Mid-Cheshire Film & TV
Me and Niall were required to interview each other as part of our research assignment.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Market Research
Today I have started an 8 part essay concerning market research, so far I think I'll need to expand on the product reach section.
Task 1A
Market Research
Audience Data
This is quite literally the data collected to represent the audiences active in interpreting media content. It is a way of categorising different kinds of viewers, a vital process to the industry as it will tell give them the information they need in realising the audience awareness, product reach and basically how to sell the content and how well it will sell.
Audience data gives the industry a clear idea of how consumers are interacting with media, what form they use primarily, when, why and most importantly the distinguishable characteristics of those individuals. These include age, gender and social class, which are the most vital attributes of a person as a consumer. Once this data is known, for example, Age: 16, Gender: Female, Social Class: Lower Middle Class, assumptions can be made about this person and their interests in the media. A 16 year old is likely to be interested in popular culture and unlikely to be a listener of classical musical, females are often engaged in fashion, a Lower Middle Class person is likely to have a reasonable amount of money at their disposal and therefore if the content requires some form of non-standard payment (purchasing a DVD as opposed to watching on television) we can assume they wont be deterred by this. These are of course generalisations and there will always be exceptions to people’s interests when based simply on these parameters, but it is the most accurate way of assessing the market.
The BARB (Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board) is the organisation the United Kingdom that is responsible for collecting data on the audience of media content. It was created to replace an already existing system that compiled audience data for the BBC and ITV, the organisation is now owned by BBC, the ITV companies, Channel 4, Five, BSkyB and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. People participating with the organization have a box that records the programmes they watch and the users are then able to indicate the individual watching (their age/gender) at that time. This is how the ratings are collected with each box being representative of over 5,000 people.
Audience Awareness
This refers to the way in which people become aware of the available media content. There are various ways people learn about different media products, the most common being word-of-mouth, advertising on television and the internet and films/programmes featured in press releases like magazines. There are obviously sub-categories for these outputs but generally they cover the entirety of a consumer’s exposure to the media.
These days age group is the most definitive factor for media exposure, young people and adults are likely to discover things on the internet, the elderly will probably be more likely to see things on television and infants are less likely to need as specified advertisement as other age groups. As for gender, magazines are very often created with either men or women in mind (FHM compared to Cosmogirl), meaning media targeting either gender would obviously opt to promote through these kinds of magazines. Social class could be said to have less of a bearing on the placement of promotional materials and more the content (linguistics, features attractive to those classes) however slots will be chosen to coincide with certain programmes on television which appeal to the given classes (Jeremy Kyle could be said to be a more working class show). In this way also, programmes and advertisements are aired at certain times of the day, when certain people are likely to be watching television (just after school hours will be aimed at children and teenagers). To look further at the spectrum of audience awareness sub-cultures are also something taken advantage of in the sense that people who follow a sub-culture are all exposed to the same or similar media outputs, and therefore effective advertisement to these people is made simple providing the product will appeal to that sub-culture (an advert for a heavy metal album is likely to be aired on a channel like Kerrang).
Product Reach
From a business perspective, a successful product is one that generates large profits and this will likely mean it is a product that can merge with other existing products. A perfect example of this would be The Simpsons, the most well known animated sit-com ever made. It’s possible to obtain practically any piece of merchandise that bears its logo or images of its characters. Its massive popularity due to its wide appeal (it’s content can appeal to all age ranges, genders, social class, personal interests etc.) means all other industries will be eager for a metaphorical ‘slice of the pie’.
There are of course products that are intended for a certain audience and engineering them to appeal to a wider audience would be damaging to the contents credibility on the market, as it would not meet the correct criteria to sell. This brings us back to the idea of targeting sub-cultures with a product. The idea of a sub-culture is that it appeals to large groups of people sharing the same interests and values with regards (in this instance) to media products. Someone who associates with the emo or goth sub-cultures with likely to have disregard for various figures and ideologies in the media because they are not accepted as ideals within their chosen sub-culture. For example you would not expect to see Miley Cyrus collaborating with Marlyn Manson as it would not be a profitable venture considering the differences between fans of the both artists.
