Newspaper case study

The newspaper: Gazette & Herald
The date: Monday 9th March, 2015
The news event: Soldiers march through Chippenham to mark Commonwealth Day.

The article has the name of the newspaper at the top of the page followed by an advert, the headline of the article is also clearly shown at the top. Below the headline there is an photograph of the event taking place which has a brief description of what is happening in the photograph and who took it. Under that, the date and location is stated as well as the name of the write of the article. On the right hand side of the article there is an advert and a list of the most read articles.

The article discussed how three hundred soldiers marched though Chippenham for the 9 Regiment's first official celebration of Commonwealth Day. About 550 schoolchildren and many others in the community lined the streets to witness the soldiers marching from Wood Lance car park down The causeway, Market Place, High Street and The Bridge to Bath road car park.

The Gazette and Herald is a local weekly paid-for newspaper, established in 1816. It is published every Thursday and serves the areas and communities of Devizes, Calne, Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, Marlborough, Malmesbury, Corsham, Box and areas in North Wiltshire. The newspaper was originally the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette in 1822.

I went online to find an article because I think that a lot of people nowadays prefer to access news that way because it is a lot easier and efficient. Considering it is online there is no surprise that there are adverts popping up onto the website, I also noticed that there was a number of social networking site logos next to the photograph with in very unsurprising for this day in age.

The newspaper: Gazette and Herald
The date: Thursday, March 12, 2015

The front cover is mixed, it has a strong splash of stories across the page. On the right hand side of the page there is a column listing the news stories that are included in the newspaper, each subject has a different colour font for their headline. The layout is not unusual, newspapers are known to have a busy cover. There is a bold headline which draws the audience's eyes to the main story.  The cover has an advertisment at the bottom which is up selling the newspaper because the audience want to know more about the deals.

The newspaper: News of the world
The date: October 1, 1843
The news event, MP, Tory Jeffrey is caught paying off vice girls.

The front page of the magazine is split into two different stories, the main story is clear because the headline is a lot bigger than all of the other text and then their is a secondary overlapping story. This design and layout is typical for the time of the newspaper.

Background:
The News of the World was a national newspaper published in the UK from 1843 to 2011. The newspaper concentrated in celebrity and populist based news. Its fondness for sex scandals gained it the nicknames News of the Screws and Screws of the world. It had the reputation for exposing national of local celebrities' drug use, sexual peccadilloes, or criminal acts.

The front page:
It was announced on 7 July 2011 that after 168 years in print the newspaper would print its final edition on 10 July 2011 after the ongoing phone hacking scandal which caused a loss 200 jobs. There was a speculation that News international would launch a Sunday edition of The Sun to replace the News of the World, and it did, on 26 February 2012.

Design:
The front page is simple and dramatic, the eyes are automatically drawn the the bold headline in the middle, the story is easily understood by the headline and the article to the right which is a lot smaller. I am quite surprised by this front page it doesn't look that different from a modern newspaper, I would expect the layout to be a lot busier but I was shocked to only see two different stories being brought to the attention of the audience, typically of its time there were a variety of different typefaces.

Analysis of requirements

The main issue for the client is that there is just one main demographic for the Bath News and Media (BNM), the context in the newspaper and how it is presented is only aimed at a group of people. Although now there is a larger scale of media products for news, the paper is still widely used however it is becoming less and less approachable to the younger generation.

I feel that the BNM need to resolve this because the younger generation need to have a better understanding of what content is in the newspaper. Lyne, the editor chief of the Bath Chronicle spoke about how the newspaper is doing well however they need to carry on the success of the paper. BNM need to reach out to the younger generation so they gain an understanding of what the newspaper is about and what is produces so they can appreciate it when they become the right demographic. The problems newspapers are currently facing are that the traditional revenue model of UK newspaper publishers has been torn up by falling demand for print media and declines in advertising revenue.

• They need to attract a younger demographic therefore they can future proof their brand, if the younger generation are aware of the BNM product then they can gain a better understanding of the content therefore when they are old enough to be part of the ABC1 demographic it is aimed at they know about newspaper and they can use it, which will be good for BNM.
• They need to remain recognisable and established to not only the local area but a broader audience to keep the business going.
• BNM will need to earn enough money to keep the business running and continue to pay their employees.

The demographic targeted is 16-25 year olds who enjoy socialising with friends, social media and participating in individual hobbies. A large majority of demographic live at home therefore they are aware of the newspaper but do not buy it themselves however some will have their own jobs and cars. They need to have enough money to pay for their everyday life, a majority of them will need to have enough money to pay for travel to get to where they are being educated.

