Job Roles and the Skills Needed

Art Editor

Skills Needed:

• Be able to work well under pressure
• Have a great attention for detail 
• Have a good eye for the effective use of colour and layout 
• Confidently use photoshop and other editing sofwares
• Have a unwise style so your work is noticable
• Be able to think of ideas quickly
• Then adapting your ideas effectively and appropriately 
• Be able to work well individually 
• Work well in a team
• Have good written and verbal communication skills 

Radio Broadcast Journalist

Skills Needed:

• Be knowledgable about the equipment you're working with and to be able to use it effectively and appropriately 
• Adjust your news and articles depending on your type of audience, as you may have a certain range of audience
• Work well under pressure 
• Stay calm and collected if something does happen to go wrong, and resolve the problem properly
• Ensure you're able to stick to deadlines
• To have an interest in news and the events happening both locally and nationally 
• Come up with original ideas 

Art Director

Skills Needed:

• Have a good imagination 
• Work well in a team
• Work well individually 
• Be able to draw to a high standard, as this will help you bring new ideas to life
• Ensure your ideas are original and that the people who come to speak with you about their idea, ensures they're also original
• Work confidently on editing softwares 
• Be confident
• Team leader
• Have good verbal and written communication skills 

Analysis of American Beauty

American Beauty is about a 42 year old man called Lester Burnham. He states at the beginning of the film that he only has one year to live but he doesn't tell the audience the cause of his death or how he knows he only has one year left to live. A common theme seen throughout the film is the red rose and its petals. I believe the colour red represents both the danger and the love in the film and how it plays a large part of the film. Other themes that were discussed in the film were homophobia, pedopillia, drug abuse, drug dealing, prostitution, child abuse, red roses, denia and revenge. Homophobia is a theme I picked out of the film as I could very clearly see that the next door neighbour was homophobic as he tells his son, "I'd rather my son be dead than be a faggot". This quote shocked me a large amount as it would with every audience member. This quite was said after the man got the wrong idea, and thought that his son was meeting up with Lester to engage in sexual activities, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, but the son's father was extremely homophobic (or even jealous) and didn't like the idea one bit. Again, later on in the film the make is seen making a move on Lester and kisses him on the lips, before being told by Lester that he must have got the wrong idea as he was not gay.

Social Class

The working class is the main class seen and it is represented through the houses the characters live in, which I think are quite big and expensive looking. They're surrounded by white picket fences, and luxurious red rose plants. The idea of the white picket fence gives me the impression that the family was inspired by the American Dream and the aspiration to one day become one of the many people in America that are happy, successful and possibly rich. The main family type I found was the nuclear family, in which consists of the father, mother and child; though this family seemed incredibly toxic and unhealthy. The child was a rebellious teen who dispised her father and mother with a passion, they didn't get along and they rarely spoke and took interests in each other's day or anything they had to say for that matter. The second nuclear family that is seen consisted of a man that used to work in the armed forces for America and had very strict rules about, sexuality, drugs and the way his family should behave and look to other families.

Gender

The first mother, husband to Lester, is a successful real estate business woman and the mother who lives next door is trapped inside, and would stereotypically be labels as the housewife. She is controlled by the male who used to work in the military. Carolyn later on in the film is seen to have met up with the male real estate agent in which she is in competition with, and they have sex in a local hotel room. This angered me as when she saw her husband again the next day she didn't look the slightest bit quilty or affected at all by the event. Cheating is wrong, it doesn't matter if the relationship your in is really bad and toxic, you should never make your other half feel as if they weren't good enough. On the other hand, Lester didn't look surprised when he served them at a fast food restaurant, he actually seemed quite happy. The women were represented to be a mixture of emotional, crazy, drunk and demanding. At one point, Carolyn was described as a, "bloodless money-grabbing freak" by Lester, her husband. A sexist comment made by the man to Carolyn who works at the shooting club was, "When you first came here, I thought you'd be hopeless". As you may assume, this also angered me as the man simply just assumed that she wasn't capable of shooting a gun really well due to the fact that she was a woman; Carolyn proved him wrong and made the man eat his words when she shot at the target perfectly. Men in American Beauty are represented to be stalkers, sex crazed, controlling, care free and humourous. I am not generalising the entire male population, I am only taking the messages and ideas the film American Beauty has portrayed. The man next door to Lester is controlling as he was once in the armed forces and took the things he learned from that and treats his family as if they are his troops, for example, when he is arguing with his son, his son addresses him as 'sir'. The character, Lester, is represented to be very care free as he quits his high paying job to work in a fast food restaurant, does drugs and buys a car he's always wanted just because he can. 

