8.2) Working Patterns

Shift Work

It is a type of work in which a group of employees rotate in their set period throughout the day. An example of a sector that does that are News channels. The reason is because the industry will need: Directors, Camera Operator, editors and pretty much the entirety of the crew. The reason why the sector will need to use these shift patterns is because they work 24/7 because of the different time zones around the world, so therefore they will always need someone there to present the News. The benefit for the employee that works in this sector is that the employee will get more money if they work any night shift because the employee is working at unsociable hours. The problem is that working in the night shift pattern will mess you up mentally and physically because you are normally used to sleeping at these hours. Also when you arrive to work you may need to correct somebody else's mistakes which annoys the employee. The employer does not run the risk of making the employees burnout so therefore the employees are not under as much pressure. The workload for the employee is spread out equally. Also the industry can expand the service so people are available to work all the time, in case anybody burns out. The employer will need to give more money to the employee if they work night shifts.

Fixed Term

It is a contract which allow the employee to see when he starts the job and when he end the job. This is down to the completion of work or specific date when the contract ends. Every sector in the film industry, such as the Director, Producer or Editor, does this. The reason why everyone in the industry has a contract is because the film will not continue forever because every film has to end one day. The reason why this sector will need to use this working pattern is because the sector will need to hire them for a certain amount of time. For the employee, the good thing is that they get to understand clearly on what their requirements are for their job and that it is flexible. Also the good thing is that the employee  can try lots of places to work so therefore the employee has lots of variety of places to go to. However the employees are not guaranteed to do a specific job role so therefore you would have to wait or try and apply for another one. The employer is in control of the employees and they can get rid of the employees if the institution think that the employee is not competent or for other reasons such as the institution not needing them anymore. 

Office hours

It is a type of job that does standard working hours which is typically 9am - 5pm. An example of sectors that does that are the Administrative and the Financial sectors. The reason why they work in these hours is because they are not constricted in time as all they need to do is paper work. The Financial sector will do the paper work for any money that comes into the film production. The administrative sector will do health and safety checks and paper work to check if every single contractor is fully competent for the specific roles. The employee will have a normal routine every single day because they start at the same time and end at the same time as the other employees. The bad thing for the employee is that they have very restricted holiday allowance. For the employer they can structure for the sense of a routine everyday. The bad thing with this is that it is very stressful because of the load of work they will have to do. Also, if someone has an issue and they want to call up the institution and they are not responsive because of the hours they work. They would have to wait until tomorrow to call them, this therefore means that the institution would not be able to help right away.

Freelance

It is somebody that is self employed so that the institution can hire them to do specific job for a certain amount of time. An example of a sector that does this, is the following: editor, camera operator, actors, directors and also make up artists. In one of the films Fast and Furious, a director was needed and his name was James Wan. James Wan has not only done editing, he has also been a producer, editor, writer, actor, and also has been part of the sound department but he could not do any of these things without asking for a fixed term contract. The reason why the institution will need to use this type of working pattern is because they only need these employees for a certain amount of time. The good thing for the employee is that they can move around places during the production and also it is flexible to fit around their personal schedule. Also the good thing for the employee is that they can negotiate their payment for every new job they are hired for. However there are problems for the employee; it can be competitive and you are not at work full time so you don't always have incoming wages. For the employer the good thing is that there are always people available to be hired. The institution can hire anyone any time only if they need them. Also the institution can hire a person to do multiple tasks, potentially saving money. Also the institution will be able to hire specific specialists. However the negative thing for the employer is that freelance workers may be expensive to hire and the employees are not always loyal.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1490123/?ref_=tt_ov_wr#sound_department 

Irregular Patterns

It is a working pattern in which the hours that you work will vary significantly. An example would would be; one day the employee will work from 1am - 6pm in the afternoon but then in the next day the employee will work from 4pm-11pm. There are some examples of sectors that do this in the TV and film industry and they are: journalists, film production and documentaries which can take years to take one shot of an animal for instance. The reason why they use this type of working pattern is because the employee will need to be responsive in these hours. The good thing for the employee is that if they work during the night they will get extra money. It is interesting but however this will mess up your sleeping pattern as you are used to sleeping in these hours so there the employee might end up burning out. The employer has control of the people that are hired. However the employer might have to make sacrifices in terms of employees they will need such as: the film production team who may need to do a shot of a scene at night time.

Hourly Rates

It is the money that the employee gets per hour for working in their industry only if the employee agrees to it. One example of a sector that does this are editors. There are different rates that you can get for an editor. An example of a website that shows those rate cards is BECTU. It is a union that fights for the rights of people working within the TV and Film industry. On the website it shows you the amount of money you can you can earn in a hour within the following category: "Soaps, Continuing Drama and Childrens TV, Mid-budget Drama and High-budget Drama." The reason why the the industry use this type of working pattern is because they only have to pay the employee for the amount of hours they work. The good thing for the employee is that you can sometimes get paid extra for any extra hours you may work. The bad thing for the employee is that hourly rate workers are usually the people lower in the hierarchy. The good thing for the employer is that you can pay employees only when you use them. The bad thing for the employer is that they have to pay for any overtime the employees have worked.   

file:///U:/My%20Documents/work/1bectu-tv-editors-ratecard-final.pdf

Piece Work 

It is the amount of money that the employees ask for per unit they produce for a new job. There are some examples of sectors that does this: prop makers and make up artists. The reason why the institution uses this type of working pattern is because different props or make up take a very long time to make or do, this therefore means that it can be very time consuming. The prop makers will be making props and the make up artist will do the make up for the actor such as blood. The advantages for the employee is that they can keep their self motivated, however it is also a bad thing because you do not get paid for hourly rate and therefore means that the employee will have to work under pressure because they need to earn money. The bad thing for the employee is that they have to work quickly. The good thing for the employer is that they only pay for what they want. The bad thing is that the piece work can be expensive so therefore the employer will have to pay the prop maker and make up artist well. 

