Media Assignment
Section 1
a) Audience Research
After researching the Punk Rock genre of music I found that it first
became popular in the late 1960’s and became more prominent
throughout the 1970’s. As well as being a music genre, many punk
fans were involved in the punk subculture which many believed to
stand for anti-establishment, anarchy and the promotion of
individual freedom. Because of this I decided to target those who
grew up within the movement and experienced it first hand
therefore my target audience would be adults aged between 40
and 60 years old as they would have the right age to have
experienced it all.
After further research I came across the Sex Pistols, a punk band
from the United Kingdom who were popular in the late 1970’s. The
Sex Pistols are known worldwide and are questionably the best
punk band from the 1970’s. Their front man John Lydon has been
one of the faces for punk ever since the Sex Pistols came to
prominence. Because of John Lydon’s image and the connotations
his name and presence brings, I have decided to cast him for a
cameo in my advert. This will mean Sex Pistols fans and punk
fans will be able to easily identify that my advert is trying to sell a
Punk Rock CD.
Research also showed me that “Anarchy In The UK” by the Sex
Pistols was a very popular song when it was first released. It’s
widely known in the United Kingdom and across the world. It’s
lyrics encapsulate the anger, confusion and economic frustration
the was felt by a generation of youth which believed rock and roll
was taken away from them. Because of the widely spread
popularity of the song I have decided to include it in my advert.
This again will easily show audiences that I’m selling a punk rock
CD.
Controls
b) Internal:
My advert features John Lydon, a former punk artist. The fact that I have
decided to include a celebrity in my advertisement means that I have to
think about the availability of my celebrity actor. After researching how
much it costs to have a celebrity of John Lydon’s calibre in my advert it’s
estimated that he would cost between £6000 and £12000 per day. This
led me to decide that I should only have John Lydon booked for one day.
This would mean there would be more money in the budget for other
expenses.
As John Lydon is a famous celebrity who still continues to do shows
through his agency Public Image Ltd, I had to research when he would
be available throughout the year. After I researched his website and his
agency I found that he was not performing at any concerts during the
time I wished to book him. This meant that I could book him for the exact
date I wanted him and I didn’t have to work around him.
c) External:
My initial idea was to rent a bowling green and have actors and
stuntmen tear up the bowling green for one of my scenes. After
researching and enquiring to local bowling greens the cost of repairing
the bowling green after filming there would be well outside of a
reasonable budget. Therefore I have decided to build a set in a studio
and film my bowling green and my bingo scenes in the studio. This will
be the much cheaper option as I won’t have to rebuild anything.
As one of my scenes is filmed outside I have to be aware of the weather
conditions on the site of filming. Weather could change the mood and
tone of my advert if it is raining or snowing. For this reason I have
decided to film my advert in the June. As this is a summer month and
because I want to film in the UK this means that there should be optimal
weather conditions for filming my advert.
Because my advert is promoting a new CD and is Punk Rock based I
wanted to include the song “Anarchy in the UK” by the Sex Pistols. To
do this had to research who owned the rights to this song and ask their
permission to use it in my advertisement. I found out there was a
number of people who owned the song; (Universal Music,
Warner/Chappell Music, A Thousand Miles Long Inc., Rotten Music Ltd.,
Three Shadows Music). Each of these companies represented the band
themselves. After extensive research I found the estimated price for
licensing the song for my advert would cost between £50,000 and
£130,000. I have decided that I will use the song as it is within a
reasonable price range and will allow viewers to understand that it’a a
Punk CD I’m selling.
In one of my scenes I have decided to include an elderly woman running
along a table, kicking tea cups and plates off. After researching the
Health and Safety laws in the workplace I have found that there are
certain measures that need to be put in place to make sure that my
employees are safe. To keep my actress safe in the table scene I have
decided to employ a stunt double to perform the actual stunt. As a
precautionary measure I have decided to reinforce the table to make it
more stable as when the stunt man/woman is performing the stunt the
table could give way and injure the stunt man/woman resulting in a
possible lawsuit. I will also make sure there are no liquids or hard or
sharp objects on the table as these too could result in a possible injury.
d) Representation
In my advert I have decided to represent certain groups of people.
