TV Studio Production - TJ and Murphy

Today in the TV studio, we met the band that will be featuring on our TV shows. TJ and Murphy are a duo from Liverpool who met in school at the age of 14. They formed a few bands as kids but nothing ever really stuck. They split up a few times, but eventually met up again coincidentally and toured Europe together. Their story is interesting and very local so they fit in well with our show!
We listened to 6 of their songs:

1. I won't be afraid
2. Notes in the wine
3. Good night Houston
4. In a heartbeat
5. Joe crazy rose
6. Michigan

After we watched the guys perform, we then got in our groups and decided on a song that we wanted to use for our show. We settled on 'In a heartbeat' because the lyrics relate to our show through what they are talking about. They speak about making it and fighting against the odds, which is something that we want our show to be about - people facing adversity and coming through strong through doing what they love.

Here are some links to TJ and Murphy's outlet pages:

Facebook

MySpace

I really liked TJ and Murphy's music, they seem like very nice people to work with and I am looking forward to shooting them in the next few weeks!

Speak Soon!

Image courtesy of www.yoliverpool.com

TV Studio Production - TV Shows!

So I have decided to research in to different TV shows for inspiration towards our pilot for Channel 4. I am really excited about this assignment and so I want to make sure the show is worthy of being on Channel 4. I want to impress Ed Pugh with our show because fingers crossed he will be watching them at the end of the year!

Firstly I looked into Alan Carr: Chatty Man; now I know this isn't a daytime/afternoon show like our brief but it's good to look at because of the layout and the way Alan Carr conducts himself throughout the show.

I really like that he has an entrance for the guests; his stairs. Sorry about the awful picture, but what I am getting at is that it is nice that he has a meeting area so that he can introduce the guest and then an entrance is made. I think we would use something along these lines with the flats rather than stairs (our budget being zero and all!).

The guest is the main feature and so instead of them just appearing on the set by a cut or just walking over; it would look more professional to have them walk on through something like an archway.

What else I was looking at on Alan Carr is his interview area.

He usually has a large couch because the guest numbers vary (e.g. if there is a band on). He then sits on his own single seat chair. I like his single seat and think these sort of seats would be nice to use. His set is very busy which is something I don't think we should do; I am hoping we go down the simplistic look as this will look more modern and classy. Alan's set is more like a living room than anything else which is a good aspect to the show as I suppose it makes people feel more at home - the guests and the viewers! However, I think really Channel 4 is looking for something quirky and the whole living room setting has been done and done again. 

The next show that I decided to look at was The Charlotte Church Show. Again this is another evening show, but I am looking more at the set rather than the content.

Her set was very homely but also abstract with large decorations and stand out colours. She has a large couch to fit a multitude of guests on but the couch is also where she sits so it is more intimate with the guests and she can make a connection. I really like the round glass table, the glass allows you to see more of the set but still a table can be used for decorations and drinks. This makes the interview area a little less plain.

One thing I will say about this show is that I want ours to be a lot more simplistic and less like a living room. I think that the living room set has been overdone and so I would not like to follow this trend.

Loose Women has this daytime TV talk show down to a T. Its simplistic layout and focus on 2 or 3 specific colours makes the set classy and elegant. The fun and flirtatious hosts of the show are the focus rather than what is going on in the background. The set is not busy at all, there isn't clutter and it looks on the verge of boring; however they pull it back with the strange shapes and patterns.

Speak Soon!

TV Studio Production - Cross Shooting

In today's practical lecture, we were asked to split in to our groups and create a short interview so that we could film it and learn about how to use cross shooting with the cameras.
Firstly, we had to sort our group issues out because the person who was our presenter decided that they didn't want to do it anymore, so this left us in a pickle. This person and another group member were not in for the cross shooting exercise either so the 3 of us remaining had to sort the issue out. Basically we decided that because nobody else in the group wanted to have to fill in for someone, we would have to use a presenter from a different show.
We have now got a new presenter for the show we are filming on the 21st November so I feel relieved that the issue has been resolved because I did not want there to be any problems when it comes to recording the show.

