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Showing posts with label E. The Industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label E. The Industry. Show all posts
Sunday, 21 June 2015
Thursday, 4 June 2015
Friday, 22 May 2015
Ownership and Funding
Ownership Concepts:
- Public Service Broadcasting - This is broadcasting that is not merely targeting commercial interests and gains, but instead aims at the public with a service that benefits them. Examples of this are radio stations like BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Norfolk and KISS FM. These are radio stations that are broadcast across the country, be it at home, in the car or in a shop, so it's always going to reach the consumer.
- Commercial Broadcasting - This is broadcasting such as television and radio that is based on advertising and making a profit for the company, which are usually privately owned. An example of this is Compare the Market sponsoring Coronation Street. This is a company that has agreed a deal with Coronation Street so that whenever the show is broadcast, it comes with multiple adverts for said company.
- Corporate and Private Ownership - Corporate ownership is when there can be a number of owners of a product/company, but the business is turned into a corporation, which is a different legal identity. Corporate ownership allows the business to last indefinitely even if the initial owner disappears out of the equation. Private Ownership is when a company is owned by people or organizations that are not part of the government and doesn't trade publicly on a securities exchange, which allows regulations that exist in public ownership to be avoided making the process a lot easier. An example of a privately owned company is Archant Limited which is a family owned newspaper business based in Norwich. Being family owned means that all funding comes from within, privately, and doesn't require resources from outside parties.
- Global Companies - Global Companies are companies that operate in two or more countries, providing a much broader consumer base, along with the legal challenges and other issues that arise when working internationally. Examples of Global Companies are Microsoft and McDonald's. In terms of the media industry Warner Brothers is a good example, as it has locations all over the globe. This is a media company that only produces film, TV and music products but pushes it's products all across the globe, making it known worldwide.
- Vertical Integration - This is where the supply chain of a company is owned by said company. Each part of the chain produce a different product and then all combine at the finish line in order to satisfy a common need. An example of this is Time Warner who own Warner Brothers, as unlike Warner Brothers who only specialize in film, Time Warner also make newspapers and theme parks. This is so that they reach a greater number of different audiences. meaning more success and profits in the long run.
- Horizontal Integration - This is when the company which produces units for distribution that are alike others, either in a complementary or competitive way. A good example of this is Walt Disney, as it started out as an animation studio targeting younger audiences and families, it developed horizontally and integrated live action films such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series. This is a film series that is not animated, but still appeals to younger audiences with it's use of characters, story and script. As well as the younger audiences, this reaches to new audiences who aren't fans of animation for example.
Funding Types:
- The Licence Fee - This is an amount of money paid by an individual or business to a government agency in order for the right to perform a certain service or engage in a specific line of business that they previously couldn't. An example of this in the media world is paying a TV license, allowing you to watch television broadcasts legally. This is so broadcasters can make more profit and then produce further content.
- Subscription - This is an agreement to receive something, often media production or publications on a regular basis, be in weekly, monthly or yearly by paying for it in advance. Examples of this would be Trade Unions and Netflix. Netflix is an online service that holds thousands of films and programmes in its vast library for viewers to watch at their leisure. It requires a small monthly fee to watch, but after that you can watch as much as you like, there are no limits.
- One-off Payment to own product - This is where a single payment is handed over by the individual and in return they receive the product and complete ownership rights of it, it is now their property. This could be used to own just about anything you can buy. In the world of TV and Film, a one-off payment will typically be paid when signing onto a TV provider who will give you a television box and install it. Examples of these are a Sky Box and a Tivo Box. These are boxes that allow the viewer to record and store shows and films that they have previously watched or plan to in the future.
- Pay per View - This is a service used majorly with television, in which a one off payment is required to watch a specific programme or movie. An example of this is the Sky Sports Box Office channel that is only active when a huge sporting event is taking place such as Boxing or WWE. These are exclusive to the channel and this allows broadcasters to charge a premium price for the luxury of watching it.
- Sponsorship - The position of being a sponsor, where you provide money. This could be for a charity where you do it privately, or for a sports team of television show, where you sponsor them and in return your business name/product are advertised every time the sponsored source makes an appearance. An example of this would be Fly Emirates sponsoring Arsenal FC. The reason they sponser is so that their company is getting shown to the consumer of what they're sponsoring, generating new interest and acknowledgement they previously may have not had.
- Advertising - This is the activity of producing advertisements for a product or service in order to gain profits. Examples of this are television adverts. They will be seen between shows by countless people planting the product or service in the viewers mind which they may follow up on later. The reasoning behind this is that viewers of TV shows don't tend to move whilst their is a break, so they will watch all of the adverts and with the vast amount of people watching, it's almost certain that someone will take an interest in what's being advertised.
- Product Placement - This is where a brand pays another in order to have their name/product advertised by the other. This often happens in films in the modern day, such as Transformers: Age Of Extinction. In this film there are multiple uses of product placement for brands including Red Bull, Victoria's Secret and Budweiser. This is becoming more common as huge films that are going to be seen by millions are an easy way to advertise a product.
