NEW SHORT FILM: White Sparrows

The brief: Shoot and edit a 90 second film in 4 hours, including a monologue. Below is our group's efforts.

Jameson Short Film Competition

Check out the link for details on how to enter the Jameson Short Film Script Competition. The prize includes the chance to direct an Oscar winner! You must be over 25 to enter!

http://www.jamesonfirstshot.com/enter

Brindley Place Film Festival

Check out the list of films and dates for the Brindley Place Film Festival here. It is an outdoor event and all films are free. Films showing this year include Frozen, The Great Gatsby and The Theory of Everything.

Marketing a Blockbuster

Single Camera Production

Film Noir Mood board

Mood board of some of my favourite film noir images which I used to help make my own noir short film.

Showreel

Teaser Posters

Created these teaser posters for my film "Honey on her Lips."

Director's Chair Interviews

Just discovered these interesting interviews conducted by Sin City director Robert Rodriguez. They include John Carpenter, Guillermo del Toro, Quentin Tarantino and Francis Ford Coppola.

Honey on her Lips Trailer

Questionnaire Results

Film Questionnaire Results

70% of respondents watched films weekly whilst the remaining 30% watched them on a monthly basis. None of the respondents said that they watched films less than once a month. This high percentage of regular film watching is not surprising considering that the respondents were almost all media students.

The most popular way of viewing films was online with 40% of people saying that was the how they mostly watched their films. Only 10% said they mostly watched films at the cinema. This is a trend not specific to my target group as sales of cinema tickets have gone down, perhaps in part due to emerging technologies and online streaming sites. This has resulted in Hollywood investing more in “tent pole” movies as they bring in the largest audiences and do very well overseas. For example the Transformers franchise is very popular in China.

The most popular online streaming services were BBC iPlayer and ITV player. Netflix and 4 OD were not far behind. The least popular was Amazon Prime with only one person using this service to view films. With services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime now making their own exclusive content this may change in the future as people begin to subscribe for fear of missing out. However it is perhaps not surprising that the subscription free services are most popular as they are free and available to everyone with Internet access.

 The most popular genre is Comedy with 40% responding it was their favourite and no-one responding that it was their least favourite. Horror was not far behind with 30% saying it was their favourite but also 30% saying it was their least favourite, making horror the most divisive genre. Nobody placed Romance or Sci-Fi as his or her favourite genre.

The two strongest influences to see a film were advertising and genre. The least influential was friends and family. Advertising a film can cost vast amounts with Hollywood blockbusters using up to half of their budgets on marketing.

Two people chose Johnny Depp as their favourite actor. Many of the other actors chosen were well known for their action roles such as Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Denzel Washington. The average age of favourite male actors was 53. One was in his thirties, two in their forties, three in their fifties, one in their sixties and one in their seventies.

The most popular actress was Emma Watson with 3 respondents picking her. The average age of the actresses was 38.  Two of the most popular actresses were in their twenties, one in her thirties and 5 in their forties.

This large age gap between popular male and female stars may be down to a gender bias in Hollywood films or it may be down to the individuals chosen to take part in the survey. Regardless it is clear that men were popular from their thirties to their seventies whereas no woman over forty was chosen by the respondents.

The most popular films were Hollywood with 7 out of 10 people saying they watched them most. 5 people chose British films as their most watched whereas nobody chose Bollywood, China/Hong Kong or any other country. This shows how important language and culture is to the respondents. Britain makes far less films then Bollywood and China/Hong Kong but is still popular. This is not very surprising as all of the respondents were British or living in Britain.

Bafta Guru - Screenwriting

Just discovered the Bafta Guru channel on YOUtube. So informative and useful. Here's a selection of some of their screenwriting videos including interviews and lectures with Emma Thompson, James Schamus, Joss Whedon, Stephen Knight and Peter Straughan. 

Audience Theories

Hypodermic Needle Theory

This theory began with people analysing the government propaganda of the First World War and was developed during the 1920s and 1930s. The theory supposes that the audience is passive and that their thoughts, values and beliefs are easily shaped by the media. Messages from the media are directly injected into people’s minds hence the name hypodermic needle theory.

The 1935 film Triumph of the Will is an excellent example of wartime propaganda. It contains a number of Hitler’s speeches as well as reactions from the crowds and other images.  However film critic Roger Ebert wrote that it is “a terrible film... and not even 'manipulative,' because it is too clumsy to manipulate anyone but a true believer." This opinion would suggest that cultivation theory would be better applied to this film.

Reception Theory or Audience Positioning

Birmingham University academic Stuart Hall helped develop this theory in 1973. He supposed that media producers encoded texts to contain certain messages but once an audience decodes those messages the meaning may have changed rather like a game of Chinese whispers. This theory sees the audience as active and divides them into three categories.

