Filed under: Three main ideas for my final project
Process I took in coming up with my three final ideas, I am going to try new things. I am going to try to work on my weaknesses e.g. documentary because I feel that I can brush up on this skill easily and it is different to the work I usually produce which is what I want to do. I will also continue to develop my camera work and editing skills. I also want to experiment with different lighting as I feel it would give me more experience and will also make my work look more professional.
Idea 1: Arsenal Project
I am very passionate about football and my team and I feel I can produce a very high standard of work on this aspect. I have thought of a number of pieces I can do on this topic including a documentary, stills, moving image, audio piece. I like the idea of this because this also allows me to use more than one of these types in my piece therefore I can meet more of the criteria set and aim for a higher mark. I will list down all the different things I thought of doing for this piece and make my decision on what idea or ideas I am going to take forward for my final first idea for my final project.
List of Ideas
< Still image piece reflecting back on my journey to Highbury and the Emirates. I will take lots of photographs of the journey I used to do when going to Arsenal games. This includes stills of train station where I got the train from, the train that I am on, the map of the train line and stops that I used to look at, Arsenal station, stills of walking in the Arsenal station e.g. what I used to see, image of the first thing I saw when stepping out of the station, streets I walked down both to Highbury and Emirates, stills of where Highbury used to be, lots of stills approaching the Emirates and of the Emirates.
< Documentary talking about my past experiences at Arsenal matches. I will include moving image footage of streets I used to walk down on my way to matches while narrating my thoughts. I will include interviews with Arsenal fans on the pain of being an Arsenal fan in recent years. this would allow me to use primary research and get a very accurate view of what a range of different people think.
< Moving image piece of talking about economical power, I will look into the state of Arsenal finances whilst at Highbury and I will see how finances have improved since the move to the Emirates. I will contrast transfer budgets between both stadiums and I will also ask a number of Arsenal fans if they are happy with our current economical situation? and the reason we seem to still have no money even though we are doubling match day revenue since our move from Highbury.
< Short film on a typical day around the Emirates, I can go down to our stadium on match day and film normal day behaviour e.g. what people buy from the Arsenal shop etc.
< Documentary looking into the popularity of the mens and women’s football team at Arsenal. I will conduct interviews and ask fans how much they know about the ladies team to see if they know just as much as they do about the mens team. I will also raise the question, like the mens team we would recognise on the street, would we recognise a member of the Arsenal ladies team if we passed them on the street? I will also look into the constrast of both the mens and women’s football team e.g. wages, training facilities etc.
< Documentary raising the question, how big is Arsenal in the world today? I will look at secondary resources for information including books and the internet. I will narrate my findings and also conduct some primary research and ask a range of different Arsenal fans on their views on how big Arsenal is around the world.
Resources that has helped influence my idea
I have included as many sources as possible that would help me turn this idea into a great piece of work.
I have looked around for works that people have already done on still photography about football. I have found an artist ‘Jaskirt Dhaliwal’ who took a number of pictures of football grounds. I looked at these pictures and drew inspiration from them in the terms of composition, lighting and picture quality. All of these aspects were evident in these pictures and I will make sure my pictures are up to the same standard.
Football stills by Jaskirt Dhaliwal
I have found a video on YouTube that talks to the Arsenal fans like I plan to in my final idea. This video is very inspirational to me because it shows me how to position the camera whilst interviewing people to great effect. It also tells me what to expect in terms of crowds when I go to interview people. This video also touches on the topic I plan to use in my final piece of the pain of being an Arsenal fan in recent years. It tells fans that we used to win trophies but not any more and we see the fans views. I will have this video in mind when I am conducting my final piece when interviewing people.
I have also found an article highlighting Arsenals financial report and linking to the economic crisis. This ties in extremely well to my bit I am going to do in my final piece about Arsenals finances and the improvement in finances since we moved to the Emirates from Highbury. I will learn a lot from this article and it will give me a lot of facts to talk about in my final piece. The report was written in February this year so it is fairly accurate and there is not going to be another Arsenal financial report until February 2010.
Arsenal’s Financial Report 2009
Arsenal Financial report at Highbury
I have looked and found out how big Arsenal’s fan base is around the world today. This gives me a good starting point which I can take forward and look into much more detail.
