Unit 1: Research Techniques

Unit 1.1

Understand purposes of research in the media industries

Market research
Audience data: Collecting data on any television show or film showing allows the producers of said film/TV show to gauge opinions on their film/TV show before the product is to be released. As well as this, television stations would collect data on their audience viewing figures in order to find out how successful o particular show might be on a daily or weekly basis, this data is collected (in this country) by BARB or the British Audience Research Bureau. BARB collects the viewing figures or “ratings” for many popular shows that are shown across the country. To do this, BARB take 8000 homes across the nation and install a special TV “black box” to log what the people are watching, this is then averaged to the whole population and is displayed as a nationwide viewing statistic. Below is an example of BARB research.

http://www.barb.co.uk/tvfacts.cfm?fullstory=true&includepage=share&flag=tvfacts

The actual table does not translate into the blog properly, so the link is used instead.

Audience awareness: the awareness of the audience is whether the audience really know what they are watching, as well as if the know anything about the genre of the production.
Product reach: A program’s product reach simply means what range of people are watching, for example a show like eastenders or coronation street would have a wider product reach than a show such as family guy, or the real hustle, which would have considerably smaller product reaches.

Audience profiling: This is another type of audience data, however, audience profiling looks in general at who the audience is made up of, such as the average age group of the audience members, such as there being more people aged 18-35 than people aged 50+; whether there are more men or women in the audience or even what ethnicity the audience members are, this profiling helps to define a programs target audience and show which programs are popular with certain groups of society.
Consumer behavior: the consumer behavior is how the viewer watches and reacts to the production, such as recording shows, watching on the internet, or buying the DVD’s

Consumer attitudes: the attitudes of the consumer depend on where the consumer is from, such as in Europe, we have a more liberal attitude to the content of TV shows whereas in the USA, the general attitude is more right-wing and strict, that is why the FCC gets so many complaints about programs on a daily basis.

Competitor analysis: Some program makers collect information on rival channels or shows in order to know how to attract more viewers from their rival. This is commonplace, especially during the popular prime-time slots on Saturday nights in particular; there are two main channels which are involved in this competition with each other: BBC one and ITV one, this is one reason the shows tend to show their biggest shows of the year at the same time, trying to gain the other channels viewers.
Advertising placement: By subtly placing real life products into the television show, they are increasing popularity in said product, making their makers millions. This advertising or “product placement” allows companies such as coca-cola, Cadbury or walkers to get their products advertised during the show; this means that in 40 years time, if the trend of product placement continued, shows would simply revolve around several non-related products and have nothing to do with any form of story-line whatsoever.

Advertising effects: advertising effects men whether the advertisement has had an effect on its target audience, for example, an advert for a movie would try to gain the effect of making people want to see the movie.
Production research

Content. A program’s content refers to what the program is; for example, the plot, characters and locations to name a few. The content of a show is what makes it attractive to the viewer, and is also why shows with modern and controversial story-lines as well as well known characters and locations do so well for so long.
Resources:

Personnel. The personnel could refer to any member of the TV crew, from the director to the actors to the stagehand.
Talent. Talent specifically refers to the actors and actresses who star in the production, getting “star talent” means getting a very well known actor or actress to star in the production.
Finance. The finance a program or film has is basically how much money they have, and what they need to spend it on to be successful.

Suppliers. Suppliers supply the producers of a film or TV show with the sets, props, and anything else the crew will need.
Facilities. The facilities a production uses are the studio the production is filmed in, as well as where the production is filmed using “on location” instead of CGI back grounding
Locations. If a film or TV show needs to be filmed outdoors, the crew will film “on location” meaning at a location away from a studio or set.
Logistical support. A production usually needs a team of “logistical support” to move the necessary equipment from location to location, another name for logistical support team is teamsters or roadies

Costs. The cost of a production is obviously how much it cost to make.

Viability. The viability of a production is its ability to survive throughout a period of time, a program survives by gaining enough viewers to keep themselves on the air, another way a program can survive is by offending as little amount of people as possible.

