Homes under the hammer - analysis

Homes under the hammer is a television show that is shown on BBC one. The program first appeared on tele may 2003 in the 10 am slot and is still running today. it is a British factual program that only runs in english. It was created by Melanie Eriksen. There are 2 main presenters that have been the presenters since the start of the program these are Martin Roberts and Lucy Alexander (series 1- Present), as well as these presenters there has been two other presenters in series 3; Marc woodward and Jasmine Birtles. All together there has been a total of 14 series (528 episodes)

The amount of properties that are put for auction on the show varies between two and three, all depending on the length of the show that is put on. If the show is on for half and hour there will only be 2 properties (The houses that are shown on the program are often ones that need refurbishment) up for auction whereas the hour long showing there will be 3 in each episode. there are a range of different types of properties that may appear on the show, ranging from vacant land to rural areas. The amount of episodes within the series varies between 20 and 143, even though between the two series with the highest and lowest amount of episodes there is 16 months difference, this shows there is no consistency.

The program follows one formula throughout each episode, this formula is that at least one of the presenters will go and view the house along with an estate agent, this is done so that there are two different peoples opinions on what the property is like and how much it is worth and what the best features about the property are, and what may need working on by the potential new owners, this takes place before the property goes up for auction. after all this has taken place the property will then go up for auction, and then the final sale price from auction is revealed.

After it has been sold the presenters meet the new owners of the house and one of the presenters will ask them questions about what there background is, and whether they re happy with the property that they have brought etc. then the new owner of the house will have to give a detailed explanation of anything they are going to do to improve it in any ways, whether thats re-tiling, replacing the bathroom/ kitchen etc. they will also be asked to say how much they have budgeted for it so that they get an idea as to how much of this plan they can achieve. After that the new owner would be left to get on with it and then will be revisited 3 months after, this will appear in another show.

When the show returns to the house the public will be reminded about the way the property looked before auction as well as seeing the difference in the property since. there is a range of different ways that the house is shown. Sometimes it is a before and after and sometimes it is shown mid-renovation which will give the public/viewer an idea as to what's to come. as well as this there are a few occasions where the buyer hasn't actually changed anything which could be due to many factors including, either not having the money, or having other renovations occurring at the same time etc.

After this stage the buyer is then interviewed again to see if they are happy with the final or the work done so far. On the show the presenters do not show this specific interview but they do a voice over which makes the audience aware of what happened and the money spent on the overall project.  After this interview has taken place the estate agents are invited back to view the overall project and see  how much value the property has added. they are then asked whether they want to sell, rent or actually live in it themselves.

The music played throughout the stages of the buying of the property and the interviews are normally used to relate to the buyer or the property itself. these songs are songs about money and moving up. This means that the visuals link with the sound. all the music used is composed by Michael Burdett.

The Website has a basic layout, links on the left hand side, a main image(the logo), and other graphology underneath it, there are captions underneath the links towards the bottom etc. (link to website)

the website is made up of a range of colours, mainly different shades of red. The colour palette used is due to the colour that the BBC use.

Analysis of the opening credits for the ward

At the very start of the opening credits of the ward it starts off with a dolly shot to move down the corridor of a hospital ward, throughout the pan there is use of flashing lights and sound effects to make the audience feel like they are in suspense. when the camera gets to the end of the hall way you see the title of the film appear after zooming out to it, the title is in serif font, but the name 'John Carpenter' is in sans-serif. There are whistles used throughout the start of this opening sequence this is due to the suspense that needs to be built up in order to keep the audience on the edge of their seat to make them want to watch the rest of the film. as well as the whistles there is use of thunder noises which has a link to fear which a lot of people are familiar with. the sound of a heartbeat is added to this bit of the sequence which gives the audience the feel that there is something bad that is going to frighten them in the rest of the film. as well as this there is a faint noise of footsteps which gives the impression that there is someone coming into the scene which may contribute to a future point in the film (foreshadowing).

throughout the rest of the opening sequence, the whole way through the images are in black and white or sepia, to transition between images there is a flash of white, this is due to the eery feel they give the audience, this relates to the film in many different ways, the image breaks up like broken glass, then the pieces of glass moves down the screen dragging the picture parts with it. All of these pictures have a denotation of suffering, you can see this from the facial expressions of the people in the pictures and the way that these pictures have been taken. There is a black and white colour scheme which makes the sequence more eery, this helps to impact the viewer due to the fact that it has a dark and  danger feel to it. At the end of this extract there is a shattered bit of glass that has the start of the films video in it, the visuals for this is important as it links straight from the opening sequence to the film itself without any transitions needed. as it goes into the video the glass that features the video spins very slowly round to reveal more visuals.

when the credits appear they fade in and out, and they feature on the four corners of the film extract. all of these names are in sans serif font and capitalised which catches the eye of the viewer as they are drawn to it which overpowers some of the images used to impact the audience of this film.