Age

As there is a range of ages represented throughout the film. The young characters are represented to be very rebellious, drug obsessed, and sex crazed humans. I feel like this in a way is unrealistic, it could apply to some teenagers however, but it is very generalised and makes the audience think that the entire teenage population is exactly like the teenage characters in American Beauty. There is some controversy as the blonde character does in fact turn out to be a virgin, even though she brags about sex quite often to her friend. Which I find the audience could relate to as there is so much pressure of young adults to be accepted and they feel that lying about what they do in their personal lives is the way to become "popular". There is nothing wrong with not having sex or having sex later on in your life as sex does not define a person or give others the right to comment on it. When Lester is having a job interview at a local fast food restaurant, the young male interfering him comments on his age and how it might affect the over all reputation of the restaurant and make him look a little silly. However, Lester didn't agree with this and felt that he should have just as much right and chance as to the job as anybody else, which by the way I completely agree on. The main character who is 42 years of age. At first he played a stereotypical middle aged male who sat at the table and ate dinner with his family, had an office job he dispised and just a regular day to day life that he didn't enjoy. It was once he met his daughter's friend that he decided to make a change. Such as, start running, weightlifting, eating healthily, speaking is own mind, buying new cars, quitting is job to work at a fast food restaurant etc. To put it briefly, he was having a mid-life crisis and in a way turned into a stereotypical teenager; and it was all to impressed his daughter's best friend. In fact she was attracted to Lester and noticed that he had been working out, even though she was an 18 year old female.

Analysis of Four Weddings and Funeral (Unit 4- Task 3)

Four Weddings and a Funeral, released 20th January 1994, is about a group of men who go to four weddings and a funeral and Charles especially fall for American, Carrie. The first wedding in the film is of the characters Angus and Laura where Charles was the best man and he met Carrie for the first time. The paring of a beautiful American woman and a charming British man who sufferers occasionally with stutters and long pauses, creates the basis of a very unique and smart couple. The writer, Curtis, felt it was essential that he wrote this film due to attending 72 weddings in 5 years.

Social Class
The most common type of social class is the upper class and a quote a picked up, from the character Charles, while watching the film was, "I'm going to stay at a friend's house, well I think 'enormous castle' is a more accurate description". I believe this shows they are aware they're upper class characters and they indend to show it through objects and belongings. You can also see that most of the characters in the film are upper class through their dress codes, as they're wearing quite expensive garments and accessories, such as the large hats most commonly seen in the weddings scenes. Slang and cursing is used almost all the time by the upper class, again going against the stereotype of the upper class and showing the audience that this class aren't that 'posh'. The upper class, in Four Weddings and a Funeral, in particular believe that you should eventually get married and that it is the correct way to live. It is Charles that breaks this idea, becomes unconventional, as in the end he asks Carrie to not be his wife but still remain his partner for the rest of his life. The Scottish upper class and their weddings are represented to be quite loud and confident, they include a lot of dancing shoes, traditional clothing such as kilts and the bag pipes are being played throughout the Scottish wedding. The character Hamish is the most stereotypical Scottish character in the film and enjoyed drinking like the British.

Britain/British
The British characters are highly stereotyped and themes the British are often seen to be conforming to are lateness, heavy drinking, traditional weddings, cursing, use of slang and eccentric dress codes.
The lateness is performed by the character, Charles, as he and his friend Scarlett are late to every wedding, except from his own where he arrives very early and is waiting around for a long period of time. Heavy drinking is present throughout the film and the stereotypical Scottish Character, Hamish, is seen to be drunk everytime he is parent in a scene. The weddings are highly and exceptionally traditional; in which churches are the one place characters have a wedding, a white dress is worn by the bride, a choir is singing and there is also a lot of dancing involved. Slang and cursing is used almost all the time by the upper class, in fact, the film even begins with a swear word being repeated over and over again until their is actual dialogue and sentences involved.

And finally, eccentric dress codes are presented by Charles' best friend, Scarlett, as she arrives to the four weddings and funeral in unique dresses, further supported by unique accessories and short red hair.

America/Americans
The main American character is the film is Carrie and she is represented to be a smart and classy woman, however a British character is commenting on how many men she has had sex with, therefore she results in calling her a "slut". Later on in the film Carrie tells Charles about her sex life, while making a comment on each man and I felt like this made Charles feel insecure about how many women he has had sex with. Personally, I believe "slut shaming" is ridiculous and no one should have the right to comment on a man's or woman's sex life, it is personal and no one else's business. Of course it is perfectly normal to sleep with as little or as many people as you want, as long as it is safe and no one is getting hurt.

Gender
Almost all the women in Four Weddings and a Funeral wear very expensive designer brand clothing, accessories and own expensive things, therefore suggesting that they're of the middle/upper class. However, the women were seen at the weddings and the funeral most of the time so this may explain why they were wearing rather nice garments. The women are also represented to be quite feminine, loud and elegant. While watching the film, I noted that women are expected to one get married and if they've not been in a relationship or been seen with a male, they're assumed to be a lesbian. The main female character, Carrie, works as an editor for the very well known magazine and company, Vogue; this clearly shows that she is a very successful woman.