One of these groups is elderly people. I looked at the stereotypical
representation of elderly people in media texts such as TV
programmes and films and found that it’s a common trait that they
have props that help them with their mobility. I have decided that a
character in my advert should use a walking stick, this shows
viewers that this man is frail and finds it hard to walk as it’s very
typical for elderly people to use this as a means of supporting
them throughout their day-to-day lives. I had this prop placed in
the advert to show the great contrast between the man before he
turns to his punk double.
Another representation of elderly people was in the costume
design. I have one of my characters wearing a flat cap. I
researched flat caps and found that they are commonly
associated with the older generations as they were at the height of
fashion in the 1920’s, therefore men have worn and have
continued to wear them today. Because, in Britain, they are easily
identifiable with the older generation of people I have included
them in my advert.
Because I’m selling a punk CD I have decided to represent punks
in my advertisement. In one of my final scenes I have a punk
driving a hijacked lawn mower across the bowling green, on this
lawn mower is an anarcho-punk flag. During my research I found
that this flag is an important representation of the anarcho-punk
movement which was a huge part of the punk rock scene during
the 70’s which is why I’ve included it in my advert. It is a sign of
rebelliousness and is a very prominent symbol in punk rock
imagery. This shows my punk character as a rebellious person
and will spark the punk in the audience who see my advert, hence
this is why I have included it.
I have also incorporated a Mohawk into my advert. I researched
and found out that mohawks were a very popular style choice of
punks in the 70’s and are heavily identified with the punk rock
movement. By making a character have this hairstyle I am
allowing the audience to easily identify my CD as a punk rock CD.
e) Categories; purpose
After researching the genre of punk I found out that it was most
popular in the 70’s. This research showed me that my target
audience was people aged between 40-60. This part of my
research meant that I could use nostalgia as a selling point. As I
have decided to use nostalgia as a selling point this led me to
make the decision to make use of different styles from the 1970’s
and incorporate them into my characters. Viewers watching this
who are in my target audience will remember these different styles
and reminisce about the good times they had whilst these styles
were in fashion. This will lead them to be persuaded to buy my
album to further their joy and nostalgia with the time period my CD
will cover.
After researching different television adverts that were selling the
same kind of product as I am, I found that they all include a picture
of the product that they’re selling at some point during the advert.
Research showed that the image will be centred in the middle of
the screen and will be made to stand out. This is to make sure that
the viewer knows exactly what product to buy and what it looks
like. I have decided that I will have 5-7 second segment at the end
of my advert where I will show the cover of the album. I will make
sure that the colours contrast to make my CD stand out so it’s
easier for audiences to recognise my product.
Whilst I was researching the television adverts I also noticed that
each advert had directions to where you could purchase the CD.
The text came at the end along with the image of the CD and was
made to stand out along with the image. It was typically at the
bottom of the screen. I have decided to include text at the end of
my advert to allow audiences to know where they can buy the CD.
This will persuade my audience to purchase my CD as they know
exactly where to download and physically buy the item.
Section 2
Shot 5
I chose to use a close up in this shot to signify to the audience that this
man is a main character in my advertisement. This also shows the
audience that he is an elderly man because you can see defining
features such as wrinkled skin and thick rim glasses. My character is
wearing a tan shirt and a dark green jumper, because my character is
wearing clothing typical to those that older men wear so this tells
audiences that my character is elderly. I decided on using a mid-angle
shot so that you can see the “Bowling Club” sign and see the star actor
John Lydon making a cameo as well. Because you can see the “Bowling
Club” sign in the background this also anchors to audiences that my
character is older as older people typically play bowls more than the
younger generations do. The background music is “Morning” by Edvard
Greig, I chose this song because of its soothing flute sound and its
generally mellow tone. This also suggests to the audience that this is a
peaceful situation. I also decided to add chirping birds sound effect as
this shows viewers that this is a natural situation. Nature is also seen as
being very peaceful, so the chirping birds anchors the fact that the
bowling club at this moment is a peaceful place.