As for the cross shooting exercise, we went away and created some questions for a fake interview. When we got back in the studio we went through the exercise in groups and we got to observe the other groups doing their cross shooting.

Cross shooting is related to shooting an interview setting where the cameras that are on the opposite side of the subject film that subject. Here is a quick diagram I created to help explain.

So as you can see, the camera that is on the opposite side shoots the subject. The reason for this is because you want to get the best shot possible of the persons face; especially if you have a famous guest! Shooting the subject with the camera that is closest to them does not give the best shot that you can get because it usually results in a profile shot of this person. You should always aim to get the best shot which is being able to see both of the subjects eyes, this way the viewers can see their emotions and fully engage with the show.

My Reflection

When we did the exercise, we walked through all of it step by step and looked at what works and what doesn't when doing cross shooting. I learned a lot today about always looking for the best angle even if it means moving the camera to an extreme position. I found that going through the steps and the lecturers allowing us to make mistakes was the best part of today. This way I knew that I had to improve in certain areas but I also surprised myself by knowing a lot more than I thought! I love this module and I feel that I learn the most from it, especially with having two wonderful lecturers who still get excited about our work and working in TV!

You Learn Something New Everyday
TV Studio Production is awesome! Wish we were doing this module for the whole year!

Speak Soon!

Applied Media Research - Nine Lives Media

Today Nine Lives Media came in to talk to us about their company and to give us a question to answer for them. This is the final question that we are going to be given for this module assignment.

The focus that Nine Lives Media gave us was about multi-platform experiences and how the media can cross over on two various platforms to enrich viewers perceptions of the shows that they watch.

Examples of multi-platform shows are:

Million Pound Drop

X Factor

Britain's Got Talent

Strictly Come Dancing

Big Brother

The Walking Dead

So You Think You Can Dance

Got To Dance

Most game shows now are multi-platform in the sense that you can join in online or through mobile phone apps. Million Pound Drop is something that we looked at in more detail.

For those of you who don't know, The Million Pound Drop is a game show where you start with a million pounds and you have to basically bet the money on answers to questions. You can play along online or you can play on your mobile. The mobile app allows you to play when they show isn't on as well but you have to pay for the privilege.

This is a perfect example of the multi-platform experience because it crosses over on to mobile and internet content. Being able to interact with the show gives it that extra content allowing viewers to become involved and the show really does encourage it. During the show, Davina Mccall will refer to what players online are doing.

They also encourage tweeting as many shows do now. They read tweets out where people have been talking about the show; adding another layer to the experience.

After the discussion, we were given this question from Mike Lewis who is the Head of Current Affairs and Executive Producer at Nine Lives Media:

'Which are the three most successful ever example of cross platform television programming? How did viewers participate and most importantly, what did they gain from the experience?'

My Reflection

I think that this question is my favourite out of the three that we have been given. Multi-platform media is something that is really current and there will be a lot of research available for this exercise. Hopefully when the questions are given out I will get this one!

You Learn Something New Everyday

Nine Lives Media have done a lot of documentary shows for Channel 4 which I actually love watching! Most recently 'The Human Mannequin'.

Speak Soon!

Image courtesy www.ukgameshows.com

Beyond the Camera - Soundscape Development

Last week we came up with a schedule which we miraculously stuck to which was amazing for us because we have achieved a lot in the past week.
We went out and collected footage, sound and images to use for this piece of work. We are now working on capturing the footage so that we can work with it and also find out what gaps we need to fill in so that the 'day in Liverpool' flows from early morning to late at night.

I like my photography and so for this project I am in charge of collecting the still images for the Soundscape that we are creating. Here are few of the photographs that I took whilst out filming with the group:

You can see the change in day just through the photographs that I have taken. We traveled round and found iconic things in Liverpool that represent what the city is and what city life is like. It's going to be somewhat of an advert or a display of all things Liverpool.

