These aren't perfect as they are designed to show you what you may write under pressure
Taking A-Ha’s Take on Me as an example
Barthes argues that media texts consist of signs that are there for the audience to interpret using their own experience. In the case of music video, signs are necessary to direct the audience towards the genre of the music, for example within our chosen genre of synth-pop, there is an expectation of electronica instruments such as a keyboard which are often signs of the genre. Therefore to prove our artists as ‘genuine musicians’ we cut between close ups of artists playing instruments and during the instrumental section used a close-up canted angle on the keyboard player’s fingers playing in time with the music. Equally as synth-pop is a products of the 80s, we needed to deliberately included signs of that era in the video such as the “drink milk” sign and the blazers with rolled up sleeves on the band which are all clichés of the 80s genre. Therefore our audience could identify the genre.
Lady Ga-Ga’s Telephone
The language of music video relies heavily on intertextuality and signs to create several levels of reading (Hall). From our psychographic audience research and our conventions research, single female artists are frequently portrayed as powerful therefore we wanted to communicate this. Therefore, we deliberately included features from Quentin Tarantino films that are renowned for powerful female roles such as: the addition of comedic sound effects to the song such as the ‘whoosh’ sound when our artist moves, cartoon-font style text and stop-motion footage during the sung verse. This then created the two readings: a negotiated reading in that the artist is portrayed as comedic – it also gave the second preferred reading of recognising the similarities with Tarantino which created audience appeal.
Florence and the Machine’s Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)
Richard Dyer argues that a way of communication is through ‘star theory’ in that the artist is constructed from audience expectations and a mixture of meanings and messages. In our own video we wanted to portray this through the standard close-ups on physical features and costume to conform to audience expectations, however we also wanted to construct our artist as a serious musical artist who is not there to be physically attractive therefore we created a ‘ceremony’ narrative to communicate the idea of admiration for the artist. artist is portrayed in a classical floating costume, with cuts to singers and dancers, along with a soft focus and ambient lighting throughout which plays on the audience’s idea of poetic and natural – portraying our artist as someone who was passionate about music.
Thursday 12 May 2011
Wednesday 20 April 2011
Blog on Indie and links
Remember that a lot of you were not 'classic' indie and shared a lot of conventions with other genres. Indie by it's own definition is nebulous as it means 'independent' which is definately you (being independent) but the visual features are frequently swiped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_music
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=video&cd=4&ved=0CE4QywgwAw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fmusic%2Findie%2F&rct=j&q=indie%20music&ei=g5yuTfq6A8iOswaTir3hDA&usg=AFQjCNEWA58JSFk7FKgTEqoj8U8le-AZOw&cad=rja
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/genres/rockandindie
Extracts from Nielsen's Global Media Report
Discussing the trajectory of the online medium in the midst of an historic economic downturn is a perilous business. Assaulted every day with downward-facing red arrows, many of the indicators concerning all things digital veer to the negative:
• Online media’s “favorite child status” (i.e. a long track record of outstripping the growth of every other medium by a wide margin) appears to have diminished over the last few months
• Online advertising by the Financial Services, Retail and Auto industries has shrunk at a dizzying pace over the last six months
• Online display advertising’s share of revenue has plateaued at 20% of total online ad spend in the U.S., and no panacea appears to be on the horizon
• Despite online video’s persistent positive buzz, actual usage is averaging around six minutes per day in the U.S.
• The social media trend is today’s industry darling, but a monetization formula continues to elude the globe’s brightest marketers
But even the most cynical observer has to be swayed by positive developments that define the longer-term opportunities for the online medium and the e-commerce channel:
• Around the globe the online population is looking more and more like the overall population meaning that in a few short years, online access has moved from being a luxury or something cool to an essential, basic requirement
• Packaged goods manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications firms, three of the largest historical spenders on traditional media, are moving online at a pace we haven’t seen before, even as the recession continues to deepen
• The audience growth and engagement quotient of online video is forcing marketers to positively re-assess the value of the online experience
• Adoption of social networking capabilities, by both consumers AND corporations, has crossed the chasm in what appears to be the blink of an eye. In the age of Twitter, feedback barriers have all but disappeared, creating a near friction-free environment for playing back brand experience, campaign reactions or brand events.
• Search continues to be an indispensible tool for all online denizens and opportunities for additional growth continue to emerge. Search across social media networks is the likely next opportunity for search engines
• Access to social networking sites via mobile devices almost tripled during 2008, largely due to rising smartphone penetration and improved network speeds. Increasingly consumers are turning to their phones for a wide range of online content
A Quick Look at Global Usage and Demographics
Exhibit 1 shows a variety of country stats regarding online usage. Americans spend the most time online during the month (a bit more than 2 hours per day), with users in France, Japan and the UK not far behind.
Age-by-Country Demographics
While the demographic-profi le differences of users around the globe aren’t that pronounced, there are some interesting observations (Exhibit 2).
The U.S. online population skews more to the age 50+ than the other countries listed, with the U.K. and Switzerland tied for second and Australia third. Brazil is more skewed to the youth (2-17) demographic, and China (CN in the chart in Exhibit 2) by a signifi cant margin to the 18-34 segment.
Video and Social Media Lead The Way
It is rare to see segments signifi cantly grow from BOTH an audience and an engagement standpoint, but we are seeing exceptional growth over the last couple of years in both video
and social media sites.
While Member Communities have been garnering impressive audience numbers for the last fi ve years, video audiences have been growing at meteoric rates, surpassing e-mail audiences in November 2007 (Exhibit 5). And from a time spent perspective, Member Communities surpassed e-mail for the fi rst time in February 2009. Video has been running neck and neck with search for the last year or so (Exhibit 6).
Cross Media Perspectives
The story within the story of the emerging market for online video is in understanding the interplay between viewing video online and TV viewership. As recent studies show that the amount of time that consumers spend watching TV continues to grow (now 5.5 hours per day), how likely is it for online viewership to take audience away from TV? And how can we compare and contrast the user experience when viewing content on TV vs. online video?
Recent Nielsen TV and Online fusion studies, compares a day of primetime network television audience for each of the major broadcasters with video usage to the Web sites of each of the broadcasters. Based on this analysis, as well as other fusion studies, a few points around cross-media video usage become clear. First, the duplication levels for TV programs and their corresponding online video streams tend to be relatively low, with internet adding approximately 2% additional reach in a given month. Also, there is no evidence that the Internet is cannibalizing TV use. In fact, Nielsen studies have shown that high consumers of TV are also high consumers of the Internet: high-intensity media consumers are high intensity media consumers regardless of media type.
Engagement
Regarding engagement, Nielsen IAG data indicate that the advertising impact of the Internet can add 15 points of lift above TV in terms of brand recall and 18 points of lift in mesage recall. So, not only is the Internet adding incremental reach to a TV media buy, but it is also creating significant additional effectiveness (Exhibit 13).
1. Consumers are looking for deals in a tough economy,
whether they intend to make the purchase online or offl ine
2. With declines in newspaper circulation, a key channel for distribution of printed coupons and advertising, manufacturers and retailers are looking for new ways to move product volume
(Exhibit 31).