How big is Arsenal\’s fanbase around the world
I have found an article on the BBC how women’s football popularity is on the rise. Although this does not concentrate specifically on the Arsenal ladies it gives a representation of women’s football in general. Once again this research will give me a starting point to take forward in much more detail.
Womens football\’s popularity on the rise
By researching around it has really allowed me to see what ideas would work very well and what ideas will not. I have decided to use a number of my ideas and mix it into one short film.
Final Idea
I will start with some still photography that I will take of the journey that I used to do when I used to go and watch Arsenal. I will take still images of the train, train station, roads leading to the stadium, apartments where Highbury used to be, stills of the Emirates. I will then conduct some interviews with fans asking them about the current financial situation at Arsenal and if they are happy. I will also get facts of my own from books etc to make my findings correct. I will then look into the Arsenal shop and what sells the most and why. I will also ask fans what products they like best and the reason for being so. I will then go down on match day and talk to a number of fans just to get a feeling of their mood and the happiness they feel about the club. Finally I will finish up with a conclusion of me concluding my findings and then still images showing the journey I used to take home e.g. train station, train, station for home.
Idea 2: How modern technology and Advertisement has changed the way we live
I am very passionate about new technology and different sophisticated ways of advertisement. We live in a society where technology is forever evolving and we consume to keep up with the technology. advertisements also have developed with the quantities of advertisement growing every year. I can base this topic in the form of a documentary, short film and still image.
List of Ideas
< Still image piece of modern technology and advertisements. I will take pictures of modern-day phones, advertisements and also images os social networking sites e.g. twitter. I will also include stills of websites that have grown in recent years e.g. youtube and BBC iplayer. This idea will show all of my findings in a still image form.
< Short piece showing how social networking has evolved in recent years and is now an everyday part of our lives e.g. Twitter. I will conduct interviews with people asking them if they use a social networking site. I will look into the facts of how many users they are. like this idea because it has changed society completely because we are able to follow our favourite celebrities on twitter which was not possible before.
< Short piece on the development of mobile phones. I will compare old phones 5 years ago to the phones today. The reason for this is to show the rapid speed that phones are developing by. I will also talk to members of the public and ask them what they think about the rapid developments of mobile phones and also what they think phones will be like 5 years from now. I will focus specifically on the cameras on the phones and the fact that the majority of phones have better quality cameras than real digital cameras. I will use examples where modern cameras on phones have made it easy to record. An example I am planning to use is the G20 summit where a police officer hits a woman protester on with a baton. This was filmed on a mobile, this shows how phones is a part of our everyday lives now.
< Short film looking into the growth of YouTube and watching t.v. programmes over the internet. I will find facts from books, websites etc to how many people use YouTube everyday. This technology allows people to show themselves to the world. It is also a source for people to watch music videos and also comedy etc. watching t.v. over the internet has also become a modern technology. Websites like BBC iplayer and 4od allows us to catch up anytime on our favourite programmes. It is very convenient, this also proves that modern technology makes our lives much simpler. I will also ask members of the public what they think of sites such as iplayer and if they are frequent users.
< Short film looking into how advertisements has evolved from just posters, billboards etc to the T. mobile adverts by Saatchi and Saatchi. Saatchi and Saatchi told T.moblie to text everyone that was on the network and tell them to meet at a specific place. Hidden cameras were the in place and a commercial advertising t mobile was created e.g. people dancing in Liverpool street station and people singing in Trafalgar square. I will include an interview with a worker at Saatchi and ask about the adverts. I will get facts from articles, websites about the events and I will also film advertisements e.g. posters, billboards and then show the T.mobile advertisiments. This will show how advertisements go further today then just billboards etc.
Resources that have helped infuence my final idea
I have found an article showing how social networking has changed society. Although it gives an American representation it still includes valuable information about how social networking is changing our behaviour e.g. instead of going out to visit people we are staying in and communicated over social networking sites. This shows just how powerful modern technology is changing the way that we go about our daily lives.
