Survey: Obsessions

 Lois and I posted a survey on Survey Monkey.
Mind Map
Obsessions/passions


We are going to interview people who have a certain obsession or are passionate about something.
What they get out of them, how it surrounds their daily lives, what sort of activities they do which focus around them.

The documentary mode of our 3MW would be an expository documentary because they expose a person, and it will contain facts, questions and opinions.

The primary target audience for the documentary would be teenagers/students people aged between 15-19 years old, our secondary audience would be adults who were aged from 20-30 years old because they might also share an interest into the topic.

The aim of our documentary would be to portray people's obsessions and highlight certain things that people deeply enjoy so the public could see a different side of people and possibly feel more confident to express their personal obsession themselves.

We will be filming in two locations one will be one of the interviewees home and the other will be in a dark room at college then the other outside on a bench, we will need to travel to the interviewees home but it is only about 5 minutes from my home so i will not have to pay for transport to and from that location. For college it will be our usual transport of a bus there and back so it will not have to be placed in our budget. 

The only people we will need for our production is ourselves and the interviewee as it is not a big production where there needs to be various crew on set, i will only need the camera the tripod and the notes with the questions on them to ask.

The documentary would mostly consist of questions because it is the mode we are going for the questions consist of 'if you could ask people with obsessions questions what would they be?' and 'do you have anything you are passionate about?'

With equipment and props there isn't much which is needed props will be the things that are in the background of the shot for example room furniture or outside furniture.

The proposed budget for this production is nothing because there isn't anything that needs to be bought for the production as it is all already self own.

Job Roles

Careers Booklet

Ownership and Funding

Public Service Broadcasting

 PSB is broadcasting in the interest of the public. It means that shows are created in order to inform and educate audiences. For example, the BBC which airs documentaries and the News regularly is classed as Public Service Broadcast. These types of programmes are not intended to entertain but rather inform and educate.

Commercial Broadcasting

 Commercial Broadcasting is broadcasting in order to entertain viewers; it’s funded simply by advertising and the channels which broadcast them rely on the funding of advertisers in order to continue showing television programmes. An example of this is MTV, which shows are purely entertainment-based and do not tend to focus mainly of informing and educating.

Corporate and Private Ownership

 Corporate and private ownership refers to companies which have invested in certain broadcasters in order to create a distinct legal identity. Whilst other businesses might disappear when owners die, a corporate ownership allows for businesses to continue after the passing of a crucial member. An example of this is Unilever, which is the supplier of many different household brands and was formed in the early 1900's by the Lever brothers and continues to preserve its status after the death of the original founders. 

Global Companies

 Global companies are companies which stretch across the world and have relations in different locations in order to gain a wider audience and earn money all over the world. An example of this is Fox Studios.

Vertical Integration

 Vertical Integration is a supply chain owned by an overall company – each level of the supply chain produces/works together in producing a media product. It’s a way that media companies upkeep their finances and ensure that they continue to make money effectively. For example,

Horizontal Integration

Also known as Monopolisation, Horizontal Integration is when companies buy out competing/complementary companies in order to spread their brand over various different media platforms. It allows for compatibility amongst different companies, and means that companies such as Warner Bros Entertainment focusing on film whilst their owners – AOL Time Warner – focuses on News, theme parks and the internet.

The Licence Fee

 The Licence Fee is a price TV owners pay in order to be allowed legally to buy and watch television. It’s a yearly fund people must pay in order to stream television programmes and films from satellite. It’s £175.50 a year in the UK, and is taken straight from the bill payers account unless they state otherwise.

Subscription

 A subscription is when people pay annually in order to receive a freeview box from a certain provider, for example Sky. People pay a certain amount of money for different packages which include basic channels and other packages for higher prices which include more channels. For example, Sky does various packages with ranging prices in order to tend to customers' preferences - they can buy packages with certain channels, including movie and sports specific channels, or without. 

One-off Payment

 One-off payment is when a fee is paid to acquire a box from a certain provider only one time, as opposed to paying a subscription fee monthly. An example of this is Freesat, which offers a limited amount of channels for a one-off payment of £42. The number of channels a person receives, alongside the type in some cases, differentiates depending on the amount paid. One-off boxes have to be updated sometimes, which requires another one-off payment in most cases, adding to the total sum of money paid. 

Pay per view

 Pay per view means paying every time an episode is watched on a computer – for example, you can pay per view on Amazon Prime – or on a catch-up television box. The price of watching is small enough so that it’s available to people who don’t wish to own it permanently and pay the full price.

