NME Improvements

I have looked at who the magazine is aimed at and its purpose, so am now looking at who the brand doesn't cater for and ways that they could adjust and make improvements.


Task:
To look at NME magazine and suggest ways they could increase their circulation/revenue

·Make it more unisex by making the magazine appeal to more females. This could be achieved by having a more neutral colour scheme and by interviewing more bands/artists that girls can relate to.

·As well as including smaller, upcoming bands, perhaps include some more well known ones, so people that arn't necessarily music 'experts' also feel that they can buy a copy of the magazine.

·Could maybe have themed issues each month.

NME - Audience profile pack

Having looked at the magazine myself and predicted who I think it is aimed at, here are the actual true facts;


KEY STATS

Male: 74% 

Female: 26% 

Median age: 23 

Student: 42% 

ABC1: 68% 

Circulation: 33,875 

Readership:  325,000

ABCe Unique Users: 5,342,246

Readers have a strong relationship with NME and completely trust the brand:

- “I can trust it” “Its full of facts that we should all

   know but don’t BUT we do now thanks to NME”

- “Honest no-holds barred reviews”.

MOBILES

• NME readers are influential's when it comes to mobile phones.

• They are over twice as likely to convince friends and family about what mobiles to buy.

MUSIC

Not surprisingly NME readers are completely obsessed by music. Reader research has demonstrated that they rely on the editorial and the ads to keep them up to date with new music. This knowledge then makes them the authority in music in their peer group.

FILMS

NME readers enjoy watching films, both in the cinema and at home. They tend to buy a new DVD every month (higher than the national average)

Studying NME magazine

1. Who does the magazine think you are?
The magazine thinks we're male and between the ages of 15-30, i.e. a teenager or a young adult, who processes a key interest in music. Most likely wanting to know about the latest gigs available, newest albums released and what upcoming artists have been up to. - As these three features are a big portion of what the magazie offers.

2. How do you know?
We know this is because a large amount of the pictures and artists the publishers of the magazine have interviewd are males. The colours and the overall look of the magazine is stylish and more complistic, containig colour such as dark red and silver, not necessarily the common colours you would see on a magazine aimed at females. The type of text used is also bolder and rather plain and ordinary (nothing fancy that could be compared to fonts that girls may use.) We know the readers of the magazine are going to be fairly young as all the adverts contained in the published atricle are all those that can be related more to people of a younger age, than those who are of a older generation. Such as advertisements for an ipad, a social network site and for spot cream. Another point is that language in the magazine is relaxed and informal, something that you would not often see in text that was aimed for people who are older. Lastly, we know it is aimed at people who have a key intested in music as its main focus throughout is the latest artists out and what they have been up to, as well as new albums and gigs coming up.

NME History

1960s
The paper's first issue was published on 7 March 1952. It was initially published in a non-glossy tabloid format on standard newsprint. During the 1960s the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time. The paper became engaged in a sometimes tense rivalry with its fellow weekly music paper Melody Maker; however, NME sales were healthy with the paper selling as many as 200,000 issues per week, making it one of the UK's biggest sellers.

1970s
By the early 1970s NME had lost ground to the Melody Maker as its coverage of music had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music, particularly during the early years of psychedelia and progressive rock. In early 1972 the paper found itself on the verge of closure by its owners IPC. Alan Smith was made editor and was given a short period of time by IPC to turn things around quickly or face closure. As a result the paper's coverage changed radically from an uncritical and rather reverential showbiz-oriented paper to something intended to be smarter, hipper, more cynical and funnier than any mainstream British music paper had previously been.
In mid-1973, the paper was selling nearly 300,000 copies per week and was outstripping its other weekly rivals, Melody Maker, Disc, Record Mirror and Sounds.

1980s
However sales were dropping, and by the mid 1980s NME had hit a rough patch and was in danger of closing. During this period (now under the editorship of Ian Pye, who replaced Neil Spencer in 1985), they were split between those who wanted to write about hip hop, a genre that was relatively new to the UK, and those who wanted to stick to rock music.

1990s
The start of 1990 saw the paper in the thick of the "Madchester" scene, and covering the new British indie bands and shoegazers.

2000s
From the issue of 21 March 1998 onwards, the paper has no longer been printed on newsprint, and more recently it has shifted to tabloid size: it has full, glossy, colour covers. 2000 saw the closure of the Melody Maker (which officially merged with the NME) and many speculated the NME would be next as the weekly music magazine market was shrinking.

