Understanding the applications and practice of DVD menu design and authority

Conventions

There are many types of conventions when it comes to DVD's. There is +R; +RW; -R; -RW; dual layer; writing speed; audio; video; menus; subtitles; language select; Easter eggs, animations, DTS (Digital Theatre Systems), Dolby, printable disks; regional codes; copyright protection; and finally parental controls. I will be going through each of these and give an explanation as to what each of these conventions in a DVD means.

+R, +RW, -R, -RW
These are all different types of disks, they allow the user burn different kinds of media depending on the one they are currently using. These symbols also suggest how long the disk is expected to last. For example -RW and +RW are expected to only work for up to 7-8 months. R stands for "recordable". RW stands for "Re-writeable." +R means that once you add media onto a disk, use it and then want to add more data onto it you can do so. The -R disks allow to burn media onto your disks also, however once it is burned you cannot add more data onto them. +RW is the same as +R in most of their properties. However with the +R you can add more data to the disk, but you cannot over write any of the burned data. With the +RW you can add more data on and overwrite, but as previously said the disks rarely last past 8 months before they cannot be read by a disk player, computer, not even the next generation gaming consoles which are filled with the latest in video playing technology. The same can be said for the -RW in relation to -R. The data can be re-written but no extra data can be added on to increase the run time on the disk.

Duel layer
A duel layer disk is a disk with more space for media. For example if I were use a single layered +R disk to hold any Harry Potter film, then I would require at least 3 as they can only hold up to 60 minutes of data each and those films were at least 3 hours long apart from Deathly Hallows Part 2. However if I were to use a duel layer disk then I would be able to use only one to store the whole of any of the seven films.

Writing speed
The writing speed is the time it will take for the data to burn onto the disk. The burning process can sometimes take hours depending on the amount of footage in the project. This does not just count for the film, but also trailers, bloopers, behind the scenes and even the menus. Transferring the links onto a disk adds more writing speed to the project than a minutes worth of footage because in some cases these links take you to a page, bonus features for example, which will contain more links which lead to more footage. on most DVD’s there will be a writing speed of say x52, which will tell the user that it will take an hour for a full HD MOVIE to download. Although burning thing to a disk at such a speed can have an inpact at how long the DVD will be readable for, as for recording something at a speed of 16x may take longer but it will be more likely to last longer than that of 52x.

Audio
The sound that accompanies the video/movie. This is particularly important for those who can not see the visuals. This is also something that has the most impact on a movie, as you can hear things in the background and sound tracks that give a real feel to anything you are watching. This can also be an Audio disk commonly known as a CD – This is a disk that ONLY has sound/audio and will often be used for music but can also be helpful for relaxation sessions or playing back lectures or learning a new language etc.

Video
The video is the film's visuals. It is the effects and the action. When burning onto a disk it is best to use Encore if you use Adobe (From Cs2 to Cs6) however the video will not have audio. You would need to export it as MPEG2 DVD which will export the video and audio separately and from there you would place both into an Encore file in the same timeline.

Menus
The DVD menu is how the viewer(s) would navigate a disk. A disk usually opens up one of thee ways. The first being it showing trailers before taking you to the menu, the second being a short clip or motion graphic plays showing interesting points in the film or showing the style of the film before you watch it, finally the third is being taken directly to the menu when the disk is inserted. You would be taken to the Home menu which will have several options for what action would wish to take. For example Play, Scene Select, Subtitles and Extras. By clicking on one of these it will activate a link taking you either to the film or to one of the other menus like the Scene select menu so you can choose which scene you would wish to start off with.

Subtitles and Language select
Subtitles are for people who can’t hear so they understand what is happening in the movie. Subtitles will also be featured on films that have been made to be shown to various foreign audiences, for example in an anime (Japanese animation), people can choose to listen to the Japanese anime in Japanese and read the subtitles – or choose a voice over option to hear the Japanese animation dubbed with their language (I.e. English). Films that are made and due to go in cinema are often shown in many different countries meaning that all films have to be adaptable to different cinema audiences to get the film more popularity. Having different languages as an option would mean that the film would be more excepted in other countries.

Some people also like to hear the film in the original language that the film would be made in, for example the film Pan's Labyrinth was dubbed into English, but after watch it dubbed and again with subtitles in my opinion dubbing doesn't always improve the film for other countries. In many cases it can draw attention way from the actual dialogue because you start to dwell on the fact that the actors lips do not match the words being said, so you cannot get lost in the story as you would with one made in your own language. Subtitles however make it far easier to know what is being said and you can lose yourself in the story easily. Also after a while you stop noticing you are reading the subtitles and it almost feels like you can hear what they are saying in English. (Either that or I'm just weird)

Easter eggs
Hidden Easter Eggs are those of which that are hidden in DVD menus. “Easter Eggs are undocumented features available by finding hidden links within the various menus found on a DVD.” The Easter eggs were created to credit the hundreds of programmers involved on an application. The name originated from Russia from them creating jewelled Easter eggs with hidden gifts in that they would exchange to there loved ones this is why creative software’s such as Photoshop and DVD Easter Eggs are named what they are. The first “Easter Egg” was in 1984′s by Macintosh operating system.

Animations
This is the first thing that you see when a DVD menu comes up – The animation can be anything from the animation of the ‘play’ and other buttons available for you to press, or what’s going on in the background. Animations are important as it makes things more interesting for the audience, it will also tell a lot about the film before it’s watched. The animations shown can tell you parts of the plot in the film and the genre of the film.

For example in Tucker and Dale vs Evil the Menu on that had stills of the three protagonists each given motion to move sideways as they speak. You can also hear bees buzzing at certain points in the soundtrack to the menu referencing the scene where they accidentally drilled into a hive and were swarmed. The soundtrack also is something seen in most Menus. In this film it is a banjo playing a very high tempo song which is referencing the fact that the "College kids" think they are being attacked by "Hill-Billies."

