Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Sunday, 24 November 2013

Documentary Assignment 1

Qualitative Research is basically all about solving issues in their own enviroment , and trys to  make sense of any natural thing on a large scale in terms that people make them in. Qualitative Research is basically used to break down the representative the topic of the research adds to the subject being researched, its made of a interpretive and natural a outlook onto its topic matter and priorities what some data can give to outsanding questions and research. Qualitative research is explatory, and is used when we are not sure what to properly expect, to look into the problem. Qualitative research can also be used when looking into issues of interest or look at nuances related to the problem. The most used data collection techniques used in qualitative research dyads, triads, focus groups, in depth interviews, uninterrupted observation, bulletin signs, and ethnographic partricipation and observation. Its used to develop a general realization of problems.

Quantitative Research consists of solving problems. it has a conclusive purpose and quantifies problems and uderstands how prevalent things are by looking for projectable date to a larger amount of people. We collect info through surveys Via the internet, phones and papers.

Qualative research is also used for a final plan of action, to find weather there is concurrence on a certain type of issue, show results to a larger population and also to point out evidence to describe actions of a certain group of people

Primary Research is a collection of original data and It is often undertaken after the researcher has gained some insight into the issue by reviewing secondary research, Primary research is a good thing because its your own fidings, so you dont have to worry about your data being wrong, how ever it COULD be wrong if YOU make a error in your research, Where as secondary data consists of summary, collation and/or synthesis of existing research rather than primary research. Secondary research is better because its quicker. its already there for you to just use, which is all good but some websites, books or people can be misguiding and you could end up with wrong information.

Audience profling is all about finding out the facts about your audience before everything else so you can send out the right message to the right people in the most effective way to get a good response that you want. It would most likely include details like your age
 and sex and other personal information that makes you who you are and as a collection it tells you about your audience on a big scale. If you was to make a product you would use audience profiling to decide your target market, which is linked to Market research is fairly similar but its to tell you if your product will be accepted by different dermographics. not who would be your market if that makes sense? So instead of your Target Audience its your target market, this also would include personal questions that gather you a data base and tell you where you stand in a modern day market.

Wednesday, 20 November 2013

Unit 2 Assignment 2


Websites - http://www.bullying.co.uk/general-advice/what-is-bullying/ 
                    http://www.stopbullying.gov/
                    http://archive.beatbullying.org/dox/resources/statistics.html



  • 69% of children in the UK report being bullied
  • 87% of parents report that their child had been bullied in the past 12 months
  • 20% report bullying others
  • 85% had witnessed bullying
  • (admirably, 82% of them tried to intervene

http://archive.beatbullying.org/dox/resources/statistics.html (Quoted)


This research is relevant, it shows Statistics which are facts. Documentaries are fact based and if you're putting facts in a documentary they cant be wrong, therefore this info is relevant. Also this information is really straight forward and easy to understand. The statistics are quite shocking because 69% is over half of children and that seems a bit much?


http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html

The following info is from the above site.

  • Cyberbullying is something that can happen at any time of any day.
  • Cyberbullying can be in the form of messages or images
  • Cyberbullying can be anonymous 
  • Can be difficult to find out who is actually cyberbullying you
  • Once something is made public it can be hard to completely eliminate the messages or pictures etc
This information is useful, its a decent enough description to give someone a idea what cyberbullying actually is and how it effects people.

Magazines - 

"On September 19, news broke of yet another adolescent suicide related to bullying. The boy, Jamey Rodemeyer, was 14 years old and identified alternately as gay or bisexual. He had withstood years of bullying, especially online. Just days after his death, many of the country's leading experts on bullying convened in Washington for the second annual National Anti-Bullying Summit." - By Meredith Melnick, Wednesday 28th September 2011.

This quote is very powerful and really very daunting. The fact bullying leads people to suicidal thoughts or actual suicide is disgusting. This Research how ever has been helpful. it shows the real dangers and realities of bullying. It also shows a type of bullying which is homophobia, which when someone abuses you verbally or physically for your sexual orientation.

