Mass Media Studies XII - 835 PDF

Resource Material MASS MEDIA STUDIES CODE-835 CLASS -XII  Unit -1 Selling /Marketing/Exhibiting a Product Through Advertising  Chapter 1 Advertising Concept and Process Product specifications When a prod...

Resource Material MASS MEDIA STUDIES CODE-835 CLASS -XII  Unit -1 Selling /Marketing/Exhibiting a Product Through Advertising  Chapter 1 Advertising Concept and Process Product specifications When a product is to be launched, a lot of work goes in to its definition. It is a long term and an ongoing process. The Research and Development [R & D] section of an organization creates a product. The section defines its form, specifications, conditions, look, appearance, packaging- in case of a physical product. They would also give the USP - the unique selling point. Sometimes market testing of products is done. At times different colour schemes and appearances are chosen and the name of the product is blanked out. It is then shown to different groups and their responses are gathered. Sometimes the responses are analyzed by psychologists and sociologists to come to conclusions about the most likely to be successful choice of the look and packaging of the product. This is the first stage in defining the identity of the product. What is described above mostly applies to the consumer products, but sometimes a service may also be marketed and advertised like a product by manufacturing industries. Such a product or service may be of use to industrial clients and not to the general public. Advertising play an important roll there too. In case of industrial clients it becomes a case of one manufacturer serving some specific needs of another. In this case, the process begins with identifying the need of the customer. This is done through extensive research at his work place. The data compiled is analyzed and the precise nature of the problem/s is identified. Then a practical solution is evolved based on expertise. The solution then is presented to the client in a systematized way as a product or a service. Sometimes some gadgetry may be an industrial product. In that case, the technical specifications of the gadget, the range of its functions, how is it an improvement on the existing system and what are the tangible benefits, are that the buyer will get due to its usage, would be presented in as attractive manner. Market research would give a projection to the targeted buyer and audience in terms of its socio- economic profile, how the product is to be positioned so as to appeal the targeted buyers, what the selling should be strategy etc. An advertising campaign is an extension of this process. Advertising is a process of giving a product a personality/identity through audio-visual language. It is a comprehensively planned and launched effort. Targeted buyers Every product belongs to a sector of business. And the buyers are distributed as per their needs and income levels. The main categories of various products and services are as follows- Automotive In this sector we find a whole range of offerings with an economy brand like Nano priced at 1.25 lakhs to the other hatch backs, priced between 2.50 lakhs to 7 lakhs, sedan cars in the range from 5 lakhs to a few millions and the top premium brands cost even higher. Two wheeler segment in India is a large one with many scooters and motorcycles. Beverages Beverages are of two types, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. In India, advertising of alcoholic products is not permissible. So only aerate drinks or drink extracts are advertised. In this, we have global brands, national brands and regional brands. Cellular Products This sector has seen a phenomenal growth in India in the last few years. An extensive range of products from the most functional to the multi utility one in the price range of Rs. 1,200 to Rs. 35,000 are available. Clothing This is again a sector with an ample variety for the buyers. We have the global brands, national brands and many regional brands. They all coexist in the vast marketplace. The price range is also large. At the low end would be the local brands with regional reach. At the high end of this segment would be the high profile fashion industry products. Computers From the assembled desktops to the laptops and the recently available i-pads, this is a well defined and a range bound market. The products and prices are standardized. Electronics This would include audio and video gadgets like the tape recorder, the walkman, CD player, DVD player, the radio, the transistor and the various combinations of these. The landline telephone can also be included. These are again very standard and range bound products. Entertainment Films, music concerts, plays, live events would form a part of this segment. Television with its vast reach and the ability to accommodate variety of programmes is another territory by itself. Financial Banking, investments, insurance and the related activities are included in this sector. Being a rather competitive sector with many players, innovation is of paramount importance. Food and snacks This segment would cover simple products like aata, rice to luxurious products like chocolates. Instant cooking products and snacks like sweets, cookies, biscuits, chips etc. populate this segment. Housewives and children are important targets. Health Related Basic medicines to be consumed at home would form the backbone of this sector, however, of late we see a profusion of health related products. Some are medicines, some are nutritional supplements, some gadgets for exercise of different body parts. Home appliances Refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, various cooking appliances like the pressure cooker, the microwave oven, food processors and the like would be included in this segment. ISP and Search Internet Service Providers and Search engines are areas with tremendous growth potential. Given the scale of operations and infrastructure required, there shall always be a handful of players in this segment. ISP are local, but the search engines have already set their bench mark on global. Scale Therefore, the potential for Net advertising is also huge in case of search engines. Media like YouTube and social media like Facebook offer attractive channels for advertising. These services can be looked at products in themselves, yet are vehicles for advertising. Magazines Among the magazines there is a whole range from general purpose magazines to the specialized ones catering to selected groups. Also the publications are of international, national and local reach. It has more or less a predictable readership. Personal care Necessary hygiene products like tooth paste, soaps, shaving kit, women's health care products would form the bulk of the products in this segment. Cosmetics would form the high end of this market. Fast Food Chains of fast food restaurants in big cities and on major highways comprise this segment. It is a typical kind of service a niche product a product that is produced & marketed for use in a localised and specialised but profitable market among the regular food business. Chains of Coffee shops can also be included in this sector. We see the presence of global as well as national brands in this. Retailers Since the big business houses have entered this segment, retailing has become a business territory and constituency. Travel Related Tourism is an expanding sector in these days of globalization. The increase in business travel also contributes. Regular travel bookings and arrangements as well as specialized products are available to the consumers now. When we talk about the buyers, there is a huge marketplace within which there are several markets and each product and sector taps its own. Defining The Market - Defining one's own market is an elaborate activity. It is based on a lot of research and pre-testing of prototypes. Before you zoom in on the buyers you have to understand them as individuals. Their economic, sociological and psychological profile is defined. The entire process can be outlined as follows- Identifying The Customer Need The very first step would be to identify as to what are the features and benefits of the product/service that one is offering. A feature is a characteristic of a product/service that automatically comes with it. For example, if one is introducing a new cleansing liquid that acts as stain remover for clothes, then that is the main feature. The benefit to the customer, however, is that the they do not depend on professional laundry services and it can be conveniently done at home without any extra effort or money. That could be a good motivation for the consumer to buy it. By knowing what your product/service has to offer and what will make customers buy, you can begin to identify common characteristics of your potential market. Segmenting Your Overall Market It is a very tempting idea to target as many people and groups as possible for marketing your product. But, there are two major risks involved in this strategy. One is that the message might be spread out or in such a way so as NOT to reach the target group at all or may reach in a diluted form. Secondly, in order to reach out wider, more content and forms may be included to take precise feedback making the promotional budget less cost effective. Thus one may end up short of creating a highly focused campaign. Market segmentation is the process of breaking down a larger target market into smaller segments with specific characteristics. It helps to customize a product/service and also evolve the advertising strategy to reach the target group. Another example of market segmentation is the athletic shoe industry. Major manufactures of athletic shoes have several segmented markets. One segment is based on gender and the other segment is based on the type of sport or activity. They have different promotional campaigns for each market segment. How to break large markets into smaller ones? Larger markets are most typically divided into smaller target market segments on the basis of geographic, demographic, psychographic and behaviouristic characteristics. Geographic. The socio-economic structure of rural & urban population different and affects the purchasing preferences & power. If you are in retail stores business, then your locations within the cities matter. If you are selling a product that is climate sensitive like air conditioning or heating, then certain areas would be your priority areas and your market is not a uniform one. For instance room heaters would have larger market in areas of the country which has severe winter, but not much of a market in Maharashtra or Goa. Accordingly, one will have to decide, whether the scale of one's business will be local regional or national or international. Demographic. Customers are individuals and there are many factors that go into the making of an individual personality such as age, race, religion, gender, income level, family size, occupation, education level and marital status. Behaviouristic. Consumers' reasons for purchasing products and services can be varied and complex. It could be a fascination or identification with the brand or a loyalty with an existing one or it could be the cost or a belief induced by peer pressure. It is necessary to understand the buying habits and patterns of the customers. Consumers do take their own time in deciding what to buy, whether it is a kitchen product or a vehicle or a home. Psychographic. There are certain products that have different considerations to some people than the feeling of necessity. The desire for a feeling of elevated status, enhanced appearance and feeling rich are some considerations that go into the purchase examples of. These factors are the psychographic variables that influence buying decision. This applies especially to luxury items. Owning a particular brand of a car, or gadget or wearing a costume of a particular brand and style may be a status symbol for some. Since all products do not have uniform and extensive range, most businesses use a combination of the above to segment their markets. Demographic and geographic criteria will usually identify and define the target markets. This will give you a clear idea of the purchasing power of the potential customers and will also establish the product is easily accessible to them in their location. Then mostly the psychographic and behaviouristic factors are brought into play to launch a promotional campaign that will appeal to the individuals within the target market. Exercises Section A Answer these questions in brief 1.Enlist the products which are advertised under the entertainment category. 