Narrative and Genre Unit: Project Update

From searching high and low across the web I cannot find any website that would show a full length Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode for free without me having to sign-up to the website to get great deals and information on other services the website provides. Even on good-old-trusty Youtube I couldn't get the first episode to play, all I got was an unaired episode where Willow is not really Willow and Xander is far too confident. 

Documentary Commission Unit: Project Update

This is my finalized pitch

Death on the High Street - Pitch

Since the Internet became accessible to the public in 1991 technology itself has boomed. Not much happened in the 1990s apart from turning cassette tapes into Compact Discs but since 2000 there has been a conscious effort to change the computing world. In the space of ten years computers have gone from being the size of a room to being able to fit in your pocket. It might not seem much but this advance in technology has had a major knock-on effect on the typical high street.

This documentary is part of the channel Yesterday series “The Noughties” and will examine the idea that to be part of the ever-expanding Internet, in The Noughties internationally known stores decided to go “online” after the success of Amazon’s launch in 1995 and eBay’s launch 1996. This has lead to an increase of online shoppers and a decrease of shoppers on the high street. In a survey of over 1000 consumers – 14% of the people said they shopped online at least once a week, 80% of which said it was because it was more convenient than having to frantically look for shops that are open in their area.

It can also be considered that due to the recession in 2008 many shops converted to online so as to not lose customers. In this documentary we will be looking at whether the birth of online shopping has caused the death of the high street or whether it was the recession, or a meld of the two.

We will use HMV and Woolworths to help support both sides of the argument. HMV is an example of a high street shop that was struggling before the recession but found a way of rebooting its shop sales but has also been an online store since 2005. Woolworths is an example of a high street shop that was so severely affected by the recession that all the stores closed in January 2009 but in February 2009 saw the launch of its online store. For both examples we will be speaking to the Managers of the stores to find out how successful the online stores are and what they think the future holds for them, both online and on the street.

Back in February 2011, it was reported in The Sun newspaper that Margate is Britain’s top “Ghost Town” due to 37% of shops being vacant. We will use Margate as a prime example of a town that was economically devastated by the recession and will speak to the Mayor of Margate about the opening of the Turner Contemporary Gallery and minor boutiques and to see if the regeneration of the Old Town is helping Margate to get back on its feet.

Current documentaries have yet to focus on the idea that the death of the high street could have been caused by two different things whereas this documentary will be covering both aspects with interviews from both the shop owners and the shoppers themselves.

Unfortunately my was not chosen to be commissioned, instead I'm in Dans group with Matt looking at Text Talk on the phone and how it affects our language. I'm researching ancient codes such as Egyptian Hieroglyphics.

Documentary Commission Unit: Project Update

Death on the High Street - Pitch

Since the Internet became accessible to the public in 1991 technology itself has boomed. Not much happened in the 1990s apart from turning cassette tapes into Compact Discs but since 2000 there has been a conscious effort to change the computing world. In the space of ten years computers have gone from being the size of a room to being able to fit in your pocket. It might not seem much but this advance in technology has had a major knock-on effect on the typical high street.

This documentary is part of the channel Yesterday series “The Noughties” and will examine the idea that to be part of the ever-expanding Internet, in The Noughties internationally known stores decided to go “online” after the success of Amazon’s launch in 1995 and eBay’s launch 1996. This has lead to an increase of online shoppers and a decrease of shoppers on the high street. It can also be considered that due to the recession in 2008 many shops converted to online so as to not lose customers. In this documentary we will be looking at whether the birth of online shopping has caused the death of the high street or whether it was the recession, or could it even be a bit of both.

We will look at HMV as an example of a high street shop that was struggling before the recession but found a way of rebooting its shop sales but has also been an online store since 2005. We will use Woolworths as an example of a high street shop that was so severely affected by the recession that all the stores closed in January 2009 but in February 2009 saw the launch of its online store. We will use Margate as an example of a town that was devastated by the recession seeing rows of shops close and have still yet to be re-opened.