Age

Storyboard Finished

Full Monty Analysis (Unit 4- Task 3)

The Full Monty, released August 29th 1997, is a comedy based and filmed in the city of Sheffield, the home of steal works. It was directed by Peter Cattaneo, and it stars the Scottish actor Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The six men decide to form a male strip tease act to get enough money to do something else and for the main character, Gaz, to see his son. Four of the men needed the money as they were made redundant from the steal working company in Sheffield. The film discusses different subjects and themes such as homosexuality, depression, obesity, working class culture, fathers' rights, suicide and unemployment. I believe that this describes the atmosphere and the subjects that were being described at the time, especially after the redundancy of 90,000 of workers. The film was a huge success, it had an unexpected international commercial success and grossed a total $250 million. It was later adapted into a musical in the year of 2000 and then into a play in 2013.

Social Class
The working class in Sheffield in particular is frequently seen throughout the film and is represented to use excessive amounts of slang and swearing, rather than what other countries would stereotypically expect an person living in the UK to sound like. Unemployment is also seen within the film, such as the four males that lost their job in the steel mills. Therefore Gaz cannot afford to supply the funds for his son, take him on trips to see the football or even great his house. It is one scene in the film where Gaz's son is talking down to his dad and asking him why they can't do "normal things"; making Gaz feel useless. It was Margret Thatcher who brought this upon Sheffielf, though she was then replaced by John Major in 1990 and unfortunately didn't make any changes to Thatcher's dei-industrialisation, unemployment, low wages, and poor housing and education.

Gender
The Full Monty shows the female characters to play quite domestic roles, such as the stay at home wife, working in a sewing factory, cleaning and keeping the house tidy etc. Although the way in which they speak conforms against the stereotype of women as they are heard using slang frequently. The film also reverses the stereotypes of women, but they place it on the male characters as they are strippers and seen through, not the male gaze, but the female gaze and they are sexualised throughout which I don't believe is good. Women or men should not be seen as if they are just an object or a piece of meat. Another example of gender roles being reversed in the way that women are seen to be more financially stable and independent, therefore becoming the new breadwinners since so many men lost their jobs at the still mills. Throughout, the men are heard discussing their lack of self esteem, masculinity and confidence; an example of this would be when Dave is talking to the group about wrapping himself in cling film as it supposedly reduces fat. Another example of lack of body confidence is when horse in present in a phone box, talking on the phone and holding a tool that is said to make his genitals bigger. The the main example is seen in the scene where all the men are together in Gerald's house, and they're all self conscious about taking their clothes off in front of each other. Even though the theme of male insecurity and vulnerability is present all the way through the film, confidence and self esteem is then regained in the final scene where they all perform the full monty, and all men and women are cheering them on.

UK (Sheffield)
At the beginning of the film, a clip is shown to the audience of what Sheffield used to be like, and it was described as a 'City on the Move' and once the clip had finished an image of the abandoned steal works appeared, showing the different between what sheffield once was 25 years before this. It was a very well known place, filled with amusements, shopping centres, parks and newly built buildings.

Alfred Hitchcock and the Auteur Theory

Auteur Theory

The auteur theory is where the director is considered the primary creative force in a motion picture and it's a way of reading and valuing film through the mark of an auteur (author), otherwise known as the director. Andre Bazin founded 'Cahiers du cinema' which is a French language film magazine, in 1951, along with Jacques Doniol-Valcroze and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca. Andre Bazin is known as the father of auteurism due to his obligation of the world-view and the style of Charlie Chaplin and Jean Renoir. The term world-view is how you interpret reality or what you believe to be true. Younger critics who worked with he magazine developed the idea additionally, therefore placing interest on important directors from the Hollywood studio era as well as directors from Europe.

One of the most polemic Cahiers critics, François Truffaut, created the phrase 'Politique des auteurs' and this refers to a mode of film criticism.

Modern Day Aurteurs

Tim Burton

An American film director, producer, artist, writer and animator (born August 25th 1958, California) who is very well known for using gothic, dark and quirky fantasy films and this could be why I consider Tim Burton to be one of the modern day auteur theorists. And as an auteur director, Burton has worked repeatedly with the same people throughout his films such as musician, Danny Elfman who has worked on all but three of Burtons' films. Johnny Depp has appeared in 'Edwards Scissorhands', 'Sleepy Hollow', 'Corpse Bride', 'Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street', 'Alice in Wonderland', 'Dark Shadows' and Alice Through the Looking Glass', and as well has acting in a large amount of Burtons' films they have have become really close friends. Actress and former partner of Burton, Helena Bonham Carter has also appeared in quite a few of his films.

