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1.1 Understand the purposes of research in the media industries
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Unit 7: Understanding the Television and Film Industries
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29.1 Advertisement Production For Television
An Introduction to Advertising.
UNIT 7.
task one.
task two.
task three.
task four.
task five.
task six.
task seven.
task eight.
task nine. task eight presentation
Unit 21: Single Camera Techniques
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21.1 Understand Single Camera Formats
Task One: Introduction to Single and Multi Camera (P1,M1,D1)
There are two camera techniques used in the television and film industry. These are the Single camera and the multi-camera. The difference is in the name. Single camera uses just one camera at any time, the recording starts, one piece of action is filmed, then the director cuts and films another piece of action. Multi-camera is, as the name suggests, a film or show that has been filmed with multiple cameras capturing the action all at once. This is typically most often done on live television shows such as x-factor, in which the entire show is broadcasted and the director cuts between varying angles, instead of deliberately picking and choosing very specifically. The multi-camera format is also used on shows such as the later seasons of 'Friends' and 'Everybody loves Raymond'
The advantages of a director choosing to use the single camera format mostly lie in the way that the director can easily shoot on location, without having the huge set-up job required with multi-camera productions. The choice in shots is much greater and more varied, as there is no chance of any camera's cutting into another view, no matter what the angle, as there might be in multi-camera set-ups. A third benefit of using single camera over multi camera is the fact that it is more likely to allow the audience to feel like a character in the scene, the invisible third party who has travelled through the third wall and is able to stand in and look from their own perspective. The single camera creates a further degree of realism, it can allow the audience to 'explore' the surroundings. One of the most notable examples of this is from Kill Bill, in which Quentin Tarantino uses a continuous single camera tracking shot. The purpose of the shot is to establish the entire area (The House of Blue Leaves), tie in the characters and the location, establish personas. The continuous tracking shot has become somewhat a trademark of Tarantino's films, it's his staple shot. We see it again, in Pulp Fiction, where the main character is followed throughout the restaurant to establish all of the events taking place around the character. Again, he uses it in Reservoir Dogs, in which situation he instead uses it to contrast the difference between the music-filled 'torture-room' with a believed to be dead man and the peaceful happy neighbourhood outside.
The videos below are examples of where single camera and multi camera techniques have been used. The BBC series Eastenders shows the use of single cameras in the single camera drama, and it is clear that this had enabled the director to use more diverse shots and angles, as well as a greater variety in sets. On the other hand, the Disney series Hannah Montana uses a multi camera set-up to allow for the live audience. Here we see more repetition in camera angles, and less variation in the set. When the characters are sat in the living room, we only ever see them the front, diagonal right or diagonal left. This would suggest that the set is limited to a three wall set, which is how we can identify the use of multiple cameras.
Task Two: Series, Serials and Single dramas. (P1,M1,D1)
A series, also known as a season, usually consists of somewhere between 6 and 26 episodes. The latter length of series usually takes place in America, who broadcast Heroes at around 24 episodes a season and CSI:NY at around 22 episodes. In the UK, we have series like E4's Skins and the BBC's Merlin, both of which are broadcasted at around 10 episodes for a season of Skins, and Merlin at 13. Usually you only get one Series produced a year, an example being Skins, which was first aired on the 25th January 2007, finished the season on the 22nd March, then didn't begin a new series until the 2nd November 2008. The only other episode between was a one off special on the 9th of October 2007, which simply acted as a promotion. The drama series relies on a base of loyal fans to await the next volume of episodes. Without demand there can no longer be any more supply. An example of a very successful series would be BBC's Doctor Who, a series that has now been in existance for nearly fifty years due to the vast support and diversity of fans.
Soaps such as Eastenders and Hollyoaks are also a type of series. They, however, are known specifically as an on-going series. They run week after week without any set ending. The only 'endings' we see are when individual stories from the multi-strand narrative are concluded. A Serial is typically a three part drama. The usual idea is to create a serialisation of a popular novel or play. One of the better known examples of this was the recent serial drama Wuthering Heights, produced by ITV in August 2009. The series consisted of two hour-long episodes. The first episode was broadcast on a Sunday night, the second on the Monday after. Serial dramas are most commonly compared to films, only in this case they are divided into two or more parts and written for the small screen. The main difference between a serial and a series is that the serial is a one off. Series can continue for a long time. Some serial dramas can last three weeks with an episode a week, whereas others may be show across the space of a few days.