Sponsorship

 Sponsorship is when brands and companies pay money in order to be featured on a particular channel. The advertisements on commercial channels pay in order to be featured during ad breaks, whereas particular brands will sponsor particular shows, meaning their product is shown directly before that broadcast, and is directly related to programmes – usually with a tagline such as “Proud sponsors of…” For example, Lucozade sports drink sponsors Big Brother 2015 and appears directly before and after every commercial break surrounding that programme. 

Advertising

 Advertising for products is extremely important to make revenue. During television programmes, adverts will be shown at set intervals for around 4 minutes, and advertisers will pay money to the channel and distributors so that they can be featured on the channel.

Product Placement

 Product placement is when brands pay production companies to feature their products in their media texts – it’s like sponsorship, but instead of being plainly advertised, the product is subtly added into the text either in dialogue or from visuals. An example of this is in Skyfall, wherein Bond uses a Sony mobile. Sometimes product placement can be used in satire, such as in Fight Club where a Starbucks cup is seen in every scene to impose the irony of consumerism.

Private Capital

 Private Capital refers to people’s private money – more specifically, it’s funding for things which comes from a personal bank. Megan Ellison is an example of this – she’s a prosperous film producer who comes from a wealthy family background in film and used private investments in order to fund her producing career.

Crowd Funding

 Websites like Kickstarter offer people the chance to view brief descriptions of media productions happening around the world and give them donations in small amounts to reach an overall goal and allow it to be fully created. Rooster Teeth recently made a sci-fi film, Lazer Team, funded by donations from their fans on Indiegogo, another crowd-funding website.

Development Funds

 Development funds refer to companies around the world which fund for amateur film makers to create their personal projects. It’s funded by the Government mostly, and takes in various donations by people everywhere. Though funding from Government has increased, these sources of money are vital for young film-makers with creative ideas. An example of this is BFi, the British Film Intuition which funds amateur British films makers who pitch an idea and get accepted by the representatives. 

Contractual, Legal and Ethical Issues

To whom it may concern,

 Your advertisement regarding a digital video producer for the No Means No date rape campaign has various legal, ethical and contractual issues which should be altered in order to comply with the law and general morality of the company.

 Firstly, the ideals presented for a possible employee are problematic as they discriminate different age ranges, stating that the possible employee must be below the age of 30. This contradicts multiple rules regarding The Equality Act (2010), which works toward making the working environment available for people from different age ranges, cultures and physical abilities. Specifying for the potential employee to be below the age of 30 has no relevance to the task and does not abide by the guidelines stated in The Equality Act. Additionally to this, you specify that the campaign will perpetuate Christian ideals, and that the person’s religious beliefs should be a relevant factor in them getting hired.

 A campaign which focuses on shaming the act of date rape should not have any religious afflictions – religion is irrelevant to this campaign, and whilst Christian morals can be tied into the practice of date rape, it does not mean that the campaign should solely focus on that of a Christian ideal. The reasons behind making such a campaign should be to inform and educate young children – making them aware of the possible dangers involved in going out and meeting new people in casual drinking situations, mainly – not degrading and enforcing a religious lifestyle or even implying that by leading such a lifestyle it detracts the chance of encountering an act, or being a part of it. This also goes against The Equality Act (2010).

 In the brief description outlining what the campaign will consist of, you specify that the person should interview people “affected by the topic,” specifically saying “female victims and male offenders.” This is sexism, claiming that only somebody of a certain gender can commit such acts, and it also discriminates against gender-fluid people who do not wish to identify as either.

 Working in schools or with young people requires a CRB check which you have not detailed in the advertisement – this means that anyone from any criminal background can apply for this job which is extremely inappropriate and dangerous. This comes under the ethical issues attached to the job advertisements. This can involve the representation of gender, which I’ve already discussed, but also the representation of younger people as a whole. Though it is wise to warn younger people of these issues, this topic is extremely sensitive and can trigger many people who watch/take part in the campaign. The method which has been detailed of recording this is extremely obtrusive to the children’s person and can disregard rules applied by OFCOM which state that, in order to protect people below the age of 18, anything which has a possibility of being harmful for the individual must not be broadcasted. It can make people feel outcast; embarrassed; ashamed (especially if you were to turn to religion to supposedly ‘solve’ this issue – as your advertisement suggests.)

 The BBFC official rating would likely be a higher age than of the people you wish to involve with the actual creation of this campaign; perhaps 15, or even 18 depending on the visual depictions in the re-enactments.

