Wednesday 21 September 2016

Wednesday 7 September 2016

Norfolk Production Companies

JMS Group
The JMS Group, originally called John Mountford Studios, was founded in September of 1983 by John Mountford in Norfolk. Since then the company has grown and now has a team of 14 workers and specialise in advertisement. They have worked with companies such as Anglian Water, Sky and Disney on Ice.

One advert they made was for Disney Frozen Dresses designed by Rubies. The advert features two girls in fancy dress that are designed like the two main characters from the popular Disney animation Frozen (Anna and Elsa). 

The Nature and Purpose of Research

Types/Methods of Research

Primary Research/Self-Generated Research
Primary research is research that is gathered first hand usually through interviews, questionnaires e.c.t that are related to the subject area. When I was gathering primary research for my documentary I put together a questionnaire and sent it out and then bought the feedback together to create my research.
Secondary Research
Secondary research is research that is gathered for other sources such as books, newspapers, internet forums e.t.c. that are related to the subject area. When I was collecting secondary research for my documentary I used newspapers and projects with the same aim. For the research related to my TV advert I used websites, like the official magnum page. Another way I produced secondary research was through watching pieces that were either about the same thing or had similar filming and editing techniques.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is information that is gathered from film/television program ratings, CD and DVD ratings, e.t.c. This type of research is more about numbers and calculations that are made after the release of a media product.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research is information that is gathered from reviews, discussions (e.g. forums), e.t.c. This type of research is more about ideas and opinions. When I was doing research for my documentary I looked at tourist reviews and blogs about living in Gorleston.
Data Gathering Agencies
BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is a database that puts all ratings for media products in one place. The IMDB (The Internet Movie Database) is a website that collects information, including reviews, cast & crew lists, e.t.c. and puts them together to make a profile for films, television programs and video games. Other research agencies include TNS Global, Green Book, Live Minds and many more. 

Purpose of Research

Audience and Market Research
When doing research into the audience and market for my TV advert I watched Magnum adverts, read reviews about the product and searched through their website. From doing this I was able to decide what their demographic and psychographic was. I decided what audience I wanted to aim the advert at and did further research into the best ways to target that specific audience.
Production Research
Throughout all of the projects I conducted research into budgeting (how much things would cost and how to make them affordable). Another thing I did throughout was location recces. A location recce is done before filming starts, it involves going to locations and checking how suitable it is to film in. These recces also help create a risk assessment allowing us to prepare for any incidents that make occur. 

Friday 1 July 2016

3MW Feedback

Some excellent work in this unit and a well-though through and well produced documentary.

You have comprehensively explained issues relating to factual television programmes with elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly.

You have comprehensively explained codes and conventions of factual programmes with elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly.

You were able to plan and research a factual programme for television to a quality that reflects near-professional standards, showing creativity and flair and working independently to professional expectations.

You have produced a factual programme for television to a technical quality that reflects near-professional standards, showing creativity and flair and working independently to professional expectations.

An excellent springboard for next years work.

Finished 3MW Documentary

An Introduction to the News

Part 1

I watched the BBC Look East Evening News that was broadcast on the 30th of June 2016 at 6.30pm.
The stories that were covered are listed below in chronological order:
East Anglian Devolution
·         Recruitment Prices of Teachers
·         The Sentence Dealt to Kevin Toye for the Manslaughter of his son
·         Bernard Matthews changing hands
·         Gala Dinner
·         Battle of the Somme Remembrance Services
·         Brexit Effects on Local Tourism

·         British Art Show Coming to Norwich

The opening sequence included a quick overview of the main story lines and iconic scenes from the local area (East Anglia) including the pier and farming. I think that an overview was used in the opening sequence so that the audience’s interest is engaged from the very start and could be held throughout the episode and the iconic scenes were used to reinforce that the segment was about the local area and news that affects the people that live there.

Part 2

The main two newsreaders were Susie Flower-Watt (picture on the left), female aged 47, and David Whiteley (picture below on the right), male aged 39. Other news readers included Andrew Sinclair (male, political correspondent), Alex Dunlop (male), Richard Bond (male, business correspondent), Gareth George (male), Shaun Peel (male), Mike Liggins (male), and Alex Dolan (female, weather reporter). 

