Letter of Complaint

Dear Flipside Media

I am writing to you to complain about your job advertisement. This is because it has infringed many legal, ethical and contractual rules and regulations. I think that this is very explicit because of the ways you are trying to promote certain aspects of your company. Within this letter I am going to show all of the things that are wrong with your advert and after looking into it I hope that you make the sufficient changes to your application.

First of all I am going to explain the contractual rules in general. A contract is a legal agreement that relate to your own terms of employment. And within the details of your advert the details are lawfully wrong and break many rules. For example let’s start with the hours that you are saying they could work. By advertising it as 'between 10 - 45 hours per week'. This breaches the Equality Act because it means that sometimes it will vary between a full and part time job as anything under 16 hours is part time. Another thing with having such variable hours is that the employee will not be able to get paid the same amount each week which can have a great effect on their livelihood as they will have such a variable income which is entirely unfair to the employee. This brings me directly onto the pay. Having such a variable pay between 14,000 and 35,000 thousand is very un-precise and is very unfair on the worker.

This links to exclusivity clauses. This is a legal document that only allows the employee to work for a single agency and not any others. In your advert you say that 'if successful you must not apply for other positions of this nature'. This means that the documentary that is made if bought of the employee can only be used by 'Flipside Media' else you can face legal action against you. Another thing is a confidentiality clause, this states that it requires both sides to keeps the confidentiality agreement secret. These are essentially in place for data purposes. They are there to disclose any information that needs to be kept secret or confidential.

Employment Legislation

This advert breaks many different regulations, one of these is the Equality Act (2010). The Equality Act states that you cannot discriminate against Age, Gender and Race when thinking about employing staff. You have infringed this by firstly stating that you only want to employ staff under the age of 30. It is illegal to either turn someone down or sack someone because of their age. As well as this you are saying that you will only recruit someone if they are Christian. This fatherly breaks the rules of this act as you are discriminating against people’s beliefs. Even though you are a Christian based group you cannot advertise it like that. By saying ‘female victims and male offenders’. This is stereotypical and is wrong. This is because there are a lot of cases where there are male victims and female offenders. By saying this it is both a stereotype and sexual discrimination. This brings me onto the equal opportunities legislation. This is where you as an employer are supposed to recruit fairly and without any prejudice or discrimination. You have clearly not abided by any of these rules or regulations and have broken the Equality Act and its codes of practice.

One of the most important things within your job advert is the proposal for someone to create a short documentary for you. You have not abided by the employees’ rights or liability because you are asking them to make something quite controversial, as well as this they will not be protected until they are employed meaning that you are getting someone to do something against their right. Employee’s liability is insurance is what protects an individual against accidents. If they are not employed then they will not be covered. This brings me onto health and safety. It is a workers right to have cover for if they are injured at work, but if you are getting them to do something for you, for example this documentary and they are injured in the production they are not covered. Trade Unions are there to fight for workers are there to fight for worker’s rights and to protect workers. BECTU is an example of a trade union and their fee is £120 a year. But they only are there to help employers, not applicants. This means that they would not be able to do anything if something happens to the person who is making the documentary. If something was to happen to the film maker while they were producing the documentary they would not be covered as they are not under your employment and hence forth not covered by BECTU.

Ethical Issues

Codes of practice are not part of the law but they are there to protect the people evolved and the consumer. You as the employer are responsible for making policies, codes of practice and procedures. These are there to set who you could and shouldn’t talk to, for example under 18’s need to have parental consent. Also would applicants be able to find victims and offenders to talk to under data protection? Under data protection none of the people involved should be named. All of this is to avoid any legal issues.

Representation is the way that people are represented in the media, this can be problematic. This all has to do with how someone is portrayed and if an applicant makes the video in a certain way then the audience’s opinions upon certain people or groups may change. This relates to social concerns. This is because the media can easily create social problems through the way that certain things may be represented. This can be similar to stereotypes. In this case you have said that only men are offenders and women are victims.

Legal Issues

There are certain regulatory bodies exist to prevent offence in the media, for example OFCOM. The broadcasting code is there to enforce rules based on the law to protect the audience. The BBC has its own Code of Practice, this is called the BBC Trust.

