Saturday, April 16, 2011

...And I'm loving my new creative banner.

This is my third but not last banner. I think I improved a lot from the first banner I did.... Here are the three banners I did in all ... 

FIRST BANNER: 




Second Banner :



THIRD BANNER: 


At last, a banner without lots of pink and purple colours. Maybe my infatuation with pink and purple is lasting bit by bit!!

Between the second and third banner I did one just for fun.... No, I have to be honest (I did it with wrong width and height)




I hope you enjoyed them! Feel free to criticise my work. I accept criticism with open arms.

Regards, 

Elena

Famous 'Għana' Musicians

  • Fredu Abela "il-Bamboċċu" (1944-2003)
  • Mikiel Abela "il-Bambinu" (1920-1991)
  • Leli Azzopardi "il-Bugazz" (1928-2003)
  • Frans Baldacchino "il-Budaj" (1943-2006)
  • Ġużeppi Camilleri "il-Jimmy tal-Fjur" (1917-1994)
  • Salvu Darmanin "ir-Ruġel" (1905-1976)
  • Pawlu Degabriele "il-Bies" (1908-1980)
  • Grezzju Ellul "ta' Ċanċa" (1926-1996)
  • Sam Farrugia "tal-Carabott" (1933-2002)
  • Guzeppi Meli "Ta' Sika" (1929-2009)
  • Żaru Mifsud "l-Għaxqi" (1933-2001)
  • Żaren Mifsud "ta' Vestru" (1924-1999)
  • Bastjan Micallef "Ir-Rabti" (1936-2002)
  • Toni Pullicino "it-Tullier" (1927-1968)
  • Rozina Sciberras "tat-Trott" (1880-1959)
  • Fredu Spiteri "l-Everest" (1929-1965)
  • Ġammari Spiteri "Amletu" (1907-1962)
  • Leli Sultana "Il-Moni" (1921-2003)
  • Karmnu Xuereb "In-Namru" (1911-1997)

General knowledge about 'Ghana Maltija' from Wikipedia




Għana is the term given to a specific type of traditional Maltese folk music. The word can have two literal meanings. The first is richness, wealth and prosperity; the second is associated with singing, verse, rhyme and even kantaliena, a type of singing with a slow rhythm. Għana can be broken up into formal and informal practices.

Throughout its history, informal għana situations frequently occurred amongst both men and women. The informal sessions shed light on the importance of the music in day to day life of the Maltese. The very origins of għana can be traced back to early peasant farmers. Ciantar (2000), in his article ‘From the Bar to the Stage’ puts together the writings of a number of foreign and Maltese scholars who make the claim early għana instances represents both the “simple life of the Maltese peasant life,” and the “intact natural environment of the island ”. Ciantar argues that the roots of għana are buried deep within traditional Maltese way of life, so much so that the two become synonymous with each other. Such a description by the scholar Aquilina (1931), for instance, emphasises this link between the people and għana:
How lovely it is, to hear from a remote and abandoned village amidst our island's hills, during a moonlit evening, while the cricket is hidden among the tomato plants, breaking the evening's silence, a handsome and healthy young man, swarthy as our country makes him, singing his għana ceaselessly. His soul would seemingly burst open with his singing! Ciantar argues that these songs evoke the very roots of Maltese poetry and literature, a claim that is also supported by ‘Dun’ Karm Psaila, Malta’s national poet. In an article on the origin of Maltese poetry, Psaila goes on to link għana to the modest recreation and aspirations of the common people.
Both scholars, Aquilina and Psaila, place għana in the 'intact' natural environment of the island:
…one could listen to għana songs, accompanied by a guitar or an accordion, sung by men and women on sea costs and during popular feasts such as Lapsi (Ascension Day). Youths used to sing għana love-songs in the open country, or the streets, or in houses during work-time.
Għana was a way to pass the time during hours of recreations and whilst completing household tasks. In particular, għana was practiced by the women singing on roof tops or in old communal wash houses, known as the għajn tal-ħasselin ("spring of the washers"). Wash houses were carved out of naturally forming caves around the island where water flows in a constant stream, providing a place to wash clothes. Like many other societies, men were the labourers and the women tended to the needs of the household. The women would converse with each other using rhyming song. It was a way of gossiping and passing time while they went about their household work. After washing, clothes were hung out to dry on the flat roofs typical of Maltese houses. From one roof it is easy to see – and indeed sing – across to neighbouring roofs over waist height fences. So essentially, there existed a pseudo community across the skyline of residential Malta, one in which women often took part in informal and unaccompanied għana sessions.

