LO:2 Task 4

LO2 TASK4

Professional etiquette

Professional etiquette is important when being a camera operator because you will need to work with lots of different people so it is important to remain professional and polite to ensure you work well together for example the camera operator will be instructed by the director of photography and will need to follow his or her instructions accurately.

My role in the hierarchy is very important as I am responsible for filming and capturing footage that will be used in the production and will possibly be editing the footage as well as I discovered when researching this job role. I would need to liaise with the head of photography to know what was needed of me and I would also need to work with the grip to get what equipment I would need. I would also have a number of people who would be working beneath me to help me achieve my goal.

In my job role I would work alongside the Gaffer, Best Boy and lighting directors aka ‘Sparks’ and would tell them what jobs needed doing to in accordance with what I am doing this is to ensure that the lighting is appropriate fo  

r what I am filming. What I do will greatly affect what the lighting department do as lighting will affect the camera greatly and will affect the Mise en scene of what I am filming.

LO:2 Task 3

LO2 TASK 3

Job roles-Camera operator

·        Practical skills

A camera operator must be able to move and operate in a smooth and controlled so they can create a steady and quality video meaning they will need to be physical strong enough to support the weight of a camera for what may be prorogued periods of time roughly 12-14 hrs.

·        Technical skills

They must be well practiced in the use of professional camera equipment and know how to set it up in the best possible way, to do this they must have a good understanding of lighting and shot types so they know what is the best type of lenses to use and how to set the camera up.

·        Communication skills

Camera operators must have a good oral communication skills as they work very closely with the director of photography when setting up to film at a location. Camera Operators work closely with the Grip  (person in charge of equipment that supports the cameras ) and other Heads of Department, and keep them informed about the position and movement of the camera.

·        Organisation

Camera operators must keep their equipment organised and keep track of where it is. This is so the equipment doesn’t get lost or broken or it would slow down production and have a knock on effect with the rest of the production and end up costing the production company money.

·        Creativity

You must have the creative ability to use the correct shot type and composition for shot that your filming and have the ability to think in a creative manner to make the right decisions when filming to create the right meaning that you are aiming for.      

·        Problem solving

As a camera operator you must be able to solve problems quickly as they arise to not waste time or money waiting for problems to be fixed when they should be filming.

·        Working as part of a team

A camera operator must be able to work as a part of a team as they work very closely with the heads of department when on set and be open to others ideas to the overall project.

LO 2 :Task 2

Independent

Independent camera work is a very casual field of work and you are able to go from job to job as and when you please, but when on set you still have the same responsibilities as a usual camera man. Sites like Freelancer and People per hour allow independent workers to find work in their chosen field, for example on People per hour there was a job being offered for a camera operator with his own equipment to film with an event in Paris for several days, a perfect opportunity 

Voluntary

Voluntary work allows young camera operators to gain valuable experience in their field and gives a good opportunity to learn their trade. The voluntary job are often aimed at freelancers. These jobs are usually advertised by companies with very little money i.e. I found a voluntary job advertised by the First Baptist Church of Atlanta as they won’t have a great deal of revenue they will rely on volunteers to advertise their church as do other starting up business

Employment

Most media companies will offer full time employment to camera operators and other major members of the team, this means they you receive a fixed rate of pay over a length of time, this job that I found on indeed for a camera operator/editor earning £20,000-£24,000 per year, this is a more stable route of work compared to freelance work as when doing freelance work you don’t know when your next job is going to be. For these types of jobs you would need to have formal qualifications and would work for a boss, you would also have to work with a team meaning you would need good teamwork skills.

Work based learning

Work based learning allows people to learn whilst doing their jobs and earning a wage like an apprentice would and apply the academic side of things to the real world. For this type of work you would need to good listening skills and be able to pick up new skills pretty fast as you will be expected to do your job as you will be expected to function efficiently when on set

Further education

Furthure education would be things like being an apprentice or going to college or 6 form to learn the skills for the trade i.e. a level 3 in media or a photography course, by going on these course you learn the fundamentals of the media industry and have an will help you with your career.

Higher education

In higher education you can specialise your skills in different ways i.e. by doing a photography degree at Sheffield Hallam or you can do a more niche coarse like a wild life camera operators course with a company like UK wild life film school. A another good opportunity would be the degree apprentices that the BBC offer.      

