Dissertation: Comparing The Parent Traps

This is an article I found which compares the 2 Parent Trap films in terms of their content and character development. It makes some good points which I maybe able to expand upon in my dissertation.

http://www.soundonsight.org/extended-thoughts-on-the-parent-trap-2/

Both Projects: Contacting People

Today I am having a day of contacting people and watching films and Youtube clips for both my dissertation and production concept project.

Dissertation

For my dissertation I have decided that as I am using The Parent Trap as one of my case studies I should try and find out some information from the Disney company themselves about the film and also other remakes and adaptations the company has made. I looked through various Disney websites and found what I thought were relevant email addresses:

1. help@disney.co.uk 
2. TWDC.CorpComms.Europe@disney.com
3. wdsmp.press@disney.co.uk
4. dtpukpress@disney.co.uk

I emailed them this:

I have also signed up to IMDBpro and I made a list of all production companies and the directors (who are still alive) that worked on my chosen films and I am going to email them all asking questions which will help me with my dissertation.

Production Concept

Today I am also going to email the production companies of the shows such as:

Magaluf Weekender - enquiries@twofour.co.uk
What Happens in Kavos - info@dragonfly.tv
Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents - contactus@zodiakrights.com

So that I can find out information about their target audiences that I can add it to my research.

I will also contact the production companies for:

An Idiot Abroad - info@meandyouproductions.co.uk
Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour - emma@jamesgrant.co.uk

So that I can find out about the kind of planning which goes into making a fun but informative travel show like these.

Production Concept: I Got the Green Light

So today I pitched my idea to Simon and Helen and I thought it went well. I received alot of positive feeback and also a few suggestions on things I could concentrate on and include in my package. This is the list of feedback I received from Simon.

GREEN LIGHT PITCH RESULT


Hennie Clough – Your idea and package has been given in a green-light with the following provisos:


* You need to make sure that the content of the program is true to your idea, so be careful on aspects such as “pranks”
* Make sure the program content is well researched not just what you think will be interesting.
* Documents, running order script – make sure they all conform to your proposed channel’s remit.
* Only consider the marketing aspects if you have a collaborator on board who can deliver on your ideas.
* Combine the visuals into an extended trailer.

Production Concept: My Audience

I have decided that I want my target audience to be 16 to 35.

As these are the people who are just thinking about going on their first holiday without their parents or are trying to think of something to do before heading off to university or full time work or are looking to go out for one last big holiday before settling down or are planning and stag or hen do.

I am going to look more in depth into my target audience by looking at the audiences for Sun, Sex and Suspicious parents, Magaluf Weekender and What Happens in Kavos as even though I am trying to make a show which is completely opposite to these I would like to try and attract the same audience

Production Concept: ITV Running times

I have done alot of research on the commissioning part of ITV's website and I found a link to this PDF which shows how much content you need to produce for a half an hour time slot which includes sponsorship. This has really helped me visualise what my show would look like on TV with adverts and sponsorship bumpers and also has made me realise how much content I actually need to plan for.

http://www.itv.com/documents/pdf/ITV-Digital-Channels-Runtimes.pdf

Production Concept: Sponsorship

I emailed Outgoing, STA and InterRail asking about sponsorship for my program. InterRail were the only ones to get back to me but they were more that happy to help and they sent me a Media pack with helpful information in it about the company. I will email them again to see if they have any pre-made sponsorship adverts if not I will have to see if I can make something out of the videos on their Youtube channel.

Production Concept: My Pitch

Slide 1

My show is a 6 part young travel show series with each episode focusing on a different country in Europe.

I found it really hard to name my show as I didn't want to limit my brand to only being in Europe and I didn't want to limit my audience by having Student in the title. I decide upon YOLO: Europe because I can easily change the name of the continent after the colon to create other series and YOLO is a phrase that is very popular with my target audience and it will empower them to go on a once in a life time trip like the one that I am going to try and show them.


Slide 2 

I wanted to make a show which would compete with Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, Magaluf Weekender and What Happens in Kavos and show young people that there is more to going abroad than just getting drunk with your friends. I want to make and Idiot Abroad/ Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour kind of show but aimed at a younger audience.

I want to target 16 to 35 year olds as these are the people who are thinking about their first no parents holiday or thinking about their last big trip before settling down or hen and stag do's.

Slide 3

The countries we are going to visit are the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Czech Republic but I might change this one for Switzerland.

Slide 4

I decided I wanted my presenters to be from YouTube because YouTube is such a big part of our culture these days and apart from Rude Tube there is not much convergence between YouTube and television and I want to change that.

I want my presenter to be English so that my audience relate to them more and so I emailed 18 different Youtubers asking if they would get involved. I had 2 get back to me and this was 3 guys who call themselves the Victorious Sponge and a guy called Luke. I really appreciated them both getting back to me but in my head I always imagined 2 presenters who knew each other and had chemistry and obviously Luke is on his own and there are 3 guys who make up the Victorious Sponge. In my head I always wanted Finn and Jack. Jack has his own YouTube channel called Jacks Gap where he makes videos about what he has been doing in his gap year and in some of his videos his twin brother Finn joins in. I really like this pair as they fit my idea really well, they have obvious chemistry and they are funny. These 2 are also part of a YouTube crew and the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea of getting their friends involved as well.

