Pre-production paperwork - Dragged

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The nature and purposes of research in the creative media industries

Primary Research is research you do yourself, such as researching into a source or other things such as questionnaires, interviews and surveys.

"Primary research is research you conduct yourself (or hire someone to do for you.) It involves going directly to a source – usually customers and prospective customers in your target market – to ask questions and gather information."
-https://www.questionpro.com/blog/primary-research/
Primary Research I've had to do was in my Marmite Advert, in which we done a survey for it to see if we can target our primary audience precisely. (Questionnaire-https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/D6KBK3T).

An example of Primary Research in the Major movie industry is Spider-man (2002), in which the development team showed random audience people sections of their film and then asked them questions about it, such as "was he good as Spider-man". Which then led to a lot of information for the team making the film to work with (Sony) - and hence the film was released and people were overall happy with everything, and this was due to the primary research as it allowed them to make any necessary changes if required.

Secondary Research is where you look for information in books or online, such as finding old questionnaires relevant to your movie.
"Secondary research is when you use data already collected from other peoples work. They have done the questionnaires or experiments with people. You then use this research to find out what you need to know to complete your own research."https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secondary_research

Secondary Research I done in my Marmite Advert, was that I looked at an older Marmite Advert which was banned; and determined what it was that caused it to be banned.

                           

Secondary Research in the major movie industry is where companies such as Warner.Bros, will use Disney/Marvel films; and see how successful they are and what people liked about their films - as Warner.Bros originally made DC films too dark, but after seeing other marvel films do well, with reviews preaching the humor and lightness - Warner.Bros took this research they gathered from the marvel reviews, and now, Warner.bros and DC films are becoming more successful in the ‘hero’ genre as a result.

Advantages of Primary over Secondary research is that you get more personal feedback, hence meaning that its more reliable.
 An Advantage of secondary over primary research is that its easier, and likely to be a lot more of it - hence meaning less work and more reward.
I believe that Primary Research is more important because its more relevant, as secondary research leaves a lot of big gaps in terms of basic need to know things, such as whether or not an audience member will actually enjoy a film, like how I done with my Short film I am creating now called “Washed up” - where we got our entire classes verbal response on whether or not they wanted to do a film about a band losing a member to drugs.

Quantitative research is the use or numbers, such as when a film gets reviewed, its often rated out of ten; ten being great, and zero being bad. 

"Quantitative Research is used to quantify the problem by way of generating numerical data or data that can be transformed into usable statistics. It is used to quantify attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and other defined variables – and generalize results from a larger sample population."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_research

Quantitative Research I have had to conduct is in my Marmite Advert, in which we asked viewers to rate the advert out of five stars.

Specific examples from the professional industry is with Rotten Tomatoes or IMBD, in which all films are rated on these websites. Such as Joker getting 8.5/10 by IMBD.

Qualitative Research is for when you want to get an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions and motivations.

"Qualitative Research is primarily exploratory research. It is used to gain an understanding of underlying reasons, opinions, and motivations. It provides insights into the problem or helps to develop ideas or hypotheses for potential quantitative research."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualitative_research
Qualitative Research I've done is in my marmite advert, in which we looked at an old, banned advert from marmite; it was banned because they upset certain viewers with their mocking of animal caging. So as a result of this, we didn't want to do anything related to animals to avoid upsetting people.

Examples from the professional industry is Avengers: End Game, in which they gave women more power in the final fight so they didn't get women offended - they likely researched this to make sure no one was offended by something like this before, as it can be seen as a bit forced.

Advantages of Quantitative Research is that its very simple and a lot less time consuming, it just tells you what the overall liking of the film was and that's it - such as an IMBD rating.
Advantages of Qualitative Research is that it's much more in-depth and tells you what it is people liked or disliked - this aids in letting a film director know what to do and what not to do.

Overall, I believe that Quantitative Research is more useful as it gives you a quick and easy insight to what kinda things people like - and then you can mimic some of the core values of that successful film, an example of this is again with DC copying Marvel’s lightness - such as “Shazam!”, which got good reviews as a result of this.

BARB creates the audience figures, these allow us to see who is watching what, and at what times. 

IMBD is a site which tells you everything you need to know about a film, actor or even the directors/ crew members. They also give reviews on the films. As well as giving showtimes for any film that's being shown in cinemas near you.

Audience/ market research is where you find out what kind of films attract what audiences - such as films like Frozen attract young girls, or shows like downtown abbey attracting middle-aged women.

