Calling contributors for my music video

This blog post is about my experience with calling contributors for my factual content delivery module project music video and how my experiences went.

Day 1 – I have chosen to create for my factual project, a story telling music video for the song ‘Leave a Light On” by Tom Walker. I have researched interviews and articles, and I have learned that this song is based around “a strong story of loyalty, forgiveness and compassion.” And “quite transparently encapsulates the isolation and distance between Tom and the friend he’s reaching out to in this emotional plea” (Rarr, V, 2017).The current music video for the song involves a young man being stranded on a boat, possibly reflecting his isolation and distance. Therefore, I have decided to create a story based around a relationship between a boy who stands by his girlfriend, the love of his life, during her drug addiction and abuse.

Day 2 – I have started researching possible actors for my music video, mainly performance students at university and young, early career models. These people that I am looking to use will need to have a certain edgy look to go with the indie style of music and would also need to be cast well as the characters. I have found numerous names of possible people and will now need to start contacting these. I will start by calling each of them and will make sure to say:

• Who I am, what I do and what I am planning on producing.
• I will ask whether they would be interested in being a part of this project.
• What their schedule is like and when they will be free.
• How far away they are from me and whether I would need to travel to them.

Day 3 – I have contacted 3 possible actresses for the video.

The first girl I contacted was a performance student at this university. As this was my first call, I was extremely nervous and closed off during the call and forgot to ask her a few of the important questions I had planned on asking. The girl wouldn’t have been able to be involved in the project never the less, as she had a tight schedule which didn’t fit around mine. This call gave me much more confidence in calling contributors, as she was very polite and friendly during the call and made me much more comfortable.

The second girl which I contacted was a semi professional model in Manchester, although I was much more confident when it came to calling her, she wasn’t as polite and friendly as the first girl which was much harder to communicate. After I explained who I was and what my project was about, she immediately said she wasn’t interested in unpaid work. This helped me realise that people who do this for a living were less likely to be interested in doing a student project – meaning I started to look for younger girls who may benefit from the project just as I would. I also learned that I would need to ask the girl whether they had time to talk first before I start explaining what my intentions were.

The third girl I contacted was a performance student again, who did modelling on the side. The only issue I had with the girl was that she was an hour drive away from me. When I first contacted her she wasn’t available to talk and asked if I could call her back the next day.

Day 4 – Today I contacted the third girl on my list again by phone. I explained what my project was about, what I was planning on doing, how this would benefit her and she seemed very interested. Her schedule was very flexible however as already mentioned, she lives a while away from me and would require me to travel a while – I did not mind this as she was the first contributor who was available. I have planned to contact her again in a few weeks as soon as I have found a male counterpart for the video and can organise a date to shoot. She has given me an email address and her university timetable to help me organise a date and time.

This experience has given me a lot more confidence talking over the phone with possible contributors. Despite me still being very nervous and reluctant over the phone, I now have the confidence to make the initial call and to just bite the bullet and contact people. Some contributors were extremely rude but I now understand that you have to contact the wrong people to get the right people.

References

Rarr;, V. (2017). Tom Walker releases Leave A Light On | IndieCentralMusic. [online] IndieCentralMusic. Available at: http://indiecentralmusic.com/2017/10/23/tom-walker-releases-leave-a-light-on/

 

A MIX-TAPE FOR GUS – BBC Radio 4 (Orig. broadcast Tuesday 7th October 2014 @ 11.30)

BBC Radio 4 typically broadcasts factual podcasts, readings, dramas and magazine programmes, which creates the tone for most shows aired. In the start of this ‘mix tape’, the man introduces the show in a very formal and to the point manner, which represents the radio station and how all shows are presented.

The use of impactful music throughout and the personal stories, reflects the relationship Levy had with her brother Gus and creates a close relationship with her and the listener. We are forced to have a relationship with her and also makes us feel as if we know her and her brother. This also means that the audience listen with an empathetic ear and feel every emotion that she does.

Emily uses voiceover over the soundtrack to explain what each song means to her and her brother, which means that the audience can almost imagine how this must feel for her and can attach themselves emotionally. Each song means something to us just as it does for her.

