Single Camera Drama

Task 1...

Single camera format...

What are the advantages of the single camera format?
The advantages of using a single camera is that it's cheaper and is a lot faster. Also it is easier for the directer because he can run longer scenes with out having to keep stopping it. Another advantage is that the director has more control over where the shot is because he hasn't got to worry about if he gets any other cameras in the shot.

What are the advantages of the multiple camera format?
With multiple cameras it is easier to get the shot you are looking for because if your not happy with one you can just get edit all the different shots and find the one you want. Also using multiple camera is better for live audiences because they don't move the camera so they will never get the audience in the shot.

What are some examples of the two formats in action?
Multiple Camera: Friends, Hollyoaks and Eastenders.
Single Camera: The Royale Family and My Name is Earl and Scrubs.


Multiple Camera:




Signle Camera:



When and why might they be used?
A Multiple camera format might be used when shooting in front of a live studio audience because they can make sure they wont get any of the audience in. Also if you have a higher budget you will yous multiple but on the other hand if you don't you will use a single camera format.





Task 2- Serial and Series.

Soap operas are examples of serials. An example of hits is Hollyoaks and Eastenders. A "serial" is usually a fictional story, which is divided into parts that are shown frequently at different times through the week. The story is ongoing; so each episodes follows on from the one before. A series, unlike a serial, doesn't always need to be fiction. The programmes that we see on the National Geographic Channel or the Discovery Channel can be thought of being as part of a series. For example, sometimes for an entire week, there may be programmes on a pacific even or species. When you think of a series you are thinking of a set of related programmes. It is also possible to have a series that is based on fiction. But in the case of a series, each programme is usually on its own. So basically each episode has and beginning, middle and an end and doesn't follow on from the last or the next. For example, Friends, The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Task 3-


Linear or sequential narrative structures- These are the basic most simple to understand film story's, where everything happens in chronological order. There is a beginning, middle and an end and there are no flashbacks. An example of a linear structure are;

• Eastenders
• Bruice Almighty
• The longest Yard
• Lord of the rings: The fellowship if the ring
  
  
  
  

Non linear or non-sequential narrative structures- these are structures where we might see the story from different points of views. Or the film could start from the middle so it gets the audience hooked because they want to know what has happened.

• Family Guy
• Donny Darko
• Heroes
• Flashforward

Flashbacks
Flashbacks being a form of non sequential narrative involved moving from one time to another. These all take us back from the present to the past. Examples are:

• Family Guy
• CSI
• Heroes
• Lost

Realist and Anti Realist.
These are films or tv shows that fiction and non fiction, realist being the non fiction and anti-realist being the fiction. An example of realist are; Eastenders, Savinig Private Ryan and The Pursuit of Happiness. on the other hand some example of anti-realist are; Shrek, Family Guy and Transformers (most animated tv shows and films and anti-realist.) For Example

• Shrek
• Family Guy
• Transformers
• Terminater

Take two film or programmes of your choice and apply the theories of narrative to them.

The Trueman show is a linear narrative which take the Propp's theory and uses Todorov's theory. The writers of the film put the Hero as Trueman Burbank (Jim Carry), The Villan as Christof (Ed Harris) and the Damsel in destress is Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), but could also be personified as the helper, as she helps him realise that the world he is living is a fake. The equilibrium of the film is traditionally placed at the beginning, as he has no clue that the habitat surrounding him is a TV studio. We then see the disruption, when Trueman realises that he is actually living in a reality TV show. Furthermore, the disruption is carried on as Trueman tries to escape, packing the film with adventure and emotions. Finally, the resolution comes to an end as Trueman finally escapes - ending the torture of not having a real life. This happy ending is typical of a family suitable film, portraying Torodov's theory at it's finest.

The narrative of this film could be portrayed as an anti-realist structure as the concept of taking a child from birth and putting him in a TV show, persuading him that it's a real life is an extremely unusual, non-realistic story-line to create a film by. However, this is contradicted by the real life atmospheric situation Trueman is in: he is still living like a normal person, and no matter how absurd the story-line is, it could still happen, as their are so many varieties of reality TV shows in recent times, using a child as a pawn in a game would be the next 'big' thing in the media industry, creating a realism to the film. The multi-stranded narrative creates a scenario, where the audience can see what is happening elsewhere in the real world, as well as seeing what Trueman sees. The multi-stranded narrative has being used to it's advantage, as the story-line would not make sense if we did not have the multi-stranded narrative, as we would not know Sylvia is, and why she has become involved in Trueman's life.

A movie that uses todorovs theory is The Matrix as it has a equilibrium, disruption and a resolution. The equilibrium is seen at the beginning of the film when we see Neo living his normal and everything is as it should be. The disruption is when he is took out of the matrix and put in the "real world" and realises that the human is race is upon extinction to the merciless machines. Then the resolution comes when the Neo realises he is "the one" and the possible saviour of the human race. This non-linear film is anit-realist as it could never happen in real life. The film uses propps theory as the hero is Neo, the villain is Agent smith, the helper is Morpheus and then the damsil in distress is trinity.

Tassk 4...

the titles have an effect on- they a blurry and moving about, the effect of this is that it gives us a clue of the genre (horror/thriller). Also the sound of the train could mean that we are about to go on a journey by watching this film. The first camera shot is an establishing shot and is also a long tilted shot. Another good shot they use is one of a reflection of a person of a puddle. Furthermore there is a extreme close up of the girl which show her emotion and that the fact she has been crying, the effect of this is that we want to help her and that she is the victim which gives her our sympathy. This is effective because it imediarely puts the audiance on the girls side even thoguh we nothing about her or what she has done. The to carry on the sympathy is that she is then flanked and ganged on by the men. This is also effective as it engages the audiance as they want to know why they want her and want to know what she has done. The flashback is signified by the sudden noise and the black and white effect, also with the sound of a heartbeat gives a sense of suspense and tension. The image of the childrens playground gives a sense of innocence but is destroyed by the heartbeat and they the flashing images of a body and drugs. This is effective because it gives us sense of realism and is a clue to why the woman is crying and the men are their. Furthermore the image of the gate closing, could prehaps mean that she is trapped in world of the drugs and murder, and there is no way of getting out, only if she died, which could give a clue to why she at the train tracks.