- Private Capital - This is a capital that is not quoted on any public exchange, but instead consists of investors and funds all handled privately out of sight. An example of this is Megan Ellison who's funds for her film producing come from within the family, allowing her to become a big name in the producing world. This is useful as it means that outside parties don't have to be involved that can often provide issues for other companies.
- Crowd-funding - This is the process of funding something by raising small amounts of money by a lot of people. This is often done online. Examples of this are charities such as Cancer Research and the RSPCA. In the Media world, an example is Kickstarter which is funded by donations to make films. This is a company that takes donations from the public and gives them to new producers that are starting up and need a helping hand to really get them going. If those producers then get big, they will remember who helped them out and donate themselves for the next generation.
- Development Funds - This is where money is injected/invested into areas that were previously struggling and need a boost. BFI (British Film Institute) is an example of this as it exists in order to promote greater understanding, appreciation of and access to the film and moving image culture in the UK. This is to generate more interest and respect for the industry, that could lead to funding, new careers and new ideas.
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
Contractual, legal and ethical letter
To whom it may concern,
I am writing this letter to you to point out and make clear the contractual, legal and ethical issues with your job advertisement. I hope you take note of what I say so that you can correct any mistakes that could land you in trouble with the law.
Contracts are legal agreements that relate to terms of employment for both sides. It's important that both the employer and employee are fully aware of what the contract entails. This includes the role, hours and payment. In terms of your job description, it is not clear whether the successful candidate would be working 10 or 45 hours, and if they they'd be earning 15k or 35k per year. A confidentiality clause is a clause that states you must not give any private information about your employer's activities.
The Equality Act was put together in 2010 as a broad overview covering many acts that come under it including the Equal Pay Act of 1970, Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. It protects the use of discrimination on grounds of race, gender and age. In your job application form you have stated you wish the applicant to be aged below 30. This conflicts with the Age Discrimination policy of the Equality Act as there is no reason someone above the age of 30 cannot do the role advertised effectively. I recommend you amend this of it could land you in a lot of trouble.
An idea would be to follow the Equal Opportunities legislation that assures employers aim to recruit fairly and that they provide codes of practice that proves this. Under this legislation, employers are responsible for for the well being of their employees and are liable for any physical or emotional harm an employee may suffer under employment.
Being asked to make a documentary on such a sensitive topic of rape, this could easily cause emotional harm. Any applicants would not be protected until employed, and looking at the Health and Safety legislation employees are able to claim compensation from any harm caused where the employer is responsible, which you would be choosing a sensitive topic to work with. Technically, they wouldn't be employees at this stage so would be unable to claim anything, which is unfair when the company is to blame. Trade Unions exist in order to protect rights of employees. In order to gain the benefits you must become a member and pay a yearly membership.
Codes of practice are not affected by the law. They are in place to protect the consumer and have a powerful role in television and film. Policies, procedures and codes of practice that specific to an individual are the responsibility of the employer to provide. These will be unique to the individual and employer, and are a good way to avoid any legal action you may face in the future. Representation is big in the media and this can be problematic. It isn't difficult for the media to manipulate the way something is represented and whatever they feed the audience a strong opinion will be made on it. In terms of the documentary task at hand, you have fallen into the trap of biased representation. An example of this is you have specifically asked for female victims and male offenders to feature. This creates a stereotype that it's always the male at fault and females are not capable of committing rape themselves, which is a false image. Social concerns also arise as it is 'teenagers' being targeted creating a view that teenagers in general are the ones behind rape, further building the negative 'thug' stereotype they already possess, and overshadowing older offenders and victims.
The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is a media regulator that sets standards for all British Broadcasting that any media production must meet before it can be released/aired. It exists thanks to the Communications Act and Broadcasting Act that were about setting up a basis for standards that all broadcasting requires in order to be aired. The Ofcom code is made up of multiple sections including Crime, Religion, Privacy and Fairness. Particularly in this case though, 'Protecting the Under-Eighteens' and 'Harm and Offence' are in the forefront.
Protection of the Under-Eighteens is in place to protect those under the age of 18 from any material that may have a negative impact on them.
Your brief states that the documentary will be broadcast "to children at high school" which means they will be no older than 16 at the most. This is an obvious problem as a topic of rape, with re-enactments is pretty explicit and inappropriate for anyone of that age. This means that your brief will be conflicting with the Ofcom regulations of protecting minors.
Secondly, the Harm and Offence section is there to ensure that generally accepted standards are met and applied in order to protect members of the public from harmful or offensive material. Again, this is conflicted with your task for applicants, as rape is a very sensitive and personal subject, many people will find it offensive or harmful, especially parents thinking of their children and the negative impact it could have on them at such a young age. The Obscene Publications Act was put in place in order to determine if material is scene as too explicit depending on the age range of the audience and the time of broadcasting.
The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is an independent company that classifies films in terms of age depending on what features in the film, such as foul language and nudity for example. In all honesty the video you are asking for would have to have an age certification of 18. This is because the topic is very sensitive in itself, and also using re-enactments will be of an aggressive, violent and sexual nature, which isn't suitable for anyone under that age rating.