How social networking has changed society
I have gathered some research that I found on the web for Twitter. These sites also give me a great starting point to take forward in the popularity of Twitter around the world. I also found that twitter has 6 million users worldwide and will continue to grow in the future from conducting this research. I am learning so much about twitter from this research and this will help me produce better quality work because I have more knowledge.
I have conducted research around how mobile phones have developed, I have found an article on how it is developing so fast and future development. This is new information to me and I have learnt something from this and will take this knowledge into further expanding this idea. I have also found a video onyoutube looking at the camera on the sony ericsson c905. The phone has a 8.1 megapixel camera and this video has helped me see just how far technology on phones especially cameras have come on since say 10 years ago. It proves the rate that technology is improving.
mobile phones – future development
Changes to mobile phones over the last 30 years
I have conducted research looking into the growth of youtube and the popularity since it was launched. The two internet articles I have found contain very useful information to help get me started. I have also looked at how the iplayer was launhced and how many people are using it now to watch their t.v. programmes. By conducting this research it has really given me facts to start with and take forward should I choose to use this idea in my final piece.
YouTube growing fast in popularity
I have looked into research about how advertisements are changing. I have especially concentrated on the T Mobile adverts produced by Saatchi and Saatchi for T Mobile. This research will help me start this idea of and lay the foundations for me to push on in much more setail and depth about the way advertisements are changing.
Dance routine at liverpool street station
A look into how the T Mobile advert in Trafalger square was created
All of the research that I have conducted for each potenial idea has really helped me relise what ideas are the best ones to take forward into a final idea. I was able to see that soem ideas did not have that much research material around them and also I could not do much else to turn them into a good piece of work. From this research I have clearly seen the best ideas that I can turn into a final project.
Final idea
I have decided to base my final idea on two of the ideas from the list above as I feel I can do more with them. I have decided to look into how advertisements have changed over the years, specially looking at T Mobile’s adverts old and new. I have also decided to base this idea on the development of mobile phones and out reliance on them in our everyday lives.
I will start this idea with filming people on their phones walking down streets etc and give facts from research about how we rely on them so much. I will then ask members of the public how often do you your mobile and can you live without a mobile. I will then also look into how phones have developed over the years and become more sophesticated e.g. camera’s. I will then conduct interviews with some phone workers asking them about the speed that phones are developing by and also how many mobiles are sold roughly everyweek. This will give an idea of peoples reliance on phones. I will also include some still images to show when I giving facts about the phones.
I will then look into how advertisments are changing from just billboreds and posters etc to the T Mobile adverts by Saatchi and Saatchi. I will narrate facts that I find and take still photography e.g. billbored advertisements. After I have finished talking about traditional advertisement techniques I will concentrate on the T Mobile adverts by Saatchi and Saatchi. I will have a look at the older T Mobile adverts and then take a look at the adverts I am focusing on including dancing in the train station and singing in trafalgur square. I will get an interview with a saatchi worker asking them the reason behind this advert and why they think the advertising technique they used was so successful. This piece will show how advertisements specially T Mobile have evolved and use the public to sell their phones.
Idea 3 – BBC TV licence – Licence fee’s increaing in price every year and do we agree with it
I am very interested in looking into if people are happy paying the licence fee or they are against it. This is a subject I have always been very interested in. I know year after year a fee is required to continue watching T.V. I will look into protesters against this fee and also talk to members of the public and ask them if they agree or disagree with the licence fee. I feel I can produce a high quality piece of work on this issue.
Coming up with this idea
I sat down with pen and paper and jotted down every idea that came to mind reguarding the BBC. I went through the ideas and realised that most of them would not be easy to make e.g .documentary looking at how BBC programmes are becoming more sophesticated. This would not be easy to make because there is not much to talk about and a lot of people would not have a strong opinion on this issue. Also I would like an interview with someone who works at the BBC to get a professionals view, I do not know anyone in this department so will not be able to get an interview. I then looked at my T.V licence idea and this ticked all the boxes that the previous idea did not. People I ask will have a strong opinion on this issue because it is affecting them personally because they have to pay for the fee and also I can definatly get an interview with someone at the BBC to talk me through this licence fee. I am happy with this idea because it allows me to produce a very detailed and interesting piece of work.