Task 5...

Media is always expanding and developing and even today we get the sense that we are underdeveloped in some way, we feel as if there is something to be found and the future of media has no limits. Some examples of media today are; TV, radio, internet, e-mails, billboards, digital, magazines, newspapers and even our post contains advertisements. With all these different types of media it is getting even harder for companies to reach a broad audience.

"Everyday new technology is tearing down old ways of doing business."
-Rupert Murdoch

A time when radio ruled the media world was pushed away by the invetion of television and form then on media has developed at a rapid pacel. TV's have changed in not only sixe but also width. Televison programs have become more developed and companis are racing to find the next new thing in media. The average telelvios 20 years ago only have 5 channels broadcasted all competing for primetime viewing but now there are thousands of channels thanks to sky and virgin media who still fight even more aggresivly or primetime iwing. Also not only do we have thousnads of channels we get to choose the best suited time for us to watch out programes thanks to on demand and recordings, we even have the power to puase and rewind live television. We also have plus one channels, these are shows that show an hour after then are shown on the first channel incase we miss them. some examples of these are; Channel 4+1, E4 +1, Dave ja vu and Film4 +1. People don't even have to own a television because channels are even on the internet now, this shows the rapid growth and development of media .

Task 6...

Socail table...

Task 7...

Equipment and software...

Software: The main piece of software we used was imovie HD, as this would best fit our production. We choose this method because we found it had a lot to offer in its software for example the effects and transitions. We tried experimenting with another piece called Garage Band to try and get some sounds effects but we thought it would be best if we stuck to imovie. Some of the effects we used were monochrome and ghost trail, we used these effects because it would make it seem like a flash back and make the plot seem more dark.

Equipment: The main piece of equipment we used was the cannon MD 205 camera, we used this to film all of our footage on. We thought it would of added a better effect if we used a hand held camera instead of a higher quality camera. Another piece of equipment we used was a tripod camera stand, the reason we used this was so we could get a steadier, more professional shot especially with the panning shots. The stand allowed to keep the camera still for a long time and we wouldn't have to move it if we a re-do a scene, so we wouldn't have to worry about the positioning. We choose not use any artificial light as we only needed natural day light because we think it would make it more realistic and because it was natural light we could tell what time of day it was and also could see the characters clearly and get good shadows when needed. The last bit of equipment we used was a Idorol IO 90 voice recorder, we used this for the interview scene because it would make the voices clearer and louder instead of the camera just picking up the speech.

People Involved: the people we used for our production were; Aaron Price, Hannah Hussey and Keiron Smith, these were the actors and actresses in our film and also the editors and directors. Also we used some props to make the film seem more real and more professional, we used a mobile phone and false blood to signify that someone was dead. The location we used for our film was a place called the Valley, near occupation road. We thought this would be a good place because it secluded form busy roads and wouldn't get and excess noise. We also thought this was a good place as it seem more realistic. Also the tress gave it a sense of mystery which suited the genre.

TASK EIGHT...

SINGLE CAMERA DRAMA... AMNESIA

Treatment...

For my single camera drama I will begin the running titles with a fast drum beat. This will create suspense and enigma for the rest of the film. The titles shown will be blurred and shaky almost as if the viewer cannot see it, as if it is a blurred memory which they are trying to remember. My establishing shot will be of a young 16 year old girl sat in a room, we will see part of a table and the girl on the chair. She will be covered in what looks like blood and dirt and will be looking at a piece of paper on the desk in front of her. The camera will pan to see the left side of her face and the line "So what went on?" will be said by an unknown voice. There will be a flash of light and a fade next to signify a flashback and the shots will all be in black and white. We will begin the flashbacks with a long shot of a forest followed promptly by a panning shot of the trees. The music will be slow and will connote peace and tranquillity thus signifying what is happening in the scene at this point. There will be a range of shots from a close up of emotions (at this point happy) to a long shot of a boy and a girl walking around the forest, looking up to the sky. The music will develop to play faster creating a faster paced introduction to the disruption. As this happens we will see an argument between the boy and girl and as they walk away from each other the camera will follow them in a point of view shot, first the girl then the boy. We see another disruption as the girl seems to hear something. She will look over her shoulder then run fast in the opposite way. This will trigger the boy to look suspicious, he will stop and as the camera pans around him we will see her standing before him. The flash back will stop and we will be in the interview room again. We now see the interviewer banging on the table and the girl jumping out of shock. A close up of her emotions will be shown here. The music has gone slow again and the girl looks up to the interviewer, he looks back and all that is heard is him breathing. A flash of light is again seen and we see the girl kneeling over the boy, he is covered in blood and she is crying silently. I will use a low angle shot moving into a high angle shot here then will flash back into the interview room. The man will ask "Did you do it, did you kill him" she will simply look him in the eye and say “I don't know". I will fade out and we will just see a black screen. The drama is left open and enigmatic, I feel this will work well and we can incorporate some good camera angles.

SCRIPT:

Characters...

Boy...Aaron

Girl...Hannah

Interviewer...Mr birkenshaw

[Drums stop and shot is introduced, no music just silence]

Interviewer: So what went on?

[ Music begins, slow paced, peaceful]

[We are entered into a flashback there is no noise except the music but mimed words will be used]

Boy:(mimed) I'm glad you came

Girl:(mimed) So am i

[Laughing from the boy and girl is heared but it is not loud]

[The clip will continue hawever only clips of the two looking up at the sky and walking in the forest will be shown. no words.]

