Job Roles in the Television and Film Industries

DIRECTOR

Background Information
Directors are responsible for creatively translating the film's written script into actual images and sounds on the screen. They are ultimately responsible for a film's artistic and commercial success or failure. They may write the film's script or commission it to be written, or they may be hired after an early draft of the script is complete. They must then develop a vision for the finished film and work out how to achieve it.

During pre-production, Directors make crucial decisions, such as selecting the right cast, crew and locations for the film. They then direct rehearsals and the performances of the actors once the film is in production. They also manage the technical aspects of filming including the camera, sound, lighting, design and special effects departments. During post production, Directors work closely with Editors through the many technical processes of editing, to reach the final cut or version of the film.

At all stages, Directors are responsible for motivating the team to produce the best possible results. Directors must also always be aware of the constraints of the film's budget and schedule and manage the expectations of the film's financiers.

Qualifications necessary?
You don’t need a formal qualification to become a Director. There are numerous training courses and reference books on directing and studying the art and craft of directing is important. However, the role can only really be mastered through in-depth practical experience. You will find writing a screenplay, directing your own short film or an amateur play are all good starting places. You will also need extensive industry experience; up-to-date knowledge of film making techniques and equipment is vital, as is learning how to work with actors to create a performance.


Getting in there
You can expect to start your career by getting work experience as a Runner on a film set or in a production office before working your way up through entry-level positions over many years.

Observing successful Directors at work, whilst immersing yourself in the practical process of film making is a vital first step on this fiercely competitive and highly challenging career path.

The Money
Only 15% of writers, directors, producers and actors continue to work on either side of the budgeting margin, while just 13% of producers who produced a low budget film go on to make another one. Shocking still, ta mere 3% of directors who make their first film go on to make two more. This varies widely from director to director. Some like Steven Spielberg may take a producer role, which means extra payment. The most successful directors will ask for as much as $10m for a movie, and ma also want a cut of the films profits.


EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Background Information
Executive Producers are responsible for the overall quality control and success of TV productions, and for ensuring that final products conform to commissioners' specifications. They are part of the team who are responsible for selecting marketable projects and ensuring that every step is taken to guarantee success in the market. They lead the production of a range of television programs, including dramas, serial dramas, documentaries and drama documentaries.

On serial dramas, and some entertainment program, experienced and well-known writers may also be credited as Executive Producers. On current affairs and news programming, the Executive Producer role is often combined with that of the program editor. Executive Producers are usually experienced industry practitioners, who bring their particular, individual skills and talents to this demanding role.

Executive Producers' roles vary depending on the genre, broadcaster or production. They must be able to identify commercial, marketable projects from a range of proposals. They may help to develop scripts. They are responsible for finding suitable markets for projects. They may attend TV and film marketing festivals such as Cannes and MIP-TV International Film and Programme Market for Television. At these, they promote projects nationally and internationally and secure funding partnerships with potential sponsors or co-producers. The cost of a television production may be shared amongst a number of partner organisations who will all eventually broadcast the finished programs. They ensure that a range of publicity and marketing materials are prepared in order to attract co-production partnerships and funding.



Will you need a Qualification?
You won’t need a specific qualification to become an Executive Producer in TV. However, a degree in a media-related, drama or specialist subject may give you a good grounding. You will need to have wide experience in and knowledge of the production process. Some specialist courses aimed at experienced producers offer training in co-production, developing networks and partnerships, pitching, and other topics.

Extra Help

To become an Executive Producer, you will need to gain a lot of experience in the TV industry, and usually you will have worked previously for a number of years as a Producer, Writer, Director or Script Editor among other roles. In the main, you will also have hands-on experience of producing, enabling you to appreciate the requirements of your own role within the production process. You will also need to have a good knowledge of other roles and grades. In the role of Executive Producer, you may perform a dual role on productions, such as Writer and Executive Producer. Programme commissioners or heads of department employed by broadcasters are often credited as Executive Producers on all their departments' programming output.


PRODUCTION DESIGNER


Background Information
Production Designers are major heads of department on film crews, and are responsible for the entire art department. They help Directors to define and achieve the look and feel of a film. Production Designers begin work at the very early stages of pre-production. They may be asked to look at scripts to provide spending estimates before a Director is even approached. On first reading a screenplay, they assess the visual qualities that will help to create atmosphere and bring the story to life.


Production Designers must calculate the budgets and decide how the money and effort will be spent. Then there’s an intense period of research during which they and their Specialist Researchers source ideas from books, photographs, paintings, the internet, etc. They deliver their design sketches (showing mood, atmosphere, lighting, composition, colour and texture) to Art Directors who oversee the production of technical drawings and models, which are used by the Construction Department to build the sets and adapt locations. Props Buyers and Set Decorators source props and organise the manufacture of specialist items.

Later on in the art department office, Production Designers check on the construction and dressing of other sets, and sign off on sets/locations for the next day's shoot. Although Production Designers usually finish work on the last day of principal photography, on larger films they may be involved for longer periods. Production Designers work on a freelance basis. They may have to prepare detailed drawings and specifications in order to pitch for work on a number of productions before being offered work on one of them. Although the work can be very demanding and the hours long, this is one of the most highly-skilled, creatively fulfilling roles within the film industry.

Qualifications needed?
You will need to be a graduate of art, architecture, theatre, interior or 3D design courses. After this, you can complete a specialist course in film and/or theatre design.



Best way into the Job?
As the head of the largest department on a film crew, you must have extensive experience gained over a number of years. You would usually start as a Junior Draughtsman, moving on to Draughtsman, Assistant Art Director and Art Director. You will also find a background of working in theatre helpful, as this would teach you the art of set design and construction as well as how to conceptualise ideas and create a sense of drama through visual spectacle. If you graduate in film and theatre design, you will need to gain experience working on short films before progressing to junior roles on feature films.




