Assignment 1

Assignment 1

• An explanation of why audience research is important to media producers and how they use their findings?

When anyone comes up with an idea and the idea is then being made into something for a specific audience, you need to think on what kind of audience it is going to be, such as for those with specific interests like or  age, gender, religion, education, occupation or even income. All of these are necessary when determining what audience you are targeting with your media.

When developing something in media there are ways to narrow down your results and find your target audience, such as forming teams of people known as focus groups in order to narrow down who would like the media product and who it can apply to or questionnaires that allow you to get straight forward answers from random people that way you can find a wide range of people and by examining existing media texts by comparing them to your product.

Through these actions you can find your the best results and make a profit from these successful results. Here's an example if you are proposing a television show, you would put together research such as a questionnaire to see what genre, age and gender would like your idea and then use the most popular answers towards your idea and then put your idea together and have a focus group judge the television show and you would use their opinion to make the television show better, by using these methods media producers are able to come up with idea's and make sure those idea's get off the ground.

• An explanation of how audiences are profiled:

In order to properly deduce what your audience will be you must first profile the various differences in audience which is important towards any media producers job. you must use examples such as socio-economic status, psycho graphics, geodemographics, age, gender, sexual orientation, regional identity, mainstream, alternative, niche and various others. These are all the factors that must be considered, whether it is a game, TV show, advertisement, magazine or any other form of media product. 

• Age and Gender:

Age and Gender are the two major parts of profiling a target audience and researching it through out your work. Producers need to have and obtain the age and gender of their target audience so better specify the best age for the audience and gender that is suitable for the media product whether it is a magazine, television show or game.

Here's an example, If a documentary was being made and you would want to make it about a certain period of history let's say the documentary was on the Vietnam war, you would need to target a male audience between the ages of 50 - 60 years old, because they would be have been around during those time and they would be interested in learning of what was going on when they were young.

• Socio Economic Status:

Socio economic status is a method that is used by man media producers and the industries they work for in order to the right kind of economic lass that matches their target audience for their media product. In any example you would usually use 3 different socio economic classes which are known as the upper class, middle class and working class.

The upper class is made up of those with a much larger income and are able to purchase very expensive products such as sports cars or larger houses. Middle Class is the class that consists in-between the Upper class and the Working class, which means they make a reasonably paid wage for the work they do. Then there is the Working class, which is basically made up of people with low paying jobs and not much income.

This method is useless to a media producer, to explain this here is an example. Say a car company like Ferrari has made a very expensive car, they would focus their attention onto the upper class who have the best chance at buying this product. However a media producer would never be able to use this method because a media producer simply needs to find a target audience for advertisement and to persuade them to watch their media product on TV, so socio economic status doesn't really matter (for media producers anyway).

• Geo-demographics:

Geo demographics (short for geographical demographics) allows media producers to class people by their locations and surroundings and the characteristics of said location and surroundings and classify the properties by number types by using basic information such as personal attributes, average household income, age of head of household, occupation, number of dependent children and cars owned.

When doing Geo-demo graphical research you have to pay attention and take note to what is popular in sale and what is a regular media product such as a brand of laptop or a television show. So qualitative research such as surveys, questionnaires and face to face interviews are important towards compiling information on what would be the best media product for any kind of area and its inhabitants.

Another example can be found in the show the inbetweeners such as when they changed it to an american series with the same plot around the series but changed to an american cast to apply itself to an american audience.

• Psycho-graphics:

Psycho-graphics is quite similar to Geo-demographics/Demographics, but this deals with the audience's behavior and personality rather than where they work and what their yearly income is. This way it is easier to narrow down what kind of people would like a media product/TV show based on how said person thinks. This way we can describe what the audience do on the psychological level and figure why they do what they do, which is different from demographics which describes where the audience is.

Media producers will often profile their audiences based on a psycho-graphics graphs, they are much more detailed then any other graphs such as demographic graphs and they offer more larger variety of an audience to choose from.

Here's an example on the subject, say a media producer has a documentary that is aimed at young adults age 18 -20 who are wanting leave home. You would choose a reformers group, because it is made up of people who seek independence and will know how they would want to see that in a documentary.

• Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation is important with any media production that is placed on television. These days you will see diversity and equality within film production, this is important so you are not to offend any viewers. This is based on the equality act placed in 2010, where it is said that gays, lesbians and Bi-sexuals have equal rights and are not to be treated differently just because of their choice in life style.

When asking questions through quantitative research where they ask questions they ask questions based on or about a person's gender and then on their sexual orientation. meaning that the audience would be statistical as the number of people they asked would have to have answered straight, gay, lesbian or bi-sexual. meaning that any production team needs to be aware of any content within their projects to make sure that anything said or done in production, whether it is on screen or on the radio is not offensive to any viewers who are within a specific sexual orientation.