The Intellectual Property law is in place so that creators can own their work without the worry of it being stolen. This ranges from things such as a brand, invention, a design or a song. In the modern day, the internet has made it much more difficult to stop unauthorized use and downloading of copyrighted material. Copyrighting something protects it from being used free of charge by everyone and anyone. In the small print of your job letter, you mention a re-compensation of "up to the value of£20 for the production of the video" any applicant enters. This will more than likely give applicants an incentive to commit copyright infringement in order to create as good a video as possible. If it's found out copyrighted music or anything else has been used, and the fact that you have given them encouragement through money, it may well result in a legal dispute.
I hope that after reading this you realize your mistakes and make an effort to fix them. This can be done by withdrawing the letter and redistributing an altered version that abides by the legal and contractual regulations.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Green
The Equality Act was put together in 2010 as a broad overview covering many acts that come under it including the Equal Pay Act of 1970, Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995. It protects the use of discrimination on grounds of race, gender and age. In your job application form you have stated you wish the applicant to be aged below 30. This conflicts with the Age Discrimination policy of the Equality Act as there is no reason someone above the age of 30 cannot do the role advertised effectively. I recommend you amend this of it could land you in a lot of trouble.
An idea would be to follow the Equal Opportunities legislation that assures employers aim to recruit fairly and that they provide codes of practice that proves this. Under this legislation, employers are responsible for for the well being of their employees and are liable for any physical or emotional harm an employee may suffer under employment.
Being asked to make a documentary on such a sensitive topic of rape, this could easily cause emotional harm. Any applicants would not be protected until employed, and looking at the Health and Safety legislation employees are able to claim compensation from any harm caused where the employer is responsible, which you would be choosing a sensitive topic to work with. Technically, they wouldn't be employees at this stage so would be unable to claim anything, which is unfair when the company is to blame. Trade Unions exist in order to protect rights of employees. In order to gain the benefits you must become a member and pay a yearly membership.
Codes of practice are not affected by the law. They are in place to protect the consumer and have a powerful role in television and film. Policies, procedures and codes of practice that specific to an individual are the responsibility of the employer to provide. These will be unique to the individual and employer, and are a good way to avoid any legal action you may face in the future. Representation is big in the media and this can be problematic. It isn't difficult for the media to manipulate the way something is represented and whatever they feed the audience a strong opinion will be made on it. In terms of the documentary task at hand, you have fallen into the trap of biased representation. An example of this is you have specifically asked for female victims and male offenders to feature. This creates a stereotype that it's always the male at fault and females are not capable of committing rape themselves, which is a false image. Social concerns also arise as it is 'teenagers' being targeted creating a view that teenagers in general are the ones behind rape, further building the negative 'thug' stereotype they already possess, and overshadowing older offenders and victims.
The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is a media regulator that sets standards for all British Broadcasting that any media production must meet before it can be released/aired. It exists thanks to the Communications Act and Broadcasting Act that were about setting up a basis for standards that all broadcasting requires in order to be aired. The Ofcom code is made up of multiple sections including Crime, Religion, Privacy and Fairness. Particularly in this case though, 'Protecting the Under-Eighteens' and 'Harm and Offence' are in the forefront.
Protection of the Under-Eighteens is in place to protect those under the age of 18 from any material that may have a negative impact on them.
Your brief states that the documentary will be broadcast "to children at high school" which means they will be no older than 16 at the most. This is an obvious problem as a topic of rape, with re-enactments is pretty explicit and inappropriate for anyone of that age. This means that your brief will be conflicting with the Ofcom regulations of protecting minors.
Secondly, the Harm and Offence section is there to ensure that generally accepted standards are met and applied in order to protect members of the public from harmful or offensive material. Again, this is conflicted with your task for applicants, as rape is a very sensitive and personal subject, many people will find it offensive or harmful, especially parents thinking of their children and the negative impact it could have on them at such a young age. The Obscene Publications Act was put in place in order to determine if material is scene as too explicit depending on the age range of the audience and the time of broadcasting.
The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) is an independent company that classifies films in terms of age depending on what features in the film, such as foul language and nudity for example. In all honesty the video you are asking for would have to have an age certification of 18. This is because the topic is very sensitive in itself, and also using re-enactments will be of an aggressive, violent and sexual nature, which isn't suitable for anyone under that age rating.
The Intellectual Property law is in place so that creators can own their work without the worry of it being stolen. This ranges from things such as a brand, invention, a design or a song. In the modern day, the internet has made it much more difficult to stop unauthorized use and downloading of copyrighted material. Copyrighting something protects it from being used free of charge by everyone and anyone. In the small print of your job letter, you mention a re-compensation of "up to the value of£20 for the production of the video" any applicant enters. This will more than likely give applicants an incentive to commit copyright infringement in order to create as good a video as possible. If it's found out copyrighted music or anything else has been used, and the fact that you have given them encouragement through money, it may well result in a legal dispute.
I hope that after reading this you realize your mistakes and make an effort to fix them. This can be done by withdrawing the letter and redistributing an altered version that abides by the legal and contractual regulations.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Green
Monday, 18 May 2015
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