Christian May Speaker

Christian May Speaker - Editor of City A.M

• News Bias - Christian spoke about many different newspapers and magazines having a bias towards a certain side of a story, but his newspaper tries not to show bias. For example, before Brexit was voted to happen, he was one of the only papers to not say what side they would be on.

• Declining circulation figures - as more and more news is shown online, circulation figures are decreasing because people aren't buying physical newspapers anymore. This is a challenge because these papers need to find money to afford to print stories.

• Fake news - he spoke about how newspapers have to try and avoid fake news and spoke about untrustworthy sources that people have to try and avoid. He also said about Donald Trump and that he accuses stories of being fake news because he doesn't like what has been printed about him.

• Relationship between print & online news - online news is becoming increasingly popular whereas print news is declining in popularity. This is because people can find news online for free so don't bother buying a newspaper (although Christian said City A.M was free).

Cuffs: Episode 1

Imagine you are a TV critic who writes for the Independent. Write a review of the opening episode of the new BBC Police Drama Cuffs.

Cuffs: Season 1 Episode 1 review, worth the watch?

If you enjoy shows such as The Bill, Line of Duty and Luther, you may want to watch the eight episode, 2015 series - Cuffs. Created by Julie Gearey, Cuffs is a drama series that follows the South Sussex Police Force around Brighton, and what its like to be on a modern day front-line. Episode one ("Luck of the Draw") was aired on BBC1 on the 28th October 2015. The eight episodes then ran until the 16th December 2015, but was cancelled after one series, however, don't let this put you off.

In episode one, we get introduced to eight main characters: PC Ryan Draper - a serious but committed and principled police man; PC Jake Vickers - new to the job, Jake is being trained by Ryan and the son of the Chief Superintendent; DS Jo Moffat - a talented detective with a slightly awkward side, and a crush for the Chief; DC Carl Hawkins - only seen a few times, Carl is a tough detective constable who isn't afraid to get stuck into the action; DI Felix Kane - the Detective Inspector with a few too many secrets for his own good; PC Donna Prager - hard working, capable, dependable, and an overall brilliant officer; PC Lino Moretti - dedicated to the job, but a somewhat comical character who can't keep up physically; finally, Chief Superintendent Robert Vickers - Jake's dad and a master at his job, but hints that maybe everything isn't ok at home...

"On his first day working with Ryan, rookie cop Jake faces a challenging shift on the Brighton streets. But, being the boss' son, Jake's biggest challenge is earning the respect of his new colleagues." - this is the basic summary of episode 1. The South Sussex Police Force face a number of challenges that they manage, with a lot of setbacks - not only do we meet the main characters, but we meet a depressed drug addict, a racist murderer and a kidnapper! 

As mentioned, BBC1 in 2015 was the first and only channel to broadcast Cuffs, however the show was sold overseas to New Zealand (broadcasted in January 2016) and Australia (broadcasted in February 2016). The program fits in with the others shown on BBC1 as it follows the same genres, for example, Luther, Bodyguard and Sherlock, as they are all drama series just like Cuffs.

Cuffs was shown on a Wednesday at the pre-watershed time of 8pm, which could have the wrong time for it. Being broadcasted before 9pm really limits what the show could convey. If it was shown at a later time, extra violence and comical scenes could have been added to bring more drama to the show - maybe a missed opportunity? Not only this, but 8pm may have been an inappropriate time for the show to be broadcasted. With scenes of semi-nudity and violence the show may have not been suitable for children still awake at the time.

Undoubtedly, Cuffs would have been a very appealing show to a wide range of different people. A vast mix of different characters ensures that the audience will find at least one character to relate to, adding more appeal to watch the show. Whether you like the serious character (PC Ryan Draper), the secretive character (DI Felix Kane) or the comical character (PC Lino Moretti), there is someone for everyone. The storylines and plot is also bound to appeal to those who love drama and police series, as it is gripping and easy to follow.

So, is Cuffs worth the watch? If you're into fast-paced, action-filed police drama series, with a good mix of hostilities and excitement, than its a definite YES.

Promoting Media Revision Wk6

Promoting Media Revision Wk6

• Explain how an effective media campaign would exploit a variety of media platforms. (Use online, print & audio-visual media forms). 
  Use The Lego Movie to support your answer.

The LEGO Movie constructs an effective marketing campaign by exploiting the movie onto different platforms like print, film and e-media.

One way The LEGO Movie was marketed was by using getting its campaign online. Adverts for the movie would have been placed on the sides of social media, blogs and websites, and trailers for the movie may have been placed in YouTube videos. This is effective because young cinema-goers and some children and parents use social media, and these are the people who are likely to go to the cinema and watch the film, as the film has been marketed at them.

