Unit 1.2.2

2.2 - Explain how to choose an employer in terms of own personal interests, knowledge, skills and job requirements.

When choosing an employer one has to be careful and take certain things into consideration before just leaping into another bland CV addition. As taking a job someone is not interested in will severely hinder ones motivation. If you don't have the passion for the job the knowledge won't be there as you will never truly absorb what you learn and the skills will never be developed.

 As we have learnt about things such as CPD (Continual Professional Development) you have to aim yourself towards your own life goals. Taking myself as an example I want to become (eventually) a filmmaker, this includes having the knowledge of film production, writing and editing (among countless others but bare with me). So me taking a job in say a packing warehouse would not be a good choice of employer to work towards my eventual targets.

As I am interested in creating my own original ideas perhaps a office job in corporate firms doing something like marketing would be right in one way but not fulfilling my creative needs.

In terms of what I want to do, employers would be chosen in their relevance to teaching me more about the aforementioned skills, So id be looking at things like editing suites or film production teams so I could gain more knowledge of working on a set.

So by thinking laterally about what someone wants to do you can narrow down the appropriate paths for your next job. This will allow you to find jobs that will develop your skills rather than find ones that merely make use of existing ones.

Unit 1 -1.2 Understand the Creative Media employment marketplace

2.1 - Describe a range of Prospective employers and the profiles and products of these employers.

Here is a selection of employers that, hopefully, I will/can work for at some point in my professional media career as well as the products and profiles of said employers. Basically what they do, who they are and why I want to work for them.

1. VALVE - The profile of Valve is the computer game company that cares, they are the inventors of Genre defining FPS Half-life and have meticulously maintained and improved their public image through their creation of the Steam digital game distribution software, a format allowing games to be bought, played downloaded and installed from the internet and practically saving the PC gaming format from losing out to the console gamers. Their products range from PC games to merchandise of their popular franchises they have created several franchises of games Including Team Fortress and Portal which have won a string of awards due to their usual traits of snappy writing and interesting stories and characters.

 One of the main reasons I would like to work with Valve is their support to their fans (evident through the releasing of award winning Portal for free on the steam platform in 2010) and attitude to work. here are few videos that will hopefully explain the creative but fun atmosphere they seem to have at Valve HQ.

2. ZEPPOTRON - An award winning comedy company that mainly produces TV shows for Channel four, with comedian/writer Charlie Brooker being one of the main players in this company it has consistently brought out hilarious shows such as Newswipe, Nathan Barley and 10'Clock News.

As well as more serious but still funny programs like Deadset and more recently Black Mirror.

The main reason for wanting to work here is the type of comedy they seem to want to produce in almost all of these shows seems to reflect quite well with me, as well as bring part of an award winning production team who knows the craft of analytical comedy and clever script writing.

http://www.zeppotron.com/

3. PINEWOOD STUDIOS - The biggest Film production site in england, who (with an interest in film) wouldn't want to work at this bustling hive of different media companies working together to reach many deadlines?

To me this is the pinnacle of british film production and television (they sometimes used to shoot the Weakest Link there) working here would be a prestigious as well as challenging experience.

The side of things here I would particularly like to work in would hopefully be on set with one of the productions. Past products of Pinewood studio productions have included such films as Christopher Nolans - The Dark Knight and more recently work on the new Lord of the rings film from Peter Jackson - The Hobbit.

http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/

Unit 5 Diploma

Understand how to agree working arrangements

1.2 - In the workplace almost anyone will be faced with a situation that will require them to change the times they do their work. whether its a family emergency or something trivial like the trains being delayed, there will come a point you will have to change your arrangements.

Ways to do this tactfully and to ensure your working relationship is not damaged is a simple case of consideration for your colleges and those around you. for example:

If you have been delayed in transit to your workplace ensure that you call in, explaining the reason and possibly giving an estimated time for your arrival. This way you can let your team or colleagues work around your unfortunate delay.

Booking holiday is something we all enjoy doing. To ensure your not putting your team in a situation where they suddenly lose you for 2 weeks while you party in Malaga, it is advisable to book any holiday at least (I would say) 2 weeks in advance, this gives your colleagues time to work around your absence and for you to put in place measures for easing the increased workload they will encounter.

 Calling in when sick rather then just taking the day off to lay in bed, at least informs the workplace of your 

absence allowing them to workaround it while also simply letting them know you wont be in, as in some cases people are know not just take the day off and email. but often emails can go unnoticed and leaves the employer waiting on your arrival.

