laurabartholomewmedia

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My Final Project – FilmBusters

My third year final project at university was creating a film review show for YouTube called FilmBusters. My main role was of Producer/Director that I shared with Kristian Baycroft-Willmott, we also worked with Stephanie Burbage who took on the role as Production Manager.

FilmBusters was a weekly film news update show to be distributed purely on YouTube, presented by Kieran. Then every two weeks Rhiannon was the main presenter for the full show, which was no less than 15 minutes long. The longer episodes have segments such as new trailers, reviews and VT’s on film related topics. FilmBusters also produced ‘special’ episodes, for example we made an 8-minute long Avengers: Age of Ultron episode that started with the normal news and was followed by a review of the film. As well as uploading the episodes every Sunday evening to YouTube, I set up a FilmBusters Facebook page where we posted film news and new trailers as they happened and also where the episodes can be viewed. It aimed to have a fun but informative take on the latest happenings in the world of film and highlights how TV shows don’t have to be broadcast on television and can be simply online. For this project we submitted one short news episode, a longer news, reviews and trailers episode and a specially themed Avengers review episode as well as a production folder that shows the process and work put into creating FilmBusters.

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Screen Squeeze – Episode 1 – Group A Script I mentioned that I wrote the script for Screen Squeeze before but now you can take a proper look at it, and either laugh or cry depending on how good you think it is haha.

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This is my professional, theory based poster which I presented at the Into The Future conference we held last Friday. It hasn't changed too much from the last time I posted it on here partly due to my InDesign trial running out and me not being able to open the file anywhere else but also because I'm not sure there is much else to add to it. I received some positive comments about it during the event so I think it explains what I want it to. 

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This is the Prezi I put together for my Library of Birmingham PR campaign ideas pitch which I got assessed on for the module PR Techniques. You are more than welcome to take a look, it's basically just my proposal document condensed into a presentation.

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Library Of Birmingham: PR Campaign Proposal This is a PR campaign proposal for the new Library of Birmingham that I had to put together for the module I took last semester – PR Techniques. We were given a client (the library) and brief which we then had to write the proposal and make a presentation that we would have to pitch to 'the library'.

This was one of the biggest challenges I've faced so far in terms of my assignments. This is a lengthy and complicated document, I had never seen one before let alone have any experience of writing one. The assignment also had to be completed individually with little feedback from tutors; its safe to say we all had a hard time and it was a huge relief to have it over and done with.

I'm happy with all I learnt from the process and how the finish product turned out considering how pressured the whole experience of writing it was. If I could do it again or add more to it, there are little things I would perfect such as adding a contents page, more of a professional theme and layout of the whole document and ideally I needed to do more research on my target audiences. Considering such documents are normally produced in teams I think I managed to learn well how to write a proposal by myself and what I need to do better should I write one again.

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Luna Events: Screen Squeeze First Episode Launch Party

Here you can take a look at my group's event proposal, which we got a 1st for! I took the module Events & Exhibitions where for our assignment we had to put together an event proposal that also linked to the other module we were taking that semester. My group and I all took TV Magazine & Chat Shows so we decided to plan a first screening, launch party for the first episode of the show we made for our other module – Screen Squeeze.

My main contribution to the document was researching and finding a venue. I found The Natural History Museum, which although pricey it would be perfect for the kind of event we were planning. I also did the budget and various other bits, which you can see in the proposal.

I'm very proud of our work here, particularly because I took an events module in my first year which we got a high 2:1 for. So with our even better grade this year I think it's great to see that we've made good progress and improved our event planning and proposal writing skills!

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Here is the final schedule for tomorrow's Into The Future, held at Birmingham City's Millennium Point/Parkside. We've got talks about the future of Radio, Events, Music, PR and much more. Make sure you come along!

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Into The Future is tomorrow! If you haven't already make sure you've registered for your FREE ticket!

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And here's all of our team that made the episode of Screen Squeeze I worked on, I'm standing in there somewhere if you can spot me haha! 

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Here it is: Screen Squeeze, Episode One!

Finally I give you our recorded as live full episode of Screen Squeeze which we made ourselves from scratch. This was recorded for my TV Magazine & Chat Show module in the brand new studios at BCU Parkside (in the biggest studio too). Our brief was to make a magazine style show (which means a similar format to This Morning), that targets a young audience and would be broadcast on E4 after watershed at 9pm (unfortunately this doesn't actually happen).

What did I contribute to the whole thing?

I decided to be brave and go for a very involved and kinda important role of Assistant Producer (AP) and I was a Floor Assistant on TX day. So with my role of AP one of the main things I worked on was the script, after the running order was decided I then had write all the in-studio script, I also wrote it for the Sports and Wireless VT too. I'd never written a script of this magnitude before so it was quite daunting but once I got into it I really enjoyed writing it. In my feedback about the module from my TV tutor she said: "Your script writing is excellent" so I think I managed to do a good-job in the end and I hope to do some more in the future. It was quite stressful as constant changes were needed right up until the last minute when small things were changed about the show in general but this is all quite normal and you simply have to go with the flow. 

Some of the other things I did were: I helped decide on what content we would use, choosing presenters and all sorts of things related to building on the basics of the show. I edited together the YouTube VT insert which you can see below. The Wireless VT towards the end of the episode was my idea and I'm really happy with how it turned out as I wasn't sure how well it would work filming the whole journey to where Wireless is being held. But with the help of Rhianne, James and Yassmine it looked pretty cool in the end and was something a little unusual and fun related to the music segment. 