Task Three: Different Narrative Structures. (P1,M1,D1)
Narrative is one of the most important things to consider within any production, without narrative all you have is a sequence of shots that hold no meaning, no point. The narrative is what shapes a production, it's the who, the what, the when, the where and the why. In the most simplest terms, narrative is the generalised term for telling a story. The most simple straight-forward narrative structure you learn comes about at a young age when you first put pen to paper to write a story. What are you told to do? 'Create something with a beginning, a middle and an end'. The media term for this is a linear or sequential narrative. The narrative is, very literally, straight-forward, it happens in a chronological sequence. It focuses from one point in time to another, in a progressive story. We see this in a continuous series like Eastenders. As it is a day-to-day series, the characters progress day-to-day. We may occasionally see a flashback if the character is looking back on something that happened, assuming it is fundamentally important to the storyline. Other than that we just see continuous progression. The only other way in which we might see the slight disruption from the linear narrative is if a voice-over is featured, which presents a character looking back on events, narrating them from one moment in the past to the present. Despite the fact the films have non-linear features, they are still considered as being linear, because the majority of the narrative follows the linear structure. It is rare now for a film to be one hundred percent linear. Non-Linear narratives, or disrupted narratives are a much more complex structure. Events do not commence in a chronological order, we see cuts in the story between past, present and future. Some recent examples of non-linear films are Jennifer's Body and Dorian Gray. In the first, the opening Jennifer's body, we see the main antagonist laid on her bed, then the face of the protagonist at the window. Similarly, we have the opening of Dorian Gray, which is a scene in which we see our main character Dorian with a blood covered scarf and a weapon, later revealed to be a shard of a mirror. In both examples, the opening scene causes an enigma, that is not resolved until much later in the film. The idea behind using such a structure is to intrigue your audience and make them want to stay, want to see the enigma solved. The idea of showing a scene from near the climax of the film at the beginning is something that has become increasingly popular in modern films.
Another type of narrative is the realist narrative. Quite simply, realist means fact and anti-realist means fiction. One of the most obvious examples of what is stereotypically a realist production are things like soap opera's and documentaries. Documentaries are realist because they are built up on facts and the exploration of factual elements, and soap operas because they're designed to be a dramatisation of real life, they keep all the elements of the real world, so nobody sprouts wings and flies away. However, in contemporary media, we see more of a blurring of these lines. In, for example, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (a film adaptation of JK Rowling's famous nove) we open with quite the anti-realist approach as a man in robes uses a 'putter-outter' to cut out the street lights, a cat morphs into a woman, then another man arrives on a flying motorbike. Clearly, this is setting up the fictional fantasy aspects of the Harry Potter tale, establishing a world of magic. Then, we cut into a shot of the Dursley's home, which is where a more realist environment is created. This was a deliberate feature of both the film and the story to create a juxtaposition between the character of Harry's magical world and the normal 'real' world.
When it comes to creating an ending to a narrative, the director has a choice of two paths to go down. The first, a closed ending is exactly as it sounds. Within the ending all the narrative strands are tied up in a neat little bow, and there is no opening for a potential sequel. The viewer leaves the cinema with the feeling of that-was-that, there is no more enigma. The definite ending can still hold some elements of an open-ending, without allowing for a sequel. Slumdog Millionaire had very much a closed ending, we see the main protagonist Jamal at a train station, where he meets with his lover Latika, whom he has been seperated from. They are reunited and kiss, closing the film and resolving the love storyline, the storyline of the mob is closed by the character of Salim who shoots the mob boss, then is shot himself. By tieing up the endings it creates the closure that the audience needs. An open ended film on the other hand leaves the audience with an enigma. It leaves them in some ways wanting more, they are essentially wrapped around the director's little finger. The use of an open-ending is most commonly seen in soaps, where some individual narrative strands are tied off but there are still more left to be resolved. The soap is continuous, an episode will never end with all narrative strands closed off, otherwise there would be no way to continue with the show without essentially completely starting over. One very obvious open-ending comes in the second of the Pirates of the Carribean film series, 'Dead Man's Chest'. In this particular film we see the main characters of the film, Will, Elizabeth and the rest of the survivors of the film visiting Tia Dalma, as they want to save Captain Jack, an arguable protagonist. They follow by agreeing to set out on a mission, and Tia presents them with their need for a captain, and so she provides them with the antagonist of the first film, Captain Barbossa. The film ends with a question 'So tell me, what's become of my ship?' from the Captain, before credits roll. This was done to set out the storyline for the third film, to close off some narrative strands and enigmas (such as what had become of Captain Barbossa) and create an ending that left it open for the sequel to follow.