As well as all of the point made above during the extract after the title of the film hows there is use of non-diegetic sound of high pitched ritualistic rhythmic moaning, which makes the viewer feel uncomfortable, this is the sort of thing that john carpenter has aimed to do as it reflects the film very well as the film itself is meant to be a horror/thriller that shocks the audience. The use of violins throughout this clip is very good as it helps draw up an eery feel to the film. When listening to the sound without watching the video i get the feeling that it is the sort of sounds that would appear when china dolls appear in the screen, in my opinion i feel as if John Carpenter has made it feel that way to the viewer to get the response from the audience that it is a scary film, so from this aspect it has worked well, as me as a viewer my first response was that i was freaked out by the way in which the sounds impacted me. From the impact i got from the opening credits i get the feeling that it is a taste for what's to come in the rest of the film.

Analysis of live TV programme - Comic relief

I have decided to use comic relief from 2009 to analyse as i feel there is alot to talk about in terms of conventions. 

There are many different conventions in the live t.v programme comic relief these including, Presenters, sob stories, websites and logo in the top left hand corner and many more.

Stereotypically in this Live programme the presenters are there to introduce the show and to make the audience want to watch it, this could be done in many different ways, these including humor and intriguing conversations. Normally presenters are picked to broaden the different people that watch it e.g. male and females, and people from different ethnic backgrounds. As well as this they are used to show the relationship between the two of them as well as show what the show is all about. The types of presenters that are used are the sort of people that have lots in common so they have a good laugh and bounce off each other, It is interesting to watch them as they make the audience laugh therefore making the audience want to keep watching rather then turn it over when the adverts come on.

The whole way through comic relief they have some sort of sob story going on these including poor children in africa/kenya and children that cant afford decent food water and shelter. this is basically what the whole of comic relief is about and all the facts and statistics shown in the programme are then backed up by the footage that they show, within the footage of the schooling in africa there is normally some sort of celebrity that goes along to make it seem worse than it may actually be it also gives that celebrity a bit of publicity as they are helping notify to the public how bad these issues actually are.

In this picture you can see that Simon Cowell is in kenya looking at how much the children have to go through to find something worth money to make a living to buy food and certain bits of materials they may need to make useful shelter.

The screenshot quite clearly shows the audience of comic relief that they are very fortunate with there houses, money etc. This part of comic relief is put in to make the audience realise how less fortunate these children in africa and kenya are. his is designed to make the audience want to donate money to help out the people that are less fortunate to get clean water, proper shelter and better schooling. the screen shots that are shown within this text shows the range of different shot sizes and angles that are used, meaning that it isnt boring to the people watching the programmes as there is a lot of variety.


Throughout the programme there are many different clips from different t.v Programs that have specially made episodes for comic relief. this is put in to promote comic relief further and to make the audience more interested in watching it due to the programs they have put in. This may be due to the nature of the normal episodes that outnumbered have done for example as they are amusing to watch due to the constant humour throughout the episodes.

In the whole of the program there is always something in the top left hand corner as the first thing that you tend to look at is from the top left hand corner just like you would do if you were reading a book. They have the number and the website in the corner as it is important that the audience sees it to encourage them to donate money. With this they can get more money for the children in need of new schools, houses, food and water. All the money that they get will help towards the better standard of living for the families that arent as fortunate as us.

With the websites in action it means that  looking at the history of comic releif is easy as the uinformation from each year is on the website, it tells your the amount of money that the world raise for the charity and thanks everyone for their generosity.

The legal and Ethical side of comic relief doesn't seem to have that much of an impact on the program. This is due to the way in which that the audience aren't seeing anything so horrific that they need tohave a ban on it. As well as this it also seems as if there is no sort of Legal issues that could be affected, apart from the copyright. The program is copyrighted by the producer and the charity to make sure that there  are no issues of people trying to make the program as their own.

