Homes Under The Hammer 


Homes under the hammer is a daytime television program on BBC One. It has two main presenters, Lucy Alexander and Martin Roberts. The show lasts for one hour in which they follow one or two houses, the houses are all different styles, sizes and prices. This helps create a wider audience, rather than focusing one house type and therefore excluding many other house types and potential viewers.

In the show, one of the presenters will view a house that will be up for auction, they point out attractive features and potential problems with the property. Then an estate agent goes to view the property and evaluate it. After we see the estate agents point of view, they go to the auction where the property is sold and we meet the buyers. One of the presenters will interview the new property owners and find out where they are form, a little about their background and why they bought the house. The presenters ask what they plan to do with the property and leave them to the work for 3 months or so when they revisit the property. They then go around the house showing each room and what they have improved and what their plans are next.

The first shot of the program is of the two presenters Lucy Alexander and Martin Roberts. The camera pans quickly from a monument in a park to the presenters walking along the grass and introducing the show. They walk up to the camera whilst until they are at a mid shot where they stop, it then cuts into the opening credits. The opening credits have the theme tune and images of houses and money, the last clip of the opening cretist is the name of the show 'Home Under the Hammer'. Then the show begins with different shots of the relevent area that the house they are viewing is in. It uses still shots of the area, the clips look like they have been filmed with a hand held camera as they are steady, but there is a little movement in them. As these clips appear, there is a voice over by the presenter talking about what area they are in this episode, she talks positively about the area, emphasizing it's good points. As the presenter goes the view the house there is a shot of a bus driving past and then cars driving past on the busy road, then a clip of her walking on the pavement in front of the house, this clip of her walking is filmed on a hand held camera as it moves back as she walks forward and follows her movement. As she pauses outside the house the camera slightly zooms onto her face and, again you can see it is a hand held camera as there is movement in the shot. Panning shots of the house and road from the outside are filmed on a camera on a tripod as the movement is very smooth and there is no shakiness at all. through out this house viewing, the shots of the presenter looking around the house are filmed with hand held camera and the shots of each room using panning, zooming and still shots are all used on a tripod, they are all very still and smooth. Similar shots are used when an estate agent comes to view the property, although when he is asked about what he thought of the house it looks as though that is filmed on a tripod as it is very still. In the auction room quick shots are used cutting from the auctioneer to the buyers each time the bid goes up, this gives the audience a feel of the speed these auctions happen, also music is played in the background to help the audience feel a part of it and to create tension. When they find a buyer the camera pans and zooms to the buyers, the transaction is smooth and has been filmed on a tripod.
A lot of the camera work is hand held, due to walking around property and following the presenters and buyers.

Glastonbury Analysis

The opening shot of the Glastonbury coverage is a two shot of the presenters. As the camera zooms in towards them a caption with their names slides across the bottom of the screen beneath them. The presenters then introduce and welcome along the viewers at home, already making them feel a part of the festival.  They also get the viewers involved by letting them know how to get in touch or follow via Twitter or Facebook, this making the viewers feel even more a part of the festival. Then they hand over to two other presenters in a different area, as this cross over happens there is a panning shot of the festival to capture just how huge it is and create some atmosphere. There is again another two shot of the presenters as they welcome the viewers to Glastonbury. Behind the presenters is the view of the festival and all the thousands of people, which they then emphasis, whilst talking to the people at home. They then discuss what is to come and also their fashion choices. They have a relaxed way of presenting; almost as if they are just chatting as friends, this is because of the young audience they are catering to. They need to grab their attention and be on their level.

                                                  

As the first act is shown, the first shot we see is a shot that is taken from within the crowd so for the viewers at home, it would make them feel as if they are there. It then zooms forward into a medium close up of the main singer of the band who you would identify the easiest. The shot zooms closer to the singer and pans to his right, and then it cuts to an extreme close up of his hands playing an instrument. This is to show off the singers and musicians musical talents that aren’t always made clear to the audience. Then again, it uses the crowd shot to re emphasis that feeling of being there, and being a part of it. The next shot is on stage of the drummer, there are often shots of the drummers, this is because they are very interesting to watch and it is to show of their ability to play the instrument. It then cuts to the final member of the band, the guitarist who is the most active of all the band members, he jumping around the sage and really building up excitement with the crowd and the audience at home. After this shot, it pans to the crowd to show she excitement and atmosphere there. 

Looking at clips of Glastonbury Festival 1997 similar shots are used during the live performances. The main difference is the lack of shots of the crowd, unlike the more recent footage of Glastonbury where crowd shots are very frequent to give the audience at home a good feel of the atmosphere. Also the shots fade into one another, rather than the up beat choppy cuts that Glastonbury 2010 use. There is still a good atmosphere that is put across in the older footage, but it is much more relaxed and not as upbeat and party like. Shots of each of the band members are used and the main focus is on the lead singer, also shots of the instruments and extreme close ups of the piano players hands for example.

Over the years Glastonbury Festival has become less of the hippy gathering that it used to be and much more commercialized, aiming the festival at young people aged around 18 - 30 and this shows in the way the filming has progressed. It has also become much more involving of viewers at home as the filming of festivals has become more and more popular. They now have much more money to spend on the technical equipment like cameras and microphones, this is due to the prices raising each year as bigger and bigger acts perform there. Festivals have become a huge part of British summers and will continue to  evolve as the years go on and technology advances. 

