Research - The Document

I have now decided on a sub-topic for my research project, which outlines the following issues:

• Employability of Women in Multimedia
• Multimedia as an industry
• Contemporary – Women in Multimedia – the representation, under representation, roles and issues
• Education of Multimedia / Technological subjects to Women
• Is it a male dominated industry? Roles for men and women

I have also made a start on the research documentby writing bullet points on what I intend to cover. The document will have the following sections:

Title Page
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Contents
List of illustrations (or figures)
Chapter 1 Introduction and context
Chapter 2 Research Method
Chapter 3 Survey of literature & works
Chapter 4 Discussion
Chapter 5 Conclusion
References
Bibliography
Appendices

My next objective is to actually write the document and carry out more focused research as required within the field of the topic. I think writing the document will direct me to researching certain aspects of the topic, rather than reading a wide range of materials and then trying to define them into a document.

Client Tutorial - 28/10/08

We had a tutorial today and discussed what we have done so far on our simulated project and what we plan to have achieved by next week. My goals for next week's tutorial are to have the following things:

1. Booked equipment
2. Sorted out crew members
3. A draft edit of the advert with the text
4. Location photographs
5. Floor Plan
6. Shot list
7. Date and time of shoot
8. Live Client Project - draft of agreement

Proposal Presentation Feedback

Below is the feedback I recieved for my Proposal Presentation:

- Strong facts about chosen topic - Virtual Water
- Decision on final shots not clear i.e. exactly what products will be thrown away in the dustbin
- Visual images, audio-visual items or photograpghs would have improved the presentation
- Good delivery of presentation
- Good justifications for decisions
- Client liaison needs to be included in the schedule of works
- Consider cast
- maybe introduce male character
- Clearer direction of location
- Clearer direction on who will be part of the cast and crew

Since the presentation I have been looking for an actress for my advert. Although I have found someone that fits the profile she is not available until the middle of next week, which means I may be delayed on my schedule. However it is still possible to shoot the advert and have a final edit by the end of next week.

Independent Charity Work

I was approached by a friend who is organising a charity Fashion show in Leicester. She required some marketing material to advertise the event. I took this as an opportunity and did a mini client project with her. She gave me a brief with requirements and all the information that needed to be advertised to the target audience. She gave me the following details:

Even Name
Date and time
Location
What the event will include
Contact details
Logos
Colour theme: Cream and Red

From this brief and a few e-mail conversations I decided to produce an A3 poster design, an A6 Flyer and an A6 ticket design. In the beginning I gave her 6 options, 3 of them were according to her colour theme and in three of them I had added another colour to the theme – black. Below are a few of the options I gave her, she decided with design 2.

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Design 4

Design 5

Design 6


I developed her chosen idea into three promotional pieces: poster, flyer and ticket. Although the layout, design and theme were exactly the same on all three each one had slight differences to fulfil its purpose, for example, the ticket design had a small box to writ in ticket numbers and also detailed information on the address of the location. The poster and the flyer were very similar, below is the ticket and flyer designs that were sent to the printers.

Through this project I had built a relationship with the client, as this was voluntary I had to fit it in with my other commitments such as a part-time job and university. However my client understood my circumstances and was flexible about how quick I delivered the designs, even though she needed them urgently.

Verbal Proposal - The Presentation

Below is an outline of what I have included in my presentation in my tutorial:

Slide 1: My name, ID, Module, Title and contents of presentation



Slide 2: Introduction, what is my piece of multimedia, my category, concentration

Slide 3: Research, what is virtual reality, facts about water crises and virtual reality

Slide 4: My Idea, plot summary, the message, aims and objectives of advert

Slide 5: Production Plans, advert length, location equipment and props

Slide 6: Gantt Chart Image

Slide 7: References and any questions from group

Simulated Project: The Proposal

The proposal is divided into two sections, the written proposal and the verbal presentation. Below is an outline of what I included in my Written Proposal:

Introduction: What I am going to do, what the Multimedia problem is, the project and client requirements, what is my topic and what research I have done.

Treatment: An outline of my final idea to include plot, message, cast, mise-enscene, resources, etc.

Production Plans: Schedule of works (Gantt Chart - below), sound, lighting, equipment, post-production and editing techniques.