The Whole Thing
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nielsen-online-global-lanscapefinal1.pdf
• Online media’s “favorite child status” (i.e. a long track record of outstripping the growth of every other medium by a wide margin) appears to have diminished over the last few months
• Online advertising by the Financial Services, Retail and Auto industries has shrunk at a dizzying pace over the last six months
• Online display advertising’s share of revenue has plateaued at 20% of total online ad spend in the U.S., and no panacea appears to be on the horizon
• Despite online video’s persistent positive buzz, actual usage is averaging around six minutes per day in the U.S.
• The social media trend is today’s industry darling, but a monetization formula continues to elude the globe’s brightest marketers
But even the most cynical observer has to be swayed by positive developments that define the longer-term opportunities for the online medium and the e-commerce channel:
• Around the globe the online population is looking more and more like the overall population meaning that in a few short years, online access has moved from being a luxury or something cool to an essential, basic requirement
• Packaged goods manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and telecommunications firms, three of the largest historical spenders on traditional media, are moving online at a pace we haven’t seen before, even as the recession continues to deepen
• The audience growth and engagement quotient of online video is forcing marketers to positively re-assess the value of the online experience
• Adoption of social networking capabilities, by both consumers AND corporations, has crossed the chasm in what appears to be the blink of an eye. In the age of Twitter, feedback barriers have all but disappeared, creating a near friction-free environment for playing back brand experience, campaign reactions or brand events.
• Search continues to be an indispensible tool for all online denizens and opportunities for additional growth continue to emerge. Search across social media networks is the likely next opportunity for search engines
• Access to social networking sites via mobile devices almost tripled during 2008, largely due to rising smartphone penetration and improved network speeds. Increasingly consumers are turning to their phones for a wide range of online content
A Quick Look at Global Usage and Demographics
Exhibit 1 shows a variety of country stats regarding online usage. Americans spend the most time online during the month (a bit more than 2 hours per day), with users in France, Japan and the UK not far behind.
Age-by-Country Demographics
While the demographic-profi le differences of users around the globe aren’t that pronounced, there are some interesting observations (Exhibit 2).
The U.S. online population skews more to the age 50+ than the other countries listed, with the U.K. and Switzerland tied for second and Australia third. Brazil is more skewed to the youth (2-17) demographic, and China (CN in the chart in Exhibit 2) by a signifi cant margin to the 18-34 segment.
Video and Social Media Lead The Way
It is rare to see segments signifi cantly grow from BOTH an audience and an engagement standpoint, but we are seeing exceptional growth over the last couple of years in both video
and social media sites.
While Member Communities have been garnering impressive audience numbers for the last fi ve years, video audiences have been growing at meteoric rates, surpassing e-mail audiences in November 2007 (Exhibit 5). And from a time spent perspective, Member Communities surpassed e-mail for the fi rst time in February 2009. Video has been running neck and neck with search for the last year or so (Exhibit 6).
Cross Media Perspectives
The story within the story of the emerging market for online video is in understanding the interplay between viewing video online and TV viewership. As recent studies show that the amount of time that consumers spend watching TV continues to grow (now 5.5 hours per day), how likely is it for online viewership to take audience away from TV? And how can we compare and contrast the user experience when viewing content on TV vs. online video?
Recent Nielsen TV and Online fusion studies, compares a day of primetime network television audience for each of the major broadcasters with video usage to the Web sites of each of the broadcasters. Based on this analysis, as well as other fusion studies, a few points around cross-media video usage become clear. First, the duplication levels for TV programs and their corresponding online video streams tend to be relatively low, with internet adding approximately 2% additional reach in a given month. Also, there is no evidence that the Internet is cannibalizing TV use. In fact, Nielsen studies have shown that high consumers of TV are also high consumers of the Internet: high-intensity media consumers are high intensity media consumers regardless of media type.
Engagement
Regarding engagement, Nielsen IAG data indicate that the advertising impact of the Internet can add 15 points of lift above TV in terms of brand recall and 18 points of lift in mesage recall. So, not only is the Internet adding incremental reach to a TV media buy, but it is also creating significant additional effectiveness (Exhibit 13).
1. Consumers are looking for deals in a tough economy,
whether they intend to make the purchase online or offl ine
2. With declines in newspaper circulation, a key channel for distribution of printed coupons and advertising, manufacturers and retailers are looking for new ways to move product volume
(Exhibit 31).
The Whole Thing
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nielsen-online-global-lanscapefinal1.pdf
What are the 1a conventions?
Digital Technology
What is it?
• digital technology refers to hardware, software and online technology, so the cameras, the computers, the packages you used and the programs online that you have worked with. It is worth considering how all this inter-links.
Post-Production
What is it?
• It would actually fall under digital technology as well, so if that comes up it would probably represent an expansion of points you'd make in one section of digital technology.
• It is really about everything you do after constructing the raw materials for your production; so once you have taken photos and written text, how do you manipulate it all in photoshop or desktop publishing for a print product or once you have shot your video, what do you do to it in editing.
Research and Planning
What is it?
• research refers to looking at real media and audiences to inform your thinking about a media production and also how you record all that research
• Planning refers to all the creative and logistical thinking and all the organisation that goes on in putting the production together so that everything works and again gives you the chance to write about how you kept records of it.
Use of Real Media Conventions
What is it?
• Use of real media conventions involves consideration of other texts that you looked at and how skillfully you were able to weave their conventions into your work or ways in which you might have challenged them.
Creativity
What is it?
• Creativity is the hardest one in many ways because it involves thinking about what the creative process might mean.
• Wikipedia describes it as "a mental process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing ideas or concepts, fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight."
• For your projects it might involve considering where ideas came from, how you worked collaboratively to share ideas, how you changed things or even how you used tools like the programs to achieve something imaginative.
But that’s my evaluation?!
• Most of these are the areas that you covered in the evaluation task.
• This time, you are putting together ideas from evaluations and standing a bit further back to look across your production work and reflecting on how you developed across the course.
• Feel free to acknowledge weaknesses and to reflect upon how you learned from them and how you overcame problems.
• It is not a place to be defensive about your work but to really reflect on it!
What is it?
• digital technology refers to hardware, software and online technology, so the cameras, the computers, the packages you used and the programs online that you have worked with. It is worth considering how all this inter-links.
Post-Production
What is it?
• It would actually fall under digital technology as well, so if that comes up it would probably represent an expansion of points you'd make in one section of digital technology.
• It is really about everything you do after constructing the raw materials for your production; so once you have taken photos and written text, how do you manipulate it all in photoshop or desktop publishing for a print product or once you have shot your video, what do you do to it in editing.
Research and Planning
What is it?
• research refers to looking at real media and audiences to inform your thinking about a media production and also how you record all that research
• Planning refers to all the creative and logistical thinking and all the organisation that goes on in putting the production together so that everything works and again gives you the chance to write about how you kept records of it.
Use of Real Media Conventions
What is it?
• Use of real media conventions involves consideration of other texts that you looked at and how skillfully you were able to weave their conventions into your work or ways in which you might have challenged them.
