Research

Research

Idea : Informational Cooking show.

I have created a Mood board to show the idea of a cooking show I want this to be. Outlining a family, young cooks, and the colours and vibrancy of food.









When making a simple google search on informative cooking shows BBC Saturday Kitchen and Jamie Oliver are the likes to come up.

 
These shows all have a time basis with them. It gives people a bigger want to watch as it the meals are 'Quick and easy' or only take up to 30 minutes which isn't too much to take out of a persons day to make a succulent meal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6ZsrznRGBU - James 15 minute meals
This show was aired on Channel 4 as well as 30 minute meals and quick and easy food.

The target audience core for Channel 4 is 16-34 - Ofcom.org.uk. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/104094/Channel-4-Corporation-Remit-Research-Report-2017.pdf [Accessed 26 Sep. 2019]. This website provides the information of research for the Chanel 4 network providing information on the target audience. In the chart below you can see how ages 55+ are also are large percentage of the viewers. At this age it is very likely that person will have settled down and have kids. The kids may still be living with them which mean they will want to cook meals for them. The 16-34 year is very ranging as at the ages of 16-22 then they will most likely be in education, possibly doing catering or wanting to prepare for University and wanting to cook for themselves. At the other end ages 30-34 these people may have finished education and be in a stable situation in a house with kids which may be young. These parents will want to learn how to make quick and easy meals for their kids so they can enjoy food more and possibly be attempting to create something quickly due to time being taken by work. I believe for my Cooking show I am going to incorporate many relatable things talking about work, school, uni so people are aware they can cook this meal and they don't have to be professional but have the want to explore more food and eat better. They then want to try and cook these meals and don't feel disheartened as they know they are capable.

I believe that the age range of 16-34 is too wide as the lifestyle of someone being 16 and someone who's 34 will differ a lot. I am going to have my age range in the wide range however it will be over 6 years. My target audience is going to be 17-23.  The reason I have chosen this range is because at ages 17 and 18 is where teenagers are going into University or higher education. At this age they will be wanting to know how to care for themselves independently. Being able to cook is apart of this so they can stay healthy. At 22 and 23 people may still be in higher education however there are people who are in the world of work and are living in flats, apartments or possibly a house with rent. This means they have their own kitchen and can begin buying more ingredients for better meals.


BBC audience

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The age of 65+ is the audience that will not be taking part in cooking For a family as of this age they will have children that would of moved out.

Video

The Jamie Oliver Cooking shows provide a simple way to cook but with a nice finish to present. It isn't sophisticated or upscale and is mainly shown to families in a sustained position that can afford many ingredients and have the time and passion to cook.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6ZsrznRGBU - James 15 minute meals

In this 15 minute meal shoot, there appears to be 4 camera's. I believe that there is a hand held camera which is the one tracking Jamie Oliver as he travels around the kitchen. Another camera is capturing top down so we are able to get a clearer view of inside the frying pan. The top down camera also zooms in occasionally to prevent the shot being too boring as its still so it zooms into the pan and keeps this pace of rapid food making. Another camera is to the left of the one tracking Jamie. It is used to track his hand movements to follow what he is doing to prepare the food. The last camera is clearly Locked off and is focussing on the pans from a angle elevated above. It gives another view on the pans to prevent a recycled shot.

I have been influenced by the shots in the 15 minute meals to use a top down camera to show the food in the pan. From how the camera tracks James hands to show the food prep I am going to have a camera worker on a camera doing the same things so it doesn't risk boredom from a lack of motion. The camera operator will be capturing medium shots of the chef and medium close-ups of the food. It allows for multiple shots with less camera's. There is only one camera that he focuses on during the show and speaks to that one camera so the best thing to do in my case is have a camera that my chef is speaking to. Jamie here is keeping the audiences attention on him so people retain the information. If my chef is able to retain eye contact then I believe the audience feel like they create a personal connection with them therefore trusting them and feeling like they want to try the cooking.