[An arguement has errupted]

Girl:(mimed) I hate you

Boy:(mimed) I'm going

[They both leave othe shot going in the opposite direction, The camera will develop into a point of view shot following the girl, then following the boy]

[The girl notices something then runs back to the boy, using a panning shot we will see the boy stop then as the camera moves round we will see the girl, she looks distressed]

Boy:(mimed) Whats wrong?

[Girl looks back, they run, music speeds up]

[We are back in the interview room, the interviewer is angry, he bangs on the table]

Interviewer:(Bangs on the table, Loudly) Did you do it, did you kill him?

[Back into flashback we see the girl kneeling over his dead body, This will be for about 10 seconds, Then we will be back in the interview room]

Girl:(looks at camera directly) I don't know.

END.

Task 10...

Production Schedule...

Task 11...

health and safety...

TASK 13...

Evaluation...

Purpose...

The purpose of our production was to produce a 3-5 minute short film that fitted in with the genre 'thriller'. We intended to make an entertaining drama which would leave the audience feeling uneasy and suspicious. We have achieved this by leaving an open enigmatic ending which left a few questions unanswered, we hoped that the audience could conclude the narrative by themselves. The production incorporated a range of camera angles which gave us more clips to edit and fit together, filming the shots twice to ensure we had the right shot for the right scene. Shots that we used included POV shots to portray the characters view at this point in time, over the shoulder shots to give suspense and allow the audience to interact with the drama and close ups which gave us a chance to portray the characters emotions and feelings. One shot which i think worked particularly well was the panning shot of the trees. I think it is effective as it shows the perspective of the character as she frantically looks around for help. The use of this shot allowed us to show panic and exhaustion of the character along with producing an 'on edge' feeling for the audience. Another shot i think helped portray the theme best of all would have to be the close-up of the girls face as she portrays an unreadable expression to the camera. The confusion created adds for an enigma and shows the suspicion build up for the open ending narrative. To add to the genre of 'thriller' we thought it was best to use an old black and white effect over the girls interview scenes and a monochrome colour distortion over the flashback of her memories. Blurred vision was another effect we used to give an uneasy feeling to the narrative and to exaggerate the fear of a different perspective on the shot. The transitions were chosen to fit the theme criteria; cross dissolved, fade in's and out's, overlaps and cut always were all used to accomplish this. The transitions created a way to smoothly change the clips so that there was not too many dramatic cross overs and each clip had its own effect on the audience. Last of all was the music. Although the music was hard to find at first i feel we have managed to fit the music to the genre very well, leaving that sharp uneasy feeling across the audiences mind. The soft almost supernatural music we used for the 'love' scenes fit in well with the clips(the lyrics being soft and appropriate). We then transitioned this song into a different one as to portray a different mood and meaning. For this one we used a sharp fast paced song which connoted anger and frustration. Using the two songs allowed us to reach a professional and multi-strand narrative easily, fitting in well with the genre and themes. One negative point which did not fit our purpose would have been the voice overs, the quality was not the best and could have done with more thought and effort, perhaps using audacity to change the pitch and maybe the volume of the voices. This would be one thing i could improve on in my next production.

Audience...

The audience we primarily targeted would have been people in their late teens to early adults who enjoy thrillers and murder mysteries. Some scenes, for example the clown like look on the close-up of the girl, may have disturbed younger viewers so as we considered targeting all ages we found it was easier to specifically suit a small group. We showed our drama to a range of people with different backgrounds all of the same age group, and found they responded reasonably well to our production. The negative points were mainly sourced from the narrative. The audience found it confusing to understand what went on and, even though we wanted this, it didn't go down well with the audience. However, i feel mainly positive comments were left. The feedback they gave us included:

The opening titles- people felt they fit in well with the genre and specifically added a good feeling of suspense and agitation. They worked well with the music and fit in with the beat.

The wide range of camera angles- People felt they all produce a good message and gave there 'stamp' on the drama.

The beneficial video effects- They thought the old black and white effect on the interview scenes worked well and stuck to the genre.

The transitions- The audience felt that the overlapping of the face at the beginning was used to a beneficial advantage as it gave a feeling of anxiousness.

One member of our audience specificlly liked the panning shot of the trees and it's blurred vision, he said- "the two effects worked well together with the mood of your film" .

Representation issues...

Our video did not show a range of ethnic groups as we simply used the people who we worked with for the project, i do not feel this effected our drama in any way and a change in ethnic background was not needed to develop out production. We used a mixed sex cast so that the production was not biased in any particular way. The male and female roles were used only to portray a typical teenage relationship. The location of our drama was appropriate for the theme and narrative of our production as it was set in a woodland area. This helped as it was used to create any effect we needed, the light through the trees was one shot which worked the best. The fact it was in a forest allowed us to create the 'eerie' mood needed to fit our genre and gave us a range of places to shoot from. The room used for the interview scenes was perfect as the small space created a chlostrophobic surrounding and added to the girls fear. The walls being bland allowed us to add our own stamp on the room, in this case the girls complicated emotions juxtaposed against the plain background. Our primary target audience was people in their late teens who enjoy murder mystery programmes, so the lexis and the formal terms we used were appropriate as the audience would already be familiar with this language. i feel that all of these points together worked well for the genre and represented 'thriller' well.

Technical issues...

The first thing we did after placing the clips in order was checking the sound quality fromt he camera. The voices were not loud enough so we had to record them again using a voice recorder, as a result of this the voice levels were a bit pitchy. However, we finally managed to fit the voices to the acting well and made the levels easier to understand. we intended first to use an external microphone but soon realised that the amount of speech was limited and only few lines needed to be recored, because of this we found that a voice recorder would be more appropriate. When fitting in the music to the drama we found it ws best to use two songs. We had to ensure the songs transitioned well and to do this we faded each song into one another at points that coordinated well together. We also had to make sure that the volume level of the music was not overwhelming to the voices and production therefore we changed each level according to what was happening in the camera work. The camera work allowed us to incorperate a range of shots appropriate for the mood and tone of the narrative and portray different perspectives suggesting a 3rd person narrative to the drama. The variety of angles was not limited and engaged our audience well directing their eyes to a different part of the screen however, not over complicating the drama. Overall the editing process was the longest of all the process's, we were making changes and asking for advise at any point we could to make our end product one we could be proud of.

