Unit 8: Criteria 4: Understand developing technologies in television and film industries

In this blog I will be exploring how the advances in technology have changed the ways in which audiences view media and how the producers select their media content. I will be looking at Satellite, Cable, Analogue, digital, film-based, interactive and internet. 

The television and film industries have dramatically changed in the last few years because of the rapid development of new technologies. These changes in technology have enabled media companies and producers to gain an increase in audience which are of a range of different diversity. As a result, media contents have become broader, providing for a wider range of tastes and opinions and different ages to suit viewer’s life styles. (http://daviddadeyemi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/unit-8-understanding-tv-and-film_4.html)

Satellite

Satellite TV is a TV system that is transmitted through orbiting Satellites that send signals to each other, it amplifies the signal and transmits it back to the subscribers on earth who receive it through their antennas. ‘A satellite receiver is either in the form of an external set-top box or a satellite tuner module built into a TV set.’ Satellite TV transmits high-quality audio and picture digital data with the use of MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 compression. MPEG-4 is known for providing high-definition video streams to computers. (Wikipedia)

Through this viewers can watch hundreds of channels world wide and therefore gives a large range of programmes or films to choose from. However, the receiver and satellite dish can be expensive and not worth it; a separate receiver for each TV is needed, making it very expensive if like most people the consumer has more than one TV in their home. Satellites can also malfunction in bad weather giving the consumer bad transmission making the picture and sound lag or glitch. You can look at the people who use Sky in their home. As being one of those people I can vouch that when it get a little too rainy outside you cannot view anything on your television. Even with free view it can be a big issue when you're stuck in the house due to the weather.

Cable

Cable television is a system of distributing television programs to subscribers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables or light pulses through fiber-optic cables. This contrasts with traditional broadcast television (terrestrial television) in which the television signal is transmitted over the air by radio waves and received by a television antenna attached to the television. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet,telephone service, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. (Wikipedia)

Cable TV is stable in its services; there is only a problem with it if there’s a flaw in the whole system. This is not like the modern satellite television which goes off when there is storm. Combination of the cable TV with the internet or the phone can now be done, this way consumers have a single account to pay off both cable and their internet. However many cable companies are very confusing when it comes to how much their service will actually cost in the long run there are sometimes hidden cost which is a major disadvantage.                     

(http://daviddadeyemi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/unit-8-understanding-tv-and-film_4.html)

Virgin Media uses cable for their services and are best known for their fibre optic speed which makes them the faster service provider with broadband. 

Broadcasting on cable has been proven to be cheaper than satellite. This has lead to producers creating or moving more and more content to cable service as it is faster and cheaper 

Analogue

Analogue television in the United Kingdom includes terrestrial, satellite and cable services broadcasting using analogue television signals. As of 2013, Milton Keynes remains the only town in the country broadcasting in analogue, as the rest of the country have all switched off analogue signals and broadcast in digital only. (Web definition)

The whole of the UK and Northern Ireland no longer have the analogue system due to the digital switch over from 2008 – 2012, the analogue TV has been switched off and is impossible to get back if someone hasn't done the switch over they would be experiencing static on their television screen. However, analogue TV still exists in countries outside the UK in mostly developing countries for examples Nigeria, Namibia and Ghana.

Before the digital switch over I believe the numbers of producers where moderately low as there were only 5 television service providers. However, the producers that were around would have been very successful as there would be low competition for audiences.   

(http://daviddadeyemi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/unit-8-understanding-tv-and-film_4.html)

Digital

Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of audio and video by digitally processed and multiplexed signal, in contrast to the totally analog and channel separated signals used by analog television. It is an innovative service that represents a significant evolution in television technology since color television in the 1950s.^[1] Many countries are replacing broadcast analog television with digital television and allowing other uses of the television radio spectrum. Several regions of the world are in different stages of adaptation and are implementing different broadcasting standards. There are four different widely used digital television terrestrial broadcasting standards (DTTB):

• Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) uses eight-level vestigial sideband (8VSB) for terrestrial broadcasting. This standard has been adopted in six countries, United States, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Dominican Republic and Honduras.
• Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) uses coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation and supports hierarchical transmission. This standard has been adapted in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
• Terrestrial Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting (ISDB-T) is a system designed to provide good reception to fix receivers and also portable or mobile receivers. It utilizes OFDM and two-dimensional interleaving. It supports hierarchical transmission of up to three layers and uses MPEG-2 video and Advanced Audio Coding. This standard has been adopted in Japan, Philippines. ISDB-T International is an adaptation of this standard using H.264/MPEG-4 AVC that been adopted in most of South America and is also being embraced by Portuguese-speaking African countries.
• Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB) adopts time-domain synchronous (TDS) OFDM technology with a pseudo-random signal frame to serve as the guard interval (GI) of the OFDM block and the training symbol. The DTMB standard has been adopted in the People's Republic of China, including Hong Kong and Macau. (Wikipedia)

The main focus of the digital switch over was to get the audience to modernise their technology. It also gives the audience in the UK an opportunity to explore a different range of channels to give them more varied range of entertainment to suit their lifestyles. It benefits the audience a lot as now they have more choice over what they watch and a much better quality of what they are watching. It is also beneficial for companies such as sky and virgin as they have got more subscribers because of the digital switch-over.

