Developing Technologies in the TV and Film Industries

3DTV Current developments
A 3D television (3DTV) is a television set that employs techniques of 3D presentation, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D-plus-depth, and a 3D display – a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field. 3D TV is layers of video, layered on to of eachother to create and effect that fools the human eye into thinking there is 3 dimensions infront of it. This "3D" effect makes television seem more realistic. 3D television has not taken off yet and I think this is because on most of them you need glasses, so for this reason I wouldn't buy one just yet until the price drops.

Video Explaination Below;

Satellite

Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an external set-top box or a satellite tuner module built into a TV set. In the UK we have a satellite dish on the outsides of our house and this is pointing to the satellite in the sky, this is then connected to a external sky box. Sky company broadcast all of their channels using this method.

Cable

Cable television is provided to subscribers property through underground cables. FM radio programming, high speed internet, telephony and similar non-television services can also be provided by cable. Some subscriber based companies such as Virgin Media broadcast their television by cable. To have cable television a antenna is required.

Video Explaination Below;

Analogue
In many places all over the world what is known as the digital switch over has happened. This is where television originated from, when there were approximatly only 5 channels before the digital switch over. Not everywhere has taken in the digital switch over and still use analogue television, however the digital switch over is expected to be completed all over the world by the end 2012 - begining of 2013.

Digital
Analogue television is recorded at 30 frames per second (fps), whereas digital is recorded at 60 frames per second. These frames are basically seperate pictures being taken per second and are then placed in lines to form a 1 second of video. Many of these shots are produced to make a full movie. So as you can imagine the more frames per second the video is recorded in the sharper detail the video has.

The picture below supports my explanation:

Film-based
Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. The visual scenes may be either dynamic or static. An example of CGI would be Star Wars, as it has characters that do not exist in real life, but are made to look extremely realistic and alive through the use of CGI. A lot of CGI is used on the basis of a green screen and it is human acting edited to make a realistic special effect. CGI is used in lots of cartoon films as they can use this to create virtual characters which are not real, therefore this means there is no end to what can be achieved as a character.

Interactive
To be truly interactive, the viewer must be able to alter the viewing experience (e.g. choose which angle to watch a football match), or return information to the broadcaster. The most obvious example of this would be any kind of real-time voting on the screen, in which audience votes create decisions that are reflected in how the show continues. An example of a time when I have witnessed this would be the X Factor, this would be because the public have to ring or text a specific number to keep a specific contestent in the running to win the show.

Internet
Internet television is becoming a big part of everyday life as people such as me now watch television on iPads, iPods etc, using Sky Go as an example of one of these services now known as apps. Internet television has also recevied growth by catch-up services such as BBC iPlayer, 4OD and Youtube. People with a busy lifestyle have facilities such as BBC iPlayer which provides a catch up service, personally I use this a lot as I miss quite a lot of programmes when I go to the gym. I really think facilities like BBC iPlayer are a very positive thing because it means I do not miss out.

High Definition

High Definition (HD) has grown a lot as it simply increases the aspect ratio of the video creates finer pixels which then creates a higher quality video or image. The higher the 'p' of the television the greater the clarity of the video for example, 360p is standard, now television are able to be made at 1080p and 720p in which these are both HD. I think HD television is worth the extra £10 a month because I pay it and see a very big difference when watching sports such as Football and Golf. When watching Golf they do a slow-motion camera of the golfer hiting the ball, when this is in HD it allows you to see every blade of grass.

Streaming Content

Often when watching content on the internet it is a constant stream, such as watching live sport from peer 2 peer websites. These websites are illegal many people still share files which would normally cost money on pay per view or seperately paid for channels such as ESPN for free.

On-Demand Viewing

Lots of people do not watch programmes first time round as they know that they can catch up on demand channels such as Channel 4OD. Video on Demand (VOD) or Audio and Video On Demand (AVOD) are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand. IPTV technology is often used to bring video on demand to televisions and personal computers.

