Media Research.
Why Paramount choice this logo?
Paramount
Pictures Corporation was founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film Company by
Adolph Zukor, and the theatre moguls the Frohman brothers, Daniel and Charles.The Paramount "Majestic Mountain" logo was first drawn as a doodle by W.W. Hodkinson during a meeting with Zukor, based on the Ben Lomond Mountain from his childhood in Utah (the live action logo made later is probably Peru's Artesonraju). It is the oldest surviving Hollywood film logo.
Paramount could of choice this logo for a lot of different reasons as one reason could be the logo is metaphoric. It is metaphoric in the way how it has mountains in the background and the logo on the peak of the mountain, which symbolises that Paramount as a company is at the peak of its powers as in 1912-1952, their logo didn’t have such a colossal mountain behind it, the mountain in the older ones weren’t as vivid as they are today. Paramount have 22 stars on their logo to represent how many big named actors asked them to work for them very early when it was first founded. Before this evidence, I thought Paramount had those starts to represent the American flag or the amount of big money movie hits they have had.
The studio's logo is Columbia, the female personification of America. It was designed in 1924 and the identity of the "Torch Lady" model was never conclusively determined (though more than a dozen women had claimed to be "it.") In her 1962 autobiography, Bette Davis claimed that Claudia Dell was the model, whereas in 1987 People Magazine named model and Columbia bit-actress Amelia Batchler as the girl.
In 2001, the Chicago Sun-Times named a local woman who worked as an extra at Columbia named Jane Bartholomew as the model. Given how the logo has changed over the years, it may just be that all three were right. The current Torch Lady logo was designed in 1993 by Michael J. Deas, who was commissioned by Sony Pictures Entertainment to return the lady to her "classic" look. Though people thought that actress Annette Bening was the model, it was actually a Louisiana homemaker and muralist named Jenny Joseph that modelled the Torch Lady for Deas. Rather than use her face, however, Deas drew a composite face made from several computer-generated features.
This logo has a face lifted Torch Lady from 1936-1976 on her pedestal on a sky background filled with cumulonimbus clouds, giving more detail to the drawing. First, we see a bright light, as if in sunburst, with the cloud background fading in a brief second later. The light is coming from a torch, which zooms out to reveal the lady who's holding it. After the lady, along with the cloud background, are fully zoomed out, on the top "COLUMBIA", seen in a bold, silver chiselled font, fades in afterwards as a ring of light shimmers around the lady, while the cloud background very slowly moves to the right. With the ‘torch women’ being so high up in the clouds, it shows how Columbia Pictures wants their audience to see how they are: Powerful, dominant and inferior to all the other film production companies.
This is how my logo now looks like. My logo looks very professional and
unique as it is still simple but is still different from the other film
companies, so I have broken some conventions as I have the word “silver” in the
circle and have the other words just free in space without a shape in it. I
have done this because I have made my logo unique by breaking conventions but
still making it look like an actual film company’s logo. As I was researching on what design ideas to
have for my logo, a website quoted “there is no particular design, just be UNIQUE.” From this quote, I made my logo unique in
its own way but I have followed some conventions as I have used clouds in the
background to show the dominance of my company as other film companies have
done the same as backed up by my research, as Paramount use clouds in their
logos.
What is my show going to be about?
I have decided to do a detective
show. I have chosen do this because I used to watch Sherlock on BBC and it was
really good, as it averaged 10 million viewers when it was aired over all the
series it created, so I have choice to do it because many teenagers, aged 16
and adults watched this show (my target audience) and I think it will be a
success as many people liked Sherlock. My will be based around murder and
creating mystery in it, giving my audience suspension as they would want to
keep watching more. The main reason I have choice to do this is because people
love puzzles, they love to know what is going on and start questioning the show
and then really grip themselves in as they want to watch more as detective
stories give us a glimpse into people we would never get in real life. Detective shows are very popular with the UK
audience as well as Sherlock getting a lot of viewers, Luther (another
detective show) also averaged 6,000,000,
which shows that detective
programmes are very popular and I will make mine unique as that’s what silver
lining is all about.
Based on my research, my target
audience are teenagers to young adults (16-22.) The target audience is going to
be of boys/males as they are more likely to be interested in detective genre
programmes, however it may still interest girls and women as some like these
type of programmes but it is more appealing for boys/men. I asked my friends
whether or not they lie detective programmes and majority were boys and 15 out
of the 20 people I asked said yes and the 5 that said no were girls, which
again shows that boys would rather enjoy my show than girls, and that is the
reason I have segmented my programme to men rather than women as it would
interest them more.
Comparisons between Luther and Sherlock.
Luther is a British psychological crime drama television series starring Idris
Elba as the title character, Detective Chief Inspector John Luther, who works
in London, Great Britain. A first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC
One from 4 May to 8 June 2010. The second series of four episodes was shown on
BBC One in summer 2011. The third series of four episodes ran from 2 to 23 July
2013.