In May 2008 the magazine received a redesign, aimed at an older readership with a less poppy, more authoritative tone. The first issue of the redesign featured a free seven-inch Coldplay vinyl single. Circulation of the magazine has fallen continuously since 2003. In the second half of 2009, the magazine's circulation was 38,486, 47% down on a 2003 figure of 72,442. In 2010, NME partnered with
MetroLyrics to provide lyrics snippets on its web site nme.com, with full
 lyrics exposure at metrolyrics.com.

-  Information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME#History

What does the NME website offer its audience?

The NME website offers its audience a number of different opportunities. Firstly it allows them to buy tickets to gigs they may be interested in, including ones that are said to have been sold out, ensuring that they do not miss out on hearing their favourite bands. It enables them to listen to new music and the latest songs out, plus gives them the chance to write their own feedback and comment about new music and relevant topics and they can give their opinion on. As well as this, they hear about the latest news regarding music stars and gigs and they can see up to date photos of what has been going on in the media amongst the music scene. Even though fans can buy their latest bands/solo artists music the website also has its own shop online where they can buy merchandise such as t-shirts. Including all this, the website gives reviews on the most recent albums that have been released, plus the chance for fans to vote for who they think is the best British band, best international band, best solo artist, best new band, best live band and who they think deserves to win best album.

How does the NME website address its audience?

First of all you look at the appearance of the NME website, it is bright and colourful and appeals to the correct audience (probably people between the ages of 15-30). It appears very current and recent which keeps up with today’s trends. The text used on the website it kept very simple, short and straight to the point – there are no long pieces of text. This is good as people of the age category they are aimed at often don’t want to read long bits of writing. As well as this, the range of different things it has to offer, such as new music, new photos and the chance to vote bands for awards, it is very unlikely that there is nothing on the website that will appeal to a music fan, seeing as the website covers a vast range of topics and idea’s for music lovers. In conclusion, the website addresses its audience in a very relaxed yet informative manner. It manages to keep things simple, however still gives the reader the information they need/may like to know.

- Information taken from:  http://www.nme.com/

Character profiles

Two contrasting character profiles:

Claire is a twenty-one year old achiever and has recently graduated from a high-end university. Claire is always taking part in new adventures and anytime she gets an opportunity to try something new she grasps it with both hands. She does not give up easily and puts a lot of time into making things the best she can. In her spare time Claire is very active, participating in various sports, her favorite being horse-riding. She often buy Vogue magazine in order to check the latest fashion trends and everyone is always jealous of her branded, latest designer clothes that perfectly fit her slender size 8 figure.

Adam is a thirty-two year old maker. He has been married for four years with two young children. He is arguably the doting family man. He is not bothered about materialistic objects and will happily settle for second best. Adam is sensitive and loving, with a warm nature about him. He has an average job, but this suits Adam just fine. He dislikes change, preferring to stick to what he knows, where he feels comfortable. He makes people instantly feel welcome in his presence and is liked by all. Once Adam has a group of friends he stick by them but equally, sets out to make new friends too. Adam regularly takes his children out on day trips and helps out with disabled children at a local village hall. No matter what Adam always makes time for those around him. He makes groups of friends and strives of routine and regularity. Adam enjoys life, as he is content with the simple things that most take for granted. He is satisfied with his life the way it is, and feels no need to look for better.

How do the two profiles contrast with one another?

Claire and Adam are contrasting for several different reasons. First of all Claire is much more self-focused. Looking for opportunities which she can achieve in and doesn’t appear to be bothered about anyone else. Perhaps this is due to her age however, as she does not have the responsibilities of family life that Adam does. Contrastingly, Adam seeks to help others. Another difference is that Claire looks onwards for better things and newer experiences, whereas Adam is happy with the way things are and prefers a set routine.

A character profile for a reader of New Musical Express (NME) magazine:

Tom is an eighteen year old music fanatic and often goes to festivals supporting local bands. Tom has a unique quirky appearance that people often notice and are attracted to. Consequently, Tom has a vast amount of on and of relationships. A long with his look, he also expresses a typical laid-back teenage attitude to life, he is not bothered by anything and nothing seems to phase him. Tom goes to a local college doing a part-time music course and in his spare time practices playing his guitar with the band he’s formed along with a few mates of his, of which he regularly attends upcoming gigs and parties with. Tom doesn’t spend a lot time with his family and can mostly be found up stairs in his bedroom or if not there, the chances are he is most likely out socialising and meeting new people. He has his own mind and views on situations and refuses to let others influence them. He prefers to be different and couldn’t care less if individuals take a disliking to him.

Magazine Industry - 3 point analysis

''The magazine industry has survived the coming of the digital age because it has been able to exploit technological advances. Indeed, it has always done so throughout its long history.'' 