Digital Recorders

In digital recording, digital audio and digital video is directly recorded to a storage device as a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes in air pressure. Digital recorders are similar to subscriber boxes such as Sky and Virgin, because they have storage space on them in which you can record programmes on to, to watch another time. It also has the features of pausing and rewinding live television also like the subscriber boxes.


Pay per view
Often sporting events are placed on pay-per-view as they are a one off event and also broadcasted live worldwide. Pay-per-view events are purchased on a basis that the consumer pays for a certain amount of viewer time on a premium channel. Subscriber companies do not include pay-per-view channels in with the subscribed payment the consumer pays, however the consumer can pay extra money monthly for constant access to channels such as ESPN.

Regulation Of The Media Sector

Regulatory and professional bodies:

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)

The BBFC is an independent, self-financing and not-for-profit media content regulator. They operate the classifications of films, TV, adverts and video games. They have a set of rules that they look at whilst watching a programme and then they tick off things such as swearing, blood or obscene material which then gives the programme they correct age verification. Part of the job, of the BBFC is to regulate films in to age categories based on the content above, they rate films with U, PG, 12, 15 and 18. 

British Video Association

The British Video Association is the trade body that represents the interests of publishers and rights owners of video entertainment.

Film Distributors Association

Film Distributors' Association Ltd. (FDA) is the trade body for theatrical film distributors in the UK - the companies that release films for UK  cinema audiences. They represent a distribution stance in regular representations to and consultations with the UK Film Council, the government and other trade organisations in the film industry. They are also a passionate advocate of distributors' pivotal role in the well-being of the whole film economy.

Video Standards Council (VSC)

The VSC develop and oversee a Code of Practice designed to promote high standards within the video industry.

Television, Radio and Telecommunications Office for Communication (Ofcom)

Ofcom stands for the office of communications; it is the Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. Ofcom is the regulator of TV, Radio and Internet, this means when production companies want to add content to the TV, Radio or Internet they have to have it regulated by Ofcom. As the regulatory body for media broadcasts, part of Ofcom's duties are to examine specific complaints by viewers or listeners about programmers broadcast on channels that it has licensed. If a member of the public has a complaint to make about a programme such as Big Brother, they would file this complaint to Ofcom.

Trading Standards Central

Trading standards professionals enforce consumer related legislation, legislation which is vast and constantly evolving and changing. On simple terms they check brands are ligit.  

  

Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
The press complaints commission deal with complaints within the press. An example of this would be a offensive or harmful comment from newspapers directed to the public, if they did not like the comment the Press Complaints Commission is who they would complain to.

Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
The ASA is the UK's independent regulator of advertising across all media, including
marketing on websites. They work to ensure ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful by applying the Advertising Codes.

The Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF)
MEF is the global community for mobile content and commerce. It is the leading trade organisation for companies wishing to monetize their goods, services and digital products via the mobile connected device. MEF provides competitive advantage to its diverse membership, shapes industry growth, connects thought leaders and spearheads groundbreaking initiatives which explore and promote monetization opportunities

The Independent Games Developers Association (IGDA)
TIGA is the trade association representing the UK's games industry. Our members include independent games developers, in-house publisher-owned developers, outsourcing companies, technology businesses, universities, individuals and students.

British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is the UK's leading independent charity working with the film, TV and video games industries.

Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA)
The Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) is the trade body

for UK commercial radio. It represents commercial radio to Government,

the Radio Authority, copyright societies and other organisations

concerned with radio.

The International Visual Communication Association (IVCA)
IVCA is the independent not for profit membership organisation representing the creators and commissioners of film, video, digital and live events for the corporate and public sectors.

Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C)
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards.

British Web Design and Marketing Association
The UK Web Design Association was established in 2001 to encourage and promote industry standards within the British web design and new media sector.

British Interactive Multimedia Association (BIMA)
BIMA is the British Interactive Media Association

With offices in England, Scotland, Wales and with our regional representatives spread across the country BIMA exists to do three key things...

• Support and promote the British digital industry
• Share knowledge and best practice
• Reward great work and encourage the next generation

If you are involved in digital, you can benefit from being a BIMA member.