Digital TV has also giving producers a better chance of succeeding in the TV and film industry as they would gain a bigger audience base. However, this does increase competition between producers as they compete for their productions to be shown on the best channels and aired on the best time slot suited for their production. There has, most likely; been an increase in producers as there are many more channels on digital TV that need entertaining programs. 

(http://daviddadeyemi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/unit-8-understanding-tv-and-film_4.html)

Film based

As technology develops film based technology develops and becomes more advanced. 3D animation is one of these technologies, ‘in a nutshell, computer 3D animation refers to the work of creating moving pictures in a digital environment that is three-dimensional.’ (Animated TV) There is also another type of 3D animation called CGI, CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) has become a popular form of animation of the years, beginning with films such as Pixar's Toy Story. Although CGI animation was used for creating 2D images, it was the use of 3D computer graphics in films and televisions which has raised the bar for the images the audience sees on screen. Due to the recent increase in 3D films there has even been films reformed into a 3D format such as films like Finding Nemo (2003) & Monsters Inc (2001) 

CGI animation is increasingly being used for producing high quality visual effects and realistic images. The accessibility to the CGI software tools, in the recent years, has enabled individual artists and small production units to come up with content without the use of actors, expensive set pieces, or props. 
There has also been a dramatic increase in IMAX cinemas around the world. IMAX cinemas (short for Image Maximum) are for from the average cinemas.

(http://daviddadeyemi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/unit-8-understanding-tv-and-film_4.html)

Interactive

Interactive television represents a continuum from low (TV on/off, volume, changing channels) to moderate interactivity (simple movies on demand without player controls) and high interactivity in which, for example, an audience member affects the program being watched. The most obvious example of this would be any kind of real-time voting on the screen, in which audience votes create decisions that are reflected in how the show continues. A return path to the program provider is not necessary to have an interactive program experience. Once a movie is downloaded for example, controls may all be local. The link was needed to download the program, but texts and software which can be executed locally at the set-top box or IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder) may occur automatically, once the viewer enters the channel.

Interactive television (also known as ITV or iTV) is a form of media convergence, adding data services to traditional television technology. Throughout its history, these have included on-demand delivery of content, as well as new uses such as online shopping, banking, and so forth. Interactive TV is a concrete example of how new information technology can be integrated vertically (into established technologies and commercial structures) rather than laterally (creating new production opportunities outside of existing commercial structures, E.g. Internet. (Wikipedia) 

Internet

Internet television (or online television) is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet. Internet television is a general term that covers the delivery of television shows and other video content over the Internet by video streaming technology, typically by major traditional television broadcasters. It does not describe a technology used to deliver content.

Web television is a similar term often used to characterize short programs or videos created by a wide variety of companies and individuals, or Internet Protocol television (IPTV) - an emerging Internet technology standard for use by television broadcasters. Some Internet television is known as catch-up TV. (Wikipedia) 

There are many websites dedicated to showing this content and they are not stuck on one single genre. Take the most famous catchup web site Netflix for example. Unlike TV channels like for example comedy central who only show comedy, Netflix can show comedy along with Action, Drama, Horror, Mystery, ect. Other websites that unlike Netflix do the same for free are PutLocker, Cucirca, Viooz even YouTube. But by watching TV programmes on these web sites is considered illegal so maybe just stick with Netflix. 

The internet also has a lot to do with the media industry, it has changed the TV and film industry dramatically both for better and worse. Due to internet, audiences are now able to watch the favourite TV and film online when they want, whenever they want. This gives audiences chances to be able to control more of what they are viewing. However, because of this update in technology audiences are now able to download films illegally without paying. This has affected the producers in film industry most as they lose box office sales for their productions. It also affects film distribution companies like blockbuster as they lose consumers to the internet. Due to the internet the television and film industry has risen dramatically. Now because of the internet audiences are able to stream online, watch films and programs on-demand and pay to watch exclusive events. 

(http://daviddadeyemi.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/unit-8-understanding-tv-and-film_4.html)

In conclusion. With all of these different methods of using technology in viewing and creating media productions that I have studied I now have a better understanding of each of these technological methods. I have looked at both Satellite and Cable television and explained their uses and methods along with their issues. I have explored analogue and digital TV. I now known about the digital switch over and why is was important. I have spoken about the internet and what dramatic effect it has had on the television and film industry and how they can interact with media content. I have also explored the development of standard television quality into new high definition quality and how people benefit from this. I believe that in a few years’ time technology would have advanced even further and would have a massive impact to the television and film industries. Soon cinemas will be showing in a virtual format.        

Unit 8: Understanding the Film and TV Industries task 2

Job roles in films

In this I will talk about the different types of jobs in the film industry, these being Creative, Management, and Technical jobs, and will talk about 3 different job titles for each of these areas. There are many roles in Television and Film and as of that I will not talk about all of them, which is why I have decided to talk about 9 and how they are used in productions.

