TV advert analysis

Careers booklet

Apprentice digital video production producer letter

To whom it may concern,

I am writing this letter in reference to your job advertisements. Although I was initially interested in the job, I noticed that some of the content in the letter was vague, unethical and lawfully incorrect. Firstly, the job description at the top of the letter has some questionable statements. For example, the hours stated are 10-45 hours per week which are variable, what I would like to know is the terms of these hours and if I as an employee will be guaranteed a specific amount of hours a week. The salary specified furthers my confusion as you have given broad figures ranging between £15,000 to £35,000 per annum but there is no description on the salary given conditional to the hours. This was uncertain and puzzling and immediately made the job unappealing to me.

Another thing that stood out to me was the way you have specified that you are looking for a male or female could be seen as discrimination against transgender people. Understandably this may not be the case however It is not necessary to stipulate the need for a male or female employee as these are not the only genders. It is only acceptable to limit a job to members of a particular gender if it is a professional qualification needed for the job at hand however these conditions are very limited. In this particular case it is not essential that the applicant must be either male or female therefore I feel this should not be included in the job description as it’s off putting to interviewees such as myself.

The requirement for someone who is aged below 30 also seems unethical and against the law as the law states that it is not acceptable to discriminate against people according to their age, gender, sexuality, race or disability. Like the issue of gender that I mentioned above, it is only acceptable when there is a specific requirement for the job. In this case I don’t see why below 30 years of age can make you any more suitable for this job. Also the fact that you have to uphold Christian beliefs (which I do not) to apply for this job seems absurd! I understand that you are a Christian organisation but to religion doesn’t seem to have much association with become a digital video producer and therefore it is unfair to discriminate against people of other faiths.

In light of the above issues I have brought to light I would like to highlight a key piece of legislation that you may wish to consider when advertising a job next time. ‘The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.’ This act replace all the anti-discrimination acts made previously and made one act that is easier to understand and identifies the different ways it’s illegal to discriminate against people. The equal opportunities legislation expanded on this and focused on equality within the workplace stating that discrimination on age, disability, gender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race and religion is prohibited. Trade unions have been popular since the 1970’s, protecting the rights of people belonging to a particular trade.

As an employer you should be offering a code of practice and policies to follow as the applicant would not be an employee at this point and therefore they would not yet be protected by your company if anything should go wrong. The applicants have been asked to make a video and the brief mentions the use of school children to promote the No Means No date rape campaign. However, as I’m sure you will know school children are no more than 16 years old and are therefore unable to give consent to being filmed. There is also the issue of discussing rape with young people who have been victims as this brings up concern of ethics and protection from harm. It is certainly not appropriate to then ask a child who has been through such trauma to then re-enact the events. This would all be unlawful and unethical and therefore should not be a requirement within the brief. Also the representation on men typically being the offender creates social panic and is morally incorrect. The portrayal of women stereotypically being the victim of rape is also inappropriate as we know that it is not just females who are victims of this.

In reference to the points I made above about protecting children I would like to bring to light the current laws outlined by Ofcom in order to protect people who are under 18 years of age.  Ofcom exists due to the Communication act that passed in 2003 as well as the Broadcasting Act passed in 1990. Ofcom is responsible for regulating television by setting out rules for broadcasters to follow. The code stating ‘Where statutory or other legal restrictions apply preventing personal identification, broadcasters should also be particularly careful not to provide clues which may lead to the identification of those who are not yet adult’ in particular stood out when reading your job advertisement. As it clearly says ‘you should interview teenagers… who might be/ have been affected by the topic.’ Another code that sprung to mind was ‘material that might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under eighteen must not be broadcast.’ This is a code you have clearly broken when telling applicants that they must ‘produce a short documentary that can be shown to children’ discussing rape. 

To expand on this violation, the Obscene Publications Act passed in 1959 and later amended in 1964 says it’s an offence to publish any content whose effect will tend to "deprave and corrupt" those who will see or hear it. Also the BBFC ensures that children and adults are protected from harmful content by regulating all the certifications. This documentary if made would have to have an adult rating due to the fact there will be re-enactments of rape scenes and sexual content which would not be fit for the viewing of school children. Finally, it states that you would want a popular music soundtrack but in the small print indicates that applicants would only receive a budget of £20. This would certainly not cover the costs of the production on top of the cost of paying for the copyright of the soundtrack. This encourages applicants to break the law by not paying for the soundtrack.