8.2a) Job Sectors and Roles

8.1b) Funding

8.1a) Ownership

Public Service

                                                                            Public Service broadcasting applies to TV. It is owned by the people, however the government funds it. The funding comes from the public either through a TV license fee which costs £144.50 or donations. These broadcasters make different programs for a family of channels, each with their own purpose. An example of a Public Service Broadcaster in the UK is the BBC. BBC has many channels, some of them are  educational and factual channels such as BBC2. However some channels are more of an entertaining purpose such as BBC3. A positive of PSB ownership is that they do not work for profit because they do not have to follow the rules of any advertisers and they only work for the good of the people. When you are watching any of the BBC channels there are no adverts, all you see are quick trailers for the next show or other BBC programmes, which a lot of people prefer. Because of this, more time can be allocated for the programme. One of the negatives is that the public will need a TV license to actually watch these programmes for the whole year and this is expensive. You have to pay this even if you do not use it. Another downside is that entertainment programmes are more popular than the educational programmes. This therefore means that there are channels that are being watched more than others.

Commercial Broadcast

         A commercial broadcast, is a broadcast that is not owned by the Government. It only applies to TV and it is own by a private company by the private investors or shareholders. People who make adverts are able to receive money from the commercial. The aim of the commercial is to aim to their target audience.  There are many channels that show commercials regularly, such as: ITV and also Sky1 because they provide advertisements. The reason why they use advertisements is because they want to market their product and showoff  their branding. Here below are two examples of what advert that ITV and Sky1 would show. The benefits of  it is that you can make money out of it and that the company can make exceptional profit. This therefore tells the company how popular they, which means that their branding looks good. Also the good thing is that ITV and Sky1 are popular channels and the programmes are free from government interference because these channels are not owned by the state. The bad thing about ITV and Sky1 is that they are  mainstream channels that show adverts which tends to annoy the consumers. These channels can often be put under pressure by the advertisers and these companies can be really biased.

Private broadcast and corporate

A Private broadcast is a company that is not owned by the state. All film companies are privately own although some receive government funding such as the Tax relief for films. Apart from the BBC all other TV companies and film companies in the UK are privately owned. Most private companies exist to only make profit. One example of a film company is Universal. The benefits of private ownership is that they are usually creative in terms of ideas because they control their content. However if you are a new company it can be hard trying to get funding at the start. Also the worst case scenario is that they might have to ask investors to invest in them but these investors might have too much control of the product and change it too much.

Corporate

Corporate ownership is a company that protects the owner's liability. It can either be privately owned or state owned. It applies to almost all major films and TV companies. Corporate ownership would be good for a company because they can remove their mistakes that they have made and learn from it without putting the company in trouble. One example would be Lionsgate because it works under Corporation. Also the corporation is very businesslike which is good thing because it is professional and effective. However this can be a bad thing because it loses its creativity and flexibility. Another bad thing about it is that the films can lead to copycatting.

Independent company

An independent company is a company that is generally a smaller company. It applies both TV and films. An independent company usually specialises in specific genre. Most staff that are in the Independent company are freelance. The independent company normally target towards the niche groups of audience which means small group of people. The independent company normally have their small share from their niche audience. One of the example of an independent company is Lions-gate the reason is because it is a smaller company. This would probably be good because they work independently by themselves. The good thing about the independent company is that they are usually creative and that they give people new opportunities. The bad thing is that they have a lack of  big brand of global companies and that the independent company might find it very hard find a company that exhibit and distribute. This also include companies competing against each other for limited opportunities.

Global Company

A Global company is a bigger company  that controls may companies. It applies to only films and TV companies. The Global companies are known to be as conglomerate. These Global Companies are also corporation. The Global Companies are usually horizontally & vertically integrated. One example would be Universal Comcast, as they control a conglomerate company such as Universal studio, Universal park and resorts. Also an another example would be 21st Century Fox which controls, such as Foxed Film Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Fox music and etc. This would be good for the company because they can make lots of profits. The benefits for the Universal comcast is that they easily  vertically integrate. this therefore means that they can easily distribute their films. The disadvantage of it is that they can lose a lot more money such as Universal and 21st century fox.

Vertical and Horizontal Integration

A vertical integration is a company that owns production and distribution. It is a company that produce a show and show it online or TV. They offer multiples of stages. They would control more than one stage which is either production, distribution or exibition. An example of vertical integration is the WWE Network. The reason is because they show the shows online and the WWE Network produce the show. The good thing about having range of platforms is that they can make their job easier. Also an another thing is that the WWE Network will get more views since their shows are being online. A horizontal integration is a company that owns range of companies which does the same thing as them. An example would be Disney. Disney controls Lucas Arts, Marvel and also the Muppets. With these companies that Disney controls it will bring in more value by bringing in new audiences. The reason why Disney is horizontally integrated is because each of the companies that Disney controls, have had slightly different offer for what disney do the same of as well.      

Monopoly

A monopoly is usually to do with exhibition platforms. One way to describe it is when a industry is dominated by a single company. For example Blue-ray and and DVD. The reason why Blue-ray dominates is because theyare more likely to create profit because the consumers, it has better quality and the sound quality is better. The good thing is that the best company does not need to come up with new ideas and that dominating a company will lead to more of an increase profit. The bad thing is that it may take a while to get to the top hierarchy because of there lack of competition that DVD has. Also with some company there will be fixed prices such as TNA.