The role of a newsreader is to present a storyline to the public informatively so that everyone in the audience is able to understand. Some stories may allow them to give an opinion, however usually the only opinions that are mentioned throughout the story are from the people that are interviewed.
Every news reader must have effective communication skills, be enthusiastic about everything they have to present where they disagree with the story or not, and have strong verbal skills in whatever language they are presenting in.

Part 3

The term “ordering” when used in the news means the order in which each story appears in the news bulletin and the list of stories compiled together is called a “running order”. The lead story is always the story which is shown first, it is selected as the lead by how important the story is to the audience. Other stories are shorter than the lead and are presented in order of interest, the stories closer to the end of the broadcast are usually of similar themes and can often be grouped together in a “news round-up”. 

It is important to think and act quickly in the news as things happen in real time, so if something happens that is more important, the running order must change straight away to fit around the new more important headline. A slow news day is a day when nothing that can be considered high priority or important so trivial stories are presented to fill the gaps.
The last story is usually a “lighter story” and is called the “and finally”. It usually ends the news on a more positive, cheery note. The term “news values” means the importance the story has and how much attention it gathered from the audience. Galting and Ruge is a list of news values that nearly every story can be categorised as.

Looking back at the news bulletin I watched the first story about the East Anglian Devolution can be categorised as both immediacy and negativity as it was the lead story in the round up and it included the fact that there was a loss of funding. The second story about the recruitment prices of teachers would fit under personalisation as it affects most people and their education. I think the story about Kevin Toye’s sentence for killing his son would come under familiarity but only because he was in fact from Norfolk so the devastation of the young boy’s death feels more close to home. The story about Bernard Matthew’s changing hands may fit under continuity as during the story it was mentioned that the company hadn’t been doing as well since the outbreak of the bird flu a few years ago. The story about the Gala Dinner will definitely be associated with elite nations/people as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were involved. Amplitude would be the category that the story about the Battle of the Somme remembrance services over a million men died during the battle and people nationwide are taking part in remembering their horrific deaths.  I think that the Brexit effecting local tourism would come under unambiguity as some people in the report were saying that it was going to have a positive effect and others were saying it was going to have a negative effect. And finally, the balance story will most definitely be the story about the British Art Show that was presented at the end.

Part 4

Bias through selection and omission means whether or not a particular story is shown and if it is how it is angled to give the audience a specific view. For example, if the news reported a story about one of the MPs that are now running for Prime Minister and they show them pushing past the camera saying “no comment” this could portray them as an aggressive person and give the audience a negative view on them, this could affect their campaign. However, if they just show a clip of them walking with a smile on their face giving the camera a wave then the audience would see them as a friendly person giving them a positive view on them.

The running order can also be affected by bias, the stories that are broadcast at the start are more important than the stories closer to the end. The running order in the Look East Broadcast that I watched had the East Anglian Devolution as the lead story making it the most important, this is usually based on the editor’s opinion and will affect the audience’s opinion.

The headline of the news story (this is usually used in the opening sequence of the broadcast) sums up the story and reflects what it is about or the feeling people have about the topic. This is a form of bias as the person who wrote the story would have chosen how to portray the piece. On the BBC website there is a story called “where did it all go wrong for Johnson?” this sums up the story, portrays it to be negative and also sticks the question into the audience’s head so that they will be curious enough to watch it.

The photos and camera angles can form bias on a story and can have a strong influence on the feel/opinion made. For example, recently a train broke down in the Eurotunnel and the photo used reminds the audience of a horror/thriller film scene; it shows a line of people walking through the tunnels with only the lights on the side of the tunnel to guide them through.



The news normally always introduces whoever is shown on screen using their name and a small description (usually a few words), whoever writes this description can affect how the audience makes their opinion of them through bias about the person. For example, in a news article about Judi Dench’s tattoo she is called “Dame Judi Dench”, if the audience doesn’t know anything about her they’ll know she has some significant importance as she was awarded the title of “Dame” by the Queen.



Another bias can take hold through the word choice used throughout the story, either giving the topic a positive or negative connotation. For example, a news story on the BBC website about how the EU Referendum might affect science wrote “a leading scientist has said UK science will suffer unless any post-
Brexit agreement allows the free movement of people” the words “leading scientist” gives the scientist a sense of importance and that he/she knows what they’re talking about so the audience feels as though they have to listen to what they are saying about the situation. The words “suffer” and “unless” creates a negative connotation and could ignite fear in the audience.