In this circumstance you have claimed that you would want to interviews to be ‘complemented’ by re-enactments and dramatization. In section 2.2 ‘harm and offence’ it claims that you must not mislead the audience. If you are going to dramatize these matters then you are in danger of doing so. Another thing is protecting under 18’s. You will break this rule because you have asked the employees to make ‘dramatizations’, by doing this you are in danger of exaggerating them, this can result in misleading the viewer. If the documentary is going to include anything graphical or distressing then you would have to abide by the watershed. In part 1.12 it claims that ‘violence, whether verbal or physical, that is easily imitable by children in a manner that is harmful or dangerous’, it then goes onto say ‘must not be broadcasted before the watershed’. In your advert you claim that you want to show it to high school pupils, this means that this could potentially be shown to people of quite a young age, this means that you will be showing potentially harmful, distressing and violent footage to people of a young age, hence forth breaking these rules. OFCOM exists because of the broadcasting Act (1990) and the Communications Act (2003). These were previously in place to prevent any harmful material being broadcasted to protect the audience. The Obscene Publications Act (1959) was in place to prevent any ‘Obscene’ material to be broadcasted, this was put into place to strengthen the law concerning pornography. 

When creating this video you would have to think about the certificate from which it would require. In my opinion I think that this video would have to be certified as either a 15 or 18 because it could contain some harmful and distressing content and relating that to the OFCOM broadcasting code. More importantly when looking at the BBFC it says that violence and threat are permitted as long as it is not too graphic but violence may be detailed if it is verbal. I quote ‘There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but the depiction of sexual violence must be discreet and justified by context.’ After looking more into the BBFC as long as it is not too graphic it will probably be given a 15 rating. The BBFC is an independent body that classifies films by age.

The Intellectual Property Law is there to make sure that people cannot use copyrighted material unless they have the right to do so. This is a big problem with the expansion of the internet as more and more copyrighted material is being used. In the advert you say that the applicant should use a popular soundtrack to appeal to the audience. This would not be able to happen, especially with the fact that you would want to buy it off the applicant at the end. This is not allowed to happen if they do not have the rights to the music. This law applies to anything that involves creativity for example if someone owns an idea or form of media then they have the rights for it.

The video as a whole should be left in the applicant’s property and not with the company as they do not know what you might do with it. Furthermore people being interviewed may have agreed on them being filmed but not for them to have public viewing. All in all you should remove the small print and simply state reasonable expenses with receipts, that way you cannot lawfully own the video.

Furthermore in terms of the small print you are not allowed to promote and force upon your religious views and you are breaking the Equal Opportunities Act, this is because you are discriminating against the employees.

Yours sincerely

Stephen Abbs

Job Roles Booklet

Technology Prezi

Developing Technologies

Careers Booklet

Task 1

Make A list of the skills you would need to be able to take a job at the moment, and think of three examples to support each one. Focus on your strengths and not your weaknesses.

1. Dedication
- Always get all of my work done to standard within deadlines.
- I have very good attendance for all of my subjects.
- I created a full 3 minute documentary all in my own time.

2. Independence
- I work very well on my own as I don't have to rely/worry about others.
- I prefer to be able to do everything on my own and make my own decisions.
- I managed to make a near professional documentary on my own.

3. Creativity
- I am a very imaginative person and come up with my own ideas.
- I am a very art based person and have a lot of creative skills.
- I created my own digital portfolio with all of my best work for university.

4. IT Skills
- I know a wide range of computer software such as Blender and Premier Pro.
- I have a very strong understanding of computers.
- I can very quickly pick up and learn new pieces of hardware/software.

5. Organisation
- I am very unorganized and leave everything to the last minute.
- I am not very good at planning. I normally just put something off until its too late.
- I have terrible time management and am always rushing things.

Task 2

Research. define and explain the following terms by relating them to yourself where necessary.

Part Time - A part time job is where you are working less than 16 hours a week. This means that typically you will have time to do other things on the side.

Full Time - A full time job is over 16 hours and typically 5 days a week in most cases.

GCSE - This stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. This is a Level 2 qualification and is typically carried out at high school.

AS, A Level - These are level 3 qualifications. It consists of 2 separate years starting with an AS level you can carry it on to doing a full A level.

Level 2, 3 and 4 - This goes on a scale and shows progression through different stages of education. For example you start at GCSE which is a level 2 qualification all the way to level 4 which is undergraduate.

Pass, Merit and Distinction - These are all BTEC grades and they have the equivalent of E to A*. For example a Pass is E-D a Merit is C-B a Distinction is an A and a distinction* is an A*.

