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Discuss technology

Learning Outcome 1 (U24): Understand the products that are produced within and across media industries

P2 (U24): Explain the use of converging technologies within an identified sector

Technological convergence:

Technological convergence, also known as Digital convergence, is the coming together of information and communication technologies to create new ways of producing and distributing products and services to media audiences, for example mobile phones, laptops, tablets, and I-pads. If you were to compare the difference between the films, adverts or even trailers that are made today compared to those created in the past, there is a big difference in the technology used. Companies that produce films and advertisements now use technology that is high quality and efficient, in the past when films and advertisements were starting to come out, the technology used was slow, low quality and took ages to use.

Pre-production:

Pre-production for a company today is easy to achieve. With the use of technology today, companies have an unlimited number of resources such as Google, can communicate with places they might want to film by phone, and can use google maps to map out the area for the location. When making storyboards, the companies can use digital software such as PowerPoint or 'storyboard that'. When undertaking the pre-production stage in the past, things were much harder and very time-consuming because the internet had not been invented until January of 1983, any form of research or reaching out to the public had to be done face-to-face or from books.

Storyboards had to be drawn by hand, which was time-consuming, some companies spent many hours creating a storyboard for a film or an advertisement. For a company to film at a location, they had to go to that location prior to filming and scout it out and make sure it was a suitable secure area. This meant traveling to the location itself, which could take up several hours of the company’s time and they would have to put everything else on hold just to site out a location, which might not be suitable for the company’s needs.

How storyboards were created in the past Modern-day storyboards can be created online

During the Pre-production phase, several tasks need to be completed to carry out the production phase itself. These tasks show how much thought and commitment needs to put into creating a film or a TV advert. The tasks that are required during the Pre-production phase are:

Brainstorming- Companies come together and write down any ideas or initial thoughts relating to the film or TV advert. There are several ways of brainstorming such as designing a Mind Map or just listing group ideas.
Research- By looking at rival companies and similar products, to replicate ideas. General information (e.g., statistics and facts) can be used from the internet to help with the creation of film or TV adverts. Questionnaires/surveys can be sent out to gain ideas and involve the public.
Proposal pitch - The employees in the company who come up with the idea, must present the idea to the company’s management. If the idea is a success from the pitch, then it will be developed into the final product, however, if the pitch and idea is unsuccessful the employees must rethink the product again and make improvements.
Production schedule- This is where the company must set out the timings of when they will shoot the film or TV advert, the equipment they will need, and any other essentials.
Budget - Companies will have a limited budget for each media product they create. Crowdfunding is also a good way to gather small amounts of money from the public.
Storyboard- A representation of how the media product will look when filming each scene. Storyboards can be hand-drawn, just like they were in the 20th century or they can be created digitally online which is how most storyboards are presently created.
Location Recce/Risk Assessment- The most important stage within the pre-production phase. Employees from the company go and scout an appropriate location for their media product. Once found, a risk assessment is completed to ensure that the location is safe to film.
Contingency plan- A backup plan is created; in case the original idea is unsuitable or does not work out. Everything that was originally planned for the media product usually goes well, but every company has a contingency plan to be on the safe side.
Shooting schedule- All actors and crew are given these, so they know what is going to happen during the production phase of the media product, e.g., camera shots.
Call sheet- A call sheet is handed out so that everyone involved in the media product knows where they need to be and at what time.

With the development of converging technologies, the stages that I have listed above have become less complex and are more efficient for companies to complete. An example of this would be the research that would be carried out in the build-up of producing a media product.

With the limited resources that companies had in the past, it was hard to gather the required information. The research that companies undertake now is much easier due to modern technology.

Other stages of the pre-production phase are also easier such as the production schedule. Companies now use the internet and use production schedule websites such as 'Monday.com'. In the past it was written or drawn out and even was vocally said out aloud between the employees in the company.

Production:

During the production phase, the filming of the media product is the main focus. With the use of cameras, lighting, sound and any other equipment a company needs to shoot a film or a TV advertisement. The filming equipment that is used in today's making is more dynamic to use than what the equipment was like in the past. Cameras are mainly based on a camera skater dolly, where the camera can slide side-to-side easily when the actors walk across the set. However, it isn't just about the movement of the camera.