Click on the Image to see a clearer view of the Gantt Chart

Visualisations: A detailed storyboard explaining and showing what the AV will look like and feel like.

References and Bibliography: References that relate to the research and further reading material.

Simulated Project: Advert Concepts

Idea A:
Fact about water usage in the UK followed by a visual montage. First someone brushing their teeth and suddenly the water stops, second someone washing the dishes and once again the water stops coming out of the tap. The same scenario occurs whilst someone is in the shower. The message would be to inform people of the water crises in the future and to turn off their taps.

Evaluation: Easy to shoot, simple and concise however not so unique and effective.

Idea B:
Fact: It takes 3400 litres to produce 1kg of rice
Shot: 1kg bag of rice next to 3400 litres of water
Fact: It takes 40 litres to produce 1 slice of bread
Shot: 1 slice of bread next to 40 litres of water
Fact: It takes 2700 litres to produce 1 cotton t-shirt
Shot: 1 cotton t-shirt next to 2700 litres of water
Etc

Evaluation: Easy to shoot no actor – maybe voice over needed, simple yet message may not be clearly delivered.

Idea C:
A young woman pours a large bucket of water into a dustbin. A fact about the water consumption in England is shown on the screen. The character then throws daily household products in the dustbin one after the other (each shot is accompanied with statistical text on its virtual water). This is to imply how much virtual water each product comprises and how much is wasted when these products are simply thrown away. The advert finishes with a question / statement about how much you as an individual can have an impact on the virtual water consumption of England. This will be followed by a website for further information.

Evaluation: Fairly simple to shoot, message is concise, may require too many props and could become too lengthy for brief but is effective as it could be shocking.

Idea D:
Marks & Spencers style spoof:
‘Its not just 1 slice of bread it is 40 litres of water used to grow the wheat.’ Etc
the same kind of dialogue with various other products followed by a website to visit for more information.

Evaluate: Humorous approach, many other M&S spoofs already on Youtube. Simple to shoot, no actors required only voiceover, however good production qualities difficult to achieve. Also difficult to gain legal access to original music score of M&S!

In the end I decided to develop idea C as I thought it would be the most effective and achievable keeping the brief and the client requirements in mind.

My Ideas - Part 1

Below is a summarisation of my ideas and what my final product is going to be. This brainstorm helped me to put my final ideas into perspective.

Virtual Water - What Is It?

'The way we use the planet's resources makes up our ecological footprint.'

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

Through my research I was lead to the following website:

www.waterfoorprint.org

This website clearly explains what virtual water is:

‘…an assessment of the way that food, bio-fuel and cotton production can drive the over-abstraction and pollution of freshwater ecosystems. UK lifestyles are dependent on water from many nations, making British lives inextricably linked with what happens elsewhere.’

The organisation has done extensive research and studies into the consumption of virtual water in the UK. I found this particular aspect within the water crises very interesting as it is an issue that is not publicised as in issue in mainstream media. I therefore decided to make ‘The Government’ my client and ‘The General Public’ my target audience to produce an informative piece of multimedia to create awareness of the growing issue.

My Category: Climate Change

Topic: Water Crisis

Below is some research I did on the water crisis forecasted for the future. Included are some very interesting facts and also some links to websites that I looked at as part of my research on this area:

• More than 2.7 billion people will face severe water shortages by the year 2025 if the world continues consuming water at the same rate, the United Nations has warned

• The UN body says wasted water is costing Europe around $10bn a year

• at least 120 million people living in Europe - one in seven of the population - still do not have access to clean water and sanitation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/1887451.stm

• Within 25 years, half the world’s population could have trouble finding enough freshwater for drinking and irrigation

• Nevertheless, one in six people still have no regular access to safe drinking water

• The cost of providing safe drinking water and proper sanitation to everyone in the world by 2025 will be US$180 billion a year, two to three times greater than present investments

• On average, individual daily domestic use of freshwater in developed countries is 10 times more than in developing countries. In the UK the average person uses 135 litres of water every day. In the developing world the average person uses 10 litres

• On current trends, over the next 20 years humans will use 40 per cent more water than they do now

• Water problems are more related to mismanagement than scarcity.