Vocational - This is where you learn skills on the job. A prime example of this would be an apprenticeship, this is because you learn as you work and gain your skills though that.

Bachelor/Master - These are types of university courses and qualifications. A bachelor or BA is a coursework based subject whereas a Master involves exams.

Graduate (undergraduate/Postgraduate) - Undergraduate is before you have finished your first degree, on the other hand postgraduate is after you have completed your degree.

I am currently studying the first year of 'Creative and Media Diploma in TV and Film' as well as the second year of 'Games Design' at full time education in college. These will equate to getting 2 whole A levels at level 3 by the end of this year. To get into my chosen university I need to get at least distinctions in both of these subjects.

My Qualifications

GCSE

Maths - B

English Literature - C

English Language - C

Chemistry - B

Physics - B

Biology - B

Art -B

P.E - C

Geography - C

ICT - Merit

Key skill

ICT - level 2

AS

Use of Maths - D

Geology - E

Task 3

List any three jobs mentioned in class or any you may have already been considering. What is the job role? What does it entail? Do you need any specialist training or skills? is it freelance work or can you be a permanent member of staff?

1.Games Artist - This role includes designing the visual elements within a game such as the assets and characters. This is typically a freelance job and will need a degree in a games or art related degree.

2.  Level Editor - A level editor creates the interactive architecture or scenery for a game. This includes assets, buildings and terrains. This is a freelance job and you will need a degree in game design.

3. CG Modeler - A CG molder creates the assets for the major aspects of the game. For example they will create the 3D characters and objects. This is similar to a games artist accept this entails more of a 3D heavy aspect. This is also a freelance job and will need a degree in game design or other previous experience in the industry.

Task 4

Research, define and explain methods of recruitment in the creative media industries .Try to find relevant examples.

National Press - This is where jobs are advertised in newspapers and magazines on a national scale meaning that anyone can see them.

Trade Press - This is different from national press as trade press has a target audience. For example if they were advertising a job in game design they would advertise it in a gaming related magazine meaning that it will only be seen my the types of people they want to employ.

Internet - The internet is now a very popular source of recruitment. This is because companies can advertise there jobs on it. Furthermore in media related job roles for example they may want to see a portfolio. Using the internet people can easily distribute their work and show it to viable employers.

Trade Fairs - These are good for networking. These are specifically looking for students that are looking for work in a certain area of the industry.

Word of Mouth - This is a very common form of employment as it is where you have heard about a job through friends or family.

Personal Contacts and Networking - Personal contacts are people that you know who already work within the industry. Networking is normally held at an event ans like minded people meet to discuss current trends ans jobs.

Internal Promotion - This is where a certain individual can work their way up through a company from the bottom up. This happens via promotions where your job gets better, more important and you will get paid more.

Task 5

In word create a CV and cover letter for a media job role found on the internet.

Task 6

Research, define and explain the following and relate them to yourself and past experience. You should also attempt to create the following if you complete the other tasks early.

Portfolio / e-portfolio - A portfolio is a display of some of your best work with explanations and descriptions for your progress and workings. These can either be done through the internet or sketchbook. I relation to past experience I have created my own e-portfolio on a blog. I used this in order to apply for uni as they wanted to see examples of my work.

Showreel - A showreel is a short video with highlights of all your best work. It can be created alongside a portfolio in order to show off all of your best work to an employer or further education. I have never made one of these but I could via using the work in my portfolio.

Personal Website - This isn't as popular as making a showreel or portfolio but they work in the same way. A personal website is simply another version of showing off your work. This is done by simply uploading it to the internet. I have done something similar because I have made my own blog which is technically a personal website which I can customise and I can upload all of my best work to it.

Task 7

Research the following presentation skills/methods and explain what you wouldn't be 'good practice' for each (list of do's and don'ts)

Interviewing skills 

Do's 

Make sure that you are confident. Need to make sure that your speech is clear and strong. Makes the employer know that you want to be here.

Dress smartly. You have to make sure that you are presentable for the interview. Else they may not take you as seriously as other potential employees.

Don'ts

Do not mumble your words as it will show a lack of confidence. Furthermore do not use slang when talking to the interviewer.

Do not pretend to be someone your not. Make sure that you are being yourself in an interview. For example don't talk any differently from how you do normally. You need to make sure that they are employing you for who you are.

Presentation Skills

Do's 

Be confident, need to make sure that you get the audience to back your idea. This is not going to happen if you stutter and mutter. Being confident makes you speak much clearer, this makes the audience understand you more.