Narrative Patterns are the way in which the story is focused, is the character trying to achieve something, are they hunting an object down, are they just trying to grow up? These elements are all called narrative patterns, the first example of which is the Goal-oriented plot. Within particular type of narrative the character in question is trying to gain an object, or a desired state of affairs, there is an achievement that they aim to have fulfilled by the end of the film. One example of this is the comedy film Dude Where's My Car. The two main characters, Jesse and Chester have forgotten the night prior, in which they lost their car. Throughout the film they embark on a question to find their car and remember the night. The storyline is also an example of a Search/Investigation as they are following clues to find the car. The Search/Investigation narrative pattern is usually primarily found in crime investigation dramas or mysteries, such as the CSI Series. Another example of a narrative pattern is the Journey, this can be either a meta-physical or a physical journey, one example of both would be the 2007 film Juno. The viewer sees the main character Juno Macguff go through the journey of pregnancy, from seeing the 'little pink plus sign' to having the baby and giving it away. There is also the journey of Juno growing up, and going on the mental journey of growing up and becoming more stable in her relationships and in herself. It shows the development from a pregnant teen to a more mature young woman. An example of a television series which has the journey narrative pattern would be E4's Skins. In the first series we are presented with a group of friends beginning their first year of college, the series is spread across the duration of the year 12 school year, and you are shown a metaphysical journey as the dynamics of the group shift and they all grow up, learning to understand the world around them. The second series shows them take a much darker journey into growing up, and as the metaphysical journey progresses we see a stark contrast from the characters of the beginning of season one. The climax is our final narrative pattern (and of course, it's counterpart; the anti-climax). The climax is the point in the narrative where the story reaches the moment before it returns to an equilibrium, the time in the film where the most momentous (and ideally memorable) scenes occur. In an action film the climax is, the majority of the time, a huge dramatic fight scene where everything is going on at once. One example is the final fight scene which creates the climax of the 2007 film Transformers. In the scene you see so much going on, there's planes attacking from the air, one of which is a decepticon (the secondary antagonist, the villains 'sidekicks'). On the ground you have the main character, Sam, the 'damsel in distress' Mikaela and the troops with some of the autobots, who are the protagonists, helpers and sidekicks of the story. There are fights between the autobots led by Optimus Prime and Sam, aided by the troops against the decepticons and their leader Megatron. There are different elements to the scene but you see the drama build up consistantly to the point where it comes down to whether Megatron will survive after the fight or not. Following the climax is the resolution. The opposite to the climax is the anti-climax, in which a director has set up the audience for a climax, a battle-to-end-all-battles between the protagonists and the antagonists, it keeps bulding up, building up, building up until you could cut the tension and suspense in the cinema or on the sofa with a knife. The audience knows it's about to happen, they know the big explosion of drama is going to kick off... then the villain drops to his knees and begs for forgiveness, or a third party kills him, or he just collapses. This is used to effect in Doctor Who, with a scene between the Doctor and the Master. The Doctor is advancing on the Master, full of power and danger. We assume he's going to destroy the master, do something spectacular, he's flying through the air on the energy of the human race. Then, it happens, the dialogue stops, he comes to the floor, and attacks the master... with a hug and the words 'I forgive you'. In this particular instance the anti-climax is a very deliberate feature. The character of the Doctor is meant to be the last of his kind, then he finds the Master, showing him he's not alone. On top of that, he doesn't consider himself a killer, he's a good soul. Especially, with considerations to the name 'Doctor'. For him to have destroyed the Master, which would have provided the climax expected, would have gone against his character's persona.
In narrative, there is another element to also consider, which is the range of information given to the audience. Simplified, range of information is just 'who knows what when'. The two types are restricted and unrestricted. The restricted range of information is where both the audience and the character learn aspects of a story at the same time. One example of this is recent comedy The Hangover, in which the characters cannot remember what happened the night before, nor can they find one member of their party, and so they embark on a journey to learn just what happened. The audience learn of what went on as the character's do. The restricted narrative is also common in the horror and suspense genre. An unrestricted narrative is where the audience knows, sees, hears and understands more than the characters. This is especially common in narratives based on historical events, in which the audience already knows the outcome of the event such as world war II film's like Band of Brothers. One of the best known exceptions to the stereotyping of Restricted narrative for horror films is Alfred Hitchcock, who instead chooses a more unrestricted narrative. His purpose here is to instead invoke emotion in the audience, to make them fear for the protagonist who is unaware of everything the audience knows.
One feature of a narrative is whether its a subjective narration or objective narration. The subjective narrative is frequently used in hospital-based sitcom Scrubs. The main character; JD, regularly slips into daydreams, and as part of the show, the audience is pulled into them. The example below is from an episode where he is attending a funeral, and drifts off to imagining how his own would be. Scrubs is centralised on the character of JD, we regularly hear his thoughts as a voice-over, and it's partially for comedic effect but also to show more information about JD as a character. By using the mental subjectivity, the show successfully allows the audience to feel that they have been integrated into the hospital workplace through the medium of the main character. With an objective narrative however, all the viewer sees is the external behaviour of the characters. The benefit of the subjective narrative is that it is arguably easier to identify with characters than with objective narrative.