Comic relief research

Comic Relief is a charity which was founded in the United Kingdom in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief. Comic Relief is one of the two high profile telethon events held in Britain, the other being Children in Need held annually in November.

Comic Relief was launched live on Noel Edmonds's Late, Late Breakfast Show on BBC1, on Christmas Day 1985 from a refugee camp in Sudan. The idea for Comic Relief came from the noted charity worker Jane Tewson, who established it as the operating name of Charity Projects, a registered charity in England and Scotland.

The charity states that its aim is to "bring about positive and lasting change in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people, which we believe requires investing in work that addresses people's immediate needs as well as tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice."

How it all began

Comic Relief was launched from a refugee camp in Sudan on Christmas Day in 1985, live on BBC One. At that time, a devastating famine was crippling Ethiopia and something had to be done. That something was Comic Relief.

The idea was simple – Comic Relief would get a whole bunch of much-loved British comedians to make the public laugh while they raised money to help people in desperate need.

As well as doing something about the very real and direct emergency in Ethiopia, Comic Relief was determined to help tackle the broader needs of poor and disadvantaged people in Africa and at home in the UK.

How we operate

When people generously donate their money or fundraise for Comic Relief, they trust that we’ll spend their cash wisely. With that trust, comes huge responsibility which we take very seriously indeed.

So much so that we have stringent governance and operating policies that might not sound too thrilling, but help to make sure we operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Click here for the Comic Relief website

Links to work

Final edit
evaluation
Experimenting with fonts
Legal and ethical issues
Jobs in TV and Film
Dummy Footage
Anamatic
Story Board
Risk Assessment
Recce Shots
Minutes
Continuety test
The sixth sense analysis
Sixth sense production Team
Psycho
Shot Sizes
Thriller definition
North by northwest analysis
Continuety exercise  storyboard
Se7en analysis
dummy footage analysis
Treatment
Audience Feedback

Audience feedback

Overall they have said that they think that the sound needed to be different if we ever did it again - such as picking up when mel is running and slowed down just before it finished.  Aswell as this they said that they liked the different ranges of shots that we have included in our thriller.  aswell as this they have said that the bit where we have put the names of the director etc needs to be moved to a different part of the shot, as it covers part of the person. Aswell as this they said they liked the way in which the camera jolted loads when mel was running as it gave them the feeling that mel was being chased by someone.

Treatment

Person being chased though the woods, moving twigs and branches. As they are moving trees + branches the camera will come to a standstill + show a shot of the scenery so that the names of directors ect. can be added in the editing process. The shots of the scenery will include footprints, canted shots of trees with fingernail scratches in and other enigmas. there will be lots of fast movements between shots to create the affect that the person is being chased is turning around. There will be long shots of the person running aswell as pov shots. Heavy breathing will also be added in the editing to create the affect. shots will be used to create the affect that the person is lost as they are turning around. The person will keep turning around seeing if anyone is following them. then all of a sudden there will be an extreme close up of the persons lips and a gloved hand will then cover them. the shot will then fade into a blackout.









From this trailer i have taken the idea from the start of it to use the woods to create a tense atmosphere.







From this we decided to take the idea of an abduction to use in our film, as we thought that it would make the audience connect to the film due to the serious case that child abduction is classed as.

Dummy footage analysis

Dummy Footage Evaluation

The angles within the Dummy footage should be changed as they are in the wrong angle towards the sun this means that it makes the background look really light and the main image in the scene dark this means that the person that should have the focus on them therefore doesn't as the lighting is wrong.

There is also the problem as it is filmed at two different people's point of view, this then means that it can not be edited right as it does not fit together properly so needs to be from one persons point of view, the audiences point of view therefore this is what i am going to do in the finale footage i film.

Within this footage  we have also broke the 30 degree angle rule this therefore means that the footage does not fit together properly. Therefore in my final film, as well as the 180 degree rule, I will make sure to follow the 30 degree rule.

Minutes 

At this point in the unit we had a member in our group change this therefore meant that we had to delicate different jobs to ensure that everything was still completed this meant we dedicated one person to the sound track and the other to the editing this therefore meant that if the other person was not in then we could still get on with the work. This also helped us with the timing and getting the work done.

Thriller Final Edit

Evaluation - Thriller

From this project I have learnt many things, these including how to use GarageBand and how to use final cut pro. Although I know how to use final cut express I had never used final cut pro which is slightly different in a way that to do something it would be in a different place or a different place where the button is. From this I have learnt many things from doing my thriller.