LO:2 Task 1

Job roles-Camera operator

·        Practical skills

A camera operator must be able to move and operate in a smooth and controlled so they can create a steady and quality video meaning they will need to be physical strong enough to support the weight of a camera for what may be prorogued periods of time roughly 12-14 hrs.

·        Technical skills

They must be well practiced in the use of professional camera equipment and know how to set it up in the best possible way, to do this they must have a good understanding of lighting and shot types so they know what is the best type of lenses to use and how to set the camera up.

·        Communication skills

Camera operators must have a good oral communication skills as they work very closely with the director of photography when setting up to film at a location. Camera Operators work closely with the Grip  (person in charge of equipment that supports the cameras ) and other Heads of Department, and keep them informed about the position and movement of the camera.

·        Organisation

Camera operators must keep their equipment organised and keep track of where it is. This is so the equipment doesn’t get lost or broken or it would slow down production and have a knock on effect with the rest of the production and end up costing the production company money.

·        Creativity

You must have the creative ability to use the correct shot type and composition for shot that your filming and have the ability to think in a creative manner to make the right decisions when filming to create the right meaning that you are aiming for.      

·        Problem solving

As a camera operator you must be able to solve problems quickly as they arise to not waste time or money waiting for problems to be fixed when they should be filming.

·        Working as part of a team

A camera operator must be able to work as a part of a team as they work very closely with the heads of department when on set and be open to others ideas to the overall project.

LO:1 Task4

LO1 TASK 4

1.     Explain how your chosen brand/adaptation has been cross promoted on different platforms with examples.

The Harry Potter film adaptation has been cross promoted on many different platforms for example for ‘The deathly hallows part 1’ they used a lot of cross media promotion in their campaign for example they released a number of posters and teaser posters that were assessable on bus stops, cinemas etc they also made audio visual promotional material which feature on TV, internet and social media these are examples of how the Harry Potter franchise has been cross promoted

2.     How was the brand/ adaptation marketed and distributed (social media, above the line advertising, synergy, games console, app, cinema, etc).

The adaptation was marketed and distributed all over the place and became a very iconic and recognisable brand they used above the line techniques like TV adverts, billboards, posters etc. these types of advertising techniques were used along with below the line advertising techniques i.e. social media, websites etc. They also released smartphone apps, Lego play sets etc. this is an example of synergy as the same demographic that will show interest in the other products will be interested in the Harry Potter franchise ad helps to draw the target audience in.

3.     Who is the audience for the audience (age, gender, spending power). Prove this based on the genre and U&G of the product.

The target audience of the Harry potter franchise is 5 years plus, male and female, abc1 spending power as they will be at the spending power of their parents. As this is an adaptation of a book the target audience would also be anyone who has read the books beforehand. The film also can be used for building personal relationships as the franchise has a large cult following this part of uses and gratification can be applied to children when trying to make friends in the playground or adults in the work place.  

4.     How can audiences access the brand/ adaptation due to technological convergence (web 2.0, blackbox) and what are the advantages of this.

Thanks to convergent technologies the audience can access the media products much easier i.e. thanks to smart TVs that can access the internet the audience can find the product that they want using on demand services like Amazon Prime they can stream the movies at any time they want and thanks to web 2.0 they can recommend Harry Potter to the types of people who are an ideal audience and who would have interest in them based on what they have previously watched. Backbox theory has been a big advantage for the Harry Potter franchise because it allows the audience to access all of the films quickly and easily rather than having to buy each film individually as they are released or having to purchase a box set.        

5.     Was the brand/adaptation successful? (box office figures, likes on social media, retweets etc).

The Harry Potter films were a great success as it generated $7.7 billion over the 7 films and has 75,258,777 likes on its official Facebook page and has many sub groups of supper fans which discus the films and promote them on social media and allows people to build personal relationships with other people.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 is the 8^th highest grossing film and peaked at 3^rd place at one time. In conclusion the Harry Potter adaptation has been an enormous success and has been a greatly profitable venture for the production company.

LO:1 task 3

LO1 TASK 3

1.      Find an example of how  social media was used to market a AVP and explain the benefits for the audience (black box theory) .