I think that we are progressing very well so far and we will have something to work with in the coming weeks. I have basically described our show as 'Liverpool in a day - morning til night; showing all aspects of life from working people, shopping, culture and city life. No narrator just sounds related to the images shown and the visual will travel through the city taking the viewer with it'.

Speak Soon!

Digital Media Cultures - Introduction to Cyberculture

So... The internet!
Yes, this lecture was all about the web; where it came from and where its going! I made a lot of notes from the lecture slides so bare with me on this one!

The internet is seen as one of the most significant developments in the media industry because it is not a single entity but rather a collection of global networks. It was initially developed by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and was funded by the Pentagon. It began as a relatively free resource  that had no centralised form of control; however the internet is now dominated by commercial interests.
The internet is seen as redefining the relationship between the media and the user to one based on dialogue rather than passive consumption like the television. As we have previously spoken about; Marshall McLuhan's theory of a global village has become a reality through the internet itself. A web of networks that literally connects the whole world together.
For many people, the internet has not necessarily been seen as a democratic innovation, rather it has been colonised by commercial interests. In light of this we must assess the internet in relation to patterns of ownership, regulation and issues of access to the world wide web.

'The Digital Divide'

• Access to information is seen as unequal 
• The majority of internet “hosts” and service providers are owned by companies based in the industrialized world 
• Internet use in sub Saharan Africa is way lower than in the developed countries 
• Internet relies on existing telecommunications networks, these are not necessarily part of a (underdeveloped) country’s communication infrastructure 
• Specific content requires a high-bandwidth capability, USA leads the way in access to high-bandwidth capacity 
• The nature of internet use needs to be assessed more closely – inequality to access is more complex than simply quantifying access to the internet 
• Inequalities are further emphasized by the thorough commodification of the Internet and the shift toward it being a tool for consumer capitalism, rather than freedom of expression 
• Companies have now relocated themselves to cyberspace 
• In many ways it was this relocation that encouraged a greater need for reulation

'Regulating Cyberspace'

• Convergence within the communications industry has rendered much regulation as unsuitable in the control of the digital media 
• National state controlled legislation will have to be replaced by a more global approach to regulation 
• However with this comes the issue of how a country’s  approach to ethical factors that relate to media use, especially with the area of freedom of information, as well as how judicial law effect the way a country organises it’s media culture
• The ease of copying digital data, and its ability to be transferred from one to many at incredibly high speed has increased the need for regulation 
• Entertainment providers in particular, demand strict regulations to counter the threat of mass piracy 
• Peer2Peer sharing resulted in some landmark lawsuits e.g. Napster 
• How the internet will be regulated in the future is uncertain, however there is definitely a paradigm shift occurring now 

Speak Soon!

Bit of Photography

So this weekend I went to Wales where my parents have a caravan near Snowdon. The reason I went is basically because it was our puppy, Albus, his first time to the caravan and I didn't want to miss out! Whilst there I took a fair few photographs of him and some of the scenery, so here they are... Enjoy!

Love him so much but he isn't half a distraction from work!

Speak Soon!

TV Studio Production - Meeting 1

In our first meeting for our TV Pilot for Channel 4, we were all expected to come with ideas for a guest for the show. I think that I have done a substantial amount of research into various guests and items that we could possibly have on the show. Here is the diagram that I created with all the different guests that I though we could use:

As you can see I went down a few routes: fashion, cake makers, dance, Liverpool Olympians and finally an 'other category . The other is just basically quirky guests that I found whilst researching around Liverpool. Once I created this diagram I started to contact the various guests that I had in mind. I started to collect information on them and also images of them and their work.
During the meeting I described the various ideas that I had, but the most prominent to the rest of the group was 'House of Scouse'. Here is all the information about them and their fashion line.