The word magazine describes branded, edited content often supported by advertising or sponsorship and delivered in print or other forms. Traditionally, magazines have been printed periodicals which are most commonly published weekly, monthly, or quarterly. These may be supported by printed one-off supplements and annual directories. Increasingly, magazines exist online where content is available through websites or in digital editions, or delivered by email as an electronic newsletter. Many magazines brands also deliver tailored information services to the audiences. Magazines brands also engage with their audiences face-to-face by organising exhibitions, conferences and other events. 

The magazine industry has always been up with technological advancements such as the use of photoshop and airbrushing models. If you look at the history of magazines they have always kept up with technological advances. As soon as something new develops, the magazine industry uses this to their advantage. Example the ability to use more advanced technical photography i.e. images going from black and white to coloured and they can be edited. Magazines use these advances to exploit them, for example fairly recently magazines have become available on the internet, this could be seen as a abad thing, as readers could argue there is no point in purchasing the magazine if they can simply read the information it entails online. However instead magazines and exploited this fact by revealing only snippets of their magazine which in turn encourages their audience to buy the real thing because they are intrigued to read the rest. As well as encouraging regulars it could also persuade those that have never bought that particular magazine before to buy it. 

In conclusion, diversifying isn't a choice that magazines companies can make, it is necessity for them in order to keep the company afloat and information relevant to their audience. Magazines have done this well throughout their history and will continue to do so in the future. Hopefully this means that magazines will always be current and upcoming. Because of this the demand for magazines will always be strong and ongoing. 

Media Question sheet

1. What method of joining shots has the film-maker utilised within scenes?
- In some scenes the film-maker does a close up shot of an item of clothing which is a certain colour and then when the scene switches, the first object/person we see is/or is wearing this colour. This is effective as it means shots to not necessarily have to join in terms of plot, they can be in completely random order, yet they still have some way of joining on to one another though means of colour. Ins some scenes time has past, so depending of whether the lighting is dark or light we can gage time has been and gone. Lastly, the film-maker uses dialogue, getting characters to talk about where they need to go next, also helps connect the scenes together.

2. Is the pace of editing measured and even or does the film-maker employ abrupt changes of pace? What is the function and effect of pace and/or changes in pace?

- The pace of editing is not always consistent and even. When the editing is quick it represents something more serious/happy/worrying or exciting going to happen for one of the characters. When the editing is at a normal pace it represents an average following scene with nothing particularly important about to occur. When the editing of the shot is at a slow pace, the characters are usually sad and the moods are low. Changes in pace therefore help to reflect the characters feelings and emotions or what is about to happen.

3. How are shots within and between sequences matched?

- Shots within and between sequences are matched by either the scene/shot before talking about a certain person, which then leads on to the next shot including them or alternatively a certain object may have been mentioned. Colour’s/lighting also play a part in matching scenes, for example there is a shot of a character in the dark laying in bed about to go to sleep and the following shot is very bright representing the fact time has past, i.e. from evening to morning. – Yet the sequences still match because it is obvious time has passed on from the previous shot. Furthermore, another way scenes are matched is buy characters going in to different places we as an audience know are near to the place they were seen at in the shot before. i.e. in step up we see the characters regularly walk down a certain pathway before going to the place where they practice their dancing, meaning after awhile we can almost predict where the next scene will follow on to.

As well as this, some shots in scenes, i.e. ones of the environment around the characters, have nothing to do with that particular scene, but help break the scene up so the audience do not loose interest. For example if two characters are having a conversation for a relatively long period of time.

4. Are sequences constructed in a continuous or discontinuous manner? How is this achieved and to what effect?

- Usually the shots are continuous and the audience are able to gage what’s going on as the following scene stems from the previous. The effect of this is the fact they get to understand the storyline to a full extent. However occasionally, the scenes are totally different from the topic the storyline was just mentioning. At first the audience are confused by this, however later on in the film it becomes clear that they were in fact foreshadowing later events.  The effect of this technique is the fact the audience start asking questions to themselves, wondering what that shot/scene was about. It keeps them wondering what’s going to happen next and what the reasons for including that certain image/dialogue were.

5. Does the film-maker utilise cross-cutting? To what effect?

- The film-maker does utilise cross-cutting, especially when the two dance groups are competing between each other, he uses cross-cutting in order for the audience to directly compare them.  As well as this, the director also uses it to go backwards and forth between particular events and show when scenes are in the past and when they are in the future. Furthermore cross-cutting is used to show two different storylines between characters happening, but at the same time.

6. How and to what effect are editing and sound being used in conjunction with each other?

- In many scenes where actors/actress are dancing, if the directors aim is to make the scene thrilling and exciting for the audience to watch and the dance routine therefore is set at a quick pace, there are many different shots edited into the one clip which keeps the mood of the shot up-beat, positive and intriguing to the eye.  When the quick edits of the scene are conjoined with fast high tempo music, the audience gain a real sense of fun and happiness for the characters. If the music is fast and so is the amount of time a certain shot is kept on screen, the dancing is likely to be fast too, showing dedication and determination, giving off the impression they are doing something that they love to do.