Technical:

The Technical roles in Television and Film are the jobs that work with all of the electrical/technical equipment. For example there is the sound engineer who works with sound editing software and sound equipment in order to boost/fix the sound levels for the production. This can be something as simple as a soundtrack to having to record new sounds to lay over the previous, which is what is commonly known as Foley sound.

·         Digital Imaging Technician (DIT): The “DIT” is responsible for the coordination of the internal workings of the digital camera. Being under the direction of the Director of photography, the DIT will make adjustments to the multitude of variables available in the cameras in order to manipulate the image. Such work has been done in films like the Matrix. When in the Matrix the image had a hint of green so simulate what it would look like to be in a simulated world. It is more effective with the green impression as the computers back in the time it was made had a lot of that in their programming.

·         Gaffer: The Gaffer is the head of the electrical department, responsible for the design and execution of the lighting plan for a production. Sometimes the Gaffer is credited as “Chief Lighting Technician”. The Best Boy (Electrical) is the chief assistant to the Gaffer. Work seen by Gaffers in productions are sometimes un-noticed. But the subtle works of the make big differences in the production. It is their responsibility to properly organise the lighting and to make sure that it sets the mood of the production. Look at the film Donnie Darko. This physiological film used a wide range of lighting which varied between the scenes. But what is most notable is the lighting used when Donnie is having some type of illusion. The light focusses on that he is seeing, for example the auras that come out of people, but also doesn’t draw too much attention away from the rest of the scene. This is what made the film so brilliant because you can be completely focussed on what Donnie is seeing, but also you take in the whole of the room which is done through the combination of good camera work and lighting placement.

·         Foley sound team: Foley sound is the non-diegetic sound that is added after filming. For example a horse riding through a street would be difficult to capture sound for so a common method used is to have someone on the team get something that sounds like a horse running across stone, 2 halves of a coconut for example, and have them create that sound to lay over the horses gallop. Foley sound is used throughout most, if not all professional productions for all different kinds of sounds. In a film or programme set in medieval times, such as Game Of Thrones, when a sword is drawn that sound is not caught on camera. What a Foley team would do is get 2 thin metal objects and scrape one against the other in a fast motion causing it to make a ring, much like a sword being drawn. The possibilities for using Foley sound are endless. It is used for door sounds, ripping flesh, cars, etc. Without Foley Film and Television productions would be far less entertaining to watch.

Management:

Management roles are a lot less practical to technical and especially less practical than creative. Within the management roles you are overseeing or supervising or supervising areas of the production. There are many different types of management roles such as the Producer who oversees the director and other creative aspects of the production. Executive producer who manages the finance. Even lesser roles such as marketer who focus on the distribution of the finished product.

·         Producer: The producer initiates, coordinates, supervises, and controls matters such as raising funding, hiring key personnel, contracting and arranging for distributors. The producer is involved throughout all phases of the process from development to completion of a project. As the Producer you are responsible for making sure everything goes smoothly. To make sure that the talent isn’t acting up in any way that could hurt the production and to ultimately make sure that the production keeps up to date.

·         Location Manager: The location manager is responsible for finding and securing locations to be used for the production and coordinating the logistics, permits and costs involved. They are also the face of the production to the community. It is important for the location manager to ensure that those who are allowing you to film in their homes, business, etc, know how long they will be, and that they may need to return. There have been productions made where people who let a crew film in their home don’t know what time they are supposed to start, when they finish and what they do to their home. This means that they may be woken up early so they can film, will be kept out of their house upon returning and possibly find holes have been made in walls for the camera, lighting and other wires.

·         Production Accountant: Production accountants are responsible for managing finances and maintaining financial records during film production. They work closely with the Producer and the production office to manage the day-to-day accounting office functions, and report on the project’s financial progress against the budgets (cost reporting). They are responsible for knowing how much a scene will cost if it requires any big special effects or props. And to make sure that they do not go over budget.

Creative:

As creative is the most practical aspect of filmmaking a lot of people wish to work on when they first think about starting a career in the film business. Areas where creative is mainly seen is in the screenwriting, although not too practical, it plays a big role in the practical work. Direction is highly creative as the Director must think of creative ways to make the production more entertaining for the viewers in ways of simple, yet unusual shots and just telling the actors where to stand and how to perform the scene.

·         Director: The Director is in charge of the creative part of the production. This means they control the content and flow of the plot, direct the actors, select what is to be shown on camera, use of lighting, and the timing and content of the films soundtrack. Directors work to find ways of making their production more interesting through their use of shots. Take the Director Gregory Dark for example. He mainly directs music videos, but when he made the film See no Evil he used techniques he developed in music video production so when the video transitioned it added a very subtle, but great effect to the film by using the environment of the sets.