2.Discuss the factors that decide a customer's need for a product or service. 3.Write about the features which go into determining the identity of a gadget that will be advertised in the industrial market. 4.What are the broad categories of various products and services that are advertised? 5.Describe the way for determining the unique selling point of a physical product. 6.Explain the meaning of market segmentation? Why is it important? Section B Discussion and Writing Discuss in groups the plausible reasons for a consumer's preference for purchasing a particular product or service. How the individual preferences could be affected extrinsically? Analyse the various psychographic factors involved in it. Section C Writing for your Portfolio You have been assigned to design a model Workbook for Science subjects for Class X students. Define the primary buyers for this Workbook. Define your market in geographic, demographic, psychographic and behaviouristic terms. This product has to sell nationally. Identify what is important to your customers. Make a note of all the specifications in your portfolio journal. Section D Further Research Find out the top ten advertising companies in India and compare their work with any international advertising house. Substantiate the reason for any major deviation found  Chapter 2 Functions of Advertising A strong market research and analysis programme forms the support of an advertisement campaign. The marketing strategy defines the profile of the product, the market segmentation, the target audience in all possible details. This detailed brief would be given to an ad agency and thoroughly discussed with them. This prepares the launching pad for an advertising campaign to be launched. Professionals of the advertising industry take over the process from this point onwards. Let us briefly recall the various functions that advertising serves Advertising serves the following purposes- It introduces a new product in to the market. It helps distinguish a product from its competitors. Through persistent messages and associations, it creates a brand identity. It sustains interest in an existing brand. It creates brand loyalty. It expands sales. It creates new demand. It creates a buzz and keeps the idea of the product going. These then, are the challenges before the advertisers.  Chapter 3 Types of Advertising Having created an advertisement campaign the next interesting stage that follows logically is the use of the available media to disseminate the messages. Although underlying main message is the same for the product or the service that is being advertised. The following are the prominent media available. Print -newspapers, magazines, brochures, fliers and posters. OOH -billboards kiosks tradeshows events Broadcast advertising -Radio TV Digital Internet + Mobile + Social Media 'In film' promos Celebrity endorsements Cross promotions Merchandise Games (Mobile and computer) Covert advertising How To Select The Best Media? Two factors will influence this decision. Budget and the possibility that the chosen medium offers to comprehensively reach the highest percentage of one's target audience. The old paradigm divided these media into two categories - Published media and Audio-visual media. Published media would include all kinds of Newspapers, Magazines, Brochures, Fliers Visual and aural media would include Television, Radio, Cinema, Billboards, Posters. Internet combines the properties of both the streams. While the traditional media continue to exist and be relevant in their own ways, the digital media offers exciting new possibilities due to convergence and a rapidly growing audience. No medium is absolutely suitable for all kinds of products. All media are relevant due to their specific and significant relation to the products that they are best suited to sell. If the target buyers of the product are young collegians in the cities, then internet and social media may be the natural choices. But, if the product is mainly for the rural buyers, then the other media like radio posters, newspapers and television will be better options. All forms of media exist with their advantages and disadvantages. Newspapers In India the highest percentage of spending on advertisements was on newspapers for the year 2010. Newspaper advertisement rank highest for credibility for all media. It offers high local coverage and immediate delivery of your message. It is low cost. It has a preservation value. People have the habit of cutting out pieces and preserving them, Special sections like the shopping guide inculcate the habit in the readers to regularly follow up that section. Sunday supplements have a higher and special readership. On the other hand it has the disadvantages of existing in a cluttered and competitive environment and also has low production quality. Newspapers have a short life span too. Magazines Magazines Advertisement have much better visual and overall production quality. They also have longer shelf life and assured and loyal readership. Since the magazine readership is a known factor, publication houses already have a selected readership. Its disadvantages include inability to deliver messages immediately, comparatively high costs and low frequency. Radio Radio Advertisement have the following main advantages. They deliver the messages immediately and with very high frequency even within a single day. It has a captive audience and the one that will share information locally with each other. It also has a low cost of production. It can reach traveling audience too due to transistors, car radios and mobile phones. The disadvantages are one can disseminate only audio messages. The messages are ephemeral (Short Lived)and have no shelf life. Listening sessions are typically cluttered with all kinds of messages, hence your message exists in very competitive environment. Television As An Advertising Medium Three key phrases will define the importance of television to advertisers -Immediate delivery of messages, High frequency of message and very high impact. In addition to these there are some other major advantages too. Depending upon the channels and other associations, television advertisement carry high prestige. Also the reach 198 of television now days is phenomenally large as compared to any other medium. Moreover, the communication is synchronous internationally. This factor reduces the cost per consumer substantially. One of the major disadvantages of television is the very high cost of production and that of the airtime. Secondly, the message makes it impact momentarily and then is replaced by another one. So no matter how powerful is the message it exists in a torrent of many similar ones. Then remote control spoils the continuity further by offering an easy facility of channel surfing, so there is no guarantee that the particular message will be seen uniformly as many times as it is aired. Direct Mail Direct mail may not have any glamour or high profile quality to it, but it is certainly a very effective channel of communication. Normally it has been found to elicit the highest response rate of all media. It also offers the highest level of selectivity of all media. The control over what is communicated is much better than the other channels. The responses of the consumers are easy to measure and quantify in this form. The results are easy to test. In this form, there is no clutter or noise problem, as it reaches the consumer directly and personally. Durability or life span of the message is long. Direct mail is a particularly attractive option for small business owners, as it can communicate a lot of information about a product or service and reach almost any conceivable target group for a relatively low cost. There are certain disadvantages of direct mail system. Per consumer cost is very high. Since everyone tries out this form, there can be over saturation and the feeling of junk mail may be associated with it. Some people may have the resistance to buy through mail. Outdoor As An Advertising Media Out door or out Of Home [OOH] will include billboards, kiosks, tradeshows, and events. Billboards /hoardings are most prominent. If they are in the right place then have highest visibility round the clock. Large size does make an impact. On the negative side are the following considerations -high initial costs are involved in setting up, impact is hard to measure, not too much of content can be put and the cost per consumer is on the higher side. Kiosks can be set up in malls and similar public places. Tradeshows and events have the advantage of face to face interaction and large volume if people coming in, but the effort required is expensive. Cross promotion "Cross promotion is a specific marketing tactic wherein two or more businesses team up together to reach a broader shared population." "Cross promotion is a process in which two or more advertisers of a product or service associate themselves with each other to increase their profile, reach more people etc." CASE STUDY We have one proven case study from USA from many years ago. One American coffee and beverage shop wanted to increase their business. The owner approached another [Egyptian] restaurant in the same building with the offer to serve each others products like sandwiches and pizzas etc in both shop. By doing that they hoped to attract the lunch time customers to their place. While they made no profit from the each others products , they attracted the clientele that would have gone somewhere else for the snacks people usually ordered beverages along with sandwiches and pizza. For the Egyptian restaurant too it was a positive situation as their products sold outside their own premises and their branding increased. It was a win win situation for both. This strategy has caught on well in India and we see a lot of cross promotion happening. Manufacturers of clothes, watches, travel goods etc. team up with the periodicals to offer incentives to the readers. Cross promotion broadens your clientele base: saves time as more people are reached more quickly; saves money as costs are shared. Cross promotions have a catchy quality about them. They at once seem attractive and get people interested instantly. Another fall out of this activity is that since both the partners are mutually promoting each other, their credibility goes up and working together breeds synergy and innovation as new ideas begin to emerge. Some recent forms Celebrity endorsements can be very popular and build strong associations in the buyers, but they are quite expensive to produce and air on prime time. Even state Governments are using celebrities as brand ambassadors. Merchandise- good, clothes bearing the logo or names or designs of the products are another popular way to advertise, but it will be limited to the class of buyers. It is also called Specialty Advertising. A company can have its name put on a variety of items, such as caps, glassware, gym bags, jackets, key chains, and pens. Since these items remain in use over a long period of time, most companies are successful in achieving their goals for increasing public recognition and sales through these efforts. Games (Mobile and computer) can be devised to promote the brand, but the reach is limited to mostly the young or tech savvy consumers. Covert advertising is presently a hot trend in promoting products and services. It embeds a product or brand in entertainment and media. Like Aston Martin has promoted itself as the high profile car used by the legendary character James Bond. The brand and car will have a very dramatic visual presence in the film. Once upon a time 200 advertisement made on celluloid film exhibited in theatres were important, they still are shown, but tlevision with its phenomenal reach has assumed priority now. In India, Newspapers get the highest share of the advertisement expenses, followed by Television and next come the periodicals. Media spends on social issues has expanded in the past 12 months. Issues like health & hygiene, women's and family welfare, primary education etc. are being sponsored by private sector too. Advertising Trends: Digital Convergence Like most areas of marketing, advertising is changing rapidly. New forms of media available are blurring the distinction between different avenues. Convergence of different media is giving rise to an advertising convergence. The convergence of television and internet opens many potential opportunities for marketers to target customers in ways not available with traditional television advertising. Even the print is merging into web. The Internet has become new hub for the ICE age[ information, Communication, Emtertainment]. Podcasting Audio - Podcasting Video - RSS Feeds - Networked Gaming - may offer themselves as major outlets for advertising, in the near future. The game of old plus new goes on and the marketers must stay informed of new developments and understand how their customers are using these in ways that may offer advertising opportunities.  