History of Glastonbury Festival

The first Glastonbury festival was held on 19th September 1970, the day after Jimi Hendrix died. It was over two days and cost £1 including free milk from the farm. 1,500 people attended and acts included, Mark Bolan, Keith Christmas, Al Stewart and Quintessence. Michael Eavis was inspired to create his own festival after seeing the blues festival at the Bath and West show-ground, although his would be on a smaller scale.

The year after in 1971, Andrew Kerr and Arabella Churchill, who planned it and felt that festivals were to commercialized, moved the date to 24th June and made it a free festival. It took the tradition of, music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment. The stage was made from scaffolding and plastic sheeting, and acts included, Hawkwind, Traffic, Melanie, David Bowie, Joan Baez, Fairport Convention and Quintessence. It was estimated that 12,000 people attended 'Glastonbury Fair' on 24th June 1971.

In 1979 from the 21st - 23rd June Glastonbury Fair returned with the theme of, 'The year of the child'. Despite 12,000 people attending the festival, the organizers suffered a huge financial loss. Also, the festival cost £5 per ticket this year and acts included, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hillage, Alex Harvey Band and Sky and the Footsbarn Theatre.

In 1981 from the 19th - 21st June Glastonbury Fair, was now known as Glastonbury Festival. This was the first 'Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament' festival. The National CND then sent out information in their mailings, handled advance ticket sales and allowed the use of the CND logo. Also this year a permanent stage was built, being used as a cowshed and animal food store in the winter, and was built out of telegraph poles and ex-MOD metal sheeting. Tickets cost £8 and 18,000 people attended. The acts included, New Order, Hawkwind, Taj Mahal, Aswad and Gordon Giltrap. The year after CND was involved again and 25,000 people attended, tickets were again only £8.

The first footage of Glastonbury Festival was in 1994 and was covered by Channel 4 and MTV. The event was filmed and streamed live on both channels. MTV filmed again the following year, but then in 1996 it was taken over by BBC2. Having Glastonbury festival live on television was a breakthrough, as it allowed people who couldn't make it to the festival still see it and feel a part of it. Over the years this has become a huge part of Glastonbury and many other festivals, and thousands of people view it by television. Now all of the main festivals are broadcasted live on television and through the internet as well as radio.

Glastonbury Festival 1994

Glastonbury Festival Programme

Evaluation

Thriller Opening

Audience Feedback


Ellie Robinson:

I really liked the way that 'Unknown Number' was filmed, it looked professional and kept with the genre well. I especially liked the way that it had been edited to black and white and the range of different shots that were used to keep the audiences attention. The background music was good, although I thought that it could have included a little more speech or noise from the main character. I think some breathing noises or maybe a voice in her head quietly through out the film opening would have added to 'Unknown Number' to make it even better. Other than that I thought it was filmed and edited to a high standard and it wasn't too over the top with effects, at the same time it kept me interested and my attention at all times.

Legal and Ethical

12/12A  -
Moderate physical and psychological threat may be permitted, provided disturbing sequences are not frequent or sustained. In our opening scene to our thriller we have a tense theme throughout. Although there isn't any disturbing sequences, if we were to carry on with the film it would be likely to involve factors of a certificate 12/12A. 


Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the good or service is featured. Product placement became common in the 1980s. In April 2006, Broadcasting reported, "Two thirds of advertisers employ 'branded entertainment'—product placement—with the vast majority of that (80%) in commercial TV programming." The story, based on a survey by the Association of National Advertisers, said "Reasons for using in-show plugs varied from 'stronger emotional connection' to better dovetailing with relevant content, to targeting a specific group."

The product placement that features in our opening thriller is a BlackBerry mobile phone.

Product placement, or embedded marketing, is a form of advertisement, where branded goods or services are placed in a context usually devoid of ads, such as movies, the story line of television shows, or news programs. The product placement is often not disclosed at the time that the good or service is featured. Product placement became common in the 1980s. In April 2006, Broadcasting reported, "Two thirds of advertisers employ 'branded entertainment'—product placement—with the vast majority of that (80%) in commercial TV programming." The story, based on a survey by the Association of National Advertisers, said "Reasons for using in-show plugs varied from 'stronger emotional connection' to better dovetailing with relevant content, to targeting a specific group."
The product placement that features in our opening thriller is a BlackBerry mobile phone.


Minutes

Treatment

Opening for a thriller by Alex, Lily and Paige

The first montage of ideas we thought of were from influences previous openings of thrillers, film music videos and TV shows. Unanimous as a group we have decided the opening must reflect a preview of the narrative or a idea into what the film would entail to gain audience attention. We have analyzed these examples to discover what worked for the and what lack within their approach to make ours seem a balanced mixture of aspects including sound, visuals, text and symbols. We have envisioned a perfect influence upon our opening sequence to be one of similarity to "He dies at the end".

We have decided to use an almost modernized view to the situation and use modern technology and the cause of the dilemma experienced by the female to show the revolving nature of life around the technology to eventually be the demise of the world. She as the innocent blonde girl is given a way out to escape. This almost offering a sneak peak to the viewers and therefore making them feel they want to see what happens, connect, understand and relate to her in order to go to see the full movie and to watch it through increasing sales and consumer interest and reaction.

We would use a mobile phone and TV interaction to communicate with the girl and warn her of the situation. Using a grey-scale effect upon the entire feature, we believe, adds class to the video and takes away any form of technological cover focusing on the intent of the footage and it's quality of shots and angles. Sound will be heavily focused upon to build tension and suspense throughout.