·         

       Set Designer: The set designer is the draftsman, often an architect, who realizes the structures or interior spaces called for by the production designer. They are in charge of the overall look of where they are filming. The Rob Zombie, Halloween remake is a good example in one of the early scenes. When they first got permission to film in what was used as the Myres house they found that the owner was a very messy person, as a result the house was disgusting. They had to clean up the whole of the living room, kitchen and bedrooms so it would look like a home. When Michael Myres was a kid he lived in a broken home, the set had to resemble that. So they had to “un-clean” the house making for a lot of un-necessary work. If the set designer had been there from the start then it would have saved the group a lot of work.

·         Screenwriter: The screenwriter, or script writer, is responsible for researching the story, creating the narrative, writing the screenplay, and delivering it, in the required format, to the Producers. They are almost always freelancers who either pitch original ideas to Producers in the hope that they will be optioned or sold, or who are commissioned by a Producer to create a screenplay from a concept, true story, existing screen work or literary work, such as a novel or short story. They are very important to the production as without them, without a script, there is no film.

Issues to factual programming

There are many issues of factual programming in television which can make them quite difficult to make. Depending on whether or not you get permission to film in a certain place, or film someone could make or break the programme. You need to look at when making a factual programme the Accuracy and balance, impartiality, objectivity and subjectivity, opinion, bias, representation and privacy. All of these points will occur one way or another when making a factual programme.



 (A collage of the best factual programmes of 2010)

Accuracy and balance

Accuracy: (Web definition) 'The quality or state of being correct or precice'

It is important that we keep our work as accurate as possible and not to twist our stories. However most of the documentary will be interviews and we cannot tell the interviewee(s) what to say, you can ask them to be as accurate as possible. You can take the documentary "Cocaine capital of the world" for example; Stacey Dooley (the interviewer) spoke with numerous people, both police and cocaine makers, and got them to give their honest opinions on the state of their country and how cocaine has changed it. The overall response she got from both law officials and outlaws was that it has helped their country and brought families out of poverty. One of the police even said "I do not like destroying the coca plants but it is my job and is how I support my family." If a factual piece is inaccurate then it can change the whole opinion of the story and lead people astray from the point of the documentary.

 Cocaine capital of the world (1 hour length)

Balance: To keep the argument/documentary fair on bot sides.

It is important we do not stick to one side and investigate both sides of the story. The end is when we can choose a side to talk more about. Sticking with the cocaine capital of the world example, Stacey Dooley had managed to get opinions from people who were opposed to the drug and were working on stopping it. She had not set out to get bad opinions but was trying to keep it balanced so she could get the whole of the story, and it was highly shocking to see how many people who work to stop the drug, wish they were doing otherwise, by that I don't mean they wish to be making it, but they just wish that they could allow it to continue so they could keep themselves and others out of poverty. But the only way to keep themselves out of full poverty.

Impartiality

(Web meaning) An inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally.
This links in with balance where it shows you both sides of the story where the documenter doesn't voice on opinion and tries to understand both sides of the subject. An example of an un-partial documentary is "Supersize me" where he is only focused on the fattening process. He does get the workers and customer’s opinion but overall it is about how bad the food is and mainly just shows him eating and being sick. When releasing a factual film programmers have to make sure what they have contained in the documentary will cause no offence to any religious group or racial/social groups because they will get loads of complaints. For example if you were to make a documentary on the slave trade and there is content in there that could be possibly racially offensive like the use of the "N" word, then it could upset any black people who watched it. Or if you were to make one on a religion from an atheist's view point, then what said atheist says could upset the religious people that it concerns. 

Objectivity and Subjectivity

Subjectivity: Judgement based on individual personal impressions and feelings and opinions rather than external facts. Or in other words, not forcing your opinion. Interviews will have different opinions from one another and as the documentary film maker you will have to balance the opinions out. You could look at the Documentary Catfish for this. They start out with wanting to make a documentary about a little girl who is very talented, then it is to expose a lie of someone lying about who they are online, but they do not go and confront them right away, they allow them the opportunity of revealing themselves for who they really are, and through this do not force their opinion, but also do at the same time, when they finally stop lying and tell them that the people they were online were not real, the group who made the documentary learnt why they did it and it changed their opinions of the people. It is difficult to decide if this would be Subjective or objective, but in my personal opinion, after they meet the people face to face they stop voicing their opinion and let them tell the story, therefore making it more of a subjective piece.

Objectivity: The objectivity of factual programming is when interviewing the person should consider the questions they present and the facts that they state. You should be open minded and get the point across as quickly and accurately as possible. In an objective factual film you are more or less forcing your point across. Going back to "Supersize me" the documenter was forcing on his opinion of how bad fast food (Particularly McDonalds) was for you.

Opinion

When producing a documentary you should ask the interviewers to share their opinions to give more ideas which can help bring the message of the film become clearer and understandable. When asking or stating a fact make sure it is researched properly and you should research outside the subject too. This will help the audience to have a different viewpoint to the subject. This was done in Catfish when interviewing "Vince" it was placed towards the end of the documentary where he uses actual Catfish as a metaphor for "keeping you on your toes, keeping you aware" which is a big part of why the documentary was called Catfish.

(Vince explains the meaning of catfish) (best video available)

Bias

(Web definition) Inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair.

