoot in Golcar as I would like to produce different versions of my outcome for pitching. As wind turbines seem to be one of the main focuses and therefore an icon almost for the programme, I will be sure to do a reshoot that incorporates this as well as one that focuses on rail development as this was one of my earlier ideas.
I also want to make sure that my shoots are cleaner next time as I moved the model around the light changed between shots and it looks unprofessional. Plus, although I did my best to stabilise the footage in post, it still has evidence of the hand held camera and other difficulties I faced during the shoot. To fix this I will probably need some extra help, a ramp for the model to sit on and possibly a wind breaker.