Recap! And A Little Apology! :)

Hi everyone! so sorry its took a few days for me to write on here, Ive had a lot going on in and outside of Uni!

So I've nearly finished production on my TV show. Were just in post production now completing our title sequence and getting ready to film the music. Beyond The Camera module is going well, its a little all over the place as we've had a lot to do in the past few weeks so thats something I need to concentrate on. Digital Media Cultures is as heavy as ever what with an essay looming over my head like a dark, horrible cloud. If you cant already tell, essay writing isn't my strong point, especially when its something that I'm not that clear on. My essay question is about the developing digital technologies and how they are democratising the media industry. I picked this question because I know I can write a lot on it, such as how anyone can create a feature film now what with the development of SLR's and Final Cut Pro available to anyone and how publishing does not require an industry anymore. It's all done online, like exactly what I'm doing right now in fact; publishing my blog to you all.
Anyway, I've gathered a few references and I know what points I want to make however I'm finding it really hard to put into words. I feel as though I'm going off track a little and writing too much about how I feel rather than backing anything up with references! Im pretty nervous about finishing it, I won't lie. I'm really good at writing reports or reflections, I mean there is no way in hell I will be made to write an essay in the line of work I want to go into! But hey, its 50% of my final mark for that module, so I need to suck it up!!

Anyway, after recent talks about deadline dates and how were all feeling a little stressed about are work load, my Applied Media Research lecture has kindly offered to put back the deadline for the presentation for this module so that we can really concentrate on the harder modules, like the essay and TV Show. I thought that this was really good of her as this way we will be able to get on with our research for this module over the christmas period. We have been having meetings within groups for this module, however my group that consists of myself, Stevie and Elicia is a little different to what I expected to be honest. Stevie and I have attended all group meetings and have planned out what research we as a team are going to do but our team member Elicia just never seems to show up. It's a shame as she is great to work with and really gets involved, but in the project I havnt seen her hardly at all, which leads me to believe Stevie and I are doing the majority of the work....

From this (and others within team work in the TV Show) I've noticed this year, what with Uni work and all the side projects we are offered and get picked for, I feel we are under a lot of pressure however I've realised that it is now a 'dog eat dog' world out there and to be quite frank, you need to just look after yourself and help others on the way but put yourself first. It sounds strange coming from me as I've never been one to say something like that however I want to do as well as possible throughout Uni.

I've recently been picked to work alongside Phil Redmond, the producer and director of Grange Hill, Hollyoaks and Brookside, on a new promo for an up and coming Brookside and what it might look like today. This is pretty exiting and it's something great to put on my CV! I guess thats what I have to concentrate on now; getting my CV up and running full of work experiences and placements. We have literally only been given this brief info so far so I'll et you know how that one goes in the future.

Anyway, I'm off here now as I'm starting to talk on a little and its late. But remember, keep checking back :)

FINAL FINISHED RECORDING FOR DARK SIDE OF THE NOON!!

Today, all the past six weeks of preparation for my TV studio production has finally paid off. I have just gotten back from presenting my weird and wonderful show Dark Side of The Noon and I can safely say everything went extremely well.

After the major set back as explained in my previous blogs, our original guest dropped out last minute thus meaning for us to find someone to fill her in ASAP, luckily for us a guy named Phil Smith who is a spiritual healer wrote back and found our show interesting. He agreed to meet us in Starbucks so we could all get a just of each other. He was not what we expected him to look like, I had the idea of a long haired, tattooed/pierced looking hippie however he was a regular middle aged guy with glasses and the same fashion sense as your dad. He was lovely and gave us a lot of information on what he does and his background (he also swears very much but thankfully toned it down in the real interview)!
so after meeting with phil and him agreeing to be free to film, we were then able to head over to uni and set up the set ready for filming early morning the next day. Funny thing is throughout all of this, the set designer never really showed up, I mean she was there for meetings with lectures in uni and drew up the floor plans, but myself and the other team members got all the set and set the entire thing up! Goes to show you can do a lot if you put your mind to it. I found this a little harsh as we all were allocate roles therefore we all had things to be getting on with, as if that wasn't enough! Anyway, we set the set ready and got it lit which looked amazing. Exactly the lightning and colours we all had in mind.