Creativity
What is it?
• Creativity is the hardest one in many ways because it involves thinking about what the creative process might mean.
• Wikipedia describes it as "a mental process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, or new associations of the existing ideas or concepts, fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight."
• For your projects it might involve considering where ideas came from, how you worked collaboratively to share ideas, how you changed things or even how you used tools like the programs to achieve something imaginative.
But that’s my evaluation?!
• Most of these are the areas that you covered in the evaluation task.
• This time, you are putting together ideas from evaluations and standing a bit further back to look across your production work and reflecting on how you developed across the course.
• Feel free to acknowledge weaknesses and to reflect upon how you learned from them and how you overcame problems.
• It is not a place to be defensive about your work but to really reflect on it!
Questions to generate points for 1b - Audience
- Who are the audience for a music video and how is this measured?
- How may an active audience use a music video?
- What are audience expectations for a music video?
- What are the issues for music video and audience?
- How is audience for music video research and monitored?
Questions for 1b
1. “Mass media is ever-changing due to its constant challenging of expected representations” Discuss how you challenged or incorporated accepted representations in one of your production pieces.
2. “All Media texts have a narrative” Discuss how you utilised different approaches to narrative in one of your production pieces.
3. “No media is presents reality, it is a construction of reality through series of shared interpretation of signs.” Discuss how youincoporated different aspects of media language in one of your production pieces.
4. “The audience should feel like voyeurs. Their response is absolutely crucial.” Explain the methods you used to attract your audience.
5. Discuss how you incorporated narrative concepts in one of your production pieces.
6. “The visual look of a text is what defines its genre” Paying particular attention to visuals, explain how you incorporated genre expectations in one of your production pieces.
7. “There is no such thing as reality in representation – we see what the creator wants us to see.” Discuss how you created certain representations in one of your productions.
8. “The more frequently and fluently a medium is used, the more “transparent” or “invisible” to its users it tends to become” Explain how you incorporated messages about your chosen genre in one of your production pieces.
9. “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.” Discuss ways and methods you used to communicate with your chosen audience.
10. Discuss how you combined media language with a marketable product in one of your productions.
11. “Treating individual texts as closed-off entities is a mistake as codes extend structures.” Explain how you utilised intertextuality and media language in one of your production pieces.
12. “It’s is not the genre that defines a text but the medium of expression chosen by that text.” Discuss how you approached the conventions of your chosen genre in one of your production pieces.
2. “All Media texts have a narrative” Discuss how you utilised different approaches to narrative in one of your production pieces.
3. “No media is presents reality, it is a construction of reality through series of shared interpretation of signs.” Discuss how youincoporated different aspects of media language in one of your production pieces.
4. “The audience should feel like voyeurs. Their response is absolutely crucial.” Explain the methods you used to attract your audience.
5. Discuss how you incorporated narrative concepts in one of your production pieces.
6. “The visual look of a text is what defines its genre” Paying particular attention to visuals, explain how you incorporated genre expectations in one of your production pieces.
7. “There is no such thing as reality in representation – we see what the creator wants us to see.” Discuss how you created certain representations in one of your productions.
8. “The more frequently and fluently a medium is used, the more “transparent” or “invisible” to its users it tends to become” Explain how you incorporated messages about your chosen genre in one of your production pieces.
9. “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.” Discuss ways and methods you used to communicate with your chosen audience.
10. Discuss how you combined media language with a marketable product in one of your productions.
11. “Treating individual texts as closed-off entities is a mistake as codes extend structures.” Explain how you utilised intertextuality and media language in one of your production pieces.
12. “It’s is not the genre that defines a text but the medium of expression chosen by that text.” Discuss how you approached the conventions of your chosen genre in one of your production pieces.
Examiner's Report 1a
1(a)
Whilst Candidates were typically able to discuss research in general terms, there was a distinction between those that could focus in on the precise ways in which their work was influenced by or responded to specific media texts/products and those that dealt with research and planning in a less applied and relevant manner (to the question set). Candidates in the latter category were restricted to levels 1 or 2 for use of examples. Terminology was utilised with variable conviction also – the stronger answers used appropriate theoretical or technical language to explain how creative decisions were informed by research into real media at the micro level.
Candidates are advised against the ‘scattergun’ approach – merely listing every instance of research and planning. They are also urged to be clear about the outcomes of research – reporting that they used YouTube to watch trailers, for example, is not sufficient for credit at A2. The words ‘informed by’ in the question were important. Evaluation/critical reflection is required here and the question demands explanation. Many Candidates provided description only – Centres should share the wording of the mark scheme as well as this report with Candidates ahead of the next series.
Equally, progression is an important part of this section and this was another neglected element. The higher level answers were able to synthesise all of these aspects – specific examples with emphasis on the outcome of the research in relation to creative decisions; critical reflection on the process of the research; and an awareness of progress made from AS to A2 and with reference to other media production work where relevant – the distance travelled.
Stronger Candidates were able to provide a broader answer they dealt with genre conventions along with a number of other aspects of real media texts, including narrative, media language and more technical and institutional/professional areas of media production related to several of their own productions.
Finally, it is important that Candidates can be specific and informed about real media conventions but there are a range of ways of relating their own work to real media – these might be more institutional. For example the institutional information in magazine contents pages or the title sequence of a film – these are equally conventional to the more genre ingredients examples that proliferated in answers. Or they might be more technical – observing industry practice in a particular medium.
Whilst Candidates were typically able to discuss research in general terms, there was a distinction between those that could focus in on the precise ways in which their work was influenced by or responded to specific media texts/products and those that dealt with research and planning in a less applied and relevant manner (to the question set). Candidates in the latter category were restricted to levels 1 or 2 for use of examples. Terminology was utilised with variable conviction also – the stronger answers used appropriate theoretical or technical language to explain how creative decisions were informed by research into real media at the micro level.
Candidates are advised against the ‘scattergun’ approach – merely listing every instance of research and planning. They are also urged to be clear about the outcomes of research – reporting that they used YouTube to watch trailers, for example, is not sufficient for credit at A2. The words ‘informed by’ in the question were important. Evaluation/critical reflection is required here and the question demands explanation. Many Candidates provided description only – Centres should share the wording of the mark scheme as well as this report with Candidates ahead of the next series.
Equally, progression is an important part of this section and this was another neglected element. The higher level answers were able to synthesise all of these aspects – specific examples with emphasis on the outcome of the research in relation to creative decisions; critical reflection on the process of the research; and an awareness of progress made from AS to A2 and with reference to other media production work where relevant – the distance travelled.
Stronger Candidates were able to provide a broader answer they dealt with genre conventions along with a number of other aspects of real media texts, including narrative, media language and more technical and institutional/professional areas of media production related to several of their own productions.
Finally, it is important that Candidates can be specific and informed about real media conventions but there are a range of ways of relating their own work to real media – these might be more institutional. For example the institutional information in magazine contents pages or the title sequence of a film – these are equally conventional to the more genre ingredients examples that proliferated in answers. Or they might be more technical – observing industry practice in a particular medium.