Slide 5

I want my show to be on ITV2 because it is "the home of entertainment for young people". I would show my program at 10pm as 9pm is more focused on hour long programs and 10pm is more open to 45 minute and 30 minute shows. I want to create a 30 minute show as I think an hour is to long and I want my show to be quite fast paced and snappy and personally I don't like 45 minute shows as I think they drag on and are an awkward length for when you want to change channel.

Slide 6

I know that I want my show to fit a 30 minute time slot and so by looking on the ITV commissioning website I know that I have to come up with 23 minutes of content which includes 40 seconds worth of sponsorship.

Slide 7

I emailed Outgoing who organise our uni trips, STA who are a student travel company who mainly focus on gap year/ around the world type trips and InterRail who are a company who have connected all the rail lines in Europe together in 1 pass so that you can travel around Europe by rail. InterRail are the only ones who have got back to me and said that they are willing to be my sponsor for my hypothetical show.

Slide 8

These are a list of segments I want to include in my series. Not every episode will include all of the segments but instead they will have a mixture. But they will all have a night out segment as that is a big part of my show.

Slide 9

This is a list of what I want to include in my package. With my marketing I have a bit of collaboration. I would like to package everything together in holiday themed things so having the cast profiles in passports and all my documents in a holiday brochure and all put together in a suitcase.

Production Concept: Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour - Segments

I watched the whole series of Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour and created a running order for each episode and I then created this table which shows each segment which is used in each episode. I have categorised each segment by highlighting them in the same colour. There are about 11 common segments which are used across the whole series. Every episode there is an introduction and information on the destination and then interaction with a celebrity whether it's through a love interest or interview. A mixture of segments are used in each episode and this is what I want my show to be like so that you aren't getting the same thing in every episode. There area also some segments which are individual to the episode such as the Global Warming segment in Iceland. I want to try and incorporate this kind of thing into my series as well.

Keith Lemon Segments by hennieclough

I decided to do this as it helped me to think about the format of my program and what I want to be shown. It gave me ideas for segments and helped me to realise that I don't have to have the same segments in every episode.

Production Concept: Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour - Running Orders

I decided to watch Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour as this is the kind of fun travel show that I want to produce. I decided to make a rough running order based on each episode as it is a half an hour show on ITV2 and so it allowed me to see what I need to include in my show so that it fits the genre and channel and it gave me the opportunity to think about how I can make my show different.  

I'm really glad I did this as I can now see how long each of my segments and features need to be and I now I have a template for how I need to set out my show. It has also helped me to visualise my own show in my head.

Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour Series by

Dissertation: Laura Mulvey - Male Gaze

Today I gave up on reading and decided to see what YouTube and the Internet had to offer me. I was still unsure about what Laura Mulvey was actually trying to say but by watching these videos and slide shows I have a much better understanding.

The Male Gaze Laura Mulvey from Mr Smith

Dissertation: Stepford Wives

Today I watched alot of YouTube videos on Laura Mulvey's theory and I found this video about Stepford Wives. I  really liked what it showed and I am going to look at Stepford Wives a bit more so that I can maybe use it as one of my case studies.

Dissertation: Looking at the Parent Trap

Today I watched the Parent Trap as it is my all time favourite film and as I know the film really well I knew that the female characters were represented differently and I knew exactly what sceens to look at to prove this.

I first of all watched the final scene in the 1961 version, where the parents have their heart to heart, and did a textual analysis on it. I also watched it with auto commentary. This was done by David Swift the director and Hayley Mills the actress who played the twins in this version and by listening to the commentary it gave me extra information on how the mother was represented in this film by the director.

I then watched the same scenes in the 1998 version and also did a textual analysis and made note of the differences.

By doing the textual analysis and looking at both films really closely from another point of view it made me realise that the mothers are represented completely differently. When I realised that the original was done by a male director and the remake was done by a female director it all made sense. I realised that in the original there was obvious signs of the "Male Gaze" which Laura Mulvey talks about but in the remake it was definitely more obvious that there was a "Female Gaze".

When I realised this I went back through the film and realised that the dad's fiances are also represented differently in both.

I didn't think I was going to get much out of this film but I thought I would just compare them as they were 2 versions of a film I love and know really well and it would ease me lightly into comparing films. But from doing this research I have decided that I am definitely going to use this as one of my case studies as it brings up alot of things for me to talk about.

I also need to do a bit of research to see if anyone else has come across a "Female Gaze" or is it something that no one has really gone into depth about.

Production Concept: My Platform and Format

I am still unsure on the format of my show and where I want it to be shown. I am definitley leaning more towards a half an hour slot on a commersial channel such as ITV2, Channel 4 or E4 or even Channel 5.

I have been doing a bit research and these websites have been very useful:

http://www.4docs.org.uk/

http://www.channel4.com/info/commissioning
http://about.channel5.com/
http://www.itv.com/commissioning/

They explain the documentary/ factual entertainment genre so that I know exaclty what each channel are looking for with these genres and hopefully it will help me figure out which channel my program is most suited for.