Shot 8
This shot uses a medium-long shot of a woman in a bingo hall. Because
this shot pans up from her feet then pans towards the woman, after we
see her from the waist up, this signifies to the audience that this is
another main character. Because the camera pans towards the woman
we can tell she is an older woman just like our other character. I chose
to use another mid angled shot so that you can see the table the woman
is at and also the bingo caller, who is John Lydon making another
cameo, in the background. It’s a well-known stereotype that elderly
woman enjoy playing bingo so this makes it easier for the audience to
recognise my character as an older woman. My character is wearing
pastel blue cardigan with a pastel pink t-shirt underneath, I decided on
these colours as they are very soft on the eye and contrast with the punk
rock product I’m selling which uses a lot of darker colours. There are
also tea and scones on the table that my character is at, this indicates to
the audience that we’re in Britain as it is stereotypical for Brits to eat
scones with a cup of tea.
Shot 21
This shot is a trio of mid shots of John Lydon the famous frontman from
the Sex Pistols, because he appears in all three setting it tells the
audience that he plays a big part in the shift of tone from calm and
peaceful to riotous and violent. Because he nods this tells us he is in
charge of when things turn manic. Which, if you’re within the target
audience range, will make sense as John Lydon was seen as an
originator of the punk scene in Britain so it would only be right that he
was the one to give the signal to start rioting. Because the shot is at the
same angle and size and he nods in sync with himself in each shot it
shows that he stands for the same cause in each setting he’s in.
We see John Lydon at the same time, this makes us presume that this is
happening at the same time which indicates to the audience that there
are punks everywhere in all walks of life. I’ve decided to include a vinyl
record scratching to a halt as a sound effect, this is used to show the
change in atmosphere and change in music as it represents somebody
changing a record on a stereo system. Because the SFX is a vinyl
record this will make my audience reminisce about when the medium in
which most music was listened to was on vinyl records. This was also
the time when punk rock was at its peak.
Shot 24
This shot also includes a close-up which shows my character from the
torso up. I made sure to include the top half of his body in this shot so
you can see his change in wardrobe and in appearance. My character is
wearing a sleeveless t-shirt with a Union Jack printed across it. The
Union Jack was an important part of the 70’s punk movement as the
single “God Save The Queen” by the Sex Pistols had the cover art of the
Union Jack with the Queens face. This song was very popular in its time
and started the famous trend for people to wear the Union Jack as a
symbol for rebellion. This wardrobe decision will let my audience know
that this character is now a punk. After we hear the record scratch the
song “Anarchy in the UK” begins to play. The song includes lyrics like “I
am an anarchist”, anarchism and rebellion was a big part of the punk
movement in the 70’s. Whether you are aware of this or not the song is
still a punk rock song so anchors for our audience that this character is a
punk and is about to rebel. There is also red lighting below my character
shining up onto him. Red is the colour with connotations of violence or
anger and indicates to the audience that my character is becoming hot
headed and is about to burst and let his rage spill. The close-up along
with the red lighting creates tension and will excite my audience.
Shot 33
This is my final scene and it includes a close up of my CD. I decided to
have my background black because this would make my CD cover stand
out to audiences as it is orange. If the audience can recognise my cd
cover in the advert they’re more likely to buy it when they go to a music
store or see it online. I also included flames either side of my CD cover.
Flames have connotations with hell and punk rock was once said to be
the music of the devil because of its relationship with rebellion, violence
and sin. The cover itself uses the anarcho-punk “A” symbol in contrast
with the rest of the fonts used. This symbol is widely recognised as a
symbol for the punk movement and punk rock itself. By using this, my
audience, without fully reading the title, will be able to recognise my
album as a punk rock album. I will also have directions for where to
purchase this album at the bottom of the screen in a white text. This will
also stand out from the black background and will remind audiences
where they can buy my album. Because I have used this the sales of the
album will also rise as more people will know where my CD is sold. I also
have included a catchy slogan above my cd in the final scene. This will
also contrast the black background as it’s white. The words “unleash the
punk” hint that there is a punk in all of us lying dormant. After my target
audience, just like my characters in my advert, hear the punk music
playing will be hit with nostalgia and will be transported back to the
1970’s and the piunk within them will be unleashed.