Exercises Section A Answer these questions in brief 1.Write down the criteria that decides the best media for an advertisement 2.Make a list of the prominent media available to disseminate advertisements. 3.Discuss the utility of radio as an advertising medium. 4.Discuss the scope of Direct Mailing in context of advertising. 5.Enumerate the disadvantages of advertising on billboards/hoardings. 6.Discuss the benefits of cross promotion. 7.Explain the term Specialty Advertising. 8.What limitations do mobiles and computers have as advertising media? Section B Discussion and Writing Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of newspaper and magazine advertisements. How important is television as a medium for advertisement? Section C Writing for your Portfolio You have been assigned to design a model Workbook for Science subjects for Class X students. Define the primary buyers for this Workbook. Define your market in geographic, demographic, psychographic and behaviouristic terms. This product has to sell nationally. Identify what is important to your customers. You have already done the above-mentioned exercise in Chapter 1. Based on that formulation, design an Ad Campaign for the Science Workbook along the following lines. 1. Define your target audience. 2. What are the media that you will use? Why? 3. What are the media that you will not use? Why? 4. Prepare a Prototype of the Advertisement at least in ONE FORM of media i.e. Newspaper/ TV/ Web. Add it to your portfolio. Remember that your product is being nationally sold. So you must define the kind of newspaper it will appear in, the channel that you would prefer the most and the time of transmission, in case of web, you will indicate the website/s that it should appear on. Section D Further Research Find out which are the latest cross promotion advertisement products in the Indian market. What are the promotion strategies being adopted? For example: "bundled" offerings, joint media appearances and events, unconventional cause-related marketing, resource booklets and videos, co-branding, coop advertising, and shared space.  Chapter 4 Forms of Advertising As there are many advertisers trying to advertise similar commodities and other factor like different audiences, advertising has evolved into various forms. On the basis of various situations Advertising may be categorized in to following classes. Product advertising is the art of establishing a relationship between a product and its potential consumers. It creates the need in the consumers, gets them interested in its features and directly or indirectly informs them as to how the product is better than those of its competitors. By its nature, this kind of advertisements concentrate on building up the personality or individuality of the products through attractive associations with in the mind of the consumers. It can use multiplicity of media and a repertoire of techniques to achieve this. It can use celebrities to form glamorous and credible associations with the products. An eminent sportsperson advocating a sports gear or sports wear or an energy drink will form an instant and appropriate equation. A mature person with high status endorsing a product like suiting will lend dignity to it. Every campaign 'pitches' itself at a level depending upon its purpose. If it is the introducing a new product in a competitive market, then it will be an aggressive campaign, one that is aimed at catching everyone's attention by creating a buzz in the market about the new product. If it is an already well established product then it may take less aggressive tone and may be will seek to appeal in a familiar way to the consumer. It will seek to renew the already established bond in an innovative way. The audio-visual strategy or the nature of images and text will depend upon 'the pitch' that has been set. Institutional Advertising Institutional advertising is substantially different than the 'hard sell' that is involved in selling a product. The basic purpose here is to promote the image of the company. Often some progressive causes like support to community based programmes, environment, gender issues are taken up as a part of the values of the company. Sometimes it may promote a novel business idea hat would benefit many businesses Any alignment with a positive cause helps create a good image of the company in the public's mind. In case, any company has received some negative publicity for whatever reasons , this kind of image promotion through advertising helps reduce the impact of it. It may also help in improving the image of the company once again. Public Service Advertising Public Service Advertising is also known as Public Awareness Advertising, Social Service Advertising and Social Awareness Advertising. Public Service Advertising typically involves generating and transmitting short and precise messages regarding a cause or a problem. The messages have to be dramatic to seak immediate attention and for impact creation on the viewer/ reader. It usually will have a strong appeal to discontinue wrong practices and/or inculcate new ones. The stress is always on positive communication that believes in a better tomorrow. While planning the advertisement a thorough understanding of the target group must be the starting point. Public Service Advertising has become very popular and the trend is rising. Advocacy Advertising The term advocacy has become an important concept and practice on social activism. It has also been institutionalized by NGOs, Government agencies as well as UN agencies. Advocacy is an activity by an individual or by a group that seeks to influence public opinion on matters of public importance such as electoral reforms. The idea is to raise a public debate through media within the Governmental institutions. Sometimes advocacy may have a perspective to influence public-policy and political decisions. Sometimes advocacy seeks to modify resource allocation within the socio-economic sector. Lobbying, conducting public events, publishing research and articles is very much a part of the scenario and advertising can become an important part of the process. Advocacy advertising is normally thought of as any advertisement, message, or public communication regarding economic, political, or social issues. The ultimate aim of all advocacy is to influence political and economic decision making in the interest of society at large or certain groups within it. Comparative Advertising Comparative advertising compares one brand directly or indirectly with one or more competing brands. This is very common and is used by nearly every major industry. This type of advertising is particularly resorted to by companies that are introducing a new product in a competitive market. The underlying idea to be told to the consumers in comparative terms , could be how their new product is superior to all the existing ones. Normally the competitor's product is never named directly, but implied. Also the manufacturers have to be careful about not misinforming the public about their competitor's product as it may attract a lawsuit. Comparative advertising is legal in Europe, United States, Canada, Australia and many other developed countries, but some countries do not allow it. It is matter of attitude. The United States' Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserts that comparative advertising is "a source of important information to consumers and assists them in making rational purchase decisions". It also "encourages product improvement and innovation, and can lead to lower prices in the marketplace". Everyone may not accept this uncritically as comparative advertising is known to have produced skepticism among consumers. Secondly, there is no positive data regarding its success in changing the established choices of the consumers. It can be tricky to resort to this technique, as if executed incompetently, it reinforces attention to the competitor's product. Cooperative Advertising Cooperative advertising is a system that allows two parties to share advertising costs. Cooperative advertising is when two businesses-- usually one very large business and one small business cost of advertising by advertising together. The most commonly seen example of this form of advertising is in case of local grocery stores. A large manufacturer of cold drinks will book large and exclusive space under the control of the grocery shop to advertise its product with some consideration to the shop owner. The advertisments would be prepared by the big company in its standard format and placed by the local retailer, using the store's name. Its benefit to the manufacturer is being able to advertise at the local rate for media, since all advertising is displayed by the local retailer. This usually works out cheaper than the national rate. The small business got a sign for cheap and the soft drink company got themselves a building to advertise on. Cooperative advertising is found in print, radio, and television as well on the walls of buildings and on billboards. Hence, it is symbiotic in nature. Direct-Mail We have seen the advantages and disadvantages of this form in the earlier chapter, but we must understand it conceptually as the most direct and personal form of advertisement that uses mass media. This is its uniqueness. Point-of-Purchase Advertising A lot of our buying is impulsive. Something attracts our attention and we end up buying it as an on the spot decision. Point of purchase advertising is precisely designed to induce us into such buying. Various window displays, floor stands, banners are strategically placed like near the payment point in a shop- so that it catches your eye and induces the impulse to buy. Window shopping may also induce this impulse. Banners anywhere can make you curious. It is estimated that a lot of specific decisions about buying are made inside the retail shops and to encourage the trend further a lot of large stores have introduced Dynamic POP (Plarler of Paris) displays, small screen to 42"(or larger) LCDs and projection displays, helping deliver targeted marketing content to shoppers at the point-of- decision. Informational Advertising Informational advertising is mostly used when a new product is first being introduced. It has a comprehensive approach to the information regarding the product. The emphasis is placed upon making the product name registering sharply, on stressing upon the benefits, and the possible uses to the consumer. When sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were first introduced, the car manufacturers used this strategy quite successfully. Once the new product becomes familiar , then the campaign may change its pitch and go in for more persuasive and brand building techniques. When the aim of the advertising is to give people information about the availability, characteristics and prices of goods, we call it "informational advertising." This sort of advertising increases the consumer's range of choice and may improve the quality of the decisions consumers make.  