On the other hand, if there are not many various cuts of a certain scene and the music is slow, the dancing is likely to be of a slow pace too, giving off a sadder yet more peaceful aura.

In conclusion, depending on the mood of the scene, editing and sound work well together to reflect the characters feelings and the tone of the sequence.

Article from The Guardian newspaper

Our class teacher told us to go away and read for homework an article written in The Gaurdian newspaper, in order for us as students to gain some background knowledge about the magazine industry.


Here is the article in full:

The year ahead in the magazine industry

Stuck in the middle

Volume sales or ultra-niche appeal will prove vital this year - and Bauer's Grazia could be a bellwether

• Oliver Luft
• The Guardian, Monday 5 January 2009
• Article history

It does not look like an easy 12 months ahead for the magazine industry. But by the time 2009 draws to a close, larger publishing houses in the business-to-business and consumer sectors will be looking increasingly dominant, while smaller, weaker titles will wither under the strain of the downturn. Publishers may be hoping to escape a big sales fall, but they are still gloomy about what 2009 might bring - not least if it's a severe advertising slump. Maintaining or increasing revenue from ads will be the biggest challenge for magazines from all sectors this year. Most insulated perhaps are the top-end glossies - the Vogues, GQs and Elles - which, while not recession-proof, are unlikely to be hit hard by a plunge in advertising revenue. Premium advertisers have limited places to promote their goods and will be concerned about losing front pages of the glossies - prime real-estate in their eyes - to rival brands.

Niche-appeal consumer titles that rely on devoted, engaged readerships are also more favourably placed than most when it comes to advertising. Mass- and mid-market consumer titles, many of which saw circulation decline in 2008, and where advertisers have a greater range of options, will find it more challenging. This year greater emphasis will be placed on editorial in these titles: get the quality of content wrong and magazines could find themselves in real trouble.

Large publishers such as IPC Media, Condé Nast and Future Publishing, which have invested in extending their brands into TV, web, mobile, radio or shopping, are more likely to weather the impact than those with standalone products or thinner portfolios of titles. Economies of scale help larger companies to spread costs, and the clout they can wield with suppliers also helps them into more favourable positions. In addition, advertisers are also likely to focus their budgets on key titles. Which could leave free magazines, with their heavy reliance on advertising as the primary source of income, with some real challenges.

For consumer publishers, then, the strong will get stronger and the weak will suffer most. And this is broadly the picture in the B2B sector too, which is likely to see some loss-making titles closed and the position of market leaders reemphasised. A point underlined by news last month that Reed Elsevier had abandoned the sale of its trade business unit, Reed Business Information, the publisher of Variety, New Scientist and Farmers Weekly. Sir Crispin Davis, chief executive, said the unit had more value than could be realised by a sale in the worsening economy. Reed will now look to sell it "in the medium-term when conditions are more favourable". This could be a while yet.

In other areas, finance titles are expected to see the greatest consolidation. Incisive Media's Mortgage Solutions magazine decided in December to suspend its print run for the first quarter of 2009 and to rely on its website and email alerts. In November, Centaur reduced the free distribution of its Mortgage Strategy magazine by 13%. The business titles that remain could well see more of these decisions as publishers cut distribution costs and rely on websites and targeted distribution.

But how to get online to pay? Business publishers may look at greater innovation online to find revenue that goes beyond the blunt approach of either subscription or open access. The Financial Times, for instance, allows users to access a certain number of stories free each month, while heavier use of the site and access to other editorial is limited to subscribers. Consumer titles are equally likely to look at their web operations - although the focus will be on ways to deliver more audience to print advertisers they want to bring over to the web. NatMags, through its web division, Hearst Digital, spent a large part of the past year developing online communities around its editorial output.

Publishers could also use relatively inexpensive web-based titles to experiment editorially, and integrate printed and web products to a greater degree. Eyes will be on a number of consumer fashion titles to see if they can win back some of the audience lost to independent fashion blogs.

Consumer launches will be few and far between as publishers keep their hands in their pockets. Launches that do occur will probably be for highly targeted groups - and it is likely to be a similar situation in the business sector. "Ultra niche" will be the watchword for any B2B launches.

Condé Nast is launching two niche consumer titles: Love, a twice-yearly fashion and style magazine under the eye of the former Pop publisher Katie Grand, and a UK version of the US technology magazine Wired.