• Dominant: There is little change in the intended message and the way it is viewed.    
• Negotiated: The audience may agree with some elements but disagree with others   
• Oppositional: The audience is in conflict with the text and disagrees with it.

This theory could be applied to the film Hunger about Bobby Sands. Looking at reviews online I can see that some people viewed the film as unbiased and simply about the human aspect of hunger strikes. Others argued that it portrayed the IRA in too positive a light and others agreed with the film but felt it didn’t portray the characters positively enough. These different reactions seem to depend on the political beliefs and opinions held by the individual before watching the film.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Blumler and Katz developed this theory in 1974. It suggests that the audience is active and uses the media product but is not in turn used by the media producers. They believed that audience chooses the mass media it wants due to a variety of reasons. Criticism of this theory includes the fact that it gives no insight into how we decode messages embedded in the media and does not account for other influences.

1. Information/Education
2. Entertainment
3. Identification (The audience sees the characters as role models)
4. Integration/Social interaction (The audience discusses the media product with others and uses the media product to bond with people.)
5. Escapism
6. Sexual Stimulation

This theory could be applied to the film Sex in the City. Some people enjoyed the film for it’s entertainment value, some identified with the lead characters, some watched it because it was a talking point between them and their friends, some enjoyed the fashion and glamour and others liked the sex and nudity.

Two Step Flow Theory

Lazarsfeld and Katz developed this theory in 1940. It suggests that the media communicates messages to an audience of opinion leaders who decipher those messages and in turn communicate them to others.  The audience is viewed as semi-passive. An example of these opinion leaders includes critics and reviewers who view a media product and then rate it and recommend it. Another example is social media where people often share information and media products with their network of followers often with their views attached.

This theory could be applied to Blade Runner. When the film was first released in 1982 it was not financially successful in America but was popular abroad and gained a cult following.  Fans of the film created magazines and fan clubs. In 1990 and 91 the work print version of the film was shown in theatres and became an unexpected hit. This led to the creation of a director’s cut, which had a theatrical release and led to the film being re-evaluated by critics. The influence of those early fans kept the film alive.

Cultivation or Reinforcement Theory

George Gerbner developed this theory. He suggested that the media has long term effects that are small but build up over time. He believed that although the audience is passive the media can only reinforce opinions that they already hold. Critics of this theory say that it does not take into account the audience’s culture or background.

This theory could be applied to Horror films. There are often reports in newspapers that there is a connection between violent films and actual violence. In the film Scream the killers are horror movie fans. One of the characters defends the genre by saying “Movies don’t create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.” This suggests that a person has to already have a propensity for violence to be influenced by onscreen depictions of it.

Demographics

I used information from 5 students in my class to create a table of their demographics.

Age	Gender	Nationality	Occupation	Marital Status	Likes
18	Female	British	Student	Single	Music, singing, playing piano, 50s/60s fashion, cinema, musical theatre, playing sports.
30	Male	Persian	Assistant Manager in a fast food shop	Single	Shopping, smoothies, perfumes, BMW, travelling, sky at night, music, driving, music videos, films, knowledge, Persian food, whiskey.
19	Male	English	Facilities Management	Single	Writing, film-making, reading, music, cinema, socialising, travelling, technology, gaming.
20	Male	British/Kenyan	Student	Not known	Alcohol, junk food, horror films, comedy films, history.
26	Male	British	Security	Single	Travelling, music, gaming, playing sport, going cinema.

BBC

BBC from njo85

Adele Dixon performing on BBC TV in 1936.

History of Editing

Back to the Future Moodboards

Audiences in Media

More Hollywood Reporter Roundtables

I can't get enough of these Hollywood Reporter Roundtables. These interviews with Hollywood executives give a real insight into why we're seeing so many "tent pole" movies and the influence that the foreign box office is now having on Hollywood films.

Media Promotion Assignment

The organisation I have chosen to look at is USA Network an American cable and satellite channel owned by NBC Universal Cable. According to Nielsen coverage estimates the channel is received by 86.38 % of American households that own at least one television set. Nielsen ratings are gathered by viewer diaries or small devices called Set Metres placed in selected households.

The product I have chosen is a TV show called Suits. It is co-produced by Universal Cable Productions, Hypnotic Films & Television, United Korsh Company and Open 4 Business Productions. The Show has had four seasons and been recently renewed for a fifth. It is a Legal Drama that is currently shown on Wednesdays at 9.00pm Eastern Standard Time. This makes it a primetime show. Primetime is the period of the day with the most viewers making it particularly important to television stations in terms of generating advertising revenues. In recent years Drama shows have gained the most viewers during this time slot and therefore generated the most advertising revenues.

