8.2 b) Working Patterns

Shift Work

Shift work consists of a group of the same people that will work on a constantly rotating set number of hours carrying out the same job every day, in a continuous 24 hour cycle. An example of a sector that carry's out shift work would be TV news and more specifically the presenters, directors etc. This is due to the fact that there will always be news happening all around the world, it doesn't stop. Which means that when running a 24 hour news channel there always has to be team ready to report the constant stream of news.

fran unsworth, director at BBC

As a director they get the opportunity to work the night shifts within the news, and get paid more as the hours are considered anti-social. However as the hours are constantly changing it can be very tiring, and mess with the persons physical and mental capacity. Moreover, the director will not be able to perform to their highest ability as they could become exhausted and eventually 'burnt out.'

A plus for the institution, eg. BBC news, does mean that they can have a constant work force which will always be fresh, as the work load is spread out across many different people in the same job role. Their directors will always be creative and perhaps have some different style choices as well as be able to carry out their duties to a very high standard. But, with shift work it does mean that the BBC would continuously pay people every 24 hour, even though viewer ratings wont even be particularly high during off peak times such as the middle of the night. When the news is running during the night directors could still be paid from £300-£800, on a flat rate, so the BBC have to pay out this money and get very little in return for it. 

Source: https://www.directors.uk.com/news/what-s-your-rate-the-successful-multi-camera-and-entertainment-director-rate-card-campaignTerm

Fixed term 

A fixed term contract is typically the duration of the contract in which it will end upon completion of a specific task or a certain date. Moreover, when working with fixed term contracts it means that the person is self-employed and can chose when they want to sign a new contract of work. Fixed term contracts are usually more frequent in the film industry, sectors such as editorial or management etc. The majority will all work on fixed term contracts as certain people work on certain stages of production. Furthermore, there's not a constant flow of films being produced, so people are hired when a film starts and will leave when the end product has been completed or their contract has just run out.

brent white, editior of Anchorman 2

Editors who will work on fixed term contracts, will be able to fit work around their personal life. The amount of time that they work in a calendar year is very flexible, also they have a sense of security as they know they have a stable flow of work for certain periods of time. But, work is not always guaranteed as films are not constantly being made.  Brent white, is an example of working on fixed term contracts as he edited 'Anchorman 2' for 'Dreamworks Pictures' then moved on to edit the '40 year old virgin' for 'Universal.' This shows that he had a continuous stream of work, editing films every year.

Furthermore, for the institution (Dreamworks) they were able to hire Brent for the time it took to edit the film and then could release him. They only had to pay him for the time needed and dont have to continuously pay people when they aren't even needed. Although flexibility in the work force
can be seen as a major positive it does cause a concern during the near completion of a film. If the contract has run out and the employee moves on, the institution are left with a incomplete film and will need to hire another person which potentially might not be as good.

Office Hours

Office hours are the standard working, business hours of a day typically starting at 9am and finishing at 5pm. Administrative or financial sectors such as Accountants in film/tv will typically work office hours as they do the majority of paperwork, and can just carry out their duties in the day to day running of the stages of production.

A positive for an Accountant is the sense of security and stability within their job, its a job with no uncertainties and a more normal, predictable job. They are able to schedule meetings about the remaining budget, the overall expenditure of the film etc, through a normal working day. The job doesn't consist of long hours or taking lots of work home, its perhaps an 'easy' job from a basic understanding of the job and doesnt seem to come with much stress. However, office hours come with an expectation of getting the work done and to a deadline, as they do have a lot of time. The work can be inflexible and generally perhaps seems boring.

Araceli leal, accountant in film  

The institution does get some structure in their work force and its easy to just put them on a flat rate rather then worry about having to sign people on big contracts. there is though a certrain stress that comes with this work, a film production has to do a lot in a short space of time. If people are doing work slow as they can just pick it up the following day it can delay certain stages of a film and overall the time it takes tom complete the film. Moreover, there is little that can be done about this which can be seen as a frustrating part of a films prduction.

Freelance

Freelance is a more self-employed pattern of work, they will constantly work on different projects and for different companies. However they do not sign big contracts and is usually a pattern that happens outside of the management sector. Freelance, although seems like fixed term contract, differs in the fact that the fixed term's are all surrounding the contract rather then freelance which is more about the way in which people work. An example of Freelancing would be job roles such as, the camera operators, editors, actors etc, which generally covers the majority of people that work in the film industry. Freelance is used much like fixed term contracts as people are employed for the certain period of time that they are needed for and when the task is complete they are free to move on.