Exercises Section A Answer these questions in brief 1.Describe the purpose of Public Service Advertising. 2.Why do companies resort to comparative advertising? 3.In what way is the advertising campaign of new product different from that of a well- established one? 4.How does institutional advertising promote a positive image of the company? 5.Write about pros and cons of comparative advertising? 6.Examine various techniques of Point-of-Purchase advertising? 7.How does advertising reflect advocacy? 8.Discuss the benefits of cooperative advertising? 9.What kind of knowledge does informational advertising impart about a product? Give an example. Section B Discussion and Writing Discuss in groups the techniques that product advertising uses to establish the individuality of the product. Section C Writing for your Portfolio Find an example for each of the various forms of advertising and analyze them in 4 lines each, highlighting their main features. Add the analysis to your portfolio. Section D Further Research 1. Alyque Padamsee was the first Indian to enter the 'CLIO Hall of Fame' for his public service film - India on Handicapped Children: The Story of Hope. Find out about CLIO AWARDS. What are they? Why are they considered prestigious? 2. There was the “Pepsi Challenge” contest in 1975 sponsored by the Cola Company in direct competition to Coca Cola its main rival brand. It is an on- going phenomenon. This is the most famous example of comparative advertising. Find out the process and the controversies involved in it.  End of the Unit Exercises Section A Answer these questions in brief 1.Write down the advantages of advertising on radio. 2.Chalk out an exhibition campaign for a product having a pan-India appeal in order to make it successful throughout the country. 3.Describe the various forms of prototypes in which an advertisement can be made? 4.Explain the latest trend of convergence in advertising with suitable examples. 5.On what basis does market segmentation occur? Discuss each characteristic briefly. 6.What is common to cooperative and point-of-purchase advertising? 7.Give a brief outline about the pre-work that is done by an organization before launching an advertisement campaign. Section B Discussion and Writing 'Information is essentially ethically neutral'. In context of this statement, discuss the ethical issues involved in advertising with your peers. What should be the role of government agencies in checking the dissemination of information that is exaggerated beyond facts? Section C Writing for your Portfolio Read up advertisements in newspapers, magazines, films, television etc. and do a survey of the most common and popular forms of media being used by Indian advertising agencies for advertising Fast Moving Consumer Goods Products/White goods under FMCG, targeted at the young collegians (e.g. Anti-acne creams, face washes, cosmetics, beverages, funky mobiles etc.) and products specifically targeted at the old-aged consumers (e.g. hearing aids, blood pressure and blood sugar monitoring machines, walking sticks, lumbar support equipment, vitamin supplements etc.) Is there a difference in the media forms for advertising? Why? Write a report on the basis of your observations. Section D Further Research Collect data from various sources and find out what the future of digital media in advertising, is. Find out and prepare a list of the most famous products and services that have been promoted through covert advertising.  Unit – 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE PRODUCTION PROCESS  Chapter-1 FILM FILM – FROM AN IDEA TO THE RELEASE OF PRINT The process of filmmaking is special and has its own special character. Unlike the other arts, it involves large sums of money, a big team of people- working at various levels of skill and a rigorous management of resources in terms of a given time frame. Therefore, although it is a creative process, it can be likened to an industrial operation. The entire process of filmmaking is a continuous one. One stage logically leads to the next one. From the time someone gets an idea for making a film to the actual making of it, is a long drawn process. This process can be seen to be taking place through the three principal stages - Pre- shooting stage Shooting Stage Post-shooting Stage. Pre- shooting stage This stage basically consists of Writing a script Budgetting the project Acquiring financ e Casting actors Finalizing the technical and production team and then Plannin a time schedule of the shooting and the post-shooting stage. g  EVERY FILM BEGINS WITH AN IDEA The ideas often do come from different sources. It could be the writer's own inspiration, or a story or a novel or a play may appeal to him or the director or the producer. The producer may then buy the rights of adaptation from then original writer and employ a film-writer to write the script either independently or in collaboration with the original writer or director. The Godfather was a novel written by Mario Puzo. When Paramount Pictures made a series of films based on the novel, Mario Puzo wrote the script in collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola, who directed the films. Most of the films Satyajit Ray made were adaptations of fictional works. Sometimes he adapted the large novels like Pather Panchali and on other occasions expanded upon short stories like Jalsaghar. Charlie Chaplin's famous film Monsieur Verdoux was based upon an idea suggested to him by Orson Welles his contemporary filmmaker. A lot of Shakespeare's plays have been adapted in several languages of the world and still continue to be adapted. EVERY FILM HAS TO BE PLANNED IN TERMS OF THE BUDGET There are a no of expenses involved in the entire process of filmmaking. The main categories of the same would be above line expenses the below the line expenses contingent expense FILM BUDGET sBASICS ABOVE THE LINE COSTS - In a production budget, the amounts to be spent on "the principal creative elements," such as story and script, producer, director, and lead performers. BELOW THE LINE COSTS - In a production budget, all the amounts to be spent on the production of the film that are not included in above-the-line costs, including cast (other than leading performers), crew, travel/living expenses, laboratory, legal and accounting fees, insurance, financing expenses, and post- production expenses. CONTIGENCY - An extra allowance added to the production budget to cover unexpected expenses. The contingency normally is at least 10 percent of the above- the- line and below-the-line expenses to satisfy the completion guarantor. NO FILM CAN BEGIN WITH EMPTY POCKETS Acquiring finance for the project is the Producer's job. It is obvious that filmmaking being such a complicated operation, spread over a large period of time and requiring varying skills, vast technical and monetary resources require meticulous planning. This is the legacy of the Hollywood Studio system, which evolved quickly in the 1920s. 'The Studio' was a well- defined organization, wherein; all filmmaking operations were conducted under one roof. Thus an entire feature film could be written, financed, shot, processed in the laboratory, edited, recorded and delivered as a complete product: with ALL these operations taking place within the boundaries of the studio. In India the filmmakers were quick to adapt to this system and followed the model quite successfully making the necessary adjustments. Thus we had the famous Prabhat studio in Pune, New Theatres in Kolkata, Bombay Talkies in Mumbai, AVM, Vijaya Vauhini, Prasad in Chennai and many others in other parts of the country. The studio system brought in the concept of planning a film production with a sum allocated to all heads of expenditure within the master budget. That practice has helped filmmakers over the years. Finalizing the script and securing the finance can sometimes take extremely long and requires a great deal of patience, faith and commitment on the part of the makers. Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi script went through 12 drafts and took 17 years to get to the production stage, since the idea was conceived and was actively being pursued. K. Asif's Mughal e Azam was in the making for over a deacde. So, after securing the finance and when the script is finalized, casting of actors and deciding on the technical and production crew is the next step. Each member of the crew is provided with a copy of the script to assist preparations for the shooting. Decisions are made about which parts of the film will be shot on studio sets, and which on location. If it is a location shoot, 5  locations are selected during preproduction and all the practical arrangements are made in preparation for the arrival of the cast and crew. Before filming begins, a shooting schedule is prepared. This describes the order in which scenes will be filmed, which usually differs from the order in which they will appear in the finished film. The plan allows the film to be shot as quickly and cheaply as possible. All the scenes using a particular set or location are normally shot consecutively. The availability of actors can also dictate the order in which scenes are filmed. Shooting Stage This stage basically consists of getting the shooting done on locations and studios as per the planned schedule. Since there are so many factors involved in the shooting process- and some of these could be beyond the control of the producer and director- many times improvisation is called for. Getting the shooting done on time is the art of making things possible in the face of many difficulties. Ideally, all producers would prefer to finish the shooting on one schedule, but it is quite often not possible due to various reasons. Sometimes the principal actors may not be available continuously, sometimes the script may demand parts of the film to be shot in different seasons, sometimes there could be other restrictions on the availability of locations etc. therefore, two or three major schedules could be prepared. For every shooting schedule, planning of all requirements- be they be artistic, be they be logistical- is done on a day-to-day basis. By the first day of filming, every member of the crew is expected to be familiar with the shooting schedule, and all the necessary equipment for the day's work should be available. Each member of the crew is provided with a call sheet, indicating when and why he/she is required on set. The sets will be built and dressed, and lights positioned in accordance with the scheme agreed by the director and the director of photography. Cameras and microphones are positioned and camera movements and lighting adjustments are rehearsed with the help of standins which walk through the actions. Marks are placed on the floor to ensure that actors make the same movements when the scene is shot. While this is going on, the actors spend time in costume, hair, and makeup. Once the technical aspects of shooting the scene have been firmly established and the actors are dressed, they are called to the set. At the discretion of the director, some time is normally spent rehearsing before the scene is filmed. 