Publication. The publication of a production includes how, when and where the production will be released for viewing; movie premiers for example, are shown usually only in one city around the world once, before it is published in to the mainstream.
Broadcast. The broadcast of a production is where it is shown to as many people as possible, usually through terrestrial television, in order to make as many people as possible to watch it.

Podcast. A podcast is a production made available to download on iTunes to people’s iPods.

Webcast. A webcast is a broadcast entirely on the Internet, usually through the makers personal website.

Audience. The audience view the production; there are many types of audience, from live studio to television only.

Competition. Competition in television is the other chows which are competing for the same audience, whoever manages to attract the most audience generally ‘wins’ the competition for that time slot.

Unit 2: Pre-production

Pre Production Table

Unit 7: Understanding the TV and Film Industries

Unit 7.1

Media: TV and Film industries

There are five channels that are available to all people; regardless of if they own a digital box or not. These channels are: BBC One and Two, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Five. If there is no digital box attached to a TV, then these channels are received by analogue signals, instead of digital. Free-view is a new, digital provider, that only charges once for the purchase of the set-top box and nothing else, the name free-view, as well as the technology and service, is owned by a company called DTV services. The company uses the free-view boxes to promote free digital television services as a whole and those services operated by companies that are part of the free-view consortium share holders. 1

Satellite television is also a form of digital TV, however, the company that provides this (BskyB) charges for both the set-top box, but also monthly, for the channel sets that are available to the consumer, as well as this, BskyB also charge people for what is known as “pay-per-view” services, this can cover anything from: Films, to sporting events as well as some other different types of programming. Below is a screenshot from the BskyB corporate website 2, showing some key fact and figures about their service.

Because digital television is becoming so popular, the analogue television service is being permanently replaced by digital; however, this change is gradual, and is happening at different times depending on what region of the UK you live in. There is a map on the website: http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch where the times of the digital switchover are being shown by region.

This is the data I received when I researched when the switchover is happening in Yorkshire. The website has given me the: Year of switch, Transmitter I am receiving signals from, other transmitters in the region

There are some new products from the service providers that enable people to pause, rewind, and record live television. In total there are three, although only two are available here in the UK, they are: Sky+, V+ and TiVo. Sky+ and V+ are the two different services available here, whereas TiVo is only available in the USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Taiwan; These services allow people to pause and record live TV, as well as record whole Series, and rewind shows up to an hour, depending on whether the person had changed the channel or not. Interactivity in television has grown significantly; there are phone-in voting and competitions, where people can influence their favorite shows e.g. voting people off of the show (Big Brother, X Factor and other talent/reality shows.) Also, accessing the “red button” feature of TV; which is only available on a minority of channels, people can to a separate “channel” where previously inaccessible features become available to the viewer, such as choosing the specific programming to watch for that service – this is used a lot during major sporting events shown on the BBC, so that you could choose what event you wanted on the Olympics, or which teams to watch for the Euro or the World cups.

Now, people, or “consumers” can watch TV on the internet, a wide variety of websites offer the ability of watching shows from either their channel: BBC, ITV, C4 or watch episodes of a particular show: Family guy X, South park zone, Family guy now. Sadly, not all of these sites are legal, and many have been shut down due to the sharing of video files illegally, one example of an illegal website is the former video website TV links, which was shut down by UK authorities (see news clipping below) however, a lot of legal video sharing sites have survived, for instance, Family guy X, no longer host their own videos, but instead provide links to websites which are legally allowed to show the videos.

(Probably the most popular video streaming site around has been busted by UK authorities. It's a sad day for streaming video fans everywhere as news has been reported that TV Links has been shut down and the owner, a 26 year old man from Cheltenham in the UK, was arrested. Though not hosting an actual content himself, and rather merely providing links to where particular titles can be found, he was nonetheless apparently charged for the "facilitation" of copyright infringement. "Sites such as TV Links contribute to and profit from copyright infringement by identifying, posting, organizing, and indexing links to infringing content found on the internet that users can then view on demand by visiting these illegal sites," said a spokesman for Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) today. What makes the charges so odd is that he was again, only providing LINKS to pirated content, and never actually hosted anything. Can linking really be considered "facilitation?" If I link to TV Links am I then a co-conspirator?)