Regulatory issues:

Ownership
An example of ownership is when ofcom had to decide if one person can own to much media related content. Media regulators had to decide whether or not to let this deal go through. The whole Rupert Murdoch scandal is a good example of this. I think consumer choice is a good thing, because this way the media's ownership is spread between many people and younger, up and coming students have more opportunities to get involved in the media sector.

Monopoly
Monopoly interlinks with Ownership, this is because as Ownership is in place it stops what are called Monopolies from happening. A Monopoly is when somebody takes over so many sectors of the media. An example of this would be if there was only one newspaper, one news channel and one radio station.

Access
Access means that all services such as television, cinemas or radio need to be accessible to all viewers such as deaf or blind people. Radio and television need to have a audience which is large enough for them not to break their regulations.

Consumer Choice
When broadcasters such as the bbc have to target everyone as their audience, they have to make their programmes suitable for all age ranges. Ofcom would be a regulatory body who will help regulate films, games and TV to help make sure there is a lot of consumer choice. I think this is obviously necessary as if consumer choice wasn't in place children and youths would be vunerable to inappropriate material an example of this would be obscenity.

Freedom of Information
Freedom of information legislation comprises laws that guarantee access to data held by the state. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions.

Censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech or other public communication which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or inconvenient to the general body of people as determined by a government, media outlet, or other controlling body. For example when television channels such as Film4 put films on they can only make them viewable past 9 o'clock if they are 18+ content.

Taste and Decency
Taste and decency is what different people like to watch so this has to be decided so that when television is broadcasted there is always something for someone to watch. These programmes are based upon different people and what backgrounds they come from, it is also based on age and gender as people get older the more content comes available to them. Companies such as Ofcom are the regulators in charge of what contents is shown so that there is something for everyone.

I think regulatory bodies are very useful because they protect children from seeing content which is not suitable therefore giving them a better upbringing. Persons under the age of 18 have a right to be protected from certain content. I agree with all the rules that are used in order to protect people. I agree with these rules because if they wasn't in place I think the upbringing of many children would suffer because they are not protected from material that is unsuitable. I agree with all of the regulatory bodies being in place because this helps to protect all different types of people, making television suitable for everyone.

Ethical & Legal Constraints within the Media Sector

Ethical

Social issues and sensitivities, eg representation of gender, representation of religious beliefs, linguistic usages, accessibility; professional body codes of practice, eg BBC producers’ guidelines, Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C) accessibility standards.

Legal

content, interpretation and application of laws relating to media, eg

Broadcasting Act 1990 (and later amendments)
The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been described by Margaret Thatcher as "the last bastion of restrictive practices".
In simple terms the Broadcasting Act is what is illegal and legal to be shown on TV. An example of breaching this act would be to show explict material, such as raunchy dancing on Strictly Come Dancing.


Official Secrets Act 1989
If somebody knows a secret about royalty it is illegeal to break confidentiality, if the governmennt thinks the secret could harm royalty for instance if terrorists was to find out where the queen was at a certain time it may place her in danger.


Obscene Publications Act 1959 (and later amendments)
The Act created a new offence for publishing obscene material taking into account that what your doing is best for the public. Breaching this Act would be to show obscene material on television, magazines and newspapers.


Films Act 1985

Legislation concerning film finance and defining 'British films'

Video Recordings Act 1984
The video recordings act states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon by an authority designated by the Home Office.
Breaching this Act would be to sell pirated DVD's that have not been age certified.




Race Relations Act 1976 (and later amendments)
In the Race Relations Act of 1976 covered discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic and national origin in the fields of employment, the provision of goods and services, education and public functions.
Breaching this Act would be for an employer to employ only one race or to exclude a race.




Human Rights Act 1998
An Act to give further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights. The Human Rights Act makes it unlawful for any public body to act in a way which is incompatible with the Convention, unless the wording of an Act of Parliament means they have no other choice. Everyone has the right to freedom of speech an example of breaching this act would be to restrict somebodys speech.