6 When the director is ready to shoot, an assistant calls for silence. If filming takes place in a studio, the doors are closed and a red light switched on above them to signal that entry to the set is forbidden. The director instructs the camera operator and sound recordist to begin recording. The scene and take numbers are read out and the hinged clapperboard snapped shut, which assists with marrying sound and image in postproduction. The director then calls "action" and the actors begin their performance. The first take is rarely the successful one. It may be spoiled by actors missing their lines or by technical errors in camera movement or focus, or sometimes lights may blow off during a take or microphones or any other object might intrude into the picture frame. Repeated takes are therefore a part and parcel of shooting activity. We have the extreme example of Charlie Chaplin going through 342 takes of a scene in City Lights (1931) in which his Little Tramp buys a flower from the blind girl. In contrast, Satyajit Ray was reputed for being a very fastidious planner of his shots and always shot within a reasonable shooting ratio, which was at times astonishingly low like 1:3 or 1:4. The greatness of Satyajit Ray was he achieved it without any compromise of quality. In general, careful planning and rehearsal can help keep the number down and reduce unnecessary waste of expensive film stock. What is a shooting ratio? It is the ratio of the finally finished length of the film to the length of the film that is actually shot. Normally, a film would have anything between 1:10 to 1:20 as the shooting ratio, depending upon the scale of production. During the shooting of Apocalypse Now director Francis Ford Coppola shot nearly 200 hours of film footage for this 153 minutes' film. This was unprecedented and amounted to 1:97 shooting ratio. While shooting The Hurt Locker the director Kathryn Bigelow went even further to end up with 1:100 shooting ratio. Both these were war films requiring massive action scenes to be shot. Many cameras were used at a time to shoot the same scene. This was done to film scenes in documentary style for the sake of authenticity. This cannot be considered as wastage as the results are brilliant.K Asif's Mughal e Azam was a production on a mammoth scale. While filming some of the scenes it took three days just to light up the huge sets. For the battle sequence, 2000 camels, 4000 horses and 8000 troops were used, many of them soldiers on loan from the Indian Army. Altogether the film cost Rs. 1.5 crores (38.29 crores in present terms) in the making. All low budget films however, are shot between 1:3 and 1:5 ratio. 7 When the director is satisfied with a take, he or she will ask for it to be printed. The same scene may still need be filmed again from different camera angles, though. Alternatively, a scene may be shot with more than one camera at once. This allows a range of options when it comes to editing, and it is an especially valuable technique where a scene can only be filmed once due to danger or expense. Sometimes, to lend variety and yet retain cost-effectiveness, multiple cameras are used. Akira Kurosawa used multiple cameras while shooting action scenes in his films. At the end of each day's shooting, the film is developed and the takes the director has selected are printed and screened for the director and production team. This material is known as the "dailies," or "rushes," and is used to evaluate the film's progress. It also reveals mistakes overlooked during the day's filming and directs attention to scenes that must be re-shot, while actors are still available and sets still standing. However, it is not quite often possible in modern day filmmaking as a lot of films are shot on location and the processing laboratory may be quite distant from the shooting location. While the director concentrates his attention on filming the main scenes—normally the ones in which the stars appear—the task of shooting other footage may be assigned to other units. A second unit is often used for filming in other locations, for shooting fights and action sequences. In some rare instances directors insist on shooting films completely in sequence—a practice that allows actors to fully engage with their roles, but is very costly in other respects. Akira Kurosawa the Japanese master followed this practice. Post-shooting stage This stage basically consists of Lab processing Editing Sound work. After the shooting is concluded, the production process moves to postproduction. Postproduction transforms the thousands of feet of raw footage into a finished film. 8 The whole process moves between lab, editing room and the sound studio. Lab receives the exposed film. Exposed film is developed into picture negative. Film negative is used to print picture positive.[ Rushes] Rushes are assembled in the sequence in which they will finally appear as sequences in the film in Editing. From this assembly a rough cut is made. From the rough cut a final cut is made. Then to this final cut, sound tracks are added. The sound is first synchronized to the picture and then mixed or rerecorded. Finally, the original unedited negative is edited to the exact length of the edited positive and another picture positive is made. This is the final release print, which is complete in all respects like-the titles are added to it, special effects if any are also added and the sounds are synchronized and are added to it, in the mixed version. One of the most important elements of postproduction is the editing process in which shots are selected and assembled in an appropriate order. Attention is then turned to the soundtrack. While the majority of US films record dialogue on set, some parts may be rerecorded due to poor sound quality. Music and sound effects must be recorded and the different tracks combined into a final mix. Opening and/or end credits must also be added, and other optical and visual effects work may be required. Editing, like script development, goes through several stages. Traditionally, the editing process has involved working with a physical copy of the film, cutting and splicing pieces of footage manually. It is now more common to load the images onto a computer using a system such as Final Cut Pro or Avid, which allows easy experimentation with different ways of arranging the shots. Whichever method is used, the basic processes remain the same. First, the dailies are assembled in the order specified in the shooting script. Excerpts are then taken from individual shots and arranged in such a way as to tell the story as economically as possible, while at the same time preserving a sense of coherent time and space. This is traditionally referred to as the "rough cut." Although normally it does not have a soundtrack, it is generally a reliable guide to the finished film. The editing that produces the rough cut often uncovers deficiencies that had not been detected before. Editor uses his/her ingenuity to salvage the mistakes, but sometimes the deficiencies may be major and may require some additional shooting. While the editing is taking place, work is carried out on the soundtrack, with different crew members working on the music, sound effects, and dialogue. Normally the composer does not begin work until after viewing the rough cut. Sound effects are often taken from existing recordings held in sound libraries, but some films require the creation of new effects. This process is undertaken in a recording studio by a foley artist. It may also be necessary to record post-synchronized dialogue. This normally entails placing the actors in front of a film projection so they can ensure their lip movements match the image. Earlier, when most of the films used to be shot in studio, the dialogues that were recorded at the time of shooting were the ones finally used in the film. This is called 'Sync sound'. The studio portions of Guru Dutt's films, all the films of Shyam Benegal, and recently the films Lagaan and Swades [ 2004] were shot with sync sound. In India, sync sound is not the norm for a variety of reasons. The different pieces of sound are recorded on separate tracks. They are combined in premixes, which are the sound equivalent of the visual rough cuts. As the editing of the image track progresses, the sound needs to be remixed in accordance with the lengthening, shortening, rearranging, or deleting of scenes. This process has been made easier by the development of computerized sound-editing software. When the editing of the image track has been completed, a copy of the original negative is cut to match the edited print. A new positive print, known as an "answer print," is struck from the edited negative. This print is then graded, which ensures that color and light levels are consistent throughout the film. The process may be repeated several times before unwanted variations are eliminated. Work on the final version of the soundtrack is also completed at this stage. The final sound mix is made to synchronize perfectly with the finished image track, and the sound is recorded onto film in order to create an optical soundtrack. A negative is created from this and combined with the interneg. Any titles and optical effects are also added at this stage. The resulting combined optical print will be the source of the "interdupe" negative, from which the final release prints will be struck. Throughout postproduction, executives of the producing or distributing company carefully monitor the progress of the film. If dissatisfied with the results, they may insist on changes, sometimes even replacing the original editor and/or director. This may happen at any stage from the rough cut onwards. The conflict between the studio executives and directors on their right to determine the final cut has frequently resulted in bitter battles. An extreme case of such confrontation in Hollywood was the conflict between MGM studio and director Erich von Stroheim. von Stroheim's own version of his film ran upto FIVE hours. MGM executives, who thought this was commercially unviable, demanded further cuts. And when von Stroheim failed to comply, they appointed their own editor, and cut the film down to the more marketable length of about 90 minutes. In Hollywood, if the studio is uncertain about the audience appeal of a film, it will often undertake test screenings with different groups of audiences in order to gauge reaction and obtain guidance for improvements. Reediting, or even reshooting, is undertaken at times, if audience reactions fall short of expectations It is also common to prepare multiple versions of films for release in different countries. Perhaps the most obvious feature that needs to be localized is the language. Often the dialogue is dubbed into local languages, which means the newly recorded voice tracks need to be remixed with the music and sound effects. Title sequences may be replaced completely—sometimes with entirely different visual designs—or subtitles may be added to the existing credit titles. If the film has not been dubbed, dialogue subtitles will be needed throughout the film. Sometimes films are planned as bi-lingual ventures such as Mani Ratnam's Roja and Yuva[ 2004] were. Language is not the only feature that varies between countries, however. Different censorship regulations mean that sequences allowed in one country may have to be removed in another. Sometimes within one's own country Censorship may prevail and force certain changes to a film before it is released.  