It is mostly free to watch TV on the internet, but some websites can charge for the download of TV episodes, so that you pay, but keep the file for as long as you want it, a service from the music download giant iTunes, where people can download their favourite TV episodes, or a whole series, for their video iPod. Although, there have been a lot of issues with the cost of these videos, as I researched, the price of one television episode is £1.89 and a whole series of a program is closer to £30, this is a very high price as some TV DVD box sets are between £15 and £20, so the money issue does come into play there.

Because of the vast range of channels now available to people, there are no longer massive audience figures. If I compare two viewing charts, one from this week and one from 1998, I will be able to compare how audiences have become fragmented over the course of 10 years.

Audience reach for week 8/11/98

As you can see, the weekly reach for terrestrial TV is 92.5%, also the “other viewing” or digital channels in the chart is only 29% of the total weekly reach of UK audiences. Now, I will compare these results to today, week ending, 26/10/08 6
Audience reach for week 26/10/08


The data I have found here, shows that the total share of “other viewing” has risen by around 27% and the weekly reach of digital channels has risen to 77.3%

Media Case study – BBC

The BBC is Britain’s only pure public service broadcaster; this means that none of the money that the BBC receives is made from advertising, all of the money that the BBC makes and earns is from either the government, or the television licence fees, this money is paid by the viewers and goes towards all of the programs and wages of all of the people who work at the BBC.
The channels of the BBC

The BBC has branched out significantly since the days of BBC 1 and 2. Now there are over 15 TV and Radio channels available to people with digital TV, whether that be on Sky, Free view or Virgin media. However, I will focus on the four main BBC channels, as these are the most important to a television case study. The channels are listed below with descriptions of the general content of each channel.

• BBC1: One of the flagship channels from the BBC, this channel now shows more entertainment than BBC 2, and also covers the news, and formal and serious events in government and society.
• BBC2: The second of the main channels, BBC 2 has a lot more programming like documentaries and factual programming.
• BBC three: BBC three is an entertainment channel, which shows a lot more “young” and other youth culture programming, this is known as the “niche” channel for the BBC.
• BBC four: BBC four is another Niche channel, but the programming shown on this channel is more focused on the drama and older generation programming, this would attract the opposite audience to BBC 3, which I think is the desired effect.

Recent controversy in the BBC

Recent controversy in the BBC stems from the incident involving rigged phone-in votes, where people’s votes for shows such as strictly come dancing as well as other shows, including blue peter, were rigged and people were charged for no reason. Also; the amount of complaints from the incident involving both Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand on Brand’s BBC radio 2 show, where inappropriate comments were left on the actor Andrew Sachs’ answering machine; even more complaints were received when on the popular show Top Gear, the presenter, Jeremy Clarkson, made a joke about lorry drivers and how they have a hard job to do. “This is a hard job to do and I’m not just saying that, its always, change gear, change gear, check your mirrors, change gear, change gear, murder a prostitute, change gear, change gear, change gear, check, murder. It’s really difficult” 7

Footnotes:

1: From www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(UK)
2: From www.corporate.sky.com/about_sky/key_facts_and_figures.htm
3: From http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch
4: From http://www.bbc.co.uk/digital/tv/tv_interactive.shtml
5: From http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9066/TVLinks+Shut+Down,+Owner+Arrested!
6: From http://www.barb.co.uk/viewingsummary/weekreports.cfm?RequestTimeout=500&report=total
7:From top gear, series 12 episode 1, Jeremy Clarkson

