Film Media Jobs

The runner is the person who's responsible for getting everything done, for example if someone wants a copy of the script or something like that, the runner goes and photocopies the script and gives it to whoever. The runner is possibly the most important person on the set. On bigger productions, there may be more than several runners, particularly the production office runners and floor runners. Then at least one runner is assigned to each main department such as the editing suite, cameras, sound department and art department. Working hours tend to be long and unpredictable, up to 6 days per week, with low pay, about £7 per hour.

Make-up artists have the job of making sure the models and actors have suitable hairstyles and makeup before appearing in front of a camera or audience. They are involved in a number of things, including film and television. Junior make-up artists can charge around £200 for a 10 hour day, whereas make-up designers can charge £300. Notable make-up designers are Sam Fine, Charlie Green and Pat McGrath

The film director is probably the most important person in the whole film production. Their responsiblities include creating a vision for the finished film, then start planning the film out. During pre-production, the director does the crucial parts, including selecting the right cast, the right locations, etc. They don't really do that much during production. During post-production, they work closely with editors, ensuring that they have the desired effects, sounds, etc for the final version of the film. Directors are very highly paid, with pays between £10,000 (for a short film) and £1,000,000 (for a successful feature film).

The producer is an important role to take as he/she is in charge of pretty much everything that goes on in the set, and also outside events, including fundraising for a proposed production. They get paid an average about £100,000 annually.

The writer has a very important role, writing the script, obviously. The writer is possibly the second most important person on the whole set. But sometimes, some films might not have a writer because the director might have written the script him/herself, but that is probably only for short films, definately not for full length films. A writer's salery may be between £10,000 (less known writers) to about £100,000.

Film projects also need accountants, people who handle things like budgets, payrolls, taxes, insurance claims and at the end of the film production, closes the film down financially. Short films may hire only one production accountant, but bigger films may hire at least three. Accountants must have strong numerical and organisational skills, as well as being good team players. They must also have strong social skills to talk to financiers, producers and other production staff. Production accountants are paid at least £1500 per 5 day week. Experienced production accountants demand and get at least £2000 per 5 day week.

Construction managers are those people who determine how the whole film looks, from the planning to the last coat of paint on a finished set. They are hired by and report to the production manager. Construction managers lead a team of craftsmen, including; carpenters, painters, riggers and plasterers and make sure that everything is completed to deadline and within budget and that they meet the production requirements. Construction managers need to have excellent organisational and management skills, pay close attention to detail and need to be able to see the 'bigger picture` when it comes to set making. Construction managers are paid at least £42,000, but on average they are paid £56,000 for the whole project.

Geodemographics

Geodemographics are divided into three main categories, local, national and international.

Local geodemography is paying attention only to those who live in the local area, examples include the Gazette and BBC Tees.









National geodemography is where media is directed at people living in the country (or in my case the whole of the UK). Examples of this are the whole of the BBC and ITV.









And last but not least, internationally. International geodemography focuses on everyone in the world. Examples of this is the film industry, you can basically watch, I don't know, James Bond movies any place in the world or Harry Potter. The reason for this is because film studios release them globally.

Creative media sectors: Radio and Publishing

Radio has been around the UK for over 100 years. Now it is undergoing a digital revolution, which will decide its fate. Radio today falls into three main categories; publicly-funded, commercial and community. This media sector has been growing steadily recently, now employing over 22,000 people, more people than terrestrial TV. They range from the well known radio stations such as BBC, to not-for-profit (or voluntary) community radio stations


Publishing has been around for almost twice as long as radio, but in the age of growing technology, this particular sector in media is now in danger of becoming extinct since less people are using it. They are most common in books, newspapers and magazines.

This industry consists of mainly small companies, 88% of them having less than 10 people. And yet the 3% with 200 or more employees have over half of all those working in the industry on their payroll.

The main area of employment is London and the South East. The rest of the East of England is next, followed by the South West, Scotland and the North West. In Wales and Northern Ireland the sector is mainly made up of smaller newspaper companies.

The most well known newspaper companies are Daily Mirror and The Sun. A less well known company is The Sentinel, since that's regional to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

Media Sectors: Advertising/Marketing and Interactive Media

Advertising is a form of communication intending to persuade an audience to take action, usually purchasing a product or service. It is driven and focussed on the client and advertising need for the product. Advertising crosses multiple forms of broadcast, billboard, print and online.

There are around 13,000 business in the sector who produce £6.2 billion of the UK GVA annually.

Around 70% of the UK's industry is based in London, the north west has the second biggest buisiness concentration with 6%. It is a young industry with 47% under 34. 46% of the workforce is female and only 6% is from black, asian or ethnic minorities.

Some of the best advertising companies include Aegis Group and PhotonMedia in London. A less known advertising company is Thinkingjuice.

The interactive media sector is a very fluid and flexible sector. It overlaps and converges with a lot of other media sectors. It's not really considered a sector, more like a discipline, and it's worth billions of pounds, with more than 43,000 employees.

It also makes up approximately 22% of all media.

Some of the most well known interactive media companies include 2Comm and 3. A less known interactive media company is Bima.

Difference between Public and Private Ownerships

Public ownership is paid through TV licences, which everybody has to have if they own a TV. The public have to pay £145.50 per year for a colour TV licence. However if they want a black and white TV licence (which in these days is extremely rare) they only have to pay £49. There are others though, who get discounts, and sometimes don't have to pay at all. Blind people and care home residents get reduced fees, where people aged 75 and over don't have to pay at all. A prime example of public ownership is BBC, who get funding from the government through the licence fee.








Private ownership is paid through their own methods, such as advertisement, membership and sponsorship. SKY and ITV are good examples of this.

Media sectors: Photo Imaging and Games

Photo Imaging is a small but popular sector in media, comprising of around 43,100 people. About 51% of these are based in the south of England. Around 68% of all these photo editors are independant or freelance.

The companies can be divided into these categories


Image producers
Photo retail
Picture libraries and agencies
Manufacturers
Support services

A few well known companies include Eastman Kodak, Fujifilm and Canon. One less known company is Spiratone.



Games are one of the most popular industries in media and the whole world. The first games were developed in the 1960s and 70s. Games like pac-man and others that have survived through time were developed in the 1980s, at that time gaming exploded into popularity. Today, game making teams and top of the range game titles, like EA and Rockstar North are developing games that now cost even more than movies. Games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 are now costing hundreds of millions of pounds to create and develop.

Some examples of game producers and makers include:

Visceral
EA
Rockstar
Bungie (before it stopped making the Halo series)
343 Studios (for Halo 4)
Activision