PRODUCTION MANAGER (TV)

Background Information
Production Managers are responsible for all the organisational aspects of production scheduling and budgeting. They work across all genres in television production including documentaries, current affairs, light entertainment or children's programs, situation comedies, soaps or serial dramas, or one off dramas. They assist the Producer to interpret and realise the Director’s vision, financially and logistically. They prepare production schedules or script breakdowns to confirm that sufficient time has been allocated for all aspects of the production process, and to check the Producer’s budget and schedule.



The Production Manager is the key person in the production department. They report directly to Producers. They work closely with all other heads of department to ensure that productions run smoothly, meet deadlines, and stay within budgets. Throughout shooting, they monitor schedules and budgets, and prepare daily report sheets for Producers, detailing all aspects of each day's shoot. During pre-production and shooting, they deal with any unexpected circumstances and prepare workable alternative plans. They oversee all aspects of the day-to-day running of shoots, from contract preparation to all Health and Safety requirements, and work closely with members of all other production departments, Actors, and other contributors.


Will you need a qualification?
You won’t need a specific qualification to become a TV Production Manager. However, a degree in a media-related, drama or specialist subject may give you a good grounding. You will need to have wide experience in and knowledge of the production process. It will stand you in good stead to complete specialist courses in production management, and in relevant software, e.g. Movie Magic.

It will be essential for you to have a current Health & Safety and first aid qualification

Best way in
To become a Production Manager in TV, you will usually need to be an experienced member of a production team. You could start out as a 3rd Assistant Director, to 2nd Assistant Director to 1st Assistant Director.

Or you could move from being an Assistant Floor Manager to a Floor Manager to a Location Manager.

Or you could progress from having been a Script Supervisor, a Production Assistant or a Production Accountant.

You could also transfer to this role from having been a non-media accountant with suitable training.


CAMERA OPERATOR (studio or portable single camera)

Background Information
Camera Operator (Portable Single Camera) is a senior role within television camera departments. The role's duties vary depending on the type of production. On high budget dramas or commercials, their main role is to support the Director of Photography (DoP or DP) and the Director, by accurately carrying out their instructions regarding shot composition and development. They also cover other drama productions, documentaries, current affairs and news, shooting on various tape or digital formats.

Camera Operators are usually selected by the Director, but sometimes by the DP. They work closely with the First Camera Assistant (Focus Puller). They oversee the preparation and checking of camera equipment. During shooting, they are responsible for all aspects of camera operation, so that the DP can concentrate intensively on lighting and overall visual style. While the DP and Director discuss the composition of each shot, the Operator ensures that the camera and associated equipment are ready for the required set-up, keeping alert for any last-minute changes. They liaise closely with the Director, fine-tuning the exact details of each shot, often suggesting creative improvements or alternatives. They work closely with performers, guiding them on what can and cannot be seen by the camera.

Hours are long (12-14 hours a day), and some foreign travel may be involved, involving long periods spent away from base, which can be challenging to home and family life.

Will you need a qualification?
You do not need a specific qualification to work in this role. Instead, you would usually learn the practical skills required through hands-on experience on the job. That said, continuing professional development is vital, especially as camera technology changes rapidly. Basic stills photography, which develops visual and composition skills, also provides a useful starting point in training for this role.

Best way in
Intensive industry experience is the best route into this role, having gained a grounding in the basic camera skills and knowledge required. You could begin your career as a Camera Assistant, and then work your way up through the ranks of the camera department over several years.

Getting Paid
Freelance camera operators are usually paid a fee for each contract, rates can vary widely. You could negotiate fees based on the type of production and your own track record. Contact BECTU for current pay guidelines. For Example, the going rate for camera operators working a ten-hour day on TV factual or documentary programs is £285; for commercials it's £411 and for TV news £227. It may be possible to negotiate rates of pay based on your previous experience as well as the type of production. Working hours are generally long and can even consist of night shoots. That said, continuing professional development is vital, especially as camera technology changes rapidly. Basic stills photography, which develops visual and composition skills also provides a useful starting point for this role.


EDITOR

Background Information

Editors are one of the key Heads of Department on feature films, responsible for First Assistant Editors, and on bigger productions, Second Assistants and Trainees. The Editor works closely with the Director, crafting the daily rushes into a coherent whole. To ensure that the story flows effortlessly from beginning to end, each shot is carefully chosen and edited into a series of scenes, which are in turn assembled to create the finished film. The Editor works closely with the Director before shooting begins, deciding how to maximise the potential of the screenplay. Editors check the technical standards, as well as the emerging sense of story, and the actors' performances.

Editors work long, unsociable hours, often under pressure, in an edit suite. They are employed on a freelance basis by the Producer (sometimes with the approval of the film's financiers), based on their reputation and experience. Editors often work on television drama, as well as on feature films. Because scenes are shot and edited out of sequence, Editors may work on scenes from the end of the film before those at the beginning, and must therefore be able to maintain a good sense of how the story is unfolding. Editors select the best takes and edit them together to create scenes. In some cases, an improvised line or an actor's interpretation of their role may create some on-screen magic that can be developed into a new and exciting scene.

During the post production period, the Editor and the Director work closely together, refining the assembly edit into the Director's Cut, which must be approved by the Producers, until they achieve picture lock or Fine Cut (when the Director and/or Executive Producer give final approval of the picture edit).

Getting in there
Traditionally, you could go from being a Runner to a Trainee, Second Assistant, First Assistant and eventually to become an Editor. However, with digital editing, 2nd Assistants are now only employed on very big budget films.

As a Trainee with at least two years' experience you would have to work as an Assistant in television or on low budget films for a considerable period of time before becoming First Assistant on feature films. Some big budget productions take on Trainees and Second Assistants, and it is important to keep up to date with films in pre-production by reading the trade press.

If you can work with an Editor as an Assistant, you may be allowed to carry out the assembly edit of some sections of the film. If you can become an experienced Assistant, you may also work as an Editor on short films, which will enable you to showcase your talents.

Getting Paid
The industry offering most editing jobs in motion pictures and videos, with 67% of the 17.550 positions . They also offer the highest wages at £21.90 an hour on £45,714 annually. Other big employers of editors are radio and television broadcasting, with pay at £16 per hour or £33,475 annually, cable programming at £17.40 and hours and £36,270 annually.