The Australian journalist, John Pilger, has made at least three biased documentaries. First there is Killing Fields. He is supposed to be interviewing a Cambodian but the person is speaking Vietnamese in two different parts. When he did interview Cambodians, several of the translations are incorrect. Several of the scenes in the film were shot in Thailand, and not in Cambodia. He talks about locations but has the distances and directions incorrect. Second he made a documentary on UN and International Red Cross aid in the late 1970's or early 1980's. He accused the UN and the ICRC of storing weapons for the Khmer Rouge in their warehouses in Thailand. Finally he did a documentary he did of a girl who had been kidnapped from her home in the Thai countryside and sold into prostitution in Bangkok. John Pilger paid the girl’s parents to use the girl for his documentary and the girl never was a prostitute. Through these examples we can see that John Pilger wasn't interested in making a factual piece for his project, but instead went looking for stories that he thought would grant him the biggest view count, and went into them only to play off of those rumours and not to get the actual story. This is a prime example of bias Documentary.

Killing fields article: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/beyond-the-imagination-of-mankind-cambodia-killing-426995
Killing fields full documentary (Poor quality): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH4kIqlGSiQ

UN and ICRC (Pilger's blog article):  http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Pilger_John/Cambodia_Heroes.html

Other Pilger articles: http://johnpilger.com/articles

Representation

Representation is when you are stereotyping someone or a subject by their cultural identities, events, objects or places. The Documentary "Gun Control" is a prime example. In the Documentary several groups of small production teams travel around America, mainly in the South, and get the peoples opinions about gun control. They went in there expecting to have all the southerners saying that gun control was idiotic and took away their right to bare arms. They did get a few people like this but about 3 out of every 5 people they got to answer a vox pop about the subject said that they did think it was a good thing with and in some areas people replied, "With all the local shootings lately it will help to keep people safe by taking away their guns." In their research of gun control they discovered an article about a man who placed his fully loaded shotgun in front of his house for 6 hours and it didn't shoot anyone. He the then joked that he strangled to death the kid who tried to steal it. When editing this documentary they could have had all the "Gun nuts" response to the questions asked used, but chose to show the more rational minded people to allow the United States to keep some of its dignity. But just so people knew about those opposed to the subject they added a few of their responses also.

Privacy

Just looking back on all the examples previously given, all of these documentaries have different methods of privacy. John Pilger pays people to have interviews. The people from "Gun Control" and "Supersize me" had those who they interviewed or were going to interview sign a document allowing them to use the footage. "Cocaine capital of the world" Blur out the faces, don't show or say their names, and adjust the voices of whoever they interview who work as drug dealers/makers in order to protect their identity from both Police and their suppliers/buyers/bosses, it was the only way they would agree to be interviewed. Finally in Catfish they make no attempt to hide the identities that the people are lying about online. Upon first meeting them they do not get any permission to film them, go in with a microphone first while the others wait in the car with the camera on watching the house. Then soon after they have the people on camera along with their children and home. All throughout the documentary they were working on they didn't tell the family that they were doing a piece on their talented little girl. And also didn't tell them that they had found out who they were and let them come out and tell them eventually. There are many different ways to use privacy in a factual piece, and there are still a few that are usable that I have not listed with these examples. What all documentaries require is a permit for where they are filming and whom they are filming. They could go and film someone who gave permission at the time but with little evidence of that it is possible for said person to sue, so before filming always make sure you have a written permit with the owners or interviewees signature.

Copyright

Like all productions copyright can occur at any time with the finished work. The documentary team could have used some product placement without the companies approval, or it could be something as simple as the soundtrack used. There was even a case with an untitled Documentary made by an American film student who just took someone else's documentary and added her own voice over and claimed that it was hers. 

Similarities

In this post I have talked about Accuracy, Balance, Impartiality, Objectivity, Subjectivity, Opinion, Bias, Representation and Privacy. Now a lot if not all of these issues are similar to another listed. Take Subjectivity and Impartiality for instance. A quick sum up of what these two mean are Subjectivity is where you aren't forcing your opinion, and Impartiality is having no view point. Another two that go together are Opinion and bias as they are both in a way showing your view point in the subject and making a documentary this way would be persuading your audience to think the same. Opinion and bias are also similar to Objectivity.

My Documentary

In my 3 minute wonder I will be addressing the condition known as Autism, mainly a certain type of Autism known as Asperger Syndrome (Or Aspergers). I will be speaking to a professional on the subject who has helped many others who have the syndrome, and diagnosed some with it. Also someone who has Aspergers and how they deal with it. Issues I will face in this are going to be privacy, opinion, bias and objectivity. As I am someone who has Aspergers I have a bias view point on the subject and feel that people know little about it. but however this will work for my documentary as I am trying to get more awareness about Asperger Syndrome. The Doctor who I am going to talk to will require me to have permission to film him or her, and I am planning to have it filmed in his or her office so I will need written permission for both location and person.