Activity Find out more about the following- Making models for sets Boom Clapper board Foley effects Title sequence Inter-negative[ Interneg] Blimped camer a Non-linear editing Interneg[ative] 12  CHAPTER - 2 - TV Television –Live and Non Live broadcasting The entire season of IPL has matches everyday from different cities for a stretch of time which you get to see every night on Television.It is a live telecast of a three and half hour event each day giving you a view of the match with details you miss in the stadium like slow motion replays from various angles and analysis by commentators. Compare this to the favourite TV serial in your home, based on a fictional story which has taken weeks to shoot and finish before it reaches you.It is also coming every night as a daily soap with the added prerequisite of being on air everyday at the same time with a continuously changing storyline.This show is scripted with details incorporated to create dramatic experience for you in each segment. In a T-20 match the drama unfolds on its own,with the script written each ball by the two teams. The two are examples of a Live and Non Live TV show which is brought to you on a regular basis.It may be a Twenty Five minute show or a Four Hour event,months have gone in planning and execution before it reaches you. How does it happen?What are the Phases common in the Producing of these two very different shows. In a fiction based Drama series ,after a basic research is done , the programmers decide the broad content or the flavour of a programme that they are looking at.In a Non Fiction event based show or a reality show like Indian Idols which is based on an already existing model,the content is already defined. This is then passed on to a suitable producer, who produces the show, as shoots and edits it and presents it to the channel. The programme is then pitched to the sponsors after which it is launched. The process from the stage of ideation to the final delivery is categorized under the three stages of production. There are three stages of programme production 1. Pre production  2. Production 3. Post production Pre-Production This stage includes everything you do before entering the studio or reaching the shooting location. It involves idea generation, research, scripting, discussions with all the crew members and talents (actors), arranging equipment, video/audio tapes, properties, costumes, sets designing or location hunting and booking of editing shifts. The first thing to know about any and every production is what you want the programme to look like. This is the pre production stage. You need a clear idea of what you want to make. Only then will you be able to make a good programme, understandable by the audience. Once the idea is clear, the next stage is how to get from the idea to the television image. To translate an idea on screen effectively you need a good and detailed script. In all it involves planning everything in advance. This is very essential to get desired results. If you have all the raw ingredients ready in your kitchen, you can easily cook the food. Similarly, if you have worked well in this stage of programme production, the other two stages become easy and workable. The Pre-Production Phase In Pre-Production the basic ideas and approaches of the production are developed and set in motion. It is in this phase that the production can be set on a proper course. This assumes both knowledge of the prime directive and the target audience, and it ends up being a key to the success of any programme. Each Production phase is planned keeping in mind the needs, interests, and general background of theTarget Audience (the audience your production is designed to reach).For Live and Non-Live shows specific issues are adressed and assessed before hand and may even have Dry Runs before the actual shooting happens.For instance as per the needs of the script which has been written on an idea,a location is required.The characters demand appropriate actors to be casted with suitable costumes and make-up before they go in front of camera.Besides logistic support of transportation,stay,food etc. would also be looked into to keep a smooth flow of production.The planning and placement of these factors require specific responsibilities to be assigned to respective individuals which may need to be identified and hired for the show. A regular news show would have pre production requirements like placing newscasters in position for various segments to be brought in live with an anchor in the studio switching to them for updates with the help of technicians sitting in a separate room.This would be done with a pre planned intention of providing various inputs to keep the audience informed with latest developments on a story considered to be of significant nature. Similarily as you might have seen for sports matches a small studio is carried inside a well equipped van to the stadium to facilitate smooth telecast of that match. Various cameras with their pre decided position transmit pictures out of which the Producer sitting in the van decides to use one for a few seconds for you to see.These small segments called shots are put together one after the other to create a continuous flow of action for your benefit by an on line editor. The commentator and producer can ask for replays and certain elements to be specially higlighted like the condition of a ball or the ground to make a certain point. This interactive production is done to give the viewer an all compassing view of the action on the field.While in a Live telecast these are done on the spot, simultaneously at that very moment, in a Non-Live(mostly fiction) show they are first shot from various angles during production phase (Execution stage) and then put together afterwards in the post production stage, with support of music, sound and visual effects. These additional audio-video inputs enhance the dramatic experience for the audience, very often keeping them glued to the TV sets. This is what a Pre-Production plan may look like if you are doing a Fiction Drama series. Presuming that you have a script to shoot, the next step is planning the production. Planning the shoot makes the shooting experience more enjoyable and less overwhelming. Planning frees the mind from the distractions of worrying during shooting so that you can concentrate on the creative process. It makes the editing process easier because there is less of tendency to forget shots and there is usually less wasted footage to search through. Here are some things to plan before starting the shoot. Story Board Though we do not use story boards for TV programmes in India,it is a good tool to plan your sets,actors movements,camera angles and narrative flow. 15 Story boarding is like setting up a comic book of the production you are planning. It gives the actors an idea of their blocking. It helps the cinematographer plan his camera angles. It lets the person in charge of lighting know how to position the lights and create a mood. It helps the director know how all the shots will fit together so that there are less wasted takes. Storyboarding helps bring focus to what everyone is doing before shooting occurs. Even though story boarding can be a lengthy and consuming process, it will help save time in the long run. Schedule Make a schedule and put it on paper for everyone to see. To plan a successful and smooth group activity, it is essential that your group knows and feels comfortable with the plan. It also allows members of the group to help find gaps you may have missed when planning. Even if you plan everything out, production can still be a stressful experience. Having your schedule written out in front of you can help you feel more calm. With the schedule in everybody's hands, you will be more certain you and your group can walk down the same path of completion together. Location Where and when are good starting points when drafting your schedule. You are expected to go and hunt for locations to shoot your script which is called doing a RECCE. But for initial plans, you divide your scenes in the two broad locations. The best place to shoot is obviously a television studio where you have complete control of space, lighting and sound. Your choices for shooting locations can be broken down into two basic categories: 1. Interior locations 2. Exterior locations If you are trying to shoot interior you are presented with two more basic shooting options of available locations; 1. Private residence 2. Public location Shooting in a private residence offers some distinct advantages over shooting in public location: more control of sound, lighting and people. However, many times it is almost impossible to afford the props or scenery you would find shooting in a public location such as a store. If your shoot happens to mobile, have an idea or direction as to where you are going. Remember, filming is a group activity. If you don't start with a general direction for the group to go, the shooting can become unfocused and as a result, less will be accomplished. Personnel Shooting a TV show like Film is generally not a one man show; it requires the help of many. It is important that the people working on the production are capable of setting up the various pieces of equipment and running the equipment before production occurs. It is also important to make sure everybody you work with already knows the whole plan and has feeling where they fit in and how they contribute. Equipment Make reservations for rental equipment at least 10 days in advance. In addition, test your equipment before you start shooting. It may seem obvious, but many times equipment will some how be broken the day of the shoot, its a divine rule. Transportation It may sound obvious, but it can often be overlooked. Lighting kits, tripods, props, cords, camera equipment and people can take up a lot of room. Make sure there is a vehicle(s) large enough to hold all of your equipment personal. That way you will be able to plan more than one trip if it is necessary. Power You need power for your camera, and you need power for your lights. Make sure there are electrical outlets where you are shooting and bring along extension cords to reach those outlets. Check to see the amount of voltage the circuit breaker can handle. Bring backup batteries and chargers for your camera and microphones. Charge all of your batteries the night before.  Plan Alternate Routes The path towards completion is not always a straight route, you will approach many road blocks. With so many variables and people working together, something is bound to go wrong. So make backup plans. Have alternate shooting locations. Plan on using the camera mic if your external mic doesn't work. Have people that can play more than one part, and realize that you may have to fill in for people that quit or don't show up on time. Assignment 1:Do a pre –Production plan for shooting the assembly session of your shoot, keeping in mind the movements and possible camera angles. Assignment 2:Draw a possible list of personnel you may need to do this Production This is the stage when you are on the studio floor or on location and are ready to shoot or are actually shooting. It includes managing all the facilities, handling of talent and crew members, controlling the crowd, shooting without hurdles and solving any problem related on the spot at that time. The Production Phase is where everything comes together (one can hope) in a kind of final performance. Productions can be broadcast either live or recorded. With the exception of news shows, sports remotes, and some special-event broadcasts, productions are typically recorded for later broadcast or distribution. Unlike the Live event telecast,recording the show or program segment provides an opportunity to fix problems by either making changes during the editing phase or stopping the recording and redoing a segment. Television Production Process - In order to make a television programme we need various equipments and people to operate them for the production of a specific kind of programme. Let us now discuss the equipments required for the production process. Machinery and Equipment required for Production - Imagine you had to paint something on a canvas. Essentially, you will need a brush, colours and a palette. Similarly, if you want to make a good programme on television, you need some essential equipment like camera, lights, sound recorder etc. We can categorise the basic production elements as follows: Camera The most basic equipment in each and every production is the camera. In our lives also, many of us or our friends must have used the camera for capturing various events. If you carefully look at any camera, you will see a lens in it. This lens selects a part of the visible environment and produces a small optical image. The camera is principally designed to convert the optical image, as projected by the lens, into an electrical signal, often called the video signal. Lights Have you ever tried to see something in dim light? It's difficult to see. Isn't it? Now imagine seeing in the dark. You must be wondering how it is possible to see in the dark? Just like the human eye, the camera also cannot see without a certain amount of light. There comes the role of lights in television production. Lighting any object or individual has three main purposes: 1. To provide the television camera with adequate illumination for technically acceptable pictures. 