Job roles in the film and television industry

Technologies in the industry

Ownership and funding

Public service broadcasting is TV programmes that are not created for the purpose of making money but more concentrated on the viewers satisfaction. Programmes that cover creative and artistic topics, news and religion are some examples of public service broadcasting. One example of a a British public server broadcaster is the BBC as it is funded and operates through a yearly licence fee. Viewers pay an annual fee of £131.50 as enforced by the government. As they are funded through the public there are no advertisements and they focus on benefitting the public providing them with programmes rich in media, culture, sport and art.


Commercial broadcasting, otherwise known as private broadcasting, refers to the broadcasting of different media outlets owned by corporate media and usually funded by the revenue made through advertising. This type of broadcasting is free to the general public and differ to public service broadcasting due to them operating mainly on profit. Itv is one example of commercial broadcasting as it's free to the public and does include advertisements. As stated on the Itv website they operate 'the largest commercial 
family of channels in the UK.'


Corporate and private ownership is where the channels programmes are produced and distributed by big corporations.Like commercial broadcasting, corporate ownership doesn't concentrate on the public interest and is more concerned with making money. They also usually aim their channels to certain audiences. An example of this is MTV as its owned by Viacom Media Network and it's aimed mainly at 16-24 year olds. The good thing about private ownership is that they operate on funds from advertising and the more popular the show and channels, the more money companies have to pay for them to advertise their products.

Global ownership refers to companies or individuals that trade and distribute all around the world. The global market is mostly dominated by western based companies.One example of global ownership is The Walt Disney company which is a world wide media franchise with many media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products. Based in Burbank, California the company has connections with more than 40 countries around the world. 




Vertical integration refers to the process where some steps in the production and distributions is controlled by one company so to increase their power but then the company/ business integrates with another at different stages of the production. One example of this is Warn Bros for the movie franchise Harry Potter. They used vertical integration to maxamise earnings in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two. The movie was created by Warn Bros pictures and was in corporation with Heyday Films. It was then distributed by Warner Bros and marketed by several different Time Warner companies. When it came to exhibiting they used their international cinema chain and give HBO rights to show the film. 


Horizontal integration is when a a production company integrates with another at the same stage of production in order to increase the production or services. Companies can do this by expanding into other sectors of the industry. This creates a monopoly effect where a company has control over a service that they have a lot of control over competition. An example of this is  Rupert Murdoch as he bought various media outlets starting with The Adelaide newspaper company News Ltd and then moved on to dominating the British market. 

In the UK households that view or record any live broadcasting have to have a television license. A television licence is an official record of a payment for a fee required from any household accessing live broadcasting. There is annual fee of £135.50 but a different fee for the elderly and the blind. Channels that require a licence fee do not have advertisements. The BBC is one example on a channel that has requires a TV licence.


Subscription funding is where people sign up for to a payment plan to access a service. Examples of this are Netflix, Amazon Prime, Now TV and Love film. Netflix is a global server that streaming films and TV shows for a monthly fee. Another form of funding is a one of payment. This is where you pay a one off fee for a and receive the product straight away. An example of this is on Sky you can buy new films for a one off payment.

Pay per view is where you can pay to watch an event on TV. The event will show at the same time as everyone else watching it unlike on demand. It's most common for sporting events such boxing matches. This can be done through companies such as Sky where you can pay for and access the broadcasting of the event once. .

Sponsorship funding is where companies pay other companies to advertise their product at the end or beginning of a TV show or film. For example at the beginning of Holloaks there is a small advert for Dominos takeaway. Advertising is used to promote a product or service. It is a way of marketing a product and showing or service is worth buying. It is usually done in the form of a TV advert, billboards, radio adverts etc. 

Product placement is where a company pays for their product to appear in a TV show or film for the purpose of good exposure and promoting. An example of this is in Lady Gaga's music video for her song telephone has at least four different product placements in such as Coca Cola, Polaroid, Miracle Whip and Virgin Mobile.

Private capital funding is the source of funding with the least risk due to the tax incentives put in place when financing the film meaning the cost of the film is refunded to the investor. The investors fund the film and make back the money they put in. However the investors have to make an unfunded commitment to begin with, meaning the risk could be seen as high all depending on the success of the film over a period of time. Private investors are people who fund a film on their own without business partners etc. Megan Ellison is one example of a private investor. She put her own money into films such as Zero Dark Thirty and Catch.44. She is also a film producer and helped produce as well as funding some films including the award winning American Hustle

Crowd funding is an alternative form of finance which has occurred outside the traditional funding system. It is where money is raised from contributions from mail-order subscriptions and benefit events but today it's usually done through internet-mediated registries. An example of this is the film Veronica Mars. The writer Rob Thomas raised $5.7 million from 91, 585 backers through crowd funding.