Media Television and film industries

Funding in the TV industry

A public service broadcaster, or a PSB, is a TV channel, which is not funded in any way by advertising. The only true PSB in Britain is the BBC; and the BBC makes money only, through the television license fees, which are paid by everyone in the UK who own a TV. Because the BBC are not funded by companies advertising, they do not need to worry about ratings, and losing funding from low ratings, this is mostly why the BBC is free to broadcast shows that might not be popular with the lowest common denominator of our society. Programs such as documentaries, topical quiz shows and other informative programming are mostly only available on the BBC because they are obliged to inform, educate and entertain. If these criteria are not met by any shows, they cannot be shown on the BBC. One such example of a show not fulfilling these criteria of the BBC is fame academy, which was cancelled after one series because it was deemed not to fulfill more than one of the criteria required to be shown on the BBC the three criteria are essential in making sure that shows are of the right standard to be shown on the BBC.
Considering the future of the PSB system, there were a lot of talks on the integrity of the BBC and how it should remain to be run the same, as it was when it was founded. Several people, considered legendary to the BBC; including Sir David Attenborough and Will Hutton all gave speeches on how the BBC was a piece of British heritage that we could not afford to lose, the other speech, given by Stephen Fry, a man who has appeared in many of the BBC’s most popular shows, as well as creating some of the most powerful and intriguing documentary series, most recently of which: Stephen Fry in America.
The other form of funding usually found in the UK is advertising; channels sell small spaces of airtime to companies who want to show people their products. The problem with this system is that if a show does not attract enough viewers, the companies will pull their adverts, costing the channel a lot of money, eventually leading to the show being pulled from the channel. This problem means that shows, which do not appeal to the lowest common denominator of the people, would not last on these channels, and the only shows that can survive are often shallow talent contests.

There is a different form of advertising, that has been banned in most countries for its use of subliminal messaging; a method of advertising that transmits messages to people without them noticing, but still absorbing the information. The use of subliminal messaging in the form of product placement is still widespread in the USA, as the practice has not yet been outlawed. An example of how product placement can be shown on TV is the film: The Truman Show, which is based on a reality show that advertises companies’ products through product placement.

However, one channel that uses the advertising system, channel 4, is now receiving some of the TV license fees from the BBC; this is mostly because channel 4 is struggling to survive in recent years. This means that channel 4 is funded by a hybrid system. The money that channel 4 needs is because of the advertisers pulling out of the commercial time, due to unpopular shows, this would usually cripple any channel, but the BBC decided to help out and make sure that the channel can continue
The third way that channels are funded is subscription, many of the sky channels: sky movies, sky sports etc are funded by the monthly fees that are paid by the viewer. In America, one of the most well known channels HBO (Home box office) began as a way for people to order films from the channel, but eventually began to get some of the most famous and skilled producers and directors to work for them, creating shows such as the sopranos and more recently little Britain USA. The subscription fees are varied depending on the package the viewer receives.

The film I have created above, is about different aspects of the TV and film industry. it was made using iMovie and the audio was used from different soundtrack CD’s supplied by the media department. i made the video in accordance with the task, however, most of the others in my class did not create a movie, but did a presentation and filmed themselves doing the presentation.

Unit 21: Single-camera Techniques

Task 1:

(P1,M1,D1)

The single camera format, simply means the use of only one camera during filming of a TV show or film, the camera is needed to be reset, and moved for every new shot to be taken, if a scene with 2 people needs to be shot, for example, several scenes in The Office, the camera can either move between the characters, or the camera can film one character’s dialogue, then film the other; allowing the editor to splice and merge the shots together into a single scene. The multi-camera format is also very simple, as several cameras shoot one scene simultaneously. An example of this is the TV show everybody loves Raymond, the show is created using several cameras, and then these shots are cut and put together in the editing process to finish the scene.

There are several advantages of single camera filming, for example, single camera is more popular than ever in modern television, with shows such as scrubs, 30 rock, peep show and the office all using single camera filming techniques. Another advantage is the ability to achieve specific shots and angles, as well as visual set pieces.

However, multiple camera setups are a lot cheaper, and they allow for lees editing time, therefore, most talk shows are filmed through multiple camera setups, this is also because the range of perspectives needed to show a group of hosts as well as the audience requires a lot of cameras to do without cutting and moving the camera, this makes live talk shows impossible in a single camera format.

Examples of single camera TV shows include scrubs, the office (both the UK and the US versions), my name is earl, 30 rock and Peep show. Examples of multi camera TV shows are very different, including the view, loose women, the Paul o Grady show, Friday night with Jonathan Ross and Mock the week.



Task 2:

(P1, M1, D1)

In narratives, there are 3 different formats of the run of the show. These are series, serial and single.

