Overview of this Semster!

Over this last semester we have been focusing on sound and the various techniques used to record and edit previously recorded material. The project I enjoyed most out of this was the soundscape, as I found it really fun recording various sounds and editing them into a clip in order to make it sound like a melodic audio track. For this project I had to learn how to operate a boom mic, as well as use Soundtrack Pro in order to edit the sounds together and add various effects and Eq changes.

The second project we did was a 15 minute radio show based on unsigned bands, I found the production of this project really fun, as I got to record my friend on guitar and make it sound as if he was in the studio, as well as making a competition to slot in halfway through the show. For the recordings I had to learn how to use a Eridol R-09 recorder, which worked really well. The main problem with this show, I feel is that it came off slightly short (13 mins) as we had to cut one of the interviews out, which left us short of material.

The part of this project I did not enjoy was the pre-production paperwork, mainly because I just hate paperwork!

Another project had us editing together the sound for a short film called Bodil, which we were given the scrambled sounds which had been recorded and we had to edit it to fit the movie, for this we had to learn how to sync up sounds and how to nudge the sound buy minute amounts.

Overall I have really enjoyed this side of the course, and it has opened my eyes to sound editing and recording but I am really looking forward to getting involved with video next semester!

Myspace Celebrity - Newsdesk (Chris)

Myspace is broadening it’s horizon by introducing a brand new service dedicated to celebrities. This new step will allow users to connect to their favourite celebrities through messages, videos and blogs.
It also allows the user to know that they are messaging the actual famous person, as there are many fake profiles set up by other users claiming to be these celebrities.
Famous people already registered with this new service include Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears, Leonardo DiCaprio, Paris Hilton and Vince Vaughn. This helps the celebrities as they will then have control over their image as the many ‘fakers’ may not be portraying them as they should be.
Myspace already gives this opportunity to connect their users with their favourite musicians through myspace music.
With all these new extensions it appears as if Myspace is trying to broaden their horizons, they already have a political channel called Impact and a gaming portal in production.
This new service will be called Myspace Celebrity, and will offer the public a wide range of information about their favourite celebrities; such as daily blogs, behind the scenes footage, and various images supplied by Getty Images.
To me it seems as if Myspace is trying to expand and keep up with the ever growing and increasingly popular Facebook.

Article from the Guardian Media.

Newsdesk - Producers Role.

This weeks news within the media industry seems to be directed towards the various changes which are currently under way.

To start with the bad, Channel 4's audience levels have plummeted by 11% since 2006, they have been the worst hit by dwelling numbers of viewers out of the five terrestrial channels. These channels need to find a new way of re-capturing the public, or terrestrial television is a thing of the past?

Microsoft seems to be trying to take dominance of the web, by tying up with Multimap in order to compete with Google's map utilities such as Google Earth and Google Map. They have also recently invested £117 million in the social networking site we all know, Facebook. This could allow them to reach out to specific target audiences, and find out exactly what people want.

Another internet site, Youtube has offered some of its high ranking users the ability to earn money through advertisers on their site. The scheme called AdSense could lead another step forward within V.o.D. Technology.

Recently it has been found that 68% of the UK's internet users would like to stream and download high quality movies, while only 40% would be willing to pay for this service. Ofcom's recent broadband test speeds have also proven that the majority of the population will only get 39% of their promised internet speed.

Ofcom has also been researching the effects of restricting junk food advertising aimed at a young audience. They have discovered a 20% reduction in the viewing of these sort of advertisements, the new target audience seems to be towards healthy people by advertising healthy alternatives to junk food.

Ofcom has also been auctioning off airwaves which will be freed up during the digital switch-over, making room for new things such as; new channels-including localised, high speed mobile broadband and broadband delivered through radio waves.

Media Consumption Over a 2 Week Period

Friday
Wake up to Radio 1
Read The Sun
Listen to iPod
Watched Reqiuem for a Dream
Browsed Youtube
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Saturday
Watched Scrubs
Listened to music
Read FHM
Watched rugby in the pub
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Sunday
Checked myspace/facebook
Watched Natural Born Killers
Browsed Youtube
Listened to music

Monday
Listened to music
Played PS
Listened to more music
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Tuesday
Woke up to Radio 1
Watched Goodfellas
Browsed Youtube
Listened to music
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Wednesday
Listened to music
Watched Boondock Saints
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Thursday
Woke up to Radio 1
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Friday
Woke up to Radio 1
Listened to iPod
Listened to music
Browsed Youtube
Checked Myspace/Facebook


Saturday
Listened to music
Checked Myspace/Facebook
Watched Scrubs
Watched South Park

Monday
Watched Family guy
Listened to music
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Tuesday
Listened to music
Browsed Youtube
Checked Myspace/Facebook

Wednesday
Listened to music
Browsed Youtube
Checked Myspace/Facebook
Browsed Liveleak

Thursday
Woke up to Radio 1
Checked Myspace/Facebook
Listened to music
Watched Dane Cook

BBC Bosses Warned

Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of The BBC Trust has warned management that they will be watching the children's department very closely.