• Pee-Wee's Big Advertures (1985) - Adventure/Comedy
• Beetlejuice (1988)
• Batman (1989)
• Edward Scissorhands (1990)
• Batman Returns (1992)
• Nightmare Before Chistmas (1993)
• Edwood (1994)
• James and the Giant Peach (1996)
• Sleepy Hollow (1999)
• Planet of the Apes (2001) - Sci-Fi 
• Big Fish (2003) - Fantasy/Drama
• Corpse Bride (2005)
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
• Alice in Wonderland (2010) - grossed a total $1 billion 
• Dark Shadows (2012)
• Frankenweenie (2012)
• Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

Burton has also wrote and illustrated a poetry book called the 'Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories' (1997), and 'The Art of Tim Burton: The Things You Think About in a Bar' (2015), where there are compilations of his sketches that he drew on napkins. Burton also directed a number of episodes for the revitalised version of 50s/60s anthology horror series, 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' and 'Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. He has collaborated with actress Winona Ryder a couple of times in 'Edward Scissorhands' and 'Beetlejuice'. Burton has also been seen to collaborate with Henry Selick in the stop motion animation, Roald Dahl classic, 'James and the Giant Peach' (1996).

Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino is an American film producer, director, screenwriter and actor. Tarantino is known for his non linear story lines, violence, gore, staring in his own films, features from neo-noir films, soundtrack from 60s to the 80s, extended scenes of dialogue and references to popular culture. Tarantino's career began in the late 80s when he wrote and directed 'My Best Friend's Birthday', which was a screenplay which formed the plot line for 'True Romance'. He then directed his first film as an independent film maker, 'Reservoir Dogs' (1992), where it was described to be a classic and cult hit and the greatest independent film of all time by Empire. Pulp Fiction was the next film Tarantino directed in 1994 and this film was described to be the greatest film by Entertainment Weekly from the year 1983 to 2008 and it was a very successful film indeed. Tarantino next adapted the novel 'Rum Punch' so the film 'Jackie Brown' was filmed and released in the year 1997. The chart below shows a large number of actors and actresses in which Tarantino has collaborated with, more than two times in his most successful films including, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Helen Kim and Samuel L. Jackson.
As well as being a successful director, Tarantino is a well accomplished actor, starring both in many of his own films and in others. For example:

• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Django Unchained (2012)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Jackie Brown (1997)
• From Dust Till Dawn (1996)
• Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) 
• Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
• Sin City (2005)

So far Tarantino has received two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and he was nominated for an Emmy and a Grammy.

An auteur director is usually seen to work with the same people and Alfred Hitchcock worked with these people:

• Saul Bass
• Edith Head
• Bernard Herrmann
• Alma Reville

Saul Bass

He was a graphics designer and he worked with Stanley Kubrick, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder and Martin Scorsese and many of Alfred Hitchcocks' credits for his films and he was described as being incredibly gifted. Working with film director Otto Preminger, Saul Bass designed the titles for drama/romance film, The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), in which starred Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak and Eleanor Parker. He advertised and designed the titles for Hitchcock's North By Northwest (1959), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960). His work were very psychedelic creations, which described the plot and ideology of these films perfectly. Saul Bass believed in grabbing the audiences attention with the very first frame in the titles. Saul Bass has also designed a number of advertisement logos that became some of the most recognisable of the time, for example:

• The original AT&T "bell" logo (1969)
• He also designed AT&T's "globe" logo (1983)
• He them designed Continental Airlines' "jetstream" logo (1968)
• United Airlines "tulip" logo (1974)

And another title Saul Bass designed was Billy Wilder's, The Seven Year Itch, which stars the most famous and successful female in the film and model industry.

Edith Head
Edith Head's career began in 1921 as a costume designer and over her career she worked in hundreds of films for both Universal and Paramount Pictures and won a total of eight Oscars. Costume designers are story tellers, she could interlace the personality, class, and wealth of a certain character through the clothes they were in; and also whether it was day or night.

Edith Head worked on a total of 11 films with Hitchcock, though the first time she collaborated with Hitchcock was in the year of 1946 for the film Notorious. Edith Head enjoyed designing costumes for  actresses both while filming and outside for their daily lives, and she says she likes to give people the confidence to wear the garments she made with joy.

The most iconic moment for Head was for the film 'Rear Window' where she intelligently designed the costumes that appeared near the beginning of the film, so men and women were seen wearing cotton fabrics and pyjamas. Whereas, when Grace Kelly's character appeared, she stood out from everybody else in her white and black cocktail dress. She worked with Hitchcock again in 'The Man Who Knew Too Much' with the actress Dorris Day, she was especially virtuous with layering and costumes that insinuated the characters were travelling, though the use of belts and scarfs.

Vera Miles was supposed play the character Judy Barton in the popular Hitchcock film, 'Vertigo' but she fell pregnant before filming and left so she was replaced by Kim Novak. She told Hitchcock she specially didn't was to wear the colour grey and Hitchcock replied, you can wear any colour as long as it's the colour grey. Head was described as the bridge between the actors and the directors.

Bernard Herrmann
Bernard Herrmann, born Max Herrmann, composed and conducted the scores for Hitchcock and other directors, and the score used for Vertigo is described as the one of the best scores ever. Herrmann said that Hitchcock only does 60% of the film; and he completes the rest of it. He also made an appearance as the conductor, in Hitchcock's 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'.

