BLUECARD

To get all of our students out of classes we had to blue-card each one of them, making sure that the teachers sign and therefore allow them to miss classes to be in our shoot.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule

8:30am Cast (Band) meets in No10
- get into costume + make-up
9:00am Shoot starts in the Studio

- band performance (60’s)
10:00am Studio
- audience (60’s)

10:30am Studio

- transition from 60’s into modern (audience)

11:00am Studio
 - modern audience

11:30am Studio
 - TRANSITION

1:00pm LUNCH BREAK

- meet back at 1:45

2:00pm Studio/Corridor

- Paula walking through corridor (both versions)

3:00pm Studio

- missing shots of Paula

3:30pm BEDROOM

- SET - UP

4:00pm Bedroom

- getting ready shots

4:30pm OUTSIDE

- SET - UP

5:00pm Outside

- entering shots

5:30pm INSIDE

- TV zoom in


still needed: Blue screen for TV + Hugo Presenter Shots !!

Poster Ideas

This is a poster of the yardbirds, probably not ideal for us because it doesn't have a picture of the artist on it. However we will use the text from this poster because it is more english.

This poster is rather perfect because of the colour combination red-black-white because we want to have a black and white shot on it and also colour and the fact that there is so much red in it would emphazise the fact that it is in colour then. Furthermore it has a picture of the artist on it which we could use.

Another good poster, however I don't think the colour combination works.

This poster is a good poster, however it doesn't work because it doesn't show the artist.

Good poster, but more as a Cover of the artist. Also it is too 60's and it has to work for both, modern and 60's so we'll go for the red one.

OUR Star Image

Our star is called Jack Thomson and we want him to be an organic artist and a true artist. He plays the guitar and the harmonica himself and is a true singer. He is an artist such as Paolo Nutini, good looking and "the goody".

The Star Image

SOME COMMON VALUES OF MUSIC STARDOM

DRUG ABUSE

SUCCESS AGAINST THE ODDS

CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION, OF SEX, DRUGS AND MATERIAL GOOD

A DISREGARD FOR SOCIAL VALUES RELATING TO DRUGS, SEX AND POLITE BEHAVIOUR

AGGRESSION / ANGER

CREATIVITY / TALENT

ATTITUDE

SEXUAL MAGNETISM

REBELLION

YOUTHFULNESS

60's Camera

Marconi V322
Period: from the beginning of 1960's to the end of 1970's
Type: Broadcast TV cameras
Quantity: 2 specimens available

Not strictly a 'broadcast' camera, but certainly a quality vidicon camera. The V322 was intended for industrial and educational studio applications and saw widespread use with educational bodies and in corporate training/promo facilities. Not to mention a few broadcasters too! The camera appears here on a 'Dennard' pedestal. Click on the image to see the reverse aspect.

This is the camera that we found on goldenagetv and I have contacted Paul Marshall and he said we could pick it up in Sessex for our shoot day for about 150 pounds.

This is the e-mail I received -

“Hello Stephanie,

The address is:

Fern House

Church Road

Harby

NEWARK

Notts

NG23 7ED

It's actually 8 miles west of Lincoln, just a few miles off of the A1 Newark A46 turn off. It's a cream coloured detached house, the first (and only) one on Church Road, There's a very large green barn to the left containing most of the stock and a 34' long television OB truck to the right. It's fairly easy to find . . .

We normally operate with Purchase Order and Invoice to be paid by cheque or BACS. Cash is OK but we will still need some sort of *official* order, a formal e mail or a letter in the post with your company letter head. The price is as agreed at 150 UKP for one day. The 'one day' is flexible in that you could pick it up a day or two before and return a day or two later. The hire charge reflects one 'used' day.

Beware that the pedestal is heavy (so too is the camera). It does break up into a 'skid' and the central column with the legs folding in. It will go in a car/small van.