RUNNER

Background Information
Production Runners are used by the Producer and by other production staff. They help out wherever they are needed on productions. Their responsibilities vary depending on where Production Runners are assigned. In the Production Office duties might include answering telephones, filing paperwork and data entry. Or arranging lunches, dinners, and transportation reservations, photocopying, general office administration, and distributing production paperwork.

On set, Runners might have to act as a courier and help to keep the set clean and tidy. They also distribute call sheets, health and safety notices, and other paperwork. On location shoots, Production Runners may also be needed to help co-ordinate the extras, and to perform crowd control duties. Runners are usually employed on a freelance basis and their hours are long and irregular.





Qualifications?

You don’t need a specific qualification, but a good education is an advantage. You will also need a full, clean EU driving licence.

Getting the Job
Start out by getting some experience in film, drama or broadcasting. It can be in amateur dramatics, student radio or film making, shorts or community media. This will put you in a better position to apply for work as a Production Runner, as there is a lot of competition for jobs despite the low pay.


This is a good entry-level role into the film industry. You can make valuable contacts and may progress to a trainee position or another role in the Production Office.

Is the pay any good?
The pay of a runner is low, very low. You'll usually find runners working for absolutely free. However, recently the BECTU (a union in the media industry) have suggested that you should receive 33% over the national minimum wage limit. You will usually be paid hourly for this job rate rather than a salary. But this isn't a job to be living off alone, you will need to have another job to be able to pay for the bills/food.


SOUND RECORDIST

Background Information
Sound Recordists (also known as Production Mixers) record sound on location or in a studio, usually in synchronisation with the camera, to enable the highest quality 'real' sound to be recorded at the time of filming.They monitor the quality of the sound recording through headphones and work closely with the Director, Boom Operator and sometimes the Sound Editor, often using multiple microphones.

It is their job to set up talk back communication between production staff, presenters and artists and other communication systems such as 'live' links by land line, microwave link or satellite. They also record sound effects and atmosphere tracks. Sound Recordists/Production Mixers may work on a wide range of single or multi-camera shoots, and their duties can vary considerably. Depending on the scale of the production, they may work closely with the Director and Producer at the planning stage to clarify technical requirements and budgets.

They are responsible for producing the final sound mix, so they directly supervise the Sound Assistants and Boom Operators. Sometimes, they also manage the rest of the sound crew. They may also occasionally operate the boom themselves. They often have to supervise front line maintenance in order to keep the production on track.

Qualifications

You won’t need a qualification to be a TV Sound Recordist. However it is vital to be able to show a strong interest in sound and an understanding of its physical properties. You will need to develop your skills throughout your career as television sound technology and techniques are constantly changing.

Courses are available throughout the UK, from HND to degree level in sound technology, audio engineering, acoustics and music recording.

Best route in?

The best way to start your career in sound is to develop and demonstrate an interest in, and enthusiasm for sound. You can do this by exploring, experimenting and learning about audio technology and its capabilities. Your first steps into the industry will normally be in a trainee role. On-the-job training or shadowing of more experienced personnel is the best way to learn. Experience of working in theatre or the music industry, hospital or community radio would also provide you with a useful background for this role. Alternatively, getting a job with an equipment manufacturer or hire company could also provide valuable experience and training, helping you to learn about sound equipment, make industry contacts and get a foot in the door.

The pay
The money is Freelance. Meaning, you get paid for whatever job you do. This is just like most of the other jobs in the industry, it depends who you are, how much experience you have and other factors like the budget.

LOCATION MANAGER

Background Information
The Location Managers' primary role is to identify and find ideal locations for a film shoot. They report to the Producer, Director and Production Designer. The search for exactly the right location can take months of research and scouting.  Work starts in pre-production, to understand the Director’s creative vision for the film. This helps the Location Manager make the right decisions about potential locations.

They also have to take into account accessibility, the shooting schedule and budget. They have to negotiate the cost and terms of the hire, crew and vehicle access, parking, noise reduction, power sources, catering requirements and any official permissions that may be needed. They often use a photographic storyboard to illustrate their findings back in the production office.

Once filming has started, Location Managers are in charge of managing all aspects of shooting in each location. They have to make sure that everyone in the cast and crew knows how to get to the filming location, that it has been signposted clearly along main routes. During filming, Location Managers oversee the health and safety of everyone using the location. After the shoot, have to make sure that the location cleaned and locked up, before returning it to its owners in a satisfactory condition. Any damage must be reported to the production office and any insurance claims dealt with.

Location Managers are usually the first to arrive on location and the last to leave, so the hours can be long and unsocial. On larger productions, Location Managers may supervise Assistant Location Managers and/or Location Scouts. These team members assist the Location Manager in all aspects.

Qualifications needed
You don’t need a formal qualification to become a Location Manager. If you can complete any health and safety training course, this is extremely useful.

Getting Paid
The salary changes with how much experience a person has and can range from a couple of hundred on a low-budget films to almost a thousand on a day of commercials. They are commonly associated with production as being part of the management of a show, and as such, are generally paid a weekly salary as apposed to an hourly wage.

To find more information about these jobs or any other, follow this website:
http://creativeskillset.org/

Careers Booklet

Task 1: Make a list of the skills you would be able to take to a job at the moment, and think of three examples to support each one. Focus on our strengths and your weaknesses.

• Hardworking: I believe that I am hardworking as I dedicate myself to completing work and making sure that it is done to the best of my ability, although I tend to doubt myself a lot of the time, I still do my best to try making sure that I communicate with the teachers (with coursework) to make sure I have done everything and that I am on track, dedication and hard work will eventually pull me through
• Very Reflective and Thoughtful: I feel that this is something I do naturally as I think into the complexity of a situation and the work involved, then tackling it to make sure that things are done properly and well, I find to reflect on myself and what I have done which can lead to more doubt as I feel that things are that complex I struggle to understand the simpler tasks but still try to make it that I get everything done properly.
• A Good Communicator: I tend to keep the communication well as I make sure that what I am doing is being heard so that I am always on track, I like to make the connections between me and my teachers (with coursework) so that I understand what they want of me and therefore the communication is usually there.
• Good with Teams and Leadership: Although I say this as a point, I am a very independent person and definitely prefer to work alone, but when put into a group I still make sure that everything is done, I tend to be a little bit bossy and make myself a leader because I want to make sure that as a group we all pull our weight in the task and things are done to a standard we'll all be satisfied with, I still take into consideration everyone else thoughts and opinions but I make sure that as a group we are on track.