By audio visual promos being available on social media i.e. the Showtime Boxing’s Mayweather vs McGregor AVP it allows the audience to access the marketing material in more ways that if it was just on TV because social media nowadays is available on smartphones,  tablets, laptops etc. this relates to the black box theory and allows the audience to be put into contact with these media products easily and thanks to the invention of web 2.0 these types of promos can be brought to the target audiences attention based on their preferences.

2.      Explain the advantages of VOD distribution with an example (e.g. Netflix, catch up services) and how this has led to ‘death of the schedule’ Sonia Livingstone (1999)

The advantages of VOD distribution is that it gives the consumer the ability to access media products when it suits them and this has led to ‘death of the schedule’ Sonia Livingstone (1999) meaning that regularly scheduled programming goes out of the window when people can stream and download movies when they want meaning they don’t have to plan their lives around when their favourite show is on. The creation of web 2.0 allows these VOD services i.e. Netflix to promote personalized suggestions for users based on what they have previously shown an interest in. VOD is also is an easy way to reach a mass audience without the need of putting thousands of DVDs into production and saves them money in distribution.  

3.      Explain how technological convergence has impacted how audiences access products nowadays (black box, download, stream, simulcast).

Technological convergence has impacted how audiences access media products for example many audiences stream and download media products through the use of VOD services i.e. Netflix which is an example of technological convergence between DVD and the internet and nowadays these media products can be accessed with any devise that can connect to the internet i.e. smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartphones .etc this is also an example of black box theory and how these devices work like a middle man in the delivery of media products, these devices also makes the need for simulcasting even greater when audiences have the ability to watch on more than one devise and VOD companies have taken advantage of this need by offering the ability to stream on more devises at a higher price. 

LO:1 task 2

LO1 TASK 2

PRE-PRODUCTION

Pre-production has been helped by technological convergence in many ways as it has made it much easier for collaboration and for production teams to work together to create media products in pre-production for example online planning applications like Celtx allows people to collaborate on pre-production documents i.e. storyboards, scripts, etc. from all over the world using a digital medium instead of requiring hard copies to be sent back and forth all the time for approval from clients or can let two companies who are working on a joint venture communicate quickly and effectively, this speeds up the pre-production prosses and is an example of how the internet is an example of technological convergence and how it has helped pre-production . Websites like Mindmapfree.com makes it much easier for producers to collaborate on idea about an aspect of their media product, this application allows them to share their idea on an interactive and collaborative platform. Before web 2.0 this would have been a much more painstaking prosses, requiring hard copies being sent back and forth and it would have taken a lot more time by using less high tech forms of communication i.e. post or FAX.

PRODUCTION

Technological convergence has helped the production of media products i.e. Garage band has made it much easier for music artists to be able to make music tracks without the need of lots of instruments and recording studios and garage band also gives you the ability to export your music and can sent it to clients, producers or anyone involved in the production prosses for approval etc. and has the ability to be used on mobile phones, tablets and laptops making it very versatile and useful. Another example of how technological convergence has helped the production of media products is Sony 4K Cameras, as technologies have advanced they have made cameras much lighter and much smaller, these advancements have made it much more easier to carry them around and transport them when filming and allows production teams to speed up the production prosses. In the days before Web 2.0 demo tracks would have needed to be recorded and sent to clients for approval, which would have taken much more time.

  POST PRODUCTION

Post production has been helped by technological convergence through the creation of editing programs like Adobe Premier for editing footage rather than having to physically cut out and piece together the footage with a pair of scissors in the days before web 2.0, using programs like Adobe Premier allows you to keep your footage safe and gives you the ability to ad title graphics and effects and alter the colour and tone of the footage easily and makes the editing prosses much easier and quicker. Smartphones have not only helped with media productions from video calls to storing pictures of your storyboard in your pocket but many apps have been developed for the very purpose of post-production  i.e. WeVideo is a mobile phone app that allows you to access your video files on the cloud where ever you are allowing you to see your files and you can share final drafts of your productions for approval etc.     


In films like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ they use motion capture technology to create special effects i.e. Davy Jones’ face would not have been near as life like without the aid of CGI special effects a disadvantage of using this is that it requires very expensive to software to hardware and you must pay numerous amounts of people to operate this software and equipment.