Two main narrative theorists in the television and film industries are Todorov and Propp. Vladimir Propp developed his theory on characters in narratives, stating that every story, be it book, film, television or on radio has a certain character structure. Propp's theory says that every character in a narrative fits into one of eight broad categories. We always have a hero our protagonist, then the anti-hero; our villain who is our antagonist. We will see a donor, whose role is to provide the hero with some help or an object relating to the resolution of the story. The helper, also known as a sidekick, helps the hero in the quest. In the story there is always a 'princess' or damsel in distress and her father; whose purpose in the story is to reward the helper. The dispatcher is the character who alerts everyone to an event and sends the hero away. Then finally we have the false hero who tries to take all the credit for the hero's work, or tries to 'steal' the princess. Propp doesn't say that every story has all seven, just that every character in a story can be boxed into one of those broad categories. Tzvetan Todorov's theory demonstrates the classical narrative. He says that every narrative begins with an equilibrium, everything is as it should be. Then, a disruption occurs to cause a dis-equilibrium. The disruption is one key event in the story that causes the narrative to shift. Then, our hero comes into play to cause a resolution which allows there to be a new equilibrium, the narrative strands are all tied up and we have gone full-circle back to the status quo we saw at the beginning. There are some more theorists who have narrative theories. One of those is Claude Levi-Strauss. He looked at narrative structures and argued that they are based upon binary opposites (Good/Evil, Masculinity/Femininity, Past/Present)The main purpose of his research was not to look at the arrangement of the themes, instead he looked for the deeper meaning; the paradigmatic of the themes. What he concluded was that every narrative, taking for example a sci-fi film, contains the binary opposites. In the sci-fi film we have the concepts of Earth to Space, Humans to Aliens, Good to Bad and Known to Unknown. Strauss always suggested that within the binary pair we always have one that is always favoured as having a greater value and being 'good'.
Task Four: Technical Techniques. (P1,M1,D1)
In the clip below, created for the BBC Electric Proms we see a variety of technical skills in place to create as professional and flawless product as possible. The clip will have been created on a low budget, so the director instead has to rely primarily on his/her own skills to get the professionalism than stereotypical Hollywood techniques. First and foremost, we notice the presentation of the titles. In these particular titles we notice an enigmatic electric buzz, causing the 'lights' of the title to glow and flicker. This connotes the scientific nature that the product has adopted, anchored by the opening establishing shot of a desk, full of lights and what one would presume to be very scientifically technical equipment. This is done most likely to establish the location and the situation. The voice-over, a man speaking, anchors this by talking about 'The Ganzfeld Procedure', describing it as Mary and John 'preparing for a journey beyond their bodies'. When Mary begins the journey, we are introduced to a mental subjectivity of Mary's journey. Her memories, her mind, her thoughts are displayed in flickering shots, with colour edited to create a further enigma.
The use of contrast between light and dark intensifies, to create a very surreal image. The choice of lighting varies from very low-key to high-key between settings. In the science lab the lighting is much more low key, creating an air of mystique. The use of coloured
Task Five: Audiences and New Media. (P1,M1,D1)
In it's younger years, television was a much simpler thing, there were only few channels, only one television in a home. Audience numbers were much bigger, an example of this was that the 1992 christmas special of only fools and horses raked in viewing figures of 20.1 million. It used to be incredibly easy for advertisers and producers to reach their target audiences. However the modern world has seen a fragmentation of audiences, shows that are considered 'huge' nowadays like X Factor and Britain's got Talent have around half that amount. This is down to the way we watch media, the way we choose to pick-up our information. On a Saturday night, around 10 million people sit in front of a television to watch X Factor, all across the UK. However, for those who are unable to catch the showing, we turn to New Media. New media brought us the on demand button. When viewing figures are calculated, they don't include those who watch again nor do they include those who load up the show on the internet. Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corporation knows this. Owning as many channels and platforms of media as he does means he needs a to be on the ball. Having seen the way consumers have changed the way they use media, he branched out further, buying social networking site Myspace and setting up television viewing website Hulu. In the modern media world, the media moguls have been forced to learn that to stay ahead you need to diversify by platforms, even develop cross-platform projects. We are the top-up generation, at the dawn of television it was the big bosses of television, the people on top who outlined what we watched. However, with the developments of digital television, the audience was given greater control. Those at the bottom of the media chain suddenly got to make the decisions. With this the bosses, instead of knowing that whatever they published would be pleasing to an audience, had to diversify to try and appeal more.