Narrative in Music Videos
Terms for describing Narrative
Narrative/ story/ plot
Syntax of the plot
Protagonist
Antagonist
Climax/ crescendo
Equilibrium – Disequilibrium – New Equilibrium
Enigma Code – Drives narrative by an unanswered question
Proairetic/ Action code – Drives narrative through anticipation of an action’s resolution
Linear
Non-linear
Circular
Parallel narrative
Convergent narrative
Interweaving narrative
Impressionist narrative
The video for ‘Virtual Insanity’ by Jamiroquai utilises a loose narrative structure that draws out the tensions and darkness of the song. The dancing protagonist (the singer Jamiroquai) is shown trapped within a padded cell, dancing and performing in an elaborate and visually flamboyant manner during each verse, whilst the movement to the choruses are each accompanied by cutaways (to which the camera eerily tilts, rather than cutting) of cockroaches, ravens/ crows and, towards the very end, a puddle of blood emanating from the position of the camera/ viewer. These cutaways increase in intensity and metaphorical darkness, building on the song’s refusal to give way to another chorus and instead using bridges and middle-eighths. This creates a narrative structure whereby the video becomes more intense and more symbolic of a fragile mental state, thus reflecting the title of the song. The video rejects entirely any sense of a final ‘new equilibrium’; instead it slides into an increasingly dark and dangerous state.
Marilyn Manson’s vide Tainted Love (released as a single from Not Another Teen Movie) begins with a familiar scene of an all-American teen party, complete with cheerleaders and jocks. This initial equilibrium is immediately disrupted by the visually-contrasting ‘goths’ who the antagonist Manson leads into the teen party. This disequilibrium continues throughout the video, being emphasised as the party slips into greater ‘debauchery’ with the onset of each chorus, until towards the end most characters have moved to ‘the dark side’ and a new equilibrium is established: that of the dominance of goth imagery. Towards the end of the video, Manson is no longer outsider, is instead king, and in this way the video utilises the narrative structure to establish a sense of the outsiders becoming dominant. The appeal to the audience is clear: …
Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’ video, directed by Anton Corbijn, utilises abstract and non-literal narratives which are different for each verse and are disconnected from one another in order to create a sense of disconnection and moral emptiness. The iconography of crucifixions, black and white, hospitals and good/ evil evokes a sense of morality and also of death. With Kurt Cobain performing mani(a)cally in the foreground and the blurred images of the rest of the band in the background, the directors also creates metaphors for isolation and alienation.
Narrative/ story/ plot
Syntax of the plot
Protagonist
Antagonist
Climax/ crescendo
Equilibrium – Disequilibrium – New Equilibrium
Enigma Code – Drives narrative by an unanswered question
Proairetic/ Action code – Drives narrative through anticipation of an action’s resolution
Linear
Non-linear
Circular
Parallel narrative
Convergent narrative
Interweaving narrative
Impressionist narrative
The video for ‘Virtual Insanity’ by Jamiroquai utilises a loose narrative structure that draws out the tensions and darkness of the song. The dancing protagonist (the singer Jamiroquai) is shown trapped within a padded cell, dancing and performing in an elaborate and visually flamboyant manner during each verse, whilst the movement to the choruses are each accompanied by cutaways (to which the camera eerily tilts, rather than cutting) of cockroaches, ravens/ crows and, towards the very end, a puddle of blood emanating from the position of the camera/ viewer. These cutaways increase in intensity and metaphorical darkness, building on the song’s refusal to give way to another chorus and instead using bridges and middle-eighths. This creates a narrative structure whereby the video becomes more intense and more symbolic of a fragile mental state, thus reflecting the title of the song. The video rejects entirely any sense of a final ‘new equilibrium’; instead it slides into an increasingly dark and dangerous state.
Marilyn Manson’s vide Tainted Love (released as a single from Not Another Teen Movie) begins with a familiar scene of an all-American teen party, complete with cheerleaders and jocks. This initial equilibrium is immediately disrupted by the visually-contrasting ‘goths’ who the antagonist Manson leads into the teen party. This disequilibrium continues throughout the video, being emphasised as the party slips into greater ‘debauchery’ with the onset of each chorus, until towards the end most characters have moved to ‘the dark side’ and a new equilibrium is established: that of the dominance of goth imagery. Towards the end of the video, Manson is no longer outsider, is instead king, and in this way the video utilises the narrative structure to establish a sense of the outsiders becoming dominant. The appeal to the audience is clear: …
Nirvana’s ‘Heart Shaped Box’ video, directed by Anton Corbijn, utilises abstract and non-literal narratives which are different for each verse and are disconnected from one another in order to create a sense of disconnection and moral emptiness. The iconography of crucifixions, black and white, hospitals and good/ evil evokes a sense of morality and also of death. With Kurt Cobain performing mani(a)cally in the foreground and the blurred images of the rest of the band in the background, the directors also creates metaphors for isolation and alienation.
Unit G325: Section A Theoretical Evaluation of Production 1b) Essay Guidance
Remember with this answer the mark scheme is very similar – 5 marks for terminology, 10 marks for examples and 10 for analysis and explanation therefore SPECIFIC examples from your own pieces will be just as important as with your theorists. You must also remember that consideration of the key media concepts as actual concepts with different views is vital as this is still a synoptic unit (bringing everything together).
Paragraph 1
Intro: Which of your projects are you going to write about? Briefly describe it and give some concept specific information about it. (e.g. if they ask you about narrative you could say “that incorporated a linear narrative of a love story”)
Paragraph 2
What are some of the key features and thoughts of the concept you are being asked to apply? Maybe outline two of the theories/ideas of particular writers briefly
Paragraph 3
Start to apply the concept, making close reference to your production to show how the concept is evident in it. (e.g. if asked about genre, you could argue about how genre fitted to your own production)
Paragraph 4
Try to show ways in which ideas work in relation to your production and also ways in which those ideas might not apply/could be challenged.
Paragraph 5 - conclusion
What can you draw from this – what has it revealed about the concept?
Again remember you only have 30 minutes and that you really need to ANALYSE the finished production (make comments about the effects and consider all the elements of the key concept), rather than tell the marker how you made it
Paragraph 1
Intro: Which of your projects are you going to write about? Briefly describe it and give some concept specific information about it. (e.g. if they ask you about narrative you could say “that incorporated a linear narrative of a love story”)
Paragraph 2
What are some of the key features and thoughts of the concept you are being asked to apply? Maybe outline two of the theories/ideas of particular writers briefly
Paragraph 3
Start to apply the concept, making close reference to your production to show how the concept is evident in it. (e.g. if asked about genre, you could argue about how genre fitted to your own production)
Paragraph 4
Try to show ways in which ideas work in relation to your production and also ways in which those ideas might not apply/could be challenged.
Paragraph 5 - conclusion
What can you draw from this – what has it revealed about the concept?
Again remember you only have 30 minutes and that you really need to ANALYSE the finished production (make comments about the effects and consider all the elements of the key concept), rather than tell the marker how you made it
Unit G325: Section A Theoretical Evaluation of Production 1a) Essay Guidance
There is no formal structure for this answer as it is personal to your skills. You must also remember that consideration of the key media concepts is vital as this is a synoptic unit (bringing everything together).