2.1 "Explain the importance of balancing the needs of tasks and people"

Often at work people can quickly become inundated at work by taking too much on. But work life is a balance you need to prioritize your own workload and keep in mind the workloads of other people. Just as you cannot draft up some contracts if your out at meetings all day other people cannot get on with their day without them, these situations are often finalised by negotiation and prioritization of tasks and even delegation. Making sure your not putting people out by being late with your work or not having certain things done in time for them can also work against you as when the tables are turned they may not take you as seriously as someone else who has consistently been able to liaise effectively with them.

2.2 "Explain the importance of sharing information with other people"

Communication is key, this is something that has been drilled into us apprentices over the course of this ....course and only now are we realising how true this fact is. Sharing information whether it  be your progress on a project, an estimated date for your finish, ringing other colleagues to inform them of changes around your workplace. Communication is key to ensure that you are working effectively with those around you and making a contribution to the team effort, as an employee who doesn't let others know they're plans or progress can leave other members of the team in the dark or have them assume that they are further along then they are. It helps to communicate to not only manage expectations but provide a helpful and more effective working environment for all involved.

2.3 "Identify ways of tactfully requesting others to change working arrangements to improve own productivity"

There are ways of asking for things in life, and often the best way is the polite way. In the workplace there are ways of approaching people and asking for things, often called negotiation but I personally call it general manners. For example if you needed the person who dealt with the post each morning to go collect it 20 minutes earlier as your break for lunch starts before they give your post meaning you end up opening your post over your lunch break, you can approach that person with your dilemma and ask them if they could possibly arrange to pick it up slightly earlier than normal. the way not to ask for this is to talk to others around the office complaining of the fact your post is late and generally creating bad blood between you and the office postman. Tactfully basically implies that you are asking politely and considerately, if your request is within the realms of reason it should not be a problem as long as you are honest and come forward with a workable alternative to how things are made at the moment, often if you explain how getting this post would improve your workload and efficiency (even possibly helping with theirs as well), the problem can be quickly and effectively sorted out, but most importantly it will be sorted in a way that helps build your relationship with that person and help improve your productivity.

2.4 "Describe how to explain own decisions clearly and constructively"

When you have an idea in a meeting or discussion there are ways of going about it to not look like you are shooing down anyone you are speaking to, again tactfully is the word you need to keep in mind. If you have come with a criticism or a flaw in someones idea you can communicate it in a way that is better than "NO, YOUR WRONG THAT WONT WORK". You must approach these situations with consideration of who you are speaking to as often they will be someone you are working with on a day to day basis as well as giving clear and concise reasons as it wont work, otherwise you are offering criticism with no basis. Its more of a point of making sure that what you say isn't misinterpreted as you attacking the person directly but merely coming up with an alternative to their proposal. Often i find the best way to ensure that is to say things like "I understand you point, but have have we considered this..." its often a case of ensuring that you are wording yourself correctly and coming up with alternatives rather than creating bad blood by the constant shooting down of others. 

When it comes to making decisions yourself you must always be able to explain the reasons behind them, for example when asked why you you have taken all the files on a computer and saved them on a hard drive rather than shrugging and saying something like "oh, it will help" consider giving the actual benefits of this exercise "I put the files on there to ensure that if we were to lose this computer to an electrical fault we have a backup, as well as allowing us to transfer files over easier. I hope thats OK" things like this can only help your relationships at the workplace.

2.5 "Describe how to resolve conflict situations or dissatisfaction"

Everyone hopes they can go through life without conflict, this unfortunately is not how things often pan out. So if the situation arises in the workplace where you find yourself in a conflict situation such as you have forgotten to post something important, or not finished uploading a file somewhere, rather than become insular and take whatever reprimand you will no doubt receive.  Give active, helpful solutions of how you can begin to rectify the problem (if at all possible) or if not make sure you are telling the person of the measures and the steps you will implement to your work persona or workload to avoid another confrontation or dissatisfaction in the future. 

2.6 "Explain the importance of liaison with colleagues to productivity"

Working as part of a team is essential in most media jobs, from an animation to a talent agency teams are reliant on each other to grow as a unit as well as individually. Liaising with your colleagues on a project can be a great way of cultivating your skills as well as using the strengths and skills of other professionals around your workplace to collaborate on a piece of work to ensure it is finished. With liaison you can delegate tasks, re negotiate certain parts of projects that could potentially not work as well as having people to bounce ideas for the future with. This as well as being able to learn from other peoples experience and by that method improve your own productivity. This can be done simply such as emailing your colleagues letting them know your thoughts on the project, giving them helpful tips. Holding meetings to see where you would like to go forward as a collective as well building the trust between yourselves that you are in contact with someone who will get back to you and is able to work with you on future productions. For as we all know...