Task 2: Research, define and explain the following terms by relating them to yourself where necessary.

• Part time, is where within your job you work a few hours during the week, this can be adjustable but is usually common in students as they work evenings or weekends (depending on the work) when a student, you shouldn't have any more hours than twelve in your part time job.
• Full time, is where you are dedicated to that one certain job, it is a lot more hours, a typical 9-5 job is full time work, and there is a contract to obligate you to a set amount of hours a week, usually 35+
• GCSE is a qualification that is gained during school, typically students aged between 14-16. Usually there are typical GCSE's such as in English, Maths and Science which a lot of job companies see if you have a C or above to be considered in that job role.
• A Levels, are a qualification that is taken in a specific subject with students aged 16-18, this stage occurs just after high school (when the right GCSE's have been obtained for you to continue onto a selected A Level course).
• Level 2/Level3/Level 4 are another way of explaining some of the terms above, a Level 2 is the stage of GCSE's gained from C-A*, Level 3 is equal to gaining an A level/ BTEC Nationals and Level 4 qualifications are professional certificates/awards.
• Pass, Merit and Distinctions are then related to BTEC Nationals, like A Levels, you obtain A, B, C etc, with BTEC's you obtain pass, merits and distinctions, these are equivalent to grades too, a pass is E-D a merit is C-B and a distinction is A-A*. BTEC's are handy in the way that they are entirely coursework based and the work you do is marked and the points are added up in the end which are then to see what grade you get as a certain number of points equals that grade but each BTEC various on points and they way that is figured out.
• Vocational is directed at a particular occupation and its skills, such as catering. Great Yarmouth College is well known for its vocational courses and a lot of students go there to learn specifically in that topic, it is also a lot more realistic in the sense that you do what you are aiming for.
• Bachelor of, Master of are two terms that are used in university, a bachelor is a person who holds a first degree from university and is in a specific title, for instance Bachelor of Arts also known as a BA. Then a Master of is an academic degree which takes longer to obtain than a normal degree, a masters is awarded upon graduation from a university and is in a higher or more specific field or a professional practice. Within this areas students are applying the topic more and being more critical about everything.
• Undergraduate is a university student who has no yet taken there first degree, a graduate is then where a student has completed there first degree in a set course/subject. Finally a postgraduate is relating to a course undertaken after completing a first degree.

Looking at all of these and relating them back to myself is something I find quite interesting as I slowly work up that hierarchy of qualifications, at the moment I have a part time job where I am required to actively partake in putting myself to do the best I can in the job, I work on evenings and weekends and find it to be flexible with the fact that I am at college. This means that I have obtained my GCSE's at college and I have got higg enough grades to go on to East Norfolk Sixth Form College to obtain A levels and a BTEC. I am hoping to continue onto university where I can apply myself to a specific area of study.

Task 3: List any 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?

• Animator: An artist who creates multiple images, known as frames that are pieced together to give an illusion of movement, this then all creates an animation. I've been considering this as the main career role that I'd like to go into and to get into it I'd be studying the course at University, I don't know if you need any specific skills, I guess you have to be good and understand the different concepts of each animation and I also think this can be done freelance and permanent, depending on what you wish to create/animate.
• Graphic Designer: This is someone who specifies in graphic design and it's a combination of typography and visual arts, there are so many variations of graphic design that there are no set skills to wanting to get into this kind of job. The most common framework is usually freelance as a lot work from home and sell there ideas or work. I think this would interesting to get into as I quite enjoy the subject area.
• Director: This is an important role where a specific person directs and supervises the actors and other staff in a set production. I would enjoy this role because studying film studies really got me involved with the media world. This is a permanent member of staff role and not something that can be done freelance, it is a high end tough job to handle and I would thoroughly enjoy it.

Task 4: Research, define and explain methods of recruitment in the creative media industries. Try and find example where relevant.

• National Press: This is nationwide, such as the Newspaper, and any other kind of press related source, such as The Advertiser/Guardian etc.
• Trade Specifics: This is a specialist paper which exists particularly to appeal to people in a particular sector. An example of this is regional film and television or Sight and Sound.
• Internet (for recruitment): This is simply explained as companies and specfic sites set out to recruit people that look upon websites to find a certain job role, such as UCAS, Jobs4U etc.
• Trade Fairs: Conventions that are sector specific, as people gather together to discuss changes.
• Word of mouth: This is quite explanatory as one person talks to another and eventually the word gets around and others can hear of opportunities.
• Personal Contacts & Networking: This is about knowing people and being able to know someone helps you get places, such as twitter and someone replying back to you. Not only that but YouTube is another where comments are posted and you can like or subscribe to peoples channels.
• Internal Promotion: This is moving up in the world but within the same company.

Task 5: In Word, create a curriculum vitae (CV) and a cover letter for a (media) job that you have found on the internet/in a media magazine.

Task 6: Research, define and explain the following and relate them to yourselves and past experiences.

• Portfolio/e-portfolio: This is a collection of work that you have done, but it's mainly your best pieces to show your good standards of what you can do
• Showreel: A Video compilation of the best bits of your work (similar to a portfolio) this could be anything such as a collection of title sequences, the show reels last around ninety seconds to two and a half minutes.
• Personal Website: This is somewhere where you can express your work onto a blog, a prime example of this is blogger.

Task 7: Research the following presentation skills/methods and explain what you believe would be good practice for each.