Through searching on various blogs and websites about fashion in Liverpool, I came across this designing duo. David Lynn and Luke Moorhead are two fashion graduates from the London College of Fashion and University of the Arts London. They have created their own fashion line together and appropriately named it 'House of Scouse' as both designers are from Liverpool.

The quirky style that their clothes have is something that should be celebrated and talked about because nothing like this is on the street at the moment. You get the sense that the two of them love high fashion (from their website - houseofscouse.co.uk). The bright colour's and contrasts would look great on camera and having a fashion show as their segment would be appropriate.

Here are a few images from the website to give you an idea of the style they have.

As you can see from the images of their clothing line, they are very different designers of menswear. I think the extremity of their clothing is what has interested the rest of the group in them.

From our first meeting we all got to see everyone's ideas and discuss them with our tutors. We have not yet decided on an idea yet because there were a few interesting ones that cropped up. We are going to have a meeting to discuss this and see who we can definitely get out of the ones we are interested in.

Speak Soon!

Images courtesy of www.houseofscouse.co.uk

Applied Media Research - Onteca

This week we had our second question from a company in the media industry - Onteca.
On their website Onteca describe themselves thus:
'Onteca is an independent games development studio based in Liverpool that was established in 2001. We produce innovative top-tier Casual games and applications for Nintendo Wii, iPhone/iPod touch/iPad, Android, Facebook and IPTV.'
Jon Wetherall from the company came in to speak to us about the question that he had for the class. Firstly, he discussed the development of computer games through the ages.

I found a diagram that illustrates pretty much what we were talking about in the first half of the lecture:

Digital Fiction Factory had a long presentation to show about themselves and about our questions; but Onteca was more of a talk through of the information.

What Onteca specialise in are apps and app based media. They have recently created the game 'Monsteca' for WiiWare. They also created the 'Big Quiz' range that people can download to their iPhone or Android phone. Their strategies for enticing customers is allowing the game to be free but then having content that can be payed for to make the games for exciting. This gets the people in, but then persuades them to spend money on various items to get further in the games.

The questions that we were given today from Onteca were:

What new models are there for selling media? When people download so much media freely, what are people willing to pay for and how? What are and what can we learn from the best monetization mechanics for Freemium games on mobile?

My Reflection

Personally I didn't really like this question because the pitch didn't really grab me. I didn't feel like I could get interested because Jon himself was not very enthusiastic about the subject himself until towards the end; however by that point I had lost interest and was frankly bored. Yes I have said I don't really like the over use of PowerPoint presentations; but I would have liked some more substance to his pitch so that I could get a feel for what he wanted from our research.

You Lean Something New Everyday

Less isn't always more guys!

Speak Soon!

Image courtesy of www.onlineeducation.net

Board of Study Meeting

Today we had the first Board of Study meeting of the year. At this meeting we are encouraged to discuss all the positives and negatives of our course; with feedback from the students in our class. Me and Josh decided to collect people thoughts on the course via post it notes in one of our classes. I typed the notes out and brought them to the meeting. Here they are:

Board of Study Meeting

Media Professional Studies

Stevie Lennon and Josh McDowell (student representatives)

We asked all of our classmates to write down something that was positive and also something that they thought could be improved on our course and in the new building. Here are the responses.

Positives

Ø     The facilities have greatly improved because of the new building.

Ø     The Television Studio is the best thing to happen to the screen school and everyone loves using it!

Ø     Plenty of computer facilities which is important.

Ø     Some students have said the classes are very interesting.

Ø     There seems to be more job opportunities this year which is good.

Ø     The location of the building is perfect - right in the city centre.

Negatives

Ø     Starbucks is far too expensive and it should be a small cafe rather than a mainstream consumer. Students cannot afford these prices!

Ø     The toilets should not be mixed sex; they are also badly laid out - for example, the sinks are inside the cubicle but then you have to open the door to go and dry them, leaving the handles wet.