Here's an example, power rangers actor (now turned director) David Yost was openly gay, but he left set apparently due to not agreeing with wages, but the real reason was not that at all, the real reason was that he had been called the F word constantly by production workers around filming, after that he left film production.

Also when Glee offended the gay and lesbian alliance by using a word that was insulting to trans genders in the episode rocky horror glee show. It is not just important not to offend your co-workers, but it is extremely important not to offend your audience or the entire production will fail.

• Regional Identity:

This is how they base the audiences on where they are located, meaning they use things such as stereotypes. it is where the media producers find out where they maybe shooting a film or targeting a product and they check the area for what is the popular trend. here's an example The movie snatch is based around London and is a gangster based, so it shows London in a darker setting and gives all of the actors characters London accents to coralate with the background the film it is based on, such as Brad Pitt's character Micky the Irish gypsy.

They do this by asking people what area they live in and by doing this they can find out more about said specific area and give it a sense of belonging to the film and the viewers as well such as in Captain America it involved a good old fashioned sense of patriotism which is good for those Americans who have a strong love for their country.

• Mainstream:

Mainstream basically means that the audience follows certain trends or what is popular and finding out what trends are popular can be helpful when developing a production for a film, magazine, a book, music video's or even a documentary. In film industry it is important to get involved with popular production companies like Disney, Warner brothers, Dreamworks, paramount or pixar you will attract more people and in the case of release, an audience trust's top brands of film or products.

Here's an example Marvel films have been producing several new superhero films and many more are still in demand and back in 2011 (and now on the TV) Vampire films and shows were popular and in demand as-well like the twilight franchise or the up and coming Dracula movie. Meaning by finding the next trend that people will like, media producers can generate new shows that can appeal to audiences looking for the latest trends.

• Alternative:

There is always an alternative to any choice, even in media. Alternative is where a media producer may have a different opinion or point of view on an earlier concept in production that can be changed and apply to a different market once it has been tested by a focus group who approve of the change, like a trial run or a pilot. These concepts can make a production more important and more likely to succeed.

Here's an example a pilot is the first episode of a series that is in development, once the first episode is complete the production will have it shown to a focus group made up of their targeted audience, if the group agrees with the aspects of the show and disagree with some then the show can make changes to some aspects in order to make the show apply more to the target audience and reach out to different audiences as well by keeping somethings the same, such as when the big bang theory introduced two new female characters in order to reach out to a female audience.

• Niche:

This method is used by targeting the audience based on what the specific market is for the audience and what shows they find enjoyable and popular, meaning their likes and dislikes. This is done through online surveys and questionnaires by asking what are their favorite shows, what kind of genre do they like and all of the other topics that we have covered above, this way we can feature elements into the show that appeal to the audience we target.

Television channels tend to have their own genre when trying to reach one specific audience like, sky sports, sky movies sci-fi, action, thriller or drama.

• Quantitative Research:

Quantitative research is basically facts and figures that allow you to determine the size of the audience. The research is a method that media producers use in order to find out what their target audience maybe based on by the majority numbers, such as in websites like barb they keep the statistics of various channels and shows and how many people  have watched them, through these results you are able to find out what kind of audience is the majority and what kind of shows they like.

BARB:

Barb is a site that collects the number of ratings for different channels whether they be free view or on broadband like Sky. It rates the various channels and shows and brings up a total estimate of how many people where watching a specific show at a certain time.

This is an example of quantitative research where you can use these estimates to find find a specific audience and find out what they like based on the shows they have watched such as Alan Carr's Chatty Man where it could specify that the viewers like talk shows or live comedies. this company is funded by the various channels that give them their results, which means they both help each other out in terms of finding viewers and providing the results that are necessary.

RAJAR:

RAJAR is another quantitative research site that takes the ratings of listeners for various radio stations for Smooth, Capital, BBC radio 1, BBC radio 2, etc and lists them all down weekly and monthly, they are also listed as top 10 to see which was most popular weekly or monthly. this website is also funded by the various radio stations that they review and estimate ratings for, that way they can provide needed feedback to them in the case that they would need information on how to improve on ratings for different audiences.

ABC:

ABC has many roles in the media industry as far as quantitative research, to bring industries to agreeable standards that define media measurements, to bring the best practice, to offer independent audit and compliance services delivering certification which verifies that data and processes meet agreed reporting standards.

The research collects data on media based on their own opinion by their own standards and are funded by advertisers, media agencies and various trade bodies. This information can be used towards rating various media and it allows them to decide whether they belong on television or not, it really depends on what is involved in the show such as inappropriate jokes or anything that violates broadcasting laws.