Hope this is all OK

Many thanks,

Best regards,

Paul Marshall

Partner, GATV”

Organizing Costumes for Cast (e-mail)

This is the final version of our Pop Video Cast

Will Teal - Lead Singer

Tom Evans - Guitar

Sam Hindmarsh - Bass

Jamie Parker - Drums

Glen Pegado - Bongos

Paula Riemann - Lead Girl

Helen Lageder, Courtney Madincea, Tabitha Brown, Emma Stack - Audience Members

The shoot day is the 25th of November and we will send you the shooting schedule as soon as it is finished. Please come with you hair undone so we can then do it for you. You'll be given costumes for when you should look like you are 60's, however when you are meant to look modern we were hoping that you have your own clothes.

If you are a member of the band please, as a modern outfit, wear normal shoes (not white), dark jeans and bring a "good" looking t-shirt and a white shirt in. If you are an audience member pease wear whatever you would wear if you were going to a concert of a rock band. If you are the lead girl (Paula) please wear your biker boots, skinny jeans (either dark blue or black) and bring in about 5 different tops you would wear at a rock concert so we can then decide what looks best.

As well as this for the boys and the audience members, we will sort out 60's outfits which you will have to try on, so please send me an e-mail telling me when you have some free time (probably just about 10 minutes) so that we can see whether it fits and looks good or not. Please also send me a mail with your shoe and clothing size.

Thanks already, I hope you are looking forward to the shoot and thanks for being in it.

Steph, Emma and Chazz

The Ideologies of the Music Industry

Keith Negus has published a book, called "Producing Pop". These are some of the best quotes from the book. "What I'm looking for is the working act. The real act. The act that can get up on stage and do it. That act will give you a career. I signed Black Sabbath umpteen years ago; they are still making records. These are acts that are career acts... Two years ago I started a dance label... Now that's not a career orientated label. I mean those records are non-off situations and every now and again maybe you'll get an artist come out of it." "When I first started it was more about going out and finding bands. That method is becoming more and more redundant. More and more these days I find it's as much about: I sit here and think "there's really a gao in the market for this kind of project...". I don't go out to gigs. That's not how I find my stuff. It comes through various writers and producers. So if a writer comes in he may have some great songs and maybe is looking for a front person. Or maybe I have the front person who I want to launch into the market but I haven't got the songs. So you put the two together."

Keith Negus identifies two distinct ways of thinking about potential artists from within the music industry. These ideologies shape the way in which the artists' images and careers are developed, and the way that they are marketed towards specific target audiences. The organic ideology of creativity and the synthetic ideology of creativity.



THE ORGANIC IDEOLOGY OF CREATIVITY


...is a naturalistic approach to artists. Furthermore the seeds of success are within the artists, who have to be "nurtured" by the record company. The image of the artist is "enhanced" by the record company and the artist is given time to envolve and progress through their career.


Emphasis is given to album sales and the construction of a successful back catalogue. This is often aimed at older or more sophisticated consumers. Profits generated by this kind of act tend to be part of a long term strategy by the record company.







THE SYNTHETIC IDEOLOGY OF CREATIVITY
A combinatorial approach to artists and material. Executives attempt to construct successful acts out of the artists and the songs at their disposal. The image of the artist is often constructed by the record company. The artist will be given a short time to prove their success before other combinations will be tried out. Emphasis is given to single sales and to promoting first albums. Often aimed at younger, less sophisticated audiences. Profits generated by this kind of artist tend to be part of an immediate, short term strategy by the record company.

BALANCING THE TWO

In practice, the success of synthetic acts will fund the development and investment in organic acts. Most big record labeld will look at balance their roster with a combination of successful synthetic and organic acts to ensure that there are funds available for the day-to-day running of the company as well as long term profit making potential.