DTS (Digital Theatre Systems)
Also known as The Digital Experience until 1995. The first commercial use of digital sound on a large scale, this was first used during the release of Jurassic Park. It’s a digital surround system that offers up to six channels HD audio. DTS is available in DVD, SAT/ CAB, TV and CD mode. (When digital cable is connected).

Dolby
This is the sound used to bring a DVD menu to life. This is a sound system that makes the sound quality much better, reducing unwanted noise or ‘hiss’.

Printable disks
This is a disk where you personalise the front of the disk – any movie that you buy will more than likely have a print already of them showing the poster of the DVD itself. But for those people that like to save there work onto a disk you can put something special on the front.

Regional codes
This was designed for Film Distributors to protect content, release dates, and change price’s according to a certain region. A regional code is a code that is given to every country, and those of a same code can watch the same disks, but those of a different regional code will not be recognised in the different countries due to the codes.

Copyright protection
Copyright is put in place for anything whether it be Films, adverts, books, anything that belongs to someone and they don’t want other people to use it without there permission or paying them to use it.

Parental controls
Now a days parents have a lot more control over what there children see. Now there is even a special DVD player specifically designed to stop anything you don’t want your child to see, just by changing a few settings on the DVD player, this apparently works with any DVD bought from a legal seller. For example if you bought it Tesco's or Granger Games.
http://www.familysafemedia.com/edited_movies_-_parental_contr.html

Functions and elements

DVDs themselves are more than just a place to put your video project. They consist of an entire interactive format, complete with videos, menus, and background media content. There are a number of different elements that work in concert to make up the entire DVD.

Buttons
The main interactive element in the DVD interface is the button. The buttons can do one of two things. They can play content or take you to another menu. A normal main menu would have buttons for playing the film, selecting subtitles, selecting languages and bonus features. By selecting scene select, language select or bonus features you will be taken to another menu with different buttons. Take bonus features for example. In these menus you almost always get the same three options. "Commentary" "Bloopers" and "Behind the scenes." These buttons work as links to different content located on the disk.

Still images
This can be photographs, slide shows, and sometimes even text.  Having graphics and or photographs make the menu design more intriguing and will tell the audience a little more about the film, before they have even started watching it. It’s great to include still images because it ‘captures’ a moment. Take the film Chronicle for example. In its menu you can see Matt and Andrew flying next to the Space Needle in Seattle. It is a still image with the menu buttons to the side and music in the background. But from it you can get a feel for the type of film this would be. An action superhero adventure.

Moving images
This is where the DVD menu comes to life, and shows you some of the most exciting parts of the film (just like a trailer would). Often the moving images are repeated on a loop, which will repeatedly show you the style and very short clips of the film you are about to watch. The aim of the moving image is to excite the audience and clue them up about the film they are going to watch. Often both before and after the start menu appears, you will go through a wide range of moving image trailers or short videos advertising various other movies, or educating you on latest updates such as “20TH Century Fox 20 year anniversary”, or about illegal DVD trades and stealing etc.

Text
Text is basically the same as buttons. The text is the options you are given in the menu (Play, Scene select, etc.) only buttons work as links as text does not. For example you will have the title in text but it would not be a link to anything unless you with to make it an Easter egg, where as the play text will take you to the film. Often both before and after a menu has appeared, warnings will come up regarding Piracy being illegal, and about the age restrictions on the movie.

Sound
Sound on a menu adds an edge and emotion to the menu. Going back to my Tucker and Dale vs Evil reference I talked about how it had a banjo playing thus referencing the fact that the film is about killer "Hill-Billies" also the bees buzzing referencing a scene. Both of these together work with one another and tell the audience that it is a horror-comedy they are about to watch.

Uses and applications

Moving image
As previously stated the moving image makes the menu come to life and gives the audience a feel as to what the films style will be like. The film One Missed Call had a menu with the calm yet creepy track that plays when someone will die, but also the menu itself is filled with jump scares. For example there is a point in the menu where a young girl walks past the screen and into a room. Not long after that she re-appears with a new and demonic face to the screen along with a demonic roar. This is a dead give away to the fact that you are watching a horror and also does not ruin a point in the film as this was never seen in any scene.

Interactive Media
This could be a game for example, or an online magazine. Sometimes you can also find YouTube adverts that interact with you by asking you to type things into the video. Interactive media isn’t limited to digital or electronic media meaning that this could also class as things like flip books, board games or crosswords. Kony would be a good way of interacting with the audience as in the video he mentions a date and says about panting the town with posters to create recognition which would be involving the audience; the audience also had the chance to order wristbands and banners etc. Social networking sites would play a huge role in interactive media as it is formed entirely to interact with people from all over the world.

Text-based files
This is something that entirely relies on text, perhaps subtitles or titles, something that must be read by the audience. They often have text based files at the start of a DVD when it tells you the age rating and warnings etc. This is something that tells the DVD player what to do, this is also used when putting a DVD into a computer and it asks you what you want it to do, often when you open the files up on your computer you will have a blank file marked.

Image based files/image slideshow
This could be a family/personal slideshow created for the family to remember events or even share with loved ones via youtube or having on the family computer for others to see. This could be the image printed onto the front of the DVD.with loved ones via youtube or having on the family computer for others to see. This could be the image printed onto the front of the DVD. Image slideshow is a presentation of images that require little activity from the viewer. Some DVD authors like to show photographs in a timeline that allows the audience to navigate through the images as they please.

Additional material/features
This is the Blooper reel, behind the scenes and anything else found in the bonus menu. They give you a look into the making of the film and allow you laugh at some of the misfortunes that befell the actors and crew or learn something about filmmaking.