....Collaboration is key.

Unit 5 Research techniques

Research for any media production is important to ensure that the information, or references you are making are factual or hold some relevance. If you want to make make a film based around the second world war you need to have some knowledge of the times there and the events that took place to create that period in time, otherwise you will not be able to convey an accurate or believable production.

Techniques for research can be as basic as surfing the internets sites of google and all that it has to offer. Reading books on the history of said subject. listening to talks or watching videos explaining key facts to you. Actually going to historical places of interest (if your production is a historical take on something).


Another example of how I have used research techniques in my time on this course is when at work I was asked to research the pros and cons of file upload sites such as Megaupload. (although this website is no longer available due to them being issued a stop and desist order for some illegal activities that were made possible through the website, e.g Piracy).

I already apologize for the size of the text, but any bigger and you cant see the whole picture. Blogger how I love thee.

Unit 8: 3.2

UNIT 8


3.2 - Describe how a specific Creative Media Organization is Funded, Governed and Regulated.

THE BBC - THE GOVERNMENTS TELEVISION CHANNEL FOR THE MASSES.

Sorry, I was just doing that to grab your attention, The BBC is a good example of how certain creative media organizations are funded, regulated, yadda yadda. The BBC is a government funded public service for members of the UK, this means essentially it is funded by the British Government and uses the annual television licensing fee that anyone who watches television in their home must contribute to  (which is set by the British Government), this gives the BBC a constant cash-flow and allows them to fund the productions and the occasional original piece of television.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-one/topics/what-does-your-licence-fee-pay-for-top13/


The Governance of the BBC is handled by a Royal Charter which binds them to their mission statement of
"Inform, Educate and Entertain" and states that they are bound to essentially serve the public. (seeing as their paying for everything this should be viewed as a good thing").

They also have their board of governors known as the BBC trust, they access the performance of the executive board at the beeb,  how well their productions are doing and assign the Director General, this is in place to keep an organization outside of the BBC corporation that works to keep the members of the BBC in check and give them almost a power to answer to. Making the BBC Trust very important in the governance of this public funded corporation.

"Grr, we hate the beeb!"

This differs from rival channel ITV, thier funding is through sponsorships of programmes that are on the ITV channels, they offer theme packages for companies to pay to have thier messages shown over a number of series or to identfy with a certain programme.  The other way they are funded is  advertising (far too much advertising breaks, try watching something on ITV and not find yourself repeating the Go-compare lyrics or the final tagline from Aviva).

They don't get government money, does this give the BBC a monopoly on British Television? It's not my place to say. (Yes)

They are not bound to the Royal charter and are governed by regulatory company OFCOM who as well as giving them their license to broadcast keep checks on them much like the BBC trust does for the BBC corporation to ensure they are delivering quality programming.

http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/brand-activation/sponsorship

Unit 8: 3.1

UNIT 8


3-1 Describe the Vision, Mission and Values of a specific Creative Media Organisation.

IM GOING TO TALK ABOUT DISNEY. (but the company this time).

Providing entertainment and information using brands apparently..

The vision or mission statement of a company is essentially their official statement of their specific views, goals and their promises of a sort to their consumers.

Most mission statements can be found on their official websites see below for the mission statement of the Walt Disney Company and should go someway to explain why they consistently try to deliver the same whimsical experience whether it be in a animated feature or a theme park:

"The mission of The Walt Disney Company is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information. Using our portfolio of brands to differentiate our content, services and consumer products, we seek to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world."

http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/index.html

This mission statement rings true with me from having been to their Theme park they do try and keep that brand recognition "magical" and give the name "Disney" real weight, from the enthusiastic greeters they employ at the parks, to ringing their customer services over here in the UK and getting the track "Hakuna Matatta" while your on hold, they do deliver a consistent image using their recognisiable brands.

This in comparison to the Mission Statement of  Universal Studios:

MISSION STATEMENT The Universal Studios Florida® Production Group Pledge To You As the premiere production facility on the East Coast, our focus is on attention and integrity toward exemplary production services. We remain constant in our commitment to insure our reputation of extending Universal Orlando support, vendors and alliances to exceed any and every expectation our client may have. Their statement to me seems more of a focus on professionalism themselves and ensuring that their studios are delivering the best production services while reaching out and working on the networking side of the Media industry to ensure their lasting survival. Rather than relying on a consistent image of their company.

Unit 8.4

Unit 8 - Describe examples of interdependence between team members.