Once the set was ready and we were happy for final touches to happen in the morning of the shoot, we decided we then had to go and re write the whole script and part of the camera script. This was stressful as with me being one of the presenters, I knew I had loads to remember but I also had faith in myself to do so. Once we had written the script accordingly to Phil rather than our original guest phoebe, I then went home and wrote it all out and began memorising my bits. Early night for me after that!

We all met today 9am sharp for filming meaning we had two hours before Phil was coming in so we wanted to know exactly what we were doing, how we would sit and how we would move from the interview area to the demonstration area. I am so glad we set up the set last night as today really needed to be used for rehearsing, we would have lost so much time otherwise. So after writing out my que cards and rehearsing with Michael (other presenter) Phil then came in. I felt so relaxed around him and so did he hence we were able to almost bounce off each other during the interview which worked very well. After rehearsing by asking him things like 'what do you have for breakfast' ect, we then became much more serious and began to record. All the camera crew were happy with their shots and Michael and I felt comfortable and also ready. The interview went really well and didn't feel scripted which really worked, Michael then had a demonstration with Phil which went on for longer than planned as Phil is a definite talker, however this proved to look great in the Gallery so we were all happy!

Now all that is left to do is post production were we will create the title sequence and shoot the band performing. This will be picked up once all the other groups have filmed their interviews.

Im so pleased with the whole groups efforts throughout this module, so far its gone brilliantly and we have all worked very well as a team, we have really jelled well together and i hope to work with them again one day.

Heres a link that will take you to Phil the mediums' page

Applied Media Research

Today we arranged a meeting with our lecturer for this module and new head of department Sarah Haynes.
I am in a group with my peers Stevie Lennon and Elicia Powell and as I have stated previously in my blog, we are answering the question that the independent production company 'Nine lives Media' have set us. Im so glad that I got this question because I find multi platform experiences within television very interesting and hence would love to make a case study on it.

My group began by writing out a questionnaire that we wanted to be quite broad and so asked open ended questions and 'yes/no' answers. The reason for this is because I have decided to, once this questionnaire is complete and we have analysed our data, make an online survey and use the social networking site Facebook to distribute it. In this survey I will ask much more personal questions where the public must answer more in depth, also using answers to circle such as strongly agree/strongly disagree. We wanted to do some quantative research so I feel this is a good way to start and in this way, we are using a platform ourselves. We are going to post this survey out to all Facebook users instead of a select few like the questionnaire. Watch out for updates on my findings from this one!

Thirdly as I am wanting more in depth quantative research methods, the team members and I have decided to take it upon ourselves to observe a person rather then interview.
After researching online, we have decided our main top three most successful multi platform television shows are:

• The X Factor
• Hollyoaks
• The Million Pound Drop

As a group, and with there being three of us so one to a television show, we have decided to research one each and perhaps watch a show ourselves whilst using its platform experiences. Mine is Hollyoaks, and as I am not a fan of the show and never watch it (therefore I don't want to be bias) I have asked my house mate Tasha Forrester if I could observe her whilst she engages with the show and its multi platform experiences. The reason I've asked her is because she is major fan of the show therefore she knows exactly what is going on, thus meaning I can really concentrate on what she does and how she reacts rather than trying to watch the show myself. 

Once I have analysed what platforms she uses ect, I will then make a short Vlog about it using my webcam and the experiences she had, even experiences I had. I feel in creating a Vlog, I am again using another form of media interaction rather than just analysing data and doing nothing with it. This way, I could even upload my Vlog along with my other team mates to Youtube, and see what response it could get. I can then look back on it when ever I like. 

Fourthly, and finally for this week, we have decided to create a focus group with around ten people, but instead of just firing out questions and looking for answers from everyone, we are going to create activities for them to do. The reason is because in focus groups people tend to just bounce answers off each other and so you end up with the same answers, where as in the group engaging with activities, you can study with they do and therefore get a better and more in depth research case and answers. 