The use of sound effects also puts the listener in a position where they are in this with her as she opens the tapes and finds new music. This is also done by the use of speech as we can hear her giggle and the way her voice sounds when she talks about him. It creates much more emotion for the listener than if the whole podcast was read like the man who introduces the show.

The imagery of Gus dancing is very impactful as it makes the listener feel as if we knew him and makes the podcast much more emotive for us. The use of conversation between two people who knew him also makes us imagine just how he acted and helps us understand what his personality was like.

 

 

THE MAN WHO SQUEEZES MUSCLES: SEARCHING FOR PURPLE AKI – BBC Three (Online release through iPlayer 12/9/16)

This short, 15 minute documentary is based around the people who were affected by Akinwale Arobieke, or ‘Purple Aki’, the infamous stalker who would harassed young men with big muscles for his own pleasure. The documentary aired on BBC3 and is part of the factual documentaries shown on this channel for a younger audience. The typical audience would be people from Merseyside who are familiar with the stories of ‘Purple Aki’, older people from the 80’s who were familiar with the story of Gary Kelly, and young people who may be interested in the story and it is new to them.

The documentary is intended for people who aren’t familiar with the story of ‘Purple Aki’, which is possibly why they used a young presenter – Benjamin Zand – from Merseyside who can be relatable for the viewer.

The use of random interview’s on the streets of Merseyside also makes the short documentary a lot more relatable as we can see that numerous regular people have heard of the infamous ‘bogey man’ of Merseyside and helps us to realise that the stories he is telling are real and well known. The use of location being on the streets of Merseyside also helps the credibility of the documentary and helps relate to the audience as it will make people realise just how close to their home this man is.

There is continuous actuality throughout this feature also, to help us to connect with the victims of Arobieke and to force us to see him as the villain. It helps us to learn more about these people and to follow their everyday life to see how this person has affected them.

I do, however, believe that the documentary was cut very short and could have resolved in a different way, as there wasn’t much information given and there wasn’t a very impactful conclusion.

QUAKE – BBC Radio 4 drama/VR series

Quake is a drama podcast constructed of 12 audio clips, each engulfs the listener to feel as if they’re in an earthquake themselves. This podcast also works with VR (Virtual Reality) headsets to enhance the listener experience; the first episode aired on 14^th May and included a first person experience inside a collapsing building.

The podcast uses slow paced visuals to “offer an extra dimension” says the digital editor at Radio Four, and immerses the listener into the world of the podcast and offers an insight into just what the earthquake victims go through using layers of sound. This creates an edge of the seat feeling for the listener and is very intense. This podcast is an amazing piece of dramatic radio and definitely pays off with the finished product.

 

The podcast is structured in a way which offers the listener two choices – they can either listen to whichever audio clip they choose, or listen to the whole thing as a podcast. This is because the clips don’t follow on from each other and don’t all follow one story; they are non chronological and means that the listener is “choosing episodes to suit or listening to the whole thing as a podcast”. (Roberts, 2017).

Overall I think this is an amazing piece of dramatic radio and once I started listening, I couldn’t stop.

REFERENCES

Quake, B. (2017). BBC Radio 4 Ventures into VR for Online Audio Drama Quake. [online] VRFocus. Available at: https://www.vrfocus.com/2017/04/bbc-radio-4-ventures-into-vr-for-online-audio-drama-quake/ [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

Jill Sherman, M. (2017). BBC breaks ground with virtual reality earthquake. [online] Thetimes.co.uk. Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-breaks-ground-with-virtual-reality-earthquake-53p58v9rc [Accessed 12 Nov. 2017].

Kicked Out: From Care To Chaos – BBC Three (TX 6th April 2017)

Kicked Out: From Care to Chaos is a very personal BBC3 documentary about Rebecca Southworth’s journey through being abused as a child and being in care. She explores the reason behind “why so many people end up living such troubled lives after they leave the care system” (BBC3, 2017).

The use of having a camera filming her the whole way through as she films interviewees means that the documentary becomes a lot more personal to her life and shows how intimate the interviews are between them. This is a very unconventional way to film and is also very risky. However, in my opinion this creates a much more informal and unprofessional documentary and furthermore becomes almost amateurish.