Herrmann played a very important role as the conductor as he one the one to fully capture the emotional state of characters, even without any speech, as whilst using important musical features such as tremolos crescendos to build and create tension. The following list are the films Herrmann has created a score for:

• The Man Who Knew Too Much
• Psycho
• North by Northwest
• Vertigo
• The Day The Earth Stood Still
• Cape Fear
• Taxi Driver
• The Devil And Daniel Webster
• Citizen Kane (the first film he wrote his first score for)
• The Ghost And Mrs. Muir

Alma Reville

Alma was the most important person both in Hitchcock's work life and his personal life, she was his "muse" and his collaborator. She was a editor and script writer for Hitchcock's films and 'Shadow of a doubt' was her favourite film that she and Hitchcock worked on.

Comparing Film Theories and Conventions (unit 4- task 1)

Strengths & Weaknesses of Genre Conventions

• The first strength of genre conventions is that they tell the audience whether they will like it or not, all depending on the genre of the film. 
• Another strength of genre conventions is that they can show stereotyped characters. However, this could be a weakness as audiences, such as myself, my not agree with the stereotypes seen in films. For example in horror films, there is usually a weak, blonde female character and they are most likely to be the first one to be murdered by a masked killer due to falling over whilst running away. I personally don't believe this stereotype most commonly found in horror films.
• In addition, genre conventions may also allow the audience to see who might be in a particular genre and who the director may be.
• One weakness of genre conventions is if an actress or actor is playing a character with a mental illness such as depression m find that they get too involved with their character, and this may resulting in the actor or actress developing a mental illness.

Strengths & Weaknesses of The Auteur Theory

• It's really quite difficult to completely fit directors into this category as directors such as Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese have based their career around one genre in particular, however they have done other projects were they have ventured into other genres and completed books.
• A strength of the auteur theory is that the audience knows who the director is just from the style of film, the genre, and maybe from the cast.
• However a weakness of the auteur theory is that a lot of people either don't fully understand it, don't know what it is at all, or don't believe in it. 

Strengths & Weaknesses of Micro-Features

• Micro-features allow the audience to guess or state the genre of the film.
• They are the main part of a film and as micro-features include, cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound, editing and performance, and together they make up the production of a film.
• They also set the atmosphere, and helps the plot line to be understood by the audience.
• However, micro-features could give away the plot and possibly ruin it for the audience as they may feel the film is predictable.
• New genres could be created if the micro-features are used in different ways.  

Analysis of The Basketball Diaries

The Basketball Diaries, released April 21st 1995 (Island Pictures), is a crime fiction, sports and biographical film,starring Leonardo DiCaprio, based on the life of writer Jim Carroll's life as a poetic and basketball player who found his way into a terrifying addiction with heroin,set in the 1960s. This film is produced by Liz Heller and John Bard Manulis an directed by Scott Kalvert. Scott Kalvert is mostly known for directing this film but he has directed a few video documentaries such as, 'Guns N Roses: Live at the Ritz' (1988), 'Cyndi Lauper: 12 Deadly Cyns...and then some' (1994) and Smilez and Southstar: Now That Your Gone' (2003). Other actors and actresses that star in The Basketball Diaries are, Bruno Kirby, Lorraine Bracco, Ernie Hudson, Patrick McGaw, James Madio, Michael Imperioli and Mark Wahlberg.


I have chosen to analyse this scene from the film, The Basketball Diaries, as this is my favourite part of the film and it clearly shows DiCaprio's and Bracco's academy award nominee performance. The codes and conventions of a crime fiction genre is stereotypically narrated by a male, the main character is usually a male protagonist, and the film is shown through the male's view. Female characters in a crime fiction are stereotypically the victim and they play quite a flat character in which is lacking realism. The rest of the characters are usually small time criminals and police. The themes most commonly seen in crime fictions are good vs evil, high class vs low class and power vs powerlessness. The setting of a crime fiction is usually seen in the inner city, run down areas such as abandoned buildings and cheap and temporary rooms. The codes and conventions of a biographical can vary due to them being an altered version of a trues story but they usually have some form of a narrator.

Some micro features that I felt was important was, performance, sound and cinematography, especially performance as the well delivered emotional and tense performance from DiCaprio ensures the audience is fully involved in the scene, and I personally felt quite attached to this clip and an intense amount of pain was passed from DiCaprio and Bracco. The sound is mostly diegetic sound, coming from the speaking, shouting, yelling and crying from the two actors. Therefore, strongly putting across the genre of the scene, through use of language such as, "They have a knife", "Give me some ******* money ma!" and other strong language. The final micro feature is cinematography, and the shots and angles I picked up on is close up shots of the Bracco and DiCaprio, showing there is much emotional intimacy between the character and the audience. A low angle, tracking shot is present when DiCaprio's Character is being carried out of the building and into the police car. Furthermore, pushing the genre crime fiction into the scene.