Task Six: Audiences Classification. (P1,M1,D1)
Typically, a male seventeen year-old would not watch as much television as a female of the same age. However, it still will play a prominent role in his life. When he does turn on the screen, he usually gravitates towards programmes like Mock The Week and 8 Out Of Ten Cats. He will tend to enjoy the presenter-led comedy shows and general entertainment. He may also enjoy watching Formula One and the MotoGP, sports channels score highly on the male viewer's charts, especially on the day of 'the match'. Another type of television viewing he may enjoy is that of the music channels, most often the Kerrang! channel. We also find our male viewer to enjoy big shows like 24, Lost and Heroes. These shows are known as watercooler shows, the term coming from a business situation in which people gather around the watercooler or coffee machine to discuss a popular show. This originated in the 90s with the show Seinfield, when record numbers of people gathered around the watercooler at their offices to discuss the previous nights show. In a contemporary situation it more refers to the shows that drive people to talking about it, that provoke the need to fulfill the personal relationships side of the uses and gratification theory.
References - located through google search engine
1. Quentin Tarantino information - tarantino.info
2. Tv Series Research - tv.com
3. Images - google.com
4. BBC Show Information - bbc.co.uk
5. ITV Show Information - itv.co.uk
6. Social Grades - moneyterms.co.uk
7. Audience Classification - thinkbox.tv
8. Propp's and Todorov's Theories - scribd.com
9. Narrative Theory - sismedia
10. Language of Film - inpoint.org
11. Open / Closed endings - thereeladdict.com
12. Open / Closed Narrative - scribd.com
13. Classic Narrative Patterns - scribd.com
14. Narrative in Film - filmcloseup.com
15. Film Narrative - facstaff.gpc.edu
16. The Climax Ending - suite101.com
21.2 Be able to plan a single camera production
Task Seven: Equipment and Software (P2,M2,D2)
To produce this short film, we will be using the following equipment:
The camera we will be using is the Canon MD205 Mini DV camcorder. With its size, the camera is ideal as it is easily portable between locations, and also useful for creating more variety of shots as it isn't bulky or difficult to deal with. The zoom tool will also be useful for long shots that we want to progress to close-ups.
The tripod we have chosen is the Manfrotto 785Bmodo maxi tripod, as it will allow us to create steady and professional looking shots. If we chose not to use a tripod it could be possible that certain shots would be shaky and thus take away from the mood we are trying to create.
The sound recorder we will use to create the speech clips is the Edirol R-09HR, due to the fact it is a high definition recorder, it is idealistic to use because by applying the filters found on the back of the recorder you can block out or include background noise, to achieve the ideal sound.
We will the following programmes in Post-Production to create the film:
To do all the editing, we will use a programme called iMovie HD, as it is simple yet highly efficient to use, and something that all the editors are confident with using. The programme is also capable of producing a video that is of professional standards in terms of the visual and audio editing capabilities.
To add the sound effects we will use the Garage Band software because it is very simple to edit effects and adjust properties in the software. Then, once done it is easy to import in to the iMovie file.
One of the last programmes we will use is a programme called Audacity to edit the recorded speech. Regularly when recorded speech is imported to iMovie it is too quiet, so by importing it into audacity first and increasing the volume, when we export it to iMovie it should be loud enough.
The following people had the following roles in production:
Matthew Popple: Director, Assitant of Cinematography, Editor in Chief and Secondary Character
Claire Dring: Lead Character, Assistant Director and Editor.
Joe Scaife: Head of Cinematography, Assistant Director and Editor
Christian Place: Supporting actor
Task Eight: Treatments and Scripts (P2,M2,D2)
Objective - The following proposal is for a short film which follows the memories of a girl who is evidently distressed and haunted by her past mistakes. By the use of varying effective camera techniques, our intention is to capture the emotion and hurt surrounding the subject, to create tension and build that emotion for the audience to feel. The use of music and ambience will also play a key role in the production.
Setting - The era in which the production is set is contemporary. We plan to use a limited number of locations so not to distract from the main narrative. The location most featured is that of a park, in the play area. The choice of the play area is to contrast the hurt and distressed emotions the girl is feeling with an area typically connoting joy, innocence and happiness. The juxtaposition; although subtle adds a little more depth and emotion into the scenes set there. The second location is a grassy field, surrounded by trees. The area will seem abandoned, which for the purpose of the shots there is key. With the accompanying scene of a boy walking away from the girl, it is symbollic of the abandonment she feels. The final locations of a school and a home, living room, is to show that even in normal 'typical' situations she's still haunted by emotions. The last locations also don't dominate the shots, so to draw more attention to the girl's actions.
Time duration: Approximately three minutes.
Description: The short film is about a teenage girl who is having a very stressful life. Bullied at school, and an alcoholic at home she is pushed further and further until emotionally she can’t take any more. It is upon the location of a field where her friend confronts her trying to find out why she is so distant and what is making her the way she is. Distancing herself away from the world the girl ignores her only friend and as words and actions are said and made, the girl is pushed to the point where she takes the life of her only friend due to anger, rage and hate. As the event becomes a thing of the past the girl finds herself alone in a park where she is haunted by the guilt of her crime, finding herself impossible to live with, the girl can no longer take any more, does she commit suicide? Does she run away? . . . No one knows.