"Audience research is defined as any communication research that is conducted onspecific audience segments to gather information about their attitudes, knowledge,interests, preferences, or behaviours with respect to prevention issues."

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/AnnieRose95/audience-research-22808080
Audience research I've had to conduct is in my marmite advert, in which we found out what kind of people eat and enjoy marmite - which was primarily middle-aged, middle-class men. An example of audience research in the professional industry is with Frozen, in which they aimed at young girls, but also added things in for young boys too - like the blue colour scheme and 2 main male characters. This is a good example because it clearly shows and coneys that Disney as an organization, had done a lot of research into their audiences, and as a result knew how to attract a male audience to a seemingly preferably female audience, they done this with their information they gathered over the years - such as boys liking the colour blue.

Production research is when you find out if you are actually able to make the film you want to - this involves budget and viability. Essentially it is the whole production process.

"Production research is always needed when developing a new product. It is research to help give information on the characteristics of the product. It focuses on the production of a product, in other words, how it's made."

https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/marleylong/audience-27055236
Production research I done was in my short film, in which we had to find the budget for the fake wine and cutlery, we also wrote a calendar for the film, where we mentioned everything we would do on the certain day. Fortunately, the film was very cheap and was designed this way in order to allow us to make the film.

An example of production research in the professional industry is with Star Wars: A New Hope had a budget of 11 million USD - which was mostly spent on set locations and costumes; as well as the brilliant CGI of the time; they then of course set out timed dates with where and what they’d film, as well as editing time - which took up most the production time due to George Lucas’ obsession with digital movies.

Technical Skills Development

For our camera task,we were set out to make a video where 'bad news' has happened, and we made a video where a school student is given a really bad grade - and in this production I was an actor, as well as the person who came up with the idea for the short film, we also had a lesson learning about the camera, and how shutter speed works and how to set up the camera perfectly. The end result was a fairly decent story, with a couple good shots. I learnt the name of a lot of the equipment, and what their purpose is.


In the sound task, we were made to use a boom mic and pole, and to sound record two other people reading a script - both with the protection on the mic and without. The end result was the sound we all recorded. I learnt that not having the protection on the mic really messes with the sound, especially when it is windy - as it was on the day we recorded the sound.


For the lighting, we were tasked to use 3 piece lighting, with gels and such. I was responsible for moving the lights and setting it all up, the end result was that all the photos were really good, and looked very professional. I learnt a lot about the lighting, and how to perfectly set things up when using gels.

Research Dossier 2

Primary Research-

Questionnaire-https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/D6KBK3T (Leach, O.,2019. Marmite Questionnaire)

Unfortunately we can't find the account used to find the answers to the questionnaire for Marmite, but I do have answers for my questionnaire on my interview -

This is a good example of primary research as it strongly lets me know if people would want to watch a documentary on 'Are Ghosts real?' - as well as giving me knowledge about people's opinions on Ghosts.


Secondary Research- 

Rebranding pitch from Interestingbluee

This is a good example of secondary research as I was able to vocalize my re-branding idea to the whole of my Creative Media class, who then gave me a huge amount of vocal feedback.



This is a good example of secondary research as it shows my research into an infamous advert which was banned, and as a result I knew what to do.



This also shows a good example of secondary research as it shows my research into Burgh Castle, and ghosts in general, and what kind of myths and legends circulate there.




Quantitative Research -

This is a good example of quantitative research as it shows how a questionnaire will typically look, it gives the person who wishes to see the answers a good indication of all answers and what is what.

This is a very good example of quantitative research as it shows us as film-makers what genre is most popular in a particular time, which means if you want to make a niche film, you can see which genre's are least popular, and try to make a brilliant film fro that genre that brings it into a better light for people.


Qualitative research:




This is a good example of Qualitative research as it shows some detailed responses in a questionnaire; this is for my screenplay - and I had two questions which involved in-depth answers, they told me why they liked my idea - as well as what could have been better, as in what they would change if they could about my screenplay, as well as a few multiple choice questions.


Production Research-




This is a good example of production research as it shows all my releases and recces for my documentary - they are all up to professional standards.

Single Camera Techniques

This essay is all about single-camera productions, and why a director may or may not prefer to use either the singe-camera or multi-camera, using examples and subject terminology to create an essay which should explain what things single-camera productions do well, and things they don't do too well; which a multi-camera will do better.