• Interviewing skills:

+ Dress Smartly

+ Good body language

- Don't fidget too much

- Don't use slang or swear words

+ Be punctual and organised

+ Be confident (not over confident though)

- Don't lie or make excuses

Take it all seriously and be yourself

• Presentation Skills:

+ Be confident

+ Be enthusiastic

+ Remain positive

- Don't ramble

- Don't make silly mistakes (jokes, talking too fast etc.)

+ Keep a good eye contact

+ Relax

• Self Presentation:

-Linguistic codes: Be consistent with your language and make sure you say it politely and understanding
-Dress codes: Be smart, keep yourself well maintained and clean, neat and professional, such as combed hair, tidy nails, limited amount of jewelry, a briefcase, look smart.
-Interpersonal skills:Make sure you communicate well with the personal interviewing you, with verbal and non verbal skills, keep the interaction and communication on going and make sure you listen well.

• References: These are important in the way that you make sure you have people or old companies you worked for able to give positive feedback about you to when you go into an interview, if not teachers tend to be good at giving references as they know how well you could be for a candidate in a new job.

Task 8: Research, define and explain the following terms.

• Training on the job & continuing professional development: This is simple in terms of you learn whilst you work, it is what it says, training on the job, someone is there to help teach you the ways of the new job and this improves your skills to make yourself the best employer from listening to the instructions given when being taught.
• Self-training: Someone who is independent and teaches themselves how to do something, this is done in your own time out of interest or just to better your knowledge.

• Sources of information:

1. Trade unions: This is a organisation, consisting of a group of professionals in a certain trade or sector who originally formed to protect their rights as workers, keeping themselves safe and protected.
2. Sector Skills Councils: Usually a group of people who set out to help improve others, as they work to improve the qualities and skillets of individuals who need the help.
3. Careers services: These are people who help you to find a job or get you into some kind of career, they are most helpful with students to help them find a job. They can also help to change a job or just give you guidance.

Task 9: Identify the opportunities you have had in the courses you are currently studying for developing your functional skills (English, Maths and ICT).

BTEC Film and Television:
- English:  I have had to write analysis's and do pre-production paperwork,
- Maths: Coming in handy with the pre-production paper work to figure out dates and times and also when editing times have been an important feature making sure everything adds up.
-ICT: I have had to use programs such as the Adobe sweet using Premiere Pro to edit things together.

Graphics:
- English: Having to annotate all of my work and write analysis' about various artists
- Maths: Using the awareness of a page well, space and various angles in my work, as I used maths to figure out how well I could do something in a piece with the layout
- ICT: Using Photoshop has been a key feature in the ICT area as I have improved my skills.

Understand Developing Technologies in the Television and Film Industires

Job Letter

To whom it may concern,

I'd like to congratulate you on your most recent advertisement for an 'Apprentice Digital Video Production Producer' in which your company were looking for specific applicants who could fulfil your requirements, my reason for congratulating you is for your poor acknowledgement of equality, contractual, legal and ethical issues which have arisen in the advertisement. I've come to the understanding that you have tried to make this a reasonable advertisement, but have failed dramatically in various areas. I'd like to point out that contracts are what you are obligated to give to every employer, these consist of the rights and the terms of the company, usually having to sign the contract in terms of agreement, though you are being very explicit with your requirements in the way you wish to go about the whole topic. In a contract you would agree on such terms such as hours of work and the salary, whereas with your advertisement you have mentioned how the employer may get between 10-45 hours per week and this is far too broad, linking into contractual agreements and also The Equality Act (2010) states that two people applying for the same job with same experiences and qualifications must have similar salary and hours, but your advert implies that no matter what skill set level you are, you could be on minimal hours at an odd salary/wage. You have therefore already begun to make your own terms that are not suitable for someone to work with/into.

This advert heavily breaches various codes, like The Equality Act as it specifies you must not discriminate against age, gender and race when employing your staff. But you mentioned in you advertisement that you are looking for staff that are below the age of thirty, this is quite outrageous as people over the age of thirty are just as capable of handling the job that you have requested. Not only that but you then later go on to say that this person must have Christian religious views and then make an asterisk to the bottom of the page enforcing that you should promote the views onto others, not only is that absurd but that's breaching the equality act in so many ways, you can't hire someone due to there religion because that affects nothing in the company and is just plain unfair. The only allowance to hire someone due to there age is if you are seeking a role that requires someone of that age, such as a child for a specific role.

Moving onto the employers' liability and their rights in context to the proposed video, the people that were acting or that had been sought out to do this video would not be covered in any way unless you were a hired employee. The employers' liability is a kind of insurance that will keep you protected in any accidents, which leads onto the health and safety issues, as no one would be covered but you still expect us to go on and film 'Male offenders and female victims'. Firstly what an earth are you doing stereotyping such a sensitive subject matter? Secondly, what dim witted people would want to go ahead and follow these appalling guidelines? I find it hard to even think that you can justify that statement as you want people to make a short documentary that way. Though having said this, there are Trade unions out there who are out to help such people who can be covered if an accident occurs. Currently the yearly fee stands at £120, but there are a lot of further legal terms that go into if you had been hired and how you would be covered, such as if something was to happen to the film maker they wouldn't be covered as they aren't under your employment and not covered, though this is only because they would be classed as an applicant rather than an employer.

There are certain guidelines that tend to be followed when making an advertisements and these are a kinds of codes of practice and each institution has a set of policies and procedures individual to their company that are passed onto applicants to not cause legal issues. The problem with your advert is that you wish for teenagers to be interviewed and they are under eighteen, not only is that insensitive but that is not allowed due to the fact that there are under the age of eighteen, unless they have signed consent from there parents but the point is that these sexual acts shouldn't be discussed about with teenagers due to being such a sensitive topic and the matter of them being under age for data protection. Moving onto representation, this is another important factor that could have changed the views people may have had on the applicant, like in media, things change so drastically as they set out to target and pinpoint certain opinions onto people (usually celebrities) and opinions from the audience can change instantly after reading what the media has said. The fact you used the male offenders and female victims is a prime example of this happening if it was shown, as not only is this a poor stereotype but it is well known that females can be the offenders too.