Task 1A
Market Research
Audience Data
This is quite literally the data collected to represent the audiences active in interpreting media content. It is a way of categorising different kinds of viewers, a vital process to the industry as it will tell give them the information they need in realising the audience awareness, product reach and basically how to sell the content and how well it will sell.
Audience data gives the industry a clear idea of how consumers are interacting with media, what form they use primarily, when, why and most importantly the distinguishable characteristics of those individuals. These include age, gender and social class, which are the most vital attributes of a person as a consumer. Once this data is known, for example, Age: 16, Gender: Female, Social Class: Lower Middle Class, assumptions can be made about this person and their interests in the media. A 16 year old is likely to be interested in popular culture and unlikely to be a listener of classical musical, females are often engaged in fashion, a Lower Middle Class person is likely to have a reasonable amount of money at their disposal and therefore if the content requires some form of non-standard payment (purchasing a DVD as opposed to watching on television) we can assume they wont be deterred by this. These are of course generalisations and there will always be exceptions to people’s interests when based simply on these parameters, but it is the most accurate way of assessing the market.
The BARB (Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board) is the organisation the United Kingdom that is responsible for collecting data on the audience of media content. It was created to replace an already existing system that compiled audience data for the BBC and ITV, the organisation is now owned by BBC, the ITV companies, Channel 4, Five, BSkyB and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. People participating with the organization have a box that records the programmes they watch and the users are then able to indicate the individual watching (their age/gender) at that time. This is how the ratings are collected with each box being representative of over 5,000 people.
Audience Awareness
This refers to the way in which people become aware of the available media content. There are various ways people learn about different media products, the most common being word-of-mouth, advertising on television and the internet and films/programmes featured in press releases like magazines. There are obviously sub-categories for these outputs but generally they cover the entirety of a consumer’s exposure to the media.
These days age group is the most definitive factor for media exposure, young people and adults are likely to discover things on the internet, the elderly will probably be more likely to see things on television and infants are less likely to need as specified advertisement as other age groups. As for gender, magazines are very often created with either men or women in mind (FHM compared to Cosmogirl), meaning media targeting either gender would obviously opt to promote through these kinds of magazines. Social class could be said to have less of a bearing on the placement of promotional materials and more the content (linguistics, features attractive to those classes) however slots will be chosen to coincide with certain programmes on television which appeal to the given classes (Jeremy Kyle could be said to be a more working class show). In this way also, programmes and advertisements are aired at certain times of the day, when certain people are likely to be watching television (just after school hours will be aimed at children and teenagers). To look further at the spectrum of audience awareness sub-cultures are also something taken advantage of in the sense that people who follow a sub-culture are all exposed to the same or similar media outputs, and therefore effective advertisement to these people is made simple providing the product will appeal to that sub-culture (an advert for a heavy metal album is likely to be aired on a channel like Kerrang).
Product Reach
From a business perspective, a successful product is one that generates large profits and this will likely mean it is a product that can merge with other existing products. A perfect example of this would be The Simpsons, the most well known animated sit-com ever made. It’s possible to obtain practically any piece of merchandise that bears its logo or images of its characters. Its massive popularity due to its wide appeal (it’s content can appeal to all age ranges, genders, social class, personal interests etc.) means all other industries will be eager for a metaphorical ‘slice of the pie’.
There are of course products that are intended for a certain audience and engineering them to appeal to a wider audience would be damaging to the contents credibility on the market, as it would not meet the correct criteria to sell. This brings us back to the idea of targeting sub-cultures with a product. The idea of a sub-culture is that it appeals to large groups of people sharing the same interests and values with regards (in this instance) to media products. Someone who associates with the emo or goth sub-cultures with likely to have disregard for various figures and ideologies in the media because they are not accepted as ideals within their chosen sub-culture. For example you would not expect to see Miley Cyrus collaborating with Marlyn Manson as it would not be a profitable venture considering the differences between fans of the both artists.
Beginning the research tasks with Del
Tuesday we were asked to write an analysis of the terms Content, Resources and Placement, these regarding the production of film/documentaries. Appearing vague at first some research was needed, but I feel I completed the tasks to the right standard.