Development funding is a funding programme for producers and filmmakers to support creating new project.They fund several stages of a production including the pre-production process. An example of this is the BFI as it promotes film making by encouraging the education and accessibility of films. 









Bibliography

http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/television/what_is_psb

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44277000/gif/_44277937_donations_to_lab_203pie
.gif 
http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Consumer-info/Broadcasting-in-my-area/Lists-ofbroadcasters/about-commercial-broadcasters 

http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Consumer-info/Broadcasting-in-my-area/Lists-of-broadcasters/about-commercial-broadcasters

http://www.itvplc.com/about/what-we-do


http://ucmsianyy27.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/public-and-private-ownership.html

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/about/

http://ablmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/vertical-integration-in-warner-bros.html

http://www.slideshare.net/LiamDonnelly/vertical-horizontal-integration

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/definition-horizontal-integration-supply-chain-34736.html

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/jul/18/citynews.pressandpublishing

http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/whoweare/licencefee/

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-development-funding.htm

The nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries

Primary research is new research carried out by yourself that consists of data that addresses specific issues and questions. Some examples of this are observations, interviews, surveys, analysis, focus groups etc. For my documentary I carried out a questionnaire to find out if people would understand the terminology used and discussed in my documentary and to find out how interested they would be in watching it. When it came to filming I carried out an interview with the guitarist and bassist of the band in order to give the audience a true representation of the band and what they do.







Secondary research is research and data that already exists. With this kind of research you can access and summarise other's data, for example you can look at books, newspapers, film archives, on the internet, ratings etc. For my secondary research I looked at different websites and articles on how to film gigs and bands as this was something I'd never done before.















Quantitative research is research that will result in numbers, figures, statistics etc. Some examples of this are programme ratings, hits on a website, box office figures and sales of CD's and DVD's. My questionnaire results are one example of the quantitative research I collected. For example the question I asked asking  if they would be interested in watching my documentary, 9 out of 11 people said they would be interested. In the industry they use this type of research for budget figures etc. For example the production budget for Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End was $300,000,000



Qualitative research builds on concepts and ideas and helps develop ideas for or from quantitative research. Some examples of this are discussions, game reviews, film reviews, attitudes to media products, responses to news coverage etc. The questions I asked in my questionnaire are examples of qualitative research. It helped me understand any issues that would arise in discussing certain topics in my documentary. For example few people didn't know what DIY venues really were or didn't know much about them so I made sure that the people I interviewed gave a longer answer to the question about that. In the industry this type of research is used for film reviews etc. For example on IMDb there is a review for the documentary Making a Murder, this is a form of quantitative data.

A data gathering agency is an organisation that collects data and also has access to a variety of data and then uses this data to compile figures and information. Some examples of this are Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board and Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd . BARB is an organisation that has been delivering official viewing figures for UK television audiences since 1981. They do this by measuring how many people are in an audience and then the television ratings and compiling the information together. They commission different research companies to collect data that represents the viewing behaviour of UK households. This information is important for assessing how programmes and channels have performed. The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) is an online data base consisting of information about films, games and TV programmes. This information includes cast, crew, characters, plot summaries etc. Actors and crew can post their résumés on the site for a yearly fee. All data is checked before going onto the site and registered users are able to submit new materials as well as requesting edits. Users can rate any film, game or TV show on a scale of 1-10.



It is important to establish a target audience in the pre-production stage. Once you are sure of your target audience it is also helpful to study the characteristics of the audience such as demographic and psychographic factors.From this you can also do some market research. Some of the thing you could look at are consumer behaviour and attitudes, advertising placement, product market, geodemographics and advertising effects. As mentioned previously I carried out some audience and market research when doing my survey as I asked people if they would be interested in watching my documentary. I also asked related questions to do with my documentary to get a better understanding of what my audience knows about the topic. I also carried out audience and market research in the advertising task we did by doing a similar survey to the one I done for this unit.





Production research is a really important part of the pre-production process. Pre production paper work includes location recces, location releases, talent releases, budget sheets, storyboards, risk assessments, talent releases, scripts, prop/costume list and production schedule. For my documentary I completed all of these apart from a storyboard and a prop/costume list. I had to collect signatures from all the band members for my release forms in order to use the footage I got of them. I filled in location recces for all the locations I planned to film at in order to get a clear understanding of the limitations and advantages to filming at each location. I also had to get written permission in the form of an email from The Engine Rooms and The Shackelwell Arms in order to use the footage I got at the venues. I also completed a budget form and production schedule.