Make sure that you are making eye contact with the audience and not staring at the floor or at your notes all the time. You need to be able to briefly look at the notes and then talk freely directly at the audience. Else you will lose all of there concentration

Use body language to express your points. This will allow you to have an interaction with the audience.

Don'ts

Do not hide or cover your mouth/grumble. This will result in the audience not being able to understand you.

Don't be afraid. Not everybody is confident but you cannot show a lack of confidence to the audience. You have to be behind your idea and this will not happen if you are stuttering and shaking.


Self presentation

Linguistic codes - This evolves your language and speech. For example being able to speak fluently and with a wide vocabulary.

Dress codes - Make sure that you are presentable. Smart casual is a possibility but dress code all comes down to the job that you are applying for. For example if it is a creative media related job then you wont necessarily have to go in a shirt and tie. But if you were going to work for a big corporation or bank then you would have to look extremely formal.

Interpersonal Skills - This is where you have the ability to communicate with a variety of different people.

References - These are required for most jobs and are written typically from a previous employers or someone who can comment on your skills and work ethic. They may also require a personal reference.

Task 8 

Research, define and explain the following terms.

Training on the job and continuing professional development - These are both forms of learning new skills on the job, as you work you will develop new skills. This especially applies to anything within the media industries because you will learn how to use new equipment and software. As well as this you will develop better functional and organisational skills.

Self-training - Self-training is where an individual has learned to do something in their own time. For example I learned how to use a variety of different software at home before I had to use them in the class room or just generally for recreational use.

Sources of Information

Trade Unions - A trade union is an organisation of people who have joined to achieve certain things. For example they will strive to get good standards for workers .e.g better pay or better environment to work in.

Sector Skills Councils - This is an organisation that aims to develop very high quality skills for workers in certain industries.

Careers Services - Careers services are in place to provide information to help make decisions on your future. They do this by offering advice and guidance on making decisions about future careers, education and jobs. All in all they help you choose or change a career.

Task 9

Identify the opportunities you have had in the courses that you are currently studying for developing your functional skills.

Subject	Maths	English	ICT
Game Design	I have learned a large amount about geometry while doing this subject. This is because I have learned how to use 3D software and methods to get the best results.	This has greatly enhanced my writing skills and vocabulary. This is because we have to greatly describe and evaluate all of our work.	This has by far increased my ICT skills as I have learned how to use a variety of new software including Flash and Blender.
Media	Maths doesn't often come into this subject but my problem solving has improved due to us having to working to deadlines and having to overcome problems such as duration in productions.	Since I started this subject my writing skills have increased dramatically. As well as this so has my presentation skills. This is because we do a lot of essay based work and that we have to show our ideas to everyone.	My skills in ICT have increased through learning new software such as Premier Pro and After Effects. Furthermore my typing skills have improved alongside my English due to practice.

Is The News A Window On The World?

Is TV news a window on the world? 

What is this question asking? As we have looked at the introduction sequences of news programs and looked at the iconography of them they have tried to connote the fact that they are a window on the world and that they tell everything to everyone about things happening all over the globe, but is this true? After looking in great detail at what the news has to offer we can quite clearly see that this is not true. This because they will only show the audience what they want you to see and not necessarily what you need to. They hide a lot of the content from the viewer such as graphics. The content in the news always comes down to their news values.

How does the news portray itself? 

The way that the news wants to be seen as is unbiased, factual and impartial. I have covered this in a previous post linked here.

However there are some very strict rules and regulations which means that they are not allowed to be bias and fictional. To prove this is have looked at OFCOM and the BBC code of practice. After looking through these I have seen that OFCOM are very strict on their rules which state impartiality in the news.

These are just a select few of their rules against impartiality in the news. As you can see it states in section 5.1 that news has to be presented 'with due accuracy'. This means that what they show has to be accurate and cannot mislead the viewer.

The hierarchy of truth within news is to do with the level of reality within the footage. For example it can vary in anything from actuality footage to reconstructions. This contradicts the news saying that it is a window on the world because sometimes they do not use footage from that actual event they are talking about for example archive footage can sometimes be used in the background. All of this adds to the structure of a story and them not giving you the whole thing as sometimes they are not showing real live event footage and instead using something similar to back it up. Through this they are not simply showing us reality but instead showing the audience what they want them to see.