Brief Introduction - should be an introduction which explains which projects you did. It can be quite short.
• State what you produced at AS and A2 and target audience (and any other media experience if applicable).
Paragraph 2
• Look at the skill area you have been asked about.
• What skills did you have already and how were these illustrated. Use an example – this could come from other subjects, other experience, starting points in Media
Paragraph 3
• This should now look at your skills at AS and year 12 – what you learned and developed – focusing on the key area you have been asked about.
• There should be very real and well-described examples to support your comments (e.g. ‘for example we used …’)
Paragraph 4
• This should go on to demonstrate how your skills developed in later project.
• Back up this with thorough examples
• Also, you now reflect on how this has made you progress from before.
Paragraph 5
• Round off your key points in a short conclusion, summarising the most important element of progress you made in this area.
Brief Introduction - should be an introduction which explains which projects you did. It can be quite short.
• State what you produced at AS and A2 and target audience (and any other media experience if applicable).
Paragraph 2
• Look at the skill area you have been asked about.
• What skills did you have already and how were these illustrated. Use an example – this could come from other subjects, other experience, starting points in Media
Paragraph 3
• This should now look at your skills at AS and year 12 – what you learned and developed – focusing on the key area you have been asked about.
• There should be very real and well-described examples to support your comments (e.g. ‘for example we used …’)
Paragraph 4
• This should go on to demonstrate how your skills developed in later project.
• Back up this with thorough examples
• Also, you now reflect on how this has made you progress from before.
Paragraph 5
• Round off your key points in a short conclusion, summarising the most important element of progress you made in this area.
Slumdog Millionaire and Hindi Cinema
Global Media
• What makes something a 'global media text'?
• Is'global' different to international, multinational, transnational etc.?
Global Media
• Does hegemonic status (one dominant power) mean Hollywood films are automatically global?
• Equally, are foreign language media 'global' when read in the UK?
• 'Global' implies similar use in a variety of diverse media markets.
• Does it also imply no 'national' ownership?
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, including:
• Mumbai
• Andhra Pradesh
• Assam
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Punjab
• Tamil Nadu
• West Bengal
Indian films also came to be followed throughout South Asia and the Middle East (modest dress and subdued sexuality of these films was found to be acceptable to the sensibilities of the audience belonging to these regions)
Indian Cinema Overview
• India is the world's largest producer of films, producing close to a thousand films annually.
• About 600 of the total films produced are in Telugu and Hindi, approximately 300 each, while the remaining are in other languages.
• However, Hindi films account for about half of the total revenue generated by cinema in India.
• The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros.
• Prominent Indian enterprises such as Zee, UTV and Adlabs also participate in producing and distributing films.
• Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India, making the commercial presence of the medium felt although many Indian films are bankrolled through mysterious means.
• The Indian diaspora (people relocating to other countries) constitutes of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made available both through mediums such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially feasible. These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a mainstream film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema, the net worth of which was found to be 1.3 billion US Dollars in 2000.
• Facilities for film production in the country include Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, the home of Telugu film industry, the largest film studio complex in the world
• Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone accounting for 4-5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India.
Indian Film Categories
• Bollywood – the mainstream Hindi films "formulaic story lines, expertly choreographed fight scenes, spectacular song-and-dance routines, emotion-charged melodrama, and larger-than-life heroes.“
• 'Parallel Cinema' movement, prominent in Bengali cinema, Kannada cinema, Malayalam cinema, Tamil cinema and other regional industries, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism.
Presentation Content
• Overview
• History
• Conventions
• Move/lack of movement towards Global
• Influences
• Distribution
Bollywood
• The Hindi language film industry of Mumbai (formerly Bombay)—also known as Bollywood—is the largest and most popular branch of Indian cinema.
• The term "Bollywood" has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the world's largest film producer.
• The Hindi film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences. It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximise box office receipts. However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences.
History
• Following India's independence, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s are regarded by film historians as the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema. While commercial Hindi cinema was thriving, the 1950s also saw the emergence of a new Parallel Cinema in Hindi films
• Hindi films also become prominent in Cannes and with the Indian Diaspora, more international critical acclaim was given to Hindi films. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, romance movies and action films emerged followed by gritty, violent films about gangsters.
• Some Hindi filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal continued to produce realistic Parallel Cinema throughout the 1970s. However, the 'art film' came under criticism for not doing enough to encourage commercial cinema.
• Another important film from 1975 was Deewar, directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim-Javed. A crime film pitting "a policeman against his brother, a gang leader based on real-life smuggler Haji Mastan", portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, it was described as being “absolutely key to Indian cinema” by Danny Boyle.
History Continued
• The most internationally-acclaimed Hindi film of the 1980s was Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988).
• During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the pendulum swung back toward family-centric romantic musicals.
• Furthermore, this decade marked the entry of new performers in arthouse and independent films, some of which succeeded commercially, the most influential example being Satya (1998) . The critical and commercial success of Satya led to the emergence of a distinct genre known as Mumbai Noir urban films reflecting social problems in the city of Mumbai. This led to a resurgence of Parallel Cinema by the end of the decade.
• The 2000s saw a growth in Bollywood's popularity in the world. This led the nation's filmmaking to new heights in terms of quality, cinematography and innovative story lines as well as technical advances in areas such as special effects, animation, etc.
• The opening up of the overseas market, more Bollywood releases abroad and the explosion of multiplexes in big cities, led to wider box office successes in India and abroad
Bollywood Finances and Marketing
• In 1995 the Indian economy began showing sustainable annual growth, and Bollywood, as a commercial enterprise, grew at a growth rate of 15% annually – generating CD sales, magazines.
• With growth in commercial appeal the earnings of known Bollywood stars such as Shahrukh Khan reached 30 million rupees per film by the year 2000.
• Female stars such as Madhuri Dixit, too, earned as much as 12.5 million rupees for a film.
• Many actors signed contracts for simultaneous work in 3-4 films.
• Institutions such as the Industrial Development Bank of India also came forward to finance Bollywood films. A number of magazines such as Filmfare,Stardust, Cineblitz etc. became popular.
Bollywood
• Bollywood is more properly referred to as Hindi cinema, though frequent use of poetic Urdu words is fairly common.
• There has been a growing presence of Indian English in dialogue and songs as well.
• It is not uncommon to see films that feature dialogue with English words and phrases, or even whole sentences.
Technical Details
– Songs from Bollywood movies are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers, with the actors then lip synching the words to the song on-screen, often while dancing.
– Usually sound in Bollywood films is rarely recorded on location. Therefore, the sound is usually created (or recreated) entirely in the studio – although this is changing.
– Dialogues are usually written in an unadorned Hindi or Hindustani that would be understood by the largest possible audience.
– Some movies, however, have used regional dialects to evoke a village setting, or old-fashioned courtly Urdu historical films.
– Contemporary mainstream movies also make great use of English. In fact, many movie scripts are first written in English, and then translated into Hindi.
