This morning my group (group 5) and group 4, went into the TV Studio to learn about cross-shooting, which is basically shooting two people at roughly the same angle from opposite but corresponding positions (as shown in the image).
Initially i assumed that cross shooting would be fairly easy as it just seemed like positioning 3 different cameras at different angles in order to split up the shots. However once we had to position the cameras and create shot sizes, i realised that particular shots go with how the presenter/subject is sat. So for example, in a typical Alan Carr show, the camera would be positioned on Alan in a midshot, or a wider frame than the interviewee. This is based on the simple fact that it is the interviewee that we have more of an interest in, therefore want to see a tighter shot in order to feel some what closer to them.
I personally didn't operate the cameras in this particular exercise but that didn't affect the way i was learning how to position the camera as i was carefully watching how my peers were advised to position the shots.
During the second half of the workshop, we were required to make a script for a 3 minute interview that would eventually be rehearsed and recorded. As i have taken on the role as presenter, i was confident in writing my script as i have watched many interviews in the past, be it Alan Carr Chatty Man, The Jonathan Ross show, even American talk shows such as The Ellen Degeneres Show. Watching these shows gave me a clear idea of how a real interview is designed to flow and what kind of questions are asked. Therefore i was quick to jot down around 7 questions that i would soon ask Hayley, who was going to act as my interviewee.
It wasn't long before the mini interview was going to be shot and i felt a little nervous at first. However after a couple rehearsals, i tried to let go of my nerves and the interview flowed almost how i wanted, with just a couple improvised questions thrown in.
Even though i didn't have a go on the cameras this time, i experienced how cross-shooting works from a presenters' perspective and had a very clear idea in my head of how the interview was going to be shot, as as a group we went over the shots beforehand.
I now feel more comfortable taking on the role of a presenter and will hopefully be even more confident when it comes to the final assignment in a few weeks time.
The final guest speaker, Mike Lewis, executive producer at Nine Lives Media came in this afternoon to propose the final question to me and my peers. As i researched the Nine Lives Media website a few days before Mike's visit, i looked forward to see what kind of questions he was going to ask us. Being a producer of well known programmes such as Panorama, Dispatches and many more documentaries that are broadcast on Channel 4/BBC/BBCThree i obviously had an idea of what his talk would involve.
However i wasn't expecting to recieve a little careers advice. Mike pre-warned us that working in the Media doesn't just involve handing your CV in to a bunch of different companies, expecting to get a job just because you have a degree and some experience, but developing some sort of portfolio that highlights your interest in that specific industry.
I found the talk very helpful at times as it opened up my eyes and made me think that the industry i may want to work in, may not be as exciting as i expect and to therefore try and gain experience in different industries to see what sort of industry and job role suits me best.
Mike wanted to find out what multi-platform experiences we have had but i personally didn't have many, apart from calling in to vote for a contestant on The X Factor! I guess that shows that the interactive side of the media isn't one that interests me enough to make the effort to play along with a game or install a relatable app, which may suggest that i have a more laid back attitude towards multi-platform experiences.
Mike left us with these questions;
- Which are the three most successful examples of cross-platform television programming?
- How did viewers participate and most importantly, what did they gain from the experience?
As this was the final question(s) set by the guest speakers, i have looked over all three carefully and considering voting for the 2nd question, set by John Wetherall from ONTECA, as i understand it more clearly and believe i won't have much trouble finding research to answer his question. So fingers crossed i'll actually get to answer it, but either way i shall keep you posted!
In last weeks Applied Media Research lecture, we were visited by 1 of 4 members of the ONTECA team, who are game development company based in the Merseyside county of Toxteth.
John started the lecture by introducing himself and giving us an insight as to what ONTECA is all about, which is basically a company that is most famously known for creating apps for iPhone and Android. At first i thought the lecture wasn't going to be of much interest, as i personally don't have much of a strong interest in the interacitve/technological side of media. However as the talk went on, i realised that the lecture had more to it than just John talking about creating apps. He focused on the fact that people want to enjoy the luxury of being able to interact with TV shows such as Million Pound Drop or Deal or No Deal, however when a price tag comes up, even at the price of £0.99p , users are quick to exit and look for a free app, when they will go and spend £3.00 on a hot chocolate later on that day. Therefore it made me question my own actions when it comes to downloading apps, and why i choose not to download an app that costs as little as £0.99p .. which i still don't know the answer to. Maybe i don't think the game/service is worth the price i have to pay?
At the end of the lecture we were given a few questions;
- What are the best monetization mechanics for media products?
- What can we learn by looking at Freemium games on mobile and how can we apply this to the media?
- When is it morally wrong?
Quite a lot of research will have to go into answering these questions if i decide to choose this as my assignment question so i'll keep you posted and post any research i find!
See you soon x
Today's lecture focused on qualitative research and how we can answer the question 'What is the best way to market a degree course to potential students?' without trying to gain numbers, percentages, bar charts or any other sort of statistics.
After a short brief was given to us by our tutor, we soon decided on a letter format written by the three members of another group who acted as soon-to-be Media students at LJMU.
We told our peers to act as if they were very curious about the ins and outs of the course eg. how much of the course will be based on practical? , how many hours will i spend at university? what is the success rate of the course? As the questions were open-ended, we were able to gather a lot of information about what exactly the existing students wished they would have asked the university so they knew more about the course and whether they made the right choice.
Compared to quantitative data, I found the results of qualitative data much more useful in terms of detail, as i was able to analyse the data and get a clearer idea of what specific questions the students wanted to ask LJMU before they came to university. In response to the question at the beginning of the post, i can answer the question with answers such as more people wanted to know how long they'll be in uni for, how much time is recommended for direct study,
if they'll be meeting new people and many more.
The method of the letter worked very well for us as a group and i can guarantee it will for future group/individual data collection projects. I was happy collecting as much data as possible as too much data is better than too little data.
In today's Applied Media Research lecture, we were visited by Ian Wareing, one of the producers at the Digital Fiction Factory based in Manchester. I came into the lecture looking forward to what Ian was going to talk to us about and what sort of projects he was going to show us.
Being a guest speaker, it was interesting to hear how far he had come from being an ordinary university student to a producer at one of the UK's most successful independent production companies. He showed us projects such as 'The Beauty Inside', a social film that utilises Facebook and features members of the general public who act the characters in the film. 'Take This Lollipop' is also a Facebook based film which i believe was used as a strategy to reach the younger population and make sure they know to keep their profiles private and not interact with people they don't actually know. My personal favourite project was the Wretch32 invasion Ian introduced us to, as it gave me a very clear example as to what UCG (User Generated Content) was, as the audience themselves thought that the 'invasion' was real, yet it was all a set up by the producers at Channel 4's series Hollyoaks.
I found the talk quite interesting at times because of the simple fact that Ian had shown us projects that i had never even come across before. Therefore it made me want to look more into the notion of UCG and get a deeper understanding as to why audiences prefer this type of content, rather than the typical producer-consumer format.
This morning my group (group 5) and group 4, went into the TV Studio to learn about cross-shooting, which is basically shooting two people at roughly the same angle from opposite but corresponding positions (as shown in the image).