Licensing Act 2003 (and later amendments)
The Act establishes a single integrated scheme for licensing premises which are used for the sale or supply of alcohol, to provide regulated entertainment, or to provide late night refreshment. In relation to media this act ensures all dvds sold by a licensed shop are not illegeally copied.


Privacy Law
Privacy law refers to the laws which deal with the regulation of personal information about individuals which can be collected by governments and other public as well as private organizations and its storage and use. An example of breaching privacy laws would be if somebody spread private information to other people for example across the internet on social network sites.

These laws are designed to regulate specific types of information. Some examples include:

·         Health privacy laws

·         Financial privacy laws

·         Online privacy laws

·         Communication privacy laws

·         Information privacy laws

·         Privacy in one's home

Copyright and Intellectual Property Law
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. An example of breaching copyright would be if a band used lyrics written by someone else and did not give them any credit.


Libel Law
libel is defamation by written or printed words, pictures or in any form other than spoken words or gestures. An example of breaching this act would be if somebody had a idea written down and somebody else copied it. 




This is an example of a famous Legal Act of Privacy Laws.


The News Of The World fought a legal battle against a number of celebrities due to hacking into their phones in a quest to receive newsworthy information, they achieved this with the knowledge of senior staff. The main victims of the phone hacking scandals were celebrities however one major case was the death of Millie Dowler. By the News of The World doing this it means thats any victims are entitled to being able to sue them for breach of confidentiality and or privacy.


In my opinion I think privacy laws have many grey patches. Breach of privacy is not a good thing however some celebrities dwell on the breach of privacy act, but paying people to tip off paparazzi photographers in order to get publicized in newspapers and magazines, a good example of this would be Katie Price.


Ofcom
Ofcom stands for the office of communications; it is the Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. Ofcom is the regulator of TV, Radio and Internet, this means when production companies want to add content to the TV, Radio or Internet they have to have it regulated by Ofcom. As the regulatory body for media broadcasts, part of Ofcom's duties are to examine specific complaints by viewers or listeners about programmers broadcast on channels that it has licensed. If a member of the public has a complaint to make about a programme such as Big Brother, they would file this complaint to Ofcom.


BBFC
The BBFC is an independent, self-financing and not-for-profit media content regulator. They operate the classifications of films, TV, adverts and video games. They have a set of rules that they look at whilst watching a programme and then they tick off things such as swearing, blood or obscene material which then gives the programme they correct age verification.


Code Of Practice
A code of practice is a set of written rules which explains how people working in a particular profession should behave. An example of this would be editors code of practice, which is for the newspaper and magazine industry. The Press Complaints Comission (PCC), which is mostly made up of members, is charged with enforcing the Code, which is then used to adjudicate complaints. It was ratified by the PCC in september 2009. Exceptions in the code of practice are marked by ", these relate to public interests. 

A duty to maintain the highest professional standards is expected by all members of the press. The Code, which covers the preamble and the public interest, sets the benchmark for those ethical standards, protecting both the rights of the individual and the public's right to know. It is a main aspect of the system of self-regulation to which the industry has made a binding commitment.

Media Representation
Representation is the way in which a broadcaster company represents a group of people. For example the adverts for washing machine powder years ago used to be advertised as a woman using it whereas nowadays, the adverts make quotes like "even men can use it" this gives a bad representation on men.

Film Financing

Government Grants

        A government grant is when the government give money to a organization or company which allows them to finance their firm. It can range from story or project development to production funding or even foreign sales funding. The government provide funds in the hope that the production of a film in a particular area will boost the local economy not only by bringing the production crews but also by raising the profile of the region, which will help a specific are attract more tourists. When the government give out grants they do it in a hope that it will boost certain areas therefore they do not want the grant back otherwise there would be no point in give the grant.

Tax Schemes

        The individuals pay the producer a fee in order to obtain the tax deductions; this means that films that are being invested in by wealthy individuals whose money would otherwise be healthily taxed. In 2007 the United Kingdom government introduced the Producer's Tax Credit which results in a direct cash subsidy from the treasury to the film producer.

