7.3 Regulation and Employment in the Media Sector

Regulatory bodies: 

A regulatory body is like a professional body but it is not a membership organisation and its primary activity is to protect the public. Unlike professional bodies, it is established on the basis of legal mandate. Regulatory bodies exercise a regulatory function, that is: imposing requirements, restrictions and conditions, setting standards in relation to any activity, and securing compliance, or enforcement.

http://www.totalprofessions.com/more-about-professions/regulatory-bodies

Part A:

The BBFC:

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), previously theBritish Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, founded by the film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify videos, DVDs and, to a lesser extent, some video games under the Video Recordings Act 2010.  All films rated by the BBFC receive a certificate, along with "consumer advice" detailing references to sex, violence and coarse language. If a certificate specifies that a film or video game is only suitable for someone over a certain age, then only those over that age may buy it.

The BBFC rates theatrically released films, and rates videos and video games that forfeited exemption from theVideo Recordings Act 1984, which was discovered in August 2009 to be unenforceable until the act was re-enacted by the Video Recordings Act 2010. Legally, local authorities have the power to decide under what circumstances films are shown in cinemas, but they nearly always choose to follow the advice of the BBFC. The U age rating is given to films and DVDs that are likely to be suitable for anyone over the age of four years old. The Uc category no longer exists.

The Uc category was a special age rating for DVD, and signalled that content was especially suitable for pre-school children in terms of story, content and presentation.

Older DVDs may still carry a Uc symbol. There should be nothing in a Uc video or DVD to upset the youngest children, although it is always important to remember that the very young are sometimes unpredictable is the way they react to what they see on the screen, and that parents or carers should always be at hand.

All works that are particularly suitable for pre-school children are now classified U. They carry BBFCinsight which explains they are appropriate for that very young audience. The standard BBFCinsight for these DVDs reads ‘Particularly suitable for pre-school children’.

An example of a controversial film:

There were some notable exceptions, such as the PG rated The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, which contained mild language and moderate fantasy horror, and superhero adventure, The Fantastic Four. Of those works which arrived at the BBFC with a 12A request, none was more controversial than Stephen Spielberg’s big budget adaptation of H.G.Wells’ novel, War Of The Worlds, which has prompted over 60 letters from the public to date, many newspaper column inches and a question raised in parliament.

The sci-fi adventure starred Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning as a father and daughter trying to escape from New York after aliens invade earth. It received a PG-13 from the American ratings organisation, the MPAA, (the Motion Picture Association of America), and the distributor was keen to receive the near-equivalent advisory category - 12A - in the UK.

It was viewed here by a team of examiners as well as BBFC Director, David Cooke. Though some felt it was a ‘high end’ 12A because of sustained scenes of menace, threat and moderate horror, after due consideration it was awarded a 12A - on the understanding that these issues would be mentioned in robust Consumer Advice (now known as BBFCinsight).

 Factors cited by examiners in support of the 12A included the 'clearly fantasy' nature of the plot, the reassuring ending and the lack of detail in the violent scenes. They also noted that some high profile ‘end of the world’ and disaster films have been passed out at 12 and 12A, examples including Titanic, The Perfect Storm, Armageddon, Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow. Similarly, child characters have featured in dangerous and threatening scenarios in countless 12A level films that include Signs, The Others and the most recent Harry Potter outing, The Goblet of Fire.

Part B:

Job roles in my chosen sector:

Within the film industry, there are many different areas that come together to make a film. Some of the job roles that I have found in my chosen sector are:

• Actor
• ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) / Dialogue Editors
• Ariel Camera Assistant
• Ariel camera pilot
• Ariel director of photography
• Camera trainee
• Casting assistant
• Catering crew
• Director
• Digital imaging technician
• Editor
• Foley editor 
• Marketing and publicity manager
• Producer assistant
• Stagehand etc.

A few of these jobs roles could overlap and interconnect. For example the job roles of Ariel camera assistant camera trainee and could overlap due to the fact that they are both jobs that help out with the camera. These two job roles are based in the same area for the film process so that this means that they overlap and interconnect within each others so if someone was working in one of these jobs could be asked to in involved with both. 

Working in the film industry you need to regularly update knowledge and skills to work n the industry because things are always changing. For example in the editorial job there could be new ways that have come about to edit the films and the clips that they have shot. You need to be able to have up to date knowledge of the new post production processes and be familiar with new editing software that may come about. to be able to work in the film industry, you need to be able to be creative in thinking. There are different courses that you could take to get started in the film industry. The London Film academy is a good place to study as it's main focus is to give you the skills and knowledge that you need to be part of the film industry.