Further down this article it has some statistics and some really worrying facts such as

  • There has been more than a dozen similar suicides in the past 18 months.
  • A sixfold increase in peer-reviewed research on bullying over the past decade and 47 states with specific anti-bullying legislation.
  • This boys suicide was more unexpected because he was part of a support system and seemed very stable and happy with how things were going for him
This research is also helpful, it shows numbers and statistics which are Factual information. 
The last bullet point is a quite strange one, it really goes to show that people can see you as a happy person but in reality you're obviously not happy.

Analyse of a documentary


So Gay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9of3qavsULM

A Documentary about being judged and bullied for being gay. The opening scenes are people discussing how they are bullied with a music soundtrack in the background which is making the audience have a negative feel about the documentary. The Documentary has started with interviews about the peoples lifes in the documentary. The graphics used arent that amazing, they're very bland and basic. The camera shots are also pretty standard as are the transitions. The information given in the documentary is relevant though. There are cut aways like one of the men getting in his car but things like that are pointless and it just seems that theyre thrown in to switch it up a little bit and so your not just watching someone speak. As the people are speaking about some deep topics the camera goes in to a close up to their lips speak and it engages the audience to focus and listen to what they are saying. A new soundtrack starts playing, its a soft piano instrumental track which is kind of sad and generates connotations of sadness and sorrow.

The research i got from the documentary was kind of helpful, it shows a way to present a documentary with box interviews and real life stories. I would say it was well researched, it had real people with real stories so you can't really fault their research as far as being biased goes no. it cant really be biased unless people lie about their stories which is unlikely.

Books -

Sexual Harassment and Bullying: A Guide to Keeping Kids Safe 

 By Susan L. Strauss


Page 108: "Female Students were less likely to be believed than their male classmates"

This quote is to me, means that teachers can be biased and in a way i suppose kind of sexist? Which i can use this in my documentary and expand it into another catergory of bullying which is sexism.

the book wasn't that useful, it was really long winded and was hard to find key points i was looking for.


Treatment VERSON 1 (POOR)

The target audience for my documentary are male and female people aged 12-16, It should be aimed at people dealing with bullying or have dealed with bullying, my documentary will be better than others because it will give a insight into the lifes of people being bullied and hopefully give off a shock value. which is what i would want. 
Id say the documentary is aimed at mainstreamers, people that just want the normal things, they want to know abit about bullying and hear some stories. Nothing out of the ordinary. just whats expected?
The Layout would be a very interview based documentary. i plan to go into 3 different schools around the local area and interview 3 students from each, and each head teaacher. 3 Questions to each one of them so it wouldnt be to long, and im going to make some kind of mini skits showing how peoples lifes are effected by bullying. Its also going to be very factual with shocking facts and statistics. The 'So gay' documentary gave me the inspiration and ideas i needed for my docuemntary and gave my the right background to base my documentary on.

TRETAMENT VERSION 2 WITH CORRECTIONS

The Target Audience for my documentary is multi gender, and any age. However its Aimed at the younger people that are possibly going through a hard time at school or college...so aged 12-16. My documentary will be different to others because it will give a straight insight into the lifes of bullying victims and i want it to give off a powerful vibe with allot of shock value behind it. I can imagine mainstreamers being the kind of people to watch my documentary. You get what you want to see and get what they expect to see but it will be presented in a unique way. The layout of my interview is going to be interview and short skit based. So it'll have interviews of people telling their stories and little minute or two minute skits of bullying scenarios they have been in. Nothing long winded just quick and snappy but with allot of facts and information. The So Gay Documentary gave me ideas and a base for my own documentary but mine wont be as boring nor drag as much. 

Friday, 15 November 2013

Unit 1 Assignment 1

 Time

What is a shooting schedule?

A Shooting schedule is a collection of each day's shooting for a film production. A detailed master schedule prepared by the first AD that gives all necessary information about the actors, locations, technicians, special effects, vehicles, animals etc. The schedule changes as needed in pre-production but once established everyone tries to respect it. No change is made or proposed without regard to this schedule. It follows an established format and is given to the producers and everyone involved in the film


Why is it important to stick to a shooting schedule?
Sticking to a shooting schedule is important because it keeps cast and crew aware on whats going to happen on the day of shooting.