The advancement of technology has improved heavily over the decades, with films and TV adverts being filmed in the likes of High Definition (HD) and 4K, making the quality of the film or TV advert high and viewers able to see what is on the screen clearly. Yet, in the past cameras were nowhere near as advanced as they are no and the reasoning for this is because they were static cameras, which had 3 legs to actually support the camera on top. For a camera operator to operate the camera in the past, it would be very time-consuming as he/she would have to take the camera apart and then set the camera back up in the next position, leading to valuable time being lost during filming.

Another technological convergence that has been developed since the beginning of making films and TV adverts is how each of the crew talks to each other in order to make sure everything is correct and going to plan. When the first-ever TV advert was made in 1955, which involved Gibbs SR toothpaste, the communication between the crew was restricted due to the fact that they had limited resources. The way in which they communicated is that they had to stop filming the advert so that they could rectify any mistakes that happened in the scene they had just filmed or to direct the cast into their next position. Nowadays, the communication between the cast and the crew has improved heavily due to the converging technologies that are available for companies to use. The crew that is on set when the TV advert is being produced, uses headsets and radio to talk to each other when the person or the cast is in character and is in filming for the TV advert.

Modern-day companies have the use of a green screen if they feel like they need to use one during their TV advert. The idea of a green screen is you can add in any image you want, making it look like you are in a different place when in reality you are just filming a scene in a studio. In the Early days of filming, a green screen wasn't a thing so instead companies had to use black cloth, which was first tested by a man named George Albert Smith. George first tested this idea back in 1896 where he took an image and swapped out parts of it with a double exposure effect as well as using really high contrast in the image so that the black cloth could not be seen anymore. This technique was used later in the film "The great train robbery" in 1963.

The first film to ever feature a green screen was A Modern-day green screen being used in action

called "Four heads are better than one" in 1898

Post-production:

With the advancement of converging technologies, the post-production phase has become simpler and the time taken to edit a film or TV advert is now much quicker. Examples of editing techniques that are used within this phase are adding sound effects, cutting out any unwanted scenes, importing music, as well as adding text. The most common editing software are:

Adobe Premiere pro - A video-editing software that companies use to edit films and TV adverts. A time-line format is at the bottom of the software, so the editor can add in any images or videos and ensures the character's voice is synchronised with movement. The editor can see what is being produced by looking at the product that is being displayed above the editing bar.
Adobe Creative Cloud - This is the overall package of the Adobe group. This includes a selection of software such as web development, photography and video editing tools.
Adobe Illustrator -Primarily used for titles and sub-titles. Animation characters that are either in films or TV adverts can also be created because it is a graphics editor.
Adobe Premiere Elements -The same as Adobe Premiere Pro but a much simpler version for those who are just starting in the film and TV Industry.

Adobe Premiere Pro Logo

Adobe Illustrator Logo

Adobe Creative Cloud Logo

Adobe Premiere Elements Logo

In the past, editors used a technique called "Primitive" Editing. The whole idea of it was that the cameraman would stop turning the lever on the side of the camera when the scene had been filmed. Once the next scene was about to be filmed the cameraman would start to turn the lever on the side of the camera again. This was the only way for an editor to know specifically which scene had to go where when editing the film or Tv advert. Compared to editing nowadays, it was very time consuming to put a film or Tv advert together during the post-production phase, as the editor would have 'X' amount of strips given to he/her by the camera operator and put the scenes in order, to make the film or Tv advert make sense to the audience.

M1 (U24): Discuss how the identified industry sector has used developments in technologies

As viewers, we like to be able to choose what type of media to consume and how we consume it. This leads to us having more control of the stuff we want to watch or see as well as the companies gaining more information and data, in order for them to be able to improve and adapt on their media product. The technology that we use on a daily occurrence has developed heavily since it first began and companies are now able to advertise their cross-media campaigns in various ways.

With Phones, tablets, TVs, and radios not being invented till the early 20th century, companies could only advertise their media products through traditional methods such as print, magazines, newspapers and billboards. At the time this was considered to be a 'modern way' for companies to advertise their media products, which resulted in them having control over their viewers. Nowadays though, viewers are now able to have control over the companies as they are able to choose their favorite TV channel instead of having to watch something that they are not interested in or is tedious to watch. Viewers also have control over social media and can scroll past any posts or adverts that they don't want to look at, meaning that celebrities' posts and companies' posts might not get as much recognition compared to their competitors.

