BTEC TV And Film Portfolio

7.1 - Know About Technologies, Ownership And Funding In The Television And Film Industries

Task 1: Using the questions below to help you structure your essay , answer the following question... How have advances in technology effected the TV industry and how have audiences changed as a result? (P1, M1, D1)

Advances in technology have obviously changed a lot of things. The television channels that remain on analogue and are available to anyone who owns a television set are; BBC 1, BBC 2, ITV 1, Channel 4 and Channel 5. If anyone owns a television set and pays their TV license they will receive these five channels for free. Most TV sets now come equip with freeview which is a subscription free television service that operates on a digital frequency and offers up to 48 channels. Satellite TV consists of TV broadcasts that are delivered through a satellite that is orbit 22,000 miles above the Earth, the satellite receives a signal and amplifies it back to Earth1.

The ‘switch-over’ as they’re calling it is a huge television switch over from analogue TV to digital TV and it’s in action from 2008 and people believe it will have ended by 2012. Essentially everyone has to convert to digital television by either buying a digital freeview box or buying a television with one already installed in it2. Older people who watch television might not understand this process or be keen on working a digital television because people don’t like change. These days there is even satellite television services that enable you to record live television and watch it back later, services such as; Sky+, TIVO and Virgin On Demand offer this ability. I for one find this feature very useful to my everyday life but older people might be skeptical about using this sort of thing because as I said people dislike change and new technology or at least knowing how to work it. I think that services such as Sky+ will become more and more common as time goes on and that there will eventually be a satellite switch over of some sort in which people will be forced to change their viewing habits again. Audiences these days, thanks to the new technology we’ve been presented with, can interact with television in lots of different ways, one of them being the ‘red button’. Viewers who have access to digital and/or satellite television have the option to press the ‘red button’ on their remote control anytime then want that will bring up a menu related to whatever they are watching at the time. Sometimes even adverts these days have the ‘red button’ feature for people to find out more information about the given topic. People can also interact with television over the internet by visiting various websites related to programs they might have viewed. For example if you have just watched an episode of ‘East Enders’ that affected you, you could go to the BBC website and discuss matters on one of their forums designed for just such an occasion. With music channels such as; The Hits, TMF, Kerrang! e.t.c. You can text into the channel requesting music videos to be played. Or on some occasions like Valentines Day you can text in for a ‘love test’ and other fun activities. All of these interactions with the television I think are orientated around the younger generation because adults from the last generation have a negative attitude towards new technology and without trying it automatically curl their noses up at anything new presented to them, this is obviously a generalization and not all adults are like this.

Watching television on the internet is very easy these days thanks to websites such as; YouTube, MetaCafe, Google Video e.t.c. These are all video hosting websites in which anyone can create a user account and host videos of any sort obviously complying with the website’s content and/or copyright restrictions. In spite of these restrictions people still post films in parts on sites such as YouTube in addition you can also watch most of your favorite TV programs on sites like YouTube in parts. The BBC’s iPlayer allows you to watch programs that you can select from a list; they’re programs that have already aired that people might have missed or wish to view again. It is free to watch television on sites such as; YouTube and MetaCafe and it’s also free to watch things on the BBC iPlayer or similar features on websites. You can purchase films and/or programs from the internet though if you wish. It’s the same with some channels on satellite television such as the SkyMovies channels; you can buy films on your subscription card very quickly and efficiently.

Audiences today are much more varied than they used to be due to a general increase in content to suit all audiences as people are becoming more and more diverse as time goes on. These days there is a channel so suit everyone’s tastes in entertainment, music and information. A while ago when analogue television was the only thing broadcasted people were forced to enjoy the same things on television because there was nothing else to watch. Due to this mass audience split advertisers have also had to change their ways of advertising, for example; an advertiser who is promoting the release of a new toy is going to attract a better audience on a channel like Cartoon Network, whereas if he advertised on a channel such as Dave they wouldn’t get a large response at all. It’s the same with music too, on Kerrang! You see adverts advertising the latest heavy metal or rock album to hit the charts. The advantages of this are that advertisers can advertise more directly to their niche markets instead of advertising over the mainstream stations and attracting a fraction of the audience. The disadvantages are that the mainstream audiences don’t get to see the niche adverts unless they tune into an alternative channel. Another disadvantage is that the mainstream audiences are exposed to the same type of content all the time on their popular television stations instead of watching something more diverse and different to maybe broaden their horizons.