A series is the run of a show, lasting a number of weeks, depending of course on the number of episodes that the show runs for. Shows such as 24, the Simpsons and Lost fall into this category. As the current series is shown for a period of weeks over the year. This then may repeat year after year, but eventually this ends and the series is no longer created. However, the show may be repeated, playing old episodes on a daily/weekly basis for as long as the network desires. Therefore, this can be technically stretched into a serial narrative, even though the storylines never keep in with this.

A serial narrative is where the program’s story runs continuously, with story arcs ending and new ones starting all of the time, leading to an evolving story that runs throughout the “universe” of the show parallel to that of the real world. Most TV shows of this genre are “soap operas” or more widely known as “soaps” popular shows such as Coronation Street and Eastenders are in this category.

Finally, the single drama is a one off broadcast, very similar to a film, providing there are no sequels. As the story of these programs begins and ends within the first broadcast; this type of narrative, a closed ending narrative, is more used in shows such as Christmas specials of existing series, including the office and Gavin and Stacey.

Task 3

(P1, M1, D1)

Shows such as the sopranos and 24 have linear narratives, they operate in real time to the viewer, for example, in 24, each episode is one hour in the timeline of the series, as well as this, the 24 episodes of each season are chronological, meaning the linear narrative follows 24 hours of the show.

The opposite of a linear narrative, nonlinear uses flashbacks/flash forwards to break the linearity of the narrative, be this to reveal previously unknown information, such as the back-story of a character, or to confuse the viewer with random time lurches forward and backward in time; showing different characters, in their story arcs, interacting with future story arcs that are designed to tell the stories of the show in a severely broken manner, a la Lost. This makes the viewer think a lot in order to comprehend what is going on. This type of narrative is not usually seen anymore due to the extreme nature of the delivery of information.



Flashbacks are widely used in nonlinear narratives of TV shows, this is to move the narrative out of the timescale of the original narrative, and into the past, or even future, as shown in the new TV show “Flashforward” as the global population experience a personal vision of the future, and try to work out how an why this happened, and if it will happen again. “Lost” is a notorious TV show for constantly lurching forward and backward in time to reveal information about the narrative and characters, often while raising a lot more questions about the narrative than providing answers. This extensive use of flashbacks/forwards in a non-linear narrative is not necessary to constitute a non-linear narrative, as a single example in the product would mean that it would be classified as a nonlinear narrative.



Anything in the sci-fi genre is obviously anti realist, because it is not what is real in this time. Therefore, all soaps are realist programs, as well as reality TV. Also, realist programs also tend to be objective, because you see everything in the universe of the program, inverse to the restriction of seeing the programs universe form the view of a single character. Cartoons are also anti-realist, and the inclusions of flashbacks in animation only add to the surrealism of the piece.



Open and closed ended narratives apply to the possibility, or impossibility of a sequel broadcast, or a continuation of the narrative. For example, if a film, if the narrative is to continue into another film, there will be an open-ended narrative in the previous film’s ending. But if there are to be no more films in this series, the final film will end in a closed ending narrative; meaning the story must completely end, closing all arcs into one ending, or in some cases, ending the film in an open narrative fashion, allowing for the viewer to make their own decisions about the possibilities of the story. For example, the ending to the matrix trilogy leaves a lot of the narrative unexplained, with a very open, and seemingly irrelevant scene.

A restricted narrative, forces the viewer to see the events of a story only through what the character knows, sees and thinks; a good example of this is the TV show Peep show, as the whole narrative is the lives and thoughts of two people, and their personal thoughts of their lives around them. This is very effective as a restricted narrative as you can only see and know what the two main characters know, because every scene and moment of this show revolves somehow between the two main characters. It is also restricted, as you can never see the narrative through any other character, or even as an outside entity. An example of both of these formats is Scrubs; this show follows both restricted and unrestricted narratives, as you see the events of the show following one character most of the time, but in some occurrences, you see the events of the show from a separate perspective, seeing the entire world and series of events, even those not seen by the main characters.