The movie is marketed using print to help create an effective marketing campaign. Before the movie’s release, 6 movie posters were created to help market the film. These posters had pictures of the LEGO Movie characters, including their names and the people who voice them. These posters were included in newspapers, magazines and out and about to help market the film. This helps construct a good marketing campaign because it helps get the attention of the people who want to watch the film. It targets kids because they get an image of what characters will be in the movie. The posters also target adults by putting the actors/actress names on the posters, as the adults may see the name of an actor/actress they like and want to see their part in The LEGO Movie.

The movie also uses film to construct a marketing campaign. The LEGO Movie had trailers that were shown to make people aware that the movie was coming out. Before films shown in cinemas, a theatrical trailer would be shown. A teaser trailer may also be shown on TV, and links to the online media platform as these shorter trailers may also be shown as adverts during YouTube videos. This is effective because it targets movie-goers who may be interested in seeing The LEGO Movie. Teaser trailers were also shown in the adverts of family programmes, which would draw families (the main target audience) into watching the film.

Promoting Media Revision Wk5

Promoting Media Revision Wk 5

What are the genre conventions are shown in the main Lego Movie film poster?

From the movie poster, you can tell it is an action film because of the explosions in the background. You can also tell that it is a children's movie based on the bright colours.  You can also tell it's a family film that appeals to adults because of the famous characters being shown such as Batman and Benny.


Explain how the following elements on the poster appeal to the target audience.

• Title: the young target audience will like the title because it explains to them that this will be a movie about Lego, which has never been done before so they will be interested by it and want to watch it. It will appeal to the young cinema goers because for the same reasons, as they will want to watch an innovative movie built of Lego. The title will appeal to parents because they too would not have seen a full length film made entirely of Lego.
• Tagline: the tagline "The story of a nobody who saved everybody" would interest children into watching the film because they would be interested about who the 'nobody' is and how they are a saviour. The tagline would appeal to young cinema goers because they would be familiar with a storyline of a 'nobody' saving the other characters, but this movie is made of Lego so they will also be interested in how a Lego character can do this. The tagline will appeal to adults and parents because they might be familiar with the feeling of being a nobody, and would want to see the movie to see how the 'nobody' saves 'everybody', which links to the Blumler and Katz theory of personal identity.
• Main image - characters: the characters on the cover may appeal to children because there are a lot of different varieties of people on there that they might be interested in, for example, a builder, superheroes, a villain, and a female character. They may appeal to young cinema goers because they will be able to identify the different character types in a normal movie compared to this movie made of Lego, and will be interested to see if they are right and what these characters do. The characters will appeal to adults and parents because they can see different characters that they may recognise and want to see their involvement in the film, for example, Batman, Superwoman and Benny.
• Main image - setting: the setting may appeal to kids because they may like to make different things with Lego, and this setting of a city is made of Lego so they may want to be able to make their own Lego city and will watch the film to gain inspiration for new things to build. It may appeal to young cinema goers because they may relate the setting to real life films but be interested in how the Lego city will be different and what role it plays in the whole film. The setting might appeal to parents and adults because they may be working people and familiar with a city and the skyscrapers, and would want to see a city made of Lego being destructed by the events in the film.

Analyse how they use stereotypes to create representations that appeal to the target audience:

The LEGO Movie posters create stereotypes by using what the characters are wearing and what they are doing. This creates the stereotype in the audience's head about what the characters are like before even watching the film.

In the main movie poster, Emmet is represented as a working class male as he is dressed in a builders uniform. He could also be seen as the main character because he is positioned at the front of the group. His facial expression in both posters create the stereotype that he is quite weak because he looks afraid. His overall stereotype is that he is a working class male, that unlike most of the others, is scared about what is happening around him.

From the movie posters, Wyldstyle has is made to look as if she is the strong female character. She is made to look like quite a stereotypically 'edgy' girl that is not the same as many female movie characters, this can be seen by the way she is dressed and the way she is fiercely running in the main poster. Wyldstyle's overall stereotype is that she is the brave, emo-looking female character, and different to most female characters in other movies.

Lord Business is made to look like the stereotypical 'bad guy' of the film. This can be shown in the main poster where he is looming over the other characters as they are running from him. In his individual character poster, Lord Business looks even more like the villain of the film because of his evil facial expression, and what he is wearing may also make him look like the antagonist. He has the stereotype of the evil villain that the other characters need to fight against.

