Production Schedule

What a production schedule is used for.
The production schedule is used to plan the timescale that each part of the the project will need completing withing and how long they will take. Is used to make sure that deadlines are met or a milestone date (the date something needs to be completed by). Allows us to manage our time and see how long should be spent on different tasks or activities. Organising tasks and personalle. 

Planning Document used to organise and set timeframes (hrs/mins/weeks) and milestones ~(actual date) for planning taskes products and team members. 

Effective features of a production schedule.
Tasks listed in order so team knows what needs to be completed in chronological order
Prioritises order of tasks and time frames for eachtask
Can be viewed at all stages of production so can see if everyone is on task and can be refered back to
Identified team roles so who has to do each task
Adaptable as it is a working document so can be edited and manipulate
Plan for contingancies and backup plans
Plan for resources like hardware, software or equipment
Indervidual deadlines or milestones and launch date is identifiable
Time factored in for permisions or contracts from the client like a release and consent form (applicable to every scenario)

Ineffective features of a production schedule.
Doesnt have equipment
Doesnt have dates like a start date
All tasks are not included or clear about what needs to be done
Need to factor in additional time based on feedback, not meeting milestones
Need to be realistic about timeframes for activities and tasks, which task will take the longest amount of time
Other planning documents are needed to evidence the tasks like a visualisation diagram, storyboard, script
Wouldnt be shown to client, design matherials or planning materials would be shown
Timeframes need to be clear, so that if other parts of production are done then there would be delays
Resources need to be clear, hardware, software, models, personnel
No mention of ethical, legal issues that need to be addressed. Conciderations not taken into account, appropriate agencies to be contacted or forms completed like release and concent forms from models, intellectial property

• Sometimes can be called a Workplan
• Can look similar to a gantt chart
• Would be created by producer or production manager
• Important for team work as each task reflects and has an effect on the next task, the one after it

Garmz scenario:

Tasks listed in order so team knows what needs to be completed in chronological order- Alexia design vidualisation diagram, Ian create sitemap

Prioritises order of tasks and time frames for eachtask - Ian coding in features like the images of models, layout and navigation of the webpage takes longer than Alexia creating the visualisation diagram

Can be viewed at all stages of production so can see if everyone is on task and can be refered back to- If Alexia forgets what she needs to do next she can refer back to it

Identified team roles so who has to do each task - Alexia is a graphic designer so creates visualisation diagrams, Ian is coder so writes code language and creates sitemap 

Adaptable as it is a working document so can be edited and manipulated - If Alexia creates a visualisation diagram and Garmz doesnt like it there needs to be adaptablity for the diagram to be changed so a change in timescales and deadlines

Plan for contingancies and backup plans - have backup models if the one being used is ill, use a different software to code if the one that is going to be used stops working 

Plan for resources - camera & models for images, software like javascript or html5 

Indervidual deadlines or milestones and launch date is identifiable - would have milestones for creating visualisation diagram for Alexia and then a different milestone for imagery

Time factored in for permisions or contracts - models sign contracts as need consent for imagery of them or location permisions for taking images 

All tasks are not included or clear about what needs to be done - If John missed anything off of the production schedule such as the creation of a sitemap thne it would make it hard for Alexia and Ian to know what to do as it is one less planning document

Need to factor in additional time based on feedback, not meeting milestones - need to make sure that there is time left for Alexia to reflect on feedback and change the designs before the end of may when the release date is. 

Need to be realistic about timeframes for activities and tasks, which task will take the longest amount of time - 

Other planning documents are needed to evidence the tasks like a visualisation diagram, storyboard, script - Alexia to create  a visualisation diagram of the different pages of the webiste and app, Ian make sitemap to plan the naviagtion 

Wouldnt be shown to client, design matherials or planning materials would be shown 

Timeframes need to be clear, so that if other parts of production are done then there would be delays

Resources need to be clear, hardware, software, models, personnel - 

No mention of ethical, legal issues that need to be addressed. Conciderations not taken into account, appropriate agencies to be contacted - forms completed like release and concent forms from models so that their images can be used on the websites

A production schedule is a way of organising a project by setting timescales and milestones that each specific task need to be completed within. This allows for more effective planning and management of deadlines.