References:

I got all of my videos form youtube and embedded them in this blog


Task 4

(P1, M1, D1)

This analysis is on the short clip Se7en

The camera techniques used in this clip are very varied; the makers of the film use a wide range of different camera techniques to portray the balance of power between characters and the settings of the clip, for example, the use of close ups and medium angle shots on the main female character – mostly level with her face, show the viewer that the focal character of this piece is the female character. As well as this, several examples of low angle shots and varying zooms on the two male characters connote them to be dominant in the scene, a sign they are aggressors and “evil” This is also shown by the shots showing either the female character or the camera looking up to the two male characters. This is a device used to make the balance of power between characters obvious to the viewer – this is because part of the film industry is to have a hero/villain/damsel in distress this is otherwise known as the Propp theory. In this clip however, there is no hero, only a DiD and two villains, this bends the rules of this theory, and manages to change the rules in effect, making it a very interesting clip to study.

The sound in the clip consists mainly of extensive use of diagetic sound and voices, particularly passing trains and cars – because the clip is set in a train stop within a tunnel. There is little to no non-diagetic sound, this is not the case however when one of the many flashbacks in the piece is played. The people who in the present cannot hear this audio, therefore only the viewer can.

There is not much use of extensive lighting in this piece, this is because the only source of light in the clip is the sun; therefore, the light is restricted by the tunnel setting, although the film itself is not low lighted. This connotes that the lighting is medium.

Editing in this clip is used to create a very non-linear narrative, the use of flashbacks and random time lapses provide a jumpy, and non time centric timeline, this confuses the viewer, and forces them to think about how the narrative moves along, as well as how the flashbacks relate to the current narrative.
save-video.mp4

Task 5

(P1,M1,D1)

The use of modern technology has made it possible for many more broadcasters to reach an audience, so much so that the “mass audience” of 10-20 years ago no longer exists. This is because media is a lot easier to find, through the Internet, digital TV and only 3 channels. At this time, there was a “mass audience” of families who all watched the same program. As in most houses there was only one TV. In 1992an example of this “mass audience”, an astounding 20.1 million people watched an episode of only fool’s and horses. This is unheard of now, as a popular show such as the xfactor only manages to attract 13.4 million viewers. The significant drop in viewers is due to the expansion and diversification of digital television available to millions now. For example, there are over 700 sky TV channels, spanning almost all possible genres of media. Therefore, there is a wide range of entertainment that attracts almost everyone in the country, and even the world. As well as this, how people find this media has greatly changed, from digital TV, such as Virgin Media and Sky; to the internet and mobile technology. All of this and the wide range of products available on the technologies are moving and spreading the audiences, decreasing the effects of the “mass audience” in television today.

Task 6

(P1,M1,D1)

The following table was created to show examples of media consumption based on social class, this was created using a template table found below, and some research about what these classes see in the media.



The website I used to find this information is:

http://www.thinkbox.tv/server/show/nav.914

Task 7

(P1,M1,D1)

Equipment used

Camera:

Canon ZR950 small camera

Computer:

iMac 20” with OS X Leopard

Software:

iMovie HD 2008


Task 9:

Single Camera Drama production schedule





Task 10

The Silent Treatment - Final video

Task 11: Evaluation

Purpose

The purpose of our single camera drama was to create an entertaining and interesting product in the specific format of single camera. Meaning we could not use more than one camera at a time, this allowed us to avoid using pre-built sets, which would have been extremely expensive to use. I think that we managed to achieve this purpose, as we were able to create a thought-provoking piece of video cheaply and effectively with an array of effects and camera angles, allowing the audience to become more involved with the short narrative of the video.

Audience

We showed our video to the rest of our class as an audience, and the reactions were very positive. They understood the topical matter of the video, as well as showing praise towards the editing and camera work for the video. I think that the audience understood the preferred reading of the video as they gave feedback about how they could understand the characters and narrative despite the lack of dialogue in the piece.

Representation issues

The music we included in our video showed the emotional slant of the narrative, as well as how the subject matter was based on an upsetting or traumatic series of events. There was a problem with ethnic diversity, although we had both males and females in our video, in our group we could not find anyone to make the project seem more diverse.