Picture Sources:

Thursday 30 June 2016

Talent Release Forms

Budgeting

Risk Assessment

Production Schedule

Location Recce

Mindmap and Proposal


I would like to make a documentary about Gorleston; more specifically what makes Gorleston a beautiful place.
It would be in the reflexive documentary style as it would be more about showing rather than telling and I feel this style is the best for this. I can focus more on what the shot includes rather than who’s in it talking about what and when.
The documentary would be aimed at people aged 16 to 24 and fit into the A - C1 as well and E demographic. The target audience would also fit into the explorer psychographic. By producing this documentary I aim to change the minds of people who don’t like it here in Gorleston; show them that it’s actually a beautiful place to be and that they only need to open their eyes to see what’s in front of them.
As the documentary is based on Gorleston I will only need to film in Gorleston therefore I won’t need any transport.
I would like to use my dog and siblings in the documentary but I won’t actually need any crew as I will only be using one camera and won’t be recording any sound.
I’d like to use 50mm 1.8 prime lens to film my whole documentary as I will be able to capture more artistic shots with a sharper quality. I will not need to buy any equipment as I can borrow the lens from the college’s AV room.
The only prop I would need to buy would be some chips and nuggets from the café at the beach to show the local foods. This will only cost a few pounds so I would propose a budget of £5.  

Secondary Research

Secondary Research 

The above news articles from the Easton Daily Press are about Gorleston, most of which include different element of valuable history about the local area.
This project is about making people aware of the potential their hometown has, this is a similar aim to how I want to direct my own documentary. Opening people’s eyes to what is in front of them is important and lots more people should get involved.
This projects is about acknowledging normal people (meaning those who aren’t famous) doing extraordinary things to help others, not for profit but out of the kindness of their hearts. The stories are shot in an expository documentary style with beautiful shots throughout of different aspects of the person’s life.

Filming in Public

Filming in public requires permission from the local authority or council, whereas if filming was to take place on someone’s land/property permission from the owner would need to be given. However, to show the outside of a place (including a company name) along with passers-by permission is not required.
If during filming any firearms, replica firearms, explosives, police officer uniforms, police vehicles permission from the local police is required. It is also required by the police and the Highways Department of the local authority if any filming is to take place on a public road.

Libel and Defamation

“Defamation is an area of law that provides a civil remedy when someone’s words end up causing harm to your reputation or your livelihood. Libel is a written or published defamatory statement.” (http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-slander-libel)
I do not think I need to consider libel or defamation when producing my documentary as my documentary I have proposed is about showing people who don’t particularly like Gorleston that it’s a beautiful place. However, if I was making a more controversial documentary then I may have to consider libel or defamation.

Ofcom Broadcasting Code

In making my documentary I believe that I am not risking infringement (“an act that disregards an agreement or a right” - https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/infringement) of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code as it will not include any offensive/abuse content of any sort, anyone involved will be given a talent release form to sign (for minors their parents will be given the form), e.c.t. I plan for my documentary to only be about showing beauty in the local area, nothing else therefore there is no risk. 

Sunday 26 June 2016

Primary Research


I asked ten people to answer a short questionnaire so I could gather some primary research about Gorleston and what people really think of it.
Eight out of the ten people that I asked said that they would be interested in watching a documentary about the local area whether they like it or not. Four out of the ten people I asked said that they don’t actually like Gorleston, these four people are the people I want to aim my documentary at. I want it to change their minds and open their eyes to what is here. 

Thursday 26 May 2016

TV adverts - final feedback

Andrea, some very good work produced here and within your group, you have created an effective re-branding adverting concept and a well-produced TV advert.

In regards to unit 2: Communication Skills for Creative Media Production (pitch and presentation):
You were able to use appropriate techniques to extract comprehensive information from written sources and present a structured detailed media production report which conveys relevant information.
Your pitch was interesting although it was clear you were nervous, but you were able to present a media production report which conveys relevant information and employed forms of address in your pitch to communicate ideas.
The pitch was visually good and you deployed and managed technology to pitch a media production proposal effectively and with some imagination.
I would like you to improve on your grade by re-doing your pitch and presentation. The presentation is there, you just need to be more confident when you deliver your pitch.