Visualisation diagrams - code and conventions

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Codes and conventions of visualisation diagrams - "effectiveness"

• The product - so that the audience knows/regonises it (£)
• The brand
• The name of the product
• House styles - 3 colours, san serif
• Slogan - (<5 words) used for branding to remember the brand
• Logo - branding, bold, bottom/top (eyecatching)
• Text to sell the product
• Product being used - see what it looks like
• Website URL, social media links - Shows digital naative audience and their habits (use ofsocial media) SYNERGY as the brand is beign cross promoted 
• Models - Ideal self/partner (pursuading to buy and use product) 
• Trademarks - Registered brand (audience can trust the products, has a good reputation) 

Annotations

Websites and Apps - they have pages

• What interactive features would be on each page with examples - photos, videos, sounds all linked to the brief
• Examples of how the layout and features would appeal to the target audience
• How the brand will be the same across all pages - colours, layout

Games - they have levels

• Scoring systems
• What each level would be like
• Interactive 
• Consept artist - designs the characters, levels 

Use key terms:

• Hierarchical structure
• Pages
• Links 
• Breadcrumb trail
• Sub pages

LO4: Site Structure Diagram

Conventions of a Website

• URL - website address
• Navigation bar - at the top of every website that allows you to browse content on the website
• Logos - so that it establishes the brand
• House style colours
• Name 
• Images or graphics
• Web banner - form of advertising (website owners get pay money to advertise as a form of revenue stream - appeal to your target audience)
• Legal disclaimers

Site Structure Diagram <-- might be asked to draw this in the exam or asked to evantuate (20 marker) 

A diagram that represents the navigation for the "end-user" when using an interactive product.  

Navigation - how you move / access different pages of an interactive product. Home page is the first thing that you see when you access a website and sub pages are the different pages that you can go to. e.g. Facebook's home page is the newsfeed but then the sub screens are things such as notifictaions, profile page, messenger, groups / events, friend requests. All the pages are linked together. 

End-user - Whoever is using the content once the content has been published. Target audience. Who the product has been designed for. 

Interactive (media) product - User or gamer physically operates and uses the product User physically affects the product and is normally something that you can touch like social media. Interactive media products force the end-user to engage with the product. Apps, websites, video games are all examples of interactive products. Websites are interactive due to the end-user have to navigate through different pages to find what YOU are looking for. You can write and add content to interactive products through chat features. Buttons allow you to go to different places, these are interactive. When buttons change colour or go in are called a hyperlink button which allows you to access all the different pages. Images are interactive as they grab your attention and allow you to be engages in the website or app. Videos are also interactive along with adverts. Everything you see in an interactive media product is an interactive feature as it keeps you attention. 

Question 7 & 8

The insert/brief will be 1 side of A4. - Read and COEI - maximum 5 minutes

Section B- towards the end of the exam

Have to draw two pre-production documents

• Visualisation diagram - sketch of the final product (poster, home screeen of an app, homepage if a website, DVD cover, mostly printed media products, advert, billboard, interactive product)
• Storyboard
• Script
• Site-structure diagram (site-map) - navigation for the website, game or app
• Use annotations - colour sceheme, font style, layout, appeal to audience
• Justify drawing - give reasons for why it looks that way 

LO3: Research Types

Primary Research- This involves gathering new data that has not been collected before. This type of research is something tht you have carried out yourself.

Questionnaires can be used to carry out this form of research, these are good at the information is being gathered first hand. Questionnaires are also usually cheap so quite cost effective and represent a large amount of the population however there is limited options so they dont represent everyones views and people may not be honest when answering the questions. Questionnaires are made up of many closed questions, these are tickbox answers yes/no). These provide instant information as they are NOT time consuming to analyse. A disadvantage of closed questions is that they offer limited detail and there is not that much information given. There are also open questions that force the audiences to give explainations to their answers to give the audience a deeper understanding on how to develop and improve the product or designs. Open questions are good at getting views and opinions. These however are harder to analyse and take a lot longer as answers contain more than one word. Closed questions are quantitative data. Open questions are qualitative data. 
Interviews are another form of primary research, these are good because they allow more detailed questions and are personal however they are time consuming so a large amount of interviews cannot be carried out and they can be costly as staff need to be paid to do the interviews. These are similar to questionnaires as they are asking people however are also similar to focus groups as they are personal and ask the information. Usually these are for magazines and newspaper which are carried out by a journalist. 

Focus groups are another form of primary research. This is where you gather a gorup of people that are from the target audience and then allowing them to give feedback. These people reflect the audience of the product. Verbal views are opinions are more detailed as you are working with a smaller amount of people so the answers are more focused. This is verbal feedback. Focus groups are very effective for audio-visual products ot things that are design based. Also they have the same benefits as interviews but are more cost effective and do not take as much time but are still time consuming as people need to be gathered and arranged for the focus group. Also as the information is verbal equipment is needed to record the focus group so that the feedback given can be analysed. They also provide a wider range of opinions. The disadvantages of focus groups are that people might disagree but people may more so just agree with the majority. This means that the research has now become bias. Focus groups arent anonymous. 

Surveys are different to questionnaires as this is a measure of opinions as this is not as detailed as a questionnaire. Websites such a Surveymonkey can be used to create surveys. These can be shared on social media platforms which allows wider audience feedback. Surveymonkey is easy to use and it is free, this is the same as a questionnaire. It also analyses data for you. People may not respond to your survey though. This will limit your sample of feedback. 

Secondary Research- Secondary research is research that you have not found out yourself but is something that you find it out from other sources. This could be looking at existing research and data. Secondary research is usually created by an expert or professional. These type of people have knowledge in specific subject ares. Research has already been done so there is less work to carry out.