As well as picking up skills for different programs I feel as if I learnt how to work well in a group, as the different jobs for the filming, editing sounds etc was shared between me and my partner, this therefore proving that within a group I can successfully work to the same ability as if I was doing it all on my own. I feel as if this has given me a great skill, which will prove to be very useful in the future, with both employment and any sort of educational purposes. From this unit I have proven that working in a group is not an issue, this is due to the fact that if there is something that my partner does not understand then I can help them to understand how to do things. 

Throughout this unit I think I have used my creativity a lot. This is due to the editing of the footage through final cut, and the sound effects through GarageBand. From this unit I have used many different programs, which prove to a certain extent that I know how to use these sorts of programs therefore meaning I can make a thriller opening to the best of my abilities therefore meaning that I can get the best mark possible. 

Overall I think that during doing Unit 23 I have built up many different skills that have been very useful in the entire unit. I believe that I have been able to work better in a group this unit, as I have grown used to working with other people. I think that this skill will help me loads in the next units to come. I think that i still have room for improvement in garage band, but to get better i will use things like youtube tutorials and I will ask the technicians for help.

Experimenting with fonts.

 We chose not to use this font as it was a bit too fancy and nice for the type of film it is.

We chose not to use this font as it is not clear enough at a quick glance to read the writing.

we chose not to use this text as it has a bit too much of a soft look for the type of film.




we chose to us this font as we liked the way it represented the film, and how it made the audience know that its not going to be a very happy romance film.

Legal and Ethical Issues related to my thriller opening.

Legal:

Copyright

Product Placement

Certification (BBFC)

Ethical:

Drugs 

Drinking

Sex

Racism

My film would come under the classification 12A this is due to there being graphic images created in the minds of the viewers after the person is being dragged into a hedge. I think that my thriller opening fits into this as there is not any blood and gore within my opening, I think that the bad stuff within my thriller is quite discrete but may be a problem when they think that it is a good thing to abduct people that are walking through the woods.


Click here for the BBFC website


Product placement is where products are added in to films and TV programmes to advertise products eg. phone companies, Phone brands, Shops etc


Click here to find out more about product placement

There is no product placement in my film as me and my group did not feel that it was necessary for this opening. 

 Copyright is a legal document that protects ideas and pictures etc. from people claiming it as there own.

Click to find out more about Copyright
Copyright is not an issue with my thriller opening as there is nothing within it that has copyright against it.

There is no reference to drugs, alcohol, sex, or racism in my film so i don't really have to worry about the ethical issues that could of been raised.

Jobs in Tv and film

Camera operator:

A person that operates a film or video camera for the purpose of recording a production to film, video, or a computer storage medium. A camera operator serving in an official capacity in the process of filmmaking may also be known variously as a cameraman, television camera operator, video camera operator, or videographer, depending on the context and technology involved.

Focus Puller:

 focus puller or a 1st assistant cameraperson, is a member of a film crew’s camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain image sharpness on whatever subject or action is being filmed.

Lighting Director:

The job of a lighting director is to:

• decide on the equipment and crew required;
• instructing and overseeing the work of lighting technicians;
• liaising closely with the director and set designer;
• making decisions about the camera angles, positions and equipment required for scenes, which are then shot by the camera operator.

Director of photography:

A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera (the art and science of which is known as cinematography). The title is generally equivalent to director of photography (DP), used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image.

Animator:

An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence

Stunt Person:

stunt performer, stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts instead of the actor or acress in the film or TV programme

Art dirtector:

The term art director is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games

Vision mixer :

vision mixer (also called video switcher, video mixer or production switcher) is a device used to select between several different video sources and in some cases composite (mix) video sources together and add special effects

Sound recordist:

A production sound mixer, location sound recordist, location sound engineer or simply sound mixer is the member of a film crew responsible for recording all sound and sound effects on set during the photography of a motion picture, for later inclusion in the finished product, or for reference to be used by the sound designer, sound effects editors, or foley artists. This requires choice and deployment of microphones, choice of recording media, and mixing of audio signals in real time.

researcher:

A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in
general any systematic investigation to establish facts.

continuity assisstant:

The Continuity Assistant in broadcasting is responsible for ensuring that all
commercials and programming sold by the sales and programming departments

special effects make-up artist:

A make-up artist ensures that models, performers and presenters have suitable make-up and hairstyles before they appear in front of cameras or an audience. This may be in a variety of settings, including film, television, theatre, live music and photographic shoots.