Production Concept: Tutorial With Simon

Today I had a tutorial with Simon and I found it really helpful. At my last tutorial Simon suggested that I should make a pilot. This scared me a bit because I thought I can't make a GOOD half hour or hour pilot for a program I just haven't got the time. I went into my tutorial today thinking that in order for me to make a good pilot I was going to have to make my episodes just 5 minutes long but I still wanted them to be broadcastable on mainstream television. I told Simon this idea and he wasn't keen on me doing 5 minute episodes but at the same time neither was I. I told him my reasons behind this decision and he said that he never expected me to create a half hour or hour pilot but instead to have a 5 minutes taster of the program for example what the first 5 minutes would look like. This made me a lot more relaxed and gave me a few more ideas for my show and it gave me a lot more to work with.

I know that by the end of this week I need to be certain on my format and on the name of my program so I've got quite a bit of work to do before I move on.

Production Concept: I Really Need to Think of a Name

I am really struggling to think of a name for my show. I dont want the word student in the name because I think that will limit my audience. I don't want the word Europe in the title because I think it could limit the brand. And I don't want budget in the title as I think again this will limit the audience.

I have had a bit of a brainstorm but all the ones names I come up with do include one of these words which I don't want to use and so I am finding it hard. I am going to ask friends and family for suggestions and have a long hard think.

Production Concept: Tweeting

I thought that I would tweet all of the YouTubers as well so that I know I have tried my hardest to contact them. Hopefully I will get more of a response from them this way.

This is the tweet I sent to them:

@....Please help! I need your help with my uni project. Please email me for details hennieclough@hotmail.co.uk

Production Concept: This is the list of people I have contacted today

Production Concept: This is my email to the Travel companies

Production Concept: This is the email I sent to the Youtubers

Dissertation: Bond Girls

Production Concept: A Very Productive Day

Today I have been very productive. I have started to make a list of things I need to include in my final package and I have decided how I want to present it. Looking at my list is very scary as it looks like so much work but I am hoping that if I carry on being as productive as I have been today that I will be able to tick everything off the list and head closer to that 1st that I so want to achieve.

The main thing I have done today is try and decided what cities I want to visit in my series. I know that I want my series to be a 6 part series with each episode featuring a different city. At the moment I have 8 cities short listed and they are:

• Amsterdam
• Paris
• Barcelona
• Prague
• Rome
• Munich
• Berlin
• Swiss Alps

But I also have London which I am thinking of using as my pilot episode but I don't know whether to include this in my 6 episode or have it as and extra one.

Today I have done alot of research on each of the 8 countries listed to try and help me which ones would be the most interesting to visit.

For each city I looked at:

• What you can do there/ Iconic places you can visit
• Ways you can travel around the city
• How to say Hello, Goodbye, Thank you and Cheers
• What their national delicacies are
• What I associate with each city
• What currency they use

This has helped me alot as I can now visualise what aspect of the city I would put in each episode and it has also helped me narrow down my selection of cities slightly. I have decided that there is not enough to talk about with the Swiss Alps plus if I want this to be a program for students on a budget I don't think skiing really fits in with that concept as I know it can be very expensive.

My definites are:

• Amsterdam
• Paris
• Rome
• Barcelona
• Berlin
• and then it is a toss up between Prague and Munich.

I like Munich because I have found alot of fun things to do and it means that all the countries in the series use the euro which could be another selling point but on the other hand do I want 2 German countries in the series when I could visit somewhere else like Prague?

This is something I want to have decided on by the end of the week so that I can move on with my research.

I also need to decided on a format/length for my program by the end of the week so that I am prepared for my tutorial on Monday.

Editing the Mac Twins a New Showreel

After using the Mac Twins in mine and Maddie's twin documentary series I have kept in close contact with the girls and their manager and I have been asked to edit them a new showreel as their current one is becoming a little bit dated.

I have used a similar format to their current showreel as we all liked it. I have used clips from some of the girls more recent projects as well as some of their older ones so that potential employers can get a taste for everything the girls can do. I have also added in some of the clips of the stuff we filmed with the girls. I made sure that when I edited the showreel that it made sense and showed off the girls best qualities and played on their USP of being twins.

I sent a copy to the girls and they loved it. The copy I sent them still need a few little tweeks but I thought I would get their opinion on it before I sent them a final copy in case there was anything they wanted me to change or add in.

Production Concept: Map Animations

I want a map animation in my show so that you can see where the presenters are travelling to. I found these 2 tutorials on how to create this kind of thing on iMovie. I am going to have a go at making one myself but then I will pass it on to someone who is more advanced with animation so that I can get something which is a bit different and fits in with my program a bit more.

Production Concept: Getting in Contact

Today I have emailed both Interrail and STAtravel asking if they would like to sponsor my fake tv show and also if they can help me with my research. I have also made a list of Youtubers that I need to contact and found all of their email addresses. I know that I want a pair of presenters and there is quite a strong Youtube community and so I'm hoping that I will be able to get a good pair who know each other and really bounce off each other.