There are 3 main types of għana: fil-Għoli, tal-Fatt and Spirtu Pront. Għana fil-Għoli is also known as Bormliża, taking its name from the city of Bormla where it was popular. Bormliża singing requires males to reach into extraordinarily high soprano ranges without breaking into falsetto. This style mimicked the early informal għana sung by women, but due to its extreme vocal demands, this style is very seldom practised. Għana tal-Fatt literally means ‘fact’ or ‘actually happened’. This melancholic ballad style involves one għannej recounting a story about well known local identities, events or recent interesting or humorous, Maltese folktales and legends. Spirtu pront translates as ‘quick wit’, and originated from the informal ‘song duels’. Other types of għana are: bil-Qamsa and Makjetta.

In Spirtu Pront sessions, two or more għannejja (singers) are paired together and take part in an improvised song duel that demonstrates their knowledge of a wide range of social topics as well as their command of the Maltese language. Sessions take around an hour in duration, and there may be a number of sessions that make up a whole performance. The għannejja are the living poets of the Maltese language, singing in a highly expressive, free flowing style. Their improvised melodic lines borrow heavily from Arabic influenced scales. Although improvisation is definitely an element, it is never the focus.

Once a session has commenced, għannejja must participate for the entire duration, and no new singer can join. The ghannejja usually begin with an introductory comment about who is taking part in the session. This section acts as a way of easing into the bout, but has more recently been used as a way of identifying participants during taped performances. The għannejja then begin discussing the topic. This would either be predetermined, or it will be established during the course of a session, just as a conversation would. Għana is not used to settle personal differences or arguments between singers. The song subjects themes themselves are dramatic and grave, even if dealt with wittily. They may be personal honour, reflections on social values, or political (in the narrow sense of the word) (Fsadni, 1993). Singers must display their superior knowledge in the topic, while adhering to a number of formal constraints. For instance, their improvised responses must rhyme, phrases should be in an 8, 7, 8, 7 syllabic structure, and singers must use ‘high-flown’ language. This form of language is not one that is used in ordinary social intercourse. It is highly elaborate making use of wit and double-entendre, and drawing on the many Maltese proverbs and idiomatic phrases. The Maltese language is a very ancient language, and compared to English, it does not contain many adjectives or adverbs. Instead, over the centuries, the Maltese have developed a rich and colourful library of proverbs to act as their descriptors. Occasionally, depending on the għannej, the language used overtly self-righteous. Ultimately, this type of practice creates tension between competing għannejja. In most cases, the għannejja would be shaking hands with their opponent, similar to a sporting match, showing that what they are saying is only for entertainment and they do not mean to cause any offence.

The accompaniment is provided by three guitars usually strumming Western influenced tonic to dominant chordal progressions. This gives għana a very unusual sound, not quite Eastern, but not quite Western. In between sung verses, the next għannej (singer) is given time to prepare a respond to his opponents’ remarks while the prim (first) guitar improvises melodies based on traditional għana melodies. The għana guitar is modelled on the Spanish guitar, and is described by Marcia Herndon as:
…a standard instrument, with metal frets and turning keys, metal strings, and traditional decorations on the front. It differs from the standard guitar only in that there are two sizes. The solo guitar is slightly smaller than the accompanying instruments. This, along with the method of tuning, indicates the presence in Malta of an older tradition of guitar playing which has almost died out elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The guitars are played with or without the use of a pick.

Reference:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C4%A7ana_%28folk_music%29

AUDIO

As the book is written in Maltese by a Maltese author, and is about a street that in the past was very renowed, we came up with the idea of mixing some Traditional Maltese Folklor music with the Cubase 5.



We are still discussing which type of music is adapted for the scenes as every scene is paced differently and so we need different paced traditional music. We'll keep discussing this original idea!

Traditional Ghana is on our mind too, especially of the beloved ghannejja from the past "Il-Budaj" and "Il-Bamboccu."


Budaj







Bamboccu


FILMING GOT CANCELLED - 16 APRIL 2011

We booked the equipment for Saturday 16 April in the morning. Actors and Crew were settled and available. As the Maltese says; "Il-gurnata minn filghodu turik".... but unfortunately it did not show us a beautiful mild weather. For the contrary it was very windy cloudy weather and rain couldn't stop.... not for a minute. Ohhhh, Have a Break! Have a KitKat... Ouchhhh another advert!! Oooopss!! Sorry.