Uses and Gratifications theory

Uses and gratifications theory is the theory that media users will take from the media piece and use it in day to day life. Say a person was to watch a cooking show. The purpose of them watching it would be to gain information that they can then later use in the future. This information isn't rejected as they are watching it for a purpose and they are seeking the one that most fits their needs. Bulmer and Katz believed that the user seeks out the media source that best fulfils their needs.

To use this theory in my production I am going to have my cooking show be very informational and provide a lot more information than what you would expect from other shows. This show has to provide the necessary instructions for the meal. I want my audience to be able to take away from the show and then be able to put it into their every day life. My audience will be an active audience as they will be accepting the messages that the show provides with them with so they can implement them with their own actions. If they enjoy the show and the meal they will then subconsciously want to watch more of the show to gain more knowledge.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhSbcfXLqJQ - BBC Saturday Kitchen - Martin Morales cooking Andina's Quinoa Burger

In the show there is a section where the chef gives the created dish to a group of people who try the food. By using this in the show it ads validation to the quality of the food if it is good as others are giving there opinion on it. I have took inspiration from this section and am going to include a section where the prepared meal is given to another person to try and they give there opinion on it.

There appears to be 4 cameras in this shoot. One camera is a top down view on the ingredients and clearly shows food preparation. Another shot is a medium close up on the cutting board at the same level vertically as the food being prepared. The other two cameras are obtaining the same shots but from different angles. One is looking at the main chef and the other is basing the guest that helps cook as the main subject. The shots vary and it often cuts from a Medium shot to a medium close up. The medium shot allows you to see both chefs and the food in the same show however the medium close up is being used to focus on them during dialogue.



The use of having a camera off centre allows you too see a different background of the subject and is also passively stopping a tedious feeling for the audience as it is switching it up for the audience and providing new content in a sense. I am going to set-up a camera that is off centre and focusses on the chef. It may be possible to have a sense of tracking when the chef is moving around the kitchen. By adding the motion of tracking it adds this faster pace to the edit and then the fact its a 15 minute meal it can then co insist with the rapidity of the meal.


The main difference between Saturday Kitchen and Jamie Oliver 15 minute meals is the pace of the editing. With BBC Saturday Kitchen the meal is pre cooked in the oven already so the chefs can show how to create the ready to be cooked food then they take out the finished meal after being in the oven for the selected time. It means a transition in post-production isn't necessary as Jump cuts are the only cuts used. The process of cooking however in Jamie Oliver 15 minute meals is cut to skip time very subtly and allows the video to be short and informational. With Saturday Kitchen also, the chefs have a flowing conversation with each other possibly about new cookbooks, new shows or there futures in cooking. Also the table where the people try the food is full of well known people who are asked questions as well. That's why the interest from the viewer isn't lot as they are given content from an interview type style going on simultaneously.













I have taken a lot of inspiration from Jamie Oliver as I feel like the subtle cuts to when the food is cooked and moving that process along quickly works. Knowing how to cook it and a sped up process of it being made is more efficient as the audience cooking are able to go through the process of it being cooked until its done instead of having to watch it on the cooking show. The only issue is that My cook may explain a lot of the ingredients so I will make subtle cuts to shorten the piece to prevent a loss of attention from the audience.

Books

The point of cooking is to give you more excitement when you are creating meals for yourself and others. You can be more healthy if you want and sometimes treat yourself. Also you are able to connect with others such as family and friends. I interpret the quote 'First, our families can be our best company; second, almost any menu can be guests, depending on who's coming to dinner and what you do particularly well. The most important quality of a ''company'' dinner should be the excitement of the unusual-for them.' Rombauer, I. (1931). The joy of cooking. This is showing that when we are creating meals for family members or guests then we are excited for them and they are excited to see what is presented. That is why cooking with family members combines the excitement and brings a family closer.  It will be very informative and have slight use of emotive language so people will be more influenced to cook for themselves and guests.