PROMOTING ORGANIC AND SYNTHETIC ACTS

--> There are clear distinctions between the ways in which different types of artists are represented to ensure short term or long term success. Organic acts are often sold on their "authenticity", both musically and socially. The image of the artist appears "unconstructed" (although, of course, this is in itself a carefully constructed look). Synthetic acts are often sold on their "look" or personalities. The image of the artist is carefully and unashamedly constructed.

Props List

Microphone (60's - modern)
Bass (60's - modern)
Guitar (60's - modern)
Drums (60's - modern)
Bongos (60's - modern)

--> These instruments in 60's style and modern version are provided and organized by the school. We want these to change as well because that will signify very clearly that we are changing time.

60's TV Camera

--> We will rent that for about 100 £ for our video.

Posters for the corridor

--> We will take pictures of people (and ourselves) plus the band (Jack Thompson and the Quartet) and then, with the help of the photography department print these of and make them in a 60's style to use for the corridor in our music video.

Cast List

Lead Singer: Will Teal
Guitar: Tom Evans
Bongos: Glen Pegado
Drums: Jamie Parker
Bass: Sam Hindmarsh

Main Girl: Paula Riemann

Audience Members: Helen Lagender, Courtney Madinca, Tabitha Brown,
Emma Stack

TV Presenter: Hugo Ellis

Bodyguard: James Tunstill, Adam Grant

Camera Man: Jason Guildford

This is the Cast for our Production. We had to find a Cast that could, especially in case of the band, look very 60's (hairstyle) but easily be made modern. With the lead singer being Will Teal we found someone perfect even though he is A2 so it was very hard to get him out of lessons, but he has the perfect hairstyle and look for the video. The rest of the band kind of fits that description as well and most of them play the instruments they are meant to play in the video which will probably make things easier. The audience members were chosen simply because of looks and availability and the bodyguards as well because they both look pretty scary and stereotypical. We chose Hugo as our TV presenter, because he has the kind of look as well and as he is my drama teacher I know he will be perfect doing it.

Editing Process of Animatic Timeline

We start to edit our Anamatic Timeline using the Storyboard we have filmed, each slide for about 10 seconds, by taking these, putting them onto the timeline and putting them in order with the right amount of time. As we haven't downloaded the song for the first lesson as it is very hard to get because it isn't that famous, we relied on the time that we wrote on the timeline in the process of storyboarding because we already listened to the music while doing it to make out storyboards as precise as possible. This helped us while producing the Animatic Timeline.
In this lesson, we finally got the song and stuck it onto the timeline. Then we had to adjusts the shots, because we had to make sure that editing cuts etc come and beats in the music. To make this easier we put a mark everytime there was a specific lyrics rythm or music rytyhm. This helped us starting the process of polishing our Animatic Timeline.

To finally get the music has helped us to look at our idea and storyboards again and we actually moduled them aroung quite a bit because you get a different view on the whole things once you see the storyboards moving together with the music etc. The idea in general stayed the same, however we simply switched storyboards back and forward to create a better version of what we want to produce. An example of this would be the shots of the girl getting ready. In the original storyboards, we had cut-aways to the girl getting ready for a long time while the singer is singing but now we actually figured, that we have to have the shot on the lead singer while he is singing the lines and therefore the cut-aways need to be shorter and quicker so that the break can actually come in the change of sound.

So far the first steps have been very easy but now that we have the music it is getting harder, because everything has to be extremely precise and perfect for the music as well.

In the last lesson we finished editing our storyboards and putting them onto the timeline. We perfectioned the bits that weren't good and played it over and over searching for possible mistakes. Then we proposed the idea and showed it to our teachers to figure out whether they were happy with the end result as well, as we changed the whole thing around quite a bit and also left some shots out. Luke said that there were some things he still didn't like, as for example the shots of her putting on make-up, the fact that we cut out the bit where she enters the club and there are two bodyguards in front of the door, the fact that the changing around of the band takes too long and the audience becoming modern because they felt it was too boring.