Sources:
http://www.slideshare.net/charlottejean/factual-programming-doctumentary
Accessed on 07/11/2013

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=cocaine%20capital%20of%20the%20world
Accessed on 07/11/2013

http://mbham-documentary.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/factual-programming.html

Accessed on 07/11/2013

http://tribecafilm.com/festival/events/tribeca-talks-industry-the-business-of-entertainment-truth-persuasion-and-bias-in-documentaries
Accessed on 15/11/2013

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110405005847AAe38UI
Accessed on 15/11/2013

Current uses of motion graphics and video compositing in television and film

Idents

Idents are motion graphics which are used as a type of moving logo for a TV network or other similar industries. Even in simple videos made for YouTube are idents seen. They show what you are watching through either a title, or some sort of animation for a TV channel or network. Motion graphics are used this way to bring in an audience. If for example you only had a black background with white text on the screen and nothing was moving then it would be pretty simple and quite boring. They are usually made to catch the eye of the viewer and make them thin “I should watch that” and if it is just a little bit of text showing the title for 5 seconds it is very possible that the programme or whole channel would receive less views because of it.

TV idents

In the TV idents the main image shown is the actual logo for the channel. For example there is comedy central. In theirs they have their logo seen in various different locations all throughout the world; London and San Francisco are some examples of this.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqJS4nGhyms 

 

 

 

The technique used for this is very simple. They get the footage of the locations and the logo along with anything else they would need and have the logo being air lifted, rolling, dropped, driven or just conveniently placed into the locations usually causing some form of destruction that in some luckily fixes itself. It is difficult to know what software was used in making this ident, but from what I have seen in the different clips I would only be able to guess the possibility of it being cinema 4D. This is due to it being 3D editing software that is capable of bending or removing certain objects or even buildings in a clip. For example when it is being air lifted in and the logo hits the building, the building bends and springs back to normal.

Titles and in-programme graphics for music (related) programmes

This official UK top 20 (Viva)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M1oMkt4yqc

This music related show goes through the UK music charts and finds the top 20 to use each week. They base this on YouTube view count, number of downloads on things such as I-tunes, and just overall popularity. The Title for the programme reads "The official UK top 20." It looks good and has little movement but there is a small movement of the title by a few inches as it pans across the screen. The in-programme graphics used in this are when the music videos are playing it shows at the bottom the name of the song, the artist and the company they are signed to along with where it placed in the countdown to the top song of the week. It stays there for the start of the video and also for the end lasting possibly 3-10 seconds until it fades out. When going from music video to music video it cuts out and goes into a small motion graphic of the a number exploding onto the screen. For example if this track placed 15 in the top 20 then that would be the number that is shown. In the background of both the title sequence and the in programme graphics it is the same apart from what shows when a music video is playing. It is a black background with what appears to be a clock with the wording or numbers being the face of that clock.

Titles and in-programme graphics news and factual programmes

Daybreak uses graphics when moving from story to another aspect of news suck as weather. This is a good way to transition the show from the actual news stories to the weather. Instead of doing a straight cut to it gives the weather man or woman a few extra seconds to prepare along with the editors for what shows on the green screen. It is done by cutting away to the Daybreak logo with little motion within that much like a TV ident with a moving light that quickly glides across the screen. Then it goes to a short advertisement about a sponsor to Daybreak such as “Deep heat” and “Topps tiles.” It then goes to the full weather forecast where that plays out showing what you would expect. Behind the weather reporter there is a digitised map that shows air currents, rain clouds over various parts of the map, etc. When that is over it just simply cuts to a person off screen saying “For your local 5 day weather update go to our website ITV.com/daybreak" showing a weather map while this is being said. After that it cuts back to the news anchors and they continue with the news from there.

The use of virtual backgrounds in presented programmes

Channel 5 news
Probably the most obvious for use of virtual background, but still it provides a good example for virtual backgrounds. As the news anchors, weather person, etc, is reporting for the camera the background is made to provide a visual aid for those viewing at home. It provides a quick list of what they are saying and the look of the background is appealing, by this I mean not too dull or over the top.

In this clip we can see that the background is made to make the show look apealing, but not take any focus away from who is talking. It also provides a place for a video to be played that is related to the topic of discussion, or is the footage that sparked the news story.

Film Titles

Freddy vs Jason

In this horror movie cross over between the 2 most popular horror villains ever made the title sequence for it had to represent the both of them. In it we see right off a strip of human skin. Then there is one clean, straight cut across it as if it were sliced with Jason's machete we also hear the slashing sound as the cut is being made. Then it is cut into very small pieces and we hear the ringing sound metal being clung which is what is heard in every Freddy film at one point or another, and following the sound of metal and cutting is the famous Freddy laugh. As the loose pieces of skin fall away they connect once more in a different order to read "New line cinema presents" to which it then melts into blood as it moves back towards the screen. Then with a change of view the blood hits a wall (Or possibly the side of a furnace) it burns and reads "Freddy vs Jason." The reason this is an amazing way to make it like this is because it combines both the killing styles and the original deaths of both of the great horror villains. Jason died by water and that is what the blood is representing, when the blood burns it represents how Freddy died as he was burned to death. This was just the perfect way to make the title sequence in this film because it is a quick reminder to the fans of either Freddy or Jason they they have similar methods of killing people, and they both died completely differently. But when it comes down to it all there is, is blood.