Video evaluation

To review the video I can say that I was surprised that it went so well together. We had to deal with a large variety of problems in pre-production, production and Post-production which made me begin to question if we would ever finish. So when I saw the video I was happy with the end result. The locations were well chose. Our actors were great. It is presented very well by Francesca. The interviews were well edited together apart from they cut out too quickly. There were other problems with the sound also. In one of the interviews there was an echo that was very distracting and with the Vox Pops we asked all the actors who were used for the reconstructions apart from the children. This isn’t exactly wrong, but it can make it look like the answered they gave were scripted. The video was entertaining in parts, mainly at the start, but for the whole is not what would usually be shown to our target audience. It is just filled with too many interviews and children/young teens do not usually like to watch that kind of stuff. We should have made more reconstructions and less interviews now that I look back on it.

 

If I could go back and do it again then I would definitely try to organise the script and shoot days better. I would make sure that I vocalised to the group that children wouldn’t want to watch 4 minutes of interviews because they would lose interest. I would make sure that the crew begins to make more of the scripted reconstructions which have the same information in the script as what is said in the interviews. Overall what this video needs is to be more entertaining to the target audience. The script needed a lot more work than what we had but overall if this was targeted to older audiences then it would be near perfection for their type of video.

Working to a brief production blog

Working to a brief is an assignment where we get an external client. We have spoken with Alice Gardner who works at Borough council for making a video on child employment. We have elected Ryan Bartle as our project manager, me as the contact liaison. In this post I will be keeping a production diary for this project.

26th February 2014
Today we held our first production meeting. We discussed what our project will entail and our structure. I was voted the contact liaison and Ryan was voted our project manager. In pre-production research I was given the task of how one would seek help in child employment and what to do if their child or they themselves are mistreated or endangered in their work if they are under the age of 16.

27th February 2014
We officially began our research. I had difficulties through research into seeking help as almost every web page I could find was to help children in other contries. I spent hours searching but by the end of the day I managed to gether about a page and a half of research which provided little help into this area. What I was able to find ou was when a child is employed without an official licence the employer can be fined up to £3,000 per child. They are not allowed to work during school times and can only work 2 hours a day max depending on their age. If they are around the age of 14 or 15 they can work for 4 hours a day. If you are being mistreated in the workplace whn a child then there are people trained to help you on that areas council.

3rd March 2014
We had a successful meeting with our main contact Alice Gardner. A few of us had shown up a few minutes late due to a member of the group was unable to read the map we printed out and we got lost. During the meeting we told Alice our idea and structure by the end of it we had more of a solid idea for what we wanted in this film and how we will present it.

13th March 2014
We filmed the first of our Vox Pops. We made sure to get a range of gender, age and ethnicity and got a lot of material to wirk with because of that.

19th March 2014
Me and Jordan organised the folder. Split the paperwork into sections and made covers for each topic. For example "Research" and "Script(s)."

29th March 2014
Me, Jordan and Isaak went to Preston Park to film the historical reconstruction. However our 2 actors could not make. This was due to our presentor Jack Harrison did not change his work schedual as promised and our young actor Olie had a class on that morning. We agreed to leave because we couldn't film and bagan to arange we return next week.

2nd April 2014
We filmed part of the Modern reconstruction. It was Jordan, Leah and Isaak filming and I was playing Jim. We got most of my parts complete and now just need my final scene when I ride off as the presenter says the conclusion.

5th April 2014
We went back to Preston. This time it was just me and Jordan. Olie again wasn't there, but we improvised with several of the others in the acting class there and were able to film the whol historical reconstruction.

13th May 2014
We had to put the Working to a brief project on hold for several weeks so we could all work on our PMP productions. So today we got our presenter Fracesca in to record all the voiceovers and were able to have that complete and edited into our footage within an hour.

15th May 2014
This was supposed to be the final day, but because one of our actresses only had a limited amount of time to film, the project was not quite finished. Overall we have one sequence left to shoot which we will be able to complete come Monday. There was problem with equipment as we had taken the wrong camera which was broken. This held the production up by roughly a half hour.

19th May 2014
We have finally finished shooting our Child Employment Film. All that we needed to shoot was the concluding presented sequence, in which our actress Francesca Firman concluded the points made throughout the film. We shot the sequence in front of a green screen and intend on superimposing a background in post production. The scene went well; I operated the camera, Shemar Chawla recorded sound and Ryan Bartle directed.

Post Production
To ensure the project remained a team effort, we shared the pre-production between three crew members, who each edited individual segments of the film. I edited the vox pops and interviews, as well as the final presented sequence, Isaak Hest edited the modern reconstruction and Dale Whyte edited the historical reconstruction. Once completed, I took each of these segments and laid them on a new timeline in Adobe Premier Pro CS6. I exported them and gave a copy to Isaak Hest, who burned the files on disk using Adobe Encore.

Understanding and Interpreting a Brief

Any and all productions are built around a brief. The brief helps keep people on track with their work and keeps the production team on track with the client (Person who gave the brief).

There are multiple types of briefs in the media industry. The client who gives the brief would like you to interpret and produce a production based on a given brief. The brief can also be given to a production team in means of a competition and can be found online.


Structure of a Brief

Contractual
A contractual brief is a type of brief or contract where a media company is employed by the client in order to complete a project within the brief which is set to specific guidelines which the media company must follow. It is very important for the media company to follow these guidelines and do what the client states within the brief, if they fail to do so this can result in a breech of contract and the company could face legal actions. Having a contractual brief will be good for the media company involved as they will know exactly what the project is and what they are being asked to do as the brief will be very detailed and go into specifics that are not to be negotiated. The disadvantage if this type of contract would be that if the media company think that there are issues within the brief and they produce the product to their own standards this would not be producing the product to the standards set by the client and they could decide to take legal action and this could result in your company having a bad reputation for not completing projects to a set brief.