Conventions/Narrative...

Factors typical of a 'thriller'/'murder mystery' are...

Action

Emotion

Police interviews

Gore

Enima's

In my opinion all these factors would be the same in a similar professional product however professional companies have advantages over us because they have access to better facilities and much more expensive and advanced equipment to ensure their production is nothing but professional. They also have a lot mor money to buy props and professional actors, also unlimiting their resourses and locations. All of the effects and features given to us were used to their full potential and ensured a good and effective narrative. We did use a villain, hero and damsel to keep the audience engaged (the villain being the enigmatic person whom we do not know, the hero being the police saving the girl and solving the crime and the damsel being both the boy and girl who find danger in the forest. Our production would be multi-narrative due to the argument between the couple, the love scenes and the murder all in one. i feel it give a good enigmatic feel to the narrative and leaves the story open.

Ofcom Rules: Harm and Offence

We haven't broken any of the rules in the Harm and offence section of the ofcom rules and regulations, because our programme does not include obvious violence - it does however have connotations of violence which we have used for extra effect. No dangerous or anti social behavior is included in our video therefore it doesn't encourage others to copy this behavior. Methods of suicide of self harm are not included in our video thus we do not need to worry that it will offend viewers or oppositely, encourage them to engage in this behavior. Our film has then sense of an enigma and mystery and viewers may be left with the feeling that there was another life in our film - however no demonstrations of paranormal activity, exorcisms or the occult are seem in our video and the feeling of mystery is purely for entertainment.

Social & Community Action

Multicamera Techniques

Task 1...

Task 1: Define Multi-camera techniques through a written report or an audio-visual presentation.

Multi-camera set up is a way of shooting TV shows using multiple camera's this is more effective, cheaper and plain easier especially for live TV, this is because they don't have to keep retaking shots and scenes to capture different shots. The advantage of it being cheaper is because they can get it done a lot quicker, this is because they can shoot different scenes and the same time, also they can get multiple shots on one scene without keeping to stop and reposition the camera like you would with a single camera show. Furthermore the editing is done a lot faster as they have many shots to choose from, this means you can select a few shots from each angle and synchronize them together. An example if this is on the X-factor and big brother, this is so the shots can keep swapping from the contestants, judges and even the crowd, this builds excitement and makes the show flow better. In the studio where the producer will be situated, there will be a screen in front of him and he will just give an order of what camera shot should be played and what shot is coming next. He will have control of what the camera's do, like weather they should track something or zoom in or out. Also he will have to control all the sound levels and all the effects and transitions.

Some of the programmes that use multiple cameras are live shows or events such as; Sports, X-factor and Big brother.

Task 2: cont…

Watch the clips below and explain how the clips do the following….

• Camera-angles
• Camera-movement (direction and speed)
• Camera Positioning
• How the multi-camera techniques communicate meaning to the viewer and maintain viewer interest.

Kraftwork:

A range of camera angles including Extreme long shot and Medium long shot in used. The effect of this makes the viewer feel like they are in the audience. Also the use of the ariel tracking shot keeps the viewer interested. Also because there is such a range of different synthetic sounds the range of camera angles and shots suits the type of band this is. By not using any close-up shots in keeps there identity in the dark therefore giving the concert and the band and sense of robotics and technology. The use of the birds eye view shot shows the crowd as well as the band them self, By doing this it shows you how many fans there is at the concert therefore showing how successful they are in attracting an audience that big.

Football:
At the start of this video we see information been given to the audience with the view of a digital scoring board. This moves on to a steady close-up shot of the presenter talking further about football. As we see him say goodbye the shot changed to an extreme close-up panning shot of a trophy. Moving onto a medium shot of the trophy, with extreme close-ups of different mens faces beside it. We see a bright light shining over the trophy, suggesting that it has importantance. We move on to see generic scenes of football matches, however this is made interesting by adding slow motion shots of different aspects of the matches to signify positive moments. The fast-paced dramatic music adds tension to the video and adds interest with the viewer.

Task 4: Use the ideas from your mind-map to write a treatment for your programme giving an overview of the programme and how it will be appropriate for your target audience

Our Friday World is going to be friendly and have a comedy effect. We want our show to include a lot of humor from the presenters and the types of video we show. During the show we are going to show a range of videos, the first video will be a well-known music video by the band ‘Outcast’. The song ‘Hey Ya’ is a popular song which everyone can sing along to, we aim to get the audience involved in our Friday World show from the beginning. The next video played will be a video which we made ourselves called the Irritant banana – we based this on a show named ‘Balls of Steel which features a character named ‘The Annoying Devil’. The irritant banana plays tricks on oblivious members of the public, this adds humour to our Friday World programme as the character is dressed in a banana suit preforming slip-stick comedy. The presenters tell short ‘cheesy’ jokes throughout the programme as well. This engages the audience further as they will interact with the presenters to answer the joke. In our Friday World we also wanted to include a Single Camera drama from our Media class because it was an opportunity to see how our target age ranges would act. After we engaged out audience we chose to play a Single Camera drama about the effect of drugs to add a serious element to our show. Then to finish off the show we will play a spoof of two programmes ‘The Inbetweeners’ and ‘the peep show’ named The Outcasts. Our aim was to ensure out Friday World show appealed to a wide age range

Equipment:

• 2 Panasonic AG-DUX 100B
• 2 Panasonic TH-650 DU Tripods
• 2 Manfrotto 1005 BAC floodlights
• 2 Chairs
• Cue Cards
• Backdrop
• Mackie ONYX 1640 Mixer

Task 5: Create a final shooting script and floor plan for your multi-camera programme.