Why can’t the news be completely unbiased?

The gatekeeping process is the process from which news is filtered out, for example they need to cut down all he important and relevant events in the world into a small broadcast. This determines what stories get onto the news. These stories are justified by everyone from the journalists to the anchors. There are many factors that lead to a story becoming news. These come down to many different elements.

Firstly the news sources and the process from which news is gathered is important. These sources can vary in anything from live action to social media. News spreads quickly and it’s a journalist’s job in order to gather information on a story.

One of the most important things that will make a news story viable is the news values themselves. Galtung and Ruge came up with the first report on what makes a story good. They categorized these news values and explained why they were important in a story. For example for something to make the news it has to be infrequent, it cannot be something that happens on a regular occurrence. Another thing negativity; normally bad news is more exciting for the audience as tragedy is often showed in the news. This brings me onto threshold and ‘elite persons’. If something big happens like a natural disaster and has a large scale it has a good news value, but also if someone famous is affected then it is often news worthy. Other news values include; Unambiguity, Meaningfulness, Consonance, Unexpectedness, continuity, composition, Elite Nations and personalisation. All of these make a good news story. Other more modern news values include visuality, for example if something looks good it will attract the audience’s attention. This means that a story has some good exciting camera angles. Lastly if a story had drama, this means that it has a good narrative hence makes it more news worthy. A combination of all of these values make a good news story.

There are a few laws and precautions that can prevent some stories being shown. If a story is violent or gory then sometimes it will not be shown fully as sometimes it will be blurred out or they say that it can be distressing. Other things such as offensive material cannot be shown, lastly anything bias or impartial is not allowed to make the news as it can be either fictional or opinionated. 

Sometimes there are other reasons that a story will not make the news. A prime example of this is budgeting, if a story would cost too much to produce then it may not be possible to make. If a story happens when a team hasn't got very much money left then it is possible that they won’t have the budget to make it. This has happened before in the world of news when 25 years ago ITV failed to broadcast the Tiananmen Square massacre as they didn't have the funds. 

There are many different news companies in the world. This means that there is always competition between them. Furthermore the ownership of different news companies always has an impact on what is shown. An example of this would be Rupert Murdoch. He owned the majority of all the newspapers in the UK and hence controlled the majority of what was shown in the news. 

Other aspects that can effect what is shown in the news is when there is a late breaking story. If there is a news story that happens during a live show then they will immediately fit it into the production. As a result of this it means that they will remove one of the stories made for the show of the end of the production. This means that not all of the news will always be shown as they have then scrapped the entire story and replaced it with the late breaking news.

During a showing there is a lot of potential for technical problems. When these occur the production team have to think quickly. For example if someone is doing a live report and it cuts out they will either completely scrap the story and move onto the next or they will use archive footage in order to get the story covered. Unless the problem is fixed the story will often either get scrapped or cut down.

Continuity and editing within a story is very important. For example is they were using a pre-recorded interview they will often cut it down in order to make it flow better using jump cuts. Using continuity and editing the producers can add a fictional element and this turns an event into a story.

Often in news stories actuality in footage is not always recorded from a particular event. Sometimes they will use archive footage, this is but a representation of reality and don’t always show real footage from an event. This will often happen when there is a story about war. Archive footage from previous similar events will be used to cover the story. The choice as to whether they use real footage all comes down to the news values.

Conclusion

All in all the news will never be completely unbiased, it will always contain some impartial content and this will never change. It is almost impossible to completely show a ‘window on the world’ for many different reasons. It is very important however to have balance within the news, this is because then it isn't opinionated, this mostly applies when talking politics as on TV news they are not allowed to show their opinion as they thrive to be balanced. On the other hand newspapers can as they are privately owned. These days as people do not get there news purely from reading papers. You can catch up on news almost everywhere as a lot of news is now spread through social media. Because news is now both gathered and distributed through many different sources the consumer will always get many different views upon a story.

I think that the worst thing about the news on TV in terms of bias and impartiality is the news reporters and presenters. This is because they are made up of one very particular type of person. The fact that 90% of these people are made up of white, well educated, straight males of middle class and age from the south of England means that you will only get the opinion of a select few people. Through this it means that there is no diversity within the news. A perfect example of this would be SKY news. This is because of both its ownership and its presentation. An example of a presenter would be Eamonn Holmes, he has a whole separate program on this news channel where he is the host. The reason I am using this as an example is because he comes exactly under the description of the typical news presenter.