Using Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro is a timeline-based video editing software application.

http://www.mediacollege.com/adobe/premiere/pro/intro.html

The link above explains what Premiere Pro does, how good it is, what it can't do and how much it costs.




When I first opened Premiere Pro, this window appeared and as I haven't used PP before, I began by starting a new project.

Once this window appeared, I selected 'OK' and don't alter any of the options.

In the HDV folder, select the file that is called 'HDV 720p25' and then click 'OK'.

This is what PP looks like once it has opened. It has four parts to it

Reseaching Job Roles (unit 3- 1.1)

Introduction

I have always been interested in the media but I have recently narrowed it down to radio. For this task I will look more in depth into job roles within radio, or even research outside this sector to see if I can find any other job roles within the media that interests me.

Art Editor

Brief description of what an Art Editor does:

An art editor designs magazines and focuses on the overall look and style of the magazine, and they also commission photographs and illustrations. In order to be a successful art editor, there are a number of personal and technical skills needed such as:

• you will need to be able to have a great attention to detail
• be able to work well under pressure
• confidently use a mixture of deign software packages, such as Photoshop and InDesign
• be a excellent communicator
• have a deep and advanced visual style
• be able to employ imaginative ideas quickly and artistically

What does an Art Editor do? (continued):

Art editors ensure that magazines look presentable, readable, neat and stylish. To do complete this, they need to use a range of designing skills and IT skills to make the magazine, newspaper, book, journal etc, have a certain visual impact while ensuring the information is easy to read and take in.

Another responsibility that art editors would have to do is instruct photographers and illustrators on things such as designs and images they need for the magazine they are editing; this may involve searching for stock images. Even though a art editor sounds like they would only be needed in the post-production stages of the publication, they are needed and accountable throughout to overlook the making of everything.

If you're an art editor in more of a smaller company, you would typically work independently. Whereas, if you were to work in a more well known company you would be most likely to work in a team.

What are the qualifications needed to be an Art Editor?

Most art editors that enter the industry would have a degree somewhere in the artistic field, for example, Fine Art or Graphic Design.

What is the best route into this specific job role?

Ensuring you have a large portfolio full of impressive past work is essential as this way you can show case all of the work you've carried out, and show the employer the skills you have and just why they should hire you. The portfolio can be a mixture of personal projects or projects that have been completed during your time in education.

Having previous experience in the industry may be very helpful as it would allow you to have a closer insight into the job role. The best way into the role would be to work your way up, for example, begin with a junior role such as magazine designer and move your way up.

Radio Broadcast Journalist

Brief description of what a Radio Broadcast Journalist does:

Radio Broadcast Journalists identify, research and present news stories to a wide range of audiences. This job role of a RBJ is some what similar to the role of a radio reporter, however a radio reporter broadcasts news live from the scene as the events are unfolding. Whereas a RBJ focuses more on the planning, specific details, researching, writing and editing. Therefore to be a successful radio broadcast journalist you must:

• be able to know what audiences find most interesting
• know how to have an intriguing and motivating voice while on the radio
• be able to come up with original ideas and use them effectively 
• ensure you ask question while still listening to the interviewee
• adapt to different audiences
• work well and calmly whilst under pressure
• have an interest in news and have a common knowledge of past and recent stories
• be confident 
• know how to use modern recording equipment
• ensure that you can meet deadlines 
• understand the health and safety regulations 

What does a Radio Broadcast Journalist do?:

They are in control of coming up with new and original ideas, exploring the background information, ensuring that their information is from a reliable source, showing any new ideas or new news that could be contemplated by editors or any other people that can make them happen. They also research into different audios and locations they can use while looking for a possible person to interview. It is also essential that they prepare suitable questions for interviews, possibly take photographs so they're able to post it to websites and further promote either their company or their personal work.

Radio broadcast journalists additionally edit all their own work they have personally planned, researched, organised and recorded. While doing this, they will ensure they choose the right software package in which will allow them to edit the work to the highest quality, and edit the footage so only relevant is involved.

What are the qualifications needed to be a Radio Broadcast Journalist?:

No degree is needed however you may be accepted if you have a degree in a non-media related field. Having expert understanding in grounds such as science, business, politics or language could give you a very high chance in allowing you to acquire a job as a radio broadcast journalist. You can also begin in newspaper or magazine by writing columns and then work your way up from there into radio with at least two or three years' experience in journalism.

What is the best route into being a Radio Broadcast Journalist?

As mentioned above, the best way into the job role is to have at least two or three years of experience in journalism as this will allow you to have clearer view of what the job role is, what you need to do, the equipment you'll be working with, how to communicate well with your co-workers and how to work well under pressure. You may even decide at the end of the journalism that it's not all you thought it would be, and therefore decide that you want to do something else. However, if you do find that you enjoyed the work experience in journalism, looking for apprenticeships as a radio broadcast journalist at large companies may be the next step.

