Me and my class attended a police roadster day and we were expected to write a review with the best peice of writing getting published. My peice of work was the best and got published onto the college website.
Thinking I was going to have a touch of the winter blues today was a mistake, as my day was brightened up by officers of the Essex police. Their witty banter made the day flow with ease, but the serious side was never lost as we watched distressing videos of children, partners, friends and family who had died because of the stupidity of drivers.
The 'Roadster Day' started off with my group learning about Trading Standards. By the end of the session I realised I’d need to take the Trading Standards officer with me when buying my first car because he knew so much. The clever tricks were extremely beneficial, the most memorable being the 'one pound coin check' which you can use to make sure there aren’t any big gaps on the vehicle's outer body.
The Essex road safety team had the saddest topic to present. The stories and videos they shared were very emotional. You’d have to have very thick skin not to be touched. However, I haven’t just remembered this session with upsetting thoughts, as the two officers who presented this topic were the most charismatic out of the day.
After the break came the most exiting part of the day, as my group got to have a driving lesson. For most of us this was the first time we had driven a car. As most of us are also wanting to start driving lessons soon it proved really helpful and gave us the confidence to want to start as soon as possible, and get us off public transport forever! Later on in the day we had the lesson of how to start the process of actually becoming a driver.
The Fire Service talk was all about serious issues. There were no laughs and jokes in this session as the presentation was full of a catalogue of deaths. They also introduced us to the ripple effect, where one small accident will create a ripple of events. This session was not the only session where we learnt about the ripple effect as it was spoken about throughout the whole day.
An interesting fact baffled me at the end of the day: with every fatal crash that occurs £1,700,000 is spent in trying to mend the lives that are destroyed.
Friday, 22 March 2013
Emploment report on the Photo imaging.
For this peice of work we had to include terms on employment.
Photo imaging
In the Uk there are around 43,100 people working in photo imagining with 8,700 companies. The south of England is where most of the jobs are at with 51% of people working there, and 38% are in the south east of England and London. The rest are scattered over the uk. 68% of the photo imaging industry is made up of sole trading and freelance photographers. Other companies are image producers, photo retail, picture and agencies, manufacturers and support services. However 91% of Uk companies employ only five people or fewer, so finding a job could be difficult however searching for jobs on the internet could help get a job as you can search for jobs on a broader scale rather than just in your area.
The photo imaging industry is quite skilled with just under half the workers have a degree. The workers are at an average age of 42 which some could see as quite high however this is a similar age to the rest of the wider economy.
If choosing a career in photo imaging you will need a wide range of skills. A mix of technical quality with creativity and visual awareness is needed so it is easy to think of new ideas and develop them on technical programs like Photoshop. If working on Photoshop you will probably have an editorial role. Other new software will come around and it is key to continue professional developments and learn how this software’s work.
As photo imaging is a business individuals must develop strong market awareness, marketing and financial skills to understand how to make money and help the business grow. Passion and enthusiasm for taking a photo is required especially for freelancers who need to go out looking for work themselves. A freelancer will need to have administrative skills as they will be managing themselves. Once again the importance of needing to go into higher education is evident as there have been reports of concerns of the quality of applicants.
Working permanently in the photo image word full time or part time depending on the amount of hours you work for and depending on what you actually do. For example working in photo retail you’ll probably have to work part time because in retail it’s hard to get a full time job, whereas if working as a photographer you would probably have to work full time as you’ll have to plan photo shoots, create portfolios, and take photos. Some companies pay workers in this industry like photographers by the job, which is like piecework. Other companies pay workers hourly which is the common throughout the UK.
If you are unemployed a way to impress an employer when going for a job interview is to have written down that you’ve worked voluntary on your curriculum vitae, this could make the employer realise how determined you are to gain experience and get a job. Showing the employer you have a personal website or blog will also benefit you as it shows you already have work out there but also shows you want to get recognised and are independent. If you don’t have a personal website it is important to present a showreel which would include your photography, presenting work on a showreel can also show moving images if the applicant has created them. Other important things to have on your CV include a couple of decent references to show how reliable and well skilled you are. Employers would look for attendance and punctuality so in previous jobs and school life it is important to show up to show you are committed and dedicated.