Vitruvius can be seen as the wise old man of the film, this stereotype is created by his long white hair and facial expression. The way his eyes are glowing suggests that he is not the normal old man and may have magic powers. His facial expression in the main poster makes him look brave even though there is chaos around him. 

Batman is represented as his normal brave character in the movie posters. His facial expressions in both his poster and the main poster makes him look like the stereotypical hero that is helping the others fight the villain. What he is wearing also helps bring across this stereotype as most people are familiar with Batman, and will understand that he is represented as the hero.

Promoting Media Revision Wk4

Promoting Media Revision Wk4 

Four Uses and Gratifications of the Blulmer and Katz give for accessing media:

• Entertainment - offers distraction from the world.
• Personal identity - helps us consider who we are; what ideas and values we identify with.
• Relationships - we find things we can share and discuss with others.
• Information - new information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing.

Analyse how the Uses and Gratifications of The Lego Movie Video Game are reflected in the cover:

The LEGO Movie Video Game cover has the title in bold writing at the top so that it can be seen easily. This links to the 'Entertainment' uses and gratification theory because it can be easily seen as a video game and will offer a distraction from the world.
The video game cover includes the male characters and female characters to attract people of both genders. This relates to the 'Personal identity' uses and gratifications theory because it helps people relate to the characters in the film and video game based on who they are and what they identify with.
The LEGO Movie Video Game also links to the 'Relationships' theory. This is because all the different characters appear on the cover so people can therefore talk about the different characters in the game and what they do.
The 'Information' uses an gratification theory is also reflected in the video game cover as people may find new information from the game that they did not learn from the film, especially if they have not yet seen the film. An example of this could be what Emmet is holding, as they may be curious as to what it is and take pleasure in finding out.

Promoting Media Revision Wk3

Promoting Media Revision Wk3

• Explain why the TV advertising campaign for The Lego Movie was so successful:

One way that The Lego Movie TV advert was successful is because it was first aired on peak time TV on the ITV channel. This helped it become successful because people of all ages were watching the TV, so the movie could show the advert to all people of their target audience. The advert was shown 5 days before release, during Dancing on Ice at 7:27PM on Sunday 9th February 2014, where many people were watching and the movie could be advertised to all types of people.

Another way the movie's TV advert was successful was because it was a world first advert - it was entirely made of Lego. The advert was introduced with an announcement saying "We've assembled a very special ad break" - the word 'assembled' relates to the movie, as Lego is assembled to make things. The advert then started with remakes of old adverts such as the British Heart Foundation, Confused.com, BT and Premier Inn but made out of Lego. Between each remake, a 2 second sting of each character and title appeared. It then finished by playing the actual Lego Movie advert, which was a short preview of the film. This made it successful because it was a world first advert, it had never been done before and all aspects of the film's target audience would like it for different reasons; adults because they will recognise the old adverts that are now in Lego form, and children and young cinema goers because they will be interested in the new Lego Movie.

The Lego Movie was successful because of its TV advert and how 'mad' the media went for it after it was shown. The advert reached 6 million people on ITV, and was then uploaded to YouTube after its first airing, and reached 1.1 million people in 1 week. The advert was so successful, that it was written about by over 60 publications, and #TheLegoMovie tweets increased by 5x after the advert was shown. The film's advert reached Number 1 in the UK box office charts, so it was the best performing film of not only kids movies, but of any movie of any kind.

• Explain what 'synergy' is in marketing:

In marketing, synergy is the simultaneous release of different products to promote both.

• Explain how The Lego Movie used synergy to promote the movie:

The Lego Movie used synergy to promote both The Lego Movie and The Lego Movie Video Game. The Lego Movie also released clothing, bags, 16 collectible mini figures, 17 Lego world sets, sticker and activity books, school supplies and its own Happy Meal at McDonalds, however the Lego Movie Video Game is the main example. All of these help to promote the movie because it can be seen by more people who may have not seen the film yet, and when they see the products they might want to watch the film.

• Explain why a film company would want to release a video game to tie in with a film:

The release of a video game allows for the extended marketing of the film, which helps strengthen the brand image so that more people are aware of both the film and the video game. Releasing a video game along with a film offers opportunities for fans to extend their enjoyment of the film by playing the game - this also helps the hype of the film stay around for longer. Releasing a video game with a film helps to exploit the success of the film, and allows it to become a more diversified media conglomerate. 