Meanwhile, publishers will be eagerly looking at the subscription levels of entrenched monthlies as an indication of how they are faring in difficult times. Bauer's weekly high-end fashion magazine, Grazia, might prove an unusual kind of bellwether in the coming year. If it wants - or needs - to increase circulation it will need to run editorial that appeals more to the mass market. But mass-market editorial could put off some of its more luxurious advertisers. Watching where Grazia's priorities lie during the next 12 months may tell you about the and confidence of the sector.

But perhaps the most compelling mark on the horizon is the government's October powwow for the creative industries; a bright spot in what might well be a fairly gloomy year of cutbacks, closures and potential job losses.

The insider: 'The web is a hungry beast'

We have given up trying to guess what senior management is up to. Are they working out their redundancy packages while firing off CVs, or are they planning another "restructure", which means more job losses and cost-cutting at our business-to-business magazine?

There is one person who knows everything. He is the HR director, a man whose name I hardly knew until a few months ago. Like Gordon Brown, whose cheery disposition seems to increase as the economy worsens, the HR director has blossomed under his new workload. He has taken to wearing a tie and looking stressed.

When the senior managers and the HR director come out of their interminable meetings, they send us emails partly to remind us that they are still around, and partly to cheer us up. The emails contain bad news (the economy) and good news (we are doing better than our competitors). They promise clarity and transparency - and then the senior managers disappear back into another meeting.

This sense of panic is a new phenomenon and it's catching. Although I'd like to think that market knowledge, journalistic skills, a shelf full of awards, and a passion for my subject will stand me in good stead I am no longer so sure.

Yet B2B editors know their sector inside out and edit magazines that have been around for decades. We have loyal readers who rely on us for industry gossip, as well as taking up the cudgels to fight their corner. But is that enough?

B2B publishing may not be in freefall, but if the sector we are reporting on goes down, so do we. For six months we've watched as the economy has slid into recession, and we've done what every publisher and editor does when times get tough: take out headcount, cut costs and save on pages.

Though everyone has done all this, you can't help but get the feeling that as advertising revenues continue to nosedive, the bean counters will want more.

If this all seems too gloomy, the corollary to it is that many B2B titles are cyclical and if you edit a magazine whose industry is on its knees, all you can say is that it will come back. However, hovering over us - the reason this recession is different from any previous one - is the web.

The web is a hungry, predatory beast, which costs publishing organisations millions of pounds of investment. Very few people have managed to make the web profitable - but publishers love it.

It doesn't matter if your page impressions are only increasing thanks to the thousands of students around the world who are all writing the same thesis, because it's the only graph with a line going up, instead of down. But most of all, publishers love the web because, as a way of disseminating news, it's cheap.

The big question for publishers tapping next year's projected losses into their calculators is do you even need journalists?

Industry opinion

Stevie Spring
chief executive, Future Publishing

I'm expecting a mixed 2009 in the magazine market: general interest, bad; special interest, good. Nice to have, bad; need to have, good. Those publishers producing magazines that are embedded in people's lives, that play an important part in people's hobbies and interests, will weather the storms much better than those producing content that can be had quicker, cheaper, in digestible bite-size chunks online.

Nicholas Coleridge
managing director, Condé Nast

Next year will be a challenging time for magazines, though I'd rather be working in the glossy industry than any other branch of the media this year. Circulations will hold steady for blue-chip titles, but deteriorate for peripheral ones. I expect some of our competitors to shutter loss-making titles. On the advertising front, it will be particularly tough for mass-market and middle-market titles, and we certainly don't expect to be unscathed at the quality end.

''Love Actually'' Filming

Task:
To recreate the opening two minutes of a film of your choice

Equipment:

We took with us two video camera's, a tripod and list of the shots we wanted to get.

Filming:
Today me and my group met at the set date and time which we had arranged a couple of weeks ago in order to film our opening two minutes of the film we chose, Love Actually. 


Norwich Airport:
Although being half term,  the airport did not have many passengers. Luckily we had expected this having been to the airline already ourselves, hense why we organised to also film at a second location, Chapelfield shopping centre, also in Norwich. Although not very busy, we still managed to get some good shots, these included:

· Various close up shots (in order to express emotion) of families/couples/friends hugging and talking to one another after being reunited having just come back from their holiday

· Outside shot of the airport 

· Long shot of an airplane either taking off or coming into land

- All of which we had planned prior to filming. 

As we wanted all of our shots of people hugging and greeting each other after just coming back from their travels, we felt asking their permission to be filmed before greeting one another may mean that it comes across unnatural and forced. To override this problem, we made the decision to film people as they were coming through departures without letting them know at first and instead, asking them once we had filmed them if they would allow us to use the footage we had of them. We made it very clear that if they did not want to be in it we would delete what we had filmed of them, or equally, if they didn't mind, that it would only be used for  our A-level course only and not for any other purposes. Thankfully everybody we filmed was happy for us to use the footage we had of them.