Part C:

A job vacancy that is available in my chosen film sector for a camera operator:

This is the brief of the job that i found. It shows what you will be doing and the requirements: 

Camera Operator

One Stop Film Camp - London
Internship

As a production company which works with feature and short films, commercials, music videos and events, we are looking for additional cinematographers to join the team for our short films. Requirements:  Training will be provided but a passion for camera work is desirable such as having a hobby in photography. Familiarity with DSLRs and knowledge of framing will be a plus. . Responsibilities include:  -Operating DSLR cameras -Filming hand held -Setting up camera rigs -Being available for last minute jobs Job Type: Internship This is the application process that i had to do to apply for the job. This was just a simple application as there will be another one once they email you confirming that you can properly apply for the chosen job. Cover letter: Dear hiring manager, I am writing to you today to express my interest in this job. I think that I would be the best for this job as I can offer many skills to this position. I have been looking for a new job in this sector for a while and when coming across this one, I immediately decided to apply. I am considered a responsible employee, arriving on time, completing my work in a timely manner and paying close attention to the producer's expectations and standards for the stuff i work on. I look forward to meeting with you in person this week and discussing the details of this position. In the meantime please find my resume attached. References are available upon request. Sincerely, Aimee Bryan Showreel

7.1 Structure and Ownership of the Media Sector

There are many different media sectors including television, film, computer gaming and the publishing industry. The media sector that I am going to be focusing on is film. The film industry is one of the most successful types of entertainment. The film industry also contributed to £4.3 billion to the UK's economy in 2006. Film is becoming increasingly popular in 2007, there were 516 films released in the UK, this is an increase in the past decade.

The creative media sector includes a wide range of industries, each employing large numbers of people in a variety of creative and technical roles (sometimes overlapping and individuals working in more than one industry):

• Film (27,800)
• Television (55,800)
• Publishing (200,000)
• Interactive media (40,000)
• Games (10,000)
• Radio (22,000)
• Photo-imaging (44,000)
• Advertising (17,000)
• Animation (4,700)

One example of a film production company if 21st century fox. This is an American film studio, distributor and one of the six major American film studios. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio is currently owned by 21st Century Fox and is formerly owned by News Corporation.

This is the table of al the people that are involved in the production of the company and what bit of the company that they are in.




This company has different types of divisions in it one being television. 20th Television is Fox's television syndication division. 20th Century Fox Television is the studio's television production division. During the mid-1950s features were released to television in the hope that they would broaden sponsorship and help distribution of network programs. Blocks of one-hour programming of feature films to national sponsors on 128 stations was organised by Twentieth Century Fox and National Telefilm Associates. Twentieth Century Fox received 50 percent interest in NTA Film network after it sold its library to National Telefilm Associates. This company also has a division in music. Fox Music has been Fox's music arm since 2000. It encompasses music publishing and licensing businesses, dealing primarily with Fox Entertainment Group television and film soundtracks. Prior to Fox Music, 20th Century Records was its music arm from 1958 to 1982. This company also has a radio division. The Twentieth Century Fox Presents radio series were broadcast between 1936 and 1942. More often than not, the shows were a radio preview featuring a medley of the songs and soundtracks from the latest movie being released into the theatres, much like the modern day movie trailers we now see on TV, to encourage folks to head down to their nearest Picture House. The radio shows featured the original stars, with the announcer narrating a wonderful lead up, which really encapsulated the performance, such as in the film, Irene.


Here is the list of the other different divisions within this company:

• Divisions
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
• Fox 21 Television Studios
• 20th Century Fox Television
• 20th Television
• 20th Century Fox Animation
• Fox Searchlight Pictures
• Fox Digital Studio
• Fox 2000 Pictures
• Fox Animation Studios
• 20th Century Fox Japan
• Fox Digital Entertainment

As part of the competition and mergers section of this assignment Time warner came into question on 21st Century Fox is that Twenty-First Century Fox, the media empire run by Rupert Murdoch, made an $80 billion takeover bid in recent weeks for Time Warner but was rebuffed, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday. The bold approach could put Time Warner in play and might again ignite a reshaping of the media industry, prompting a new spate of mega-mergers among the nation's largest entertainment companies. Murdoch has built a global media juggernaut over nearly five decades spanning studios, television channels and newspapers, in part, by pursuing bold deals that were often rebuffed at first by the targets of his overtures, only to later acquiesce.

Together, Fox and Time Warner would become a colossus with an array of television networks and channels like Fox, Fox News, FX, TNT and TBS; the premium subscription channel HBO, movie studios like Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Brothers and other high-profile outlets. It would also combine Fox's growing sports business with the broadcast rights that Time Warner owns for professional and college basketball and Major League Baseball, among other sports. The combined company would have total revenue of $65 billion.

At the box office their profits were going down during the media conglomerate's most fiscal quarter. Revenues hit $7.38 billion, down 1% from the prior year, missing analysts expectations. Earnings per share topped off at 44 cents compared to 53 cents per share in the year-ago period, which was roughly in line with projections. Twenty-First Century Fox’s overall sales declined in 2015’s first fiscal quarter, mostly due the box office failure of “Fantastic Four.” Wall Street had expected Fox’s Q1 earnings per share to come in at $0.38 on $6.42 billion in revenue, per Yahoo Finance. Zacks was one penny more pessimistic per share. Fox reported actual revenue of $6.08 billion. The company made the $0.38 mark thanks to some adjustments. This could also relate to the financial concerns as they are losing money from the films as they aren't doing good at the box office.