The opening scene where she films herself through the mirror demonstrates a deep and personal feel between the documentarian and the audience. This shows that she is making it from an inside perspective and understands what the people are going through. She explains her story and her journey through care and therefore evokes empathy for her from the audience. This is unlike most documentarians, as typically, they would allow the subject to tell their story. This suggests that the documentary is more an exploration of herself than of the lives of people who have been in care.

BBC3 is known for creating factual content which is “committed to unearthing young, new talent with compelling personal stories to tell” (BBC3 commissioning, 2017). This clearly reflects the aim within this documentary as she is a young documentarian hoping to share her personal journey.

This documentary is very different and unorthodox, however it is argued whether this is acclaimed. In my opinion, the documentary is very gripping and interesting as she creates a very intimate feel, however the use of showing the camera in shot leads to it being almost unprofessional.

DON’T LOG OFF – BBC Radio 4 18th July 2016, 11pm (series 7, 4th of 4 episodes)

Don’t Log Off is a BBC Radio 4 episodic podcast presented by Alan Dein which is 7 series in length. The show consists of a 30 minute speech which explores “the real life dramas of random strangers” (BBC Radio 4) through different social media platforms.

Although most of the stories told were very upsetting, the edit meant that it was uplifted using music and sound effects. This means that you are left feeling engaged in the podcast and not disheartened by the stories you have heard. We were also told many ameliorative stories in between ones in which may upset the listeners, which means that we are taken on a journey of emotion rather than feeling gloomy all the way through.

As a result of the short attention span of this generation, media has had to keep things interesting and exciting when it comes to editing. In this episode of Don’t Log Off, we see that the “interviews were cut up and spliced together, fading in and out in an impressionistic patchwork” (Chris Maume, 2012, Independent). If this podcast was a simple 30 minute speech, I personally would not have been able to engage quite as well as I did. The use of short cuts means that there is something new going on all the time and keeps me interested.

The fact that he talks to people from all over the world in this podcast means that we feel uplifted by peoples stories. The idea that we are hearing from someone expecting a baby in Tanzania personally made me feel very content knowing that the small worries in life aren’t as important as they may seem – the world keeps on turning.

References

BBC (2017) Episode 4, series 7, Don’t Log Off – BBC Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07knqy7

Maume, C. (2017) Don’t Log Off, BBC Radio 4, Monday Outlook, BBC World Service. The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/dont-log-off-radio-4-monday-outlook-bbc-world-service-6289656.html

EDEN: PARADISE LOST – Channel 4 (orig. broadcast 8th August, 10pm 2017)

This reality show – Eden: Paradise Lost – revolved around the lives of 23 strangers who were left in the highlands of Scotland for a year in aim to create a community and completely start from scratch. The end result was not a happy society, but a dysfunctional community.

The show in the early stages of commission showed a lot of potential and seemed an excellent idea, however the producers in my opinion were thinking much too doubtlessly. We can see just in this episode that there is a dark side to everyone and unfortunately, we can only really see their weaknesses. One of the members of the show, Anton, admitted “We had the opportunity to show some of humanity’s strengths, when we really showed a lot of society’s weaknesses” (Gabriel Tate, 2017). The show uncovers many problems within society; within this episode especially, we see a lot of sexism. This just proves that when we take away our modern technology and societal values, we end up right where we started before we evolved to be so open minded. Although producers claim that they “don’t think anyone expected it to go as feral and dark as it did” (Ian Dunkley, Channel 4), media is always trying to push the boundaries to make something which an audience has to question; unfortunately this one just didn’t get the reaction Channel 4 was hoping for.

Millennials love being voyeuristic, which is why reality tv is so popular in the 21^st century; it gives us an opportunity to see other peoples weaknesses and to connect with them. We live through technology, and by watching this show, we can escape our life and be in someone else’s reality. The Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications media theory suggests that we watch reality tv to connect with people who are like us, so that we can make ourselves feel more comfortable about the way we are and see our weaknesses in someone else. This show is clearly aimed at 18-30 year olds, s each contestant is within that age range, and means that a younger audience can connect easier.

Eden has no light at the end of the tunnel, it was simply a means of experimenting with people and pushing them to the limit to make interesting television. Although the ratings weren’t very high, it definitely taught me that no matter how evolved we think we are, if we take away our iPhones, Laptops, and Tvs and co-exist, we end up back where we started.