Task 6, See unit 21 task 11- Health and Safety

Media Industry

Task 1: Using the questions below to help you structure your essay, answer the following question………….

How have advances in technology effected the TV industry and how have audiences changed as a result?

With the world of technology always advancing and evolving in news ways to watch television and films it would seem impossible for even the biggest of advertisement companies to keep up. This is because of the still mass audience of television, with millions watching everyday.

Even with all the new technologies and ways watching TV, there are still set channels which every TV will be able to receive due to the frequency being analogue. The channels for analogue are channels 1-5 (BBC 1- aimed at a mass target audience, BBC 2- aimed at 25- 90, ITV 1 – aimed at teens to 50, Channel 4 aimed at teens - 35 and Five aimed at men aged 25 - 50). This means that advertisers are more likely to reach a mass audience as they are guaranteed that they can be shown on every TV set in the country; however this does not mean it will be viewed by everyone and obviously the advertisements can not be shown on a BBC channel. Mass audience still exists in analogue channels as we see in Xfactor, strictly come dancing and soaps.

The introduction to digital TV and free view meant that mass audiences decreased and became more audience specific. Due to this introduction of free view we find it a normal necessity to buy a new TV with it built in. That’s how popular it has got, that there is such a high demand for more channels, more options and audiences become more particular. This means mass audiences have dramatically decreased resulting in more audience specific adverts and programmes.

Satellite TV is becoming more and more common with More than 85% of UK homes (21.4 million) already having digital TV. Satellite TV is a subscription service which provides the public with thousands of TV channels and other services such as games, teletext and on demand films programmes and music. It is one of today’s main developments and has become so popular that soon every TV will become digital and the analogue system will be eliminated. This could be seen as a bad thing however due to the reduce in mass audiences meaning more and more money would be needed to be spent on adverts and new programmes for each new channel. These are subscriptions from services such as Sky, Virgin and BT Vision. Each of these services provide; on demand services (films, music and programmes). Also they provide you with the ability to pause and rewind live TV; furthermore you can record your programmes at your choice or even whole series of them. All these services are digital and soon the entire UK will be moved into the digital era, it is planned that this will happen by the end of 2012. Also there is a service in the states that is trying to move across to the UK, this is a service where you record the shows you want, however it removes the adverts this results in the adverts not reaching out TV screens. At the moment this is illegal in the UK however due to its popularity in the USA this could soon change. This is dangerous for the advertising companies and products being advertised as soon the country will not be viewing adverts via the TV.

Just watching TV isn’t enough anymore, now people want more control and more interaction with television. We can do this through the ‘red button’... Interacting with the TV allows you to: participate in shopping channels, be interactive, watch x rated programmes such as babestation and other porn programmes, view different events, watch a variety of music channels, join debates, ring in, and text in your vote for many shows such as xfactor, and big brother, this also allows you to enter competition the show might be holding. The ‘red button’ also allow you to view ‘mulitscreen’ where you can choose a selection of events or commentaries and camera shots. This enables you to watch different sport events that are being played at the same time. It doesn’t stop there; you can also play games, view recent news and get involved with celeb entertainment.

Internet television is also now available to the public and means that they can view TV programmes anywhere due to easy access from laptops. On demand websites have been made which provide a catch up service of programmes you may have missed. Some websites include: channel4.com/4od, itvplayer.co.uk, and bbc.co.uk/iplayer. These services are free to watch and are available to everyone with the internet, whether it is on a laptop, computer or mobile phone. Other services include torrent sites in which people illegally download any TV series, films or music that they require. You can also pay for films, TV and music through the iTunes store and other subscription sites. This again makes it both easier and harder for advertiser to reach audiences. It’s difficult as some of the shows take out the adverts, like torrents and some TV sites. However on the legal sites it makes it easier to reach a specific audience as you can put the adverts in with certain shows.

The theory of uses and gratification has never been more relevant to today’s TV. This is due to the more audience specific channels producing a sense of personal identity for many viewers meaning they can relate to the program and characters they are watching for example being able to watch TV online. Also a sense of diversion is used regularly in films and some fictional television programmes. Considering the huge advances in technology the personal relationships theory has been increased as we continue to question and debate the rise in technology and the latest news and gossip on TV.

Films as a whole can also be accessed in many ways same as TV shows. Firstly through digital TV such as Sky and Virgin Media, there are channels set aside from the rest just to show movies and these channels are separated by the films that are shown on them: genre, most recent, and target audience (Skymovies Premiere, Skymovies Action Skymovies Comedy ect...). Also movies can be bought through digital TV services such as On Demand and Sky box office. This again breaks down mass audiences and allows digital TV to choose and select film to our advantages. Its not only digital TV but also online, you can purchase films from various websites such as; film4.com and lovefilm.com. However you can also illegally download films from some sites.

Advances in technology hasn’t only helped film makers it has opened a completely new world for them to explore for example 3D with Avatar which has been a massive success even breaking records, it was released in cinema theaters twice. Also animation and CG have enabled films makers to exceed normality and advance technology for ever. Also being able to make the characters in the film do anything not just stick the laws of reality. It is new technology that will be able to bring mass audiences back together through its magnificent development.

http://pgslearning.co.uk/media/curriculum-zone/btec-tv-and-film/7-understanding-industries/task-1/

www.film4.com

www.lovefilm.com

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

www.itvplayer.co.uk

www.channel4.co.uk/4od

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4248774.stm

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch

Task 2: Choose a TV broadcasting organisation, such as, Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and create a short case study on how your chosen organisation uses technology at the moment and how it is looking to use technology in the future.