Work Experience Day 5

On our final day of work experience, the group of four were determined to complete the work we had been working on other the week.
Firstly I updated my recent article about Thicke and Williams stealing Marvin Gaye's hit son Got to Give It Up.

Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams plagiarised their hit Blurred Lines from Marvin Gaye's 1977 song Got to Give It Up and have been ordered by a court to pay $7.4 million to the singer's children for infringement of copyright.

Nona Gaye, daughter of Marvin Gaye wept as the jury read the verdict and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch.

“Right now, I feel free,” Nona Gaye said after the verdict. “Free from… Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.”

Thicke and Williams had denied copying the hit and Williams told jurors that Gaye’s music was part of the soundtrack of his youth. But the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn’t use any of it to create blurred lines. Meanwhile, the Gaye family's lawyer said he wanted to stop the sales of Blurred Lines. “They fought this fight despite every odd being against them,” Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.

Williams, 41, signed a document stating he didn’t use any other artists’ work in the music and would be responsible if a successful copyright claim was raised as Thicke testified he was not present when the song was written, despite receiving credit.

An expert for the Gaye family said there were eight distinct elements from Got to Give It Up that were used in Blurred Lines, however an expert for Williams and Thicke denied that those similarities existed.

Bath College students played both songs to 20 shoppers in Bath and after hearing both songs, 80 percent said that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ hit Blurred Lines sounded the same to the 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. The remaining 20 percent recognised the similarity however did not understand the issues raised.

When asked is it fair for the artists to pay Marvin’s family the large sum of money the reactions were mixed, with around 60% agreeing they should pay. However the remaining 40% say it is too extreme.

After that I wrote up an article about the Zimbabwe and contemporary classical music combination event the day before:

New hybrid genre is brought to City of Bath College when Zimbabwe and classical music is combined.

Professor of Music at Bath Spa University, Amanda Bailey organised for Zimbabwe musician Chartwell Dutiro and dancer Denise Rowe, members of Mbira Academy to collaborate with Exeter Contemporary Sounds string quartet, Julie Hill, Andrew Gillett and Jane Price.

The group was welcomed into City Of Bath to take part in a workshop with performing arts and music students, demonstrating their individual heritages and meeting in the middle.

The workshop started off with an introduction to the two different genres of music and a demonstration of each which familiarised the students with the work of the professionals whilst they prepared to be split into two groups. One group took part in dancing, Denise discussed her inspiration from contemporary and African dance. “I am interested in the connection between person and planet that is pivotal in traditional African dance forms and essential to our understanding of what it is to be alive.”

The other group were joined by the string quartet trio that showed students the art of contemporary classical music. The students played their individual instruments whilst being introduced to an unusual type of rhythm.

Chartwell explained how he met Amanda Bailey when doing a performance 18 months ago which was when she suggested it would be a nice idea to do a collaboration with Exeter Contemporary Sounds.

Director of Tolo Ko Tolo dance company, Denise Rowe is a movement artist, choreographer, dancer, musician and creative producer drawing primarily from traditional and contemporary pan-African dance forms and non stylised/environmental movement.

Amanda Bailey’s research interests are based around the idea of performance and analysis; processes of composition, rehearsal and performance in contemporary music; string quartets; and ethnomusicology. The professor spoke about the importance of the contrast of cultures: “Separate curricular enables them to combine ideas together.”

Work Experience Day 4

A politician from UKIP came into the college to be interviewed, firstly we prepared some questions to ask him which were:

• Why did you decide to join UKIP?
  
  
• What are the main policies for UKIP?
  
  

• Why are you perceived as a racist party?

• A lot of students do not live locally therefore have to catch trains, buses etc which can be expensive, is there a system you will introduce which means students can get cheaper travel?

• How do you aim your policies to the younger generation?
  
  
• Teenagers from the ages 14-17 have a limited amount of socialising opportunities for example they can’t go to a pub if you’re under 18 and they are a bit too old for youth clubs? What could you introduce?

• What is your opinion on Nick Clegg’s recent change of decision about legalising drugs?

• It is difficult for young people leaving home, what could you do to support them gaining independence from their parents?

Two people filmed the event the other two asked the questions. We will be editing the footage and then send it to the Bath Chronicle.
The response we got from the politician was very interesting and he was great at answering our questions in detail.

Another task that we took part in was doing a box pop around Bath, I asked 20 people what they thought about Robin Thicke and Pharrell Willliams paying Marvin Gaye's family $7.4m after they were accused of copying Marvin's song Got to give it up. I then wrote on article on the subject: 

Marvin Gaye’s children awarded $7.4m by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over Blurred Lines.