Chapefield shopping centre:

After filming at the airport we then made our way to Chapelfield, Here we got the following shots:

·Large crowds in order to make the airport look more crowded and busier.

· Shops Plus which could be in the duty free section of the airport so it would still look realistic.

·A shot of people going up an escalator

- All of which we had also planned prior to filming.

We did however also shoot a shot which we had not planned of some people in a cafe which worked well. 

Outcome:

From today, I personally, have learn't the importance of organisation and planning during filming. As my group and I had planned some time in advance of where we were going to film, when and at what time none of us were stressed that we weren't going to complete the work on time. As we took out list of shots we wanted to get with us, we didn't waste any time and knew exactly what we were doing, therefore filming in totally took us approximately two hours. I really enjoyed today and am looking forward to editing all the footage when we return to Sixth Form.

''Love Actually'' - Production plan continued

Last lesson My group and I continued planning our recreation of the first 2-3 minutes of the film of our choice, Love Actually. We had previously decided on three locations where we would ideally like to shoot: Norwich train station, Norwich airport and Chapelfield shopping centre, also in Norwich. Therefore we spent the start of the lesson using the internet to research the telephone numbers of these places in order to ring the companies to see if they would allow us to film in their associations.  Thankfully, they all agreed and we arranged a set time and date with each of them so that they knew when to except us. After getting permission from the places where we wanted to film, we then sat down and wrote an email to our schools Deputy head Dr Fox. During the first couple of minutes of Love actually actor Colin Firth does a voice over, meaning we to needed someone to do a voice over for our recreation of the film. We decided on Dr Fox as we felt his voice was appropriate for the film. Consequently, we then wrote him an email consisting of three elements, a) asking him whether he would kindly participate b) with various times and days of when we as a group could have the time to meet him and record his voice - either during media lessons or at break and lunch. c) and finally, including a copy of the script from Love Actually stating what lines he would need to say.

The next part of the lesson was spent looking at various different clips of televisions shows such as: Gavin and Stacy and Early Doors, plus others. The purpose of this was to evaluate each scene and look at what camera shots were used and  whether they included an establishing shot, the 180 rule, diegetic/non diegetic sound and how they were edited. Doing this allowed me and my group to see how using different camera shots and techniques can be effective and made us think about what to use in our own production.

Next lesson we hope to do a storyboard of different shots for our short film, which will helps us to make it more interesting for our audience, as well as the fact when getting to our locations to shoot, our shots would have already been planned, meaning no time would be being wasted.

'Albatross' - Continuing

Since my last post on 'Albatross' my group and I had two lesson periods to go out and film a short film lasting two to three minutes, related to the title that we were given by our class teacher (Albatross). As previously posted, as a group we carried out some research in order to establish what the word 'albatross' actually meant. We discovered it was related to both good and bad luck and that it could be associated with a burden. Therefore, the plot of our short sequence involved what seemed to be a happy/successful looking career woman having a mysterious, unwanted stalker. This represented the burden, as he was constantly around her and in her thoughts. Bad luck was also mentioned in the research we looked at, so to portray this in our film we decided to use three drains which are well known to a lot of people, regardless of whether they are superstitious or not, as being unlucky. In this instance we used 'setting and props' from Mise En Scene as an effective way of subtley hinting to the audience that this man represented something bad. Furthermore, by doing this, it also meant we were foreshadowing events that happened later on in the film, which of course, were not very pleasant.

In terms of make up and costume, the man who was the stalker wore all black. Black is seen as a dark and mysterious colour, as well as being quite evil, meaning this also went well with the theme of bad luck as his appearance appeared untrusting. The career woman however was dressed in a smart business suit, emphasising her success and wealth, perhaps the stalker is jealous of her? In addition, the location too contributed in fabrigating her wealthy life style seeing as there was a high end jewellers near by, we were able to get some shots of her looking at the various pieces of jewellery on offer, implying she had enough money to afford them.