Remarks:
The use of speech in the drama will be rare, only using three or four lines. This is done to create more enigma, and also demonstrate that the character herself doesn't talk. The lack of speech also ties in with the title of 'The Silent Treatment'. The use of cutting audio from scenes such as the argument would connote that the girl feels that nobody is listening to her. The drama gives the viewer more independence on drawing their own conclusions.
In the clips set in the present we will use colour and high contrast post-production editing to create atmosphere. Using soft focus, amongst various other visual editing techniques we aim to create an air of drama and conflict, to portray the girl's feelings.
The use of grayscale will be applied to the clips intended to demonstrate her memories, the connotation intensified by using the visual effect of ghost trails to give it a more surreal atmosphere.
Proposed Sequence of Events:
1. The first shot will be of a blank screen, upon this blank screen, the title of the production team will come on, before the music comes in (Shinedown - Simple Man)
2. There will be an immediate flash, and from this flash in black and white there will be a picture of someone’s feet. This shot will then fade out to the next shot which is now in colour.
3. The next shot will be in a park and we will see the park gate closing, this will then fade into the next shot. As soon as this shot comes on, the musical bed will come on and play through most of the following shots.
4. The next shot will be of some park swings which are swinging by themselves. Because there is no one in the park besides the girl, this should add quite an enigmatic effect.
5. The previous shot will fade into this establishing shot of the park which as it pans and zooms at the same time, will introduce us to the main character of the teenage girl.
6. After the previous shot zooms into the girl, there will then be a flash which will present us with the next clip of the girl unscrewing a bottle of alcohol.
7. There will then be a flash to the girl now drinking the alcohol.
8. After this there will then be a shot of the girl falling in the bathroom, obviously drunk throwing up.
9. The next clip will be at school where we see the girl being bullied, the clip will also be presented by a flash and also in black and white as it is still an event of the past. At the end of this shot, the shot will fade into the next shot.
10. The next shot will be of the girl back in the park and in colour which is then quickly followed by another flash back into the past
11. The following 7 or so shots will all be in black and white, and these shots will develop the narrative, in particular the narrative strand which involves her friend whom she clearly is arguing with. The shot cuts to show him walking away, before fading back into the coloured shots depicting the present.
12. The next scene now in colour, will have an extreme close-up on the girl's eye, which looks as though on the verge of tears. With every moment she blinks there is a cut to the black and white shot of the boy on the floor, to connote it's the only thing she can think of.
13. The next shot is low along the floor, showing the bottom of the climbing frame. Two feet drop into the shot and land, to connote the girl has jumped off the frame, and so suggest that she has made a decision. Following this we will cut to a long shot, after she has moved.
14. The shot will then pan around the girl both fading in and out of focus to connote the disorientation she clearly feels. As the shot progresses there will be a fast-paced quick-cut montage of her past events as shown previously. This process will repeat several times in demonstration of the events spinning around in her head, as if suggesting the viewer is inside her head, as used frequently in subjective narrative dramas.
15. As the shots continue to cut, the girl's reaction finally takes place and with the line 'I just want it all to stop!' the shot will then flash to a white screen and the music will mute. We hear breathing, a heartbeat. The screen will stay white for a while and as it fades back in, the heartbeat ceases and another song is played. (From A Shell - Lisa Germano)
16. The camera will pan around the park again, the swings still moving, however the girl is gone.
17. The closing shot will then pan back around the park from the perspective of where the girl had been stood down to the ground in one long continuous shot. on the ground we see a scarf, the scarf the girl had been wearing, before the shot fades to black; rolling the credits and leaving leaving a highly enigmatic open ending.
Task 9 - Storyboard (P,M,D)
Task 10 - Production Schedule
Task 11 - Health and Safety (P,M,D)
Task 12 - Final Product (P,M,D)
Task 13 - Evaluation (P,M,D)
'The Silent Treatment' was a single camera drama created with the primary focus of entertaining a target audience of teens around 16-19 years-old of mixed gender. The tone of the drama was dark and enigmatic, we wanted to create a more complex open-ended single camera drama that would be more interesting and attention-grabbing. We wanted to create a more varied, less simple narrative. Therefore we chose a narrative structure designed to include flashbacks which would create a multi-strand narrative by portraying different areas of events that had led up to the present. The flashbacks occurred out of sequence which was intended to symbolize the disorientation of the protagonist.
When creating the piece, we considered time and equipment, and opted for acting, filming and editing ourselves, instead of casting outside of the group. This meant we all had a hand in all aspects of production, each doing some filming, some editing and some acting. This meant, from a representation point of view, we included mixed genders, and showed no bias to ethnicity or religion. The cast were all between the ages of 16 and 19 to represent the audience and create characters they would find it easier to identify with.