– Characters may shift from one language to the other to express a certain atmosphere (for example, English in a business setting and Hindi in an informal one).
– Cinematic language, whether in dialogues or lyrics, is often melodramatic and invokes God, family, mother, duty, and self-sacrifice liberally.
Influences
• Musicals –
– Moulin Rouge – Baz Luhrmann’s Bollywood-inlufenced movie fuelled a musical Renaissance
• A. R. Rahman, an Indian film composer, wrote the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, and a musical version of Hum Aapke Hain Koun has played in London's West End.
• The Bollywood musical Lagaan (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which has won four Golden Globes and eight Academy Awards, was also directly inspired by Bollywood films, and is considered to be a "homage to Hindi commercial cinema".
• Several other Hollywood films are also believed to have been inspired by Bollywood films. For example, V. Shantaram’s Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) is believed to have inspired the Hollywood film The Dirty Dozen (1967).
• The theme of reincarnation was also popularized in Western popular culture through Bollywood films
• The 1975 film Chhoti Si Baat is believed to have inspired Hitch (2005), which in turn inspired the Bollywood film Partner (2007).
• The influence of Bollywood filmi music can also be seen in popular music elsewhere in the world.
– The Black Eyed Peas' Grammy Award winning 2005 song "Don't Phunk with My Heart" was inspired by two 1970s Bollywood songs: "Ye Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana" from Don (1978) and "Ae Nujawan Hai Sub" from Apradh (1972).
– Also in 2005, the Kronos Quartet re-recorded several R. D. Burman compositions, with Asha Bhosle as the singer, into an album You've stolen my heart - Songs From R D Burman's Bollywood, which was nominated for "Best Contemporary World Music Album" at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
– A.R. Rahman’s Jai Ho song from the end of Slumdog Millionaire was remixed by the Pussycat Dolls into English.
– Filmi music composed by A. R. Rahman has frequently been sampled by musicians elsewhere.
Commercial Conventions
• Bollywood films are mostly musicals, and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script.
• A film's success often depends on the quality of such musical numbers and the music is often released beforehand.
• Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred to as paisa vasool, (literally, "money's worth").
• Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills are all mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission. Such movies are called masala films. These movies are a mixture of many things such as action, comedy, romance etc.
• Most films have heroes who are able to fight off villains all by themselves.
• Melodrama and romance are common ingredients to Bollywood films.
• There are also formulaic features such as : star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, family ties, sacrifice, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts of gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences.
Other Conventions
• Bollywood conventions are changing.
• A large Indian diaspora in English speaking countries, and increased Western influence at home, have nudged Bollywood films closer to Hollywood models
• Or including topics such as Indians living elsewhere (e.g. Britain).
• Film critic Lata Khubchandani writes,"..our earliest films...had liberal doses of sex and kissing scenes in them. Strangely, it was after Independence the censor board came into being and so did all the strictures."
• Plots now tend to feature Westernised urbanites dating and dancing in clubs rather than centering on pre-arranged marriages.
• Though these changes can widely be seen in contemporary Bollywood, traditional conservative ways of Indian culture continue to exist in India outside the industry and an element of resistance by some to western-based influences.
• Despite this, Bollywood continues to play a major role in fashion in India.
Conventions and Global
• Bollywood initially explored issues of caste and culture in films such as Achhut Kanya (1936) and Sujata (1959).
• Bollywood grew during the 1990s with the release of as many as 215 films in 1991.
• With Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Bollywood registered its commercial presence in the Western world – dubbed into Punjabi and English
– A romantic anecdote of second-generation Indians living in Britain who are strongly attached to the traditional values of Indian culture. The frolicking of the lovers in Europe is followed by Raj's struggle to win over the hearts of every member of Simran's family so that they allow him to marry her – was extremely successful in Britain
Overview
• The Hindi film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences.
• It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximise box office receipts.
• However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences.
History of Indian Film
Current Indian Film
• In the 21st century, Indian cinema became a global enterprise.
• Enhanced technology upgraded established cinematic norms of delivering product, radically altering the manner in which content reached the target audience.
• Indian cinema has markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.
• The country also participates in international film festivals.
• Indian filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding), Deepa Mehta etc. found success overseas.
• The Indian government extended film delegations to foreign countries such as the United States of America and Japan while the country's Film Producers Guild sent similar missions through Europe.
Spread of Indian Film
• As cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country as many as 1,000 films in various languages of India were produced annually.
• Expatriates in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States continued to give rise to international audiences for Hindi-language films
• continued to carry "formulaic story lines, expertly choreographed fight scenes, spectacular song-and-dance routines, emotion-charged melodrama, and larger-than-life heroes.“
• This is contrasted by the 'Parallel Cinema' movement, prominent in Bengali cinema, Kannada cinema, Malayalam cinema, Tamil cinema and other regional industries, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism.
Global India
• Indians during the colonial rule bought film equipment from Europe. The British funded wartime propaganda films during the second world war, some of which showed the Indian army pitted against the axis powers, specifically the Empire of Japan, which had managed to infiltrate into India.
• Indian cinema's early contacts with other regions became visible with its films making early inroads into Russia, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China. Mainstream Hindi film stars like Raj Kapoor gained international fame across Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Indian films also appeared in international fora and film festivals. This allowed 'Parallel' Bengali filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray to achieve worldwide fame, with his films gaining success among European, American and Asian audiences. Ray's work subsequently had a worldwide impact, with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, James Ivory, Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut, Steven Spielberg, Carlos Saura, Jean-Luc Godard, Isao Takahata, Gregory Nava, Ira Sachs and Wes Anderson being influenced by his cinematic style
• Many Asian and 'Third World' countries increasingly came to find Indian cinema as more suited to their sensibilities than Western cinema. Jigna Desai holds that by the 21st century Indian cinema had managed to become 'deterritorialized', spreading over to the many parts of the world where Indian diaspora was present in significant numbers, and becoming an alternative to other international cinema.
• Indian cinema has more recently begun influencing Western musical films, and played a particularly instrumental role in the revival of the genre in the Western world.
Slumdog Millionaire Videos
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q – US Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0DKHKVWwkg – UK Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jph31ziJ_Lw – Spanish Trailer
• http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/trailer/10776.html - Indian Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV-kBufZgug&feature=related
• http://www.revver.com/video/1299138/slumdog-millionaire-all-access-interview-desihitscom/ - Interviews
Independent Film Key Players
• Pathé – Involved with cinema production, distribution, the international management of a catalogue of more than 500 films, running cinemas (EuroPalaces network which federates the Pathé theatres and Gaumont)
• Film4 – Film company run by Channel Four
• Fox Searchlight - is a film division of 20th Century Fox, established in 1994. It specialises in indie and British films, alongside dramedy and horror, and is variously involved with the production and/or distribution of these films.
Hollywood Movies
Blockbusters
• Blockbusters emphasize spectacle, star power, and high production value, all of which entail an enormous budget. Blockbusters typically rely upon star power and massive advertising to attract a huge audience. A successful blockbuster will attract an audience large enough to offset production costs and reap considerable profits. Such productions carry a substantial risk of failure, and most studios release blockbusters that both over- and underperform in a year.