Form a documentary/ies of your choice, look at the credits, research the crew members what have they worked on before, what qualifications/expierience do they have?
The Main star of Supersize me is Morgan spurlock, He has directed and made lots of documentaries movies:

One Direction: This Is Us (Documentary) 

 Inside Man (TV Series) 
 You Don't Know Jack (Documentary short) 
 Mansome (Documentary) 
 The Dotted Line (TV Movie documentary) 
 Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope (Documentary) 
 A Day in the Life (TV Series documentary) 
 The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (Documentary) 
 Freakonomics (Documentary) 
 The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special: In 3-D! On Ice! (TV Special documentary) 
 Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (Documentary) 
 Super Size Me (Documentary) 

Morgan Spurlock directed all of these and featured in all of them apart from the One Direction Movie, As a child, Morgan Spurlock attended Woodrow Wilson High School in West Virginia and graduated in 1989. IN 1993, he then graduated with a film degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Spurlock had a successful playwright and won awards for his play The Phoenix. He then went on to create the series I Bet You Will, for the MTV channel. It was a  series of 5 minute programmes, featuring members of the public doing unusual or disgusting things for cash. It started out as a webcast and was so popular that MTV wanted to make it into a TV show so, they did.
Why is it important to have the right crew
It's important to have the right crew for your film because allot of people will have specialities in specific things, Like camera men who are used to filming action scenes are going to be good at obviously filming action scenes etc, So, a action scene crew filming a documentary wouldn't be as good as getting someone thats used to filming documentaries, if that makes sense? So basically all im trying to say is certain crews will have more experience with different genres of film, documentary or programs.


Finance


Where do you get money from to make a documentary? how did the documentary you have watched get funded?


Documentaries are funded either by the government, through pots of money, or the channel showing the documentary will fund the program. For example, Idiot abroad which is kind of a documentary, SKY1 (sky) funded every episode. Catapult Film Fund: Catapult Film Fund provides development funding to documentary filmmakers who have a compelling story to tell, have secured access to their story and are ready to shoot and edit a piece for production fundraising purposes. Our mission is to enable filmmakers to develop their film projects to the next level at a moment where funding is hard to find. We support powerful stories, and moving storytelling, across a broad spectrum of issues and perspectives. Catapult only makes grants to 501(c)(3) organizations. In most cases, this will mean getting a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor for the project.


How much is it to clear music or clips from other tv/film companies


It can vary on what your making and what your using and where your getting it from, For example, it could cost $4000 per minute. But nothings certain. It could take upto 10 days to get a response though 


Where was the documentary you have chosen filmed?

Supersize me was filmed in America, It had a few different locations, Wisconsin,  California, Texas and New York. it was mainly new york.


what is a clearance/copyright, and who do you pay to get one?


Copyright is an assignable legal right, for a specified number of years, to print, perform or use in any way for that matter, to get a copyright. The moment you author something, it can be considered copyrighted. However, if you're worried about someone stealing it, you can register your copyright with the US Copyright office so they can assign you the owner first. but it helps prove the date if you ever get into a dispute over it. 



Facilities 

From the same documentary, find out what equipment they might have used, any specialist kit that they needed.


In the documentary there was no specialist kit required it was literally just filmed with cameras. No Lighting or additional sound recording, just cameras.

What camera, sound, editing equipment will you need to make your documentary, what are the technical specs of these


In my documentary i dont think ill allot of equipment? im not really sure what to expect im probably just thinking i can just use a camera and thatll be fine butim sure there'll be points where i need additional equipment, for editing id prefer to use after effects but i think ill probably end up using Final Cut pro, For Sound i dont think ill need anything. i think the camera will be fine but if i need to use a boom pole for any reason like it being windy or muffled then thats an option.


What are the costs of hiring






Prices are dependant on what camera you're after, a camera like this would cost. From £84 ex VAT a day, But it all depends on the company, what you want and some companies even go off your insurance record, like if you have a bad history your prices may go up because if you have a bad history then your obviously deemed as less trusted so your rates will go up.