How Sky uses Technology

At the moment Sky is at the frontline of using technology to improve its broadcasting, quality and accessibility to TV. First of all sky one of Sky's most common service is Sky+ this alows you to record shows or entire series using the series link option, also you have a huge library to save your shows to which you can keep their for as long as you like. Another feature of Sky+ is the ability to pause and rewind live TV, this is a huge attraction to customers. Sky was the first of the TV companies to use this technology which is why they are still the leading company over Virgin and BT who shortly followed with similar technologies. Furthermore what sky do, is offer full HD for a lot of its channels, which as a lot better viewing quality,this also attracts customers to buy their packages. What sky is doing, improving their viewing quality and expanding their already established service is diversification in the same market. Although as all these improvements and upgrades will cost a lot more the investment will be worth it as more and more people are wanting the most cutting edge service especially for something as big as television. Also there is 'Sky Anytime' This is where sky takes a view key programmes, series and films and will keep them in anytime for you to watch when ever you have the time. The feature that makes Sky so popular and successful has to be the huge variety of channels it offers, by signing up to one of their packages you can have access to all the Sky Movies, Sky Sports, Kids, Sky News, Music, Documentaries and many more.

Next, other technologies used by Sky to improve their service is the accessibility to their services. The biggest way of this is through the internet via the Sky Player, through this you can watch numerous programmes all online and when ever you like. This seems vital in todays world as the internet is such a big part of nearly everyone life. As Sky is the leader in the technology, other companies actually pay Sky for the ability to braodcast Sky's programmes mostly Sky movies and Sky sports. This further funds Sky giving them more to invest into more technologies ot give them the edge over companies.

Now looking at the future of sky, their biggest development is Sky 3D. Sky are currently trying to make 3D TV the 'new big thing'. I think this is a huge task as very few people actually have 3D televisions but who knows what the future holds, in 5 years we all might have a 3D tv in our living rooms.

Task 3: How is the TV industry funded and how does this effect programming? (Include a breakdown of British TV – who are the main players?)

http://pgslearning.co.uk/media/curriculum-zone/btec-tv-and-film/7-understanding-industries/task-3/

http://www.productsandservices.bt.com:80/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=24694&tduid=e67f35ccfc978a6a175eb85623335ece&vendorid=TDG&s_cid=con_cic_aff_tradedoubler_vidTDG_broadband

The entire media world is funded in many ways. The number way of being funded is through advertising, how ever the BBC is different. They are funded by the general public paying for a TV license. This means that the public pay £145.50 a year and in return the BBC will produce programming that will be interrupted by advertising. Also theirs news programming along side ever other program they show will be unbiased. BBC follow the remit 'the inform, to educate, to entertain' and they also try to produce television and radio that everyone will like since it is everyone who pays for the BBC.

The Main reason in why PBS is important is because it isn't owned by anyone like Rupert Murdoch owns Fox and Sky. This means that the BBC will not be biased. Also as the BBC don't make any money they have the possibility to run risks especially in the TV shows the produce. They took chances with such shows as Little Britain, QI and especially The Office as Ricky Gervais was a unheard comedian with no writing experience and the BBC gave him the chance to make his show, which now is one of the biggest shows to hit TV and now the BBC have sold The Office to America and now it has made millions in the states as well. As the BBC aren't afraid of losing money they have the opurtunity to invest in shows other companies wouldn't for example 'Planet Earth'.

Another way of funding TV is through subscription. This is where you will pay monthly for a service which can give you hundreds of channels. The range of shows you get on these channels is massive, most channel has its own genre of shows such as ; sports, documentaries, comedy. The services you could get and pay subscription to are ; Sky TV, Virgin Media, and BT Vision. The price for subscription television, can range from as little as £6.50 a month up to £52 a month, the reason for the price change depends on what service you choose and what package you choose. Different packages will come with different channels. Once you have subscribed to one of these companies, they will keep asking you if you would like to upgrade your package either by adding more channels, going HD or 3D. Also they might ask you to sign up to there other services such as broadband, talk time of mobile phone packages. So after you have signed up with them they will still try pretty hard to get even more money from you. Although the freedom and choice you get with subscription TV you get is quite amazing and worth the money if you watch a lot of TV. The perks with subscription for example Sky+, you have hundreds of channal with a huge range of shows for everyone. You also have the ability to record and show of your choice and keep in stored on the system and you can also set a 'series link', to record a every episode of a series. Also an advantage of having subscription TV is you have the opurtunity for Pay-per-view. This is where you would pay an one of payment for a certain event or film for example; sky BoxOffice, Movies on Demand, live Boxing & Wrestling. Live sport events are the biggest kind of shows people, also films with adult content is available in pay-per-view. This is a lot bigger over in u.s as they boradcast shows like Wrestling (which is bigger in the states) boxing and UFC, so mainly live sporting events. HBO in 2007 generated

$255,000,000 with 4,800,000 PPV buys.

Another example of funding is sponsorship, this would be where a company would sponsor a show, film or strands of programming, for example 'webuyanycar.com sponsors motoring on Dave', 'Harvey's Furniture sponsors Coronation Street' and 'Head & Shoulders sponsors Soccer AM' The reason why a show might want to sponsor a show could be because normal TV advertisements are often skipped or much attention isn't really applied, however if you're watching a show you will more often see and pay attention the sponsorship advert. Some particular products or companies will want associate them selves with certain shows, for example, top gear is a well liked, and well trusted motoring show so comoanies like webuyanycar.com will want to be related to that show as it will reflect them as being trusted and liked. This appears with alot of sponsorships such as 'Black and Decker with Extreme Makeover'

One if the biggest ways of funding is thriugh advertising, TV companis will allows hundereds of products and companies to advertise of there channels. Although TV companies cant promise a huge amount of viewers like they could 20 years ago then can give them audience that are linked with the genre of a show or channel this allows advertisers to know about their demographic. Niche audience will be attractive to advertisers becasue as they are a niche audience it will be easer to know their demographic and what products will interst them. For example...