Legal issues are important as well and this is helped to be covered by certain regulatory bodies that are in place to help stop the problems occurring in the advertisement, a prime example of this is Ofcom. Ofcom sets standards for British Broadcasting (as a kind of media regulator) and it exists because of the Communications Act (2003) and The Broadcasting Act (1990). There are also things where a broadcasting code that is in place to effectively make sure that there rules are based on the law to protect the audience. These help to further keep the protection of people alongside The Equality Act and others. The BBC Trust is a code of practice which is entirely dedicated to the BBC company. When setting an example to this, I think of the protection and harm of the people below the age of eighteen and when looking at the broadcasting code it states that:

"Broadcasters must ensure that material broadcast after the watershed which contains images and/or language of a strong or explicit sexual nature, but is not 'adult sex material' as defined in Rule 1.18 above, is justified by the context."

This is a quote from a section from Ofcom about protecting under eighteens in the regards to a sexual nature, this rule is her to enforce that they are not harmed by images that could be on before the watershed time. I find it interesting though how you want to go even further but purposely show high school pupils a documentary about the 'No Date No Rape' campaign, and this is just obscene. Which makes me lead nicely onto my next point about the Obscene Publications Act (1959) which was put in place to strengthen the law and to prevent any obscene deemed material to be broadcast such as your so called 'documentary' you wish applicants to make. Thinking about the fact that this might be a sensitive subject matter, it would be difficult to classify it with a specific certificate, I personally think that it would be given it a 15. The reason for this is that the matter is sensitive and not only that but if there are re enactments and dramatisations then this could be seen in a sexual context and based on the rule below, I feel it should be given an 15 as these are likely things to happen in the re enactments. The BBFC is an independent body which classifies films in terms of age suitability.

"Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Moderate sex references are permitted, but frequent crude references are unlikely to be acceptable." [...] "There may be moderate violence but it should not
dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood, but occasional gory moments may be permitted if justified by the context. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated, and its depiction must be justified by context."

The Intellectual Property Law is a law which results from expression of an idea, it can be bought, own or sold and also leads me onto copyright as there is a huge issue with it in ongoing media, especially with music, but you've bettered that by playing a 'popular music soundtrack' alongside the documentary which can seemingly emphasise the emotions of the audience. The problem here though is you're paying the applicant twenty pounds for this song that is likely copyrighted, therefore you're unable to show it to people and could be sued a lot more than twenty pounds, this is just outrageous and you can't get a soundtrack to be applied that easily (unless you know the person and they allowed you) but it's likely to be a copyrighted song.

Finally, I think you realise your own conclusion, that your advertisement is just disgraceful in various ways that I have pointed out, I'd hope for you to realise your mistakes in creating this and either correct them, or find something better to do with your time then discriminate against others.

Yours Sincerely,

           Lauren Kellett

Ownership and Funding

There are various ways in which ownership and funding can be done across television, and this all depends on how your company goes about things and the company itself. There are various factors that lead to different types of ownership within the television bracket. Firstly you can look at the Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) which is a company that began on the radio in 1926 and ending up on the TV in 1936, they appeal to be different to normal television because they aim to educate, inform and entertain the audience rather than selling them as a product like other advertisers do and exploiting them. Saying this though, although there may be no selling, they do have a TV licence fee of which was £145.50 last year.

Commercial Broadcasting is a little different as this is set out to entirely to make a profit in the way that companies like ITV, Sky1 and Channel4 sell there audience to the advertising companies. BBC is different in the way that it doesn't have adverts (as mentioned earlier, it doesn't want to exploit its audience). With the other channels they try and sell there audience as that then means that the advertisers will have more views on what they place in those adverts, commercial broadcasting also depends on what time of the day an advert needs to be placed as this will make the slot cost higher in price.

Corporate and Private Ownership are two types of way to describe different companies. Corporate ownership means that it is a company not owned by individuals, it can be classed as a commercial or PSB, and is listed as a public company. A prime example of this is news corporations. On the other hand, there are private ownership's which is self explanatory as the company is owned by an individual.

Global Companies are quite simple to understand as they are companies that own themselves to a lot of places, when I mean own, I mean that they are well known, for instance Disney, it is a multinational company that is built in more than one location. Not only is Disney known for just being Disney but it is so wide that it's expanding itself into other companies by buying more such as Lucas Arts and Pixar, this is a prime example of a global company because no matter where you go you will here about Disney and most people will know what it is.




Concentration of Ownership is a term that initially describes that have the media world is owned y few companies (around 90%) and this makes it harder for competition because these companies own a lot of platforms across various stages in the media world making it harder to compete. Some of these companies are Disney and News Corporation.

If you see the image above you can see how there are different variations in the media company, and this is the best way to explain it. When you have such integration it makes it more complex, but having this makes it so that there are companies to be in each section who can then sell and buy other parts to others, this is a smart way to understand the media in which you will make a lot of money from buying and selling. With Warner, there have been banned from owning something in each section because there will be no profit for other companies and therefore it makes it unfair, though Disney have looked into the horizontal integration and bought out various companies (Pixar and Lucas Arts) which then will make more income when distributing to the next part of the diagram, still a very good way of making more money and I think that the diagram is the best explanation.

After looking at the terms of ownership there are also various ways in which funding can be done, the most common source of funding, especially within the television company is a licence fee, of which this is paid for to have the permission to watch or record a live television transmission as it is being broadcast. Not only is it required in homes but schools, hospitals and anywhere who is capable of watching the broadcasts has to hold a television licence. The fee for a television licence between the 1st April 2012 to the 31st March 2013 was £145.50 which works out to be around 40p a day, though all of the money for the licences goes to the BBC and pays for its services. The total income from 2012 to 2013 was £3.6562 and this was used to fund the television, online and radio BBC services.


There are also other ways of funding, such as paying a subscription, this is usually for a period of time where you are bound to a contract with the subscription provider, they are paid for, monthly, yearly or any terms or bases that the provider sets. There are various providers such as Sky, Netflix, Amazon, it all depends on what type of subscription fee you are paying for.