2. To show the viewers what the objects shown on screen actually look like, say, for instance, if there was no light in the room, we would not have been able to see how the chair, table or anything else for that matter would look like. Lights also help us know when the event is taking place, in terms of the season and the time of the day. 3. To establish the general mood of the event. Microphone You may have seen a microphone being used by people to talk on various occasions. Have you ever wondered why we actually use microphones ? Just as you have learnt that the camera converts what it sees into electrical signals, similarly the microphone converts sound waves into electrical energy or the audio signals. But the sounds that we produce are very feeble in nature and, therefore, cannot be sent to larger distances. Therefore it is amplified and sent to the loudspeaker which reconverts them into audible sound. There are different types of microphones available for different purposes. Picking up a news anchor's voice, capturing the sounds of a tennis match, and recording a rock concert - all these require different types of microphones or a set of microphones. Sound Recorder Television sound/audio not only communicates information, but also contributes greatly to the mood and atmosphere of the visuals that come along with the audio on screen. The sound recorder essentially records the sound picked up by the microphone. With a sound recorder, you can: 1. Select a specific microphone or other sound input 2. Amplify a weak signal from a microphone or other audio source for further processing 3. Control the volume and ensure the quality of sound 4. Mix or combine two or more incoming sound sources Videotape recorder As we all know that television is an audio-visual medium, we need to record both audio and visual components. While the sound i.e. audio is recorded on sound recorders, visuals are recorded on video tape in a videotape recorder. Most of the television programmes that we see are recorded on videotape or computer disk before they are actually telecast. Post production Editing Machines The post production editing equipment/machines help to edit the programme after it is recorded. While many of the elaborate editing systems may help you to obtain the desired results, most of them cannot make the creative decisions for you. It is therefore important for you to know the desired result and shoot accordingly. The Post-Production Phase As you know, before we present any food item on the dining table, we need to garnish it. Likewise in television programmes also, before we actually telecast a programme on television, we need to do the post production. This is the third stage of programme production. It is the stage when you get the final shape of the programme. In the post production stage, you select from the recorded material, those visuals which seem to be most relevant and copy them onto another videotape in a specific order. This is called editing. Again, the better the pre production and production stages of the programme are, the easier is the post production stage. Even though post production includes tasks, such as striking (taking down) sets, dismantling and packing equipment, handling final financial obligations, and evaluating the effect of the program, most people associate postproduction with editing or packaging of a programme for final telecast. As computer-controlled editing techniques and postproduction special effects have become more sophisticated, editing has gone far beyond the original concept of simply joining segments in a desired order. Editing is now a major focus of production creativity. It includes cutting the recorded visuals into appropriate length, arranging the visuals in a proper sequence, use of desired effects for the visuals or text / captions, commentary recording, music/song recording, and final assembly of the entire programme.Armed with the latest digital effects, the editing phase can add much in the way of razzmatazz to a production. In fact, it's pretty easy to become enthralled with the special effect capabilities of your equipment.  CHAPTER – 3 - PRINT PRINT MEDIA: THE DAILY NEWSPAPER A daily newspaper like the Times of India or Dainik Jagran needs several individuals to work together in teams in different departments of a publishing organization. The following are the main departments of a newspaper organization: Editorial Commercial [Advertising, marketing] Management – Policy making, Accounts and Administration Technical Distribution Division of work – All these departments have different functions, which contribute to the running of a newspaper. The content of the newspaper can be very broadly categorized as news and news related on the one hand and the commercial one on the other. The editor and his team prepare the news content. Advertising and marketing departments look after the advertising- small and big and the other related areas. Top management frames the overall policy of the newspaper, which the editorial team has to follow. The Printing or Production Department sees to it that the required copies of the paper are printed in time. The distribution department ensures the timely delivery to the main distributors, who will on their part ensure the retail delivery through the vendors and news agents in every nook and cranny of the city and its outlying mofussil and rural areas. The Circulation and Marketing Department assists in this massive exercise every morning. The process - It's the Editorial Department that is responsible for the gathering and processing of news. It is also responsible for the design and layout of the newspaper. It's the Department that turns the name of the paper into a well- known brand, which goes a long way in increasing the circulation and readership of a newspaper. The editorial department is the creative organ of a newspaper. It is manned by writers and re-writers. The writers are the editor and his assistants, as well as reporters and correspondents. The re-writers are called sub-editors (or copyreaders). In the jargon of the profession, the 'subs edit copy' before it is sent down to the compositor in the printing department. Desktop publishing (DTP) has eliminated the roles of the compositor and the layout artist, and has simplified the production process considerably. An equally important Department is the Advertising/Response, which woos advertisers to buy space on different pages of the newspaper. Space-selling is an art in itself; advertising rates depend on circulation and readership but also on the brand value of the paper. English dailies have much higher advertising rates, for instance, than Hindi or Marathi papers. News and news related material as well as the advertisements make up for the total content of the newspaper. The first stage is gathering of the material. The second is processing it editorially and otherwise. The third stage would be to arrange it page by page alongside the visuals like photographs. A newspaper usually has a settled form of its own, with which its readers identify. To Do 1. Find out what is the difference between the 'circulation' and 'readership of a newspaper. 2. Why do you think that English newspapers command higher advertising rates than Hindi and Marathi newspapers? 3. What is the main source of revenue for a daily newspaper? The Content - Headlines, News stories, features, interviews, edit page articles, advertisements and readers' letters to the editor are arranged in their order of the importance. This process happens over a whole day and a typical day in the newspaper office could be described as follows- Morning The editor will call a meeting and the heads of photography, features, desk, designers and daily news bureau will be present. Various ideas are discussed, approved and the editor gives directions. Then each section gets busy on creating its own material. Forenoon and afternoon Photographs are made available to accompany various news stories, features, interviews, columns etc. The news people begin tracking stories and filing in their reports by afternoon. The sub-editors at the desk begin to edit the copies. Designers begin to get all the data especially the ads and other commercial information from marketing section. Most news stories start coming in between 4.30 PM and 6.30 PM. The latest time by which they are finalized is between 7 PM and 8 PM. Evening By late afternoon the status of the stories gets clearer. The designers also get the exact direction about placing ads [ from marketing]and photographs [ from sub-editors]. Page making begins by 6 PM and by 9.30 PM they are sealed for the early city edition. Then they are uploaded on the server and printing can begin in the night, so that the copies are ready for distribution for the vendors by 4 AM of the next day. Weekend supplements are sealed about three days prior to the day of distribution. Activity Look at the front page of today's newspapers. Compare about 3-4 newspapers of the same day. What are the main headlines? Are they about the same event/s or are they different?  In either case, what does it tell you about the event/personality etc., if they are about the same topic? And, if they are about different topics, then what does it tell you about the newspapers? Do this exercise for about three days in succession to confirm, if your first impressions were correct or you need to modify them. Activity List three ways in which a feature differs from a 'news story' in terms of its language, structure and statement of opinions. Questions - What are the differences between the job of a reporter and that of a 'sub-editor'. Why is' reporting' a more glamorous job than 'subbing'? Activity Bring out a class newspaper where one group makes up the team of reporters and another team the team of sub-editors. Select an Editor for the newspaper; he/she will be the head of the newspaper organisation and will be totally responsible for the contents and also bringing out the newspaper by the deadline. NOTE – ALTHOUGH IN THIS CHAPTER WE HAVE THE CASE OF DAILY NEWSPAPER, BROADLY THE BASIC PROCESS IS SIMILAR IN CASE OF PERIODICALS. THEIR CONTENT, PRICING, LAY OUT WILL DEPEND UPON THE RELATIVELY LIMITED READERSHIP AND PERIODICITY OF PUBLICATION.  