Independent film
• Studios supplement these movies with independent productions, made with small budgets and often independently of the studio corporation. Movies made in this manner typically emphasize high professional quality in terms of acting, directing, screenwriting, and other elements associated with production, and also upon creativity and innovation. These movies usually rely upon critical praise or niche marketing to garner an audience. Because of an independent film's low budgets, a successful independent film can have a high profit-to-cost ratio, while a failure will incur minimal losses, allowing for studios to sponsor dozens of such productions in addition to their high-stakes releases.
• What makes something a 'global media text'?
• Is'global' different to international, multinational, transnational etc.?
Global Media
• Does hegemonic status (one dominant power) mean Hollywood films are automatically global?
• Equally, are foreign language media 'global' when read in the UK?
• 'Global' implies similar use in a variety of diverse media markets.
• Does it also imply no 'national' ownership?
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, including:
• Mumbai
• Andhra Pradesh
• Assam
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Punjab
• Tamil Nadu
• West Bengal
Indian films also came to be followed throughout South Asia and the Middle East (modest dress and subdued sexuality of these films was found to be acceptable to the sensibilities of the audience belonging to these regions)
Indian Cinema Overview
• India is the world's largest producer of films, producing close to a thousand films annually.
• About 600 of the total films produced are in Telugu and Hindi, approximately 300 each, while the remaining are in other languages.
• However, Hindi films account for about half of the total revenue generated by cinema in India.
• The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros.
• Prominent Indian enterprises such as Zee, UTV and Adlabs also participate in producing and distributing films.
• Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India, making the commercial presence of the medium felt although many Indian films are bankrolled through mysterious means.
• The Indian diaspora (people relocating to other countries) constitutes of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made available both through mediums such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially feasible. These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a mainstream film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema, the net worth of which was found to be 1.3 billion US Dollars in 2000.
• Facilities for film production in the country include Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, the home of Telugu film industry, the largest film studio complex in the world
• Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone accounting for 4-5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India.
Indian Film Categories
• Bollywood – the mainstream Hindi films "formulaic story lines, expertly choreographed fight scenes, spectacular song-and-dance routines, emotion-charged melodrama, and larger-than-life heroes.“
• 'Parallel Cinema' movement, prominent in Bengali cinema, Kannada cinema, Malayalam cinema, Tamil cinema and other regional industries, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism.
Presentation Content
• Overview
• History
• Conventions
• Move/lack of movement towards Global
• Influences
• Distribution
Bollywood
• The Hindi language film industry of Mumbai (formerly Bombay)—also known as Bollywood—is the largest and most popular branch of Indian cinema.
• The term "Bollywood" has origins in the 1970s, when India overtook America as the world's largest film producer.
• The Hindi film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences. It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximise box office receipts. However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences.
History
• Following India's independence, the period from the late 1940s to the 1960s are regarded by film historians as the "Golden Age" of Hindi cinema. While commercial Hindi cinema was thriving, the 1950s also saw the emergence of a new Parallel Cinema in Hindi films
• Hindi films also become prominent in Cannes and with the Indian Diaspora, more international critical acclaim was given to Hindi films. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, romance movies and action films emerged followed by gritty, violent films about gangsters.
• Some Hindi filmmakers such as Shyam Benegal continued to produce realistic Parallel Cinema throughout the 1970s. However, the 'art film' came under criticism for not doing enough to encourage commercial cinema.
• Another important film from 1975 was Deewar, directed by Yash Chopra and written by Salim-Javed. A crime film pitting "a policeman against his brother, a gang leader based on real-life smuggler Haji Mastan", portrayed by Amitabh Bachchan, it was described as being “absolutely key to Indian cinema” by Danny Boyle.
History Continued
• The most internationally-acclaimed Hindi film of the 1980s was Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! (1988).
• During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the pendulum swung back toward family-centric romantic musicals.
• Furthermore, this decade marked the entry of new performers in arthouse and independent films, some of which succeeded commercially, the most influential example being Satya (1998) . The critical and commercial success of Satya led to the emergence of a distinct genre known as Mumbai Noir urban films reflecting social problems in the city of Mumbai. This led to a resurgence of Parallel Cinema by the end of the decade.
• The 2000s saw a growth in Bollywood's popularity in the world. This led the nation's filmmaking to new heights in terms of quality, cinematography and innovative story lines as well as technical advances in areas such as special effects, animation, etc.
• The opening up of the overseas market, more Bollywood releases abroad and the explosion of multiplexes in big cities, led to wider box office successes in India and abroad
Bollywood Finances and Marketing
• In 1995 the Indian economy began showing sustainable annual growth, and Bollywood, as a commercial enterprise, grew at a growth rate of 15% annually – generating CD sales, magazines.
• With growth in commercial appeal the earnings of known Bollywood stars such as Shahrukh Khan reached 30 million rupees per film by the year 2000.
• Female stars such as Madhuri Dixit, too, earned as much as 12.5 million rupees for a film.
• Many actors signed contracts for simultaneous work in 3-4 films.
• Institutions such as the Industrial Development Bank of India also came forward to finance Bollywood films. A number of magazines such as Filmfare,Stardust, Cineblitz etc. became popular.
Bollywood
• Bollywood is more properly referred to as Hindi cinema, though frequent use of poetic Urdu words is fairly common.
• There has been a growing presence of Indian English in dialogue and songs as well.
• It is not uncommon to see films that feature dialogue with English words and phrases, or even whole sentences.
Technical Details
– Songs from Bollywood movies are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers, with the actors then lip synching the words to the song on-screen, often while dancing.
– Usually sound in Bollywood films is rarely recorded on location. Therefore, the sound is usually created (or recreated) entirely in the studio – although this is changing.
– Dialogues are usually written in an unadorned Hindi or Hindustani that would be understood by the largest possible audience.
– Some movies, however, have used regional dialects to evoke a village setting, or old-fashioned courtly Urdu historical films.
– Contemporary mainstream movies also make great use of English. In fact, many movie scripts are first written in English, and then translated into Hindi.
– Characters may shift from one language to the other to express a certain atmosphere (for example, English in a business setting and Hindi in an informal one).
– Cinematic language, whether in dialogues or lyrics, is often melodramatic and invokes God, family, mother, duty, and self-sacrifice liberally.
Influences
• Musicals –
– Moulin Rouge – Baz Luhrmann’s Bollywood-inlufenced movie fuelled a musical Renaissance
• A. R. Rahman, an Indian film composer, wrote the music for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bombay Dreams, and a musical version of Hum Aapke Hain Koun has played in London's West End.
• The Bollywood musical Lagaan (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which has won four Golden Globes and eight Academy Awards, was also directly inspired by Bollywood films, and is considered to be a "homage to Hindi commercial cinema".
• Several other Hollywood films are also believed to have been inspired by Bollywood films. For example, V. Shantaram’s Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) is believed to have inspired the Hollywood film The Dirty Dozen (1967).