Ø     Why do we have water coolers but no cups?

Ø     Changes to the timetable last minute are not appreciated. Students book time to go home (Ireland for example) and then miss out on lectures because the timetable is changed.

Ø     There should be more vending machines in the building or other sources of food and drink.

Ø     Students would like to work in the TV Studio more.

Ø     We shouldn't have to go to the Dean Walters building, there is plenty of space in the new building so why should we have to use an old one?

Overall, people are very concerned about the price of food in the Starbuck and that they don't even put prices on their food. Because we are students there should be a cheap facility with more choice. Even in the old building (Edge Lane), there were 2 cafe's at one point and the prices were reasonable.

The main positive that we received in the feedback is that everyone loves the new building and its facilities - mostly the TV Studio!

Here are the official minutes of the meeting in case any of you would like a read through them!

Minutes of the BA/BA (Hons) Media Professional Studies, Programme Board of Study, held on Wednesday 17th October 2012 at 1.15pm, Room 521, Redmonds Building.

Present: Sarah Haynes (SH) – Chair
Camilla Affleck (CA) – Lecturer, Media Professional Studies
Paula Baines (PB) - Student Development Co-ordinator
Ian Bradley (IB) – Lecturer, Media Professional Studies/IMedia
Alex Irving (AI) – Lecturer, Media Professional Studies
Stevie Lennon (SL) – Level 5 Student Representative
Josh McDowell (JM) – Level 5 Student Representative
Daldeep Poonia (DP) – Level 4 Student Representative
Natasha Singh (NS) – Level 6 Student Representative
Mark Smith (MS) – Lecturer, Media Professional Studies/IMedia
Alex Stevenson (AS) – Level 4 Student Representative
Sheena Streather (SS) – Library and Student Support

1.     Welcome to Members
SH welcomed members to the first Media Professional Studies Board of Study of the academic year.  It was noted that the purpose of the meeting was for Student Representatives to report back on any issues within their cohort, and for staff to report on development of the programme.  SH commented that it was important for the meeting to be productive, and that this should be seen as a safe space for people to say what they want; the meeting should be as formal or informal as the students wished. 

2.     Apologies for Absence
There were apologies for absence from David Sorfa, Mouna Saeed, Trevor Long, Karis Lonsdale and Jan Coulson

3.     Minutes of the Previous Meeting and Matters Arising
It was confirmed that the minutes were circulated to members prior to the meeting.

3.1     Modules on the MPS Programme
It was confirmed that staff are now more aware of explaining the purpose of the modules, content and expected outcome to the students.

4.     Student Feedback

4.1     Feedback on Induction
DP commented that the induction was very detailed, but that it was a bit boring at times, as the students were given information of what they would and would not be covering in their first year of study.  It was also noted that the programme induction clashed with Fresher’s Week.

CA agreed that some of the staff felt that the induction was too long, but this was a new format that had been introduced this year. 

SH informed the board that this year the Academic Staff had been told how many hours of induction to hold and that she would feedback that perhaps this year it was too long.

4.2     Feedback from Level 6 Students

4.2.1     TV Studio
NS commented that the students would have liked the opportunity to work in the TV studio in their final year, especially with the new studio in the basement.

SH acknowledged that the students felt that they should be able to advance their skills.  It was also noted that there was potential to use the studio as a creative space.

4.2.2      Timetable
NS commented that she was surprised that the Level 6 students only had two days of teaching during their final year.

SH replied that the students also had tutorials and meetings for Independent Study, Work Based Learning and Dissertation modules.  The final year, as with many degree programmes, involves less teaching time and more self-study/independent learning.

NS stated that the students wanted to make the most of their time in the University and were paying a lot of money to study.

CA responded that the commencement of the production module in the next Semester meant that the students would be very busy.

4.3     Feedback from Level 5 Students
It was noted that the Level 5 Student Representatives submitted a written report (Appendix A).  There were a number of positive points including the new building and facilities available, and that the Screen School was now situated back in the city centre.