In regards to unit 30: Advertisement Production for Television:
Within your TV advert analysis, you were able to explain structures and techniques of TV advertisements with reference to detailed examples and with generally correct use of subject terminology.
Working within your group, you were able originate and develop an idea for a TV advertisement showing creativity and flair whilst working independently. You produced a TV advertisement to a technical quality that reflects near professional standards, showing creativity and flair and working independently to professional expectations.
Your evaluation was also detailed and you explained your own TV advertisement production work with reference to detailed illustrative examples and generally correct use of subject terminology.

Tuesday 10 May 2016

3 Minute Wonder Research

Sawyer Hartman does a series of reflexive documentaries on YouTube called “Thru My Eyes”. He shows beautiful places that he explores through the eye of a camera lens for his follows to enjoy along with him. This style of documentary is captivating in each of its shot types.

Joshua Tree, CA:



Joshua Tree, CA is made up of mostly slow motion shots of specific beauties. I like how the smallest details have been captures, for example the markings on the dog’s tongue and the grooves in the rocks. The cinematography of every single second has been thought out and shot to a high quality which allows the audience to fully appreciate the magnificence of nature.

Santa Barbara, CA:

I like this one because the editing is done to the beats of the music, the shots change quite but they all have enough screen time. One of my favourite things about this one is that he uses different lenses to improve certain shots. For example, he used a fish eye lens to capture the trees close to the start of the piece. 

The Girl of Your Dreams:



I think this one may be my favourite out of all of Sawyer’s series as even though the whole video is about a beautiful woman it also captures beauties around Malibu. He has captured things that people usually take for granted and shone a massive well deserved light on them. The slow motion of the piece gives the shots a sort of breath taking effect on the audience. 



In all of Sawyer’s documentaries he enhances the colours in the shots to make them more vibrant. This is common when he has shots of flowers, animals and sun sets. Also, most of his pieces are made up mostly of slow motion shots. His cuts are usually quicker
and a little jumpy when the drum beats of the song used are more prominent.


Sunday 24 April 2016

Evaluation

Section 1:
The brief we were given was to take one of Unilever’s current products and rebrand it through an advert. My group decided to rebrand the classic magnum ice cream and we developed our ideas together as our ideas from the Prezi presentations were very similar ideas for two of us in the group.
The current demographic for Magnum Ice Cream is women aged between 18 and 28 with a high income fitting into the A, B or C1 demographic. As both of our original ideas were aimed at an E demographic aged 65 and older it just made sense to keep this idea when merging our ideas together.


Section 2:
The message of the advert was to show older people that the much loved ice cream is a piece of nostalgia on a stick and I think we did this successfully but using the effect of the clips and the montage of the old man watching the memory.
In most if not all of the official Magnum advert they have quick cuts throughout clips which work successfully for the feel of the advert, so in the editing this was applied to try and make it look like an authentic Magnum advert. There are also slow fades between some of the clips and photos to add a reminiscent feel to the final piece and this should appeal to the desired older target audience. We used a royalty free song from www.bensound.com, this song was chosen as it doesn’t sound rushed or too slow it works well with the original idea we had for our advert. At the end of the advert we had a voice over of the old man who starred in it saying the slogan of “taking you back to the good ole days”. To start with we had both the younger and older men in the advert saying the line at the same time but when we watch it back all together it didn’t flow right with or sound partially nice so we decided it would be best to just have the old man in the voice-over.
I think that the advert successfully appeals to the target audience through the specific shots. Everyone wishes for a love that lasts forever and I think that the advert appeals to those older people who are lucky enough to have had this and remembers the “good ole days” of the past when they first met the love of their life.
I don’t think that the advert looks very professional however I do think that it complies with advertising regulations. For example it doesn’t undermine national dietary improvements or use any offensive language/racism of any kind. (BCAP code).

Section 3:
Our advert stuck to the shot list and storyboards pretty strictly, most of the shots are exactly the same. I feel that the final advert does reflect and appeals to our desired target audience for the rebrand.

I’m not as satisfied as I’d like to be with the final advert as I’d like to be and I feel like this is because I felt quite rushed throughout the whole project and I also personally don’t feel as though I contributed as much as I should have. 

