Describe how you developed research and planning skills for media production and evaluate how these skills contributed to creative decision making. Refer to a range of examples in your answer to show how these skills developed over time.

My initial research into music videos conducted of watching various videos by artists of a similar genre. The key conventions I noticed were constant referance to the band/singer visually, and these were usually done in either close ups or long shots.Seeing as my music genre was a combination of acoustic and indie, I noticed that the mis en scene usually consisted of retro, beat-down simple locations, like a garage, or set in naturalistic areas with the make-up and costuming similar in the sense that they were of a minimalist and grungey design.

Therefore I planned to include the cliche shots and earthy feel through location, though with hints dropped in now and then to remind the audience that this was a city-based area, too. A rough sketch of the pattern of shots I wanted to use and organizing what locations to shoot in helped with the planning process.

I decided to include both of the conventions of indie rock. Throughout my video there is a constant switch between establishing city based shots and minimalist earthy locations, therefore thoroughly mixing the rock side and the perhaps more 'soft' side.

I found it increasingly difficult being the director and subjected to the cameras, though eventually discovered that I could have a twist with my music video that defected the status quo. Rather than performing the track played throughout with instruments or singing, I could switch the person in the video to the subject of the song. This meant that my plan of using normal conventions in this type of music in regards to shots, was totally switched up. I still bled the cliches into my video to connote to the target audience that this was the type of video that could accompany a type of music, however I had to include various other shots to tell the story of the lyrics. Because the telling of a story is what this ultimately became. The shots involved had to make it seem such that the audience was seeing the subject through the singers eyes.

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers - CI Essay

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are often misconceived as sharing the same origin. This common mistake is proven with Channel 4's 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding'. As a media consumer we will believe what the narrator of the show tells us, as the effect of the voice-over manipulates the audience to believe we are viewing a group of people that we do not understand, and that are foreign to our own. The reason behind a documentary is to educate the audience. However Channel 4 have twisted this programme into a half documentary, half reality show. This new approach to documentary making - with it's purpose being to entertain a greater audience - has both positives and negatives. The positive being that media consumers who would usually find documentary's not in their taste, are now interested with it's semi-comical approach. However with the show being about a minority group, it feels like they are told as a joke for the audience's benefit. The feedback 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' has received from the Irish community prove this suspicion, as the majority has been negative.

Firstly the title of the program is the largest misconception. The peoples' journey the show follows, are in fact Irish Travellers, they are not of Romany Gypsy decent. This mistake could be purely accidental and innocent ignorance on the show creator(s) part, but it could also be proof upon the fact that the show creator(s) are further trying to manipulate the viewer into thinking that Irish Travellers and Roman Gypsies are without difference, the beneficial side would be that they don't have to do their research and the title has a nice jingle to it.

The target audience for 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' are not Irish Travellers themselves, but those who are ignorant of this collective group's lifestyle, and in turn, trust the program to fulfil their interest. However the perception of the Travellers on the show are not assuring and genuine. We know this from the negative feedback the show has received from Travellers themselves. Most seem to believe that they are being represented as uneducated rebels who refuse to conform to political correctness. They feel only the disconcerting side to some of their community is being shown, such as thieving and possessing generally low-morals. This includes differences in respect to gender, and the romantic aspect of their lives and the whole ordeal it entails.

The Travellers on this show have had their historical background changed to suit the creator(s) of the show, and their social lives and how they live politically dictated by what outsiders find most amusing, regardless of the entire truth behind it. The show only follows a small group, therefore only showing one or two families' views and beliefs. This does not give us an overview of how all Irish Travellers live. This lead to the outrage Travellers felt when witnessing the tale of 'grabbing' shown on the show, which is the act of a male who takes an interest in a female, quite literally manhandling the woman away to do as they please. This is a blatant try at painting the men in these communities as viscous and violent, with absolutely no interest in the females' feelings on the matter. The show could perhaps mention that this is just how some of the Travellers behave, and that it is not in fact a ritual taken on by every male and female Traveller. Also the way it is portrayed by the evidence the viewer is shown, and the narrator, 'grabbing' seems like a substitute word for rape. The viewer is once again shown not the overview, but a small portion, and are instantly expected to be disgusted by what we are shown without questioning the morals of the show's motives by showing us clips. The show has made the viewers believe that the only goal a young female Traveller or Gypsy has is to marry, in fear that by the time they reach adulthood, they'll remain unwanted for the rest of their lives, hence why girls who haven't even reached the age of ten yet, are constantly dressed up and wearing make-up. This idea of 'grabbing' within the community that is preached to the viewer is in taste of wanting the outsider to be scandalized by this, and deem this community as a lesser intelligence because they do not teach the girls in the community basics like independence and self-respect.
In comparison to other television networks such as ITV and BBC, Channel 4 gained a reputation of representing the underdog, and not limiting their aired shows to just topics that often hit the mainstream media.
As well as the drastically outdated rule of women being second-class citizens to men that has been established in 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding', the old-fashioned view that physical prowess is the only way to achieve anything has been marked on the men in these communities too.
Seen in an episode that depicts 'grabbing', the inequality between men and women is clear. We are made to pity the females of this community, and think of them as vulnerable and victimised. However by the show painting this image that the male gender is made up of violent, drunken, and ignorant men, isn't fair at all. The woman in these communities have expressed their anger at being out to be weak and inferior, when them themselves believe they are able and are not brainwashed and manipulated. They make their own choices, and have their own intellect behind them to support their decisions.
The male communities feedback is often irritated and upset at being made out to be uneducated and cruel. They aren't shown to have emotion, and what views of theirs we get on their lifestyle are purposely edited to make them seem as ignorant as can be, leading the viewer to have a dark and negative impression on them, and even installing some kind of fear.
The community as a whole, and not just a selective gender or age group, are presented as an outdated, defective society. The woman are shown as weak, unintelligent and low-moraled, as shown in their barely-attempted battle against 'grabbing', and their general appearance throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
The mean are also shown an unintelligent, weak-minded, selfish and violent drunks, especially so in the clips we see on 'grabbing' that presents them as rapists. They are depicted as animals, constantly shown fighting to decide the winner of everything and anything. Besides the argument that both Gypsy and Irish Traveller communities are extremely tight-knit and look out for each other closely within their groups and outside their groups, and that their is a strong family feel to the community.

