Streaming Artefact Dragons Den

Corrine had the idea for us to come up with an idea for our streaming artefact, and present it to the class in a dragons den format.

Pitch One: Recycling video for students of Portsmouth

Our idea was:
Teaching Students Of Portsmouth How To Recycle (because each council has different regulations)

We decided our genre was:
Education/Entertainment - Edutainment

Our target audience would be:
Students of Portsmouth (18+), or anyone in Portsmouth wanting to know how to recycle.

Our technical constraints would be:
Problems with lighting, whether we'd use natural lighting, or using extra lighting to create light on our scene. We will see about this when it comes to filming, whether we will need extra lighting

When it came to thinking of financial constraints, we realised that there would be none due to the props being recycled goods. Also the editing software is free, as it is on the University computers.

There is no server costs as the University is providing us with the server and we do not have to fund ourselves.

The time constraints will be:
Only being able to rent the camera out for three days...AND...
Filming and editing on time so that it is finished in time to hand in.

The ideas we had for our artefact were:
The style should be in a 1950's style (like a public service announcement)
Filming will be done in a student's house. Actors will be friends and/or the group
The website will mainly be modern, but may also be 1950's. We have not yet decided.
For research, we will contact the council for leaflets and information on recycling. We can also watch example 1950's PSA's for help on what to film it like.
The script will be written before filming, so the actor/s will know what to say. We can add audio voice overs afterwards.

The positives for our idea are:
It is cheap to do because we are using the University resources, and recycled materials
Filming will be in a 'fun' style and be student friendly

Negatives would be:
People may not want to be told what to do
It may not interest people, or students would already know the correct way to recycle.

Previous examples would be the Pompey Recycling Scheme website, which tells you exactly what to recycle, and we could use this as our main focus of research, where we would have to contact the council first, to ask permission. Although written material is only basic compared to an edutainment video for students.
http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/AtoZ/891.html
http://www.port.ac.uk/aboutus/community/neighbours/beingagoodneighbour/

The class suggested that a problem that would be that because the video is to be streamed on the Internet, we must follow proper rules and regulations, and one of these is copyright. The products we use for our film must not display their labels, as showing the product manufacturer will be breaking these laws. To get around this, we all thought of the program ZZZAP that was on TV when we were kids. There was a feature where two hands would show you how to make something, or pull off a magic trick etc. In this, the products they used, just had labels, such as PAPER, or SCISSORS etc, that just popped out from the side of the screen. This was brilliant product placement! And we thought we'd love to do the same!

We decided that this was a good idea to do and we would stick at it. The class agreed with us, and thought it was a brilliant idea. We had the go ahead.

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Pitch Two - Things to do in Portsmouth

The idea:
We would produce a video aimed at students in Portsmouth, as to what to do. When students move to Portsmouth, if they have never been, or rarely know anything about Portsmouth, they won't know of the things they can do. So by us showing them exactly what there is to do, then maybe they'll go out and explore.

This video would obviously be aimed at students, moving to Portsmouth, going to the University, but in fact it could be aimed at anyone coming to Portsmouth, for example tourists, wanting to know what would be good to do in Portsmouth. The information centre in Portsmouth could even use our video to show tourists just what to do, instead of just giving them leaflets.

Students would appreciate this in their induction week, as it may help them settle into the City of Portsmouth. It would be of benefit to the audience who watch this, as they learn about the sights of Portsmouth, and helps get them out there.
Problems would obviously be copyright footage, and would need permission from the City Council, whether we can film at certain places etc. Another disadvantage would be that people would rather explore for themselves as to what they can do, rather than been told. Also, there may not be time in the video to show everything, and may miss out certain places.

Previous examples are websites with lists of what to do, but there is no dedicated website, showing what to do in Portsmouth. Some people prefer to learn visually, and this video would be of benefit to them.
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/custompages/custompage.aspx?sectionid=4529
http://www.visitportsmouth.co.uk/site/what-to-see-and-do
http://www.gunwharf-quays.com/things_to_do_in_portsmouth.htm

The class liked this idea, as most of them didn't know what there was to do in Portsmouth when they moved. It is like any situation when you move somewhere, you want to know what there is to do there, as it is some place new, and you want to explore. This idea was approved.


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Pitch Three: Local Music in Portsmouth

The idea:
We would produce a video or even audio artefact, on the local music of Portsmouth. There are always local bands wherever you go, and people love listening to new bands especially if they're local. Our artefact would be an alternative to a website, displaying a list of local music. We would list the name of the local bands, have a snippet of their music (for listeners to judge if they like them), how to listen more to them, give them our reviews, and maybe even display when they're playing next. We would get information mainly from Myspace, as bands seem to upload all their music there.

The advantages would be that the band would get promoted via our advert, and hopefully get some listeners, and people turn up to their gigs. Also, instead of just reading a list, watching a video with these bands, or listening to a piece, allows the user to interact more. With just a list, you cannot hear samples of the bands, but with our artefact, it'd allow it.

There would be quite a few disadvantages. If we were to make a video, we would probably have to meet up with these bands, and film them etc, to display their music. Obviously the sound quality may be poor due to the microphones used to capture them. All this anyway would need permission from the band. If we were to make an audio piece, then obviously the accessibility would affect us, with the Disability Discrimatory Act (1995), against deaf people. There is also the fact that some people may not even have speakers, and this would act against our idea completly. If we were to use the music from the band's Myspace, then the sound quality would obviously be better, but again, permission would be needed to use this. Our reviews section may include inappropriate comments about the band, and they may not like this. It would be our opinion, and generally everyone has their own opinion. Some people may take our opinion into account and not listen to them, which wouldn't be good for us.

Previous examples only include written lists. Users can generally search for music on Myspace, but with us giving our reviews, and a sample of their track, then users can maybe find a band they like as soon as possible, thanks to us finding them for them.
http://www.knowhere.co.uk/Portsmouth/Hampshire/South-East-England/info/localbands


It would be a useful idea and the class was unsure about it. This idea was pretty unlikely as there were alot of negatives rather than positives. It would be too hard to work with. The class liked the idea but thought it was basically impossible, so the idea was denied.