The funding for this documentary will come from the online store Woolworths as they were affected by the recession but have found a new lease of life as an online store.

Current documentaries have yet to focus on the idea that the death of the high street could have been caused by two different things whereas this documentary will be covering both aspects with interviews from both the shop owners and the shoppers themselves.

Documentary Commission Unit: Project Update

For this unit we have to submit a pitch for a documentary idea with the working title "The Noughties" which is to be transmitted in the evening on the channel Yesterday. We must consider the highs and lows of the first ten years of the 21st century, the people, places and life stories. Our ideas should seek to attract a new audience to the channel that can identify with and reminisce about the events/people.
My idea is looking into the changing face of the highstreet due to on-line shopping. Shops such as Woolworths and HMV have/are being affected.

Narrative and Genre: Project Update

For this unit we are to choose a television production, identify and examine its use of genre and narrative tools and to see how an online/portable media transmission would affect these tools. This must be done in 2500 words (give or take).
As I am using Buffy The Vampire Slayer for my Direction Unit and it is a series I know very well I think I should use this to explore the affect of portable media.

Direction Unit: Idea Development

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS)
Episode - Bad Eggs

Buffy and the rest of the "scooby gang" have to look after eggs as part of their health class education but not all is as it seems. Meanwhile Buffy has had a run-in with a vampire who, with his brother, murdered an entire village and she would like to know what she is up against.
The scenes I have chosen are set in the library where Buffy and Giles are trying to find-out anything they can about the vampires.

Joss Whedon - Writer - has written both Angel episodes as well as Firefly. He created the series Dollhouse using the actress Eliza Dushku as his lead... she was Faith in BtVS. He wrote the screenplay Toy Story and the new Marvel comic movie The Avengers.
David Greenwalt - Director - he has directed episodes of both Angel and Firefly
Gareth Davies - Producer - Miss Match, Firefly, Angel and more.
Michael Gershman - DoP - he has worked on Angel and Firefly. Started his career as a camera operator for the movie The Deer Hunter
Carey Meyer - Production Designer - for both Angel and Firefly. Works as part of the and art department
Eileen A. Dunn - Costume Designer - started off as a personal dresser for a programme called My Fellow Americans.

I have decided to set my scenes in a computer room to give it a more updated feel but to keep it personal.

Direction Unit: Project Update and Research

To start, with the last update I meant to say "It has been a very productive week". 

Now for this unit this semester we have to take 3 minutes of script from a television of our choice and shoot it how we think it could/should have been done. At first I wasn't quite sure which televisions programmes that I watch is counted as a drama but it turns out there were quite a few... Due South, Medium, Numb3rs, Supernatural, etc. but I have decided to use the programme that I have grown-up watching, I know it very well and love it very much and that is Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Buffy is a very dark series with a dark genre but the large array of characters bring a light hearted feel to the show.

I have chosen the episode "Bad Eggs" as it has something different to the usual vampires the "scooby gang" has to face. The scenes I was thinking of looking at are set in the school library with just the "scooby gang" but I was thinking of changing this to a more public scene. 

But who will be Buffy??     

Director Unit: Project update

We have been back for an entire week and we've hit the ground running. So far we have shot three different videos. One was a refresher of last semester - being able to tell a story in three minutes with a beginning, a middle and an end it was entitled "Summer Is Dead". I worked with Jane and Matt on this short project - it took us a while to get going but once we started we quickly got back into the swing of things, we could have done with a few more camera angles, which is obvious in hindsight. The second recording I made was with me in the role of Director, Matt was my camera operator, Johanna was my wingman and Big Lauren and Little Lauren were my actors. I have yet to upload the shots into final cut pro due to technical difficulties (the camera is not responding) but once I have got it on computer I shall hopefully load it onto here either that or a link to it. The final recording was done by myself, Johanna, Big Lauren and Little Lauren. We had to create different atmospheres - only using lighting to help tell the story. Once again when the video is done I shall upload it or a link onto here. 
It has been a very productive link.