I also helped to record the Sports VT, I wasn't originally supposed to do this but there was some organisation issues with this part and so I helped to sort out the studio to record it in, write the script and decide how to do it.

I learnt how to carry out a number of roles too. I filled in for Auto-Cue, VT operator, lighting and was a camera-operator too. I also learnt how to cable-bash, be a Runner and Floor Assistant. I probably did a few other bits as well but from the top of my head I can't remember what! 

Caroline Officer, our tutor of this module (she's a Producer who's worked on shows such as Big Brother, Ready Steady Cook and with the likes of Alan Titchmarsh) gave me the grand mark of 67 which is a high 2:1 and said the following about my performance: 

"Your ability to adapt to a variety of roles and the effort you put into them is evident, again another very good performance"

And in conclusion she said:

"Overall it is clear you have learnt a number of important production skills, build on these as you move into your final year and they will serve you well in 12 months time when you graduate".

I had such an amazing time working on Screen Squeeze, with a large but very good team where we had fun but produced something we're all proud of too! The whole process has only further confirmed that I definitely want to continue doing work in the TV area of media and I cannot wait to do more next year.

Please do check it out and if you want, let me know what you think :)

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Pictures from our last rehearsal and final recording of Screen Squeeze!

Sorry for the late upload of these, I've been so busy with uni work and stuff at home I haven't had a chance to sort all my photos out. But anyway here they are! These are some snapshots of our pretty funky, E4 style set; our presenters James and Shereece, and our guest performer who is called Moo (that's her nickname). The photos don't fully reveal how cool and professional the set actually was but in person and on TV it does look awesome! 

You will be able to check out our episode in my next post! 

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Into The Future, our second year Professional Media Practice event/conference is fast approaching, with only 4 days to go! 

Make sure you get your FREE ticket to come along from here: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/into-the-future-tickets-11213370493

To see a brief run-down of the schedule for the day check out this webpage: http://intothefutureevent.wordpress.com/schedule/

Lastly be sure to follow the twitter account for Into The Future that has all the latest updates: https://twitter.com/_intothefuture

P.s. Don't forget to come along the event will have all you need to know about the future of media. You will also be able to see all the posters we have made with info about our theory work and talk to us about anything media, it's not to be missed! 

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Here's some pictures from our first rehearsal of Screen Squeeze where I was having a go at controlling the lights! All I can say is that it's harder than it looks.

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This is me and a few others recording our sports VT in one of the smaller studios at uni a couple of weeks ago in preparation to film our episode of Screen Squeeze. I recorded the VT on the special system, helped to write the script onto auto-cue and assisted with any other problems! You can see the final result of this in our finished episode, I will post the link to this in a bit :)

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This is the first draft of my poster which I have created for my module Professional Media Practice. We are hosting a conference on May 9th called Into The Future where we have to display and present our posters.

They are mainly based on our theory work so in my poster you can find out briefly, what my previous essays have been about and what I will be writing my dissertation on. I have also included the work experience I carried out, with the Geordie Shore hats merchandise being my idea that MTV used! 

More to follow on this! 

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The documentary series attracted nearly 1,800 complaints during its run.

Could Benefits Street possibly be the most controversial documentary to ever be aired on TV?

Complaints, debates, political arguments and public outcries. There isn't much that Channel 4's Benefits Street has aided. The people featured in the show have complained that they were promised the show was focusing on "community spirit" but instead has represented them as "druggies" and bad parents. And so it seems the audience aren't too happy, going by how many complaints it has received. It's partly caused or added to negative attitude to benefits that is the current attitude in society. The show has also created almost celebrities out of those featured, I recently saw an advert for a club night in Birmingham where "White Dee" is the special guest. I've also seen various interviews of the residents of James Street on TV shows and in newspapers. It's quite shocking how a simple documentary on a single road in the country has become such a hot topic of interest. Is it the various characters you see? Or is it the revelations that have come out from the show. Or maybe it's the claims made by the residents who feel the show has "mugged" them off. 

Of course there have been other controversial documentaries over the years, BBC's Panorama has been criticised on many occasions for its eye-opening documentaries, usually on some failing governmental department/institution. Channel 4 also dallied into reporting on the frightening world of terrorism, one of their documentaries didn't make it to broadcast though because it was deemed too controversial for television. As you are probably aware they like to be different and gain reactions through their direct and sometimes brutal portrayals of various subjects. 

My Conclusion

Overall I thought this documentary made for good entertainment and as a very effective eye-opener into the lives of those on benefits. Yes there were and are various problems with the representations offered (the residents don't agree with them either) but then again it was not scripted at all so at least some parts of these portrayals are truthful. Coming from a relatively low income background myself I know how hard it is to not have much money (which is further escabated as a student) and I understand the difficulties of having to live off of government help and believe me that is not an easy task as those who have never been on benefits seem to think. I also believe that the insight we have been offered through Benefits Street into the world of claimants, is an extreme one. These are interesting and shocking characters, I am positive that the majority on benefits do not stand out as much as those featured.

There's definitely no reasoning behind the opinion that this shouldn't have been aired, personally I am unsure how to feel about the show as it is once again making claimants live up to the stereotypical view of those on benefits. From my own experiences I know this isn't truthful for the whole group as if it was then I apparently shouldn't have gone to university. I do agree with some of the arguments the show has caused – the benefit system does need serious re-evaluation and work but people also needs to remember you can't paint everyone under the same brush. 

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This is a little video I put together quickly today for our VT on the top YouTube clips to appear in our TV Magazine show Screen Squeeze. You'll be able to see more on this later once we have recorded the whole show! 

I'm Assistant Producer for our show and so far I am having a great time being one :)