Even with all of the regulations and guide lines that are against news being impartial and opinionated the news with never be the window on the world that it portrays itself as. This all comes down to many different factors such as news values, sources and actuality of footage. All of these different elements mean that it is near enough impossible. The way that the news functions means that we will never get to know the whole truth about anything. This is because they only show you what they want you to see and they don’t give you the whole truth about anything. There are always some details that can’t be shown, whether it is down to protection, budget or structure. Because of all these different factors they can never show you everything.

Media Ownership

Public Service Broadcast (PSB)

Public broadcasts are across many different media including radio and TV. These are funded by licence fees, this avoids any commercial pressure. Licence fee is the money that the public pay for the ability to watch TV. PSB's are public services, as opposed to exploitation. An example of this would be the BBC as it is the purest form of broadcasting. Other broadcasters have public service for example ITV have to have at least 1 hour of religious themed broadcast per week, this is why they will show 'songs of praise'.

Commercial Broadcasting

Commercial broadcasts is TV broadcasting by privately owned corporate companies. This is shown on both radio and TV. For example SKY and ITV. This is where the audience isn't served but instead they become the product.

Corporate and Private Ownership

These are companies that are not owned by an individual, this means that it is owned by a group. These can include PSB and commercial broadcasts. An example of this would be Newscorp.

Globalization

This is where a company has a build in more than a single country. There are many examples of global companies. A media related one would be Disney as they own more than one company and are one of the biggest shareholders in the world. Making them a global company. Advantages of this would be having a larger / wider audience and also economies of scale.

Concentration of Ownership

This is where a handful of companies own almost all of the world media. An example of this would be news corporation. This company owns FOX and SKY. By doing this they knock out the majority of the competition. This is called synergy, otherwise known as cross platform integration.

Vertical and horizontal integration

Horizontal integration is where a parent company owns other companies within the same sector. An example of this is would again be Walt Disney as they also own Pixar and Lucas arts. This is also known as monopolization, but in most companies there are laws against this happening. For example Rupert Murdoch cannot buy any more newspapers as he already owns the majority of the news. On the other hand vertical integration is where a single company for example a production company will buy a distribution company. This means that they will make more money as they don't have to pay off profits to the distributor because they won that company. An example of this is Warner studios, as they own many different sectors. For example the Production, Distribution and Exhibition of a certain production.

Sources of funding

Licence fee 

This is the way that the BBC is funded. This is where the viewer pays £145.50 every 10 years in order to watch TV. Without paying this licence you are breaking the law.

Subscription

This is where you pay a set amount of money for a certain service or package. Prime examples of this would be SKY and Netflix. This is because they supply a subscription service in order to watch programs and films.

One off payment

One off payment is when you buy a physical copy of a media product. An example of this would be buying a DVD or game.

Pay per view

Pay per view is very common when it comes to sports. For example you sometimes will get the option that for a live event you pay a certain amount of money to watch the live coverage. This often includes wrestling and boxing.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is another way that companies can get money through advertisement, but it is different because it will be placed or themed. An example would be how Halford sponsors Motoring themed programs on Dave. This means that they will have a related advert that will always appear before and after segments of the program. For this Halfords would have paid Dave in order to get the slot.

Advertising

Advertising is a promotion for a product, these appear in commercial breaks for programs. These change the nature of the media producers. These are some of the main sources of funding for channels example of these are ITV, SKY and channel 4. The BBC does not have adverts as it is funded by licence fees. This is where the public

Product Placement

Product placement is a very common thing within modern media. This happens quite a lot within films. For example James Bond; he always wears an Omega watch and drives an Aston Martin. This is more of a discrete form of advertisement. This also links in with funding as Sony used a lot of product placement in 'Skyfall' but they also helped fund the multi-million pound film.

Private Capital

This can range anything from friends and family to private investors. Depending on how big your project is depends on how much investment you will need. If it is a production where you need a couple hundred pounds then you might be able to scrape it together through asking friends and family. On the other hand if you needed 10 thousand pounds then you would need to pitch your idea. In the professional industry private investors are often used when funding a film. Examples of these would be people like Robert Rodriguez and Megan Ellison who funded film like 'Sin City' and 'American Hustle'. Another not so common example was when Vin Diesel funded his own film 'Riddick'.