The plot of Luther is all to do with John
Luther being a Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) working for the Serious Crime
Unit in series one, and the new Serious and Serial Crime Unit in series two and
three. A dedicated police officer, Luther is obsessive, possessed, and
sometimes dangerous in the violence of his obsessions. However, Luther has paid
a heavy price for his dedication; he has never been able to prevent himself
from being consumed by the darkness of the crimes with which he deals. For
Luther, the job always comes first. His dedication is a curse and a blessing,
both for him and those close to him. He is unable to arrest Alice Morgan, the
murderer in the first episode, and for the rest of the first series she becomes
his confidante, giving him an insight into the motivations of other criminals.
The age certificate for this programme is a “12”, which shows it is more for
teenagers and it is not advised for anyone younger than 12, Luther is aimed
towards teenagers, however adults still watch and enjoy this show. Luther has
been so successful that it is going to be on the big screen as there is a film
to be out and it will be in cinemas in 2015.
Sherlock is a British television
crime drama that presents a contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's
Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, it
stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John
Watson. Nine episodes have been produced, the first three of which were
broadcast in 2010. Series two was broadcast in 2012, and a third series was broadcast
in 2014.
Sherlock depicts "consulting detective" Sherlock Holmes (Benedict
Cumberbatch) solving various mysteries in London. Holmes is assisted by his
flatmate and friend, Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman), who has returned from
military service in Afghanistan with the Royal Army Medical Corps. Although
Metropolitan Police Service Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves)
and others are at first sceptical of Holmes, over time his remarkable intellect
and powers of observation persuade them of his value. In part through Watson's
blog documenting their adventures Holmes becomes a reluctant celebrity, with
the press reporting on his cases and eccentric personal life, and both ordinary
people and the British government ask for his help. (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/sherlock) This website says that Luther target audience is for 14 year olds as it
is not for any younger as it contain
storylines include terrorism, serial murderers, drug trafficking, and
smuggling, and there are plenty of scary scenes and suspense throughout each
episode. Expect some social drinking and references to nicotine patches and
past drug addiction. This research shows that the storylines Sherlock contains
is not acceptable for younger viewers as this website has parental reviews on
what age is appropriate for Sherlock and they say “14” as at that age, some
children have already seen these kind of story lines.
Based on my research, audience like
the mystery created in these types of programmes and I have will have elements
of mystery as well as action. I will have the mystery that Sherlock creates and
make the audience question themselves on what is going to happen next so they
carry on watching. As well as the mystery created, I have will have the action
that is created in Luther so by having those two elements in my show, this will
make more people watch it as all teenagers love action and mystery and wanting
to find out what is happening next.
Research (questionnaire) about what students in Great Barr watch:
|
Questions
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Do you like Sherlock?
|
15
|
5
|
|
Do you like suspicion
in programmes?
|
12
|
8
|
|
Do you like tension
built in programmes?
|
11
|
9
|
|
Would you like more
detective based programmes shown on tele?
|
16
|
4
|
I asked
twenty people in my school and gathered them into a group and asked them those
four questions… I conducted this market research to see whether or not students
in my school watched detective based programmes or would like to see more of it
because you hardly see that many films and programmes about this genre,
compared to something like a romantic genre. The research shows positive
feedback as people do want to watch more detective based programmes and the
ones that actually do show, such as Sherlock, people in the school do watch. As
mentioned before, the target audience was mainly male so I asked more males
than females, however when I did ask females, majority gave back negative
feedback, where as some gave back positive feedback. Also, this shows that I
should base a programme on detective genre as quite a few people said it is a
“dying genre”, as you do not see so many programmes based on this genre,
however when you do, there are usually a blockbuster such as Luther and
Sherlock. If I didn’t conduct this research, I would not have known what my
target audience wanted, that’s why I conducted it to see what they like and
what their opinions were on this genre and on a whole, they do enjoy detective
based genres.
How to make my programme follow detective genre conventions?
Based on my
research, (http://www.slideshare.net/kbbandrowski/introduction-to-a-detective-story-2007), this website shows that the elements any good
detective genre show should have is that the detective must be memorable. This
is because if the detective is not, the audience won’t remember the main
character and in most cases won’t watch the show again because the main
character that is memorable will make the show a success. Also, it states that
the crime must be an interesting crime, this is because if the murder is a
murder that really doesn’t puzzle the audience, they may get bored and not
watch and previously said before, the audience liked to be puzzled and like to
ask questions, which would make them want to watch the show even more. It is
usually a murder or a theft, for an example an expensive jewellery being stolen
and it should be made out that it will be impossible to find so it will consume
the viewer’s time more to watch and make the show longer. The criminal must be
a worthy opponent. In real life, crimes are committed by ordinary, everyday,
sometimes dull and stupid people. However, detectives are to show off their
considerable skills, they must match wits with adversaries of equal cleverness.
The mind of the criminal is often the intellectual equal of the detective’s.
The conflict becomes a battle of intellects between the detectives, his/her
opponent, leaving the viewer again asking questions to themselves. Lastly, all
clues discovered by the detective must be made available to the reader and the
final conclusion from the detective must appear logical and obvious when the
detective explains how the crime was solved. The viewer must be convinced that
he could have come to exactly the same conclusion as the detective. In the end,
the reader must see how all the little treats of information fit together like
so many pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and it must have answered the questions the
viewer first thought of, so everything is clear to the viewer.