A good way to learn and work at the same time is to take up an apprenticeship, an apprenticeship is perfect for photo imaging especially for people who don’t have the higher qualifications needed. Whilst working on the job for a photo imaging company you may learn the following - Agree the Photo Imaging Brief, Undertake photographic assignments, Colour management procedures, using minilab equipment, Technical adjustment of images. Work off the job you may find yourself doing is – photo image capture and presentation, Specialist photography and presentation, specialist photography and image output, Image capture and manipulation, Principles of Crime Scene Investigation photography and Image management and storage.
Nick Knight is a world known fashion photographer who studied photography at Bournemouth college in 1982, he got a distinction. Three years later he released his first book “Skinheads” he won best book cover for this piece of work which led to Yohji Yamamoto's art director Marc Ascoli commissioning Nick Knight for 12 successive catalogues - at a time when Yamamoto campaigns were among highly admired.
Backgroud Feature on the Walt Disney Company
Walt Disney Background Feature
The Walt Disney Company is the third largest media conglomerate in the world today. The company is also privately owned. It was set up way back in 1923 when Mr Walter Disney signed a contract with M.J Wrinkler to produce a series of Alice comedies. The original name of the company was ‘Disney Brothers cartoon studios’ as Walt’s brother Roy had shared ownership. Disney started as, and continues to be, a privately funded company. Rather than being funded through the taxpayer (the public), ruling it out of the public service media category, unlike the BBC for example which is funded by and for the public.
As time went on Disney has become a very diverse family entertainment and media enterprise with five business sections: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. These businesses have given Disney different ways to find sources of income and have made Disney able to become a multinational company.
Back in the 20’s when Disney began, the animations being produced didn’t do as well as first thought with Disney having some financial concerns, making this the era where not much money and success was made. Then Disney designed a new character, "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" and sold rights to Mintz distribution but then costs became too high to produce animations in theatre. So Walt thought it would benefit the company to end distribution with Mintz and use the income they were receiving on a new character. Mintz then took full rights of “Oswald” and also took Disney’s best animator which was a big blow to Disney.
Then on the train home one day Walt created Mickey Mouse, audiences fell in love with mouse straight away which made Walt go to New York to get sound for the mouse and this became the first animation to ever have sound. It got rave reviews.
Mickey Mouse changed everything making Disney be able to fund the first full colour cartoon ‘Flowers and Trees’ from then on all their cartoons were in colour as that was the trend at the time with films production. In that decade classics like Pinocchio, Dumbo and Snow White and The Seven Dwarves which was the first animated film was produced.
On September 29, 1938, Walt Disney Enterprises, Disney Film Recording Company, Liled Realty Investment Company and Walt Disney Productions, Ltd are merged into Walt Disney Productions. This made Disney a lot more powerful as they had larger income, therefore Disney were able to carry on producing more feature films like Snow White.
As world war two was taking place it was Disney’s duty to produce moral boosting propaganda films, the most famous being ‘Saludos Amigos’. Some animators thought this was the right thing to be doing however some animators disagreed and even went on strike.
That was the least of Disney’s concerns as in 1944 the company was short of money but the theatrical re-release of Snow White regenerated much needed money and kept the company releasing animated feature films.
1950 was a big year for Disney as they completed their first all live action feature ’Treasure Island’. Big seller Cinderella was also created. The company seemed to be heading in the right direction.
In 1954 Disney went ahead with plans to create Disneyland. The thought came about because Walt loved taking his daughters to amusement parks and zoo’s he felt it would be a successful investment, the following year the theme park opened in California and Kids loved it there. Even today it’s a kid’s dream to visit Disneyland.