Unfortunately enough we had to cancel filming. We contacted the actors in our advert and gave them another appointment after seeing the availability of the cameras again! So, we are still in the production stage. We returned all equipment to school and booked them for another day. Still, Joanna, Mark and I did not waste the day. We did another location scouting in the street as we were already there hoping for the weather to change (STRADA STRETTA). This time we were evaluating exactly how the shots are going to be and how the actors are going to act, from where and how. We took a few more pictures as well. Till we are going to film again we can meet several times more so that we will discuss furthermore our roles exactly on the day. Till now we had around four group meetings.

We did not take bad weather in consideration as it was sunny for weeks... but everything can happen. Well, everything happens for a reason. On the bright side, we arranged with the actors for another date of the shoot as we need good sun to film according to our storyboard. We had to cancel the filming as we take good care of our equipment and we appreciate if we work in good weather conditions. As a risk hazard, accidentally the actors could easily slip on the wet street.
 

We hope that the next time we're going to film, the weather is on our side! Keep smiling :) N.B : PLEASE GOD WE REALLY NEED A GOOD BRIGHT SUNNY DAY.

Kind Regards,

Elena & the Team 

Storyboard

This is the chosen Non-Fiction book promo's storyboard...



Book :   TITLE :           Strada Stretta
              SUB-TITLE:   It-triq li darba xeghlet il-Belt










Author of the book: Gorg Cini


N.B:  Sorry about the quality of the pictures but the scanner is not functioning well.

Kind Regards,

Elena & The team (Mark Frendo, Joanna Caruana)
Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production
Group : B

Location Recce (Location of Filming)

Since the book is about Strada Stretta/Strait Street, the filming obviously has to be there.

We (the team) had made a LOCATION RECCE in the street so that we would be more familiar when we were going filming. Here are some photos infact :














Filming would be held in parts of the street, so we would not be using the whole street according to our Storyboard.



Risk Assessment:

Tripod: May lose stability if not placed well. To avoid this, the assistant camera person will make sure that the tripod is secured in place and stable.
 
My role in filming (Production) : In charge of the camera. (Camera Person)

Non-Fiction Book Promo

As you already know, my book proposal was Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and other authors. My team is made up of Mark Frendo and Joanna Caruana. After we discussed our proposals in the group meetings that were being held at school, we voted for each proposal. Strange enough we got equal votes so we had to discuss each and every proposal infront of all the class in one of our lectures. Well, I have to admit we got equal votes as the three proposals were really good and had a good storyboard.

The class voted for Joanna Caruana's storyboard and for the book "STRADA STRETTA. IT-TRIQ LI DARBA XEGHLET IL-BELT". The author of this book is Gorg Cini.


   Gorg Cini signing copies of his book


The book cover

Dissecting TV Adverts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Edv8Onsrgg


Britney Spears - Music Video : Hold it Against Me



ADVERTS in this Music Video :


Sony (all the way around)
Britney Spears Perfume

Ambition

A man without ambition is like a beautiful worm -- it can creep, but it cannot fly!




HENRY WARD BEECHER, Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit

My role in our Second Blog - MARKETING

For the MEDIACAST blog we are a team of 6 Media Students :


Claudio Cilia
Rodianne Xuereb
Christine Toledo
Tamsin Pace Decesare
Stephen Cutajar 


    and FINALLY


                                                ME!!




We had discussed our roles for this blog :

Research - Everyone


Claudio and Rodianne - Design Masters
Elena (Me) - Marketing
Christine and Tamsin - Researching more about Media Cast Identity
Stephen - helping everyone out especially when designing posters and banners



Till now, we are a great team... So, let's keep it going!


Site Map (plan)  follows ... We have three plans and so we need to discuss which one are we going to use for the blog... Group Meetings are being held as well.

My role in our Second Blog - MARKETING

DEFINITION FROM WIKIPEDIA :


Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."

 It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves. Marketing is a product or service selling related overall activities. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments.

Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management  is one of the major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.


The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors.

Feedback on Report

According to Mr.J.F.Micallef, I did very well both in the group presentation and in the report I handed in. The report was written by me according to my knowledge with the help of the school notes and some Maltese TV Channels' websites.

I am proud of what I achieved till now. The feedback on Unit 8, from Mr.Micallef was quite well... Let's keep it going!