An example of secondary research is books or acedemic journals, these are written by authors that have a specialism in the subject on hand. This is a crediable source. These resources can be found in libarys.
The internet is another example of secondary research, this has a wide range of sources that are easy to access.
Examples of secondary research:

• Magazines
• Tv
• Radio
• Documentaries
• Video
• Books/academic journal
• Internet

PQ- Identify and explain an example of secondary research that would be effective. (3 marks)

Brief: 

• Games-ed
• Game to educate children 
• 8 to 12
• British monarchy
• Entertains

A source of secondary research that would be effective for Games-ed to use as part of their research in order to create their game would be TV shows. They could watch something such as the TV series "Victoria". This includes the history of some of the histroy of royal monarchs such as Queen Victoria I. This is a form of effective research as the series is created by the BBC which is a reliable source due to it being a public service broadcaster, this means that it has a remit and is funded by public money so that they make educational programs. Due to the program not being a documentary but instead a period drama it means that the information in the series is not just fact based but also visual so that the uses of things like clothes for the characters to wear are historically accurate. In the program it is more just the story of Victoria's so the information is already not as fact based but the language would be simplified further for the target audience of 8-12 year olds.

BBC documentry

• Presented by historians
• BBC are reliable
• Information presented easier 

Books

• GCSE history book - effective as the information wouldnt have to be simplified that much as the book is not aimed at people too much older than the target audience
• Reliable source - written by a repitable author / historian 

Examining someone elses work (includes a different example of internet)

 example of secondary research that would help when making a game about the British Monarchy would be the Internet because the internet has a range of different websites and sources that is all free to view. An example of a website that would tell them about the British Monarchy would be a national history website that can tell you all about different royalty figures throughout history which would give Games-Ed the right information (it is a reliable source) so they can have true facts about the British Monarchy. Games-Ed could also use a history website that ends in dot org, dot gov or dot edu as these are reliable sources. Using this easy source of information it gives Games-Ed to easily take that information and simplify it so children from the ages of 8-12 can easily understand the information that is given to them in the game.

Relate to brief

1 mark- Identify

Specific examples

1 mark- Explain

Links to the brief, shows an understanding of secondary research
Improvements

Audience Research- Find out who your audience is. Looking at the audiences stereotypes as well as habits and consumption trends and seeing why they consume these things. This means that we can advertise and market to them. The more that is known about the audience means that they can be effectively targeted. 

Market Research- Looking at competitors and seeing what makes them successfull. Looking for trends in a particular market. What a women buying VS men. Looking at other people/companies who are competiton in the same market.
NRS- National Readership Survey (Looking at magazines and newspapers. Looking at ABC1 by putting audiences into groups based on lifestyle and disposable income.)
RAJAR- Radio Joint Audience Research (get the public to fill in online diaries of their radio habits for a wkk/month and then feed back to the radio station to plan broadcasting)
BARB- Broadcasters Audience Research Board (TV consumption- look at channels 1 to 5 (terrestrial), VOD consumption, digital and subscription, Freeview. Look at viewing figures for TV and know whos viewing what based on age, gender, spending power and can feed back to organisations like BBC, ITV, Sky. Research based on viewerships. Piracy - watching things illegally, the amount of people watching televsion has decreased due to there being more than one way of watching television. Timeshifting - watching after the original broadcast of the program.Can watch thing at our convenience. Range of devices to watch television where and how you want. Technology like VOD makes it easier to timeshift) 

Product/Production Research- The production team have to carry out research into the product itseld. It is done by collecting source material which are things that are needed to create the product. This depeneds on the media product. The production team also have to research how viable the project is going to be and look at the probability of the success to see if it is worth making. They also have to find locations as part of product research. 

LO2: Target Audience Factors

Target Audience Factors

It is imnportant to know who the product is aimed at so that the product can be developed with that target audience in mind so that the product will appeal to them. Likes and dislikes of the client are needed to make sure that there are more profit so that more people will feel as if they NEED the rpoduct. Audience Pleasures are appealed to. It is crutial that we know who the target audience are so that the content is appropriate for that audience. Sterotyping is relyed upon to help to design the product.

Demographics are different catergories/groups that an audience can be classified as.

• Social class / Social economic (Socio-Economic)
• Age
• Gender
• Ethnic Groups
• Psychographics - mental wellbeing, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours
• Geographics
• Sexual Orientation
• Mainstream Vs Niche - Mainstream- popular, appeals to the masses, the majority, wide audience (BBC1 - Eastenders people from all different backgrounds and represents everyone- reflects a diverse range of peoples lives) Niche - aimed at a small audience (BBC 2- Educational, for a middle class, upmarket, male audience.)

It is beneficial to know about the different demographics that need to be met so that the product can be more specific and aimed at the people that it needs to be aimed at. This means that there is more effective targetting