• The theme of reincarnation was also popularized in Western popular culture through Bollywood films
• The 1975 film Chhoti Si Baat is believed to have inspired Hitch (2005), which in turn inspired the Bollywood film Partner (2007).
• The influence of Bollywood filmi music can also be seen in popular music elsewhere in the world.
– The Black Eyed Peas' Grammy Award winning 2005 song "Don't Phunk with My Heart" was inspired by two 1970s Bollywood songs: "Ye Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana" from Don (1978) and "Ae Nujawan Hai Sub" from Apradh (1972).
– Also in 2005, the Kronos Quartet re-recorded several R. D. Burman compositions, with Asha Bhosle as the singer, into an album You've stolen my heart - Songs From R D Burman's Bollywood, which was nominated for "Best Contemporary World Music Album" at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
– A.R. Rahman’s Jai Ho song from the end of Slumdog Millionaire was remixed by the Pussycat Dolls into English.
– Filmi music composed by A. R. Rahman has frequently been sampled by musicians elsewhere.
Commercial Conventions
• Bollywood films are mostly musicals, and are expected to contain catchy music in the form of song-and-dance numbers woven into the script.
• A film's success often depends on the quality of such musical numbers and the music is often released beforehand.
• Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred to as paisa vasool, (literally, "money's worth").
• Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills are all mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission. Such movies are called masala films. These movies are a mixture of many things such as action, comedy, romance etc.
• Most films have heroes who are able to fight off villains all by themselves.
• Melodrama and romance are common ingredients to Bollywood films.
• There are also formulaic features such as : star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, family ties, sacrifice, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts of gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences.
Other Conventions
• Bollywood conventions are changing.
• A large Indian diaspora in English speaking countries, and increased Western influence at home, have nudged Bollywood films closer to Hollywood models
• Or including topics such as Indians living elsewhere (e.g. Britain).
• Film critic Lata Khubchandani writes,"..our earliest films...had liberal doses of sex and kissing scenes in them. Strangely, it was after Independence the censor board came into being and so did all the strictures."
• Plots now tend to feature Westernised urbanites dating and dancing in clubs rather than centering on pre-arranged marriages.
• Though these changes can widely be seen in contemporary Bollywood, traditional conservative ways of Indian culture continue to exist in India outside the industry and an element of resistance by some to western-based influences.
• Despite this, Bollywood continues to play a major role in fashion in India.
Conventions and Global
• Bollywood initially explored issues of caste and culture in films such as Achhut Kanya (1936) and Sujata (1959).
• Bollywood grew during the 1990s with the release of as many as 215 films in 1991.
• With Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Bollywood registered its commercial presence in the Western world – dubbed into Punjabi and English
– A romantic anecdote of second-generation Indians living in Britain who are strongly attached to the traditional values of Indian culture. The frolicking of the lovers in Europe is followed by Raj's struggle to win over the hearts of every member of Simran's family so that they allow him to marry her – was extremely successful in Britain
Overview
• The Hindi film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences.
• It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximise box office receipts.
• However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences.
History of Indian Film
Current Indian Film
• In the 21st century, Indian cinema became a global enterprise.
• Enhanced technology upgraded established cinematic norms of delivering product, radically altering the manner in which content reached the target audience.
• Indian cinema has markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened.
• The country also participates in international film festivals.
• Indian filmmakers such as Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding), Deepa Mehta etc. found success overseas.
• The Indian government extended film delegations to foreign countries such as the United States of America and Japan while the country's Film Producers Guild sent similar missions through Europe.
Spread of Indian Film
• As cinema as a medium gained popularity in the country as many as 1,000 films in various languages of India were produced annually.
• Expatriates in countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States continued to give rise to international audiences for Hindi-language films
• continued to carry "formulaic story lines, expertly choreographed fight scenes, spectacular song-and-dance routines, emotion-charged melodrama, and larger-than-life heroes.“
• This is contrasted by the 'Parallel Cinema' movement, prominent in Bengali cinema, Kannada cinema, Malayalam cinema, Tamil cinema and other regional industries, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism.
Global India
• Indians during the colonial rule bought film equipment from Europe. The British funded wartime propaganda films during the second world war, some of which showed the Indian army pitted against the axis powers, specifically the Empire of Japan, which had managed to infiltrate into India.
• Indian cinema's early contacts with other regions became visible with its films making early inroads into Russia, Middle East, Southeast Asia, and China. Mainstream Hindi film stars like Raj Kapoor gained international fame across Asia and Eastern Europe.
• Indian films also appeared in international fora and film festivals. This allowed 'Parallel' Bengali filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray to achieve worldwide fame, with his films gaining success among European, American and Asian audiences. Ray's work subsequently had a worldwide impact, with filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, James Ivory, Abbas Kiarostami, Elia Kazan, François Truffaut, Steven Spielberg, Carlos Saura, Jean-Luc Godard, Isao Takahata, Gregory Nava, Ira Sachs and Wes Anderson being influenced by his cinematic style
• Many Asian and 'Third World' countries increasingly came to find Indian cinema as more suited to their sensibilities than Western cinema. Jigna Desai holds that by the 21st century Indian cinema had managed to become 'deterritorialized', spreading over to the many parts of the world where Indian diaspora was present in significant numbers, and becoming an alternative to other international cinema.
• Indian cinema has more recently begun influencing Western musical films, and played a particularly instrumental role in the revival of the genre in the Western world.
Slumdog Millionaire Videos
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIzbwV7on6Q – US Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0DKHKVWwkg – UK Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jph31ziJ_Lw – Spanish Trailer
• http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/hindi/trailer/10776.html - Indian Trailer
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV-kBufZgug&feature=related
• http://www.revver.com/video/1299138/slumdog-millionaire-all-access-interview-desihitscom/ - Interviews
Independent Film Key Players
• Pathé – Involved with cinema production, distribution, the international management of a catalogue of more than 500 films, running cinemas (EuroPalaces network which federates the Pathé theatres and Gaumont)
• Film4 – Film company run by Channel Four
• Fox Searchlight - is a film division of 20th Century Fox, established in 1994. It specialises in indie and British films, alongside dramedy and horror, and is variously involved with the production and/or distribution of these films.
Hollywood Movies
Blockbusters
• Blockbusters emphasize spectacle, star power, and high production value, all of which entail an enormous budget. Blockbusters typically rely upon star power and massive advertising to attract a huge audience. A successful blockbuster will attract an audience large enough to offset production costs and reap considerable profits. Such productions carry a substantial risk of failure, and most studios release blockbusters that both over- and underperform in a year.
Independent film
• Studios supplement these movies with independent productions, made with small budgets and often independently of the studio corporation. Movies made in this manner typically emphasize high professional quality in terms of acting, directing, screenwriting, and other elements associated with production, and also upon creativity and innovation. These movies usually rely upon critical praise or niche marketing to garner an audience. Because of an independent film's low budgets, a successful independent film can have a high profit-to-cost ratio, while a failure will incur minimal losses, allowing for studios to sponsor dozens of such productions in addition to their high-stakes releases.
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