http://www.unep.org/wed/2003/keyfacts.htm

• Already one person in five has no access to safe drinking water

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2000/world_water_crisis/default.stm

• As WWF's new report on the UK's water usage explains today, virtual water is the volume of water that is required to produce a particular product. A can of fizzy drink might contain 0.35 litres of water, for instance, yet it also requires around 200 litres to grow and process the sugar that goes into it. A pair of leather shoes may contain no water at all, but it requires 8,000 litres to grow the feed, support the cow and then process its skin before you start wearing the shoes. Add all this virtual water together and you have a water footprint for a person, a business, a community or a country

• a typical British household uses 30 times as much virtual water as the amount it obtains through the taps for washing, cooking or drinking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/20/water.food

• The UK has become the sixth largest net importer of water in the world

• Average household water use for washing and drinking in the UK is about 150 litres a person daily, but we consume about 30 times as much in "virtual water", used in the production of imported food and textiles;

• Different diets have different water footprints. A meat and dairy-based diet consumes about 5,000 litres of virtual water a day while a vegetarian diet uses about 2,000 litres

Other Reading:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/20/water.food1

http://www.waterfootprint.org/?page=files/UnitedKingdom

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2008/aug/19/water.food?picture=336718164

Simulated Client: Proposal Introduction

After being given the brief I made a brainstorm of what this project is about, the options I have, and what factors will influence the decisions I make with regards to the final Multimedia product. Below is a summarisation of all my ideas, which will hopefully lead me to a more defined idea and proposal.

Click on the Image to see the Mind Map clearly.

Final Year Intro - Client Project

The client project has two parts and we were immediately introduced to the first simulated project brief:

Produce a piece of multimedia that can be used to support a public information campaign. Cover ONE of the following categories.

1) Climate Change
2) Sexual Health
3) Sustainability
4) Healthy Living

At first instance, being on the AV pathway, I imagined and presumed my final product would be an advert. Also the ‘Climate Change’ category appealed to me the most. As a general subject I was interested in the ‘Water Crisis’ predicted for the future.

Final Year Intro - Research Project Ideas

We had an induction into the final year of Multimedia to prepare us after coming back from the Gap Year. Jools explained what the final year will be about, the three modules and what will be expected from us.

As I had moved to Nottingham earlier I made a start on deciding on a research project. We were advised to research something in a field that we would like to enter after graduating from university. Documentary work and Producing are two careers that I am really interested in. On the other hand I was also interested in the development of Inidan Cinema in terms of technology, globalisation and crossover into the west.

I started off reading through various journals and articles through the online catalogue. I found that the areas were really broad and I found it extremely difficult to decide on a research topic. Here are the titles of some of the journals and articles I read:

‘Film Co-operation Agreement Between India & UK Will Increase World Audiences for Indian Cinema – Hindustani Times – 6 December 2005

Bollywood in Britain: Sight & Sound vol.ns8no.8 (August 1998) p.20-2

New Cultural Technologies & the Fading Gliter of Indian Cinema – Quarterly Review of Film & Video V.11 (October 1989) p. 69-78

An Investigation into the Use of Multimedia for Electronic Learning – Dissertations – Thesis MPHIL/2005/OLE

I then did a few brainstorms and mind-maps to see what areas I could research into. Below is a summarisation of the process:

After all the research and reading I decided on my Research Project Topic

'The Representation of Women In Multimedia'

I feel that the "Multimedia" aspect is very broad yet a very fresh and new area that has more scope rather than simply film making. However I think 'film making' will be the particular method I will use for the second part of the project - Research in Practise (Artefacts).

Gap Year Part 2

I started working as a Youth Leader again and doing some temporary jobs along side creating the installation project for the Belgrave Playhouse. I had now decided to save up and travel South America.

The Inca Trail - Dead Woman's Pass - June 2008

In May 2008 I left the UK with a friend and started off the adventure in Ecuador. After that we spent almost three weeks in Peru which included an extremely challenging expedition to Machu Picchu through the famous Inca Trail. We travelled through many countries including Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uraguay, Brazil and Paraguay. I came across many interesting people and different cultures and lifestyles. It was an amazing experience and really improved my organisation skills as sticking to the itinerary was a key factor in the success of the trip.