I have decided that this is the idea that I am going to take into production. I did like my other two ideas but this was the most realistic idea to make.
Problems with Idea 1 – Arsenal project
< People may not be around to talk to me when I go there to film, also an interview with a person working at the stadium is unlikely becuase they are so busy. I just felt that my BBC idea is much better and I am not going to take this idea into production. This idea is my plan B, but the idea above will be scraped and I will produce a piece of work that reflects my journey I used to take when I attended matches in the past.
Problems with Idea 2 – How modern technology and advertisements have changed the way we live
< I felt that this idea would be boring to the people watching the finished piece. I would not be able to get an interview reguarding the modern technology and I planned to get an interview with a Saatchi worker but this is now not guarenteed because I know people there who work on the designs and not the advertising sector. This means because I do not know anyone on the advertsing field there a interview is not guarennteed and I need the interview. I do not want to take an idea into production where I may not get an interview because the idea is unrealistic and not makeable to the standard I would have wanted it to have been.
I have decided not to take my previous two ideas into production but I am taking Idea 3 – BBC TV Licence into production, here is my research that I did for this idea and also the final idea in detail.
Research and Findings
I have looked at various sources to help me with this idea. This research has given me accurate facts ready for me to produce my piece of work. This research was essential because I need to know what I am talking about in my piece otherwise the idea will be silly and I will confuse people by not giving them correct information.
I have learnt a lot from this link, I have found out what stations, channels are funded by the licence fee, here is what the licence fee funds
< 8 national television channels (BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 3, BBC 4, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC news, BBC parliment)
< BBC Red button interactive TV
< BBC HD
< 10 national radio stations (Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 5 live, 5 live sports extra, 6 music, Radio 7, BBC Asian network)
< National TV and radio services for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and over 40 local radio stations for England
< BBC online, BBC iplayer, BBC mobile and the BBC channel on YouTube.
How to pay licence fee and the increase in price every year
I have been able to see a table dating from 1 April 2007 to 1 April 2012 that shows the increase of the fee every year. It is very important I have these facts because I can highlight these to people etc.
| Date From | Colour Licence | Black and White Licence |
| 1 April 2007 | £135.50 | £45.50 |
| 1 April 2008 | £139.50 | £47.00 |
| 1 April 2009 | £142.50 | £48.00 |
| 1 April 2010 | £145.50 | £49.00 |
| 1 April 2011 | £148.50 | £50.00 |
| 1 April 2012 | £148.50-£151.50 | £50.00-£51.00 |
From this piece of research I have seen how the money we pay for the tv licence is disrubuted around the BBC. This piece of evidence is not up to date, reflects the April 2008 licence fee but is still useful to see how the money is distrubuted around.
£139.50: 1 April 2008 – The disribution facts around the BBC reflects an individuals households fee money
< Television: £8.00 per month (includes BBC1: £4.77 and BBC2: £1.95)
< Radio: £2.01 per month
< Online: 61p per month
< Digital switchover and other costs: £1.01 per month
Threatening letters for not paying licence fee
This research has shown me how threatening the BBC can get if licence fee is not paid, a letter is sent every month and the letters get more severe the longer the licence fee is not paid. This will help me a lot in my piece because from seeing this I can relate to people I speak to who have recieved these letters in the past.
Should the T.V licence be scrapped
I voted yes to the licence being scrapped and the results of the poll came up. Out of 1842 votes 1691 people (91.8%) said yes it should be scrapped, 123 people (6.7%) said it is value for money and 28 people (1.5%) said they do not care if it is scrapped or not. This gives a strong indication that the majority of people do not agree with this licence fee and it is a great starting point for me to take out when interviewing people and also when I talk to the BBC worker.
I really enjoyed watching this video because two people are talking about the licence fee with one agreeing with it and the other not agreeing with it. The man who does agree with it says it is unpopular but tolerant and the other man just does not agree with it. This video has helped me a lot because I now have an idea of what answers the people I ask will give me.
This video highlights key questions around the TV licence and the answers to the questions. This video gives me facts ready to take out into the world when I go and interview people about this issue.