 There’s also the issue of copyrighting, whereby you encourage the film-maker to use popular music to draw in the target audience. Unless the licence to use this music was paid for, you would be unable to use the music and it would breach copyright laws in place to protect the use of the music available online.
 Making these changes would mean your job advertisement no longer had any contractual, legal or ethical issues which could offend people reading.

Technologies in the Film and Television Industries

Consumer Products:

 Consumer products refer to technology which people can buy from commercial/online stores, such as video cameras, editing software and recording material. In order for people to create amateur/low-budget films and television programmes, products like these must be available for people to buy or rent and allows them to explore opportunities in the media industry (on the computer, through the internet.) Also, websites which provide a catch-up service for television channels can be accessed through the internet and gives a chance for consumer incorporation into the production of media products – people can leave comments on uploaded videos, email and contact the creators of particular products and make videos addressing issues they may have had with them. 
 As time goes on, consumer products are getting more practical with the amount of different things they can do - smart phones, for example, allow for consumers to watch films, play on video games, stream television shows and programmes and can stream videos onto the television screen.

Satellite and Cable:

 Satellite and cable television is accessible from the home, through a satellite dish or a cable box hooked up to the internet. This comes from various different providers who all offer different prices for varying packages for customers to choose from. For example, Sky and Virgin Media both compete in the amount of channels they provide in one package and how that package is paid for – i.e. through a subscription cost or through a one-off payment. Having various providers gives customers a choice and also allows companies to compete for the most revenue: usually resulting in better packages for more reasonable prices. Cable television is provided through cables running through the ground into homes. It’s often more reliable, as satellite can be interfered by bad weather or satellites going down – cable television doesn’t have as much of a risk of being tampered with.

Analogue and Digital:

 Analogue television and digital television are two ways in which we can receive broadcasts and watch them in the home. Analogue is the more tradition: it’s the original technology behind television which used analogue signals to transmit video and audio. Depending on the strength of the signal, the quality of video and audio will differ. Whereas, digital is the more modern version: it relies on the transmission of video and audio through a digitally processed signal which allows for multiple programmes in the same channel bandwidth. It’s generally seen as the better out of the two – every country in the world, except for North Korea, are replacing or would replace broadcast analogue television with digital television.

Internet and Interactive:

 Content online can be provided through many different sources, and the cost of these sources can cost anything from being free. The internet hosts various different torrents in which people download content they would have otherwise paid for: this is illegal, but very accessible and very rarely punished. There are many free sources which are legal, however, such as Catch-up television which gives people the opportunity, for a limited amount of time, to view programmes which have been on the television which they may have missed. Providers such as Netflix and Hitbox offer a variety of television programmes and films for a small subscription fee charged every month – this service also comes with different packages for customers to choose from. Content online can be manipulated to breach copyright laws – certain soundtracks can be taken off and royalty-free content can replace it and various other things.

 Interactive television means anything which can be manipulated by the viewers – for example, Sky’s On Demand box in which viewers can pause, record, rewind and fast-forward any content they are watching, as well as viewing catch-up television through the internet. Packages which include services such as these draw consumers in as it gives them control over when and how they view media products.

High Definition and 3D:

 Television viewers have the choice to upgrade some television so that they can view programmes and films in high definition – or HD – and 3D. Televisions which give this kind of service are generally much more expensive, though they’re not entirely recent and are already being upgraded to make the viewing experience more immersive for viewers. 3D television conveys depth to viewers, allowing for full immersion, and high definition gives much better quality audio and video, meaning that stylized films can be viewed with full immersion.
 3D has been growing in popularity since it's introduction in 1922, and it's 'rebirth' in the 1960's. Avatar, 2009, was renowned for it's use of 3D technology when it came out - and was marketed largely on it's visuals.

Pay per view, On-Demand Viewing, Streaming and Digital Recorders:

 Content can be viewed in many different ways, usually for quite a small price. For example, pay per view is a service which provides episodic viewing for a small cost as opposed to paying for a subscription service or for the product as whole in order to view it anytime. This can be accessed through either the internet or the television – Amazon Prime is an online provider of such products. On-Demand viewing is similar except that the programmes and films can be viewed anytime. On Demand is a subscription fee, and comes with the chance to pause, fast forward, rewind and record certain shows. Streaming content online can come from various different providers, either a legal source or illegal. An example of a legal source is YouTube, in which some television providers offer short videos or clips from their programmes, or sometimes entire programmes. Re-uploads from people who don’t own the content is an example of illegal streaming, as well as illegal movie websites. Digital recorders refers to boxes which you can hook up to your television and record programmes from the same provider. Digital recorders can be used to record programmes and then upload them to streaming/torrent websites for people to watch illegally.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Digital_television