Technical issues

The only problem we had with any of our equipment during the process of making the video was that one of the cameras we used during filming was not functioning properly, and therefore the colour of the video was not right. However, we decided to use this anyway.

Self-evaluation

I think that my part in creating the single camera drama was important, I did most of the filming for the video, as well as some of the editing as well as directing a few of the scenes. I would have liked to do more in the creation of the video, such ad helping more with the editing process, but what I did do I feel I did well.

Task 12

Risk assessment – “The Silent Treatment”

Health and safety risks –

Alcohol – we used an empty vodka bottle, however, we emptied the bottle of contents before filling with water. Therefore, there could have still been traces of alcohol in the bottle. 3

Climbing Trees – one shot in the film required Matty to climb up into a tree, this could have been dangerous as he may have fallen out of the tree and seriously injured himself. 2

Park equipment (Roundabouts, slides) – Matty almost fell off of the Roundabout while it was spinning; this could have caused an injury such as a concussion or broken bones. 3

Risk assessment grid –
VU U P L VL
VS 3 4 4 5 5
S 2 3 3 3 5
M 2 2 3 3 3
L 1 2 2 3 3
N 1 1 2 2 3

The grid categorises the severity and likelyhood of risks on a 1-5 basis.

Unit 22: Multi-camera Techniques

Task 1: Define multi camera techniques

What kinds of programmes use multi camera

What is the advantages of using multi camera

Explain how studios use multi camera

The use of multiple cameras to record a program simultaneously was pioneered by the american sitcoms of the 50's, 60's and 70's. Shows such as Seinfeld, Friends and Three's company all used the multi camera setup. Most multi camera programmes are also filmed in front of a live audience, this allows for the programme makers to gauge the reaction of the audience in terms of popularity and lasting appeal of the show. This provides an advantage over single camera programmes as it allows the networks to avoid a lengthy audience testing process as it is done within the filming of the show. It also allows the editing process of the show to be drastically reduced as most of the required shots for the final product are filmed simultaneously.

TV Studios use multi camera in a very specific way, for example, the sets are constructed in a very open way, in a similar fashion to a dollhouse. As on wall is missing, allowing the cameras and in some cases audience to see into the set very clearly. Single camera formats do not need this, as the need for only one camera means that the programme could be filmed almost anywhere, with 360 degree availability; this disadvantage is a part of the reason that there are not as many multi camera programmes being made anymore, as a revival of single camera setups are being used as the dominant format for TV production.

The set is designed for the numerous cameras to be able to capture the whole scene simultaneously.

Task 2: Multi camera techniques

Camera angles

Camera movement

Transitions

Videos effects

Camera positioning

Conveying meaning

Maintain viewer interest

Multi camera clips:

Kraftwerk - awards ceremony

The camera at first flies around the stage showcasing the lighting effects and the performers on stage, it then cuts to a variety of fast moving zooms and pans, that juxtapose against the almost statue like performers. A variety of shots such as wide shot, extreme close ups and tracking shots are used in combination with different angles and fasting moving zooms and transitions to keep the audience interested and feel as though, they are there watching live, it could also make the audience feel privileged as they have a wider viewing range as oppose to those in the venue being able to see just what they can from their seat.

Formula 1 - The scream of science

The shots are immediately rapid and the zooms even quicker, this makes the film seem more exciting and urgent, which will make the viewer feel giddy and interested. The clips fade in and out quickly to not give a full view of what it is they are showing, which again creates tension and enigma to maintain the viewers interest and provoke excited emotions. Sharp images flash on and off screen to build even more suspense and clips of human lungs and skulls are used to connote that the car is accelerating a man’s vital organs, depicting intense excitement and adrenaline rushes. Enigmatic images are used to create a relationship between the connotations and the cars which gives impressions about things such as speed and importance.

Task 3: Mind maps

Task 4: Production table

Task 5: Production schedule

Task 6: Health and safety

Task 7: Script

*Opening Sequence*

* Camera 2 * (Medium shot)

Eddie: Welcome to Friday World! We’ve got an awesome line-up for you this week, and the first of these features is going to be introduced by Arran.