This research has helped me a lot. I have a much stronger knowledge on this issue ready to take with me into production. It was very interesting to see how people are affected so badly from this fee. This research has given me an indication of the answers people will give me when I ask them.
Final Idea
I am going to start with me narrating facts on the tv licence e.g. what our fees go towards etc and show loads of images and stills whilst narrating. I will show images like t.v. being switched on, images of radio stations, the BBC headquarters and so on. I will then conduct a range of interviews with different questions with members of the public. I will ask questions including do you know what your money pays for? Do you agree with the licence fee? explain why. Thoughts about the licence fee going up in price every year?, also I will touch upon the fact of threatening letters being sent out to people who have not paid their licence fee, I will ask members of the public if they have ever recieved one of these letters and the effect that it has had on them. By asking these questions I will get a very detailed analysis of what the public feel on this issue. I will then continue to narrate on the publics thoughts and give more facts with various images showing whilst I narrate. I will then conduct an interview with a person who works at the BBC and ask them about the reason why the price is increasing every year and if they are any plans for the fee to be scrapped. I will basically get an opinion on where this licence money goes and if the fee will continue to be charged to households in many years to come. I will finish with concluding in my own words what information I get from the interview at the BBC.
My aim at the end of this piece is to make people aware of what there money is being used for and the reason why the licence fee is increasing in price every year. I want to give people watching a accurate view on the licence fee and for them to have a much stronger opinion on this issue e.g. agree or disagree. I am very much looking forward to making this idea.
How Realistic is this idea to make?
In order for this idea to work I have to interrogate myself and ask question about its realism to make. I have gone through a number of different elements to help decide weather this idea is feesable
Finance – My final video will cost roughly £77.50 to make. I have broken things down and worked it out like follows. Car travel, driving home to london to shoot from uni and then back to Coventry from London will cost roughly £40 petrol. I will be getting the train into Central London to shoot and production is going to take 5 days. I have worked it out as £37.50 for a weeks travel card. This is the cheapest way to do this because driving into Central London would be more expensive because distance, traffic and also congestion charge. The train is the best option to getting into London. I will have enough money to shoot my final video.
Logistics – I think kit wise I will manage, I will only have a camera and Tri pod to take with me into London. Although an extra pair of hands will be useful for setting up equipment in order to save time. Also there is a risk if I take the equipment by myself to film it may be stolen especially if I am doing a shot with me walking towards the camera. The camera will be on the tri pod unattended and anyone can run away with it. I will need another person with me to film, I need someone to be the camera operator whilst I talk to people on the streets and also to film the interview at the BBC. I am going to ask friends in London if they can help me out on these days, I have thought about it and they may not be able to help me out on all 5 days so I will only ask them to come and help when they are needed e.g. interviews and me talking in front of the camera. Another option if my friends cannot help me is to look into hireing a camera operator for the required days but that will be expensive and is something I want to avoid. I looked and hireing a camera operator for a 10 hour day will cost between £200 – £300.
Technical Resources – The university has all of the technical resources I need for my final video.
Human Resources – I feel I have the technical ability to produce a high standard of work. I will make sure I teach a friend who helps me out the equipment so he knows it inside out. Just to make sure 100% that I can produce the best work possible I will take the camera out, learn the buttons again and film tests and check white balance, audio levels etc. This is so on the days of filming I know what to adjust the camera settings to so I do not waste time.
Experience and Ability – I feel that I do have the ability to relise this idea properly. I have had experience with shooting out in the world with a camera and tri pod before e.g. college and uni so I am comfotable. I also will take the camera out from the loan shop that I will be using to shoot and film tests. This will remind me of the correct settings and also allow me to know the camera inside out going into production.
Time – Yes this idea is possible to produce in the given timescale. I need a week for production. The pre production will take the longest but I will get the post production in and production in the timescale ready for hand in on the required date of submission.
Output – I will put my final video onto DVD and it will be distributed via DVD.
I know this idea is creative because it allows me to conduct primary research (interviews with public and BBC worker) and also secondary research (getting information from books and websites). This idea is also feesable as it is makable and realsitic. There is also loads of other sources out there which allows contextual research. I have carefully planned this idea and I know that this idea is achievable and I am looking forward to shooting this idea.
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