One off payments are what's in place for you to then own the product. This is a very common use in any circumstances where you buy the product. The most common form of one off payments are with DVD's, video games and then you own the product forever.

Pay per view, is similar to one off payments but unlike keeping it forever, you pay for the view, this can be obtained in various ways such as Amazon Instant Video where you pay for the rental of a film, and this can be for 48 hours or you can buy it, but the pay per view is the renting option. Another form of paying per view is with a cinema ticket, although it may seem a little different, you pay for the one off ticket to see the allocated film.


Sponsorship is where your program or event or product is sponsored by another company or product. A prime example of this is with any program as before after or  at the adverts you see the advert that is sponsoring that program, Britain's Got Talent is well known for having Morrison's sponsor them before and after the program is on. Also X Factor is sponsored by TalkTalk, these are all common things that occur in a sponsorship placement.


Advertising is a really common theme of funding, and all TV programs except the BBC have adverts in between there TV programs, the channels sell there advert slots and use the audience as the selling point as they are basically selling the people who buy the slots there audience, because the more audience on a channel, the more likely it is that your advert will be seen. Each slot is allocated but depending on what time of the day and how long the advert is makes the cost of the slot different, for instance, more expensive slots tend to be around dinner time when it is peak and there are more viewers to be watching television.



Product placement is a really interesting way to get funding as within a program or film or something similar there is your product within it. A really good example which has been on going is James Bond, and in SkyFall (2012) there was product placement with Heineken as they paid $45 million for Bond to drink this (instead of his usual martini) there are also other various types of product placement, but buying the placement is the most common occurrence with films and movies.


Private Capital is a way where people can invest in your product, this kind of funding is done when you find people that are happy to help invest such as friends and family. Not only that but you can also fund for things yourself, this has been done on various occasions, such as with Robert Rodriguez's film El Mariachi (1992) which he funded entirely on his own.


On the other hand, instead of having friends and family invest in you, you can also appeal to have others invest in your idea, people that might find it to be something of interest, and a main way to do this is through crowd funding, which is where any amount by anybody can be invested into your idea. Kickstarter is a well known company to provide this kind of service as in 2009 when it launched it has already achieved over $890 million to fund over 52,000 projects all over the world.

Finally there are development funds which are companies who give money to the media industry that are then specifically given to help with funding for productions that need that little help and the money really, our country has the BFI who get the money from the lottery to give to filmmakers that need the funding.

Is TV News a Window on the World?

There are probably many arguments to whether or not TV News is a Window on the World. but as much as the News try and be unbiased, I feel that the interpretations of the news are definitely structured and biased. Why might I say this, well lets's take a look at why the news things that they are truthful. Though when you think of news, you think that it's being told to you exactly how it is or was or in a balanced way, like looking through a window, seeing the transparency, the news, the connection between us and what happened. Well you see how it may be asking is TV News a Window on the World, yet you wonder how true that may be. Of course the news wants to tell you that it is true, which is why the question is there, is it true, and unbiased, does the news tell you everything, it's a window on the world.

I mean, the news has certain representations to keep it neutral and truthful as they show you the intro and the newsreaders portray the neutrality, but all of this is written about in my other post where I have analysed the introduction of BBC news and newsreaders to how they are truthful and honest about their window on the world. On the other hand though, there are laws that back up points where even though the news is meant to be truthful Ofcom states that the news has to be impartial (the link to this statement can be found here). I think that this makes it obligatory to be a window on the world as they have to be impartial, giving a neutral view upon all matters. Not only that but looking at the BBC guidelines for impartiality, it;s rules are quite similar.  

As you can see in the image beside it states that the news has to be impartial, but furthermore they've extended it to be impartial on all subject matters, this means that everything has to be neutral and no matter what the news will be seen transparent and balanced. These codes of practice are linked in with each other to make it so that the news is impartial. Although this may be the case there are still problems as there are cases where the BBC has been seen to be unbiased, the example of this is when Margaret Thatcher died and there were over 700 complaints that the coverage was biased.  There were various coverage's about this and here is a link to one (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2307211/Margaret-Thatcher-dead-Readers-fury-biased-BBC-website-articles.html) where this was said that they covered it without the neutrality. Though it wasn't and then it went further into the radio where a song went into the chart 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' but they only aired five seconds of the song. This was a huge bias situation where the BBC were not neutral about the situation at all. Although this may be in a bolder matter, and not to the selective stories, it was down to the newsreaders and how they presented the matter.

However, saying that the news is a window on the world is a mistake because it isn't. Although I just mentioned a story of the news being biased, there are other factors that enforce that news can't simply show reality, for many reasons, there is a gatekeeping process which is processed on a piece of news even before it makes its way onto the TV, so things are already being narrowed down. If you look at the image below you can see the drawn version of the gatekeeping process.

After looking at that, you can see that there are various ways of getting out of the TV News, in fact, there's more chance to have a story go into the 'dustbin' rather than actually make it on the TV. All of these factors are really important to how a new story is determined to whether or not it is screened, I find this to be quite interesting to know the features that come into play to whether a story is 'worthy' or not to be shown and that there are certain people who feel that other stories have priority. Looking back on these points that determine what gets to go on TV or not, firstly with the news sources, there are always certain terms that have higher importance, such as; police stations, other news companions, social media, court houses, Parliament, other political buildings and more, these will be monitored more than many other things and will always have priority over other stories. Having such a wide amount of stories in the news, how do you pick and chose what actually makes it onto the news?