Visual effects in Film and Television productions

Supernatural

Supernatural is an amazing show that has just entered its 9th season. In the show we see all sorts of creatures like Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, Demons, Psychics, Angels, and so much more. Making this show requires a lot of work on how it looks in terms of monsters. Now Angels didn't make any appearances until season 4 and how we first saw the angel wings was really cleverly and simply done. The makers of the show had it so human eyes can not look at an Angel's true form or else their eyes would be burned out. So they had to take vessels in order to talk to people. The first Angel we see is "Castiel" who when he reveals what he is there is a flash of lightening and on the wall behind him while the lightning is lighting the room his wings unfold in the shadows. This is done by 2 crew members stood behind Misha Collins (Actor who plays Castiel) and above the light used to make the lighning effect at either side lifting 1 wing each as the lightning flashes so it looks like they are unfolding from Castiel's shadow. The camera films Misha in a mid shot so the two crew members behind him out of camera shot and when the lightning effect starts they move the wings and the end result shows that he looks like he is unfurling wings from his back but you can only see the shadows.

Other, more simple effects used in the show are the demon eyes. There are 4 types of Demons in the show. Some have black eyes, some have red, some have white and so far only one has yellow. How this is done is when the eyes are changing from human to black, red, yellow, or white is the editors take the clip where their eyes change and edit it in After effects or in a similar software. Then for the next clip in the scene the actor who is playing the demon is wearing coloured contacts that look the same as the edited eyes do. 

(This video shows how to make the Demon eye effect in after effects)

These are just a few of the many effects used in the show and is what brings it to life. I decided to stick with the Angels and Demons in this section of the post because that is what the show has been revolving around for the past few seasons if you don't count 7. Demons have been in since episode 1 and Angels came into it in season 4 and since then almost 3/4 of all the episodes have been about stopping or helping one of the two types of creatures. You can however look at all the other effects they use with other monsters and more at, http://www.supernaturalwiki.com/index.php?title=Supernatural_From_Script_to_Screen:_VFX_Supervisor_Mark_Meloche 

Case 39
Even though this is not a very well known film, Case 39 has a death scene that is truly terrifying. The film itself is about a little girl who gets rescued from her parents and adopted by a social worker who was hired to work on that little girls case, she was her 39th case she was working on. After about 1-2 weeks the girl was all nice and sweet but then things started happening. When certain people came into contact with the girl whether it be in person or on the phone they would either die by strange circumstances, or kill another. The first of her victims in the film is a little boy who is in a group therapy session with her, she makes him kill his parents. And most of the death in the film aren't as bad as this next one. This death scene scares viewers more than any other they have ever seen before and that is because it to do with something a lot of people are already scared of. One of the main characters Doug played by Bradley Cooper, who is also the main characters love interest, is killed by hundreds of Hornets. And how it was done was pure genius.

Now how this was done was very clever. What the effects team did was they got hundreds of dead Hornets and glued them on the back of his shirt for the shot where we see them all, the editors used their techniques to make them move and a Foley sound team used one fly and recorded its sound where they then multiplied that several dozen times and added them all together randomly. This took 2 days of shooting the scene out of the whole film and this is due to the Director Christian Alvart who when making films writes out at least 16 storyboards a night and for just 3 seconds of this scene there were 3 pages of storyboards made. When they had finished filming the scene there was a total of 52 different shots used in the clip above which is only 2 minutes 17 seconds long.

Sources:
http://jakelaurieunit64.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/understand-the-current-uses-of-motion-graphics-and-compositing-video/
Accessed 11/10/2013
http://dku64mgvc.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/current-uses-of-motion-graphics-and.html
Accessed 11/10/2013
http://vimeo.com/categories/experimental/motiongraphics
Accessed 14/10/2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E0w-FCeTmI
Accessed 17/10/2013


Note
I would like to apologise to anyone is having trouble with the tv ident videos. I have tried to fix the problem but unfortunately it cannot be done. I hope you can understand.








 

Multi-camera case study

A multi-camera production is exactly what it says. It is a production that is filmed with several cameras. The minimum cameras required that would bring out the best results are 3. It can be done with 2 but that limits your choice of shots and the end result will not be nearly as good as a 3 camera production. The different cameras also have different jobs in the production.







      Multi camera in football

Multi-camera in TV programme (E.g. Big Bang Theory)




Multi-camera techniques are seen  a whole range of TV production. They are seen in sport, the news, soap operas, sitcoms, chat shows and more. And they all do this for different reasons. In sport, news and other live event type productions they are used because that's is what they are. They are live events and would be impossible to film such things with only just one camera. If you ever tried to film a live event with only one camera them you would miss something essential that you may be required to have caught on camera. In sport you may miss a goal. In live music/ comedy productions you may miss something if you were to take a shot of audience reactions or if that camera just suddenly stopped working. With scripted productions it isn't as bad. In shows like "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Big Ban Theory" they use multi-camera. For Big Bang theory it is because they have a live audience and need to play out the whole scene to acquire the right audience reaction. They couldn't film it by first shot of the day start of a joke, second shot of the day end of the joke from the previous scene. And in soaps they have begun to use it to get the best reaction from the actors in the scenes. For a sad scene all the way to a happy and fun scene. This is why multi-camera techniques are used and now more and more different types of productions are taking to them as there have been noticeable results from other production that have gone from single camera to multi-camera.

