Sixth Blog- 26/03/10

With the next 2 weeks being Easter, I have made a plan to finish my proposal over these weeks. I now have the bulk of my research ready to convert to my extended proposal, so the next few weeks will be spent finishing and perfecting my proposal and presentation. With only a minimum amount of work being applied to the actual presentation, I will be spending as much time planning and preparing my pitch. For my pitch I am going to use visuals to my advantage. Over the Easter holidays, I am going to look into more detail at preparing a video piece to show to the commissioning panel. Over the last week I have spent more time planning and editing my show-reel than I have preparing for my presentation. The main reason for this being that I have neglected the show-reel over the last few weeks in favour of other units. Overall my show-reel has become a piece showcasing my editing skills, styles and techniques. Through Easter, I am going to look at pieces that I have taken a more physical role in, such as directing and filming, to include in my final show-reel.

Fifth Blog 17/03/10

Throughout this week I have continued researching for my extended proposal. After researching in more detail the audience for my programme idea, I have managed to find a style that fits this best. From this I have also decided that I will no longer be using Channel 4 as an option for my programme, and will now focus on More 4. More 4 style documentaries use a much more academic approach, allowing for the higher educated audience to take an interest. By using this channel as my main platform I can now develop further my main style. In terms of content, through more reading I found an article in Elle magazine. The article focused on feminism and the developments within the workplace concerning females. This included a variety of facts and figures which can be used to back up my extended proposal, and also due to content, has inspired me to continue looking into the risks that females face when trying to get ahead in a male dominated industry. Over the next week, leading to the Easter holidays, I would like to continue this research further, but would also like to become more investigative in terms of how I am finding my information. This will include me taking an active role as a female looking for work. I will contact employers, and work on getting an interview with somebody from an industry which is male dominated. If I can get this piece as a visual product, this will then be used in my final presentation in terms of content.
In terms of show-reel development, I have continued to look at past pieces of work, and see the strengths that, if included, these would bring to the product. Over the next week or so, I would like to compile these pieces, and find a set plan for the pieces I have.

Fourth Blog 11/03/2010

Throughout this week, I have looked in more detail at the Channel 4/More 4 style of documentary. In this research I have looked at the style in which these programmes take on, and how this passes information to the viewer. From this I found a variety of different results, varying on the audience to which the content is aimed. This research has given me a better idea as to how I would like my programme to look overall. This was then applied to the draft of my proposal. At the moment I am finding it difficult to come up with a catchy name for my documentary. From research I have found that this type of investigative documentary is very popular, and that the titles that are used on platforms like Channel 4, are usually long winded, yet get the point across. For next week I would like to be closer to a set proposal, and for this I need to research more into the style and hopefully find a title for my programme.

Third Blog-26/02/2010

Since changing my initial idea, I have found that finding information on this subject matter has been a much easier task than in a way creating new information and opinions to be broadcast.
My new idea will be a factual based programme, planned to run for 60 minutes, on a network such as More4. The subject matter of this will be females in the workplace. The programme will be both investigative and informative. The investigative aspect will come from a female presenter taking out the task of finding and applying for a job that is in a male dominated industry. We will then follow her as she takes on the interviews and see how she gets treated throughout this period of time. The informative aspect will be in the form of interviews with experts. These will be of a variety of ages and from a number of different social and professional backgrounds. These experts will either be employers or employees that have an opinion on the subject matter, and in some cases will have first hand experience in a discriminative situation.
The research I found from this in terms of a target audience made me create an audience "model" and a specific type of person who this programme will appeal to. The style will appeal to both males and females, but due to subject matter will be aimed at a female audience. The age range from this will be of an older audience, targetting ages between university graduates (21-24) up to the older generations who may have faced these issues in previous employment(50-70). With this being a wide range, my next task will be to look at any existing programmes that may appeal to this age and see how they apply specific codes and conventions and create a propsal.

Second Blog-19/02/2010

Throughout reading week, we were given the task to research our target audience for our television programme ideas. My first idea was to make a "games review" show. This would be of a similar style to other game review shows, but from research I found out that many of these focused on a similar audience age. I looked into current reviews that were based on other formats (such as the Xbox Live platform)and how popular these were with the audience. As many of my gaming friends are of a similar age, this proved to be fairly biased research. This said, the research taken from this proved that the audience preferred a much more academic approach to reviews. From this I decided that the best way to sell a new gaming review show would be to focus on this new, older audience.
After this research, I looked more into how easy this programme would be to make and how long I could carry an interest in it. This made me realise that I only have a very small passion for something of this style, therefore making it difficult for me to continue coming up with creative aspects to make this show appealing. This then made me look at what genre of programme I would be able to hold an interest in. From this I created a new idea for a factual programme that I feel that I can hold an interest in and continue to make new and interesting content for this.

First Blog- 15/02/2010

When given a task to create a proposal and pitch for a Product to broadcast, there are many things that have to be considered. Many of these are research based, and provide a foundation for a further product. The first thing I began to research was gaps within the current market. Trying to fill this gap could prove risky, as the public generally want the same old programmes that have been fed to them for years. The majority of the market is currently filled with Real-Life shows, and Reality TV, but this seems to be what the general public are currently demanding. From this, I need to find a market for my proposed TV Show idea. For the next week, I will take out research to find an audience for my idea. From this I can then start work on my proposal.

For my showreel, I have started by looking through existing pieces of work that I would like to include in my showreel. I have also started working on styles that I would like my showreel to take on. Over the next week I would like to have a small portfolio of work ready to begin editing into a final showreel piece.