The idea that the reasoning behind creating a show that teaches about an under spoken minority's ethnic  and cultural background can be heavily questioned in regards to this particular program. Channel 4 is renowned for showing examples of different groups of societies in a semi-positive light, however with the evidence gathered around this particular group of people, the truth behind their political, historical and social backgrounds and views are hidden and twisted, and therefore make Channel 4's 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' not a reliable source to learn about this group of people.

'Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers.' Essay

'Digital technology turns media consumers into media producers.'

In your own experience, how has your creativity developed through using digital technology to complete your coursework productions?

In the past one hundred years or so, digital technology has taken a huge leap forward. In the late 1800's, radio was first invented, followed quickly by television in the 1920's, and the World Wide Web in the 1990's. With the introduction of the WWW to the public, the biggest switch-around in media consumerism to date has occurred, ultimately tipping the original act of 'spoon-feeding the audience' on it's head, and allowing the once media consumer to become a powerful media producer in it's own kind.
The possibilities for people living in the 1990's and onwards are remarkable in terms of having a voice in the happenings of media production. Viewers can now give back as much as they get. Who were once restricted by a lack of freedom in voice, can now create their own.
I have experienced first-hand how flexible the Web can be. With ever-growing software such as Photoshop, Imovie and PowerPoint, anybody is able to create their own products, whether that be films or advertising posters, and put them online, viewable for anyone to see, rate or get involved with. Self-made productions are now possible to create. Photoshop allows me to create believable products, and websites like Google make it simple for one to go online and research similar products to inspire creativity and ensure a professional quality surrounds self-made products.
Prime examples of how the development in media technology has allowed a new generation - a public generation - to take charge of their own careers and ideas are Facebook inventor, Mark Zuckerberg. What once started off as a fun and practical way for his college friends to stay in touch, became an ideal social media site that was expanded worldwide and made him a multi-billionaire overnight. Other examples are now-famous musical artists, Esmee Denters and Justin Bieber, who used public video website Youtube to post their covers of songs and eventually were  recognised and sought out by talent scouters.
Marshall McLuhan, a philosopher in communication theory who grew up and passed before the invention of the WWW once said, 'There are no passengers on spaceship earth, we are all crew.' He understood the power media consumers could easily gain, and the truth of this statement rings truer than ever with every advancing technology.

Britain on Film - BBC4

When compared to modern day television programmes, the startling clarity of how much Britain has changed in the past 50 or so years is shocking.
In this series show, it is strange to remember women were perceived as persons who's best gift to the world was good cooking and a pretty smile, and only a few short decades ago. What's also shocking is that this was quite a while after the many debacles caused by the Suffragettes and Suffragists. Yes, they had achieved the right to vote and the right to work in a stereotypical male workplace during the first World War, but the popular opinion remained that women were fragile and came second to men. This view has now become outdated. Women have almost complete equality with men in regards to the workplace. There are woman doctors, police officers and army recruits, which would have been abnormal in the 1950s. British television programmes like Casualty and Holby City portray women in these roles and the show writers receive no negative response or surprise because of that.

Technologies we used

Mac
Adobe - Photoshop
Adobe - Illustrator
Imovie
Internet: Youtube, Twitter, Blogger, Wix, Weebly, IMDb, Rolling Stone, Google Search Engine, Vimeo, Prezi,
SLR Camera
HD Cam Recorder
Garageband
Itunes
Pencil and Paper!!
Windows
Android Phone
Iphone
Ipad
Whiteboard and Marker!!
Email
Online Media Magazines
Memory Card

Using a Mac was perhaps the most beneficial media technology I used throughout the process of research and development for my product. The Mac included Adobe Photoshop and Safari which were vital for the building of both Ancillary products. The Mac also included Imovie, which is the foundation on which I created my music video. Itunes, Garageband and Safari were all accessible through the mark and were a big part in allowing me to research and transfer music for the main and ancillary products. Aside from the Mac I have used an Ipad, Iphone, Android Mobile, SLR Camera and memory card for both research and planning purposes. Throughout the process I have realised that many media technologies are needed to not build a project, but even plan a project. I have learned that I  need to work with media technologies more to gain confidence and professionalism within those products.

The first ancillary product I have been working on is the CD design. As far as preparation goes I have looked at other CD designs that group into the same genre of music as my chosen song. I have completed a rough draft (pencil sketch) of the front cover for the CD in my book. I have also looked online for photos that are available for my use that fit in with the product I am looking to create. I plan to complete a photo shoot and research deeper into similar products. I also hope to collect honest public opinions about the product I am creating, in hope that their judgements will encourage me to create something that appeals to a range of people, and not just myself.

As for footage I only have the chorus shots left shoot. As for the shots during the verses of my piece I am close to completion. To ensure I finish all I have remaining, I am going to film a couple of hours each evening after school. This might mean I have a lot of extra footage, but i'd rather be safe than sorry. I still have the ancillary products to complete. During free periods I will use the macs in school to continue editing my music video.