There are a few ways in which advertisers have taken advantage in many new formats in which we can now watch TV. One way they have done it is online, before the shows starts it forces you to watch a/some adverts. This is probably the biggest advatange advertisers get from the different formats. Advertisers also get a disadvantage from the progress of televiosn, especially with the ability to pause and record TV, because most people will fast forward the recorded show as soon as they reach the commercials. this results in none of the adverts or even sponsorships being watched.

Product placement is another form of funduing for a tv programme. The way it works is a company will pay a tv show to place their prodcuts or show the brand name in the show. Product placement is actually illegal in the UK but very big in the US. An example of this in films is here ;

PP helps avertise a product by always having it on show to the audience with out them actually being aware of it. The advantage of having product placement is that it makes a show/film weem more realistic as the real world has brands everywhere. A disadvantage is that sometimes it seems the show/film has been made around the product just so it shows the product.

Task 4: Write a report on the film industry covering the following points…..

· The difference between mainstream and independent cinema.

· What is Bollywood?

· The studio system in Hollywood, who are the big players?

· The British Film Industry – who are the main players?

· What has happened to the British Film Council and how might this effect the British film industry?

Firstly the main difference between mainstream and independent cinema is that one produces niche films which are generally more open to the world and more direct. This would be the independent films, they have no helping or funding from the big film film companies such as Warner Bros and Disney. Although these films are made for a niche audience and not mainstream story lines, some of these films do become very successful such as; The Terminator, 28 Days later and Paranormal Activity. On the other hand mainstream cinema has the funding from the big companies and the huge budgets to make higher quality films with the famous actors and best technology. Also the kinda of films these make are very repetitive ron-coms and action packed hero films.

The main reason why mainstream cinema is so successful and makes billions each year is purely because they have the budget and the access to technology independent films don't have. They have the ability for 3D, HD quality and CG, the major companies can lure in audiences time after time. This is what makes the cinema so popular, why you find your self always going with your friedns and family, becuase it can offer you a different experience to what TV and independent films cant. Also with the advancement of the media which we can see today its no wonderwhy people will go pay to the next groundbreaking special effect film such as 'Avatar' which had a budget of $237 million and had a huge gross revenue of $2,782,275,172. Every mainstream filmed made will be played in popular minstream cinemas such as Vue and Odeon and then sold on blu-ray and DVD in popular stores.

Independent films are films that only attract pacific target audiences. Also the biggest difference between independent films is the budget the film has to produce their films. Although this lowers the quality of the film it gives a chance for new directors and actors and crew members who work in the film industry a chance to shine. A film would be taken to film festivals around the world and if that film becomes a success they would be noticed by mainstream producers and maybe even given a job through this. Due to the fact that independent cinema is aimed at niche audiences, you can see how its artistic vision and culture themes make the films noticed with in the media entity.

Another type of cinema that almost makes as much as mainstream cinema is Bollywood. The best way to describe Bollywood is as Indian cinema, but a real definition is as follows "Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai. It is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing films in regional languages, however is one which is highly recognized among the film industry. Bollywood is the largest film producer in India and one of the largest centers of film production in the world."

Bollywood is the biggest film corporation in India and plays a huge role in Hindi culture. Although not typically genre'd, most Bollywood films use musicals as a central theme. In Hindi culture, Bollywood is mainstream cinema.

Much like companies in Hollywood, Bollywood sets many trends, its attracts millions of fans through popular singers/actors in the movies. Bollywood is the answer to commercial mainstream films in which they are there to attract the masses and make a profit as a result. Anywhere out of Hindi culture, Hollywood is the biggest supplier of films, especially in western societies. The 'big six' are the six companies that own most Hollywood and the films supplied to our cinemas. The 'big six' are;

'News corp, Warner Bros, General Electric, Viacom, CBS and Time Warner'

The British film industry also has some sway in the production of films in not only the UK but also around global cinema. Seen by the Americans as weird and somewhat niche we also bring huge blockbusters such as 'Harry Potter', 'James Bond' and of course 'Star Wars'.The main players in the BFI are Pinewood, Shepperton, Elstree and Ealing. £15 million has been invested in over 900 British films by the Government. Part of this was the research the highs of Hollywood and incorporate them into British cinema. However due to the recession the Government has had to pull out of the BFI and put it on hold. This has upset the most of the BFI and has actually stopped some films making the cut. This has also resulted in many people losing their jobs alongside many starts losing their frame.

Task 5: Ownership and control – Does it matter who owns the media?

• Who are the big six media conglomerates and how much of the world’s media do they own?
• How have the Big Media conglomerates used horizontal and vertical intergration, in order to become the major players in media industries?
• Why is it dangerous that a few companies provide us with the majority of our media?
• What is globalisation and how can huge media conglomerates contribute towards cultural hegemony?
• The recent News Corp – BskyB takeover has caused much controversy – summarise the story and the discuss the way the British media has responded.

The big six media conglomerates consist of General Electric, Walt Disney, News Corp, TimeWarner, VIACOM and CBS.

General Electric is one of the biggest conglomerates in the world with branches such as Universal Pictures, Television networks NBC and Telemundo, 26 Television stations in the United States and cable networks MSNBC, Focus Features, Bravo and the Sci-fi channel and finally General electric owns 80% of NBC Universal. Owning all these corporations GE have made a big name for them selves, in 2009 they made revenue of $158 billion this is the largest out of this six. As they own so many, this gives a huge amount a power, especially with NBC, as they are able to produce biased opinions to the nations, by doing this they have such a heavy influence on the population to a point where they can control what people believe. The reason they have got so big is through vertical and horizontal integration. An example of this could be GE bought film studio and then didn't have to keep loaning one, this an example of horizontal integration. An example of vertical integration would be if GE bought radio station and branched out from their existing TV and film industries.