So theres a whole lot of qualitative and quantative research going on for me right now, which is great! Keep coming back here to keep up to date with where I am and how I'm getting on!

Bye for now!

BAD NEWS!!!

Bad news guys, the latest on my TV show in the production module is that our psychic guest Phoebe Kelly has dropped out!!

SO GUTTED.

Just as everything was going so well (maybe even too well) she told us she can no longer be on our show as her brother goes into hospital that day. We had previously been trying to get an exact answer from her a couple of days before, just to clarify as she said she would do it at first. After getting her answer phone mostly, we got through and the news wasn't great. Even then she still couldn't give us a definite no or yes, she finally she sent my group mate Emma a text explaining that she is sorry ect and can no longer film...

So after a major panic and realising that if we don't have a guest by next Tuesday 14th November we will fail, we all got together once again as a team and erraticly contacted psychics across Liverpool, Manchester and Cheshire. We are getting desperate right now so we've had to broaden our horizons and offer to pay their travel expenses to and from the set!
I was perviously in touch with a potential psychic before Phoebe called Ian Tumilty. He too works as a psychic and tarot card reader across Liverpool so I have rang and left numerous voicemails and emailed him. When I was in contact with him a few weeks ago he seemed rather up for this opportunity and he was even on my course (Media Professional Studies at John Moores) many years ago! or so he says...

So far things are not looking great as not one has said yes and the responses we have had have been no due to having commitments already. I understand this as we will be filming in six days so people are going to be busy, but fingers crossed we find someone otherwise its a big fat zero for us all!

Im really worried at this point in the module but I have to keep telling myself to be positive. All things happen for a reason don't they?....

On a mission!

Hi again! Hope your all well. 

Just giving an update on production so far! This brilliant module allows me to use my creativity skills and really pushes my boundaries, which I feel is exactly what I need out of a professional degree, so today I went on a creative mission...

I met up with my group at uni for 10am this morning (as usual, we meet regularly out of uni hours) and discussed all the main points we need within our module and to make sure we are nearly ready to shoot the show next Wednesday!

I began by going through my version of the script and we made adjustments where needed so that Mark, the Director, was able to draw up a plan of the camera script. Once we had come to arrangements, I then took upon the role of organiser by writing down the props/material needed for the set (mainly because I much prefer making lists so I know exactly what I need). We discussed all different ideas but came down to sticking with the main colours and theme of the logo and the 'moody' aura to the programme, therefore we wanted to use purples, greys and black. We wanted the colours to be bold and look sophisticated but a little psycadelic in keeping with the 'weird and wonderful' theme. We all then went on a long walk right the way round Liverpool centre trying to find material shops and fabric companies. We first went to St Johns Market where we thought could get some cheap fabric, however this turned out to be wrong as there were no material stalls there what so ever. We then used Google Maps to try to find somewhere else and finally found a great store called Abakan. This shop was amazing as it was massive and there was so many different types of fabric to suit all needs, and mainly it didn't cost too much either!

So, we knew the exact sizes of the flats in the studio that we are use to use therefore we bought purples, greys and deep reds to suit. 

Cutting up the materials!

As we are the first group to film, we really want to make sure we are able to pull everything off from the beginning, so after buying the material, we headed back to Uni and found the Studio Manager, Kelly, where we asked if there is a possibility of coming in the Tuesday before filming to set up the set in order to be able to come in on Wednesday and go straight into filming. She agreed which is brilliant!

This gives us a little more time to work with on the day. I love how organised my group is and how every member has something to do and is more than happy to be getting along with it. We are all helping each other and coming together to really try to pull this off, so fingers crossed it goes to plan!

All thats left to do now is attend the technical requirements meeting tomorrow morning at 10 am with the studio mangers Kelly and Ian, and then finalise the script down to a T and rehearse it. Im pretty nervous as Im one of the presenters so all eyes are on me (and Michael) but I know that I'l be ok on the day (or I hope at least). Wish me luck. Il be updating on here throughout so keep checking back.