When it came to lighting, many of our shots taken where down dark, gloomy alleyways - adding to the dim, slightly scary atmosphere that we were trying to create. Tom (who played the stalker) was constantly seen appearing behind Emily (who played the career woman) indicating he is constantly in the back of her mind, never leaving her. In one particular scene, he is seen sitting on a roof top towering over Emily as she walks past. Even though in real terms Emily is above him in social status, he is above her in terms of power. When we were filming shots that involved Emily alone without Tom, we tried to make sure that within every shot was an upmarket shop/restaurant to really hit home to the audience her social class. More over, we also included Tom in a lot of background shots, with Emily in the foreground, as we wanted to ensure the audience knew of his continuous presence. - so where characters where placed within the frame was of big importance.
Lastly, the facial expressions used by the stalker were always blank-faced with a strong undeterd stare. As though he is fixated with watching her. His eyes were also squinting to give off a look of evil. The body language he used went well with his facial expressions, he often had his hand in his pockets representing his dominance and once again control over her.
Overall I feel we used the five elements of Mise En Scene well and in my personal opinion achieved getting our point across to the audience about what was going on in the film and the way in which the characters were portrayed. Having said this, the quality of our filming was not always consistent as some shots are rather clumsy. However we did the best we could within the time scale that we were given.

Now we are sure of the locations we will be using of our two minute opening, we decided to gather some ideas together on what shots we want to use prior to us going out filming to ensure shooting runs smoothly and time is not wasted.

Shots

· Various close up shots (in order to express emotion) of families/couples/friends hugging and talking to one another after being reunited having just come back from their holiday

· Outside shot of the airport 

· Long shot of an airplane either taking off or coming into land

· High angle shot of passengers going up an escalator looking as though they're going to collect their baggage

· Over the shoulder shot of an individual about to hug another person
· Large crowds of people in order to make the airport look more crowded and busier

· Shops which could be in the duty free section of the airport so it would still look realistic

Outcome

Having sorted out both locations and shots we want to use for our two minute opening all that is left to do now is organise a time and date where me and my group are available to meet and film. Unfortunately this is very difficult to do as majority of the group work and having commitments over the weekend. Week days are not an option because of the amount of work for other subjects we each have and the fact the locations where we are filming at, in particular Chapelfield shut at 6:00pm and by the time we get there once we have finished Sixth Form we won't have enough time. Plus the fact Chapelfield will be undoubtably less busy at this hour and we ideally want as many people around as possible.We eventually decided that as the deadline is not until after half term that we would do the filming during one day that week when we're all available. 

Filming

DATE: 26TH OCTOBER              TIME: 11:30

''Love Actually'' - Production plan

Having looked at our list that we prepared last lesson of films that my group and I possibly wanted to do for our recreation of the two minutes to a film opening we started todays lesson by looking at these five on YouTube. Initially we just put down what films we all liked and thought would be interesting to recreate, however today we learn't that some of the films we had on the list are too complicated and far-fetched for us to recreate them realistically.
Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging;

For example we looked at the first two minutes of this film, but found that to get someone dressed in her costume, have enough people in one room to look like there is a party going on and then to get someone running down the street in a olive outfit was going to be too hard to do.


In the end we came to the conclusion as a group that Love Actually written by Richard Curtis would be the most appropriate in terms of practicality of filming, as well as having an effective opening that my group and I both liked.
Love Actually;










We have planned to film our opening in the following locations:

·Norwich Airport

·Chapelfield shopping centre

Justification

We chose these places because obviously the start to the film is situated in an airport, therefore Norwich Airport would be the most obvious and suitable place to shoot. Chapelfield shopping centre was chosen because even though Norwich Airport would undoubtable be the best place, it is a small scale airline and is not often very busy, so we decided to collaborate shots between the two locations in order to make the two minutes appear busier (like how it appears in the actual film.) Chapelfield was chosen because airports also have shops in them so the two will look like they're the same place.


Permission
Having chosen our locations where we would ideally like to film, as they are public places and we do not have the rights to film there we need to get permission.
To do this we went on Norwich Airport and Chapelfield's websites where they each had numbers of how they could be contacted:
·http://www.norwichairport.co.uk/contact.asp
·http://www.chapelfield.co.uk/About-Us/Contact-Us
We then rang each place and spoke to the relevant person to ask whether we would be able to film. Getting permission from Chapelfield was far easier as they only have one number by which they can be contacted. When we rang a lady answered and then straight away put us through to someone who could tell us if we could film or not. Norwich airport was far harder as there are various different numbers for different enquiries, eventually however, we were able to speak to someone who could give us permission to film. Luckily, both of our chosen locations gave us permission to film, but told us to be weary of other people and not to film them without their consent. Norwich airport also asked that we do not go outside to where the airplanes are taking off and landing for health and safety purposes. This is not a problem because if we want to get a shot of an airplane we can do so out of one of the airport windows. 