 Statistics taken from http://www.statista.com/statistics/223207/genre-breakdown-of-primetime-tv-ad-spend-in-the-us/

“Suits was among the top 5 scripted series on ad-supported cable in 3^rd quarter in P18-49 (1.84MM), P25-54 (2.02MM) and P18-34 (844,000) and a top ten series on basic cable in total viewers P2+ (4.50MM).  Season 4.0 of the series reached a total audience of 14.1 million viewers across its various platforms, including live viewing, DVR playback, set-top VOD, digital on-demand and electronic sell-through.”

Taken from http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/

I have used the internet to gather statistical information about the show such as Nielsen ratings. As an employee of USA network I would have access to further statistical information. Also by looking at the USA Network site I see that they conduct their own surveys and opinion polls, which would be very useful in defining the audience of the show and discovering their opinions. I would want to know the income bracket, age, gender, race and location of the viewers. Using this information I could effectively target that existing audience and help create new fans of the show.

In a press release USA Network President Chris McCumber said “As a leading cable drama, Suits is at the top of its game and continues to grow in the key demographics, drawing a passionate, young and loyal audience.” In fact according to buddytv.com it is the number one scripted TV show in its timeslot for the 18-49 years old audience demographic.

One way in which I would try and increase this young audience is by advertising online. I would put adverts and clips on Youtube and use social network sites such as facebook and twitter. One method would be to create an internet meme generator for the show and include it on the USA Network site as well as the show’s facebook and twitter pages. This would give fans of the show the chance to create their own adverts for the show which they can share online, hopefully becoming viral. This could be used as a competition with winners receiving DVDs, show merchandise and perhaps even a chance to meet its stars. During my research I discovered something similar was done to promote the second season where viewers were encouraged to create GIFs of the show.

Here are some examples of fan made Suits memes I found online:

 

I would also leak select information about the show’s storylines to Internet bloggers and television magazines.

As well as online advertising I would advertise on television. I would place adverts for the show in other primetime shows with a similar demographic such as White Collar. I would also rerun episodes of all the previous seasons of the show in order for new viewers to catch up and for existing viewers to re-watch their favourite episodes. I would also consider placing trailers in movie theatres before films targeted at the same audience demographic on DVDs of the show.

Additionally I would take out print advertisements in magazines and newspapers as well as securing interviews with the stars of the show such as Gabriel Macht, Patrick J Adams and Gina Torres. GQ, a men’s fashion and style magazine based in New York City, would be a perfect fit for the show. Clothing is an important aspect of the show, the title itself reflecting this.  Esquire and Details are similar popular American men’s style magazines. I would also try to secure interviews with the shows stars on the top rated talk shows as a way to promote the new season.

I would also consider using merchandise to tie in with the show. Coffee mugs, t-shirts and key rings would be an obvious start but I would consider other products that would tie in with the show such as cuff links, Scotch the favourite drink of several of the characters in the show or engraved Scotch Glasses like the pair of Tiffany ones featured in an episode of the show. These could be limited edition products made in small quantities. I would try and create a buzz for the show similar to that of Mad Men a series that was regarded as much for its sense of style as for its drama. One advertising technique used by Mad Men was collaborating with clothing brands such as Banana Republic and Brooks Bros. Something similar to Mad Men’s collaboration with Brooks Bros. would be perfect for Suits. (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/alltherage/2009/10/brooks-brothers-introduces-limited-edition-mad-men-suit-don-draper-roger-sterling.html)

Such a collaboration would be covered by fashion blogs and magazines thus creating more advertising and generating more interest in the show.

To create a strong visual presence I would use posters, wallscapes and banners to advertise the show in various locations. Since the show is set in New York I would advertise in iconic places such as Times Square and New York’s Grand Central Subway terminal.

Music is an important part of the show and the main character is a music lover with an impressive collection of vinyl records. I would create a spotify playlist of songs from the show and perhaps even sell a soundtrack of selected songs from the show. I believe this would appeal to the shows key demographic of 18-49 year olds.

It is important that all of the advertising and promotional tools used are in keeping with the style of the show and appropriate for its target audience. The look of the show is very sleek and polished with what I would describe as a masculine feel so although the audience of the show is young I would avoid using a lot of bright colours and keep to a subdued palette with perhaps one or two accent colours, The cover of the season three DVD is a good example of this:

In my opinion this is much more successful than the season one DVD packaging with its light colours and emphasis on the friendship of the two main characters. The colour palette, the placement of the two characters and the stylish clothing in the above image all help to create a slick, stylish, masculine image. It would be my goal to make the show ‘cool’ and stylish with a following similar to that of other successful shows like Mad Men.