Negotiated
This type of brief is for when both parties have different ideas for the production. To ensure that both parties are happy with their arrangement a compromise is made in the brief. This involves a lot of back and forth between production team and client.
Taken from:
(http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_a_negotiated_brief)

This type of brief will be brought up if the co-operative brief given to the two or more media companies that are competing the project have any issues between them selves about the brief or anything they would like to clear up with the client. Through the negotiations the brief can then be changed in order to suite every party taking part in the production. This could be anything from changing the appearance of the product to changing the products content as well as keeping it to the guidelines set in the brief. Negotiating the brief can sometimes waste time and unnecessary issues are brought up that the client believes do not need to be tackled and this can delay the production time of the product.

Formal
This type of brief is much more professional than the previous as the client will have very clear ideas and will most likely invite the group working on the brief to a formal meeting to keep up to date with progress and suggest any improvements or alternative ideas/solutions to problems met by the group.
Taken from (http://techofediting.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/unit-5-working-to-brief-in-media.html)

This is where a media company is given a brief by the client which outlines the product which they are wanting to be made. This brief is very open and only gives enough information to be able to produce the product, any issues or information that the media company would like to go over can be discussed during the negotiations with the client. The layout of the formal brief would be very relaxed and easy to read, it would allow the client to understand and create a product more easily and quickly.

To learn how to construct a formal brief click the link. http://www.ehow.com/how_8624969_conduct-formal-briefing.html

Informal
An informal brief is not documented and is usually of the verbal kind. It is where the client and the company which they have employed simply discuss the requirements for the product they will be making and ultimately agree upon the project. The advantages to this type of brief is that there is more verbal communication between the client and the company they are employing which could mean that the media company will understand fully exactly what the client is asking of them and they should be able to complete the project to the client’s standards easily.The fact that there is no written documentation or contract to prove the employment of the company could mean that at the end of the project the client could easily fail to pay their employees. Also this could mean that certain things like deadlines are not completely clear and this can cause confusion for both parties.
Taken from (http://creativemediaatjt.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/informal-brief.html)

This type of brief is done face to face through a meeting, all aspects of the brief must appeal to all members from the client list, the advantages of doing an informal brief is that it can create a relaxed environment and therefore be created a lot quicker, the disadvantages of an informal brief is that it can be seen as unprofessional and unclear. This is when the client doesn't necessarily write down the details of the brief, instead a verbal brief can be given. This is an effective method for the speed of the project, but as details of the brief aren't written down some misunderstanding can take place, meaning all the criteria of the brief may not be covered.

Commission

This is when the client knows you are a reliable group and likes the way you make your productions, this may also be because you have a good reputation. The client will know that you can produce what is needed and will offer a commission (pay) for your efforts. This is an advantage to the client as they will get exactly what they want with little input from the client.
Taken from (http://techofediting.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/unit-5-working-to-brief-in-media.html)

Having this type of brief means that the larger company does not have to do all of the hard work, so to speak. They can sub-contract the work that is set in the brief out to another company  and each company will both receive money for the work they have contributed to the making of the product. This type of brief could mean that because there are two different companies working on the same product there could be some conflicts, but because the brief is not negotiated with the client, the product made may not be to the client’s standards.

This brief is where a  large media company will employ an other independent media company to create and produce the product for them, and after the product has been made the larger company may go on to be use the product for an external client who will pay the independent media company for making the product and they could even get a cut of the royalties too. The brief is not negotiated between the company and the client, however is negotiated between the two media companies.

Tender

A tender brief is a far less formal brief. It is essentially you pitching your ideas to a group who would also be pitching ideas. (Web definition)

This is where a client will advertise their brief and a production company will bring together a proposal that they will pitch to the client, there could be multiple pitches to the client from many different companies, so the client will then get the chance to choose the proposal that they think best suits their brief and offer the job to that production company. 

The advantages of this brief is that the client will be able to look at many different ideas for their product from different companies perspectives and in effect will be able to produce their product to a very high standard if one of the pitched ideas stands out above all of the others. The disadvantage of this type of brief is that if a company’s pitch is turned down by the client this can set them back in business as it is very hard to gain work in this day and age. The business may have been very optimistic in thinking that the client would have accepted their proposal and could have gone as far as to decline any work that they were offered in the time that they would have been working on this project. 

Co-operative brief

A co-operative brief is one where 2 or more parties are involved in a production. This allows the production to be completed quicker and possible at a higher standard than if it were just one company making the production.

 For example, say I'm a client and the production I wish to make includes an elaborate soundtrack and is highly built on special effects then the most likely option I would take is hiring two separate companies to tackle these areas separately. Theoretically I would hire Legendary pictures to tackle the effects because they handled the effects in films such as Pacific Rim, Man of Steel, Godzilla (2014) and several others. For soundtrack I would hire Constantin Film Produktion who developed the soundtracks for Resident Evil, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Mortal Instruments and again several others.

Competition

A client can put the brief online for the public (in this case the production companies) to see. It can sometimes been seen as a free competition as each production company will complete the brief and the client can then judge which company has the best project and as an award they have it published.     The advantage is that the client only has to pay the one winning production company, but sometimes will not have to pay them at all. Also the fact that they have multiple companies producing a product means that they have a large choice of products and can choose the one that they believe will be the most successful. A disadvantage of this is the same as the disadvantage of a tender brief; the companies that are turned down by the client may become disheartened as they have missed out on potential work and money.

Reading a brief

Once you have received the brief you need to make sure you understand exactly what the client wants. You should make sure that you can do what is required and that you have the budget for it. Ensure you know who your target audience is so that you do not create something irrelevant to what the client wants. Also find out everything about the target audience such as age, location, where they work and whether they are male or female. The most important factor is timescale. You should know when the client expects the finished product. If it is a contractual brief and you do not meet the deadline, worst case scenario, you could find yourself being sued in court.