4.3.1     Catering
It was noted that the Level 5 Students felt that the catering was too expensive and was not very varied.

SL commented that Starbucks needed to be made more student friendly, with discounts and generally cheaper prices. 

SH commented that there were vending machines available on the fourth floor of the building and that more would be introduced into the building over the coming weeks.  SH stated that she would pass this to Karis Lonsdale, the Faculty Student Voice Co-ordinator, as other students in other buildings had the same complaints.

SL further commented that although there were water coolers around the building, no cups were provided for the students to use.

It was noted that the building was trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible, and as such there were no disposable cups for the water coolers.  Students and staff were expected to refill water bottles and use their own cups.

SL understood this, and suggested that signs be displayed by the coolers explaining why cups were not available.

4.3.2     Toilets
SL commented that the students did not like the unisex toilets located near to the Starbucks coffee shop.

PB advised that these were the only unisex toilets in the building and that there were other toilets situated on all floors of the building.

4.3.3     Timetable Changes
SL commented that last minute changes to timetables can be a problem, especially for students who have to travel into Liverpool to find that their class has been cancelled/changed at short notice.

SH agreed that this was an inconvenience and stated that although often unavoidable, last minutes changes were rare.

SL further commented that the students were not happy at having lectures in the Dean Walters Building, when the school was based in the new Redmonds Building.

AI agreed with this point, and further stated that all the staff agreed with the issue raised by the students. 

SH advised the students that the rooms were booked by a central timetable office, which timetabled all classes within the Screen School, Business School and Law School.  It was further noted that a number of the classrooms were only designed to hold a small number of students, so finding rooms large enough, could mean using other University buildings.

4.3.4     TV Studio
JM commented that the students would like to have more time in the TV studio, at the moment they are only in there once a week for the TV Studio Production Module.

IB and CA agreed that it would be good for the students to spend more time in the Studio.

SH stated that the space needed to be utilised better, and the Media Professional Studies programme would be looked at to see how this could be incorporated.

4.3.5     Reading Week
JM remarked that there was no Reading Week for the Students this year and queried why this was.

SH replied that the University no longer has an official week break in the semester.  It was noted that this was a decision taken by the University  at the request of LSU and not by the School.

4.3.6     Tutorial Sessions
JM stated that he would like to have time to meet with his personal tutor.

SH agreed that there needed to be more meetings between the students and their personal tutors. 

MS questioned whether the students would prefer group or individual tutorials.

SL replied that individual tutorials would be preferable, with a set appointment time to see the tutor.  Students would like to be able to talk about their modules, disagreements within groups and/or personal matters with their tutors.

JM added that the students would like to get more personal and detailed feedback in their tutorials.

4.3.7     Suspension of the Media Professional Studies Programme

It was noted that the Media Professional Studies would not have an intake for academic year 2012/2012.

JM questioned what the suspension of the programme meant for the current students and their degree.

DP commented that on a personal note, she thought that the suspension was ok, as it meant more attention for the current students next year.

SH explained that part of the reason for the suspension was the Unistats website, which compares programmes from various institutions.  It was noted that Media programmes across the country had similar scores on the National Student Survey, but that JMU had decided to address the issue to improve the programme and to do this properly the programme would be suspended for a year.

AI commented that the wording of the email was misleading.  Instead of saying ‘suspended’ the email should have said ‘paused’. 

JM agreed stating that a number of students, including himself, thought that the email meant that the degree had been suspended and that the current students would not be able to progress; not that there would be no intake for the next year.

SH advised the Board that she had spoken to the Dean of Faculty about this and he would be happy to speak to the students to explain the reasoning behind the ‘pause’.  It was further noted that ten programmes across the university had suspended intake for 2012/2013, so it was not just the Media Professional Studies programme.  SH further advised that when the Dean of the Faculty explained it to the staff, it came across as a positive decision.  SH also commented that she would ask the Dean to speak to the students about the situation.

