Press Law

In Journalism there are obviously certain things that can and can't be published. Here are a few rules about Press Law.

R u l e s

• Defamation is damaging someone's reputation, this may be in the form of lowering a person's reputation in the estimation of right-thinking people, exposing a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt or causing a person to be shunned or avoided. Common examples of defamation are immoral, dishonest or corrupt comments. Nothing can be published if it is defamatory. The result can be the statement being classed as libel or slander, the difference being slander is the spoken word for example on a radio show as opposed to libel being a publication or digital media. 

• Libel or Slander. Just about anyone can sue for libel or slander. This can be individuals, companies, firms or charities. Political parties cannot sue however an individual member could.

• The victim has to have been made identifiable so this may not just be by naming someone but could also come in the form of a detailed description.

• The only defence against a claim is justification - the statement being true, fair and honest comment - meaning the comment was expressed as opinion and privileges given to courts, parliament and also journalists reporting in the interest of the public.

Scribes - The Aftermath

A vast amount of work went into our short film 'Scribes'. Not to mention our extremely ambitious undertaking of building an apartment set! Though stressful and full of complications, it all worked out well in the end. The audience we were targeting was 16-32 year olds who like comedies and dramas. It turned out not to be as comedic as we originally planned, but still very dramatic! 

The main character is a young man called Daniel. He suffered with mental disorders in the past but with medication and therapy, has been able to live a normal life. In the time the film is set in, he has come down with a bad cold. It has now been a few days and he hasn't left his living room. 

So to achieve this atmosphere and mood we created a very messy living room set. There are crumpled-up used tissues scattered everywhere and half a dozen empty pizza boxes piled on top of each other!

We spent a great deal of time focusing on the alleyway scene of the film, as this was the most pivotal point in the story, where Ben finally understands, and sees, what's going to happen to London. Unfortunately we couldn't just walk into any alleyway and start filming, instead we had to plan two weeks of organising and applying for a permit to film there. As the director this was all up to me and I really enjoyed it! I called the Bath Film Office and explained what we needed which resulted in a few emails back and forth. They were really impressed with how we had gone about our request and were given permits to film in 3 alleyways over the course of a week, just for backup. Thanks to being really organised! 

In the picture below you can see one of the 3 signs we put up to notify the public of the filming we were doing. Also you can see a high-visibility jacket I had on. This was all part of the Bath Film Office's location protocol. 

In the end, I can firmly say that I produced and edited a film that I'm proud of. Though we had to overcome many obstacles along the way, it's been well worth it. And now we have a potential award-winning short film! I have learnt so much from this production. I'm a much more capable producer now, as well as a more skilled compositor. Especially after having to frame-by-frame mask in a television into quite a few of the scenes, sometimes working with 3 different masks at a time!

Interview Lighting Analysis

We participated in a Lighting for Interviews masterclass conducted by our tutor Ed. In this exercise we were tasked to find three different background in the classroom and set up an interview shot there. The when everything was set up we had to light it appropriately. 

In the 'before' picture below you can see the deep shadows on the subject. She melts into the background has there is no lighting to make her pop. The back of the room looks dark, dull and uninviting, and the only light on the subject is a dramatic rim light that just accentuates her right side.

We added a powerful spotlight in the back with the barn-doors opened fully. Then we put a soft box on with an addition diffuser to give her some really soft and even light. It was just 4 feet away from her too as the lighting was educed because on the soft box and diffuser in front of it. Lastly we added a reflector to bounce light onto the right side of her face and bring out her jawline.

-lighting set-up diagram-

In the picture below you can see the result of our work. We're really proud of it but next time would like to try boost the shadows on her face and torso more, thus making her stand out more.

When we set up the lighting for jake we thankfully had a bit more daylight left and were thus able to use that to our advantage. We sat and positioned him near a massive window that gave him a glorious and even spread of natural light on the right side of his face. Then we just needed to add one soft box on the other side of his face and he was ready. In future I think a third light source in front of him would of worked really well, even if it was just a reflector.

Then we had to light, me! For this we used a diffused softbox about 4 feet away from me on the left side of my face and then a reflector on the opposite side bouncing the light back onto me. Though very simple, I think it worked very well. In hindsight I think it would be best if we made the softbox brighter.

Amptitude Reflection

We filmed this live performance of the music students preforming two Christmas songs. It was a great success for the most part. Everyone was very organised and our set looked AMAZING! On one side we had a winter-wonderland and on the other, a warm and cozy living room, which we were able to create from salvaged bits from the Scribes set.

