Sectors
What Are the Main Sectors?
The main media sectors are:
TV And Film
Marketing
Publishing
Radio
Graphic Design
Careers
Marketing Manager
One of the job roles which interested me was the role of being a marketing manager for a new film or TV show. The role of a marketing manager is to convince potential audiences that the film or TV show is a must see. There are many decisions a marketing manager has to make, such as the medium of the marketing, for example they may have to chose between putting more money into billboards and posters or putting more money into social media advertisement, this all depends on the audience they have chosen to market the film or TV show towards.
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To be a successful marketing manager, you must have good audience awareness. Audience awareness means being able to research who will watch the media, and how they will watch it. A successful marketing manager should also have a strong knowledge of the industry, Having a strong knowledge of the industry means knowing about trends in the culture and being able to capitalise on those trends when marketing your film or TV Show.
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Creative and analytical thinking is also vital in this career, as if you don't properly understand the media you are trying to advertise, you will not do a good job and the media will not do anywhere near as well.
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The average yearly income for a marketing manager is £33,000.
Colourist
Another job role which interested me was being a colourist. Colourists greatly contribute to the overall mood and atmosphere of a film, as they define the colours of the film. When colourists receive the files in the edit, they stylise the colour in line with the vision of the director and director of photography.
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One of the key characteristics you need to have to be a colourist is understanding colour. They must know what colours bring out certain emotions and use them accordingly.
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They must also have great communicative abilities, as they need to communicate clearly with the director and director of photography to bring their visions to fruition.
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The colourist must also know how to use the software efficiently and effectively. If they do not know how to use the software, it may take them a long time to get the final result, or they may miss the mark completely and spoil the look and feeling of the film or TV Show.
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The average yearly income for a colourist is £34,000.
Editor
I also found that being an editor may be interesting. An editors job is to put together, also known as cut, the pictures, also referred to as rushes, as they come in from the set. Most films are not filmed in the same order as they appear in the final product. The editors job is to work with the film and slowly make it into a coherent story.
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Editors have roles in both pre-production and post-production. In pre-production, editors will work very closely with the director and decide how to make the script work to its full potential. During filming, the editor will look at the new clips each day to check that they are up to standard with the rest of the film. They then add these clips to the series of scenes they have collected.
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During post-production, the editor and the director will again work closely to refine the "assembly cut" (The sequence of clips the editor has put together to make a rough story) to make a director's cut, which, after being approved by the producers. They will then produce the final cut and sound will be added under the editor's oversight.
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To be a good editor, there are many skills you need to have. One of these skills is visual awareness, as you must be able to tell what look fits the style of film you are trying to get.
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The editor must also be able to use editing software such as Premier Pro and Final Cut to a high standard. This is vital as if an editor doesn't know how to use the software, the film may take a lot longer to make, or it will just simply not be anywhere near as good as it could've been.
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Editors will also need to have great communication skills, as they will constantly be discussing with the director and sharing the editing process with others, such as the editing assistants and the script supervisor.
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The average yearly income for an editor is £24,000.
Contracts
Full Time
A full time contract refers to someone working up to 35 hours a week. They may work on many different shows for the same company.
Fixed Term
A Fix Term contract is when a person is employed to work for a certain period of time. At the end of one of these contracts, the employer can either let you go or sign you on for another contract. People on fixed term contracts usually only work on one show for the company.
Freelance
A freelancer doesn't have a specific employer. They make their money by marketing themselves and their skills to clients. If a client is interested they can pay an hourly rate for whatever service the freelancer is offering. Freelancers can chose exactly which jobs to accept or decline, but they may not make steady income if they are not offered enough jobs.
Working conditions
Working Patterns
To work in the TV and Film industry, you must be able to be flexible with your schedule. People in the industry are often required to work long and unsociable hours, and are often not on fulltime employment with one specific employer.