On Tuesday A jury decides Marvin Gaye’s children are the rightful owners of nearly $7.4m after singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied Marvin’s 1977 hit Got to Give It Up to create Blurred Lines, the biggest hit song of 2013.

Nona Gaye, daughter of Marvin Gaye wept as the jury read the verdict and was hugged by her attorney, Richard Busch. “Right now, I feel free,” Nona Gaye said after the verdict. “Free from… Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s chains and what they tried to keep on us and the lies that were told.”

Thicke and Williams denied copying the hit and Williams told jurors that Gaye’s music was part of the soundtrack of his youth. But the seven-time Grammy winner said he didn’t use any of it to create blurred lines. Meanwhile, the Gaye family's lawyer said he wanted to stop the sales of Blurred Lines. “They fought this fight despite every odd being against them,” Busch said of the Gaye family outside court.

Williams, 41, signed a document stating he didn’t use any other artists’ work in the music and would be responsible if a successful copyright claim was raised as Thicke testified he was not present when the song was written, despite receiving credit.

An expert for the Gaye family said there were eight distinct elements from Got to Give It Up that were used in Blurred Lines, however an expert for Williams and Thicke denied that those similarities existed.

Students played both songs to 20 shoppers in Bath and after hearing both songs, 80% of say that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams’ hit Blurred Lines sounded exactly the same to the 1977 hit Got to Give It Up. The remaining 20% recognised the similarity however did not understand the issues raised.

When asked is it fair for the artists to pay Marvin’s family the large sum of money the reactions were varied, around 60% say it is fair to pay up. However the remaining 40% say it is too extreme.

Work Experience Day 3

Bath Spa organised a workshop for the college involving music and performing arts students. African musicians performed with classical musicians. The hybrid event was put on to inspire the students, whether they wanted to involve themselves in dancing, acting, singing or playing a musical instrument. The media students involved in the bath chronicle work experience were asked to film the performance which will be made into a 3 minute film of highlights. After filming we interviewed the musicians, this will be made into an article.

Directors

‘I like my films to be visceral – to burst right through the door at the beginning’

Danny Boyle is an English film director, producer, screenwriter and theatre director, known for his work on films such as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours.

I found a video of Danny discussing how his style of film is influenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvvxnhstDIg

At a point in the video he discusses how film directors come up with the ideas of a film and he says, ‘’you discover it as you go along” this depicts that he feels that you don’t need to stick to a specific schedule and you should pick up ideas and inspiration on the way.

TRANCE clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JKrWFd8Q5U

Sir Ridley Scott is an English film director and producer. He is best known for his atmospheric and concentrated visual style.

In his own words: “I’m a filmmaker, not a documentarian. I try to hit the truth.”

“Scott was one of the first to make the crossover, developing his ability to sell a product in 30 seconds into a knack for selling a story in 100 minutes.”

Even without dialogue, a Ridley Scott film is recognised by the use of lighting, shadow, wide shots and extreme detail.

THE ADVENTURE BEGINS clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3pvcVWnedc

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Ridley Scott has a more recognisable style, it appears that people can separate his films from others purely because of the camera angles. When I looked back at my film I thought about some shots that I could’ve done differently with inspiration of Ridley and I decided that wide shots could’ve been used in my film.

Example of wide shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHcHYisZFLU

Political film evaluation

Overall I am pleased with how everything went however there is a slight problem with my film due to the absence of one of my main characters I had a use a different student to play his part which might make the film quite confusing. However apart from that I am pleased with each video shot, I have used a range of shots including pan shots, tilt shots, mid shots and close ups. I had planned each shot before filming therefore it was a lot easier and quicker to film. However at the beginning I struggled with using the camera, for example I found it difficult to get the camera to focus on the characters. I am not completely happy with my audio purely because of background noise and because I am new to filming I still struggle to get perfect audio.

If I could do this project again I would give myself more time to film, I left some of it to last minute and waited for the majority of my group to finish their filming therefore I felt like I was rushing a bit. I also assumed that editing the footage wouldn’t of taken as long as it did. Lastly I would’ve spent more time thinking about the structure and storyline of my movie because I feel like my script was quite difficult to write and reenact when filming.

For my next project I will spend a lot of time trying to make it as successful as I can and not rush it at all. I will also look into using different microphones to get a better audio.
During this project I enjoyed working with a group of people and filming together, I also liked being creative when writing the script. The people in my group were very helpful and reliable, they had time to be in my film and they were very patient with me. I found that working in a group with people was better because they encouraged me and helped me whenever I got stuck. I am pleased with the planning and pre production, it feels like such a long time ago I created a schedule however I’m so glad I did because it gave me goals to achieve for each section of the pre production.