The ‘Uses And Gratifications’ theory applies to the television and the content as much if not more so as it ever has. The ‘Uses And Gratifications’ theory is made up of; Diversion, Personal Relationships, Surveillance and Personal Identity. All of these needs are fulfilled by television more than ever these days as the shows are getting more and more evolved and more educated in fulfilling these needs.

Task 2: Choose a TV broadcasting organization such as; Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and create a short case study on how your chosen organization uses technology at the moment and how it is looking to use technology in the future. (P1, M1, D1)

The British Broadcasting Corporation’s main objectives are to inform, educate and entertain. The BBC uses the income from the TV license to provide numerous services. The BBC has; 8 national TV channels plus regional programming, 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations and an extensive website: www.bbc.co.uk. As well as all these great offerings the BBC also broadcasts television online3. As far as I’m concerned the BBC uses all it’s technology very well as they broadcast their productions through every sort of media available to them. The BBC is very good at getting across to the audience what it wants them to believe; in a way organizations like the BBC control the minds of people around the world as justified in the ‘Hypodermic Needle’ theory. The BBC’s plans for the future are obviously to use new technology to enhance their ability of being able to inform, educate and entertain. The BBC has a feature called the iPlayer which is an online, seven-day-a-week, catch-up service in which you can watch any previously aired program; The TV programs are free for UK license fee payers, at high quality and with no advertising4. The BBC also, like other channels, have a HD (high definition) station in which programs are broadcasted in a mixed-genre schedule at high definition. Most programs on this digital service are originated by the other BBC channels5. The BBC also features a ‘red button’ service (previously known as BBCi) on their digital service that offers constantly updated information, education, entertainment and news. This service comes in different forms and sorts of communication such as; interactive video, audio, pictures and text6.

In conclusion the British Broadcasting Corporation is extremely good at what it does and in the future I believe that the BBC will become even better at informing, educating and entertaining but corporations like the BBC do have their dangers that most people don’t see or realize, already the BBC control the minds of a lot of people, what’s to say that their hypnotic media couldn’t consume the minds of everyone in the world? These are the dangers that the general public are increasingly unaware of and need to realize because before too long it could be too late.

1. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&hs=MFm&q=define%3A+satellite+TV&btnG=Search&meta=
http://www.thedigitalswitchover.co.uk/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/what.shtml
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/channels/iplayer.shtml
5. http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/channels/bbc_hd.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/channels/interactive_tv.shtml

Task 3: How is the TV industry funded and how does this effect programming? (P1, M1, D1)

The TV industry is funded in a few different ways. Corporations like the BBC are funded by the people who pay a TV license. Corporations who operate in this way are labeled as Public Service Broadcasters (PSB). The BBC takes the money that people pay their TV license with and promises to entertain inform and educate. PSB’s such as the BBC have very mainstream channels so therefore they must cater for everyone, by this I mean that the BBC must broadcast something to meet everyone’s tastes. Obviously this task is not an easy one because there is so much diversity in taste and television these days. Corporations like the BBC rely on the money from the TV license because they are a public company which means they are owned by the government. The government being as powerful as it is has preyed on other sections of the TV industry such as channel 4 to increase their media empire. The BBC claims to represent cultural identity because its programs are UK produced which I think is a just claim to make when their material is produced in our society. It is well known that an audience would like to see ‘home grown’ programs so that they can reflect their cultural identity. It is one of the moral requirements of national PSB’s to produce programs that the audience can culturally relate to because the people who pay their TV license will want to see something that is ‘home grown’ and culturally relevant.

Corporations such as OFCOM monitor most sectors of the media from broadband internet to the television industry. OFCOM’s main legal duties, as set out in the UK Communications Act 2003 are to make sure that there are offerings of high-speed information services like broadband internet, that there is a wide range of high quality radio and television programs that appeal to a range of tastes and interests1. OFCOM are obviously very interested and to an extent concerned about corporations who work in the PSB system because if they were to go under OFCOM would have a huge gap in its market. Although another one of OFCOM’s legal requirements is to ensure that a range of productions are made by a variety of different companies and someone’s loss is always someone else’s gain. OFCOM are an extremely large important corporation, they can even give advice to the government on what to do in terms of PSB funding and other types of funding for that matter.