Crowd Funding

Crowd funding is now a very popular form of funding. This is done via pitching your idea to the public in order for them to chip on some money. Of course this involves them wanting something back such as a profit if it is successful. This can be done through all sorts of media for example TV, Games and Movies can all be crowd funded is people like your idea. A lot of modern productions are crowd funded, an example of a crowd funding website would be kick starter. A film called Veronica Mars last year managed to get a total of $5.7 million dollars which is almost 3 times what they asked for. This is a prime example as it shows how very successful it can be.

Development Funds

Development funds are when a company will invest in your films. An example of this would be the BFI (British film institute). They will give you money in order to make your production if they think that it is worth it. Another example is Creative England. Both of these will help fund your idea if they think it is good enough.

News Introduction Analysis

Introduction Analysis

This is the introduction sequence to the BBC news program. In this blog post I will be analyzing it to show the different aspects of the sequence. 

In class we have been looking at the introductions to news programs. We analysed the iconography within these sequences. 
As a result of this we came up with some categories. - Clocks and time - Connotations of technology - Rushing graphics and camera movements - The planet - Satellites - Geographical landmarks and locations - Transparency - Colors - Fast, loud music Within the majority of the introductions contained some of these aspects above. 
BBC news sequence analysis

At the very start of this sequence I immediately noticed that the visuals start with a partial view of the planet. As you can see it is showing a segment of the world which in this case is China and with the capital city 'Beijing' in capital letters. This is one of the world super powers and has great importance. Another thing is the audio. It starts with a drum beat in the background which is often used in the news and especially in the starting sequences, this is because they are trying to grab the viewers attention. 

The coloration of the introduction is all red and white which also relates the the news show itself as this is the color scheme used through the whole show. As we progress through the sequence it is similar to the start except this time it is Scotland and shows its capital city 'Edinburgh'. This city is important because it is closer to home.

This whole sequence contains very fast rushing graphics. We said that the introductions would be rushed and fast paced because they want to get the news to the audience as fast as possible and show a sense of urgency. In this introduction there are lines that are connecting all of these locations, this means that they are bringing news from all over the world.
The graphics bring me onto transparency. We are looking down at the world through these red graphics. This means that they are showing that there is nothing to hide and shows clarity within the news. The next segment is more zoomed out and shows the entire planet as a view from space. The world itself is transparent and shows that there is nothing on this planet they can hide from us. This suggests that they know everything about all the current events. 
Another example of iconography is the use of satellites. In this sequence I think they have are trying to suggest satellites with the use of the circles that orbit the planet. This is them trying to show the use of modern technology that they are using in order to get the news to the audience.
The colors in this sequence are very deep and bold. This is done to grab your attention as does the music. The music fully kicks in at about 5 seconds and contains a change of strong drum beat. All of these things are there to grab the viewer's attention to tell them that something very important is going to happen.

The last shot in the sequence before entering the studio is a shot of the earth. This is shown from space and shows it from the view of a satellite. You could say that this connotes technology and says that they are an advanced high tech industry. From this view  you see the names of capital cities from all over the world connected with lines to show they have the most important news from everywhere. 

Lastly the graphics in this intro contain what seems like an earthquake with the use of the circles. This shows that when news happens it spreads in ripples from the epicenter of the news.

At the end, the intro sequence cuts into two shots of the studio. This means that it rushes straight from a shot of the world into the studio where they are reporting the news. These are crane shots and show all of the people and the technology that they are using to generate the news and distribute it to the public. The use of technology is clearly shown in the mise-on-scene off the studio. In the second shot we see the news reader at her desk surrounded by cameras and screens. This reinforces how high tech the studio is.

The thing that is more important than the introduction sequence is the newsreader themselves. The crane shots dissolve into a shot of the newsreader. The shots shows a young female which is very common in the news. These presenters are not allowed to show any emotion or personality when presenting the news as they need to show neutrality within the way it is shown. Furthermore people who present the news generally speak in 'Standard English'. This means that they do not have any speech problems or have any accent, these people are typically from southern England. Most news presenters are either young females or older males. The presenter is always looking into the camera and trying to address the audience directly as it is very hard to ignore someone when they stare straight at you, this shows a state of importance. As soon as the cameras start rolling on the presenter they are always sitting at there desk ready to tell the world about the news. This shows a sense of preparation within the news but also shows the urgency and importance of the news that they are presenting. This is shown in the earlier shot as it shows the studio all ready with the cameras and her sitting at the desk ready and waiting to tell us about the news.