Debt Finance

        The primary way in which films are financed is through pre-sales. Pre-sales are when the film company sells the script and cast in advance so they have the funds to make the film. Pre-sales works by film companies purchasing big named actors which almost guarantee a consumer that they will get their money back with interest; this is why big named actors are important, as consumers will be more likely to take the risk. As a result, the borrower stands to make significantly more profit if a successful film is debt-financed.

Equity Finance

        Equity financing requires the filmmaker to sell interests in either the film or Film Company in exchange for the funding. If a filmmaker sells 50% of the corporate interest to an investor, for example, then the investor will lose his entire investment if the film is a complete failure, so investors want the films that they invest in to be a success so that make a ‘huge’ profit. Equity Finance in film is less of a risk than a Dept Finance because Dept Financing relies on everything being a success and investors can put 100% into it however Equity Finance you only get back the money you put in for instance if 10 % is put in 10 % is given back in profit.


Product Placement

        Product Placement is a form of advertising used in television and film. Product Placement is when an actor or actress will use a product of some sort and the film production company will be paid by a product to make their label visible to their viewers gaining them custom, examples of this would be the use of Aston Martin Cars in James Bond films or Nissan Cars in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Sportswear and drinks labels seem to use product placement a lot as viewers are able to see their product in use. Product placement within film is an investment for brands trying to reach a niche audience. There are strong reasons for investors to expect that film product placement will increase consumer awareness of a particular brand.

Wayne's World Product Placement Below :

T.V Funding

          There are many types of ways in which funding can take place in TV industry; if you were a public service broadcaster such as BBC you would make funding by the £145.50 license fee that every television owner pays yearly. Other ways in which public service broadcasters would make funding would be syndication, competitions & merchandising. Syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network. Some programmes have competitions that are hosted at the end of the programme usually this makes them money buy the public phoning in to win a prize. These phone calls are always much more expensive. Public Service Broadcasters also make a lot of funding by merchandising which is when they sell products to a retail consumer. Commercial broadcasters make their money in the same ways as Public Service broadcasters except they do not consume any of the license fee which is paid by the public an example of a commercial broadcaster would be ITV. ITV is commercially funded and BBC are publically funded, some channels such as channel 4 use both of these funding methods to gain funds to keep their channel up and running.

          There are many television companies that receive their funding by subscriptions; this is when their customers pay a monthly subscription to be able to watch the list of channels that they broadcast. Most subscriber based funded companies have channels that are not included in the standard payment that customers have to pay more for an example of one of these channels would be ESPN, subscriber based companies also make money from advertising, competitions and merchandise as well. Sky and Virgin would be examples of subscription funded companies.

Josh.

ITV

ITV is the biggest commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom, Launched in 1955, that started out in London, and it was previously known as Granada. Since the merger of ITV, it has expanded its family of channels with the launch of ITV2 in 1998, ITV3 in 2004, ITV4 in 2005 and CITV in 2006. This is an example of horizontal integration as ITV is concentrated on television.

ITV is made up of 15 regional licenses and in November 2009 ITV secured full ownership of GMTV, the national breakfast-time channel 3 license. ITV is not owned by one single company, the network itself is governed by a regulatory body, Ofcom. ITV is a public service broadcasting organization.        

ITV is primarily funded by advertisements, however sell their programmes by syndication which creates further income, sponsoring and product placement are also other ways which they create money.

Paramount Pictures

Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio. Paramount was the first successful nation-wide distributor. Before this films were sold on a state-wide or regional basis, not only was this inefficient, but it had proved costly for film producers.

Since the earliest days of the cinema the development of vertical integration—ownership of the means of production, distribution and exhibition by the same company, paramount was one of these companies. Paramount originally owned all there actors, producers etc, this kept the cost of production to a minimum. Paramount was leaders in Vertical integration this meant that the studios created the films, had the writers, directors, producers and actors on staff, owned the film processing and distributed to the theatres they also owned. This meant they controlled what was shown and meant they earned much more money.