If someone was to make a huge announcement in the 1900's such as getting a job promotion, then they would have to write a letter or make a phone call from a desktop rotary to their friends or family. People are now able to use their social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to make huge announcements, resulting in it being spread around quicker. Having the use of social media makes things a lot easier as well for consumers because we are able to keep up to date with all the gossip and celebrity news that is happening around the world, as some newspapers and magazines don't have the space to report on it.

Previously, audiences had to buy a magazine or newspaper from the news agents to be able to see all the major news that was going on, as companies didn't have access to the internet at the time due to it not being invented. When google was formed in 1998, it started to become easier for consumers to read a magazine or newspaper as companies were able to put their media products online for free. As time went on google became more developed and with thanks to Google themselves they brought out updates to their website. The reasoning for this was because when it first came out, the speed of the internet was so slow and it took forever for audiences to get onto a specific website. Additionally, the look of google has changed over the past 23 years, with the first homepage being very basic and not a lot of activity going on, but the google we use today, is very advanced and audiences are able to access several different features from the new homepage such as maps, image, news, shopping and more. When google was released audiences couldn't bookmark any websites because the function hadn't been discovered and with there being limited websites, it wasn't hard for people to remember them. The feature is now available to all consumers whereby you can bookmark a certain website which will then sit on the tab bar on the google home page making it easier for the audience to access.

Googles first ever homepage in 1998 Googles homepage in 2021

Pop-up adverts started to appear on Google in the 1990s, in the hope that audience members would click on the advert which would direct them to a separate page to where the advert was based. At first, there wasn't a lot of adverts because companies didn't know how they could promote their media product on Google due to the lack of resources, however, with people starting to develop the technology they had back in the '90s, it became easier for companies to advertise their product on Googles' homepage. In some cases it is unavoidable when an advert comes up as they force you to click on the advert, resulting in the audience going on to the companies website where the media product will be. This could lead to some people staying on the website and carrying on looking through it as they would've been persuaded by the advert that they originally saw.

Companies gaining revenue from their audiences have become increasingly more difficult due to the fact that as audience members, they are wanting to find ways that don't involve paying a small fee when viewing the companies media product. The most common media product that the audience has to pay for is either an e-magazine or e-newspaper. However, with the development of social media, companies are now starting to create apps that allow audiences to view an e-magazine or e-newspaper without having to pay a fee, such as the MailOnline where you can download the app for free and you would be able to view all of the top stories that have gone on around the world. Whilst on the app, the MailOnline likes to post adverts, such as clothes, car sales, holidays and many more, with the companies hoping that the audiences will click on the advert due to them being persuaded by what the advert is telling them.

The advertisement industry has had significant changes such as the use of billboards, posters and newspaper adverts. The reasoning for this is because of the technological developments that have happened over the past century as companies are now able to use new and improved resources to help them have a more successful cross-media campaign for their advert. Companies used to promote their advert on a 14 feet high and 48 feet wide static billboard, which would've been displayed in an area where most of the population would be able to see it. Furthermore, the audience wouldn't have paid that much attention to a traditional billboard as it was very simple and basic with very few words on it, resulting in the audience not getting enough information about the product which would've put them off from buying it. Companies are now able to use electronic billboards (e-billboards), where several adverts are displayed on a rotation, which lasts between 5-10 seconds. The idea of having multiple adverts on one billboard will hopefully get the attention of the audience as they will want to know what the next advert will be giving them time to look at the one that is already being displayed. Additionally, there is more context on the advert with companies producing a persuasive slogan and description of what the product is about. In some cases companies advertise the same advert on several electronic billboards ensuring that the audience is able to see the advert, resulting in the media product being forced into the mind of the audience where they might go onto google and search for the product if they were persuaded with what they saw on the advert.

Similar to billboards, posters were also a traditional method that companies used to use when advertising a meida product for their cross-media campaign. Companies like to have the same poster and billboard advert, meaning the codes and the conventions will be identical to each other. However, poster adverts were seen on shop windows and people in the company would go onto the street and hand them out face-to-face giving the audience some extra context to the media product in the hope that the company would get the audience member to buy it in the near future, which would bring the sales numbers up. Nowadays, companies now like to share their advert through the use of social media. This makes it so the audience are able to look at the advert whilst on the go, additionally, if the audience like the product that they see then it is easily accessible for them to click on the companies website, instead of having to remember the websites name from the poster and typing it into Google. The product placement of an advert on social media is more direct and in your face as the size of the advert is smaller than the product placement on a poster. This could see as a good thing because companies want to grab the attention of the target audience as well as increase their sails, leading to a greater reputation within the company.