Basically they wanted us to have shots of Paula getting ready in colour, probably in over-the-shoulder shots, and more about in her bedroom than actually in her mirror. Furthermore we should think of a way how to change the audience more interesting than just touching them. An idea that had been proposed was that Paula could rip of the audiences clothes and underneath there would be colorful stuff and then suddenly, as we do not have enough time, the audience would start changing themselves and figuring out that they have colorful clothes underneath as well. Also, as the song is about 3 minutes they said that we should put in a break at 2:30 and then the first minute (up to the change of sound) would be in the 60's style with colour cut-aways - then 23 seconds in the break of changing the band around, however also the audience members would come on stage as well and help, as we don't have enough time and the instruments and everything else needs to be changed around as well as the styling make-over.
Then the last minute of the song would be completely modern.

Furthermore we thought of some more interesting shots, for example when she is walking through the black and white postered corridor, the door to the studio would open and we would have an over-the shoulder shot of the audience (black and white) looking at her when she is in colour and the corridor behind her as well. As well as this we changed the ending, because instead of her walking out, being happy with what she did, we will end with the modern band as a last image.

So basically the next lesson we will spend with doing these changes to the editing process of the storyboards to complete it.

Storyboard Process

After choosing our initial idea, we started producing our storyboards. Our initial idea was, that we had the setting of a 60's television show and we would simply have shots of the band performing live as well as the audiences reaction to the band. However then we were told that this wasn't enough and so we thought we bring in elements of the modern would that have been invented in the 60's but are still accurate today to represent a connection between the two. We came up with the Car MINI, as it was invented in the 60's but there are newer versions of the car today and it is very popular as well. Furthermore we wanted to play on the style element according to fashion and looked at the mini skirts and typical 60's fashion, that are becoming popular again today. Then we would dress the audience and the main female fan of the band and the band itself in 60's fashion, but make a transition to them in modern fashion, however in 60's style.

However we then figured that actually doing the whole efford with getting the car and fashion together because in the end it wouldn't actually look very good. Therefore we skipped the idea and figured that there were other ways to create the modern-60's transition. Then we came up with the idea that we just stick to the 60's studio, but to make it more interesting and to get the connection with the moden world we would blue-screen all the instruments the band is playing on and we would have cut-aways to fans writing modern stuff on the instruments and as they are playing the images and writings would appear. However we figured that the blue-screen paint would cost a lot of money and actually it wouldn't work perfectly and look blurry or might not work at all, because while the instruments are being played there would be shadows which would create a different type of blue and then the blue-screen wouldn't work.
Then we came up with the idea that we could just actually paint the instruments so we wouldn't have the issue with the blue-screen - however this would lead to the fact that we would need at least 5 different guitars + 5 different drums etc and the transitions between half-painted etc wouldn't look great at all.

So we skipped that idea even though we all really liked it - but we liked the element that there were some things in colour and some weren't so we came up with the idea that we could have eveything in black and white except the band playhing and their instruments which would then be in colour. However this would look good being shot in two layers, however it wouldn't actually say or signify anything so we skipped part of that as well.

Moving on we realized that we had Paula Riemann as the actress for the main girl who is a great dancer and we thought we could have her coming in being a great fan of the band trying to get through them and we would split the screen and have her in black and white on the one side in a 60's style and on the other side dressed very modern and in colour. Then she would come in and dance. However we didn't actually like the whole split screen idea and also this would make the whole video about the girl and we didn't really want to do that either. However then we figured that she could actually be the one making sure that it becomes modern and in the song that we have chosen there is a great drum break after about a minute which we wanted to use to represent the change.

Through this process we came to our finished idea which is, that basically we start off in the 60's television studio with the presenter etc. and we would have the band performing and shots of the audience but cut-aways to Paula getting ready (in colour) and she would try to enter the club modern dressed and everything is black and white except her. She walks throught the studio etc and whenever she touches some people in the audience, they become modern and in colour as well. When there is the change of sound in the music she would go and stage and start modulling the band arround for the rest of the song by givbing them a more modern style, new instruments etc and at the ende of the sound they are all in colour and also the change of lighting has changed. The last shot would be Paula walking out, happy with what shes done.