Advertising and Editorial Photographer

Brief description of what an Advertising and Editorial Photographer does?

They take professional photographs that will be used for adverts, promoting a certain brand, idea or product. Photographs are used in adverts to tell a story through the use of still images, and they're most common found in magazines, billboards, books and websites. Again, there are a number of factors which you need to be able to say you can do to such as:

• you must be able to understand how to use colour, tone and shape effectively
• ensure you are organised, imaginative and experimental
• have a friendly personality, and be able to stay calm and keep the people around you calm also, in stressful situations
• have a strong passion for traveling, talking to new people
• be confident and highly motivated
• ensure that you have good written and verbal communication skills
• be confident and skilled with manipulating images 
• be able to translate and illustrate a story and successfully promote the idea, brand or product.

What does an Advertising and Editor Photographer do?

An advertising and editor photographer takes photographs for a specific company or client, and the client could be part of a designer brand or advertising firm. The images can be categorised into specific factors, for example:

• landscape
• portraiture
• still life

Some work is done in studios, but most of it is mainly carried out in studios using studio lighting, props and other accessories. Some people that work in this job role specialise in well-lit images that are mainly used for medias such as catalogs and packing. These are known as 'Pack' or 'Pack Shot' photographers. Self-employed advertising and editor photographer get commissioned to do high-quality images that sell the benefits of brand awareness.

What are the qualifications needed to be an Advertising and Editorial Photographer?:

There are no set qualification needed to be an AEP, however having a strong portfolio to promote the work you've done in the area, having a good reputation and a track record can help you progress into the job role. There are many courses available in the UK that allow people to learn new technical skills, and help you get work experience. Employers also like it when people who want to get into this job role, have work-based qualifications such as apprenticeships.

What is the best route into being an Advertising and Editorial Photographer?

It is always good to work your way into the job role as an assistant photographer or working along side another photographer to see how they work and what the job role intakes. This will ensure you have the correct type of experience, also by asking to work along side projects, stand in on meetings, asking to meet clients, in order to fully understand the production stages of being a photographer.

Art Director

Brief description of what an Art Director does:

An art director is in charge of creating and designing advertisements, making sure that the images within the advert give the correct messages, all whilst ensuring it is pleasing to the eye and grabs the audiences attention. There are a number of factors you need to be able to have to be a successful art director such as:

• have a great imagination 
• have a great knowledge of advertising brands
• have good communication skills as you'll have to speak with different clients
• understand the target audience of each project, and adapt your work to meet the needs of the audience as well as the client
• ensure you are enthusiastic about your work, and that you can try keep the people around you enthusiastic also
• be able to develop original ideas
• be able to work effectively in a team and individually 
• be able to draw by hand well

 What does an Art Director do?

Art directors are responsible for directing the creation of advertisements, mainly visual advertisements and they are mainly found on posters, billboards, and magazines, possibly adverts on TV, mobiles applications and websites.

What are the qualifications needed to be an Art Director?:

Having a degree in a field such as graphic design, advertising o film making will get employers attention as they shows that you have a great knowledge in designing, team work, working individually, etc.

What is the best route into being an Art Director?

Art directors come from a variety of backgrounds and will usually have a degree in advertising or design. Then form a partnership with a copywriter while studying and look for a first job as a team. they create book or portfolio to showcase the work you've done.

Working Practices

The amount of money you earn all depends on the hours in your contract, how old you are and your position or activity in a business. A contract is physical or electric documentation that specifies the commitments an employer must follow, the hours you will work per week, how much you will get paid per hour and the benefits to the employer. The term unsociable hours, as I believe, means the employer may be working past hours of daylight, for example, working the night shift.

Full-Time- a permanent job usually consists of working a minimum of 39 hours in one week. 

What are the Advantages of Working Full-Time?

1. A full-time permanent job means that you have steady and guaranteed hour and income, therefore there is less financial stress.
2. Benefits such as health insurance, paid sick leave, and retirement plans are provided for full-time workers.
3. The more you work as a full-time employee, more social security benefits will be received once you retire.
4. You get to work as a team
5. Gives you the opportunity to get recognised and get promoted if you're completing your task on time and to the best of your ability.

What are the Disadvantages of Working Full-Time?

1. You may find that you don't get along with someone who works with you, and as you are working with them all day, nearly every day of the week this could possibly cause stress or demotivate you to work.
2. Full-time may be a disadvantage to a parent as they won't get enough time to spend with their family.
3. Little to no spare time and heightened stress levels
4. A lot of multi-tasking may need to be carried out in order to get the work load completed on time.

Part-Time- also permanent and for students are trying to earn some money either on the weekend or on days where they have days off from college or sixth form. Part-time workers get the same rights as full-time workers, they just work fewer hours. 

What are the Advantages of Working Part-Time?