Once you have read over the brief and understand what needs to be done the first thing to do is to brainstorm as many ideas as possible. One way could be to use post-it notes and decide which ones are good ideas and which ones are bad ideas, then take all the good ideas and develop them further. It is a good idea to create mind maps, mood boards, a production schedule and an asset list as it will make production much easier. Once planning is complete your team should begin working on the project. There should be clear communication across the team to make sure the project is completed correctly and to the client's expectations. Once the project is complete it should be presented professionally to the client and if the client is happy with it you will be paid.

You would need to have a production meeting to discuss what benefits you would get from the brief. From there you need to know that you have the resources, knowledge and skill to produce the production while sticking to the briefs requirements. When in the pre-production stage do not give yourself too much of a work load at once. You would most likely have a full pre-production team so the workload would be spread out evenly between everyone. Try to organise it so certain parts of the work fits people’s strengths also. For example, in pre-production you need to design your characters in several ways. Personality, look, attitude. For developing their personality and attitude that should be left with the writers and/or Director. The look mostly would involve the costume depart and the hair make up department. Always refer back to the client in regards to script, costume and any other changes or additions you and your team will be making. From there you will need to work on your actual production and then post production. Create a rough edit to send to your client and they can then get back to you with their opinion and any changes they wish made to it.

Negotiating a brief
When negotiating a brief it is always best to consult with your client. This can be done through Emails, Phone calls or a face to face meeting. When you meet your client you will be able to discuss the brief with them, this is a good opportunity for you to be able to raise any issues that you have noticed with the project and also offer any ideas that you will have to add to the project. It is best to consult with your client because if you make any drastic changes to the brief and they are left uninformed they quite possibly could fire you and work with a different company. And/or more likely not hire you for another project.

When reading through the brief you may need a degree of discretion. This means that if the brief is missing certain information like the films run time, or the characters, then it is up to the producer to decide these areas. Just note that these are examples and a lot more areas could be left out of a brief that are a lot more likely to over look which this person will have to now decide. Sometimes a brief is vague so it is up to the filmmakers to decide the look and feel of the film. They would have to consult with the client whenever they begin to add things or make changes, but in the long run it would be their decision of how the film looks, its run time, and the characters if they are left out of the brief.

You will need to discuss the constraints of the production. The constraints revolve around the legal, ethical and regulatory rights of others. The brief itself would have nothing that would break any of these rights, however when it comes to production there is a lot to consider. For example if a production were to use children then they would need an official form signed by a parent or Guardian. Take the Harry Potter franchise for example. The cast is mostly built up of children including extras. Because of this a child's contract is given to their Guardian to sign and thus allow the production to use them in the film.

(From BBC Film network.
Any child under the age of 16 needs a licence from their local authority to perform in any film. The application for this licence will include, amongst other things, a medical certificate and detailed statement on the likely performing hours.
It is the Producer of the film who will need to apply for the licence from the child's local authority and the parent of the child will have to supply the producer documents such as the child's birth certificate and a school letter authorising absence. The licence granted needs to be kept on set at all times. There are restrictions on how child actors can be used e.g. maximum time on set. Any child holding a licence is required to have a chaperone.
If a UK child is performing abroad then a licence needs to be obtained from either their local Magistrates Court or Bow Street Magistrates Court. If a non UK child is performing in the UK then they will still need a licence and all the rules of restrictions on engaging child actors will apply to them in the same way as they would a UK child. The child is often licensed by the local authority in whose area the child is performing or living during his or her stays but a licence can also be obtained from the local authority whose area the producer has his or her main residence, or where the producer's head office is based. It is essential that you follow carefully the restrictions on using child actors in your films. These are governed by licensing regulations and are likely to be followed carefully by local authorities who are under a duty to protect children.)



Opportunities
There are a lot of opportunies in self-development. You learn to tackle new tasks you had not encountered before and thus learn new skills. You get out of your comfort zone and can possibly find something you really enjoy by doing so. For example some people think that when making a film editing is the hard and boring part. But when they try it they usually find that they love to edit. If your production team is small then you would have to multi-task with the areas of Production. For example you could write the script and Direct. This requires two skills which involve your writing techniques and communication skills. When you are in a small group it would be easier for you to communicate and thus you would increase your skills in doing so and be able to make more productions like this and after a while you will work with bigger production teams.


My contributions
For our Working to a Brief project we had an external client, Alice Gardner from the Stockton council, come and ask us to make a video about child employment. Everyone contributes individual research and we were assigned our own individual tasks afterwords. I was given the job of client consultent and organised all interviewed whilst keeping our client informed of what we were doing and where we were in terms of production. When filming we had a shortage of actors and as I have a brief history in acting I took the role of Jim. A boy who is being exploited through work and ultimately gets hit by a car because of it. I also operated the sound when I was off camera and communed with the actors. I learned more than I expected by doing these tasks. I learned that that there is no hotline to call if a child is being exploited when there are several in other countries like America, Germany and even Ireland. I learned that I had was definately not the best pick to commune with clients and now know for sure that my favourite thing to do in a production is to edit, even though I could do none in this. I am happy with the end result and think everyone pulled their weight in the production.

PMP Production blog

Monday 17th March
I pitched my idea to my tutors. The feedback I got back was good and helpful. An issue I was attempting to solve was the location and the look I had in mind was a narrow hall with multiple doors at either side. Both tutors gave me great ideas of where I can consider and the one that appeals most to me is The Sporting lodge. One issue is the door. I want the doors to have little windows so the main character can look into them and see the glimpses of his past memories. They said that they could visualise my idea more so than the others they had heard that day and could tell that I had rehearsed my pitched.