What's the point? Documentary - Kidnapping

Kidnapping Documentary

Key Assessment task

• The title to my project is going to be "What's the point?" based around why so many young people are being kidnapped and why people are committing such a crime. I wanted to raise awareness on the amount of young people go missing in certain areas of london and why this is happening and what can be done to help put an end to it.

• I think that the length of my documentary would be 8 - 10 minutes long.

• I would like to get this film completed by January for the deadline.

• Specifics filming dates - I will be filming in a classroom the has a basic back drop. I will be doing the filming during my media lessons so that I have the people that i want in my film as I will be using people that are in my media class to help me to complete my documentary. I think that I might need to get permission from one of the other media teachers to use their room as they need to know what is going to be happening in their classroom. 

• I think that I will do some filming on the streets of croydon and some in London because these are the places that have the most kidnapping happening. I don't think that i will need any permissions to film in these areas as they're not private places and they are open to the public.

• The way that I intend to use my film is as brand awareness. I what to make aware the affects that kidnapping has on the people that are around the kidnapping, for example, the victims families and the families of the person that has committed the crime.

• I think that my target audience would be young people and their parents as I would like to communicate that there are safer ways to go out and avoid the chance of being kidnapped and what precautions the parents can do to keep their children safe.
• The music that I will be using will have a calm vibe to it. The song that I will be using is James Bay - Let it go; the instrumental version. 

• Archive - There isn't any other media tat I will be using in my documentary as I will be filming it all myself and using original ideas and footage.

TASK 1 – Understanding and Interpreting a Brief.

What is a brief?
A brief is a set of instructions given to a person about a job or a task. Within different criteria,
there are many different types of brief.

A contractual brief is an easy brief to tell apart from the others. This is a brief that you will have to sign. It's different to the others because it involves a lot of description. It involves things like a time frame, pay, deadlines and job requirements. This type of brief is often used when big amounts of money is involved, or if there is a lack of trust between the client and employee. If you were to sign a contractual brief, you are agreeing to all terms that have been stated in the brief. If any conditions were to be broken in the brief, you could face legal action.

A negotiated brief is a brief that is all controlled by the employees. This brief can give a person more ways to get around the brief as they can change any aspects of the brief. This means you can use more of a creative vision. A negotiated brief can be used when a person doesn't exactly know what they want, so it's left up to them to work it out.

A formal brief is a well structured, and neat document that has specifications of a product or service. It uses formal language so there is no slang. It should be well explained to the employees so they know exactly what they are doing. It uses a client logo to look more professional.

A informal brief is different to the formal one as, it isn't long. This brief can be a short piece of text or it can be verbal. It can be used in social situation like making arrangements with friends or family. It's written in informal language and slang can be used. It's basically someone asking someone else to do them a favour.

A commission brief can be used when a client wants to commission a company. It is usually used it the clients has some kind of relation with the company. It's used so that it doesn't have to go to tender because the client already know what they want. You don't have to waste anytime when using this brief as you can go straight to the company.

A competition brief is a public brief. It allows anyone to be a part of it and have full access to the terms for free. Being a competition brief, only the winner will get the full benefits of the prize, so that less money is spent on a prize. The Sundance London short film is an example of a competition that used a brief.

A tender brief is similar to a competition brief. Some companies use this brief to pitch to clients to fights for work. The best pitch will be selected by the clients which will develop their ideas.

A Co-operative brief is where 2 or more companies are contracted to work on the same assignment. It is used for multi-tasking, for example in movie making.

When reading a brief you need to make sure that you understand what type of brief you are reading. You also need to make sure that you are paying attention to final dates, timescale and what it is that is required of you. When negotiating a brief , it's best to always read it before you make any movement on it. Negotiation can be crucial when it isn't plausible. For example, if you were filing a f=movie, you may have to do some negotiating when it comes to the location.

There are many opportunities when it comes to a brief. Some opportunities are:
- Getting new skills
- Multi-tasking
- It could increase you CV
- Meeting new people in different industries.

31.1 Understand the purpose and impact of social action and community media production work

P1: Describe the purposes and impact of social action and community media production

What is social action?

Social action means taking steps to change the things that are wrong in our society and introducing new ideas and processes for doing things better in the future.

Research File

Young people going missing.

Why are young people going missing:

• could they have been kidnapped?
• have they run away from home?
• is it safe where they are?

Some causes for young people going missing:

• they could be being abused - physically, sexually, mentally, verbally
• might not be much support at home
• somebody has told them to do to be with them e.g. an older partner.
• some may have be abducted by traffickers - they are experts at moving people around

the highest amount of children that go missing every day in london is around 8-14.

Some solutions:

• talking to the croydon procedure for safeguarding children