Linking it with my target audience of 17-23 I will be able to create a meal that a student will want to make and during the cooking show the chef can convey the necessary information to perform it.

Opening sequence

For my opening sequence it needs to be short and gives a quick description of what the cooking show entails. A quick meal, that is healthy, tasteful and provides for multiple people. when watching the opening sequence / credits for Jamie Oliver's 15 minute meals. There are a lot of transitions in the sequence and cuts that switch from Jamie Oliver cooking and then close ups of the food being cooked. This rapid cut effect then adds to the theme of a meal being ready to eat in 15 minutes which is rather quick in terms of a meal for a group of people. A very repetitive theme in this is having two separate moments of film side by side. Side by side video of 2 separate clips of Jamie cooking is very effective in showing how quickly the food is made and how Jamie has a lot of experience therefore giving you the feel of him being a reliable cook. This sequence highlights him using his chef skills to cook with a lot of style and finesse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOA48Gu-KNY

I am going to use several of the transition types in my opening sequence. This intro gives you a brief of what the chef can do but I want it to show a preview of my meal as I will not have to collect different footage of the chef cooking separate things.

Primary research

I have decided to create a survey regarding the cooking show. In the survey I am mainly finding out what meal to be created in the shoot as well as the age demographic so I am able to see what people can relate to. The use of a question I included asking why people watch cooking shows allows me to gage the things I need to include in the show for entertainment value and keep the audience interested. The meal will be determined from the mode meals (most appearing). Also if there isn't a defining meal I will take in account the meals country origin and for example if the most amount of meals mentions are Italian then the meal will be from that country. This is reliable as I am asking a range of people and they are being honest, due to the fact it is anonymous they will answer with more truth.




The age that is showing as 100% of all participants are between the ages 16 and 23. The age of students is in this range. This shows to me as well as my secondary research that I should be aiming at this age range for my cooking show.















Above shows the format in which people watch television through, with the most being games console, Consoles such as the Xbox or PS4 have several television applications to allow for playback TV. A game console is very common in places such as university to use for a free time. With consoles being %36.36 the smartphone was the second highest with 3 people saying they watch on smartphones. A smart phone is very commonly owned by a student for social aspects of their life and using a phone to watch the cooking show means that if the quality isn't perfect or the lighting isn't as wanted then it won't be a big deal. It will be a lot less noticeable on a 5.7'' inch display than a 32''.

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These are the responses I received from asking why people like to watch cooking shows. The response 'I watch them because I enjoy seeing the original ideas people come up with' and 'As there interesting and can help you in the future'. These show to me that they need to be very informational and have creativity in the cooking, for example having a nice appetising look with vibrant colours. It has to be put in a way that the audience can understand that still allows them to produce a very appetising meal in little time.

From this research I am going to take the aspect of the show being interesting and fun. The meal has to be innovative with new ingredients people may have not came across before.

With this question I was delving deeper into what kind of food people usually have most at home, The most meals that people enjoy are Hot meals, quick tasteful meals and snacks. The Meal I am going to make is going to be a hot meal which will be quick and tasteful. The snack vote was for me to gauge if people enjoy smaller meals which a snack can be easily be made into. People clearly enjoy a meal that will fill them up and is easy to make so I am going to aim for a meal under 20 minutes that doesn't contain many ingredients and is very capable to be made by an amateur cook. 

With putting an answer box for what people would of liked to have cooked I believe it was a mistake as It would of been a better option creating a tick box with several option with different food types. With an answer box however it allows me to get a more detailed meal to create. There were 5 answers that were involving pasta. Pasta is very common in quick meals as pasta takes roughly 10 minutes to cook and also the side sauce or extra ingredients do not take long to prepare and add.

I am meeting a Hospitality teacher to discuss what meal would be best to create involving pasta as the basis. 

4th November

I have discussed the meal and it has been selected (planning page) . For my show I am going to need a set title screen to make it feel more realistic and resonate a cooking show feel. This will tie in with the opening sequence.