Subscription television is now a huge sector of the TV industry with millions of subscribers nationwide. Some of the subscription television services that are available are; SKY, Virgin, BT Vision and HBO. Once you are a subscriber of a service such as let’s say SKY, they will encourage you to subscribe to specific channels inside of their service such as; sports, movies, assorted documentary channels e.t.c. Another form of subscription is pay-per-view. Pay-per-view is the most short term form of subscription available to date and it’s used to purchase a viewing for a particular event on television such as; sporting event, movie, commercial event e.t.c. Subscription is obviously different in other countries such as the U.S.A. they operate on a different basis. Subscription TV became popular in America in the 1980’s and has been growing significantly since then. Multinational conglomerates such as Fox dominate the subscription television industry in America2.

Sponsoring plays a huge part in television’s success, an example would be Stella Artois advertising on the start of films on channel 4. A specific company could associate themselves with a particular product because they might have some sort of relationship, for example; a DIY store such as B&Q might sponsor a program like 60 Minute Makeover because they have an obvious relationship.

Advertisement is a multi-billion pound industry operating in all corners of the earth. It matters most in huge media controlled nations like the U.K. and the U.S.A. Advertising is essential for companies to attempt to sell their products through using the media as a megaphone to broadcast themselves.

An example of product placement is when you see a branded product in a television program or a film. Product placement is tolerated in the U.S.A. and is a large industry but in the U.K. it is not allowed as we feel it’s a form of subliminal advertising and henceforth media manipulation. Brands such as Microsoft and Apple are likely to appear in most American produced films these days because they can afford to advertise in things like that because they are such massive corporations with that much power. Product placement can look very attractive in American films as it can in advertising in general because the people using the products always look very pleased with it, subconsciously saying “If you invest in the product you’ll be happy too.” Which is obviously a lie yet people are still drawn in by the mass hypnotic spell that the media casts over our society. The ITV have recently said no to product placement because they say it makes TV less trusting, well obviously we can’t trust TV anyway but they make a fair point, product placement seems to make television so much more devious. America has a lot more media power than we do probably because the general public in America are driven by it more than in the U.K. But product placement in the U.K. is still forbidden and illegal and from the looks of things I don’t think it will be allowed any time soon.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consumeradvice/guide/#aboutus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_in_the_United_States#Cable_and_satellite_television

Task 4: Produce a short documentary or presentation, which covers the following points. (P1, M1, D1)

Task 5: Use the resources below to create an organisational chart/essay/powerpoint/speech package/short film that highlights the different jobs available in the TV and film industries. (P2, M2, D2)

Different Types Of Employment

Shift Work

Shift work makes use of all 24 hours in the day unlike a standard working day. If someone has a late night shift they might wake up at two in the morning after sleeping all day and go to work.1

Freelance

If you work on a freelance basis you are self employed and often get into a profession with no long-term commitment to any one employer. Common fields in the media offering freelance work include; Journalism, writing, graphic design, consulting.2

Piece Work

In piece work you are pain a fixed rate for each unit you produce or each action you perform. Piece work is a type of performance-related pay (PRP). Piece work is based on number of units produced and not time required.3

Attachment

Attachment work is where you’re attached to one particular project or job. During the time you are working for this project you are not allowed to work for anyone else.

Fixed Term

Fixed term is where you work for a certain company and/or on a certain project for a fixed amount of time. A company might allocate you 6 months or so to complete something and pay you a weekly or monthly salary.

Casual

Casual work is where you might come in to be a runner for a film crew for a day or two during the week and the company pays you accordingly based on the hours you put in.

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There is quite a few job roles in the film industry, since there is so many they are divided up into sectors and are as follows;
  Accounts
Art Department
Camera
Casting
Catering
Construction
Costume
Direction
Distribution
Editing & Post Production
Exhibition
Hair & Make-Up
Health & Safety
Lighting
Music
Performing
Post Production Sound
Production Sound
Production Office
Props
Publicity/Stills
Script
Transport

Art Department

The art department is responsible for making the set in a film and making it look exactly as the director and/or the people in charge want it to. Despite being told what to make the art department is still a heavily creative sector of the film industry. The art department employs the largest number of people on any film crew.