.  

Scripting for 'Dark Side of The Noon'.

So as its only a week and half away until we shoot our television show, the group and I thought it definatly a good idea to begin scripting the interview and camera scripts.
We now have a clear understanding of how we are wanting out shoot to look as we now have a guest confirmed, Psychic Phoebe Kelly.
Im so exited to meet phoebe as she seems so interesting and as I've said before in my blog, she has great stories to tell which will engage our audience.
As I am one of the presenters, it is up to myself (including the other presenter and producer) to come up with a script for the interview. I found this a little daunting because I've never been a great script writer, however once I had researched into Phoebe's work and other Psychic's by visiting youtube channels and websites, I was able to understand more into the psychic world and get a good insight into what I wanted to ask her personally.

I devised up a few questions, and once I began drafting out the script, I felt it all starting to come together! Ive posted my script up on here for you all to have a look at. Its only the first draft as I am still to meet with the producer and other presenter to finalise the script, however here's my interpretation of it and what I want to ask her. I feel this script will keep the audience engaged throughout.

Check it out below.

Script for Dark Side Of The Moon.

14^th November 2011.

Director – Mark Nugent

Producer – Emma Moreton

Guest – Phoebe Kelly

Presenters – Josie Webster and Michael Shields

Josie – Hello and welcome to Dark Side of The Moon, the weird yet wonderful show you most certainly don’t want to miss!

Michael – That’s right, on today’s show we will be looking into Clair Voyancie and discovering, is the ability to look into the future or see those that have passed an ultimate spiritual connection, or is it a deception?

Josie – well, to tell us more and to show us just how possible it perhaps is, we have Liverpool’s leading Psychic and Angel Card reader, Phoebe Kelly…

*Claps*

Josie – Hi Phoebe thanks very much for coming along today.

………….

Josie – I’ve always been interested in the psychic word myself but never fully understood it and its power. How has your gift come about?

………….

Michael – Have you ever felt frightened?

………….

Michael – So are they mainly visions or is it more voices/hearing?

…………..

Michael – when did you realize that you actually do have a gift as apposed to thinking you were mad or even schizophrenic?

………….

Josie – Do you believe there is a spirit guide for everyone or just those who believe more than others?

…………..

Michael – do you ever stop and tell passers by in the street that you’re having a premonition about them?

…………..

Josie – have you ever had a bad experience?

…………

Josie – can you ever turn it on/off if going about your daily routine e.g, brushing your teeth, making tea?

…………

Michael – what do you feel that people gain after having had a reading with you? More secure?

………….

Michael – We know that you only see a person for one reading per year, why is it that you have that year gap?

………….

Josie – are you getting any vibes from us at all right now?

………….

Josie – Well thanks so much for giving us much more of an insight to the Psychic world. It’s a gift that I’m not sure everyone would want but everyone seems to want to know its powers.

Now its time for a demonstration with Phoebe and Michael, where she will show her psychic ability for all to see and believe (or not) at home….

DEMONSTRATION OF ANGEL CARDS OR READING.

Dark Side Of The Noon 2....

So things are running brilliantly within my television production module and the ball has really started rolling!

After a couple of weeks of coming up with different ideas of who we want to interview and have as our   guest for our lunchtime pilot TV show, we have finally come to a conclusion!
Each member of the group came up with their own ideas of guests from paranormal investigators to tattooists, but after much consideration we narrowed it down to our final one.
We had a definite yes from a tattooist and a model covered in tattoos but after having had a meeting with our tutors, we knew that this wasn't enough. They said they have "seen it all before" which is quite true and we knew this ourselves, however we thought it a good idea to at least have this as a fall back. So I went ahead and met up with the tattooist who had agreed to film as I wanted to really get to know her and to, if anything, make sure she had a good story to tell and would be fluid on camera. This casual meet up proved to be a good idea as I quickly realised she didn't have much of a personality and her only 'story' was that she "liked art in school so went on to study it at college and then got an apprentice as a tattooist" which is where she is at now.....how thrilling....