 

Task 1 of Unit 8 : Report

Individually, present a report of 300 words further backing up your arguments in the presentation, with any references included, and correct use of English


I researched a lot about ownership and funding in both the TV and Film Industries. My research involved both public and private broadcasting. Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public. Public broadcasters may receive their funding from individuals through voluntary donations, a specific charge such as a television license fee, or as direct funding by the state. It may be nationally or locally operated, depending on the country and the station. In some countries, public broadcasting is run by a single organization (such the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia), broadcasting national and regional radio and television services. Other countries have multiple public broadcasting organizations operating regionally (such as the ARD stations in Germany which I researched a lot about them too) or in different languages. Examples of public broadcasters include the BBC in Britain, NHK in Japan, and the CBC in Canada. In the United States, public broadcasting stations are always locally licensed, but range from stations that mostly broadcast programming from national networks such as the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and National Public Radio (NPR), to stations that broadcast content of local interest. As well, there are private broadcasting companies. These are companies that broadcast television and radio programs. To make money, private broadcasting companies sell advertisements called commercials. 
 
Film finance is an aspect of film production that occurs before pre-production, and is concerned with determining the potential value of a proposed film. Filmmakers should be very selective regarding choices to use copyrighted works, trademarks, readily identified individual names or corporate names without express permission. 
 
Different countries have very different approaches to censorship and to the kinds of content that seem inappropriate. In countries where alcohol is banned, the exhibition of drinking may be discouraged or banned as well. In some cultures, religious images may not be photographed. For example, images of the prophet Muhammad are banned from exhibition in some countries. And depictions of nudity are treated very differently from country to country and from medium to medium. 
 
In the group presentation I researched about the Maltese TV Industry which infact I had already been working in it from the age of fifteen. I researched about the two public television stations , the TVM (TELEVISION MALTA) and the E22 (EDUCATION 22), the private stations that are One, Net, Smash, ITV Shopping Channel and Favourite Channel. Here are some brief points about every Maltese T V station;
Television Malta (TVM) is the national television station of Malta. TVM is operated by Public Broadcasting Services Ltd (PBS). PBS Ltd is state owned. PBS has a lot of popular programmes like the discussion programme Xarabank (presentor : Peppi Azzopardi) and the journalism based programme Bondi Plus (presentor : Lou Bondi) which are both held by the media company WE (WHERE'S EVERYBODY).
E22, (EDUCATION 22) the public educational television channel, has been established since 1996, deriving from the former Media Education and Broadcasting Centre that for over fifty years had been responsible for producing television and radio programmes in order to complement formal education in schools. An example of a programme that is being held on E22 is Sessi (presentor: Natasha Turner).

One TV (previously known as Super One Television) is a television station in Malta owned by the Labour Party. Broadcasts started in March 1994. While being owned previously by Rainbow Productions, the company changed its name into One Productions Ltd in September 1990. 
 
On the other side, NET Television (Media Link Communications) is the television station owned by the Nationalist Party in Malta. Broadcasts commenced in 1998.

Smash Television is a neutral TV station whereby different opinions on politics are expressed.It can be described as a small-scale TV station
 
Itv Shopping Channel broadcast on Melita Cable 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can be accessed on Channel 32 for Analogue and Channel 107 for digital subscribers respectively.
This channel provides the Maltese and Gozitan televiewers with an entertaining and informative 24-hour shopping experience. In addition, Favourite Channel
is “the local private television station that meets the televiewers’ demands while striving to excel in its mission of being a source of information, education and entertainment. It’s the channel that promotes creativity, innovation and top quality standards. It’s the TV station with a fresh outlook and ultra modern style in its presentation and programme content”, explained well the owners and directors of the media company Bonaci Media Entertainment, Karl and Romina Bonaci. This company was set up way back in 1988 with the aim of providing extensive media and entertainment products and services to the local public.
In Malta there are two main Tv Service Providers : Go (previously known as the 'Maltacom' Group) and the Melita (which united in 2008)

The Melita Group’s successful development is evidenced by presence of at least one of its services in 70 percent of all households in Malta and Gozo. Melita offers television, broadband, mobile and fixed telephony services. The company continues to grow and maintain its position as a leader in the growth and development of the telecommunications and media sectors in Malta. On the other hand GO operates an extensive network of quad-play retail outlets covering Malta and Gozo and has several authorised dealers selling the company’s range of services. In a 2008 research exercise conducted by international market research company, GO was rated the best local provider in terms of customer experience, value-for-money, reliability and innovation. 
 