* Camera 1 on Arran * (Close up)

Arran: Hello everybody! This film has been produced by year 13 students for their media course, we bring to you The Silent Treatment.

* Roll VT: The Silent Treatment *

* Camera 2 - Back to Arran & Eddie in the studio * (Medium Shot)

Eddie: Awesome Film. And there will be more single camera drama’s coming up in the next few weeks

Arran: Coming up now we’ve got a trailer that will take you back to your childhood. Here’s toy story 3

* Roll VT: Toy Story 3 *

* Camera 1 on Eddie * (Close up)

Eddie: Arran, what are you doing?

* Camera 2 on both * ( Medium Shot)

Arran: Well Eddie, I’m wearing this banana suit because YOU ATE MY ENCHILADAS!

* Roll VT: Enchiladas *

* Camera 1* (Close up)*

Eddie: Well that was unexpected, and quite br00tal to say the least.

* Camera 2 * (Medium Shot)

Arran: Shut up Eddie, we have breaking news! We go to our man on the ground Christian Place, Christian?

* Roll VT: Zombie Sequence *

* Camera 2 on both * (Medium Shot)

Eddie: Well this could quite possibly be the last episode of Friday world ever! So I think we should all enjoy this next video!

Arran: So here’s MC Hammer voicing his opinions on the zombies!

* Roll VT: MC Hammer – Can’t Touch This *

* Camera 2 on both * (Medium Shot)

Arran: It’s been a pleasure to be your hosts, I’m Arran

Eddie: And I’m Eddie

Arran: Goodbye!

* Outro *

Task 9: Evaluation

Purpose

The purpose of our product was to create an entertaining show for our target audience, mostly from the lower years of school. This is due to the general lack of interest of the higher years in the school. We created the program to include material created by students in our group to use as part of our show. This included a few videos that we had created for our single camera unit. In my opinion, I think that we achieved our purpose as our multi camera production was one of the most successful of our class. I saw the reactions to the product from the audience and they seemed very positive towards our show.

Audience

While working with the Visual mixer. I received first hand feedback from the audience, as i caught their initial reactions to our videos. The audience were vastly in support of our show, the Toy Story 3 trailer proved to be extremely popular with a wide range of the audience, from year 7's and Sixth formers alike greatly enjoyed the videos used in our product. Another great audience reaction was in response to our Zombie video, this video, which featured a presenter and scientist reporting on missing bodies, used a parodical slant to the satire we used on the zombie/horror genre. This appealed to our audience, regardless of age. We attracted the audience's attention at the end of the 15 minute show, in which we played MC Hammer's 'Can't touch this', the video had the audience on their feet dancing along as the show closed. In my opinion, the general audience reaction to our show, was largely positive, huge amount of the audience grasped the preferred reading of our overall show, which was a comedic and fun fueled experience. Although, the audience's ages were between 11 and 18, so there's bound to be a few students who will take a negotiated view towards some of the material which we incorporated in the show. We attempted to be as diverse as possible, including serious material, such as The Silent Treatment VT which followed a young woman who tries to deal with bullying, problems with her boyfriend and alcohol abuse. But, there will be others who have opposed views towards some of our video's, who will not enjoy them at all, but would stick around to see other video's such as the Zombie VT.

Representation issues

In our show we strived to make the product as diverse and balanced as possible in order to show that we would not discriminate in our group or in any of our products. We showed this by involving people with our videos and our final product who were of both genders as well as different ethnical backgrounds, without using any of the stereotypes associated with gender and race.

Technical issues

as we had all had some experience using all of the relevant technology we needed to create the show. However, there was a glitch in the computer that caused some of the sound to not play properly, meaning we had to quickly restart the VT to make it work properly.

Conventions/Narrative

In our product we had to make the show entertaining and accessible to the younger members of our school, therefore we did not include too much complex dialogue or other elements that would have been too advanced for the younger students. We also had to refrain form using any profane language or gestures, that we may have gotten away with had the audience been comprised of older students.

Self evaluation

I think that my personal performance as a part of a team was very good, as I managed to react to pressure during the computer error as well as professionally operate the machinery in order to ensure that the show ran smoothly in conjunction with the sound operator.