AI stated that the email to the students came out of the blue, and the staff did not have a chance to prepare the students.

CA commented that the break in the enrolment would give the opportunity for the staff to gather feedback from the students on how to achieve the best possible programme.

SH confirmed that the staff would want to work with the students on the review of the programme.

4.4     Feedback from Level 4 Students

4.4.1     Catering
AS stated that in general the Level 4 students were content, but there had been comments regarding the catering facilities in the Redmonds Building.  The students felt that the prices in Starbucks were too expensive, and lot of the items were not priced.

PB responded that it was not only the students that had commented about the prices of Starbucks.

4.4.2     Mid-Session Breaks
DP advised that some of the students felt that the breaks in the middle of the module were too long, with some lasting between 20 and 30 minutes.

CA replied that this was to give the students time to get a drink from the coffee shop as well as allowing time for students to come out of various workshops. 

4.4.3     Submission Deadlines
DP commented that to find the submission deadlines for essays, the students have to look through all the module handbooks; having all the dates in one place would be helpful.

SH replied that the students needed to learn to manage their own time, but would look into how all the deadlines could be published together.

5.     External Examiner Reports
It was noted that the External Examiner Report was not currently available, and would be looked at in conjunction with the Annual Monitoring Report in the next Board of Study Meeting.

6.     Staff Feedback

6.1     Film Makers Club
PB asked the Student Representatives to encourage the students to check their emails regularly so that they do not miss important information and opportunities.  PB advised the students that the Film Makers Club was being launched on that afternoon.  The Club had bid for and won a substantial amount of money to be used by the students in the club, ideally for submitting films to festivals and competitions.  It was further noted that PB and Corin Willis were looking for a student to help with the running of the Film Makers Club.  It was noted that the idea of the Club was for students on different programmes and year groups within the Screen School to work together.  PB further advised that only the Level 5 and Level 6 students had been notified at this time, but that the Level 4 students would be invited from Semester 2 when they had more experience.

CA questioned whether any of the money could be used for specialist equipment to be used by the students. 

PB replied that a second bid had been submitted for equipment, but this had been refused.  The money received was to be used for student expenses.

6.2     Library and Student Support
SS reported that the LRC had extended the level of Library service; the LRC was now staffed from 9am-11pm and the 24 hour self-service was still available.  It was also noted that there was now a 24 hour telephone service.  SS further informed the Board that there was a new online search tool, and asked the students for their feedback on this.

NS replied that she had tried the system and like it; she had received a lot of information.

SS also commented that by now all the students should have received £50 of print credits on their Virtual Purse account.

It was also noted that there was currently a trial of a coffee cart in the foyer of the LRC which seems reasonable in price.

There were no other comments from the staff.

7.     Student Satisfaction
It was noted that the Student Satisfaction Surveys would be discussed in conjunction with the Annual Monitoring Report at the next meeting.

8.     Any Other Business
As there was no further business for discussion, Sarah Haynes thanked members for their attendance and closed the meeting.  It was noted that the next meeting would be held on Wednesday 21st November, at 1.15pm in Room 521.

Speak Soon!

TV Studio Production - Shooting Music

In today's TV Studio Production lecture, we looked at how to shoot music. We are learning this because for our pilot that we are creating for Channel 4, we will be shooting the duo 'TJ and Murphy' for our musical section.

Shows to look at for shooting music are things such as Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, X Factor, and of course the master of them all Top Of The Pops. We actually watched an episode of TOTP in this lecture so that we could analyse what happened with various acts. Different styles of music require different types of shooting; for example, when Beyonce was performing on TOTP, she danced around a lot and had a band and back up dancers behind her. So for the most part the shots were either close ups of Beyonce herself dancing, with fast cuts to wide shots of the whole ensemble. 