One difficult element was working with the concepts we did. The inclusion of murder, alcohol abuse and bullying meant that we were including a lot of sensitive issues that had to be dealt with carefully. We tried not to show too much, and leave more to imagination. This seemed successful as in feedback, there was no mention of any offense caused, meaning that we avoided causing any problems.
In creating the movie I learnt more about several areas of creating a drama. First of all I learnt more about creative cinematography and framing of shots, to create a different mood. One example is the high angle shot taken from a tree that pans across. The shot creates an air of the main protagonist (or presumable protagonist given the conventions of the way a single camera drama presents characters) being watched, connoting paranoia. I also
Unit 22: Multi-Camera Techniques
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Task One & Two: Definition of Multi-Camera Techniques and Multi-Camera Techniques in Action
A multi-camera production is a production that involves multiple cameras capturing the same event simultaneously. It is best known for its use on Sitcoms, Live Music Coverage and Chatshows. The examples below all show the multi-camera setup in different formats. The first is from the live broadcasts of the X Factor finals. The second and third are both coverage of live music shows, one indoor and one outdoor on a much larger scale. The fourth is from a pre-recorded comedy panel show. The difference between live and pre-recorded can be noted how far more of the shots in the Never Mind The Buzzcocks show are steadier. This is because when shows such as sitcoms and comedy panel shows are recorded, they allow the actors and presenters to run through lines a few times, or redo jokes and such. This allows them to select shots carefully, and cut out anything that wasn't properly captured.
The first video, the live coverage of the X-Factor Performers was a live broadcast from a television studio. The opening shot is an establishing shot from a back corner of the audience showing the stage, the audience and the judges table. It anchors the location, the size to emphasize the scale of the show. It then cuts to a shot from directly in front of the stage that zooms in, to show the performers coming out of the doors. The camera zooms in slowly to close the gap between performer and audience faster. This sequence sets the mood of the performance, builds the tension that television shows like X Factor require. Then, a series of close-ups of all the individual performers are shown, to anchor who is singing and allow the audience at home to identify who their favorite is. This is one of the conventions of performance videos, the juxtaposition of close-ups and long shots. There are a lot of panning shots, to emphasize the movement. In the case of shows like X Factor this is a conventional feature and adds dynamic and excitement to the show. It also gives the audience more a feel of being there, despite the fact they wouldn't be as close in person. It is designed to add an element of being a part of a more intimate performance, it allows the audience at home to see and feel everything. The transitions are all cuts to keep with the pace of the music. The movement of the cameras makes the performance seem more fluid, the panning occurs at a faster speed to keep with the theme of the song. When individuals move away from the groups, there's usually a tracking shot, as the focus is wanted on them and to allocate them 'their moment'. There are a lot of sweeping high-angle shots which add to the idea of being an omnipresent entity. The audience gets 'all access'.
In the live coverage of Paramore 'My Heart', from the Riot! tour DVD, multi-camera techniques are used to capture the environment and emotion of the show. The song in particular is a very slow emotional song, so the movements and pace reflect this. Cuts are still used as transitions, which is most likely due to the fact that the picture would be broadcast on the screens at the sides of the stage, and so for live editing, cuts are more fitting. The first shot is a low-angle shot of the bands singer Hayley, connoting her power in the situation, for example being on stage and in control. The second shot reinforces the image of the bands influence on the crowd as it cuts from the low-angle shot to a long-shot from the back of the crowd, demonstrating the spotlight on the band and the sheer size of the event. Contrast is also used her from the bright colors on-stage to the blacked-out crowd. This adds to the emotion of the product. Extreme Close-ups are used on the guitar-playing shots, in which the framing includes only the bridge and the lower end of the neck, with the guitarists forearm in shot. This adds a very intimate feel to the framing. It also adds a more technical feel to those trying to learn the song, as they see more of how the song is played. The next shot comes across on a crane across the top of the crowd slowly and smoothly towards the stage, giving the feel of moving closer to the artist. Another shot used is a close-up at the side of the vocalist that frames her in focus, with the guitarist and back-up vocalist further away from the camera out of focus. The variety in shots adds perspective, and gives the fans the full experience of how it looks on stage. The omnipresent entity idea is in place here too, as it allows the audience to be transported across and around the venue and the stage. At the end of the song, the crowd is involved in singing, so we see more wide shots with more inclusion of the audience. At one stage the screen is split to show the view from the 'pit' (directly in front of the stage) looking to the crowd, and the view of the stage from a distance. This adds emotion, connecting the audience at home, the artist and the crowd in the venue together. One shot is taken from behind the vocalist showing what she sees as she looks out on the crowd. There is another juxtaposition here as the vocalist is lit up, bright in color, while the crowd is still a sea of shadow. This again informs the emotion of the piece and adds more depth.