Magnum Advert

Risk Assessment

Location Release Form

Talent Release Forms

Tuesday 2 February 2016

DepicT! Assignment 1 - Final Feedback

Well done - excellent piece of work. Glad you have made the improvements needed - a distinction grade well deserved.

Wednesday 13 January 2016

Unilever Research

In the 1930s Unilever was formed by Margarine Unie and the Lever Brothers.The twentieth century saw the company expand and form with other companies such as Lipton and Best Foods. Currently Unilever owns about 400 different brands which all contribute to "helping people to look good, feel good and get more out of life" which is the company's aim.

Unilever focus on three types of brands:

  1. Food and Drink
  2. Home Care
  3. Personal Care
So this means that most household items are related to Unilever in some shape or form whether people realise or not.

Specific brands owned by Unilever:
Food and Drink

In households where cooking from scratch and baking is popular a well known brand that will most likely be found somewhere in the kitchen (whether that be the fridge or the cupboard) is Stork. Stork is an alternative to butter known as margarine
Stork was introduced in the 1920s, the name disappeared during food rationing in World War Two and then came back in 1954 when the rationing had finished and is still a popular household staple. 


Pot Noodle is a brand which is specifically popular with "our nation's youth" and was put on the shelves in 1977. The idea originated in Japan as "cup noodles" and now most students stock them as easy and cheap meals.
Over the last few years Pot Noodle has successfully reduced the amount of salt and can proudly say that there are no artificial colours or preservatives in their products.
Due to successful and creative advertising Pot Noodle has received a "Cannes Gold Award in Digital Media, Gramia Award, Silver at the British Television Advertising Awards and Campaign Magazines Top Ten best ads 2011."

Ben and Jerry's was originally established in an old petrol station by these two best friends in the year of 1977. The grew and became a global company over the next 23 years.
In 2000 Ben and Jerry's joined Unilever and this aided them to provide more flavors to more people all over the globe.
Excluding the new Core range, Ben and Jerry's has about 64 different flavors, ranging from Half Baked to Vanilla Fudge Chip.



Home Care

In 1969 Comfort was launched and was the first UK fabric conditioner. Comfort was re-branded in the 1990s and this included "a new logo and more modern packaging and the first fully biodegradable formulation, followed with the introduction of Comforts first hypoallergenic fabric conditioner."
Comfort has re-formulated their products a few times over the last 7 years to unsure the highest quality and scents. As well as doing research into skin care and is recognised for their work by The British Skin Foundation.

Surf was originally manufactured by "a subsidiary company of Lever Brothers" called Crosfields of Warrington.
Currently Surf's products have products in liquids, capsules and powders in a range of different fragrances centered around around "Essential Oils".  These are oils which are found naturally in plants.
Surf also launched a "99 Stains" formula which comes with the promise that they will remove 99% of stains or they'll give the customer their money back.


Cif (previously known as Jif) was a powder that made cleaning the house quicker and easier, they aimed to making things easier so that there is more time in the day for peoples loved ones. Nowadays, they still go by the same aim but they have a wider range of products which include wipes, and sprays as well as specific formulas for both the kitchen and the bath room.



Personal Care

VO5 is a brand of hair care products that over the last 60 years have developed their products to a range of different sprays, gels, shampoos and conditioners. VO5 have many smaller ranges which the products fit into to help customers achieve their desired hairstyle, for example "smooth and lustrous locks with Smoothly Does It" and "get gravity defying volume with Plump It Up."




St. Ives was established over 25 years ago and all of their products are inspired by nature. Their range includes body scrubs, facial scrubs and facial wipes. Every product is designed to look after the skin using harmless an natural products from nature. The Apricot Scrub is a favorite in and St. Ives sells products in over 100 countries.






Simple has a diverse target audience when it comes to their products as they have developed products to help different age ranges. For example Simple Spotless Skin is aimed at teenagers, Simple Baby is for babies but would be advertised at parents and Regeneration Age Resisting is aimed at older people.
They were founded more than 50 years ago and now offer products such as Simple Kind to Eyes, and Simple Kind to Skin.



Bibliography:
For pictures:
http://www.unilever.co.uk/Images/simple-273x210_tcm28-298428.jpg