Week 11: Pre-Production Documents for TV Ident

In today's lesson I continued with my pre-production work. In my previous post I stated that I would be completing this pre-production unit in relation to my 2D animation project. This has now changed, as I now be completing these documents in relation my current TV Ident project. Therefore I have edited my pre-production process table (discussed in my previous post). I edited this document to ensure it related clearly to the production of a TV Ident. Within this table I have discussed areas such as: finance, materials, facilities, personnel, timescale, contributors and codes of practice and regulation.
Within this table I have stated the element of the pre-production, what I need to do and how I will do it. Within this table I have acknowledged the various components which are used within the pre-production process. An example of one of the elements within this table includes:

• Element of Pre-Production: Timescale

• What I will need to do:

- Research and identify into the length of time it will take me to create the TV Ident in the production stage. This allows me to plan the rest of the production process, such as pre-production and post-production. - Realistic timeframe. - When the deadline will be. - Identify similar products and how long they took to produce How I will do it: - Research into existing TV Ident projects which have been created by different TV channels. This will show the time scale which it took to create the TV Ident. This will allow me to understand the timescale of the length of creating a professional TV ident. This will be similar to the time scale which I have to create my TV ident. - Existing graphic designer/ my previous production schedules. - Look at my previous pre-production documents and sample production schedules. This is one example from my table, I repeated this process for the other elements within the table. A screenshot of my pre-production table is shown below.

By completing this pre-production table I can put the 'How I will do it' section into action. I have started carrying out research for the how I will do it section for all of the different elements. I will then be putting the research from this table into a written report. This will clearly show my knowledge in terms of the elements which are included within the pre-production stage. 

Week 10: Introduction to Pre-production Documentation Unit

Introduction to pre-production documentation unit

I have been introduced to the new unit within media studies. This unit focuses on the pre-production documents of a practical project. This unit is joint with my 2D Animation unit and the pre-production work which I produce within this media studies unit will help me improve my initial pre-production work. I have been able to understand what should be included within my pre-production documents and why we carry out pre-production work.

The reason for completing pre-production work includes:

·         Gain ideas for design and layout of the product which will relate to the target audience and the aspects which will appeal to them.

·         Organising the production with a production schedule will ensure for the production to be scheduled correctly and all the required documents are included. This helps organize time frames to determine how long to spend on a certain task.

·         Prevent problems from occurring with a Contingency Plan. This ensures that any potential problems will be approached and resolutions can be discussed.

·         Primary research can be carried out for the target audience. This allows me to ensure that my product will appeal to the target audience.

·         Research into similar/existing products will help me understand what is included within a certain product such as the 2D educating animation. 

·         Identify and research practical requirements for the production.

·         Identifying necessary resources for the production, this includes practical arrangements.

All of the above elements are those which I will need to consider within completing this unit. The work which I produce in this unit will help me improve my initial 2D animation pre-production documentation. I believe that this is good for me as I believe that my original pre-production could be improved. Therefore I have been allowed the time within this media studies unit to improve these documents.

There are many different elements of pre-production work and these include: Budget, Risk Assessment/ health and safety, Resources, Client and Audience Needs, Software Techniques, Primary/ Market Research, Locations, Regulations, Personnel and Materials. These are all elements which need to be approached and considered within pre-production of a production. These are the elements which I will be approaching within this unit to improve my present/past work.

I have completed a Pre-production process table. This includes the elements of pre-production, what I need to do to complete the document and how I will do this. For example, for the finance I have identified that I need to work out a budget for my 2D animation and then how I will do it by researching into existing animations. This allows me to research into the graphic designer’s rate cards to see how much it cost them to create a 60 second 2D animation. I repeated this process for the following pre-production elements: timescale, personnel, facilities, materials, contributors and codes of practice and regulation.

I will now carry out research into relation to the ‘How I will do it’ section in the table for the various elements.

Week 7: Textual Analysis Complete

I have completed the final worksheet (4b), this asked me to discuss the reality TV genre and carry out a textual analysis. This involves me deconstructing the content within the programme. I analysed the reality TV programme Made In Chelsea, these are the different aspects which I focused on:

• Codes and Conventions: real characters, real settings, publicity seekers and real situations.
• How the audience consume the content: how the audience are consider when creating a new reality TV show.
• How the programme is aimed at a certain audience: characters and real situations- the audience can relate to these aspects.
• Why the audience enjoy watching the reality TV programmes: see the lifestyle of others and follow them in what happens in their lives.
• Representations: stereotypes within Made In Chelsea- how posh people are portrayed within this reality TV show.
• How the reality TV genre has changed over time: different subgenres of reality TV have developed and become well known.
• Narrative Structure: Linear Narrative- many reality TV programmes follow this narrative because the audience are following the events which happen in peoples live. These events happen in chronological order.
• Multi-strand narrative: Reality TV shows such as Made in Chelsea and The Only Way is Essex follow the structure. This is because the one programme follows many different characters, showing the audience the different lives of these people in the show.