Wednesday 19th March
I bought a folder for my production file and have already placed in a printout of my pitch, proposal, alternate ideas and the first draft of my script. I also started on my shot list and managed to get them finished by the end of the day.

Thursday 20th March
I began on my Storyboards however I could not get too far with them because I am also working on the working to a brief assignment and needed to help out with that.

Monday 24th March
I continued with my storyboards but a similar problem occurred with me not being able to finish them due to my alternate assignment.

Wednesday 26th March
I finished the storyboards and got to work on my character breakdowns. I was not so sure how to set it out and did some research on the matter. I found a great website with step by step explanations on what to do which has helped out a lot. http://thisisyourpilotspeaking.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/character-breakdown-i/

Monday 31st March
My character breakdowns are complete and I have contacted the two people who I want most to act in my film. They are Natasha Bell and Jack Harrison. I also contacted the Sporting lodge in Middlesbrough requesting if we could meet and discuss the possibility of filming there for my main location. Now I will be beginning my work on my costume and makeup design.

Thursday 3rd April
I now have the actors CV's to place in my production file and have started a facebook page for the film. I am however having trouble finding a location to shoot at. I have asked at Tuned In, The ARC and The Sporting Lodge, unfortunately thy each said to me that their halls are always in use 24/7 and I cannot film there. I have come to two possibilities as to what I can to resolve this. I can either use the college halls or change the script so instead of a hallway we use a house. I will keep searching for locations up until the 10th, and if I don't find one then I will choose one of these two options.

Monday 7th April
Today I spent about 3 or 4 hours in Stockton Middlesbrough and Redcar searching for a location to use for this project. I have been unsuccessful in doing so and am beginning to doubt that I will be able to find an area where I will be granted permission to film. So I have thought up a few alternatives. I said previously that if I do not have a location by the 10th then I will resort to using the college halls or change the script so it takes place in a house. Other possible solutions I have thought up however is to contact the Sporting Lodge again with a similar request. Only it will just be me going with my V-720 camera and I will spend about 10 minutes filming in various areas in a corrydoor and taking photos so I can get my actors in and green screen the whole film in the best location I was able to find. Another possibility I have thought up is to change the script so it takes place in an are surrounded by trees. This idea works because it is vague. With it taking place in a hallway it suggests that there is an area he remembers, if it were a place outside surrounded by trees then it suggests he doesn't even remember civilisation. There is an area by my house that is almost perfect for this kind of setting only problem is every 10-20 minutes a train go past very close to there, but is easy to work around.

Thursday 10th April
It is the 10th of April now and as I said today I will make a decsion as to what I will do about loation. In this last week I have gone out to Stockton, Middlesbrough, and Preston to search for location for my film. I have asked at Tuned in, The Sporting lodge, Various other Hotels whose names I cannot recall at this point in time, office buildings, and other areas I once again cannot recall what they were called. I would estimate that I have called, Emailed and personally visited up to 15 - 20 possible places for location for my film this week and I always seem to get the same response. Either their halls are used all hours of the day or they just don't want us filming there altogether. I gave myself the goal for making a decision for today but unfortunately I still have a decision to make that I cannot make until tomorrow. I can either use the College corridors, a home or an area by my house surounded by trees. I believe it would be best if done in the area with trees as it detaches his mind from memories of society which is known to be a side effect of some types of amnesia. However I wish the film to look dark and whith the time of year it doesn't get dark until around 8:30pm or 9pm. Which would be too late to film for the actors as there would be no trains back to Middlesbrough or Stockton after this time and filming could go on for up to 3 hours which would lead to midnight. So tomorrow I am taking my camera down there and will film a 1 minute long sequesnce, edit the image to see if I can make it look like night, and if the end result is good then I will chose this as my main location for the film.

Friday 11th April
At 7:00pm I left the house with my camera and tripod to the wooded area which I have mentioned would be a good location for the film. I left at this time because ina rough schedule plan I wrote our yesterday I placed the time of filming to be start at this time. I filmed a 45 second sequence and editited it in Adobe After Effects to make it look like night. The result is not what I was hoping however I know it can be improved upon. The computer I use to edit at home is incredibally terrible when running Adobe. For example it took it 30 minutes to play out the whole 45 second sequence. With this issue it was very difficult to change the look of the footage, however I was able to create a rough version of what I want and all it needs is a little clean up my laptop cannot provide. I am fully confident that when I get this footage to a fully working computer at college it will be easy to fix the problems that are seen in the photo below.

Before

After

I have come to the conclusion of using this as my main location for my film and as part of that will need to edit the script, shot list, and storyboards.

Monday 21st April
My actor Jack Harrison got into contact with me tell me the cannot come in on the 22nd at the time we agreed on. Something important had come up so I was forced to change the schedule for the 22nd and he now be coming in at 2:30pm instead of 11am as we had first agreed.

Tuesday 22nd April
Voiceovers are now recorded and edited. All that is left production wise is to film.

Wednesday 23rd April
We were lucky today in finding out that the actors finished several hours early so we were able to go and film at 3:30 which meant we arrived at location at 4:30. Filming itself did not go smoothly. The backstage camera ran out of battery and the footage we got with it was little to none. There were some communication issues with everyone so setting up different shots proved to be a battle the later it got. We ran over filmtime by a few hours because of this. I aimed to be finished within 2 hours by the end of it all we came out with a 5 hour shoot and still did not have everything we needed.

Thursday 24th April
I have captured and edited the footage we had. Overall we need to reshoot 5 shots and film the 8 shots we could not get yesterday.

Sunday 27th April
I got Jack to come down to Redcar and we were able to film all of the shots we needed including reshoots.

Wednesday 30th April
The rough edit is now complete and I am starting work on the behind the scenes videos.