So, luckily for us, once we knew that the tattooist was someone we did not want to use as it could have been as boring as watching paint dry, we decided to try another potential guest, Phoebe Kelly, a Liverpool Psychic and Angel Tarot Card reader. We had tried to get in contact with her previously, but to no avail. So, eventually after ringing her a few more times, she answered and agreed for us to go for a little meeting with her at her office, just on Rodney Street not far from University. As I was unable to attend this first meeting because of a family issue, my fellow group peers went ahead and were very pleasantly surprised!

Check out her website here!

She is very welcoming and defiantly looks the part! Phoebe has a great story to tell, and I won't give too much away as you can see it in the finished product but, she has a glass eye that she says she is able to see the dead through. Phoebe had cancer at the very young age of four resulting in the removal of her eye, and she says that ever since this removal, she has been given the 'gift' to see the dead and hear them....There is a lot more to it than this however I want to surprise you all!

So with having met Phoebe and realising that she looks the part, is brilliant to talk to, has a great story to tell and is happy that we will be rather sceptical during the interview, we have gone ahead with this idea and plan to start writing the script this week ready for filming on the 14th November.

Each member of the group has a role which works really well as we all have something to be getting along with. As I am the presenter, I am to write the script alongside the other present and producer which we will finalise next Tuesday where we will also spend the day getting together the set furniture ect.

Phoebe Kelly has also kindly asked if the group members who have not yet met her (meaning my co presenter and I) would like to have the opportunity to go up to the Radio City tower next Tuesday night where she will be performing readings live on air to thousands! Its a great opportunity that I would love to do so fingers crossed! Watch this space!

Here is a photo of Phoebe Kelly live on Radio City:

After this weeks meeting with our lecturer, we all now have a clear understanding of what we are going to do and also even had a very brief technical requirements meeting with Kelly and Ian who help with the filming. We know we want moody looking lights, i.e.; blues and purples, so now all we need to do is:

• gather furniture
• create and finalise script
• go though demonstration 
• rehearse (loads)
• create camera script

Woohoooo things are going great! Hope I havnt just jinxed this......

Applied Media Research....

For this weeks lecture, we finally decided upon what questions we were going to research and present our answer to the class.
We were to choose the question to which personally you prefer so I chose the question:

• Nine Lives Media - Which are the three most successful ever examples of cross platform television programming, how did viewers participate and most importantly, what did they gain from the experience? 

Luckily, Sarah, my lecturer, was able to give me this question and put me into a group with two other class peers where we will complete two presentations; one online and one to the class and lectures.
We are to answer this question accordingly and give as much as we can to it so that the company who set the question, Nine lives Media, is able to get an idea of where we as students think media is heading and how it is developing.
I'm rather exited at beginning this assignment because there is so much you can do with this in a presentation sense and there are many areas to research, in depth.
We began by getting into our group and taking ourselves away from the class, instead to a quiet area where we could concentrate. I then started by getting a clear and good understanding of what 'cross platform' exactly means. It is essentially another phrase for 'multi platform' thus meaning (within television) that people are able to watch a television programme and then, or even during the show, use other media devices to engage further with the programme. A good example of this would be The X Factor where there is a smartphone App people can use to vote whilst watching the programme, Hollyoaks where the public is able to go online and 'speak' to the characters and even get texts from them! It seems rather crazy as it is all virtual and most certainly will not be the actual actors/characters writing and sending out these texts however, it makes people engage more with the programme and its plots and feel much more involved as if they no more than their friends might. Another good example of cross platform television programmes would be the acclaimed American TV show, The Walking Dead. This programme has its own website, like many others but you are able to play many games and have virtual tours around sets.
We want to know what people gain from these experiences, so we have set out to do some qualitative research to begin with where we have devised up a questionnaire and will hand out next week to students, asking how they engage further with television programmes and what they feel they get out of it.
There is much more research to do yet so we are getting together over the next few days to discuss further!