We put a lot of effort into making this live lounge-esk show. We even made a VT to cut away to between the two performances (Click here to watch). I'm so happy with how it turned out considering we had so little time make it. It was a lot pf pressure to get this exported and ready before we went live!

I got the joy of editing the VT and also editing the live show! I got to the vision mixer and control the titles, effects, etc. I've had a deal of experience with editing with the vision mixer, but never with adding titles. I loved how I was able to learn that new skill although it made the job more difficult, as there was more to concentrate on. 

The only problem was that we never actually went live, and to this day, no one knows why. We spent a good deal of time trying everything we could to fix the problem, but to no avail. 

Hopefully in future we will rectify this problem.

INTRO Recruitment

I applied for an internship, as advertised by the department. It was for a start-up company based in Bath called Intro. This company is run by a great team of young and ambitious professionals. Their company aims to recruit other young persons straight out of college or university, to help them get jobs in the industry they trained for.

My job was to go around to all the employers they recruited for and film interview videos with the boss and a few staff. Asking them what it is like to work with them. It turned out to be a great success and priceless experience for me! I loved that I was doing and got to network with a lot of other professionals, and visit and work in Bristol which was fun!

You can see all the video work I did here (Scroll to bottom - All Videos):
https://www.introhere.com/company/wriggle/offices/

My job required me to be organised and on time each day, as it was a new location each day too! Sometimes as far as Bristol. I also had to be very charismatic and comfortable with speak to people. Especially as many of the people I filmed were very very nervous.

I am so so thankful to the College for help me get this job, I've learnt so much from it. Also for helping me be prepared for the interview, as that was the first time I've ever had a proper interview! I was so nervous, but thankfully it went well as I got the job and they want to keep me on for future projects! 

FMP Reflection

Brief description in a paragraph of what your FMP was/what did you decide to do?
I decided to make a concept website that would aggregate all the major on-demand video websites (Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, etc) and provide each user with a personalised internet video guide.

List 3 things you did particularly well:

• I created a virtual website tour 
• I pitched in front of my tutor and head editor of the Bath Chronicle 
• I was able to Adobe Flash to create my product 

List 3 things you will not do this time!:

• I will not leave all the work to the last minute 
• I will not try to 'wing-it' 
• I will not get a pass 

Were there any struggles throughout the project?
I struggled to export that flash file into a video, as It wanted to export it as a 40GB video! I also had a hell of a time getting the video teaser for 'The Flash' to play on queue! I spent the majority of the time trying to figure out how to get it to work. In the end I was able to get it to play properly.

Did you do anything to surprise yourself?
I was surprised at how well i was able to grasp Adobe Flash, and so quickly at that! From have no prior experience in it, to producing the level of work I did. I was quite proud of myself.

What research did you conduct?
I conducted a vast array of research, such as focus groups, interviews, questionnaires, and opinion polls. I had great fun doing this as I enjoy collecting data, especially questionnaire polls.

Were you happy with the overall piece? And why?
I am happy with the overall piece, because I created a product that I would actually like and love to use. And something that I think could really benefit people across a wide age range. I hope that one day it is able to be a reality!

SWOT ANALYSIS

Scribes Short Film

Strengths - My strength was my ability to organise a team to work together. Having a crew that works in harmony with each other can really make or break a film. Making sure that all the actors were in when we needed them and that they were look after, and that we filmed all the scenes in the appropriate lighting is integral to the film. I was also able to organise the use of an alleyway in Bath with the Bath film office in ample time before the shoot.

Weakness - My weakness was nervousness. I tend to get very nervous in the lead up to a big event, Which can affect my work. This happened again for the lead up to production day, but thankfully I got better as we day progressed.

Opportunities - I got the opportunity to go to a set design company with my class based in Bristol. This was a great experience as it really gave us

Threats - 

#LIfeGoalz

I have just accomplished my goal of having my own eye-catching business cards an a bespoke, gallery-like website. www.jamesmarcelle.co.uk 

My Goal for my FMP is produce a short film/music video that will really move the viewer emotionally, to tears even! I also want it to be a great portfolio piece.

By next year I want to have a thriving media production business, traveling mainly between England and St. Lucia the wider Caribbean, but also throughout America and Europe too! And if I get the chance to have a job at JW Broadcasting I will take it!

In 5 years time I want to be settled down and content with life.

The thought of creating my own business is terrifying but also exciting too. It's much much harder than having a job with an established company. But I'm willing to take the risk and see how far I can get with it.