Firstly, starting off with how cameras are used - in single camera productions, only one camera is used - the reason a single-camera may be used is because not only is it often cheaper, it also immerses the audience much more into the film/video, whereas with a multi-camera production the film/video feels much more distant to the audience - this is because their perspective is often changed and results in not feeling as if you are really there in the films world.

Often, single-camera productions do use multi-cameras - but only in key scenes with lots of dialogue and action, an example is with Citizen Kane when Kane destroys his room, they use two cameras - because if they didn't; there was a good chance perhaps one camera's shot wouldn't look too nice, and they wouldn't be able to re-set up the room as it would likely break a lot of continuity.

A lot of Directors often prefer single-camera productions - this is because they are given much more control over the camera, as well as being able to set up every shot themselves individually, angles can such as long-shots become a whole lot easier, this is due to the fact that the set/ area they film in, wont have all the other cameras set up around them, as well as the fact that multi-camera production usually have bigger sets which is a result of the fact that each of their cameras needs to capture a perfect shot that doesn't break immersion. Single-cameras also allow you to use your camera anywhere you like, as it doesn't take up too much space and can easily move around, an example is with The Office, as they are able to place the camera anywhere in the office, and the office is real and appears real to people - whereas with a multi-camera production, it takes a lot of space up and is very difficult to move around, and sets often feel like they are sets to the audience, instead of being a real area in the real world.

A negative thing about single-camera productions, is that they require actors to act over and over again - this is due to the director wanting to shoot the scene from various different angles and differing shot lengths; so this not only costs time, it also costs a lot of money if the director decides to use film stock - as film stock is expensive.

Secondly, there is the lighting - in single camera productions, lighting is a lot easier to use - this is because you can light each shot individually, whereas when using multiple cameras - you can't light every shot individually, so when shooting, lighting must be adequate for every shot, which results in most shots being uninspired and unvaried. So, overall - a single camera production allows you to use lighting far more, with different tones and styles - hence always giving the audience interesting shots which are far more aesthetically beautiful - a good example for this is in Citizen Kane; the image below is so aesthetically pleasing, as it shows Kane in full power - and that even though light is in the area, Kane still appears pitch black, hence making the audience feel as though Kane may perhaps be a bit of a bad man. You also need to set up the lighting every time you move the camera, this is due to the fact that moving the camera even the slightest bit can change how a shot looks completely - this can be time consuming but means that each shot will look amazing in the end. In the Citizen Kane shot below, if they used three cameras, then the lighting would appear totally different in each shot, with it looking strange on some cameras, as well as the fact that they wouldn't be able to light the shot as stylistically.

Thirdly, there is sound - and for sound you will require professional sound capturing devices such as an audio recorder, boom mic & pole, or a shotgun mic.

With a single camera, you must always start recording the sound before you start filming - as well as remaining to record the sound after you stop filming - this is to avoid jumpy or awkward transitions with the sound.

All productions also use sound effects, which make the world within the film feel more alive and realistic, things such as Foley sounds and ambient noises are likely to be added into a film in post. Boom mics are a standard to use in single camera productions,  there will be a person who holds the pole over the camera to capture the sounds, this can be a difficult and straining job, but it is done because you can always hide the mic from the audience, as well as capturing the sounds very well.

Whereas, in a multi-camera production, it can often be easier when it comes to sound - this is because mic's are  allowed to be visible within the shot, things such as TV shows like Britain's Got Talent or X-Factor, the mic is often visible and attached to the person in the shot - likely on their cheek or on their hand, or the microphone may be hidden within the set but still slightly visible.

Single camera productions also tend to hide the mic in the shot, like where in Citizen Kane where they hid the mic in the ceiling, which worked wonderfully. They did this in order to capture the best sound possible while also not breaking immersion, as the ceiling is actually far lower down than it appears, as they simply use angles to make it appear higher - I also believe the ceiling was made out of Styrofoam which allowed the sound to enter the microphone easier.

Another strange fact about dialogue is that not all the dialogue in a scene is from the same take, as it is a usual occurrence that in shots where someones mouth isn't at all or particularly visible and or the main focus of the shot - they will often use dialogue tracks from different takes, this is often done to make a more fluent image, rather than cutting between shots.