Below is a video showing the production and interdependence of animators, directors, storywriters, storyboard artists and a host of other workers in the offices of the giants of animation PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS

This handy youtube video shows how a scene is built from the ground up of Storyboards to a layout, which is then animated and finished in post by their respective teams.

For a finished scene like this they need the vision of the storyboard to get the image in their head, the layout to render the groundwork of the shot. Animators step in to get the movement of the scene, before the said scene if finally touched up and finished in post production.

Research For a Creative Media Production - Michael Fassbender Bio Documentary

To cover this Unit I will be researching an actor for a possible production of a documentary of thier rise to stardom ala the Bio Channel ( http://www.biography.com/videos ) Like this Natalie Portman video below.

Natalie Portman - Mini Bio - Natalie Portman Videos - Biography.com

Basically these videos give a very basic overview of the early beginnings and rise to stardom of a different star every week, The person I have chosen is one of the biggest stars of the 2011/12 period Michael Fassbender (also a client at my apprenticeship).

The Research methods I will use will mainly be internet based research using search engines such as google and bing as well as using past newspaper articles and interviews to ascertain where he came from and provide a factual timeline of his rise to be the darling of todays media. (also as this is not yet an episode on the Bio Channel I garentee there will be one made within a few weeks).

Research websites I will use to get the information I need:

And various interviews like the one above to ascertain his rise to popularity in 2011/12.

The Irish and German born Michael Fassbender learned his craft at both St Brendans (The Sem) and The Drama Centre, North London. After Appearing in many british and american films he has last year starred in no fewer than 4 releases over the past 5 months.

Although his first popular role was a small part as a reoccurring soldier Sgt. Burton 'Pat' Christenson
 in Steven Spielberg's WW2 drama series "Band Of Brothers". (2001)







After a period of featuring as bit part characters in either drama series such as Holby City and starring as Guy Fawkes in "Gunpoweder Treason and Plot" the  next notable series he took part in was as part of Sky's 10 part drama series "Hex" as Azazel, A lovestruck leader of the biblical Nephilim, fallen angels. (2004)

The Cast of Sky Ones's Hex, starring paedophile Michael Fassbender as Kiddy the Fiddler "Fiddles"

This arguably made way for his first big movie role in 2006 as part of the adaption of Frank Miller's Swords and Sandals Graphic Novel, 300 as Stellios.

Fassbender as "Stellios"

This movie as mentioned on previous college-mate Edun mentioned that this was the film (directed by action enthusiast and comic book fan Zac Snyder coming off the back of the Dawn of the Dead Remake he made earlier in '04 ) was a huge success that spawned hundreds of similar films using the style and similar disturbed fantasy setting as 300 giving all those involved, Fassbender, Gerard Butler a huge success.

2008 Off the back of this his first arguably "big" role he two years later would star in  a film that would finally get people singing his praises across the board, working with now widely recognised director Steve Mcqueen in his directoral debut "Hunger". The film with its lingering shots and meticulously planned monologues won both the director and members of the cast great praise for their dedication to their roles.
Michael Fassbender plays Hunger Striker Bobby Sands, taking this role to its limit he famously shed over 2 stone, using a crash 600-calorie-a-day diet.  


Follow this "Link" as he talks about the lengths he went to to give the performance what won him and Steve McQueen such exposure...

Some of the cast of "Inglorious Basterds" with director Quentin Tarantino.

Having been in such a critical success in Hunger, Michael Fassbender would team up for a role in well loved grind-house director Quentin Tarantino in his 2010 comeback WW2 film "Inglorious Basterds" Starring Hollywood heavyweight Brad Pitt and the soon-to-be oscar winner Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa.



I shall stop here as I feel I have demonstrated through using internet research techniques to begin writing a production piece, in this case a simple Bio documentary. Using the above internet research techniques I have found information I previously would have had no knowledge. I believe this post shows at least one way of researching an actors history with a view of making a production.

Unit 8.1 Creative Media Industries.

Unit 8.1 -

OK, so apparently having not covered this unit at this point I shall have to describe the creative media Industries, Understandable as some people may not realise which industries fall into that lovely category.

The creative industries refers to an industry that actively has to think and create new media through artistic devices and means, It also covers the groundwork and pre-production in the build up to creating a final product. This includes things like the creation of movies, software, reporting on things - so journalism. IBasically as long as there is an artistic output in the industry it could be classed as such.

The current DMCS (A document that maps the number of "official" creative industries, as of 2006), which has scaled down the number to 11 :

Software, Computer Games and Electronic Publishing
Advertising
Arts and Antique Markets
Crafts
Design
Fashion
Television
Film, Video and Photography
Music and the Performing Arts
Publishing
Architecture

http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/creative_industries/default.aspx