Wednesday 4th June
Everything regarding the film is now complete. The edits are finished and the menu is almost complete. All that is left is to add in the Directors commentary and I will be able to burn it into the disk.

Social action production blog

Monday 27th January 2014
Today we received our Social action assignment, our task is to produce an anti-smoking video along with full pre-production paper work and an active production blog. I also produced some research that will assist In the production of my idea which is in development.

Thursday 30th January 2014

Today we pitched our anti-smoking video ideas, two of these ideas will go on to be made into a short film. Once everyone had pitched their idea Neil and Kelly decided that three films would be made instead of two. The three ideas to be chose were Ryans, Isaaks and Jordans. I paired up with Jordan as we had similar ideas so we could provide a more thought out way of looking at how to film it.
Monday 3rd February 2014

Today we had a short production meeting, we made the decision to have attempted some form of filming by Friday the 7th of February and that if not filming would commence Monday the 10th of February. We also chose our cast, this was based upon whether people smoked, their appearance and whther they fit the character profile. We decided on 2 actors, Sam Hitchcliff and Jacob Hanson.

Tuesday 4th February 2014

Today we produced a shot list for my short film which is set to be filmed on the 7th of February. As well as the shot list i also produced a make-up ideas page for my make-up artist(s)

Wednesday 5th February 2014

Today we performed a location recce and risk assessment as well as gaining permission to film at our chosen location, the Dubliners pub, after this we had a short informal meeting with the actors, discuccing our plans for filming.

Thursday 6th February 2014

Today was our planned filming day, we went to the dubliners and began filming, we had planned to film from half nine to twelve which turned out to be too long as all the necessary footage had been filmed by twenty past 11. After filming I captured the footage and began putting the footage together, after assesment of the footage I decided a reshoot was in order for 3 of the shots as there was some poor framing and acting that I feel could be improved.

Tuesday 11th February 2014

Today was our planned reshoot day, we arrived at our location, the dubliners, at half nine and began filming at twenty to ten, we filmed all the shots we needed and were done just after ten o clock. We returned to college and captured the footage.

Thursday 13th february 2014

Today the edit was finished. We replaced poor shots with the re-shoot shots and tidying up clips that were on screen for too long and replacing poor audio.

Unit 31: Social Action & Community Media Production Task 1

First thoughts
In this post I will be looking at the purpose and impact of Social Action & Community Media Production. Now before any research my initial view of it is that the impact is small and virtually none-existent in driving the public view away from things like smoking. The purpose of the anti-smoking ads is a good one and it does convince some people to stop smoking. But as a whole they prove unsuccessful. I am willing to guess that maybe 1% of the population that see these ads actually pay attention to what is shown which makes them either stop smoking or never start.

Research 

Purpose

The purpose of an anti-smoking campaign is the bring about local, national or global change to people attitudes to smoking and attempt to get people to quit. They do this through advertisements persuading people to stop, teaching the dangers of smoking in school either by having teachers talk to the students about the dangers of smoking or going themselves to give big talks in assemblies. They also have websites dedicated to anti-smoking and it has even gone as far as to put what can happen to you on cigarette packs.

 

Different social action groups have different effects on communities, this is due to their proir knowledge, poplarity and purpose. Take Pancrack Tv and Greenpeace for example. Greenpeace aim to and achieve a global change. Pancrack are more local to Teesside and therefore bring about a local change. This is evident through their documentaries and how this is seen by others. For example, with this documentary is beneficial in stopping a hellbent local authority from selling off public common and seafront for a housing development.

People's attitudes have changed dramatically to smoking.

Fifty years ago, a key report was published that marked the beginning of a change in our relationship with smoking. Although there had been previous warnings linking smoking and lung cancer, it was the 1962 study by the Royal College of Physicians, Smoking and Health, that really broke through to the public and politicians. Attitudes in the intervening 50 years have changed enormously. But in 1962, very few people took the dangers posed by smoking cigarettes seriously. That view is captured perfectly by some footage from the BBC archive, a report on the Tonight programme into the RCP study. One man who says he smokes between 20 and 25 cigarettes a day is - by today's standards - amazingly fatalistic. "Quite honestly, I think that the end of ones life is probably more in the hands of almighty God you know, than in my own hands or the hands of the tobacco manufacturers." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17264442)

 

Raising awareness

      
"Figure out your cause. What are you passionate about that you want to bring attention to?

Create your pledge. Be specific and concrete. Are you pledging to do something or to abstain from something? He

Pledge to recycle.

• Pledge to lower your carbon footprint.
• Pledge to lower your energy consumption.
• Pledge to lower your water consumption.
• Pledge not to pollute.
• Pledge not to drink.
• Pledge not to do drugs.
• Pledge to stay tobacco-free.
• Pledge not to discriminate.
• Pledge to vote.
• Pledge to care for your pet.
• Pledge to practice safe sex.

Plot your spot. Figure out where you want to have people signing your pledge. Go for a high traffic area like the lunchroom, school or parking lot entrance, or even the entrance to the gym before a big game or rally. Creating a Wall of Pledges is also a great way to display all you have collected.

Ask for the go ahead. Now that you have found your ideal spot, make sure you have permission to be there. The last thing you want is to take the time to create this only to have it torn down.

Write it out. What will the pledge say? Be specific in what they're pledging to do.

Print ‘em out. You probably won’t need a whole sheet of paper for just one pledge. Maybe you can cut one sheet into two (or even four!) smaller pledges. It will save paper! If you can, try and make them look nice with color or pictures (or even color paper). That way, they will look awesome when they are all hung up.