Local media companies such as Where's Everybody, Take 2, Hermann Bonaci Productions, V Squared Media and Entertainment, Rewind Productions, BME (Bonaci Media Entertainment), EMH, 26th Frame and more are all private companies that gets funds from television ads and commercials. A still going on Take 2 product is Deceduti on TVM after their great success of Evangelisti on One TV, Vsquared : Kwazi Ahwa on One Tv, Rewind Productions : Emilja on One Tv, 26th frame : F'Salib it-Toroq on TVM, Hermann Bonaci Productions : Simpatici on Net Tv. These are all drama and tele-serials that are going on right now in media from these private companies.

I researched as well some advertisement rate cards which I did in the powerpoint presentation. Basically, this is a brief of my research. Because the report was coming way too long I described only briefly what my role was.


 
REFERENCES :


www.google.com.mt
www.wikipedia.com
www.favouritechannel.tv
www.melita.com
www.go.com.mt
www.pbs.com.mt
www.one.com.mt
www.nettv.com.mt
www.e22.com.mt
www.smashmalta.com













Thursday, April 14, 2011

Powerpoint Presentation Task 2 Unit 6

http://www.scribd.com/full/52992763?access_key=key-135skmgk83moy8ta01eq

Powerpoint Presentation Task 2 Unit 6

UNDERSTANDING HOW MEDIA PRODUCERS CREATE PRODUCTS FOR SPECIFIC AUDIENCES        

  CASE STUDY
¢  Two similar products aimed at two different target audiences
¢  Different producers constructed their adverts for each product’s specific audiences

JOHNSON’S BABY SHAMPOO -ADVERT
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS
¢  The sun is representing the soap
¢  The soap hurts the baby’s eyes but the Johnson’s baby Shampoo does not hurt the baby
¢  “No more tears” are the written words used on the shampoo to  represent this
Product’s target audience
¢  Mainstream type of audience as it reaches all the families who have children
¢  The theme of motherhood is really essential as it gives a sense of friendship between the mother and the child.  In the case of this advert the boy!
Techniques Used
¢  The use of colours are really essential in these type of adverts
¢  One can notice the colour yellow in the flowers, the toy (duck) and other toys which are related to children. These are yellow as the Johnson’s baby Shampoo’s background is yellow too!
¢  The soap is pink on purpose so that it would not match with the yellow of the product
¢  The baby’s hair is black as the foam of the Johnson’s baby shampoo would be emphasized. White foam on black hair
REALIST NARRATIVE
¢  The advert is very realistic as babies need to be washed by their mum with sophisticated sensitive shampoo
¢  The comparison between the soap and the shampoo is very effective

FELCE AZZURRA SHAMPOO –ADVERT
NARRATIVE ELEMENTS
¢  There is an emphasis on the white drops that are falling on the woman’s body
¢  The colour white is very essential to the advert as it represent milk which is natural and as the twist of the advert comes “Il cuore bianco della Natura … Naturalmente senza coloranti”
¢  The caption at the end explains everything

Product’s target audience
¢  This advert has a mainstream type of audience as approximately half of the world’s population are women
¢  It is targeted for those women who love to wash and relax at the same time. In fact there is this woman who is relaxing while having the bath. She is not having a quick bath as the Felce Azzurra relaxes her mind and body

Techniques Used
¢  Unlike the first advert, the Felce Azzurra shampoo cannot be used by babies
¢  Although we see the woman-figure in the advert, the Felce Azzurra can be used by both women and men. Hence we can see the technique of the actress used. Women can buy the product as it relieves their stress and hassle while on the other hand men buy the product as well after watching the beautiful woman’s body in the advert
¢  The flowers drawn on the plastic cover according  to the colour of the tap are very influential as flowers give that sense of freshness and living

REALIST NARRATIVE
¢  The advert is very realistic as people needs to wash daily
¢  The attractiveness of the woman capture one’s mind and even women themselves can see their body softer after using the Felce Azzurra shampoo
¢  The colour white gives a sense of breathing and naturality. As I compare white to milk, in this advert the shampoo is being formed from milk and then the plastic cover arises. The covers of the three products are on the same colour level (light blue, orange, pink)
¢  The subtitle Natura implicates that it is a natural product. Hence it does not harm the body for everyday usage