By doing freelance work it does mean that the person can manage a work schedule that fits around their personal life, and does result in being able to work for a wider range of companies and on different projects. Many actors would be considered as working freelance, Tom Hanks starred in 'That thing you do' produced by 20th Century Fox in 1996 he then did not feature in a film for various reasons till 1998 'Saving Private Ryan' which of course meant he could take some time off work, but also meant that for 2 years he wasnt getting paid. This would illustrate that freelance both positively and negatively impacts actors lives.

From an institutional point of view it means that normally there will always be someone available for the right amount of money. However saying that, big actors will have the power in negotiations over contracts and generally if they want too. For example it was reported that 'Warner bros' offered a lead role to Jonah Hill in the Hangover series, in which he turned it down. So, whilst much of a film crew will be available securing actors would not always be as easy. Being able to bring in actors may also get very expensive. Lionsgate attempted to meet Leonardo DiCaprio's 'big money' contract to take a lead role in American Psycho, when they couldnt reach an agreement it was easy for DiCaprio to walk away. Thus leaving Lionsgate to find a new actor.

Irregular Patterns

This pattern is when the employees hours will frequently, and significantly change on a regular occurrence. Irregular patterns can sometimes include working unsociable hours and as an employee you need to be very dedicated to your work. Irregular patterns can bee seen in TV with news crews as well as seeing these patterns with film crews in the production stage as certain scenes have to be filmed at all different times of the day/night. A more specific example would be correspondents in the news sector, as they will constantly be required to go to different locations and get news story.


Chris Morris a BBC news correspondent would have swiftly been shipped off to various diiferent countries as he has reported from various war zones in Iraq, Palestine etc. The benefit for him is the fact that he is in dangerous environments during very unusual times resulting what would be assumed as a very good pay. Of course it is a very unstable line of work and is very unpredictable adding tot he fact that he was in some very precarious locations.

For the BBC however, it did mean that they always had someone one on stand by to go out and report any breaking news that may have happened at the time. They were able to send Chris Morris to Madrid very quickly to cover the bombings that happened in 2004, and be one of the first news channels in the nation to report what had happened. A negative for the BBC is that there is a risk of the correspondents being 'burnt out.' If a lot is happening in a short space of time then through all of the travelling Chris Morris would become very tired, very easily.

Hourly Rates

When the employee is paid by the hour and has the opportunity to work extra hours on top of their contract, (which would be overtime) this would be Hourly rates. Hourly rates is mutually exclusive from Shift work as well as an annual salary and monthly pay. Hourly rates can be seen in a First Assistant Director which on average should get paid £36.40 per hour for a 10 hour day, they also have the chance to work longer hours which would increase their rate, however they might have to work for longer and not get a choice because of strict deadlines the film would have to meet.      


Peter Khon who is worked as an assistant director for the film Birdman and the Pirates of the Caribbean series would have had an opportunity to be paid more as he would have worked for many hours mainly, when in the production stage of the films. He should have been paid more, whether this is true of not would be uncertain, in the 'real world' perhaps there was a slight unbalance between the hours he worked and the amount he was paid.


Walt Disney Pictures who produced the Pirates of the Caribbean series, also employing Peter Khon, would have only had to pay him when he was required, for instance he may not have been needed during the pre-production stage and so would have saved some money. Negatively they would have been obliged to pay him a lot of money when he worked very long hours during the production stages. It would seem that it would have all equaled out, besides the fact Khon would have been on a lower pay scale then the main director and producers anyways.

source: http://www.bectu.org.uk/advice-resources/rates

Piece Work

This working pattern means the employee will get paid for each piece that they make, the employee will usually be able to negotiate a high wage but it is only a fixed rate. An example of piece work would be the mise-en-scene production team, as they are constantly design & making different things to be used in production of a film/tv program. A prop maker is able to charge a high pay as they make bespoke items that may not even exist and will become very valuable items, such as an original sword possessed by Aragorn from Lord Of The Rings.


Piece work is a job where the employee has to be self motivated and productive to get things done and to a high standard in order to be paid. Piece work which is a very creative job, does seem like the employee has to have a real enthusiasm for what they do. George DeTitta Jr. who worked on the sets of 'Birdman' we would assume, must love his job as he had to create many different things and perhaps in a very short space of time if different props wanted to be added on to the stage. A negative though for George is that he would have had to work very fast on some occasions which wouldn't have been preferable as perhaps certain props may not have been up to his expected standards.

An institution such as 20th Century Fox who produced the 'Star Wars' series would although have to pay an enormous amount of money for many props that had to be made, they would finish some of the films and be left with some invaluable items that perhaps are priceless. An argument could be made considering the price that some of the individual props cost, however being one of the big 6 Hollywood companies would mean that it perhaps didn't hurt them as much.