Promoting Media Revision Wk2

Promoting Media Revision Wk2

The Lego Movie target audience: 

• kids who like Lego
• parents of kids who used to play with Lego themselves
• young cinema goers

Explain how The Lego Movie appeals to each of them using the following areas:

• Characters
• Narrative
• Settings
• Themes

Characters:

The characters of The Lego Movie appeal to kids who play with Lego because they are made of Lego so kids who like Lego will be drawn to watching the film. The characters also wear quite bright colours so children will also be drawn to that. Kids may also find characters such as Batman to be interesting, so they will want to watch the film to see him in Lego form.

The characters will appeal to parents because there are classic Lego figures that they may have played with when they were young, for example Benny. The adults may also be interested in the actors who are playing the characters, for example Morgan Freeman as they may like these actors.

The characters will appeal to young cinema goers because they will understand the references to characters from other films, for example Batman and Superman. The age of the characters in the film may also be the same age as the cinema goers, so the characters will appeal to the because they will relate to them.

Narrative:

The narrative will appeal to kids because they will enjoy the silly, childish humour that is obviously aimed at them. The children will also understand the basic narrative and will be able to follow along with that without getting confused.

Adults will be attracted to the narrative because they will find the subtle adult jokes funny. Adults will also like the references to other films and may pick up that The Lego Movie is similar to The Matrix. There is also a more complex story line that adults may pick up on about expressing yourself and your own inner creativity.

The narrative of the film may also appeal to young cinema goers because they will get the references to other films. They will also understand both the childish and adult humour, and like the story line of Emmet and Wyldstyle being in love.

Settings:

Children will enjoy the different settings of The Lego Movie because they are all different and each one will appeal to the child's certain tastes, for example if they like unicorns they will be interested in Cloud Cuckoo Land. The vivid colours and different things that happen in each realm will also appeal to young children.

The different worlds will appeal to the parents because all worlds appeal to any age and gender and the adults may find this interesting. When these adults used to play with Lego, they may have used or created worlds like in the film, so will be interested in watching when these different worlds are shown.

Young cinema goers will like the different settings because they may be interested in the different worlds and the different things that happen there. Jokes such as 'Middle Zealand' may amuse the young cinema goers and they will continue watching to see what happens there.

Themes:

The themes of The Lego Movie will appeal to children because they can follow the basic ones such as fighting evil and the love story as they will find it exciting and thrilling to follow along with.

Adults and parents may enjoy the themes because they will follow along with the more complex and moral theme of letting your own creativity show.

Young cinema goers may also like the themes of the film because they can understand both the adult and child themes such as fighting evil with good, but also the importance of creativity.

What methods did they use to PROMOTE the Lego Movie and how did it target the different parts of the target audience? You should talk about the following methods: 

• Poster Campaign
• TV Advertising
• Film Trailers
• Social Media
• Merchandise

Poster Campaign

The poster campaign of the different characters helps people looking at the poster get an understanding of what type of character they are before even watching the movie. 
They appeal to kids because they will be interested in how each character is different and the bright colours and facial expressions will interest them.
The poster campaign appeals to the adults because they include the names of the actors/actresses that these adults may be interested in, so will watch the film based on that. The adults may also recognise characters such as Benny that they used to play with when they were young.
It will appeal to young cinema goers because they may still have an interest in Lego but will also be interested in the characters and the actors/actresses that are voicing them.

TV Advertising

The TV advert was a remake of adverts such as confused.com, The British Heart Foundation, BT, and Premier Inn and finished with a preview of the actual film.
The advert was aimed at all areas of the target audience as it was shown on prime time TV and therefore, kids, young adults and adults were watching. The remakes of previous adverts would have interested adults and young people because they would have recognised the actual advert. It would have interested children because they may have an interest in Lego and want to see the film because of that and from what they've seen in the advert.

Film Trailers

The film trailers and short movies previewed what the film was going to be about.
They would have appealed to everyone because the people making it would have wanted to create a trailer that would draw all of the target audience in. The kids and young cinema goers may have an interest in lego and therefore want to go and see a new movie made of Lego. Adults would have been interested in them as they may recognise the voices of each character.

Social Media

Social media campaigns, adverts and accounts were set up to create and share posts about the film.
This would have appealed to the adults and young cinema goers because they would have seen these posts and may be interested enough by them to go and see the film. This would not have appealed to children as they most of them won't use social media so therefore won't see the posts.

Merchandise

Merchandise such as clothing, 16 Collectible Mini Figures, bags, The Lego Movie Video Game, sticker and activity books, school supplies (lunch boxes, stationary, etc), 17 Lego World Sets and a Happy Meals at McDonalds were released to help promote the film.
These would have appealed to children because they can take their merchandise to school and show their friends and use. It would also appeal to young people and adults because they might be fans of the film and would want their own pieces of merchandise to support it.