The 60’s was dramatic, there was the beginning and ending of an era as Enchanted Tiki Room opens at Disneyland, using the first Audio-Animatronics. There was also Mary Poppins which was produced which was the first Disney film to receive a Best Picture Academy Award nomination. All the joy was overshadowed by the sad death Walt Disney in 1966.
Walt Disney’s death did not stop the company from making further classics as the Jungle book was released a year later. The company carried to get supervised by Walts brother Roy.
After the success of Disneyland, The Company felt it was right to purchase more land, this time in Florida to build a new park. The park covered nearly 28000 acres of land and was pronounced open on October 1, 1971. It was definitely an improvement from California, this park included; a theme park, hotels, campgrounds, golf courses, and shopping villages, this was now the holiday vacation everyone wanted to go too, not just the children either. Sadly Walt’s younger brother Roy passes away that year.
The company was now led by a new team which featured - Card Walker, Donn Tatum and Ron Miller. They had a tough task ahead of them creating Disneyland in Tokyo, the country loved everything about Disney having one of Disney’s largest fan base.
One of Disney’s largest income sources was about to get created in 1983 as Disney channel was made. Disney channel has had smash hits with a series of programs such as Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place. Disney has created so many stars because of these programs the most notably being Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron. Children today dream to be on this channel.
As video cassette was now taking place Disney films were wanted, so they got re-released and this got Disney classics reaching the top of the all-time best seller lists beating national and global competition from DreamWorks films.
Disney continue franchising abroad. They sign an agreement with the French government and build a Disneyland in Paris, it fully opened in 1992. Disney continued to has a diverse way of making money by going to interactive media, buying 25 percent of the baseball team California Angels, taking over capital cities and renaming it ABC, Inc. Disney also felt it would benefit working on crossing all media fronts for sources of income. Disney also profit from using vertical integration. They produce, market and distribute their movies.
Currently all of Disney’s parks bring in a combined $27 billion in revenue each year. Disney is recognised all over the planet for making the greatest animation films of all time and in 2006 used horizontal integration and bought another animation producing company ‘PIXAR’. This will mean Disney gain a larger share of the animated film market and won’t have to compete against PIXAR anymore. It will also help create more amazing stories. Children are now inspired watching these films making them want to become actors, singers or both. Even in this difficult financial climate, Disney won’t be suffering as much as other companies because of their huge fan base. Expect more from Disney as the time goes on.
Overall Disney being one of the largest media conglomerates in the world will mean they can increase prices as they won’t have as much competition as a conglomerate controls large parts of media. This is a good thing for Disney, as The Guardian has noted, however conglomerates get hugely criticized because they restrict opportunities by being in control of much of what the public hear and see. According to The Guardian in 2002: “The current cross-media restrictions prevent owners of national newspapers with a national market share of 20% or more from controlling a license or owning more than 20% of a regional or national television broadcaster and a local or national radio service.” These restrictions have prevented a UK media based company similar to Disney from developing.
Profile peice on Steve Jobs
Profile piece on Steve Jobs
Born in San Francisco in 1955 Steve Jobs had appeared to be regret for his biological parents, who were unmarried students at the time of his birth. Unnamed at the time he was put up for adoption and taken in by Paul and Clara Jobs. Clara worked as an accountant and Paul was a Coast Guard veteran and machinist. Steve then grew up with them in California.
Steve’s teachers knew he had an intelligent spark, wanting to move him up to high school but his parents declined. This may have been because of Steve’s different side to school life. He was in fact the prankster and at times detested to work, with his teachers having to bribe him to get on with his studies.
When Steve enrolled at Reed College in Portland in 1972 he was lost looking for direction. He eventually left after six months and spent the next 18 months sleeping on friends’ floors, dropping into different creative classes. Steve found one course he loved – calligraphy. Later in life Steve said: “If I had never dropped in on that single calligraphy course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts!"