Traditional dress codes for detectives.
As you can
see from the two photos above, both Luther and Sherlock Holmes follow the same
dress code and different styles. Luther has more of a smarter look with a tie
and looks more professional and when you look at him, you can tell he is a man
with power with the way he is posed. However, with Sherlock you can say he
looks like a normal man with a coat and scarf and he doesn’t look as
professional as Luther does. Although, both Luther and Sherlock Holmes follow
the same style as they have the traditional long coats as every detective you
see has it, in cartoons particularly as see from the photo above as this is
definitely a convention for all detectives to have a long traditional coat. Even
though, Luther and Sherlock don’t have this but another convention is the
traditional top hats detectives wear in cartoons, however in the photo of
Sherlock and Luther don’t have the hat, maybe due to the reason of detective
genre being more modern and taking the hat away from them.
In my
programme, I will be following these conventions as it is traditional items to
have for the detective as my research says I need the detective to be memorable
and by making him/her memorable I will need to have nice clothes and obviously
more than that for the audience to like the detective and moreover remember
them. I know that modern detectives don’t really wear the traditional hat but I
will as I want to make mine based more of the older times as there was more
gangsters and more malicious crime back then and I can base my story around
then.
Where detective films/programmes or shot and filmed:
Luther:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1474684/ , this website tells me that Luther was filmed in
London, UK in Southwark and Southwark Bridge.
The first
series was filmed in and around London, England, and produced by BBC Drama
Productions. Brian Kirk, Sam Miller and Stefan Schwartz each directed two episodes and series creator Neil Cross wrote all six of the episodes. Leila Kirkpatrick was the line producer
for the entire series and Katie Swinden was the producer for a number of
episodes. Tim Fleming provided series cinematography for two episodes. Katie
Weiland and Victoria Boydell were involved in the series' film editing, with
Weiland editing two episodes. Andy Morgan was responsible for the entire
series' casting, Paul Cross provided production design and Adam A. Makin was
behind the series' art direction.
Sherlock:
http://www.sherlockology.com/locations , this website
has more detail about where Sherlock was filmed as from every episode in series
one it is very place specific, as for an example, it says in series one,
episode 1 it was filmed in a place called “Speedy’s café.”
The first episode, "A Study in Pink", loosely based upon the
first Sherlock Holmes novel A Study in Scarlet, was written by Moffat
and directed by Paul McGuigan. The story depicts the introduction of Holmes to
Watson, and them entering a flat share at Baker Street in London, and then
their investigation into a series of deaths, initially believed to be suicides.
The episode was first broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD on 25 July
2010.
The first
series concluded with "The Great Game", which was first broadcast on
8 August 2010. The episode introduces the character of Jim Moriarty (Andrew
Scott) to the series, who sets Holmes deadlines to solve a series of apparently
unrelated cases. Written by Mark Gatiss and directed by McGuigan, "The Great
Game" ends in a cliff-hanger in which Sherlock and Moriarty reach a
standoff involving a bomb attached to a vest removed moments earlier from
Watson
I will be filming mine around an alley and
some dark places around my area, even though my research shows that the usually
convention is in the capital city, however as I said before in my research, it
has to be unique so I will film mine in an dark place so it gives it that
darkness element and will make the audience want to watch it even more. I think
an alley is a good place because it can add suspicion as for an example, I can
put red splats everywhere all over the walls and floors to make it look like
blood and slowly pan it in, giving the effect that the audience is getting
closer and closer to the crime scene. You
can do a lot there even though it is a cramped space, however with it being so
cramped it adds that fear factor and mystery factor and will make the audience
wonder what is around the corner. You cannot see in the photo, however the
alley leads onto to a field with houses around it and if I did decide to do the
murder taking place in the alley, it will make the audience ask questions and wonder
how the detective will eventually find the murdered as it is a big open field
so they could of run off anywhere. That may be the plot for my opening scene.
Detective genre magazines
These are
two magazines from the past about detective genre magazines, however they don’t
do just detective based magazines in the present so that’s why I had to use
these ones from the past. If there is something about detectives, such as
Sherlock it will be on a magazine that rounds up all television programmes not
just on detective genre itself, like the two above. However, I will be using
the ideas from the past and putting into the present with my magazine print as
the two have similarities of there is a man with a gun on it and they both look
like they are in power and control so I will be using the same ideologies these
magazines used and try to show power and control. Another similarities is that,
the masthead is visible and is not covered by the main image and the colours
choice are the same as orange and yellow is used in both magazines but on
different type of texts. I will be following the convention of having one main
image and not have other little images around it as I will want my main image to
be the stand out picture to look at. The
first image kind of gives a little information about the show as it says
“bullet out of nowhere” and this shows that it is going to be a murder or an
incident about a gun crime and I will also be following that kind of convention
as I will be giving a few teases on the front cover of what my show will be
about.