Copyright letter to Label

To the copyright holder

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to reqyest permission to use the following track as part of this project:

"For Your Love" by John Rzeznik

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely


Stephanie Mareen Kufferath-Kassner
Hurtwood House School


- This email has been sent to metalblade@metalblade.com

- www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p13permission

Chosen cover track

We chose the Song "For your Love" by the Yardbirds, however we are working with the Cover Version of John Rzeznik.

Our Target Audience

Our target audience is basically our generation of 15 to 25 year olds. However our secondary audience would be the older generation who previously loved the Yardbirds and now like the newer version of that style of music.

Our Record label

Today it is the 18th of October and we still haven't got a reply from metalbladerecords.

Institutional Context

Institutional Context
POP PROMOS

What is the history of the band/artist you have used?

The artist we have created is called Jack Thomson. He was born in New York City at 1991 and is now 19 years old. He makes music since 9 years and had his break-through with the band that he is the front singer of “The Clocks” in 2007. The genre he is within is rock / alternative-rock. As a front-singer of “The Clocks”, Jack was more of a hard rocker, however now that he is working on his solo-career, he moved more into the genre of alternative rock. He is probably going into the direction of an artist called Paolo Nutini, developing into a charming musician who is being loved by his attracted audience.

What genre(s) of music do the band/artist fit into?
Jack Thomson is possibly mostly influenced by the genre of rock / alternative rock, however also by classic rock artists such as “The Beatles”, “The Rolling Stones” and “The Kinks”. Also he is possibly aiming to be similar to Paolo Nutini. His contemporary competitors are people and bands such as “Nickelback”, “Linkin Park”, “Goo Goo Dolls”, “Metallica”, “U2”, “Sonic Youth” and “Nirvana”. The genre helps to shape Jack’s Star-image, because you usually expect rock or alternative rock artists to be very man-like, possibly with tattoos and a guitar, and Jack Thomson fits exactly into that visual image according to how we created him. However he doesn’t have tattoos and possibly represents a rather soft-rocker instead of a hard-rocker. His music is guitars focused which we will also commerce in a way that we take pictures of him with a guitar and estimate the fact that he is a real artist. Therefore we will address a large pre-existing fan base and possibly reach them through mainly the word-of-mouth effect, as well as through the help of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace as well as YouTube.

What record label are the band/artist signed to?

Jack Thomson is assigned to Metal Blade Records which is part of Warner Bros. Records. Other acts who are assigned to that Label as well are for example Lilly Allan, Jason Derulo, Iyaz, Mika, and Daniel Powter. The choice of label has probably a huge effect on the development of the artist, because as Warner Bros. Records own a lot of musicians as well as promoting aspects such as magazines and television programmes, Jack Thomson has a high chance of being promoted and marketed very quick and effectively. Furthermore Warner Bros. Records as well as Metal Blade Records are very experiences in what they do and therefore create a good and secure base for our artist.

Who are the band/artist’s audience?

Gender: male

Age: 15-23

Ethnicity: White

Education: Usual, low

Class: middle, low

Sexuality: straight

The typical fan’s lifestyle would probably be that he is a musician as well – the typical “cool-guy” sort of thing. They might listen to the different alternatives of rock such as hard rock, blues rock, soft rock, alternative rock etc. Typically they would consume other media products such as unplugged discs, live concert DVD’s and fan-shirts.