Shooting music is basically one performance captured on several cameras; in our case it will be three cameras. The camera shots should be fully planned so it is engaging and reflects the music.The speed of music effects the speed that the cutting should be.
Shooting music is driven by the audio rather than the visuals; this is a contrast to the interview and demo that we will be shooting, which are more about the visuals.
Camera scripts will focus on musical queues so that the editing matches up with the pace and beats in the music. It is helpful to know how to read music, however this is not necessary. 

With the music item, because the musicians in our case are not moving; it is always nice to get contrasting shots together rather than similar ones. This way the viewer will find the music item more exciting and interesting to watch; this will keep their attention.
Using various strange angles such as extreme profiles or low angles can make the piece very interesting to watch. Extreme close ups of the instruments and singers gives detail to the shoot and allows for breaks whilst the other cameras can change their camera shots. 

A music script is similar to a camera script for an interview; it is one sides so that the shots are clear and so that there is space for notes.
Here is an example of what we looked at in terms of camera scripts for shooting music:

With these scripts they always have to have a front cover. The front cover details everyone involved in the production and the details of the shoot. Here is the example we were given:

My Reflection

I found today very helpful. Any work that we are doing on scripts I find useful because I have never done any script work before. I think that shooting the music will allow us to experiment with the camera script a lot and use more interesting angles than what we are going to do with the interview and demonstration. We are working hard towards our final product and so any knowledge that I can take on board is going to be useful. We are going to work as a group to do our scripts, this way we will all have a chance for input and also learning how to layout the scripts.

You Learn Something New Everyday

The script is everything!

Speak Soon!

Personal Post - My New Puppy!

So this weekend I got a puppy! He is the most adorable little guy I have ever seen and I am in love with him! Obviously being interested in photography, I have take over a hundred photographs of him already. I just thought I would share a few of these photographs with you to brighten everyone's day!
Meet Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore:

So if I'm slacking in university, he is to blame because I just can't stop looking at his little adorable face!

Speak Soon!

Beyond The Camera - Digital Audio Design

In this lecture we started with a presentation from the lecturer just giving us an insight in to what audio design is and how sound is used to create a certain feel in a scene. There was a fair bit of content which I have noted down just to remind myself of the points made. The main discussion that I was interested in was about the opening scene and trailer of 'The Shining' (1980). Basically we looked at the original:

Then we looked at a few takes that people had on the scene. These are taking something completely out of its context through the use of sound.

I find the second one hysterical because I love the film but this take on it is just brilliant! It just shows exactly what music and sound does to our perception of the images that we are seeing

After the bulk of the lecture, we were then divided in to groups to start working on our assignment which is to create a soundscape. I had the idea of creating a day in the life of Liverpool which would involve sounds from early morning to late at night. Me and my group decided to create a list of places that we should go to collect the sounds and also things that we might hear:
Morning until night
Bin men/street cleaners
Seagulls
Traffic
Shopping centres
Liverpool One
Tills
Markets
Taxi's
The Beatles
Nightlife
Bold Street
Restaurants
Echo man
Football
Doors
Clocks

We then also decided to crack on with making a schedule of when we can go out and collect the sounds, photographs and footage that we would need.
Here is our schedule:

Tuesday 23rd October
9am - Meet at University building to pick up equipment
9am-11am - Albert Docks and Liver Buildings
11am-12pm - Liverpool One
12pm-1pm - Matthew Street
1pm-2pm - Find a shop to collect sounds
2pm-3pm - Bold Street
3pm-4pm - Cathedral

Thursday 25th October
5am-7am - Early morning shoot
Cleaners, market set up, traffic, Lime Street
9pm-11pm - Late night shoot
Music, laughter, people, drinks/glasses, party

We realise that we have set ourselves a large task but we intend to get as much done this week as possible so that we have something to build on for the final assignment which is due Monday 10th December.

Speak Soon!

Videos courtesy of 

Movietrax

KnightKobra49

Okoku

www.youtube.com