Production Designer

A Production Designer is a major job role in film crews because they are responsible for the whole art department. They help the director fulfill his/her visual requirements and provide the producers with schedules explaining budgets and agreed periods of time in which to do things. They work on a freelance basis and start work at the early stages of pre-production. To be a production designer you would need superb visual awareness and design skills along with an ability to inspire, motivate and lead a large team of people. The qualifications that product designers usually have are courses in Art, Architecture, Theatre, Interior or 3D Design. They will usually have a specialist course in Film and/or Theatre Design.

Graphic Artist

Graphic Artists make all the props that contain graphic items like books, money and other props that have writing and designs on them. Graphic Artists work on a freelance basis. The ability to work alone and as part of a team is crucial as is having an attention to detail and a creative flair. Graphic artists have usually done a course in either; Graphics, Art, Architecture, Theatre, Interior or 3D Design courses.

Production Designer

Accounts Department

Financial Controller

There can be two different financial controllers depending on the size of the production and film crew. Financial controllers are responsible for controlling accounting, financial analysis and taxation. Financial controllers must have the highest financial understanding possible in order to perform their job to , they also need good leadership skills in relation to organization, planning and communication. Financial controllers usually have a BA in accountancy along with a good few years previous experience in the profession.1

Accounts Trainee

Accounts Trainees work under Production Accountants and Assistant Accountants. Accounts Trainees can sometimes go on to become Assistant Accountants and eventually could even go on to become Film Production Accountants. Accounts Trainees are normally responsible for making and recording payments relating to goods and services being received.2

Exhibition Department

Programmer

A Programmer’s job is to select a mixes of films to be played at specific venues and/or film festivals. There are few courses that can be taken to become a Programmer but what is needed to be one is a keen and strong interest in films and the industry in itself. Programmers usually get into their position from working under a programmer as a projectionist first. Management and financial experience are not essential but preferable. Programmers have to have particularly good relationships with film distributors because they are the people who supply the films for the film festivals and other events. If relationships with distributors are not upheld programmers will find it harder to make good selections of films for events.3

Projectionist

Projectionists are responsible for making sure that films and/or any advertisements are projected at the correct time and without any technical problems. Being a projectionist often means working alone and having to solve technical problems alone, quickly & efficiently. Projectionists are also responsible for the maintenance of film records and other technical departments in a cinema or similar venue including; lighting, heating, ventilation, fire alarms and equipment, electrics, water and gas supplies. Projectionist training programmes are usually available at most cinemas especially at the larger ones. NVQ/SVQs in projection are preferable, the same goes for health and safety qualifications.4

Music Department

Composer

A composer is someone who writes appropriate music for each film. A good relationship with the director is preferable seen as the composer has to work to the director’s vision and to do that they must both work together. Composers can also be asked to make samples that are aired on test screenings to see how they sound. Improvisation is a key skill that every composer must be fluent in along with being able to translate the director’s vision into music. Computer skills and ability to work software is an increasingly wanted skill in composers due to our ever-evolving technology. A strong passion and keen interest for film and music is essential. Composing is one of the few job roles where passion and personal drive are more important than actual qualifications, obviously there is some sort of musical training required for such an important job, previous experience in film and music is preferable.

Music Supervisor

Music Supervisors go between production teams and composers and their teams. They research and suggest ideas along with overseeing spotting sessions. They recruit and contract musicians. One of their other responsibilities is to book recording studios and attend the sessions making sure everything runs smoothly and without fail. Great communication skills and relationships with people are two key factors when taking on the role of a music supervisor. Understanding and having musical skills is also good because then they can give their opinions on what should be done, professionally. Industry experience and knowledge is essential when taking on the role of a music supervisor as is being able to maintain good relationships with all manor of people and employees.

http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/accounts/article_3902_1.asp

http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/accounts/article_3898_1.asp#

http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/exhibition/article_4150_1.asp

http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/exhibition/article_4151_1.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shift_work

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelance

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piece_work