What kind of visual image has the artist/band created for themselves?
The imagery on the CD-Cover would probably be showing him with a guitar or maybe even “kind of” live in concert as this would reinforce the fact that he is a true artist and musician and not a created product. The music video will be present in a black and white 60’s style which shows the reflection towards the old “golden” rock times that Jack Thomson is referring to. Furthermore the video would therefore then differ a lot and might attract a wider audience as it is something new. As well as this the music video shows reference to the “today’s time”, through the use of specific items or moods that were present or invented in the 60’s but are still accurate today. This would hopefully set the mood for the 60’s feeling and attract a large audience, because a lot of people say “I wish I was born in the 60’s” – and through the help of this new artist and music video we might bring the 60’s feeling across. The video would possibly be exhibited on VIVA or MTV and general music channels, possibly also the channels own by Warner Bros. – attracting a very broad audience.

Initial Ideas

When we first came together as a group, we decided, that we liked the idea of reestablishing a 60’s television show, completely in the style of the 60’s including black and white screening, as well as the clothing, audience, performance and moderation of the people in the video. To start off we searched for a style of music, that we could possibly fit into the music video and we figured, that we liked the style of rock / alternative rock. Trying to find a song, we came up with a lot of classical songs, such as Ray Charles or the Beatles and we figured, that we couldn’t use that, because it is just too well known. While researching on youtube, we found the song “For your Love” by the yardbirds and actually the video they have been using was in the style we wanted ours to be as well. However we need a song, that it a lot more modern, so that people nowadays in our generation would actually listen to it. On search for that we found the song “For your Love” in a cover version by John Rzeznik. Now that we found the song, we could develop our initial idea further, because we figured, that if we do a whole video in the 60’s style, it would get a little boring after about a minute. Therefore we thought that we should create a context to the world we live in today and therefore research things that have been created in the 60’s but are still accurate today and we came up with the MINI. We figured, that we could change the video from the original black and white 60’s television show style into a modern, colored today environment, probably having the girls that were in the audience originally cruising through the world in a MINI with the lead singer, still admiring him. This would the be cross-cut with our initial idea. As well as this we would focus on fashion, because some of the things that have been invented in the 60’s are coming into fashion now. With this we can create a link again. As well as this we thought of focusing on the lyrics, as the song is about what a guy would do for the love of a girl and therefore in the music video, even though we have audience members and band members, we would have the lead singer and one girl, showing the story of the song.

Our Production Group

Our Production Group consists of three members. Me, Stephanie Mareen Kufferath-Kassner, Emma Solms-Laubach and Charlie Hiett.

Star Image

In order to understand the relationship between the music industry and its audiences, it is important to consider the roles of music stars. The term "star" refers to the semi-mythological set of meanings constructed around music performers in order to sell the performer to a large and loyal audience.

Dyer has written extensively about the role of stars in film, TV and music. Irrespective of the medium, stars have some key features in common

A star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) ouot of a range of materials (eg advertising, magazines etc as well as films [music])

Stars are commodities produced and consumed on the strenght of their meanings.


Stars depend upon a range of subsidiary media - magazines, TV, radio, the internet - in order to construct an image for themselves which can be marketed to their target audiences. The star image is made up of a range of meanings which are attractive to the target audiences. Fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and "open". Dyer says that this is because it is based upon two key paradoxes.

THE STAR MUST BE SIMULTANEOUSLY ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY FOR THE CONSUMER.

THE STAR MUST BE SIMULTANEOUSLY PRESENT AND ABSENT FOR THE CONSUMER.



The incoherance of the star image ensures that audiences continually strive to "complete" or to "make sense of" of the image. This is achieved by continued consumption of the star through his or her products. In the music industry, performance seems to promise the completion of the image, but it is always ultimatley unsatisfying. This means that fans will go away determined to continue consuming the star in order to carry on attempting to complete their image.

Finally, the star image can be used to position the consumer in erlation to dominant social values (that is hegemony). Depending upon the artist, this may mean that the audience are positioned against the mainstream (though only to a limited degree, since they are still consumers within a capitalist system) or within the mainstream, or somewhere in between.

Conventions of album artwork

Conventions of the video promo

Common Generic Conventions of Popular Music Promo Videos

Although pop video is fairly freeform generically and artistically it still employs several common conventions.