CHAPTER – 4 - RADIO Radio Formats and Genres Radio programmes may be classified into two broad groups: (1) Spoken word programmes, which include news bulletins, talks, discussions, interviews, educational programmes for schools and colleges, specific audience programmes directed at women, children, rural and urban listeners, drama, radio features and documentaries. (2) Music programmes which include disc jockey programmes, 'countdown' shows, musical performances of all types and variety programmes (called 'magazine programmes'). It is obvious that a good number of programmes like drama, features and documentaries need both the spoken word and music. News Bulletins News bulletins are put out by AIR almost every hour of the day in English and the various regional languages. The major bulletins are of 15 minutes' duration, while others are of only five minutes' duration. They present summaries of news stories in order of importance and interest-value. National and international happenings get pride of place, while regional and local news is read out if time permits. Human interest stories and sports news generally round off the major bulletins. Newsreels Newsreels, generally of 15 minutes' duration, present 'spot' reports, comments, interviews, and extracts from speeches. A much more complex and expensive format than the news bulletin, it calls for skilled tape editing and well-written link narrations. Documentaries/Radio Features Documentaries or radio features are usually factual, informational in character and sometimes educational in intent. They bring together the techniques of  talks and drama to tell the story of events, past or present or those likely to happen in the future. They may sketch the biography of a great leader, or merely offer an interpretation of the world around us, or teach us about peoples and cultures unfamiliar to us, or even inquire into social, political, economic or cultural problems. Indeed, any subject of interest is grist to the mill of a feature writer. The use of a narrator interspersed with voices of real people or/and actors and of appropriate background effects and music bring a documentary/feature to throbbing life. In Lionel Fielden's words, 'a feature programme is a method of employing all the available methods and tricks of broadcasting to convey information or entertainment in a palatable form'. Radio Plays Radio drama is a story told through sound alone. The sound is of course that of dialogue and voices of people, background or mood effects, musical effects, atmospheric effects and the like. Radio drama, like stage drama is based on conflict, uses characters and has a beginning, a middle and an end. Movement and progress, generally to a crisis or climax, must be suggested in radio drama through sounds. The voices of characters must be sufficiently distinguishable, one from the other, lest the listener gets confused. They must sound natural, speak true to character and above all, be interesting. Radio listeners would be confused by the presence of more than three to four characters. In fact, the shorter the drama (the average duration is 30 to 60 minutes) the fewer should be the major characters. In the early years of Indian broadcasting, the radio play took on the characteristics of the theatre as it existed on the stage in a particular region. Radio plays were broadcast then for three hours at a time. In Bombay, Parsi, Gujarati and Urdu plays were frequently put on the air: in Madras, mythological plays proved very popular. It was Lionel Fielden who introduced the present norm of the 30-minute radio play on AIR. Radio Talks Radio talks are not public speeches; rather, they are chats with a friend who does not see you, but is nevertheless close and attentive to you. Radio talks should give the impression to a listener that the speaker is addressing him or her alone in an informal manner. The words of a radio talk need to be kept simple and familiar, yet descriptive and powerful, and the sentences short and without dependent clauses and awkward inversions. Care should be taken to keep close to the rhythm of  ordinary speech when writing the talk, and also when recording it. Radio talks have no definite structure. All that the listener expects from them is that they should be interesting and informative. Music Programmes Music programmes enjoy much greater popularity than talk shows, as is evident from the popularity of FM channels. We enjoy music for its rhythms, melodies and harmonies and above all for the relaxation it provides. Like any talk show, a music programme must have unity and form. Disc Jockey (DJ) programmes of 'pop' or 'disco', therefore should not be mixed up with classical or light classical music. Variety is the keynote to any music programme; the different items should be linked together with interesting comments, announcements and narration. Movie trailers Movie trailers are sponsored programmes usually of 15-30 minutes' duration. They are fastpaced, and packed with extracts of dialogue and songs from the film being advertised. The narrator links the elements with dramatic appeals and announcements. The names of stars, of the producer, director, playback singers and musicians figure prominently in the trailers. Quizzes: Largely studio-based and inexpensive to produce, the quiz show is easily one of the most popular programmes for the family. It's the sense of participation and involvement in the quiz questions that makes the programme very enjoyable family fare. 1. List the programmes you listen to on your favourite FM Channel. Which genre or format do they belong to? Basic Elements of Radio Production We now turn to factors that need to be taken into account for effective programming. These can be divided into three categories: technical, content and presenters. Technical factors are: Sound quality. Is the audio recording clear? Are music levels balanced? Etc.; Special sound effects. You might need the sound of rain, or wind, etc. as they relate to the issue of the programme's focus; and Accents. You make sure that certain passages are emphasised, (usually by a higher level of volume).  Content and its organisation includes a number of factors such as: and closing. The way you introduce a programme is very important, as it will Opening provide the basis upon which a listener may decide to go on listening or not. Similarly the end of the programme is supposed to provide a punch line that will make the listeners reflect upon or remember the main message or issue; Slogans-themes-logos. Radio programmes can include certain slogans or recurrent themes as a distinctive mark, as people are likely to associate the slogans with the programme. Similarly these may also be used to promote and reinforce a certain idea/message. You can see this done very effectively in the advertising world. If you are not sure about it, just turn on your radio or your television! Jingles. These are similar to the ones above, only that they are usually musical slogans that can be easily sung by everybody. Jingles serve to identify a certain programme, message, product to promote and reinforce a certain idea or message; Humour. According to the format you have selected humour can play an important part. But you should not abuse it, as humour in certain instances may be offensive to people and counterproductive to the objectives of the programme; of presentation. This is especially true in the development context. Avoid jargon and Simplicity complicated treatment of concepts and messages. Always keep in mind the KISS formula - Keep It Simple and Straight forward; Make sure that the content you are presenting is accurate, and simple to Accuracy. understand. Once broadcast, any inadequacy may have a negative impact on many aspects of the programme; and summaries. It is usually a good practice to repeat more than once the Repetitions crucial points your programme wants to get across. Try to repeat the same points without duplicating them. That is, treat the point in different ways so that the listeners are exposed to the message more than once but in different ways. At the end of the programme you might also want to summarise the main point/s. Remember to do it in a concise and effective way;  This has to do with the speed of the radio production's presentation and Pacing. the way you order and balance the different parts or segments. A well-paced programme should be neither too fast nor too slow and have all the different segments ordered in a logical and balanced way. Pausing is also part of pacing, as pauses are an important factor and can be accomplished either through music, jingles, slogans or even silence; and Interactive capability. Programmes using a participatory approach must provide an interactive capability, as seen for instance in the case of the Radio Listening Clubs in Zimbabwe. Phoning, where it exists, can be another way of providing interactivity to a radio programme. This means that you must take into account this factor not only when discussing and presenting the issue but also where there is the possibility for immediate feedback. Presenters and their style of delivery can be another crucial element determining the success of a programme. Factors associated with presentation include: Clarity of speech. Do not assume every person, just because he or she knows how to talk, can be equally good as a radio presenter. A presenter needs to articulate his talk well and in an understandable way. He/she also needs to follow, or guide, the pace of the programme, using his/her voice to emphasise crucial points; Source credibility. If the presenter of the programme has a high credibility rate among listeners, this will certainly help the message to be accepted more easily. Consideration should also be given to the presenter's background (do the listeners consider him/her an insider or an outsider). Gender is another factor to consider (for instance a woman is more likely to give higher credibility to another woman talking about breast-feeding practices than to a man); and Role models. Closely related to the above point is the question of role models. If your presenter is somebody people would want to be associated with, or a popular figure that is highly respected, the message in the radio programme will be regarded highly. Again to see how popular people can effectively give prestige and credibility to a product, look at the way the advertisement world uses sports champions as testimonials which associate them to products that often do not have anything to do with their field of expertise.  Radio Scripting Finally, another significant element of radio production that should be noted is scripting. When you are ready to work on the radio script before anything else, define the subject, the purpose, the primary audience and the intended duration. Then go through the material you have researched and recorded in the field. Ideally in a good number of cases this process should be done in the community, with the community. Basic Principles Here are some tips when you engage in, or supervise the writing, of a radio script: Write for the ear, not for reading. Spoken language and written language can differ greatly and this needs to be borne in mind all the time. Each word on the script should therefore sound right not necessarily read right. Avoid the use of big and complicated words, too many adjectives, and any word that may be unfamiliar to your audience; Use imagery. While trying to keep your language simple and straight forward, try also to be creative and allow your audience to visualise what you are talking about; Use relevant facts. Facts, especially if listeners can relate to them, help in drawing attention to the message. Facts can be the familiar, something the listeners have experienced directly, or memorable, or something extraordinary or known to everybody; wordyour Speak as you write them. As mentioned earlier on, you are writing for the ear. It is good practice therefore to speak the words as you are writing them on paper. The suggestion here is “Think it, Say it, Write it!” Get straight to the point. Do not cram information and when needed do not be afraid to repeat the information using different ways. Most likely the audience will listen to the programme only once, therefore you need to make sure that they will get the main point/s; and It usually helps to keep the programme, person to person, talking to Be informal. him/her as you would talk in a normal conversation. Say it the way people say it! Write out a script for a radio play, produce the play on a cassett