Documentary - Finding a Story

To make a documentary was a personal aim which I incorporated into the project during my free time. I had taken a Sony MiniDV Camera, a tripod and some blank tapes. Before I left I had a meeting with Deborah and Jools who suggested I should have a story in mind before I begin to shoot, otherwise I will end up with too much footage. This advise proved to be extremely helpful and practical.

I literally spent the first few weeks of the 8 weeks I was there talking to people – researching for my story. By the second week things were really not looking good, I had not shot anything and I thought my aim would not be achievable. However I hadn’t realised that all the talking was collating to form a subject that linked to me, the village and the school. All of a sudden I had a great concept, which started from a conversation with one of the trustees of the school. I discovered that support for village children in terms of further education after primary school was very small or didn’t exist, especially for young girls. This idea developed into an interesting subject matter about the importance of education (English and IT), the restrictions of social and cultural traditions in India that limit further education and the economic growth of the country that influences the educational system.

By the fourth week I had many notes and ideas on what could develop into a documentary. I then started planning shots and interviews. I had expected to start shooting in the 2nd week, however majority of my shots were taken in the last three weeks of my stay in the village.

I came back with a lot of footage, however due to access and working circumstances I was unable to develop the footage and edit it into a documentary straight away.

Belgrave Playhouse - Freelance Client Project

The Belgrave Playhouse is a charity that provides care for children and young people in Leicester. In conjunction with the foundation I was set a broad brief to follow and produce an installation to be placed in their play setting.

My brief was ‘Indian Women’ and stretched through the 3 months I spent in India as a whole (including the volunteer project and travelling North India). Although I was set a brief I had the freedom to develop this into any product, which I decided would be photography based.

I had collected almost 250 photographs that were based around the brief of ‘Indian Women’. The next step was to liaise with my client (the Belgrave Playhouse) to produce the finalised project. I started with filtering the photographs to what I thought were effective images that met the brief exactly. I then took a collection of 30 photographs to a Committee Meeting where I did a presentation on what I did in India, what I had collected and what I intended to do with the material. The Committee in return gave me their feedback which I used to refine the photograph collection further to 12 images.

I placed the images in different orders and kept in contact with the director of the charity on a constant basis as I was also working there at the time. She would give me critical feedback in the various meetings we had, which developed the project further. These client meetings were essential as the communication ensured the client’s needs were met and also gave me ideas on how to improve my work. I learned that working with client is not simple and you can be restricted to their creative ideas instead of implementing only your perspective and opinion.

Below are some of the options that came out of meetings with the Client:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

As you can see the options are very similar, however the smallest details would make a difference on the impact. For example how much space is left between the images and the order/placement of the image.

After many meetings and discussions as well as various changes to the design we decided on a final product which was then printed on a large canvas. The delivering of the product involved me researching different print companies and to get the best possible price for the print. Below is the final installation which is now placed in the ‘Homework Room’ at the Belgrave Playhouse.

Indian Women - Printed on Canvas 48" x 40"

Bindni Karia 2008 ©

Teacher Support Scheme

To achieve the full objectives I felt it was essential I was close to the school, and therefore was fortunately able to stay with a host family in the village. This not only gave me an insight into rural village lifestyles but also what the students experience on a day-to-day basis.

Me - Washing Up

My Room

During the two months that I spent at the school I taught a various classes in English Language, assisted with the administration and maintenance of the school, devised an improved time-table with the Principal and motivated the children and teachers.

The School - December 2007

Gap Year Part 1

I started off my gap year working as a Youth Leader with young people aged 11-18 years in a summer play scheme. This led me to an exciting opportunity to work on a volunteer project in India.

The Rushey Mead Foundation is a UK based charity that built a Secondary school in a village in the state of Gujarat, India. During the earthquake in 2001, BBC reporter Bhasker Solanki was in Gujarat and found the need for a school in a small village called Nagor near the city of Bhuj. The first class started in 2004 and since then the foundation has achieved a lot.




I was sent to the school with various aims and objectives:

1. Teacher Support Scheme – to provide educational and motivational support to the students and the teachers

2. Belgrave Playhouse Project – Photographic Installation project for a charity childcare centre based in Leicester

3. Documentary – possibly find a story to develop into a documentary