Composer:

A person who makes the music for the prgramme/ film eg. theme song

Location Manager:

the person who decides where the film/programme should be shot.

Foley Editor:

The Foley Editor, the Supervising Sound Editor and usually the Director and/or the Picture Editor attend a Spotting Session

ADR dialogue editor:

The dialogue editor assembles, synchronises, and edits all the dialogue in a film or television production. Usually they will use the production tracks: the sound that was recorded on the set. They will smooth it out in terms of volume and equalisation. If any of the production tracks are unusable they can be replaced by either alternate production tracks recorded on set or by ADR, automated dialogue replacement, which is recorded after the shoot with the actors watching their performances in a sound studio and rerecording the lines. Large productions may have an ADR editor working under the dialogue editor, but the positions are often combined. The ADR editor or dialogue editor also work with the walla group in films which they are required, providing the background chatter noise in scenes with large crowds, such as parties or restaurants.

Screen Writer:

The person who writes the scrips

Construction manager:

Construction Project Management is the overall planning, co-ordination and control of a project from inception to completion aimed at meeting a client's needs

Casting director:

A feature film, or commercials director will hire a Casting Director to assist them the casting of many of the roles in the film.


Health and safety consultant:

They make sure that everything is within the health and safety regulations, so that they are all safe when shooting the TV programme or Film.

Steadicam Operator:

A Steadicam operator can change from lowmode to highmode without any alteration. Dimensions are not limited to ups and downs

Grip:

Grips are lighting and rigging technicians in the film and video industries

Gaffer:

A gaffer in the motion picture industry is the head of the electrical department, responsible for the execution.

dummy footage

Whilst starting to edit the dummy footage Sophie decided to leave our group and join another so me and Mel decided to dedicate different jobs between the two of us to make it work. We got our teacher to help us do the filming as there is parts that we could not do on our own due to lack of people in our group. 

Anamatic

StoryBoard

Risk Assessment

Minutes


whilst doing the risk assessment me and the rest of me group had to think about and consider the possible risks of being in the place we had decided to film in. We decided that we would film at the mill damn which is a woodland area to the side of a river. During our risk assessment we found a few risks that is due to objects lying around the wood, slippery surfaces etc.

the risk assessment did not have t be used as there was no risks that effected us when we were filming.

Recce Shots

Minutes for thriller opening sequence

4th January 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. We discussed the locations where we could film and the ones that are easy to access for us. We then decided as a group on the theme of the opening and what shots we would use. Some of the shots that we will use include a canted shot of a tree with nail scrapings embedded into it, many POV shots and low angle shots. We will also use a train track that is near us to add a little bit more drama. We will use quick panning to create the effect that the person is running around checking if anyone is behind her. We decided on filming in the woods by Wem mill and the roads surrounding it. We decided to film in the dark as this would look quite creepy and it will create lots of shadows which will add effect. We decided that we would use editors to input sounds such as twigs breaking and heavy breathing.

6th January 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. Today we started to storyboard our idea, we all drew the shots that would be used in the opening. We will then upload our storyboard to Blogger once it is finished.

20th January 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. Today we carried on storyboarding out idea. We also uploaded some footage that we recorded for our thriller the other day onto our Macs. We will then edit this on Final Cut Express once we have finished storyboarding.

25th January 2011 -

Sophie and Jasmine. Today we uploaded more footage as the original footage was lost on our Macs. I continued to storyboard as Jasmine worked on uploading the footage. We had problems uploading as the cameras kept running out of battery.

27th January 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. Today we were unable to edit our footage as Final Cut would not open our videos. We decided that we needed to re-shoot some of our footage as we missed out shots that are necessary to the opening.

3rd February 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. Today we completed the risk assessment for our production as the college's server had gone down and we were unable to do anything else.

8th February 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. Today we scanned our risk assessment into our blogs and we completed our storyboard and scanned them into our network. Next lesson we will create an animatic out of these images.

15th February 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. We were going to shoot our video again today, but the it decided to rain so we couldn't film. Instead we decided to tidy up our blogs and finish any loose ends.

17th February 2011 -

Sophie, Jasmine and Melissa. Today we tried to use Garageband to start our soundtrack for our thriller opening.

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