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Analog_television

The Nature and Purpose of Research in the Creative Media Industries

Research is a very important aspect of film and television production as it gives the creators an insight into what their target audience is interested in, what's trending amongst consumers around the world, giving them an initial idea of how much the production will cost and the best time to plan filming.
 Research can be done both quantitatively and qualitatively and involves both primary and secondary methods of collecting which means gathering information yourself, for example, through surveys, one-to-one interviews, taking pictures etc; and secondary, which means collecting pieces of information from resources you have looked into rather than gathered yourself, for example, in a non-fiction books, observations etc.
Primary Research:
 For our Obsessions documentary, we emailed people a survey with a mix of open and closed questions, which meant we allowed people to give their own interpretations and expand on their answers so we could gather more in-depth information about the topic. In addition to this, our topic needed people who were very passionate about certain subjects, and therefore the survey allowed people to tell us if they were interested in anything that we could interview and use in the documentary.
 The other form of primary research was actually conducted for our interviews. We asked around for people who considered their passions to be 'obsessions' and asked them if they would appear in our documentary. Then, during the filming process, we conducted a short interview involving 5 questions about their personal obsession and gave them a mixture of open and closed questions. For example, "What is your obsession?" and "How did your obsession start?"
Secondary Research:
 Secondary research for our documentary involved watching other 3 Minute Wonders which followed the a similar narrative style in order to explore our possibilities for filming. This allowed us to become aware of the style in which we wanted to present our topic - whether we wanted to be critical about it and how involved we wanted to be with the documentary, whether we wanted to be on screen for example.
 There are different types of 3 Minute Wonders which all get across different views about their specific topics, depending on the way which they're presented. For the most part, the documentary-makers do not make up a large part of the documentary but rather remain an observer, asking  questions and exploring the topic. Sometimes they're the central person, and they focus on something which they're personally interested in.
Quantitative Research:
 Quantitative research is research which focuses on numbers - it's data which can measured and is therefore a handy way of looking at closed questions, such as the age of the person taking the survey and the gender. This is a useful part of surveys as it allows for producers to become aware of their target audience and the people who are mainly interested in what they're trying to produce and sell.
 For our survey, we gathered the ages and genders of the people who answered the questions. In larger productions, or for advertising purposes, and - outside of the media - medical and political information, they might include ethnicity in the general information section as it allows them to explore the opinions of varying backgrounds and see what trends come across in group's of people and therefore who they should target their product at. An example of this was done in our Rebranding project, where we had to look at the initial audience for the product we were rebranding, and decide who would be the best alternative to that audience and how to appeal to them.
Qualitative Research:
 Qualitative research focuses on the opinions of people and gives a more in-depth  response and more information for the producers to work with. For our documentary, this involved getting people to give their own opinions on the topics we were looking at for our project - we asked questions which would allow them to express personal responses and expand their ideas thus giving us more of an idea of what to include in the documentary - what people were interested in and why. This kind of research was also included in our Rebranding project, where the survey we sent out asked questions such as "Would you buy this product after seeing the advert?" with an open text box with the question "Why?"
Data Gathering Agencies
 Data gathering agencies use a variety of different research methods in order to gather information to distribute to companies or the public. BARB, the Broadcasters Audience Research Board, compiles audience figures and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It's jointly owned by the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, the TC companies and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, and uses a tracking system on participating viewers' digital box in order to monitor the programmes and channels they watch. Another popular example of a data gathering agency is IMDB, which collects reviews, ratings and information about television and film products submitted by the public.
The purposes of research: 
Audience and Market Research
 Gathering information from audiences through different methods allows companies to release and change products which hit their target audience in the best way possible. For our own research, we sent out a survey to people in the class to find out their opinions on the topic we were exploring for our documentary - obsessions. It asked about their own obsessions, the view they have on people with obsessions and what sort of questions they'd like to see in a documentary exploring the matter.
Production Research
 Production research is research which focuses on the advertisement, production and finances attached to a media product. Alongside audience and market research, it ensures that the product can gain attention from the right people and earn profits upon release. It also involves cutting down finances and getting the best locations, crew and equipment according to the cost of the production. For our own piece, we used a location recce to dwindle down our options for filming locations, leaving us with the best options.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcasters%27_Audience_Research_Board