News Corp also a member of the 'big six; owns many station, companies, businesses etc. The Fox Broadcasting Company; television and cable networks such as fox, Fox Business Channel, National Geographic and FX, print publications including 'the wall street journal', ' the new york post' and 'TV guide', The magazinesBarron's and SmartMoney, Book publisher HarperCollins, Film production companies 20th Century Fox, Fox searchlight pictures and Blue Sky Studios, numerous websites including MarketWatch.com, and non-media holdings including the National Rugby League. Theses are all examples of Rupert Murdoch's hand in media. And just shows why he is one of the most powerful men in media. Recently RM has positioned to by 100% of the stakes of Blue Sky Studios, this is an example of horizontal integration and an example of how RM keeps gaining power. The effect of this take over bid would be that he owns very high percentage of media in the UK, and with this power he could influence masses of the population to believe his personal opinions. This is a example of cultural hegemony as he is overtaking over media industries and leaving them in the shadows of his companies, If he continues to do this and to gain more powers it will be soon hard to find a media source that hasnt come from one of his companies therefore he would control the whole media to fully influence the population with is personal opinions. All this is further globalisation which is where already established companies expand and buy out the competition therefore gaining more powerful and making it impossible for anyone else to be successful in their industry. News Corp hold revenue of $30.4 billion

Disney seems like an unlikely source to hold so much power in the media but they own a lot more than you may think. The Walt Disney company owns the following; ABC television network, cable networks including ESPN, the Disney Channel, SOAP-net, A&E and lifetime, 277 radio stations, music and book publishing companies, production companies Touchstone, Miramax and Walt Disney pictures, Pixar Animation Studios, the cellular service Disney Mobile, and numerous theme parks around the world. It seems strange that the once so happily ever after films with talking animals have now become a source of power amongst the media industries.

"Media competition today is far more intense than at any time in history" said Bruce Owen a professor at Stanford university.

The reason why a lot of people are against globalisation and how 6 conglomerates hold so much power is because of how much influence they own in the media. It is so easy for them get their personal views across to the nation and to get the population to believe what they want them to believe. It also can lead to disruption in the way the media presents true information. The news broadcasts become biased and opinionated instead of sitting on the fence.

Task 8: Explain some of the different types of jobs and contracts that are being advertised currently at the BBC.

Explain the notion of confidentiality and exclusivity agreements and provide relevant examples.

A Voluntary contract in the BBC is a role that requires no payment and would be most likely be; runners and extras due to the constant demand for these job roles. Runners are usually young people who are just beginning in the film industry, they will usually shadow the director or producer. The roles are normally tea making, sandwich runs and cleaning up. Extras, are generally voluntary due to the fact that they play minor roles in the production, which requires little skill. A voluntary job can be very helpful in the beginning stages upon entering the media industries as it gives you more experience, gives you chances to meet successful workers already established in the industry for example and Journalism student at university may offer to write an article for a local paper for free.

Confidentiality - Confidentiality in the BBC and any other sector in the media world is where a employee may have keep quiet about a number of things. When filming a member of the crew must not reveal any information about the upcoming story lines or narrative An example of this could be a camera man telling either friends or other media broadcasts such as newspapers and magazines. If this would ever happen the suspect may find them selves fired and even have to face the legal penalties.

Exclusivity - Exclusivity is where star vehicles are contracted to endorse a brand or company, on a commercial scale. This is usually where the celebrity has to use/where the product or equipment from the brand. A classic example of this would be David Beckham contracted with Adidas, and there having to support the brand, this is done by wearing Adidas football boots on the pitch. Another example of this would be Morrisons employing Richard Hammond to act as a celebrity figure had towards the brand.

For task 9 see Unit 21 task 11, health and safety.

Task 10: Provide definitions of and examples relating to the following terms of Media Legislation…….equal opportunities; Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006; employer’s liability; employee rights; belonging to a trade union; Intellectual Property: copyright; trademarks;

Employment equality (age) regulations 2006

This was designed so that nobody within the media would be sacked or looked down on because of what age they were. For example in 2010 Ms O'Reilly was reportedly axed from her Sunday prime-time TV slot because of her age. She was eventually replaced by a younger women and she eventually took legal action against the BBC. In the end she won her case. This shows the modern day look on age within the work place and also hat sex you are.

Employers liability

The reason behind this act is that a company or business is responsible for their employee's. For example if them or an employee is taken ill or seriously injured they have to make sure that they were contracted to that particular business and that anything that does happen to them will be the full responsibility of that company. If a member of staff does become seriously injured and it is the company's fault for not taking the correct health and safety precautions then they will be held responsible for that incident.

Employee rights

Employee rights are taken extremely seriously in the modern day work place. For example if you are over the age of 21 you are entitled to a minimum wage of £5.93. Also an employee is entitled to pay when off work sick or on holiday as long as the holiday is within the workplace and employee's agreement. In the media most jobs are minimum wage until you become employed at the top end of your particular work. For example you may start off in the media as a runner which is basically someone who just sweeps up and makes the tea. Obviously some will work their way up and some will just move on to another job.

Belonging to a trade union

A trade union is basically a group of people who once every month or week come together and suggest new ideas on how their workplace can maybe be improved. They also talk about issues that may have occurred in the workplace that shouldn't have and how they can stop this from happening again. They speak on behalf of all their colleges and if they think they need a pay rise of think their in titled to more holidays then they will voice their opinions to people higher in the work place.

Intellectual property copyright

Intellectual property copyright is basically a company that protects people's ideas. It can include many things including music, TV shows, broadcasting etc but mainly music. The most recent and most famous case of intellectual property copyright is when Simon Cowell reportedly stole Simon Fuller's idea of the highly profitably "POP idol." Simon Fuller claims he came he came up with the idea and Simon Cowell stole them. Simon Cowell is now a multi-millionaire and has had other successful TV programs with "American idol" and "X-factor."

Trademarks

A trademark is a sign or logo that distinguishes a product or logo from other company's. For example no other company except NIKE can use that logo to enhance their sales. The NIKE logo is known all over the world and if any other company were to use it's logo or slogan in any way shape or form they would probably have to pay a huge sum or compensation and also be warned about their future conduct.