References

Tate, G. (2017). Bullying, cliques and fistfights: secrets from Eden, the reality show that nobody watched. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/04/eden-paradise-lost-reality-show-nobody-watched [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017].

FIGHTING TALK – Series 2, episode 1 (original broadcast BBC Radio 5 live)

BBC5 live is the nations radio station which specialises in live BBC news, phone ins, interviews and sports commentaries and the principal radio station covering sport.

Although the station doesn’t play music, we can see that it is not boring, as there is always something new going on. Within this hour of radio, there are games, news, interviews and more. This shows that the use of short, exciting clips keep people more engaged than lots and lots of content. However, this means that you can’t listen just for sports, or for a certain interview, and means the show isn’t specialised.

The fact that the presenters are very enthusiastic and energetic means that the show is much more lively and exciting. The use of improvisation in between scripts means that the show is very light hearted and is enjoyable for the listener. Although, having numerous loud presenters means there is a lot of talking over each other and can be very overpowering on a radio show. The fact that things move so fast onto the next subject means that it can be hard for the audience to keep up with and therefore overpowering when the hosts are also talking at the same time.

PEOPLE JUST DO NOTHING – Series 3, episode 1 (BBC Three)

‘People Just Do Nothing’ is currently one of my favourite TV shows – it cracks me up. BBC3 has created a new style of comedy with their mockumentaries and people are loving it, reflecting the British sense of humour. The use of documentary style cinematography and editing combined with a hilarious script and perfect mise-en-scene, has made this sitcom an internet success. The fact that this script surrounds a group of people which we see on a daily basis, makes it even funnier to me, as I can see that the script is a mock of real life people.

Interviews mean that you get an insight into all of the different characters and therefore creates a relationship with the audience. This makes the programme even more comical because we can see just how ridiculous their opinions and thoughts are from a one on one conversation. In the seventh minute, there is an interview with ‘DJ Steves’ in which he is explaining his role in ‘Kurrupt FM’. It is set in a run down alley in a council estate representing the area in which he is from and the clothes he is wearing represent the ones of a typical ‘chav’. The L cut shows him smashing a bottle against the door, while claiming he is the “inspiration” of the group. This shows that his head is just in the clouds and that he needs to grow up and get a real job.

This is a real problem which young people are facing, as millennials don’t want to be a part of the generation of people who got stuck in a boring admin/labour job, for minimum wage, in the same run down council estate they grew up in, and staying there for the rest of their lives. This mirrors the point I made earlier about the fact that this mockumentary is based around real people, and is even funnier because of it. Newall says in the Independent article that “We all know someone like MC Grindah”. We went to school with him, or sat on the bus next to him the other day, or even saw him arguing in the local shop with his fiancé, which is the reason why it has become the success it is.

The show has stemmed from a small YouTube show, with a modest audience, to a now extremely popular BBC3 mockumentary which has got the whole nation’s attention. Aroesti says in the Guardian article that “the main reason the show works so brilliantly is because of its unaffected simplicity” and the fact that the characters are so oblivious to their surroundings. This is a result of the show originally being a small YouTube show and stemming from improvisation.

This show surmises the success which you can achieve just through the internet and just how much the internet can do for people wanting to create TV.

References

Newall, S. (2016) ‘People Just Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla on Kurupt FM growing up and why the show could be as big as The Office’  The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/people-just-do-nothing-series-three-bbc-3-ash-atalla-series-2-a7195231.html

Aroesti, S. (2016) ‘Bare Jokes: how People Just Do Nothing made sitcoms funny again’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/sep/22/how-people-just-do-nothing-made-sitcoms-funny-again

Introduction

I’m Mia Dickinson and I am studying at the University of Salford on the Tv and Radio Production (BA Hons) course. This means that I get the opportunity to study in the heart of broadcast media across the country – MediaCityUK.

I have just finished studying A level English, Media and Film studies and am very excited to start the course to broaden my own knowledge of the practical aspects of TV production. Although I have worked in TV production before as a runner, lighting, and sound technician, I am looking forward to creating projects of my own and experimenting with some ideas I have.

My blog will be surrounding the analysis of existing media texts in a critical way in terms of micro features, macro features and using relevant theories whilst also documenting the production of my other projects.