This comes after a 10% budget cut was placed on the department due to the BBC not getting the license fee that they requested.
With many broadcasters cutting down on their child orientated programming, due to the severe lack of commercial interest, BBC1 remains to be the only analogue linear broadcaster to show these programs after a regular school time.
Lyons has promised that the trust are going to keep a close eye on the quality of programming intended for children, and make sure that the standard doesn't fall.

It is a pure shame that quality children's programs are becoming so few and far between, as I remember myself getting up at stupid-o'clock in the morning to watch my cartoons as a child.

Videogram License (for video cassette, optical laser disc, home video product)

"Music licensing is the process by which songwriters, in theory, get paid for their work. In much the same way you don't own that copy of Doom or Windows, a purchaser of recorded music does not own the music, they own the media that music is stored on, and they have a limited right to use the music for themselves, so long as 'using' doesn't mean 'making unlicensed copies of' or 'broadcasting' the recorded work." - Wikipedia

You need to obtain a license because when you buy a music music track you are only paying for the right to listen to it yourself, not to distribute or play in the public domain.

In order to license a music track for a DVD, you would need first research who owns the copyright of the material you want to use, such as a record label like SonyBMG or Columbia records. You should also consult a music clearance and licensing expert to help with whatever you may need and get the process of licensing the track underway.

I found a website which has very cheap music licenses with a vast array of artists and music genres. www.beatpick.com
On this site I calculated that for a track on a DVD which had the following properties (Not in credits, background or source music, licensed for Europe only and a budget of less than 50,000 euros) it would cost £181.88 for the license.
This website encourages people to submit their own music and get paid through their licenses. Once you pay for the CD or other form of media, the tracks are yours to do with as you please.
For non-commercial usage, the site also has a Creative Commons License (http://www.beatpick.com/creative_commons.php), which allows the media to be used for non-commercial usage, such as students doing projects!

You could also use a Copyleft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyleft) license, which allows you to use and modify peoples creative work, but only as long as your work is freely available for others to do the same.

"Copyleft may also be characterized as a copyright licensing scheme in which an author surrenders some but not all rights under copyright law. Instead of allowing a work to fall completely into the public domain (where no copyright restrictions are imposed), copyleft allows an author to impose some but not all copyright restrictions on those who want to engage in activities that would otherwise be considered copyright infringement. Under copyleft, copyright infringement may be avoided if the would-be infringer perpetuates the same copyleft scheme." - Wikipedia

Another way to reduce the costs of music tracks, is to use Copyright/Royalty free music, where once you buy the CD you're free to use the tracks as much as you like in your productions. I found a website called AkmMusic (http://www.akmmusic.co.uk/) which supplies many big companies, as shown in the graphic I stole from their site.

The licence covers the following:
Television
Radio
Corporate Video/DVD
Training Video/DVD
Commercial Video/DVD
Point of Sale Video/ DVD
Amateur Video/DVD
Photographic Presentations
Message on Hold
Multimedia Presentations
Media Courses
Websites
Podcasts

Another way of course, is simply to make your own music tracks, using programs such as Soundtrack Pro. Or even record an unsigned band you know.
Personally I would go either with the Copyright Free license because of sheer simplicity of it, and you can re-use the tracks you are given multiple times. Otherwise if I am on a really tight budget, I would simply make my own tracks.

Taste & Decency

"What are the rules on Taste & Decency?
The advertising codes state that advertisements should contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

The codes also require that special care is taken to avoid causing offence on the grounds of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or disability.

When the ASA council decides wether an ad complies with the codes it will judge on the context, medium, audience, product and prevailing standards of decency." ASA Educational Pdf File.

These codes keep what adverts are seen by the general public in order, so that they don't offend the majority of people that would be viewing them. They also make sure that social boundries are not crossed, and don't influence people to judge according to social stereotypes.

Social Responsibility

These codes ensure that viewers will not be harmed mentally, or encouraged to do irrisponsible things.
These include:
Advertising a product that makes children feel inferior unless they have it, making them pester their parent or guardian until they get the product. Or any sort of advertising that could harm a childs perception of morals.
Material that could be found shocking to certain viewers, such as disturbing images.
Scenes that encourage irisponsibility and unsafe behavior.
Advertising products which could be hazardous to peoples health, or falsly misleading people to think the product is something which it isn't.

Children and Advertising

As said above, you cannot encourage children to pester their guardians for the advertised product.
You cannot show other children in dangerous situations, which children may try to copy.
Having an advertising ploy aimed at making children feel inferior if they don't have your product.
Aiming adverts for sugar products such as cereals, chocolate or soft drinks at children.
No images of children in any sexual way, including dressed up, in makeup etc.