COMPARISON
¢  If we had to compare both adverts they have a different type of audiences
¢  One is targeted for those mothers who have babies and needs a good, sensitive shampoo for her children and the other one is targeted either for the parents themselves or for both women and men
¢  Background colours and actors’ body language are very influential in adverts like these and others
¢  They are both shampoos that act well on fine, sensitive skin as both the baby and the woman’s skins were gentle and soft!
In the Johnson’s baby shampoo advert, the action of sunlight on the baby’s skin is a hazard for the baby as it ruins his soft, gentle skin. This was compared to the soap as an ordinary soap would harm the baby’s soft and gentle skin too! So, obviously the Johnson’s baby shampoo would be the ideal shampoo for the baby. We can capture this even from his mother’s facial expressions. Her long smile arises when she washes her baby boy with this shampoo and so the baby starts smiling and enjoying the wash too! (First Advert)

¢  On the other hand the Felce Azzurra advert has a very symbolic meaning as it is showing what the shampoo contains. It is white and concentrated like the drops that were falling on the woman’s body
¢  It is very convenient to buy as you have to use only some drops everyday. As the Felce Azzurra shampoos are very concentrated and natural, they are safe to use on sensitive, gentle skin and would last for long. Like the advert commenced, few drops on our body everyday would be useful for our daily wash and to relaxes our mind. It clear away our everyday hassle (Second Advert)

Roles in Pre-Production, Production and Post-Production

Costume Designer
Pre-Production : Role

What do Costume Designers do?

Costume Designers start working on films at the beginning of pre-production. They are in charge of designing, creating, acquiring and hiring all costumes for actors and extras. This must be achieved within strict budgets, and to tight schedules. Costume Designers' work is integral to defining the overall 'look' of films, and their role requires a great deal of expertise. Their creative work ranges from designing original costumes, to overseeing the purchase and adaptation of ready made outfits. As heads of the costume department, Costume Designers are responsible for staffing, and for managing a team of skilled personnel. Costume Designers also supervise practical issues, such as departmental budgets and schedules, the organization of running wardrobes, and costume continuity.

Responsibilities:

During pre-production Costume Designers break down scripts scene by scene, in order to work out how many characters are involved, and what costumes are required. They then begin the more complex task of developing costume plots for each character. These plots ensure that colors and styles do not mimic each other in the same scene, and highlight the characters' emotional journeys by varying the intensity and depth of colors.

Costume Designers must carry out research in to the costume styles, designs and construction methods which are appropriate for the productions' time period, using a number of resources including libraries, museums and the Internet. They may also discuss costume and character ideas with performers. They deliver initial ideas to directors about the overall costume vision, character plots and original costume designs, using sketches and fabric samples. They also discuss color palettes with the director of photography and the production designer.

Throughout the production process Costume Designers ensure that accurate financial records are kept, and that weekly expenditure reports are produced. They prepare overall production schedules, as well as directing the day to day breakdowns of responsibilities. Costume Designers select and hire appropriate suppliers and costume makers, negotiating terms with them, and communicating design requirements. They make sure that fittings for actors and extras are arranged. They supervise fabric research and purchase, and ensure that garments are completed to deadlines.

Depending on the numbers of costumes to be created, and the scale of budgets, Costume Designers may decide to create a dedicated costume workshop. They should be on set whenever a new costume is worn for the first time, to make sure that performers are comfortable, to explain special features, and to oversee any alterations. Once filming is completed, Costume Designers are responsible for the return of hired outfits, and the sale or disposal of any remaining costumes.

Director
Production : Role

A film director is a person who directs the actors and crew in the making of a film.They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors.

Responsibilities

Filmmakers are responsible for overseeing creative aspects of a film under the film producer. They often develop the vision for a film and carry the vision out, deciding how the film should look. They are responsible for turning the script into a sequence of shots. They also direct what tone it should have and what an audience should gain from the cinematic experience. Film directors are responsible for deciding camera angles, lens effects and lighting with the help of the cinematographer, and set design with the production designer. They will often take part in hiring key crew members. They coordinate the actors' moves, or blocking, and also may be involved in the writing, financing, and editing of a film.

The director works closely with the cast and crew to shape the film. Some like to conduct rigorous rehearsals in preproduction while others do so before each scene. In either case this process is essential as it tells the director as well as other key members of the crew (Director of Photography, stunt choreographer, hair stylist, etc.), how the actors are going to play the scene, which enables them to make any necessary adjustments. Directors often use storyboards to illustrate sequences and concepts, and a director's viewfinder to set up camera angles.