These include…

l The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption

l The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

l A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

l Repetition of reoccurring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)

l A possible narrative structure

l A possible performance element

l The flexibility to disregard Realism!

l Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

l Use of special effects (lighting, annimation, CGIs, in-camera effects)

l A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track

l High impact instantly! (Don’t forget that competition for airplay on the main music channel outlets is intense)

Background to the music industry

Introduction to the Music Industry

l Musical taste can be a controversial topic- almost to the point of tribalism.

l It is contentious because it defines and often signifies personality and lifestyle. Musical taste is about the way you dress, speak and sometimes act.

l However, all commentators agree that Music and its trends - sit at the epicentre of popular culture.

l Not only to the extent that an individual can derive a sense of identity but to the extent the global community can be changed by Musical Trends

l It is this ‘dynamic tension’ that exists between the artistic and commercial forces of underpins the success of this vast media business.

l A tension between the organic and synthetic

l Another feature to consider is the music industry ‘synergetic connections’ with other media forms – this codependence with other media means that a ‘mutual reliance’ can be productive and but also risky.

l Dominated by 4 trans-national corporations

¡ Universal/AOL-Time Warner

¡ Sony/BMG

¡ Warner Bros

¡ EMI

These are known as ‘The Majors’

l Most majors also own, or licence, a string of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre

l These companies are known as ‘Major-Independents’ and are operated under the “loose-tight” approach

l The Majors also exclusively distribute their own global product. They also distribute for their ‘Major Independents’ and other ‘True Independents’

l Finally, there are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connection to the majors

l These companies often concentrate on a small number of artists, within specialised niches in the industry. These are known as ‘true independents’

l Most record companies organise themselves internally into several key areas:

¡ Artists and Repertoire (A&R)

¡ Marketing/Artist Development

¡ Promotions

¡ Legal

¡ Financial

l The industry as a whole has a complex relationship with a number of different media

l To be successful and artist must receive exposure via Radio, TV, Print media, Film, New Media. The co-ordinated simultaneous use of these media is known in the industry as a ‘Cross-Media marketing Campaign’

This relationship is ‘symbiotic’

Advanced Production Portfolio 2010

Evaluation of Post-Production

Instruments
As sound effects we used sound effects that created the mood of a typical horror movie. For example we used an eerie noise all the way through the sequence to create tension. Also we used louder noises and additional sound for the footsteps and the wind to create an exterior at night which should not look peaceful.
We keep noises such as the ripping of the sheets and the cracking of the chair because we felt that those noises together with the eerie noise would create a mystical mood and made people focus on the sharp diagetic sounds.
When the sequence came to the end we used no sound and worked with silence (as it was done in Psycho) to deliver the message that something is going to happen soon.
With this we were trying to make the audience feel scared and create tension to then prepare them for the huge shock effect when Alabama screams at the end.
With the help of our sound, which just was noises we led the audience into a typical direction and create the mood of a horror movie.

Titles and Graphics
We chose to do our titles in a very simple way, to not distract the movie. However this was difficult because we had to find the right size and style for it.
We placed the titles in the given order, starting with the distributor.
We placed the titles usually somewhere on the side of the frame to not distract the frame. Also we made them fade because our thriller production isn’t that sharp, but rather flows towards the actual action and therefore we made the titles fade in and out to make it look smooth.
We again, also due to the fact that our sequence is a rather slow sequence, we made the titles come very slow to not break the tension.
However we put them somewhere, where they could surprise the audience, for example when Berika opens the trap door, the title appears as he opens it.
We chose to do this, because then the titles belong more in the scene and are not “just there”.
We chose to maintain the front style we chose the same one throughout to make it look professional. Also we kept the “fading-style”.