• Qualitative Research:

Qualitative is a personal and upfront method of achieving results to find a target audience, this method will require the media producer or someone who is in charge of getting these results to ask people who have nothing to do with production what they want and this will help them define their public audience and this process is done through face to face interviews, questionnaire's and focus groups that will answer all questions required to build your target audience based around the majority answers that people have given you in the results from all of these activities.

Focus Groups:

A focus group is required when doing qualitative research, A focus group is where you get a certain number of people who fall into the category of your target audience that you have selected and then you show them a first cut of a media product or video you are working on for a possible TV series, after they have watched it they will have to answer a certain amount of questions and give their own opinion on what went well, what was wrong and what they think you can do to improve on your work. Through this Media producers are able to put together the correct work for their target audiences.

Questionnaires:

Questionnaires are important whether they are written on a sheet or posted online for people to do on sites such as survey monkey.com. In a questionnaire you write a series of questions for people to answer such as gender, age, sexual orientation, favorite genre, favorite show and what they are interested in at the end. By doing this you can track down your target audience and narrow down what kind of audience it will be for your idea in development.

Face To Face Interviews:

Face to face interview are a crucial part of media production when coming up with idea's, this process allows you to talk to a member of your target audience personally and get to know what they want on the television and through this you can compile data that will help you achieve the media product you are aiming for and (in the case of mistakes) help you improve upon your idea's in the case that they may not apply to the person you are interviewing.

In example's, say if a person has an idea for a movie sequel, after the first movie they are interviewed and asked what they liked about the movie, what was the best aspect and what they can do to improve on in the case of a sequel.

Teeside University

Marcus Miller Production Diary

Wednesday 24th September:

Teeside University:

On the 24th September I went from Middlesbrough college to Teeside university with the rest of my group of creative media students. The specific building that we walked to was the centurion building where we were expected by 2 teachers of media production in a room on the ground floor.

The teachers had given us a challenge where we were paired in groups of three or four and had to record a 90 second long video to test us on filming without pre-production and without proper film equipment. This was done to test our skills in coming up with film idea's when given one title for the idea.

In these photo's you can see me taking notes on the subject and using them towards coming up with idea's for the group which could help us towards our filming.

I wanted to gain experience in idea's that I could use and increase my skills in the area of filming and storyboards, this way I would be able to contribute more to the groups i would be in the near future and serve a more useful purpose.

I've learned that it is hard to even do a film with the little equipment we have and that I need to manage my time better towards coming up with idea's and following them to the letter so I can use this information for other work.

After a university course I looked up the course I want to take if I get into Teeside University. The course is computer animation and I am working on my current grades to get into this course, this will allow me to work in editing and animation in the media industry which is what I want to do as a career.

Sunderland University:

At Sunderland university, we learned about filming and were asked to get into groups in order to come up with a improvised version of the Jeremy Kyle show.

https://youtu.be/vNKnTtZF6Ig

I was paired with Ethan, Matthew and James Larvin, the group worked well on both sides of the assignment which is creating our show and filming the other groups shows. I was given the role of actor in this and I think I did well with my performance and the rest of the group were by far better in their performances.

On the lines of opportunities I looked on the universities website and I discovered a placement in film and media, a full time course that is full-time and has duration for 3 years. That will provide much time for me to develop filming skills and become a better cinematographer.

What I wanted out of this workshop was to learn how to work in-front of a crowd and operate film equipment to a proper measure, because of the level I was at. With my own filming experience I wasn't the best so this gave me a chance to put everything I had learn't from the start into action. With what I have learned I could possibly sign up for another workshop with the BBC and learn more about camera operating.

Especially if going to this college would give me access to these facilities which we did get to use on the trip there.

BBC Offer:

11th Wednesday 2015

Basically last Thursday a representative from the BBC came in and talked about his own experiences with the BBC's media sector and what he can do for a few students who sign up for the BBC for a weeks and work around BBC in Edinburgh for 4 days. 

Those who would attend would gain work experience and possibly a job with the BBC in the future, such as filming, camera operating and would also have a chance to work with those who make everything on the BBC happen.

What I wanted to gain from this workshop was to learn of what would be in store if I did want to work for the BBC and what I heard was not what I was looking for as I am awaiting a career in graphic novels.

I have looked into this course and I have realized that it is just not what I am looking for. I've been to many universities and I've found several careers to embark upon that do not require me to go into business with companies like the BBC, but The work I aim to do may require some filming experience, so I am still thinking about it.