In 1974 Steve Jobs started a new chapter in his life by becoming a video games designer with Atari. He knew he was on the right track now and his high school friend Steve Wozniak helped him. Together they attended voluntary meetings of the Homebrew Computer club which was an early computer hobbyist users group and led the two to start Apple Computers. The duo thrived working as independents. The first Apple computer was released later that year for $666.66.
The first ever computer to have colour graphics was made in 1977, with revenues reaching $1 million. As the Apple computer continued to develop so did the customers interest in Steve’s product and by 1982 annual revenue climbed to $1 billion. Apple computers were being sold world-wide.
Even though Apple sales were flying, there was no denying there were some crucial design flaws, and the public were noticing. Steve had to fill the president role at Apple and appointed well known marketing expert John Sculley. Even though Steve appointed Sculley, Sculley felt Steve wasn’t benefiting Apple as much as he used too. Sculley gradually faded Steve out, and by 1985 Steve Job’s had resigned.
Steve then started a new software company called NeXT, Inc, which was a new computer company making high-end machines for universities. Steve was always thinking of what’s going to be the next big thing saying his companies always looked for the “next dream” and didn’t make “me too products”. That’s why Steve became so successful because he never stopped looking at the future and always set new organisational objectives.
The next year Steve took over George Lucas’s animation company which eventually became PIXAR animation studios. Steve had huge faith in making this company more than just a success, investing $50 million of his own money, and what a decision it was with PIXAR producing some of the greatest animation films ever to be seen, Toy Story and Finding Nemo. The films profited $140 million $286 million between them. Steve bagged $4 billion from PIXAR films alone. Success or what?!
Steve also continued to develop his first NeXT computer which went on sale in 1989 for $6,500, but Apple saw the product not do as well as first thought which led to them buying the company in 1997 for $492 million. Steve then returned to his post at Apple. Making them the leading software company around again. His skills didn’t go unnoticed, leading Apple to create the iMac and working on improving the Apple computer’s ability to perform better than competitors computers. Steve thought Bill Gates co-founder of Microsoft did, Steve thought Gates was trying to copy his product “when they saw the Mac they couldn’t even copy it well.” This led to Steve wanting cross media regulations to be put in place to stop other companies copying their products.
In 2003 Steve found out he had a rare pancreatic cancer. The following year he had surgery which was successful. The pancreatic tumour was removed.
Whilst all this was on going Apple was once again producing more diverse products. The IPod had gone on sale and then they introduced Itunes a site for Ipod users to purchase music. This was again a success within the first week there were 1 million sales. Disney then bought Pixar for $7.4 billion in 2006, with Steve benefiting from this becoming the largest shareholder in Disney.
Steve then lost a lot of weight in 2009. He claimed it was due to hormone imbalance and continued to lead Apple. Later it was learnt it was due to a liver transplant. Everybody knew Steve liked to keep his personal life to himself.
Steve began to gradually leave his post at Apple due to medical reasons, although he did carry on making big decisions such as unveiling the Ipad saying it was 'the biggest thing Apple's ever done'. On the 24thof august, 2011, Jobs eventually stepped down as CEO for good and became chairman.
A few months later on October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died. The 56 year old was pronounced dead with no specific cause.
Steve became a worldwide star, somebody who all young people can look up too. Steve Wozniak expressed how Jobs had something other creators in the technology industry didn’t have: “His drive toward the future no matter how unachievable it seemed.” Apple will definitely miss his importance as he is arguably the most important executive of all time. Despite this tragedy, Apple are still flourishing, as products like the Ipad and Iphone are the most wanted gadgets around.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0423418/bio http://allaboutstevejobs.com/bio/timeline.php
Friday, 15 March 2013
Media magazine information
In my journalsim class we set up a magazine called 'Malfoy's Media Mag'. I worked with Craig Fantham, Jordan Maxwell and Emily Colton. My roles included writing a Profile peice on Steve Job's and a background feature on The Walt Disney Company.
Welcome to my blog on the media industries
Welcome to my blog on the media industries. It's a blog targeted at young adults interested in media. In particular I will be talking about magazines, brodcasting and photo imaging.
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