Analysing – Audience Appeal
I think our product appeals to our targeted audience, teenagers and horror fans, not only because of its storyline, but also because we created a special mood through the use of sound and titles.
The sound made the sequence more appeal to the teenage audience, because we only used noises instead of sound and I don’t think people would be that attracted if we would have “scary” violins or anything like that. I think the simplicity of the sound created a huge amount of tension, and the fact that all the noise is gone before she starts screaming makes people concentrated on the movie and they know that there will be something happening – a moment of shock.
I think the titles also help to create a product which directly appeals to our target audience because we again used simplicity, and out less educated audience would not have to concentrate a lot on the movie or the titles but can just sit back and enjoy out production.

Audience Feedback

This is your opportunity to comment on our Production - any feedback is welcome!

Audience Feedback - Peira

Tom Barton – very suspenseful

Clare Dodkins – I liked the pace of editing as it un-nerved the audience and tightened
the tension of the piece

Will Berril – very dramatic

Leaya Hatzakis – cast perfectly, great choice of location

Lara kufferath – I liked the way of creating tension with the use of silence

Dan Ash – nice contrast between Alabama and Berika, also according to status. I liked the mask and the mise-en-scene. The basement gave a nice contrast. Alabama reinforced the society we live in with children getting captured, and the canted angle shots of Berika gave a sense of peculiar.

Task 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Part 1

Our exterior Location was Leith Hill and we had a shot of this old boarding house with Berika walking towards it. This house reinforces the image of a dark building within the horror genre, as it was used in many different movies such as The Orphanage and The Others. We took this image and copied it because it is very effective within the horror genre because a house looks as if nobody lives in there and therefore it created tension and the audience directly watches out.

Part 2

This Screen grab shows Berika walking down the staircase, holding a candle in his hands – then he walks off into the dark. This gives a first impression of the bed guy and I think our media product developed this image because usually the creepy guy in the horror genre is very scary indeed, however mostly he is not attractive as in The Silence of the lambs or Red Dragon. However our actor is attractive and handsome and I think that makes it even scarier, because he can be seen as the schizophrenic, attractive business guy, who then becomes the evil. Also this subverts the usual image of the "bad guy".

The fact that you see him in a dark surrounding, alone, using a trap door shows that this is going to be a horror movie because this image is very stereotypical and doesn't show happiness or anything like this.

Part 3

This close - up of Berika shows him during his work. The fact that is goes in and out of focus is reflects the movie Halloween where you always have the male following and he is shot in a close up. This was also particularly used in The Silence of the Lambs and is very effective. Proof for this is, that the main actor Anthony Hopkins is on screen for only 16 minutes, but still won an Oscar, because he is mostly filmed straight on in a close up and therefore you keep remembering that image and when somebody tells you that he has only been on screen for 16 minutes you won’t believe it because you feel his view almost “in your neck”. We used that and demonstrated that in our production as well, because then the audience sees every single detail of the actors face, and you keep having it in your head and therefore it is really scary.

Part 4

The close up shows Alabama’s face. She is a young, innocent looking girl with blonde hair and we used her as a copy of other media products, however her case is very wide. First of all we showed her as the poor girl being raped and therefore we reinforced the image from loads of other movies such as The Orphanage and Hide and Seek where little children are being presented. However there they are presented in an evil way, where they turn bad in the end.
We subverted this image because in our case the child is actually the victim who is being captured and tortured.

Part 5

The fact that Alabama’s hands are in chains also reinforces the image of our little girl being kept against her will, which makes the whole thing more cruel.

As well as this the chains reinforce the fact that our Production is a Horror/Thriller Production.

Part 6

When her face is forced into the mask it is done in a very cruel way and when she screams it is shocking. With this we subverted the image of the happy child as we find it in adverts for chocolate etc. In those advert the child is represented as something funny and entertaining which lightens up life and we subverted that image by having the child being captured.

However as well as this, we also reinforce the child as it is represented in newspapers, where you hear of children being raped and tortured etc.

This is a stereotype from others movie which we took over.