Task 1B
Production Research
Content
“Content is King” Content is the centre of any project, it is all that is included within what is presented to viewers. The narrative, images, footage, interviews, sound and anything else contained in the actual video itself are classed as content. Content is a result of the research done pre-production in the sense that the video’s content will have been planned and will contain compiled information regarding the subject matter of the project. It is also a result of the production process, that is the arrangements, filming and post-production (e.g. editing) process.
For example when Louis Theroux goes to shoot a documentary, for instance his time spent with UFO hunters. He will have to have thoroughly researched the history of UFO hunters, the area he is visiting and the people he will be interviewing. In this way it is obvious how vital research is to the quality of the project. Documentary is an informative form of film and if someone aims to teach someone something they should of course be well educated in it themselves. Extensive research coupled with an interesting and engaging film should grab a viewer’s interest and educate them in the given subject.
Coming back to Louis Theroux specifically, a key feature of his work is his ironic and subtle approach to interviewing. He presents himself as an inoffensive, weak man who appears unbiased to even extreme viewpoints. This visage means he can ultimately get the real opinions of those in question and can ask them leading questions to get certain answers for the purpose of the film. This is done because there will often be a pre-conceived viewpoint of the group/event/area he is documenting, which will maybe be an existent generalisation discovered through research or Louis’s personal moral stance which he can put across by getting the interviewee to react as I have described. This will have taken some planning and meticulous research into the specific people he needs to be talking to and what he needs to be talking about.
Research also covers the collecting of necessary footage, as in most documentaries there will be archive footage featured. This will need researching to ensure it is the correct imagery for the film, to see how much if anything it will cost and in what form they will receive the footage. There are different ways of obtaining such footage, but typically it will involve contacting or visiting an archive (this could be online or an actual library). Using sites such as ITN Source or Focal International will give you access to archive footage but will require payment. Sites such as BAPLA however are non-profit organizations and images will be free.
Resources
To actually go ahead with a production having the correct resources is essential. Resources will be governed mainly by the budget and include all the vital components of any film project, these are a film crew (cameramen, boom operator, director), the appropriate venues to film if any are needed (these could be studios or simply obtaining the permission to film on certain locations), the means of transport (large groups of people are likely to need driving or even flying to locations), any additional paperwork such as release forms, shooting schedules and call sheets.
An example of location being a necessary resource to be planned and confirmed could be taken from basically any documentary. Louis Theroux has travelled to various destinations in America for example, this would have had to be arranged like any flights would be organized and pre-arranging the meetings with people featured in the documentary so they can be efficient on the trip and keep their time over there to a minimum, in the interest of being economical with the budget. The team filming Deadliest Catch would have to arrange the filming dates in line with the fisherman’s schedule and prepare to be filming at sea in dangerous conditions.
Where hiring crew is concerned, if the producer/filmmaker doesn’t already have people in mind then there are agencies on the Internet with the details of experienced film crews and their prices, sites such as UK Film Crew Pro and Film London cater this.
As paperwork is concerned this is standard to any TV or film production to ensure that the project is properly planned and documented and also in the event of legal issues it ensures the safety of safety of the project.
Placement
Placement refers to the film distribution process; it’s marketing, circulation in theatres and release to DVD or however it will reach consumers. It can happen in various ways, most often the project will be given to a distributor who is in contact with industry commissioners and exhibitors. These distributors will hold viewings of the film and aim to convince the commissioners/exhibitors that they will profit financially from presenting the film in theatres or whatever the given medium is. If all goes to plan, the distributor writes up a contract detailing his earnings from the film once it is aired/released (typically around 30% of profits). Documentaries and films alike will often be noticed at festivals, for example MIPDOC where thousands of people from the industry go to view screenings as potential buyers. Basically the work of a distributor has a massive effect on the success of a production, their previous history within the industry, how well they are able to promote a film and then connections they have.
Of course, today it is easy for people to distribute their own films onto the Internet with UGC sites like You Tube being incredibly popular; this is however a far less effective way of promoting the film than actually getting it shown to people within the industry by a distributor.
Thursday 12th Starting a Documentary Project
Created a blog for my media class at college to run alongside our documentary project.
Here I'll record my progress with the project, updating it whenever I do something new.
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