The above aspects are those which I have included within my report. Through writing this report and carrying out this textual analysis, I have gained knowledge in what reality TV shows are and the content which is included within the programme as a genre. I also discussed how the audience interpret and consume the programme content and why reality shows appeal to viewers.
I also included the different theoretical approaches to a textual analysis. This is included within my research and these methods include:

• Semiotics: this includes how the meaning is constructed through the language or codes of the media text.
• Codes and Conventions: These are the elements recognised by the audience because it is a particular genre. By carrying out this type of method for the textual analysis I would be looking at the codes and conventions which the audience expect within a reality TV programme. This is the approach which I took to carry out my textual analysis. This worked well as I was able to analyse the codes and conventions within the programme. I then expanded on the other content within the programme which makes the programme, such as representation and narrative structure.
• Encoding and Decoding: this approach involves the producer encoding a text (giving the text an intended meaning) and the audience decoding (audience interpret the text individually) the text.
• Preferred Readings: there are several preferred readings which could help carry out a textual analysis. This all relates to the fact that the texts have a preferred and intended meaning, these readings include:

-Accepting the preferred meaning.
-Take a negotiated position: agreeing with part of the intended meaning but not with all of the meaning.
-Oppositional meaning shows the audience understanding the preferred meaning, but alternative values are used to interpret the text individually.

The Theoretical approach which I used within my textual analysis was the codes and conventions. The reason for this is because I found this the easiest method to relate to the reality TV programme in order to carry out the textual analysis to analyse the programme. I have shown my research into these theoretical approaches within my notes which I will include with my secondary research.

I have also learnt how to carry out a textual analysis. I firstly carried out research into the reality TV genre and the codes and conventions of this genre. I also used my personal knowledge and viewing experiences for the research part. I created the table from worksheet 4a to analyse the Made In Chelsea episode which will help me to write my report. This included aspects such as camera angles, mise-en-scene, sound and codes and conventions. Overall, I have learnt a lot about reality TV through these worksheets and gain skills, especially within carrying out a textual analysis. This worksheet is due in w/b 14th November, although I am away for 2 weeks (from w/b 7th November), therefore I discussed with my media studies lecturer and they allowed me to hand the worksheet when I return to college on 21st November. I did also submit my Audience Response worksheet which is due in w/b 14th November last week (31st October) early as I completed the worksheet in half term.

Week 7: Introduction to Representation in the Media and Worksheet 4b

This week I was introduced to representation within the media. I learnt about what representation is and the definition of this includes aspects such as:

• How something/ someone is portrayed in the media
• Influence the audience
• People and events portrayed in the media
• Composed and Constructed- constructed by media producers, advertisers and news

Audience representation is also important within media representation. This allows the audience to make sense of the media they are consuming. Representations within the media mediate our view of the world and people as it provides the audience with information on a subject.

There are different pros and cons of media representation, some of these include:

Pros:

• Categorise and label people- good for media producers
• Gives minorities a voice
• Easily relatable to consumers
• Representations can be entertaining

Cons: 

• Have one set representation which creates a biased opinion
• Form opinions and judgement
• Not always accurate, can be misleading
• Furthering and causing stereotypes
• Cause moral panics

Stereotyping is used within media representation. This is when a media producer creates something/ someone which is a stereotype and something acts in a certain way as people expect them to act. For example, in Eastenders there is a 'blonde' character and she acts like she doesn't know what she is talking about and is clumsy. This is a stereotype of a 'blonde' hair colour character. This person has been stereotyped by their hair colour and with this one element comes the stereotype, as this is how people expect their character to act because of there appearance.

Worksheet 4b
In half term I completed worksheet 4a, which focused on the elements which make a reality TV Show. I decoded the elements within Made In Chelsea and created a table which presented these components. This worksheet is helping me to completed worksheet 4b. This worksheet instructs me to decode the TV show further and be in depth about the reality TV show as a genre. The different elements which I will be discussing within the report include:
 

Codes and Conventions:

• Real People
• Publicity Seekers
• Real Settings
• Real Situations
• Unscripted

How the following content would be interpreted and consumed by the audience

• Who the product is aimed at
• How it is aimed at this audience
• How they gain pleasure from this media text

Representations within the reality TV Show

• Posh people- live in posh area and in posh houses (over the top)

Changes within genre over time- different forms of reality TV have been developed
Narrative Structure

• Linear Narrative
• Multi-strand- follow lives of different people

Within my report I will expand on the above aspects and relate these to how the audience interpret and consume the reality TV show.