Opening two minutes of a feature flim

Character: Lestier Bernham  - (American Beauty.)
Reveals he's going to be dead in a year, but of course he isn't aware of that yet, however says he feels dead already. He's lost something about himself and is determined to get it back. His life is so dull at present and he seems quite unhappy that he reveals that the shower will be the highlight of his day, as everything goes downhill from there. We learn he has a wife named Caraen, who likes to keep busy - Lestier gets exhausted just watching her. She seems to be very organised, as Leister says she matches her clothing. He also says Caren's changed, the two of them used to be happy, him saying this indicates that they no longer are. Furthermore, the start of the film also reveals Leister has an only daughter called Jane, a typical teenager and two next-door neighbours, a couple, both of which are named Jim.

Character: Jerry Mcguire - (Jerry Mcguire.)
The film starts off talking about famous sports people and Jerry reveals that he looks after all these successful sports people. He comes across fairly arrogant and is very pro America, he seems to think it's where everything good happens. Jerry gets hundreds of clients per day phoning him and doesn't seem to be shy about asking clients for large amounts of money for his services. He appears to think he is the best of the best claiming he wont stop until people win. Jerry is obviously largely career driven, especially when there's money involved. He comes across a bit shallow, only thinking really about himself and the benefits he will receive rather than thinking about the success of his clients. - seems to just want the money.

Comparison: Leister Bernham and Jerry Mcguire:
If you compare the two characters from each film (Leister Bernham and Jerry Mcguire.) Leister appears to be rather unhappy in his life and doesn't really know who he is anymore. He seems quite unselfish, not really wanting anything apart from to feel himself again and to be the person he used to be. This contrasts with Jerry Mcguire, who seems to be very happy with his life, but comes across as very selfish. Another difference between them is that Leister has his family and in my opinion, although they are not very close, he secretly relies on them, whereas Leister is independent, he only ''needs'' his clients for financial gain.

Character: Ken - (Early Doors.)
Ken seems a jolly character, at the start he is singing and cleaning the toilet, so appears to be an average ''normal'' person, with nothing particularly unique or special about his life (the fact his clothes do not look very expensive but instead are just everyday/average clothing also shows this.) This may help the audience relate to him as he is just like one of them. He earns his livelihood as a pub owner. At first I thought Ken was going to be quite an honest person, however he poured cheap alcohol into expensive bottles, which surprised me. I didn't expect ''the average looking person.'' to be dishonest. When someone comes into the pub he listens to what the customer says but seems to be rather disinterested in what he has to say.  It is as though he responses because he has to and its part of his job to sell. Ken is quite humorous and laid back.

Comparing all three: American Beauty, Jerry Mcguire, Early Doors
When compared to the two previous American films there seems to be extremes, either depressed or rich and really happy (like the american dream - the ideal life.) Whereas as this is an English comedy, Len seems to be an average person.

Opening Sequences: - (London to Brighton.)
Dramatic start, mother and daughter look like they've been hurt, there seems to be a feeling of desperation and danger as though they're running away from someone/something. Their costumes emphasize the fact they're running away as does the fact they ran into the toilets, as if they were hiding from someone. They don't look like they have a lot of money, this is shown by the ragged-like clothes they were wearing and having to just share one portion of chips between them. The background of the scene emphasized their lifestyle, as did the way they behaved. The setting was unclean and contained rather a lot of graffiti, plus the fact the mother's language used by the mother was rather explicit and the fact she left her daughter all alone locked in a toilet cubical.

(The Graduate.)
It is a very simple start to this film.  Personally I found it rather boring, the colours used in the opening are also fairly plain and ordinary. However, it reflects well how the character feels. He's graduated and is just coming back from university and is flying back home and probably doesn't want to go back - doesn't feel like his life is going anywhere. Although I didn't really like the start of the film, I think the director did very well at communicating how the character was feeling to the audience. A good technique he used which I picked up on was the fact the audience could hear the instructions being given by the air hostesses over the tannoy to the passengers but the character wasn't taking any notice.  Perhaps this reflects the fact having been at university he has been told what to do for along time, therefore now he has decided he is going to rebel and not listen to the instructions he's been given.

(Napoleon Dynamite.)
The opening to this film was quite different to the others, no people were involved, just background colours and objects, yet it was quite an original idea. They had some good close ups of some of the objects, which allowed the audience to see them in greater detail. Also it allowed the audience to take more notice of the credits because of the fact there wasn't a huge amount going on. In my opinion, although it was a simple opening to the film, it worked well and surprisingly wasn't boring to watch.

Outcome:
Having now watched the first two minute openings of several films and analysed them in terms of what works well/what doesn't work well, what techniques (like camera shots) were good and what weren't, and how we portrayed the characters, my group and I are now debating which film to re-create for our two minute opening. Although we have not come to a definite decision on which film to choose we have came up with the following ideas:
1) Angus thongs and perfect snogging
2) Thirteen going on thirty
3) Love Actually
4) Football Factory
5) Bend it like Beckham