Teeside University Interview: Wednesday 14th January 2015

I went to Teeside university for an interview during a trip to Teeside university to take a look around, I had received a email recently that allowed me to ask the teacher if I could leave a few minutes before my interview so that I could attend it to talk over my sills with a university teacher and decide whether or not I was prepared for their lessons and the skills I would require to get in. When I walked in I went straight to the center of the college to await my turn for my interview, when it was my turn I talked to the teacher on concept art and digital storytelling and I was told that my skills lack certain aspects for the work required and I needed to think about other things at Teeside university that I could do or other options I had at the university.

I wanted to apply for concept design and digital storytelling so I was a bit crushed when I found out I couldn't do that, So I realized that I would have to find what I was good at and apply more work towards getting into that line of work through the university. What I learn't from this is that I need to be more prepared on interviews, learn to sell myself better when interviewing with a teacher and make it so why they would want me on their course as a student.

The opportunities that are available to me now is that have learned that I am more suited to work in the graphic novels and comics sector, so its a good thing I got an offer from them that is a 3 year and full time,it requires 280 UCAS points that I am now working towards now.

Middlesbrough college Cinefest 1st of May 2015

Cinefest was announced weeks before attendance to all media students in level 2 and 3, in order to view the various films that were  created. The job is to watch these various videos, review them and also be there for the other film makers who took part to witness them receive an award based a quality or skill that they have shown in the films they have either made or took part in. I attended the same time as everyone else and watched all the films and a few that were played during break as well, such as one created by my fellow students, Ethan, Andy and Tom known as Ventriloquism, which I had also taken part in as a voice actor.

Now what I wanted to gain from attending isn't really difficult, I have been filming at this college for 3 years now and I have helped produce some good work in filming, so there are many reasons than just wanting to see this competition. One of them is too see how other people who have been at the college as long as I, have progressed in the ways of making films so I can compare the two and see who's is superior and see whether or not I need to start improving upon my filming technique. Also I wanted to see who if the group I was with in making a puppet movie would win an award.

The impact this experience has had on my own practice is that from the looks of everyone else's films I need to take part in acting more as people liked my voice over scene and found it funny and also I need to try to learn more skills around the ways of editing and adding in additional effects so that when I make another video it can be better than what I have done in the past. The way I will use this information is so I can better my work in filming and intern this will not also just help me get better grades in filming, but will also give me better experience towards getting a job in filming, editing or even as a voice actor. This experience in this workshop has taught me that many people can come to respect film makers and their idea's, so I must better myself through this experience if I hope to work in the creative media industry.

There are many opportunities for me along the lines of filming that can help me along the lines of filming such as signing up for more filming competitions such as with a company I have worked with to make an advert with a group. the company is called Mo film and it works on giving briefs to various groups as part of a competition to make actual adverts for actual advertisement companies.

These can give me experience in working by my self on a project and using the skills I gained in production management and also filming as well, this can be used to give me some credit in solo work if I work hard enough at it and make many videos. The entry requirement are simple to act within the constraints of the assigned brief and to hand in the work upon it's completion, as I have said this can also get employment opportunities as working with many of these brief's can give me prior credits if they are a success and if any of this doesn't work I can sign up for more work experience with the college on filming with other groups.

Multimedia Talk (Teeside University)

Here is the entry for another workshop provided by Middlesbrough College in the multimedia talks from Teeside university, the talk is about trying to get more people invested in the news and other forms of communication of information in media, such as journalism and news reporting. Throughout the talks we learned that we could sign up for various news reporting such as going along with actual news reporters and actually going abroad for global talks as well. After that they asked us questions on hat we thought of the news today, I answered the question and said that the news is best sticking to important issues and not talking about trivial matters or human interest stories.

What I wanted to gain from attending this multimedia talk was to learn more on the subject of the news and multiple forms of journalism from people who have had experience in this field of work and are quite informative when it comes to their stands on what should be on the news and I mean that in a good way as they make a good point. So I learned that I can gain experience if I decide to invest my time in these opportunities that the talks are offering.

The impact this has had on my own practice is that I need to learn what are the correct questions to ask when interviewing anyone in any form of interview, since if I want to work in the media business I will need to learn how to ask questions correctly in case I need to conduct an interview for work purposes or hiring. I will use this information in my next interview so that I may keep all questions asked to a professional standard, this will surely help further my current practice further.

There are also many opportunities that can be offered through this and many other related offers as well. I have researched a previous BBC workshop up above and that offers work into the radio as well, so there are many opportunities in that line of work with the BBC and I can learn to operate equipment and their requirements are simple, such as just signing up for the workshop, Basically I could learn how to news report and ask the correct questions when gathering information.  This could lead to me getting a job in news broadcasting and journalism and would contribute to this workshop as well.