Lighting can be hired aswell, Lighting is quite allot cheaper than cameras, cameras are kind of £100+ for more than a day, Lighting is that price for a week, this light here is £45 a day or £110 for one week, If anything gets damaged you have to pay what the equipment cost, but it goes with your deposit which is dependant on what your hiring, camera deposits are about £500+ , The deposit for THIS light was only £110, then if anything breaks you pay the rest to cover the full price of what the company paid.



If i was to make a documentary using the college facilities id Use a JVC camera, probably a shotgun mic, possibly a boompole and if i had indoor interviews id maybe need lights.





Whis having the right kit important?

Having the right kit is very important. Its hard to explain why but basically i think certain equipment suits certain things if that makes any kind of sense... LIke Documentaries like supersize me are filmed with just a standard camera, nothing too special, just a camera, if that camera filmed an action film... that wouldn't look right because of quality differences? For sound, if your tried filming an actual movie with a camera microphone it would just be awful. You NEED a boom pole if your filming an actual film or it would just be horrible. Again, i link it with styles, i think everything has a style and a pair. a Camcorder filming an action film does not match. a Cam corder filming a film, would just be bad. Imagine watching a film thats filmed with a cam corder. but if your watching a documentary like that then you would be ok with it, feel like this is rambled but its hard to explain.


Materials 


Have they used popular music, who would they have to get the clearance from?

In the documentary they didnt actually use any copyright songs, so no, they wouldnt have to get any clearance for music, how ever they did use press footage of Brittany spears which they might of had to ask permission for

what is a clearance/copyright, and who do you pay to get one?

Copyright clearance is a formal permission that is granted to reproduce disseminate peoples work that are copyrighted. It can vary on what your making and what your using and where your getting it from, For example, it could cost $4000 per minute. But nothings certain. It could take upto 10 days to get a response though 

Contributors
                                                                                 
From a documentary of your choice, find out who the contributors were, who have they interviewed? were there any specialist advisors they needed to make the documentary
In Supersize me the contributors were the Doctors who did all the tests 





Jacob Sullum...
Himself - Journalist

Tommy Thompson...
Himself - US Secretary of Health

William J. Klish...
Himself - Medicine Doctor (as William Klish)

Jared Fogle...
Himself - Spokesman for Subway

John Robbins...
Himself - Journalist and Writer 
           
Cinematography by
Scott Ambrozy(director of photography)
Film Editing by
Stela Georgieva
Julie Bob Lombardi


There was a few specialist advisors in the documentary, like all the doctors and lawyers and spokesmen etc, Without them it would of been abit boring, they kind of fill it out and give us information that we wouldnt of known without them, If the documentary didnt have them in and it was just purely Morgan Spurlock doing his task without us having any idea about his fitness, what the risks are etc it would of been boring. Most documentaries have a educational element in them and they are that element in this film.

Monday, 11 November 2013

Research Plan

Audience Profiling
Audience profiling is where advertisers make assumptions about an audience and their performances.

Psychographics 
A Psychographics profile based on how they see themselves compared to everyone else

Race/Ethnicity 
Not always directly related to skin colour, people may define themselves in relation to geography

Mainstream
Reflects the current conventional way of thinking.

Alternative 
Anything other than mainstream

Niche 
Likes a few little things

Market Research which includes:
Competition - What's already out there, Successful documentaries already out, documentaries with similar content

Competitor Analysis - Why were competitor documentaries successful

Advertising placement - How should the documentary be related



Why is it a good example (it may be not be the fine one you find)
Is it easy to analyse
why did you choose that example over others
How does the example change your understanding


Friday, 8 November 2013

Documentary Project Notes

Unit 3 - Research Techniques - Research your doc
Unit 2 - Communication skills - Communicate the ideas for your doc 
Unit 1 - Pre Production - Plan your doc


  • Write a blog post using headings
  •  Understand the requirements for a specific media product through analyzing pre production different documentaries and applying the headings to the documentary you will make.
  • You will have to create a blog post titles Unit 1 Assignment 1 using the following subheadings 

 Time


  1. A Shooting schedule is a collection of each day's shooting for a film production.
  2.  Sticking to a shooting schedule is important because it keeps cast and crew aware on whats going to happen on the day of shooting
Personnel 


