Copyright Law Catches Up

Today sees a change in law that makes legal what has been very common practice for a long time.  Ever since iPods and MP3 players came along, many people have been digitising their CD collections so they could listen to them on the go.  Most people were probably unaware that doing so was actually illegal as it infringed the copyright of the producer.  So now you can do so legally, provided you don't share the digitised music with anyone else - put it on a device owned and used by someone else - that it remains for personal use.  If you read this article on the BBC News site, you'll see that the Musician's Union and other groups representing musicians and artsists object to the law because it doesn't include any way for musicians to be compensated for individuals not purchasing music specifically for their portable devices (through iTunes etc.).  Do you think this change in the law will make a real difference to the fortunes of musicians and the music industry or do you agree with the government that it is just bringing the law into line with people "reasonable expectations" and help to "boost respect for copyright"?

Technology, Philosophy, Meaning and More

I saw this guy, Jaron Lanier, on Newsnight last night discussing the controversy over Instragram's new terms and conditions and I had to look him up.  He made a great point on Newsnight that if we continue to share everything for free over the internet, all that people will be able to make money from on the internet is advertising.  However, he goes on, if in an information economy we can only make money out of advertising, then what is the point of the advertising if there are no longer any 'products' to be sold and, consequently, advertised because they have all been shared for free.  You can think about music and other intellectual property type products here.  I looked him up and found the following clip on Youtube where he talks to an audience at CalArts - a third level educational institution in California.  It's inspiring stuff and takes in everything from Science Fiction, Karl Marx, Industialisation, Aristotle to slavery.  Stay with it because it will make you think about everything we study in Media, including copyright, meaning making (Hall's encoding and decoding) and, of course, technology. I'm definitely putting his book, "You Are Not a Gadget" on my wish list.  Of course, his is only one point of view but it is great to see someone combining so many different ideas and historical moments in an effort to make sense of our world today. 

Generic Trailers

It's slightly tongue in cheek but this article on The Guardian website should serve as a useful reminder of the conventions of trailers for different genres.  Read it before committing to your storyboard.

Great Titles in One Short Video

The Art of the Title has packed some great titles from the history of cinema into a quick 2.5 minute video.  Pay close attention to how well edited this is.


A Brief History of Title Design from Ian Albinson on Vimeo.

The Emotional Impact of Sound

Two things you should check out to help you think about the impact of sound on your production work.  The first is an Imagine documentary called "How Music Makes Us Feel", which you can find here.  It contains interviews with musicians, including Emile Sande and Laurie Anderson, psychologists and film composers.  It examines how music creates emotional responses in us and looks at how both composition and instrumentation affects this.
The second is on the blog of the excellent documentary maker, Adam Curtis.  It uses the same piece of film and place two different pieces of music with it.  Watch the two versions and think about how it affects our attitude towards the people within the film.  Watch and read here.

A Great EMI Artist Case Study

Gabrielle Alpin's story has virtually everything you need to know about the contemporary music industry all wrapped up in one "20-year-old unknown from rural Wiltshire".  We will, of course, discuss this in class but you can get ahead of the game by reading about her in last week's Evening Standard.

Where's All The New Music?

The BBC News site recently reported on a statement by the UK head of Universal Music regarding the difficulty in breaking new music acts.  In particular he complained about the fact that commercial radio (radio stations that aim to make a profit, mainly through advertising) are reluctant to play tracks by new artists and instead rely on established artists that are proven to be popular to fill their playlists and maintain their audience numbers.  There are lots of interesting statistics in the article that you could quote in an exam answer.  His statement poses an interesting question around choice and ownership.  We often think of the concentrated ownership and the profit motives of record companies as limiting the choice of music available to consumers.  However, taking on board what is said here, we may need to think about the ownership and profit motives of those who exhibit music - e.g radio stations and TV channels.  When was the last time that you saw a new artist on 4Music or Viva?

Great Music Industry Blog

For a load of resources on the Music Industry, you should look at this blog.  It's put together by one of the examiners for Institutions and Audiences section of the exam paper.

Tackling Torrent Sites

As mentioned in class today, there's been a renewed push by the BPI to get internet service providers to block access to torrent sites.  Click here to read more about it on the BBC news site.  Reading through the article, you'll begin to realise some of the difficulties in stopping illegal downloading

Burntwood on the Beatles on the Beeb.

Burntwood students share their thoughts on the first ever Beatles single on the BBC News site.  At one point today, this was the most popular video story on the news site.  It also featured on the BBC World tv channel.

Trailer Advice

If you want to make something half decent, it's always best to pay attention to the words of an expert.  This interview is with someone who's been making trailers for 25 years, so heed what he says.

Keeping Eyes On Your Product

The BBC News site has an interesting article on how TV companies, like FX, are battling against the distraction of tablets and smartphones to make sure audiences stay engaged with their products.  What it means the definition of the product is changing to include all sorts of add-ons like apps that are designed and built alongside the original programme. You may like to think about this when planning your trailers and conducting your audience research

Film Posters: A Contextual Series

The Guardian has a whole series on film posters, looking at some of the best and worst in recent times.  Some of the articles include interviews with creatives behind the films that are being promoted.  Well worth a look before embarking on your product research.  You can find it here

Film Posters: The Inside View

A great interview with the creators of the Trainspotting poster campaign can be found here.   It is still one of the most iconic campaigns and has often been copied.  You can learn a lot by reading about the creative process behind the campaign

Narrative: An Instructional Video

For anyone who needs a quick, whizz bang reminder about narrative and all it entails.

Poster Design Ideas

In preparation for designing your film poster for your Advanced Portfolio, you'll probably busy yourself examining the latest Hollywood offerings.  However, to help stimulate your creativity and imagine a less conventional approach to poster design, you could spend a little time looking at the following post at Brain Pickings. Lots of great minimalist posters for children's fairy tales. Looking at them should help you think about what is the essence of your narrative and how could your represent it visually.  In fact, if you want to stimulate your creativity, just browse through Brain Pickings as it has all sorts of wonderful visual things.