The third and final video is from a comedic celebrity quiz show that is pre-recorded but broadcast as-live. It features two 'panels' each led by a team captain and then a host, the host being Simon Amstell. After the credits are run, the show opens with a crane-based panning shot that swings across the set and shows the panels and the host. The transition from the titles into the shot is a blurring fade. It creates a smooth transition that anchors the link between the titles and the show. The camera then cuts to a long-shot of the host Simon, that then zooms in quickly to a close-up. The long-shot is to anchor location, but it's likely that a presenter talking at a long-shot would be distracting, so the zoom in instantly reduces any bridge between the audience at home and the host. It cuts the desk out of shot, to make it more personal.
Task Three: Mindmap of Ideas for my own show
Task Four: Production Table
Task Five: Shooting Script & Floor Plan
Task Six: Risk Assessment
Task Seven: Product
Task Eight: Evaluation of Product
The weekly in-school television show 'Friday World' is a valuable part of Grangefield school and is known for being to a professional quality. Due to the young mixed-gender audience, it has to be entertaining, non-biased and carefully monitored to ensure it's not offensive. As a part of a team, I worked to ensure that the show put together was entertaining, varied and representational to the school. I believe the live show that we broadcast met the qualities we needed it to. We'd selected very carefully the different segments which included music videos, work produced by students and movie trailers. One of the most important segments would particularly be the work produced by students of the school, as Friday World is important for showcasing such projects. On many occasions it also allows members of the audience to see themselves on the 'big screen'.
When selecting presenters, we chose diversity and comfort. They connected well with each other and the audience, something that was commented on in audience feedback. This allowed the links they presented between segments to feel and appear more natural. Gender and ethnicity weren't particularly important elements in selecting presenters, but it is tradition on the show to use both genders in presenting, to give both genders within the audience someone they can relate to. The selections weren't based on ethnicity or religion, but instead how natural they felt in front of the camera. On this particular occasion the female presenter was a guest in school, the male a sixth-form student. Were we to select differently, we might consider selecting someone from a younger year to represent the lower ends of school.
The set-up of Friday World has always been generally the same, with two cameras operating at the same time and the use of a switchboard to cut between shots. On this particular occasion we sat both presenters in front of a back-drop with a fill light to ensure there were no shadows. Directly in front of them we placed the camera set to mid-long shot that included both presenters. Off-side a little to the left, the second camera was set up on close-up, switching between presenters. The switching between camera shots creates a dynamic and stops the links feeling too long and plain. Each presenter was fitted with their own clip-on microphone, as they are effective for picking up the sound and create a more professional appearance. The sound manager ensured that the levels across the presenting and clips were equal, so that it was loud enough, but not blaring through the speakers in the hall.
In terms of my own role within producing the show, I acted as floor manager, a role that required organisational skills and the ability to work well under pressure, I had to provide cues, decide if and when we were coming out of any of the VT's early. I had to ensure that everyone knew what was happening in the next link, that the camera-operators had the correct framings, that the presenters knew what they were linking to and how long they had to do it. This was across two rooms, the mixing suite and the studio. This meant communication skills were highly important, and I feel I improved upon them.
Another aspect of my own skills I improved were my preparation skills there was a lot of research and leg-work to be done, finding and selecting VT's, researching to find relevant information and ensuring it was all interesting to the target audience. There was a lot of paperwork, scriptwriting and mind-mapping to make sure we all knew what product was aimed for and to ensure it was produced as such. As a team-player, I felt I played my part well, and that we came together as best we could to produce a high-quality broadcast that went as planned, despite a few last minute changes.
Unit 29: Advertisement Production For Television
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29.1 Advertisement Production For Television
An Introduction to Advertising.
Advertisements are the biggest form of funding for all commercial television stations. BBC are funded by the license payers, so stations such as ITV, Channel Four and Five, as well as the terrestrial commercial channels use advertising to raise money to broadcast and create new television shows. From the BBC website, their stance on advertising: The BBC is not permitted to carry advertising or sponsorship on its public services. This keeps them independent of commercial interests and ensures that they can be run instead to serve the general public interest. Should the BBC turn to advertising to make more money, despite being funded by license payers, they risk being dictated by the commercial industry. It is similar in some ways to the fact that British television isn't allowed to use Product Placement, as opposed to the States.
UNIT 29 is found here.
task one, part a. ± task one, part b. ± task one, part c (extension).
task two.
task three.
task four.
task five.
task six.
task seven.
task eight.
task nine.
task ten.
task eleven.
task twelve.
task thirteen.
task fourteen.
task fifteen.
task sixteen.
task seventeen.
task eighteen.
task nineteen.
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