Tell them to get their pens out. Now’s the time to get the signatures. As you receive them, hang them up. The more pledges that go up, the more amazing it will look. People will see how many other people have pledged their involvement, and they will be inspired to sign one too! Plus, in some cases, this can serve as GOOD peer pressure. Like if it’s a no alcohol pledge, knowing how many people don’t drink is a great way to keep someone from starting.

Be realistic. Timing is important when it comes to anything, even pledges. For example, if it’s around prom or spring break, you can modify the no alcohol pledge to be a little less restrictive. Ask them to pledge to assign a designated driver, to not drink and drive. Though it would be great to get people who are underage to promise not to drink, the main concern is their safety, so if they are going to drink, then we just want to make sure that they will NOT get behind the wheel. People may be more willing to sign something like that if they know they are more likely to stick to their promise!"

This list came from a web site that gives step by step instructions for things such as stopping smoking, banning drugs, helping alcoholics and other issues that are seen in our media often. I found it interesting how much work actually went into raising awareness for smoking. I was unable to copy in the full list due to it's size so here is the link to the web page. (http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/actionguide/wall-pledges)

To campaign
Campaigning is the blood of Anti-smoking. If people didn't campaign about it then public knowledge about the dangers of smoking would be low and that may in face lead to more people starting smoking. The whole reason for any of this, the websites, the promotional ads for stopping smoking, this blog would probably not exist if people did not campaign against smoking.

Social action groups are inportant to campaigns. It is difficult for some campaigns to find one though that would work for/with them and be able to grab public attention. Using the examples I gave earlier would both be ineffective. Greenpeace are to known and would be difficult to get a hold of and hire for the campaign. Where as Pancrack aren't known enough. They are easier to hire but with them not being as big as others it would be more difficult for their work to reach an audience outside of their local area. There are surprisingly few social action groups in the UK that fall into the category of being known well enough to make an impact and being available for hire. This is one of the many reasons why some social action campaigns never make it very far and their voice on the subject is not heard.

Build relationships on the subject
People who have gone through quitting smoking or lost someone to smoking are more effected by this. Because they remember the pain of loss or the struggle of quitting they know how bad things can get with smoking and because of that will agree with what they see and would possibly join a campaign against smoking. They do this through their ads against smoking which show similar scenarios which happened to these people to establish a mutual understanding of the subject which then begins the relationship between campaign and supporters.

Providing information
The main purpose of an anti-smoking campaign is to provide information to the dangers of smoking and keep the public knowledgeable to this information. To do this they state facts on their websites which give brief summaries in the home page and then provide a link for further information. There are also numbers you can call where staff can answer any questions you have about stopping smoking, what to do if your child smokes and if you yourself are having urges to smoke but haven't yet. If you follow a certain campaign then you can subscribe to a newsletter so every week you are sent one which have different peoples experiences where they have given up smoking and give advise on how to quit the habit.

Information is highly important to target public opinion in things such as voting. Getting public to support laws about smoking is difficult. Most people have fixed opinions on smoking which they have been taught about their whole lives. If you live with a family member who smokes as a child it sends a message to you that smoking is okay and you should do it. This is why anti-smoking campaigns need to be effective and stay with you. If you can make a smoker see the damage they are actually doing to themselves through smokeing then it can have a hugh change in the campaign.

Impact

In the last 60 years there has been a noticeable different in smokers. In the 1950's it was recorded that over 50% of the population smoked, today as of June 2012 it has been recorded that just over 20% of the population in the UK smoke. This is an excellent example as to how effective the Anti-smoking campaigns are. In a poll 13% of people today say they have never smoked, 38% say they have stopped and 49% say they currently do smoke.

It is becoming a common thing in society today to see the effects of smoking. It is seen daily by those who buy cigarettes when they simply look at the packet. So with this it is getting harder to make a shocking impact to make people stop smoking. This makes the social action groups have to think up new ideas to get people to stop smoking and therefore will save their lives.

Videos
Here I will be posting videos I have found about anti-smoking and analysing them to inspire my ideas for the ad I will be making.

This is a unique take on an anti-smoking advert. It is a mockery of smoking, saying that it "Stinks." In this world when the people are smoking there is no smoking involved, instead they fart. I personally believe that this was made to make smoking more unappealing to smokers by making it into something that is not usually excepted in social environments. But however it makes smoking into a joke that younger viewers will see as funny and would not take seriously and as such would not make them think to stop smoking or start all together.

Going in the opposite direction to the other video, this is a more shocking and personal ad for stopping smoking from a woman who has been highly effected by it where it has destroyed her body and voice. With a little further research I can tell you that what has happened to her in one aspect of it all is she has had a tracheo-oesophageal puncture. "It is found in people who have had a total laryngectomy, which is a surgery where the larynx is removed. A voice prosthesis that keeps food out of the trachea but lets air into the esophagus is inserted into this puncture."At first glance it delivers a shock onto the audience and I believe the shock value is much more effective the previous video and is maybe the best way to deliver an ad in this area of health.

In this video children ask adults to light a cigarette for them and when they say no the children ask why they can't smoke when the adults can. This makes them think and when the child walks away they hand them a leaflet saying "You worry about me but not about yourself" the video then goes to show them throwing away their cigarette and keeping the leaflet. This is the type of shocking evidence needed to get people to stop smoking. It is a casual thing for an adult to smoke because they know the risks, but when a child smokes it is a completely different issue. It makes you think and if this video is real not staged then it has had an effect the adults who spoke with the children.

Final thoughts
After looking into social action and how it is seen by the public I can say that I take back. Social action campaigns do have an effect on the public. I have seen this through the 0.5% of the smoking population that has been recorded to stop smoking each year. This is evedent through the +30% that quit in the last 60 years. It has given me insight into making my own anti-smoking film and I am confident I caan make some kind of impact.

Sources

http://news.sky.com/story/1187952/anti-smoking-campaign-new-ad-targets-addicts

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070719170315.htm