  1. Form a documentary/ies of your choice, look at the credits, research the crew members (cameras, sound, researchers etc) what have they worked on before, what qualifications/expierience do they have?
  2. Its important to get the right crew so you no you have a crew with good standards and are actually capable of using a camera.
Finance

  1. Where do you get money from to make a documentary? how did the documentary you have watched get funded?
  2. How much is it to clear music or clips from other tv/film companies
Locations

  1. Where was the documentary you have chosen filmed?
  2. What did they have to do to get permission to film there?
  3. Make sure you have commented about why you get permission.
Facilities 

  1. From the same documentary, find out what equipment they might have used, any specialist kit that they needed.    
  2. What camera, sound, editing equipment will you need to make your documentary, what are the technical specs of these
  3. What are the costs of hiring
  4. Why is having the right kit important   

Materials 

  1. From a documentary you have seen what archive or materials from the other films/promgrammes have they used? who would they need to get the clearance from to use this footage?
  2. Have they used popular music, who wiuld they have to get the clearance from?
  3. what is a clearance/copyright, and who do you pay to get one?

Contributors


  1. From a documentary of your choice, find out who the contributors were, who have they interviewed? were there any specialist advisors they needed to make the documentary

Thursday, 7 November 2013

Unit 3 Notes

Qualitative - opinions from people
For example - A Film review, Discussion, reaction to television programme.

Types of research

Qualitative- Opinions from people, film reviews, reaction to a program of film
Quantitative- Numbers and statistics
Viewing figures, DVD sales, Box office sales, Audience breakdown

Advantages of Qualitative
Results can guide project or success
Can inform future research
Rich source of info

Disadvantages of Qualitative 
Can be tricky to get exact results
Findings are a result of lots of variables
Has impression of being less valid

Advantages of Quantitative
Easy to analyse
Facts can be used in your favour

Disadvantages of Quantitative
Results are without detail - Binary usually
Does Not inform you for future research

1st Up
Primary Research, Research undertaken by yourself or your group.
-Interviews
-Focus Groups
-Questionnaire

2nd up
Secondary Research, Previous research undertaken by others that you can use to inform your own research. Like a book, magazine and internet etc

Finally
Data gathering agencies, Certain agencies are set up to gather and publicise info.


Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Unit 26, Assignment 2 (Amendmants)

Hollywood studio system, The Hollywood movie system is a means by which Hollywood studios controlled all aspects of production, distribution and exhibition of movies. They made a large number of movies economically and simultaneously from the silent era into the 1950s, using contract actors and controlling even the minutes details of production. The Major studios are owned by major conglomerates, Example, Disney is a conglomerate. Its also a major studios with Disney owning Walt Disney Pictures, Originally Hollywood was a massive studio system so a universal film was a film financed and released by universal pictures. Now a days more and more films are made independantly and released by major studios. Studios and the big conglomerates that own them now push their focus on relying on pushing out allot of extremely expensive releases in order to make more money and remain profitable. Blockbusters rely on huge advertising and are usually released in summer, a blockbuster big enough will attract a large audience and make a large amount of profit. A Cinema ticket doesnt pay for the production cost of the film, the film does not make its money back based on how many people go to see it. Most of the revenue comes from anciliary rights, this means money made from other places apart from tickets, such as selling the film to TV companies, Selling to renal companies, Selling film to paperview channels, Selling to Airlines and Money comes from Music sales etc, theres allot of other ways how the turn their profit over.

Are they working in the best interests of the filmmaker?” 
Matt stone, Creator of South park and other comedy related films once said "
“are they working in the best interests of the filmmaker?”  And his argument was that the MPAA are kind of Biased in a sense? And he went on a massive rant about how basically if your not with a major studio then releasing a film will be a tought thing for you. He was talking about films that are made by independant movie makers and would recieve a NC-17 and then if they asked how they could get their rating down they would recieve no reply, and if they did recieve a reply it wouldnt be very constructive and wouldnt really help, he continues to talk about when this happened to him, then he released the south park movie with the Paramount Studio and recieved a Nc-17, he asked what he can do to get that down to an R and they sent him a list basically saying cut this, this, this and this