Looking at the process of this, firstly the routinely monitored sources are only in certain areas, such as the parliament or in police, therefore there are usually news reporters standing by ready to get the story, whereas if a huge story breaks out in New Guinea, it's likely that the story won;t be covered because it's not somewhere news reporters are on stand by. So there are no sources and the story goes into the 'dustbin'. After that is the news values, the higher the importance the more likely the news story will be in the news, if the story has no values then there is no point in showing it because there are better stories out there. After selecting the stories with the most values they are then 'packaged' together in time slots with everything prepared, so you can't pick a 'package' apart. If there is a late breaking story, you can't shave time off of each story, you just cut one out entirely and that story is lost forever. Also, the Ministery of Defence may not allow a story to be shown for national security reasons and the law. Leading onto the next point of cost where the more expensive the story, the less likely it is to show it. An occurrence has happened before where the ITV couldn't afford the costs and therefore couldn't show it, but the BBC covered it, making it a competitive world with the news stories and because of the competition, if you are filming on story and there are a group of others filming somewhere near-by you're going to want to see what they are filming and try and get the better story out of it, this competition makes the window narrower because everyone can be fighting for the same story. Finally, if there is a technical problem and something happens then this could lead to the story just being dropped completely.

Two psychologists, Galtung and Ruge created a list of twelve values which they identified and use to justify what they found to be the occurring themes in news. A fair few of these values can be compared with the Rolf Harris case, the reason I'm using this story is because he definitely fits in with the values, a main one being elite persons, as he is considered an important person, not only that but the negativity of the incident has lead to it being searched into for an ongoing time, which then links into the threshold and continuity and this story is already in the news, as it started back last year and then it went on and the story got bigger as it continued, as the BBC reported more stories, which can be found here and here and I think that this story has been so big in news purely because even though he is seen as an elite person he is also a really meaningful individual to a lot of people, purely because he's been such a role model and he relates to a lot of the audience.

Not only is there the gatekeeping process but there is also another way that news goes about telling their stories, and they do this by making a fictional narrative alongside the story, this is where continuity editing is used and there is a kind of 'quest' in the little news story. There is a prime example of this when we watched an interview about a man who was about to be evicted from his home and he went on a little quest about the whole issue, although this is seen to be real life and actually happening, if there are such continuity techniques being used then that means the whole clip had to be staged and makes the story fake (in terms of the quest happening there and then). The reason these narratives are done is to make a little background and pull out the heartstrings on the audience as there is a little emotional heartfelt for the guy in this situation.

Also news tends to use a lot of actuality footage, which is real footage but the problem is that this footage that is used on a certain news story is not what they went out and filmed specifically for that story, they probably went down to the archive and used something that would fit well. This makes the news story unrealistic and not true to what it could actually be making the clips used, selected ones making the window on the world a little smaller because the news companions are choosing certain clips to pull on those heartstrings a little more.

Overall, it's clear that there is a window on the world, it's just a really tiny window on the world because there are so many processes and values that go on to make a piece of news to finally be selected to then appear on the news. As true and unbiased as the news would like to be, it's really clear that it isn't and then you wonder what if these other stories were shown? There are lots of things to influence the news stories that appear and it's clear that this 'window' is opaque.

Connotations of Newsreaders

News is newly received information about events that have recently occurred or even updating ongoing matters where newsreaders display themselves in a neutral way to tell us about these matters. News is important for everyone and is displayed in a sense of transparency as the news comes directly from the source and is told to its viewers. Before we picked a clip to analyse as a class we went through some iconography features that our found within the news starting sequences; We came up with the following things:

-Clocks and Time
-Rushing Graphics
-Technology
-World from Space
-Transparecy
-Landmarks from cities
-Music
-Voice overs
-Colours (scheme)

Looking at the introduction of BBC and it's news, I will be analysing it's starting sequence. The clip above is what I will be looking at and the first I notice is for a starting sequence sixteen seconds is a good time to try and portray the news in a whole, not only that but BBC have done it with the most obvious thing, the world. Also referring back to the list of features that usually appear, in this, I would say there are six out of the nine that appear and this is clearly of high importance. The first thing about this is the colour scheme as there are a few colours, red, white and black with a few hints of orange and yellow. This is the most basic structure where these colours easily pick up the viewers attention, not only that but it then further captivated by the speed of the world, this is also seen as urgency as the news is meant to be rushing to you fast to get the most recent and new information to you and having this kind of intro means that the sense of urgency is definitely there. Another important feature for news is transparency, as this indicates truthfulness, this motif is emphasised by the fact that the world in the intro is repeatedly seen through and only landmarks are highlighted, yet we know that it is the world, we are just 'seeing through it', the truth that the news what to display. I find this to be quite interesting as the world is see through but there are also other red rings that are circulating the world, showing that the news covers the entire world, every little feature in the sequence is rushed in the sixteen seconds yet it still grabs your attention and draws you in. After grabbing your attention it moves in to a beautiful shot of (usually two) newsreaders who are ready and waiting, with their urgency in the most neutral and unbiased way to tell you the news.

Newsreaders are a very powerful role in the world of news because they are also seen in certain ways, just like the intro, each newsreader is the same. Firstly their are usually two newsreaders, one a male and the other is a significantly younger female, the reason for this is because the man is meant to connotes wisdom, authority and maturity, where as the women is based on physical attraction, a very sexist point, but that's the way that it is. The importance of these two newsreaders who are ready and waiting to deliver the news to us is what draws us in with there sense of urgency shuffling papers and being ready, though they aren't rushing around in a messy state, it's waiting for us as they address us directly to the camera making us feel like the news is coming straight from it's source through them and to us. The newsreaders are a conduit in the way there deliver the news in a neutral way, pronunciation of words is always done with standard English as they use a limited range of facial expressions to deliver the news they always address the camera (well us directly). All of these represent the neutrality of the newsreaders making it more truthful and as unbiased as it can be without their own personalities being inflicted onto the news matter.

Finally there is the mise-en-scene within the studio, and this is also stripped back to the bare minimum, as there is a very large desk situated in the center of the room with a large wide background which is usually plain or has images of the ongoing news or places (depending on what the newsreaders are talking about). Back to the desk, this is the main feature in the room and is always seen as high importance, especially with those two newsreaders behind it, thus making us believe that what the newsreaders are telling is truthful. The room is also highly lit so that there are no shadows in the room, this is to connote the truthfulness even further as there is nothing to hide as the light beams into all cracks into the room leaving nothing hidden. Overall there are many features that make the news seem important, and the BBC definitely follow some of the common themes that occur in all news intros and then the delivery.