The director also plays a key role in post-production. He or she works with the editor to ensure that the emotions of the scene and the close ups, mid shots and wide or long shots appropriately reflect which character is driving the narrative. The director also advises on the (colour) grading of the final images, adding warmth or frigidity to the composition of the shots to reflect the emotional subtext of the character or environment. The director will sometimes participate in the sound mix and musical composition of the film.

Sound Editor
Post - Production : Role


A sound editor is a creative professional responsible for selecting and assembling sound recordings in preparation for the final sound mixing or mastering of a television program, motion picture, video game, or any production involving recorded or synthetic sound. Sound editing developed out of the need to fix the incomplete, undramatic, or technically inferior sound recordings of early talkies, and over the decades has become a respected filmmaking craft, with sound editors implementing the aesthetic goals of motion picture sound design.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the artistic contribution of exceptional sound editing with the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing.

There are primarily 3 divisions of sound that are combined to create a final mix, these being dialogue, effects, and music. In larger markets such as New York and Los Angeles, sound editors often specialize in only one of these areas, thus a show will have separate dialogue, effects, and music editors. In smaller markets, sound editors are expected to know how to handle it all, often crossing over into the mixing realm as well. Editing effects is likened to creating the sonic world from scratch, while dialogue editing is likened to taking the existing sonic world and fixing it. Dialogue editing is more accurately thought of as "production sound editing", where the editor takes the original sound recorded on the set, and using a variety of techniques, makes the dialogue more understandable, as well as smoother, so the listener doesn't hear the transitions from shot to shot (often the background sounds underneath the words change dramatically from take to take). Among the challenges that effects editors face are creatively adding together various elements to create believable sounds for everything you see on screen, as well as memorizing their sound effects library.

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Friday, April 1, 2011

Private Funding

·       Sponsorships - are also a common source of funding. When producing a program, sponsors will help the production house cater for much of the costs or the services requires from the program .
·       Eg a kitchen as a gift will be sponsored by a furniture company .
·       This helps TV shows being entertaining and without the need of investing the money in gifts for instance themselves.
·       Subscription fees are paid to a service provider like Melita, and Mediaset Premium .
·       This is very common with cabel and digital tv and it allows the showing of various different channels.
·       Private  tv stations are paid by the company offering these tv stations .They are paid partly by the subscriptions begin paid by the subscribers.
·       Service providers may or may not offer different packages catered to people with different needs.
·       Pay-per-view is a system where users pay only for what they watch. They would generally be subscribed to a service provider .
·       Eg skyTv through sky box office ,allows users to choose the movies  they watch , and only paying for  those movies
·       Netflix is a web pay per view system where users can pay and download movies they want to watch on their Internet Tv, xbox 360 or PS3.
·       It’s a private entity but not considered a traditional broadcaster as it operates online.It also challenges commercial broadcasting.

Television
·       Community tv is different in concept from Public Service and commercial Broadcasting
·       It is open to participation from the community it represents.
·       Like Psb its aim is to give aa good public service but not to a whole country ,but rather to a small community ,but rather to a small community 
eg :
·       Region
·       Town
·       Ethnic group
·       Foreigners living in a country

Ø Like commercial broadcasting ,it is provate ,controlled by a dew people .However community tv’s ai, is not to make profit, but rather to survive and keep doing its service
Ø In fact some of the programs they produce are done from the producers pockets.
Ø Community TV is generally Voluntary .A perfect example of community radio would be Radio BKR .All workers there are volunteers and the station caters for people from B’Kara.
o  For funding ,community TV might depend on :
o  Grants by the government or the EU
o  Sponsorship (promotional messages during programs)
o  Volunteers money –local fundraising events
o  Part of the licence fee paid (community in Germany)
o  Indirect Public Funding

Ø  In Malta Community Media relies mostly on advertising
·       Community Tv in Malta includes the previous UTV
·       Its aim was to promote and broadcast television programmes based on theological content  and Roman Catholic principles.
·       Commmunity C is most established in Denmark with 110 Community stations.
·       Corporations (INC) are companies which have separate legal entity .They can even be convicted for criminal offences.
·       America houses what Is called THE BIG SIX which are same og the biggest multinational companies in the world.

The biggest media conglomerates in the world are :


· The Walt Disney company
· Time Warner
· News corporation
· Viacom
· CBS
· GE (General Electric)