(A short video about what it is like back stage of a multi-camera production)

Depending on the genre of the show effects how many cameras are used in the production. In sporting events they use well over 20 as a whole so they can get footage from every angle of the game. This helps when thee is a difference of opinion on whether one of the players has broken one of the rules it is a quick and easy way to resolve it. Other shows like previous comedies I listed like Big Bang theory use 3-4 cameras and make it so much easier to get the episode filmed and edited, along with getting the sound reactions from the audience. Not only do sit-coms use this but so do talk shows and game shows.

Take Mock the Week for example. There are a possible 4-9 camera used in making this. 1 or 2 are used on either team and 1 is focused solely on Dara O'Briain. Then there are 3-4 used on sections such as "Scenes we'd like to see" and "News real" where select members or the whole of the groups go head to head in competitions away from the desks where they try to make the most fun out of a news piece or topic.

 

In a sporting event like a football game they do use many cameras so they can get a full coverage of the game and present the best experience for the fans watching at home. They have over 3/4 of the cameras set up around the stadium from different angles to get as many shots as possible. For example there are cameras that are on the floor on the edge of the field, Multiple in the stands and higher up to get a over head view of the game, there are some attached to special poles and other devices that allows the camera to move overhead of the crowds that came to watch the game which is useful for a moving shot of the players or to get shots of the exited fans, the rest are set up to solely record the fans and get their reactions for cut-aways when required.

 

 





Both of these productions are similar in some aspects but are also completely different. Mock the Week and sporting games both have many different shots used to make the show. Even though sporting events, once again I will say football, have possibly over triple the cameras used they are still both multi-camera productions. Mock the week is almost fully set up and they can draw out a more accurate camera plan as to what the people involved in that episode would be doing, where as in football you never know what the players will do next, who they will pass to, where they will run, so it makes it more difficult to plan out where to place the cameras. So when you get down to it they are pretty similar. In both all of the people taking part apart from the hosts are just improvising all the way through. They are going head to head, granted in 2 different genres entirely, to win. The comedians in Mock the week may have prepared some material they could use for the show and the football players would have thought up some sort of strategy they could try to beat their opponents. When you put all this together it makes setting up the cameras in these productions difficult on both genres. You cannot entirely know that one of the people involved will go somewhere or do something that will take them off of camera shot and there fore spoiling the shot. It is easier however on game shows as they do tell the contestants where to go and have areas made for them to stand or sit so they do appear on camera.

Doing it like this provides the best way to cover the action and is why more cameras are used in sporting events than anything else. In a live concert like the Eurovisions the acts are on a stage and therefore will require much less cameras than it would take to film a whole football stadium. And there are more cameras used on chat and game shows because it provides a larger variety of shots that would be available and has more than scripted multi-camera productions because in scripted productions you tell the actors where to go and what to do. Changing the shots can increase viewer interest as if you are watching a whole game show from one long shot, yes it can still be entertaining but you will get bored seeing it from the same angle constantly.

Britain's got talent
Britain's got talent is a simple enough show, its a talent show with 4 judges and people are competing and showing off their talent so they can perform at the royal variety. Some go on for fun but those who make it to the final are in it for the whole and are trying as hard as they can to perform in front of the royal family. And it is a multi-camera production. There are 3-4 cameras on the acts, 1-3 on the judges and 1 on the audience. The different cameras on the act is used to show different angles of what they are doing. For example the 2012 winner "Ashley and Pudsey" Was a dancing dog act where the change in shots had shown all the different things this dog could do that won them the competition. Then the cameras on the judges was reaction shots of that they were seeing and provided shot for when they were speaking their opinion of it. It is the same with the audience camera, it was provided to give a good reaction shot of the act. When this is being edited it is only 5 seconds before it is out on live TV so the editors must watch each shot closely and if they accidentally choose the wrong shot then that could change how the act looks on screen and could make the home viewers either vote for them or someone else. The cameras are located to the sides on the stage, 2 in front of the stage at different areas to provide a long shot that gets the act, the whole stage and the judges. The other provided a closer long shot so you can see the act closer and there are two of these located on the left and right sides.

How to setup a multi-camera production

Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple-camera_setup
Accessed on 09/10/13
http://boadigital.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/unit-23-multi-camera-techniques.pdf
Accessed on 09/10/13
http://www.videomaker.com/video/watch/tutorials/shooting-and-directing-a-multiple-camera-shoot
Accessed on 14/10/13
http://shenikaprincess.wordpress.com/multi-camera-techniques/
Accessed on 14/10/13