So, I have finally entered blogging land after several failed attempts at logging on, blaming blogger and realising days later I was entering the wrong email address all along ... ahem ... so it's probably about time I started writing up some of these entries!
The past few weeks have flown by, starting with getting used to the equipment by creating vox pops in groups. Chris, Laura and I asked the question " Do you think people are spending too much time on social networking sites such as Facebook? ". From this we got a fairly good response, and the general consensus was that people are spending too much time on them - as appose to going out and talking topeople/making friends face to face. However a lot of 
students agreed that sites such as Facebook were still useful for keeping in touch and catching up with new friends. We then had a go at editing our vox pops and getting to grips with Soundtrack Pro, which I was worried about, but after getting used to it and picking up shortcuts it seemed not so daunting.
students agreed that sites such as Facebook were still useful for keeping in touch and catching up with new friends. We then had a go at editing our vox pops and getting to grips with Soundtrack Pro, which I was worried about, but after getting used to it and picking up shortcuts it seemed not so daunting.On Fridays we have a session with Joelle in the morning in which we've so far focused on plagiarism - and how Minerva will catch us out if we attempt it! It's also a useful session for refreshing us on grammar and helping us improve our writing skills for future essay writing.
In the afternoons we have our session with Susan who currently works in the industry - so it's great to be taught by someone who knows what they're talking about! In this session we focus mainly on the roles within production e.g editors/producers. So far we've looked at some differences between the mainstream channels ( BBC,ITV,channel 4+5) and picked up some key interviewing techniques which will be useful for our next project - a phone interview with an editor or producer/director - and also for when we have guest speakers come in and talk to us.
For example last week editor Andy Netley who's worked on such programmes as 'The Amazon' and 'Planet Earth', came in to give us an insight into the editing world.
Andy started out doing a film course and from there built contacts in the BBC and ITV, obtaining 2 weeks freelance work and from there has worked his way up. From this session I found out that editing isn't so much about the software and cutting bits of film out, but more about an individuals ability to work with images and sound - and from this creating a programme that runs smoothly from beginning to end but is also accessible to everyone and makes sense. Social skills are also vital as you are working in a team and may have to get on with people you don't necessarily like.The best bit about Andy's job he said was getting to work with images and music - a passion of his. As an editor you also may be asked to work on projects you know may not work, such as a programme Andy had to edit on dates (the fruit!) ... how exciting.
Susan also set us tasks to research a particular subject and share the information with the rest of the group. Mine was Ofcom who are an independant organisation which regulates broadcasting,telecommunications and wireless communications sectors within the UK. Their main legal duties are to ensure a wide range of TV and radio programmes are on offer to a range of different interests,and that people are protected from harmful or offensive material.
Ofcom are funded by fees from industry regulating broadcasting and communications networks and grant-in-aid from the Government. Within broadcasting they're responsible for making sure a variety of programmes are made by independant producers as well as broadcasters - and also responsible for licensing all UK commercial TV and radio services.
Another of Ofcom's duties is to investigate complaints about behaviour that goes against the rules of competition and make decisions on disputes between companies.Ofcom have a number of ways in which the public can complain such as online,email,telephone and text. Fact: in 2007 Ofcom received 44,500 complaints for the 5th series of BB regarding the racial issues with Shilpa Shetty and Jade Goody - this was a record number and higher than any other media controller.
In my opinion Ofcom is useful in some ways - but not to everyone. For example the majority of the younger generation are now exposed to a lot of violence etc within the media they have become desensitized to offensive material - therefore Ofcom may only be of use to the older generation.
In our next session with Mike we had the task of interviewing a band called Cojack from the university.
This was a good task and we got got some good footage to edit - however we had a few problems with the earphones so I couldn't hear myself properly, which meant I was very loud and our interviewee was quiet as the microphone wasn't held quite close enough. However during editing we managed to solve this problem with the equaliser and put some of their music to it to make a radio package. This was to prep us for today's first assignment, editing around half hour of footage concluding of an 18 minute poem (!!), 4 minutes of vox pops and a 10 minute interview with a poet. Unfortunately my computer didn't like saving things so this task was not made easy, I also feel I ran out of time and would of needed another half hour for polishing the final multi track - however I can learn from this and hopefully manage my time better next time round.I think that pretty much brings everything up to date - over and out!