1. Part-time work allows students to gain an income and save up for the future while they don't need to pay bills (if they don't already own or rent a property).
2. This working practice can also allow parents to work during the day while their children are at school and they are able to pick them up at the end of the day, if they don't want their children to go to a child minder.
3. In the professional industry, people chose to have a part-time job so they have more time for family and their personal life.
4. It's a great way to develop new skills while having the chance to pursue other projects.

What are the Disadvantages of Working Part-Time?

1. Due to only doing a certain amount of hours, therefore this means you are receiving a low income to what a full-time worker would get and this may create some problems financially, especially if the employer has a lot of bills or children.
2. It may be difficult for a person to move up in a business and get promoted if they are only there for a certain amount of hours.
3. Part-time workers usually have no health benefits, in particular businesses.
4. Stress could arise for students if they work part-time and have coursework to complete at college/sixth form

Freelance- explained as someone who doesn't have a full time or permanent contract with a specific company, therefore they can work with a certain business for short period of time and then move on to a different project at a different work place and an example would be, if I was to work as an article writer or as a radio producer.

What are the Advantages of Freelancing?

1. The first advantage is that you'll get paid more, due to being allowed to discuss and confer how much you are willing to work for, as a result of working for yourself, you don't need to pay for sick leave or any holidays.
2. You get to keep the profits form the projects you complete, as you no longer have to work for a flat rate.
3. Another advantage is being able to choose your own hours and be able to go where ever you like, travel and visit places you may not be able to if you were working full-time.
4. Having complete independence may not be a good idea for some people, however some people may find that they prefer to have all the work and do it by themselves.

What are the Disadvantages of Freelancing?

1. There is not a certainty that you will have a job lined up and it's not exactly reliable, due to workload and income being inconsistent.
2. As you are working for yourself, you may find it difficult to find a line between your personal life and your business life.
3. A lot of responsibility and pressure is being put on you to find your own work, complete projects and deal with financial problems by yourself and completely individually.
4. There are no benefits like you would get if you were working for specific business permanently, such as discounts in certain stores, health insurance, sick, personal and maternity/paternity leave, child and elder benefits and life and disability insurance. 

Flexi-Time- this type of working practise ensures employees can be flexible with their hours. They have the opportunity to chose the amount of hours they have to complete in a week. For example, if a person decides they want to work 30 hours a week, they could only work 4 hours one day and or even 3 hours the next day, bu they have got to work a total of 30 hours by the end of that week.

What are the Advantages of Flexi-Time?

1. Travelling could be cheaper for the employee as they could decide to travel when there is little to no traffic.
2. Balancing their personal life and their work life can be much easier as they can work around other commitments.
3. Flexi-time means that the company is progressive and takes in to amount the needs of their employees.
4. This working practise ensures the employees are more loyal and happier towards the company.

What are the Disadvantages of Flexi-Time?

1. If an employee decides or needs to work little hours throughout the week, they will need to work the rest of the hours at last minute.
2. Flexi-time could create difficulty with organising meetings and training
3. Working flexitime without having a manager or supervisor could cause some difficulties with employees that don't know how to organise their duties and tasks.
4. Lower levels of employees makes it difficult to cover all hours of the day.

Job Share- When two employees in the same business share what one employee would have to do, they share the same responsibilities, the same tasks and and work load. It's all just split in half so two employees can complete it. They will also share the same resources, equipment, desk and computer. 

Production Stages- Evidence (unit 1- 1.1 & 1.2)

Pre-Production 

The physical work we did in preparation of the production stage:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8wUC-ZEIt6jT0xTeDB3d09VUTQ/view?usp=sharing

The research I did on green screens:

http://mcardwellnnc.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/using-green-screens.html

Learning about operating a camera:

http://mcardwellnnc.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/camera-angles-shots-and-operation-task-2.html

Production

Above, is the completed music video.

Post Production

The screenshot on the left is the timeline which includes, the sound track for 'Rockstar', the images which replace the green screen and the original footage of the students and staff miming to the track. I first began by dropping in the footage onto the timeline and removing the audio. I then dropped the audio for 'Rockstar' on to the tab called 'Audio 1'. And then bit by bit I edited the original footage so it matched perfectly with the audio.

Once all of the footage of the staff and students was edited to fit the audio, I began removing the green screen behind them.

I removed the green screen by searching for ultra key in the effects search bar, and then selected the 'eye-dropper' tool and then clicked on the brightest part of the background, and the green screen will be removed. And then this allowed me to find an image from Worksop, and drop it onto the time line which is where all the pink images are on the timeline in the picture at the top.

For example, in the image above I removed the green screen and found an image of a bathroom showroom, as I believed it linked to the lyrics 'and a bathroom I can play baseball in it'.

The screen shot to the left shows the footage of students and staff, and this is the footage we take and drag on to the timeline to edit. And in the bottom right hand corner of the clips, there's a small symbol that indicates whether the clip has been edited in the timeline.