Fourthly, there is editing - which takes a lot of time to do, as there is a lot of footage to put in order and choose from in order to create a well structured piece that doesn't feel messy.
In a single-camera production, there wont be too much unused footage, at least when compared to a multi-camera production, as a result of the use of many cameras - most footage wont be used and only the best will. An example with a multi-camera production where it can be edited live is with things like Live Sport, as with Football there will always be around 4-20 cameras which they switch to a from all the time in order to get the best shots - this is not achievable with single-camera productions as there is of course only one camera so there's no other camera to cut to, as single-camera productions require you to edit after filming, not during. Editing takes a long time, often taking longer than the actual filming depending on the amount of say CGI or shots. Actors that are famous and or busy people, are often called in for a whole specific amount of time, and they film each of their scenes as soon as possible, even if they start filming the end of the film first - whereas, with less busy actors, they can film more sequentially but not always.

There is always often an extremely high amount of footage captured in a single-camera production, I realized this myself when I done my first Single-camera production - I had around an hours worth of footage for a two minute video.

A shot log is a way to categorize which shots were good, and which were problematic - with a short description of how well the shot turned out.

Fifthly, there is Single camera genres and formats:
There are Period dramas - which is a drama set in the past which are usually romances, an example is Downtown Abbey.

There are also Crime dramas, which is about criminals and authority figures - which often use low key lighting which is achieved a lot easier using a single camera, an example is Sherlock.

Single camera horrors are often very realistic and makes the video much more personal, as we can only see what the camera wants us to see, hence leading to a kind of tunnel vision where we can't look where we want to - most directors will always use single camera in horrors as a result of this, Blair Witch Project is a great example.

Single camera comedies like the peep-show use single cameras, this results in a more personal feeling with the camera, which makes you feel more attached to the cameras personally - peep show mainly uses POV shots.

The only time single cameras are used to film a Soap opera, is when they film in a real house which is a result of the single camera having far more maneuverability compared to multi cameras.

There are also different types of formats for single camera productions -
There are series, which is an episodic program which always has the same main characters, but it will have a different story-line each episode that usually lasts the whole season. An example is with CSI, which has a different story line and crime case every episode - which often follows a bigger and wider story-line in the background.

There is also a Serial -which is essentially a never ending TV show, it has the same characters every season - but each episode often focuses on one characters story (multi-strand narrative), a director may want to use a single camera as they can then film inside houses, but its likely that they will use multi-cameras as it is far quicker to do when shows like Eastenders are producing multiple episodes ever week.

Then there are single dramas, which is one self-contained story, which is a one off thing. A Short Stay in Switzerland won the single drama BAFTA in 2010 as an example.

Certain narrative structures suit certain films/tv shows, for example in TV shows like Breaking Bad, they often have open endings at the end of episodes, this is due to wanting people who watch the show to come back and see the next episode. Whereas, with most one-off films, they end it closed  endings, to give the audience a satisfying ending to the film.

In conclusion, I would use single-camera - this is due to the fact that if you want you shots to be as aesthetically beautiful as possible, then you need to do single-camera, as well as the fact that its cheaper and easier to work with.

Citizen Kane

Citizen Kane is about a rich, newspaper owner whose life is told through an interviewer who  interviews people Citizen Kane once knew and or loved - the film focuses on what the meaning of "rosebud" was; as it was the last word he said before he died.

One shot that impressed me was in the ending shot - where they burn his sleigh with the name "rosebud" on it, and they call it "trash", as we see it burn away to nothing; hence giving us the impression that Kane's true happiness and well-being is burning away.

Another scene that I found interesting was the scene where Kane's wife is doing a puzzle - I found this impressive because it links to the wider story as a whole; as in the entire film is a puzzle about the meaning behind the word "rosebud".

The last scene I found most impressive was the scene where Kane destroys his former room - throwing things about and smashing them; as it made us as an audience see that Kane has fully lost everything, and that no one will likely ever love him again.

An impressive film making element is in the shot where the camera goes through the sign for Susan Alexander Kane - as back in that day the cameras were massive and wouldn't fit through the gab; but they made it seem as though it does because they electronically move the signs apart, hence giving the impression that the camera somehow fit in the gap.

Another impressive film making element in this film is in the stage performance for Kane's wife when she is singing  - the camera goes up and we see loads of different levels; and in reality there is not that many levels - but they make it seem as though it is through camera techniques - hence giving the impression to the audience that the stage is a lot bigger than it is.

Another impressive scene is where Kane is talking on a stage to a huge audience, and when we get shots of the audience - it's actually just  a painting; and they create movement through lighting a torch behind the painting and waving it from side to side - as there are holes in the painting which creates the illusion of movement.