Undertaking research for an Assignment or Project

Sitcoms have been around since the same time as television started. They have a range of tone from slapstick and surreal and been set in all sorts of situations and created many different stereotypes. Sitcoms go on life happenings but they give an exaggerated insight to what actual reality is like which gives them such a good reception with the viewers that they aimed to attractand many more. 

A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, with humorous dialogue. Sitcoms are mostly found on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. Most sitcoms that are on television are usually recorded in front of a studio audience. The effect of a live studio audience can also be imitated by the use of a laugh track if it hasn't been recorded in front of a live one. Sitcoms are usually watched by teenagers and adults due to some of the humour that is presented in their scripts.

Friends

Friends is probably one of the most popular and one of the greatest sitcoms of all time. The sitcom ran for a big ten seasons, running from 1994-2004. Friends was, in many ways, as traditional a sitcom as you could want. Most early sitcoms were based around a family unit such as sitcoms like; I Love Lucy (Desilu USA 1951-57), Bewitched (ABC USA 1964-72), Are You Being Served (BBC UK 1972-85) AND Taxi (ABC USA 1978-83). In this case, friends is based on friends who are like a family, where it was the friendship group that provided the support network, fiction or fun that fuelled the show. Other traditional aspects included the production process. As like many sitcom, Friends was shot on a stage at Warner Brothers Studios. Almost no exteriors were used, however those that were, were shot on 'New York' street, which was really shot on the outside if the studio. Sitcoms are shot in linear sequence and after all preparation, are recorded in front of a live studio audience. Through the use of audience laughter, we are invited to share the joke and the perspective from which the joke is told. In Friends, this is pushed further by including the audience's reaction to romanic and emotional scene. The audience is encouraged to cheer and happily sigh with ooh's and ash's to give a better reception. In Friends, main settings are the friends' respective apartments and the coffee shop Central Perk, which were available for use throughout the ten years that it ran. Some settings that were used in season 5 were used once such as the Las Vegas scenes but we're then torn out after production of that season ended. 

Friends has recieved a lot of viewers over the ten years that it was in production, on the IMBd website, statistics show that people have rated this sitcom a 9/10 from over 300,00 viewers. 

One of the most popular sitcoms around  is 'The Big Bang Theory'. This is a comedy that is centred on five characters living in Pasadena, California. The four who are scientists make the geekiness and intellect of them contrast for comic effect with the social skills and common sense of the female neighbour. The sitcoms executive producers are Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady along with Steven Molaro, of whom are all head writers for the sitcom. The sitcom had its first debut on CBS on September 24, 2007 in America and has been going on now for its eighth series which aired on September 22, 2014. In the UK, The Big Bang Theory airs on E4. This as many sitcoms is recorded in front of a live studio audience. When the actors are performing their lines, they go off the atmosphere of the audience which makes them perform better because they know that they have done a good job.

The United Kingdom has produced a wealth of sitcoms, many of which have been exported to other countries or even adapted to better fit local audiences. British sitcoms often exhibit a tendency towards black humour. A frequent theme in British sitcoms is that of people trapped in an unpleasant situation (such as in Porridge, 'Allo 'Allo!) or a dysfunctional relationship (such as in Only Fools and Horses, Rising Damp, George and Mildred and Steptoe and Son).British sitcoms have also tended to shy away from the folksy homespun nature of the American sitcom and into more adult or intellectual territory, Yes Minister being an example of the latter. Other examples of popular British comedy shows that have also enjoyed international success include Black Books and The IT Crowd.

British sitcoms such as The IT Crowd,  are different to Friends, for example. In thos sitcom, it focuses on the shenanigans of the three-strong IT support team located in a dingy, untidy, and unkempt basement – a great contrast to the shining modern architecture and stunning London views enjoyed by the rest of the organisation.

Reference: http://www.imdb.com/search/title?count=100&genres=comedy&keywords=sitcom&num_votes=5000,&title_type=tv_series Assessed 20/11/14

Reference: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitcom Assessed 19/11/14

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sitcom Assessed: 22/10/14

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_IT_Crowd  Assessed 20/11/14

29.A Understanding the Purposes of Music Videos.

Promoting a particular song:
There are many ways to promote a single, one way to promote a particular song is through 
the internet. You could promote your music on websites such a Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.  Twitter is another excellent venue for getting in touch with your fans, promoting your content, and getting more people excited about your music. To promote your music on Twitter, you should actively update your timeline with new information about events, promotions, and album releases.  A music video is a good way to promote a single because the record company could release it on YouTube, which is a good way for the fans of the artist to see the new song that the artist is releasing. A single can be sold separately from the whole album, this helps to promote the new album. This song in particular tends to be the most popular song from the album.  An example a song that is promoting a single is Beyonce's 'xo'. This a good example of a promotion because the video makes the song sound very fun due to it being set in a theme park where she is being surrounded by her fans and having fun with them as well. In the video there quite a few close up shots of Beyonce and a few shots with her interacting with her fans.


Promotion of the artist's album:
One way to promote the artist's album is through a tour. For example, Trey Songz toured in promotion of the album on his Anticipation 2our, a tour spanning from February 9 to March 11, 2012, in North America. Trey Songz, came to the London in early 2013 to promote his album to his UK fans. He came to Hammersmith Apollo on January 30th and 31st. A tour is a good way to promote an album because during the concert, the artist will get to debut they're songs for all the fans to listen to before they buy the album itself.











An album is sometimes promoted through a video where it directly shows the album. An example of a song that promotes an artist's new album is Jay z's Holy Grail. This promote his album because the song is the same title of his album 'Holy Grail, Magna Carter'. In the video he continuously says the words 'Holy Grail'. With this video, it has a different setting then the actual song. In the video, Jay Z starts the song a different way then the radio version for example, also, in the video the song goes in and out of being slow motion at the beginning. This might have been down to boost the sales of the song because it sounds different from the original song that was released.














Promotion of a new artist:
There are many way that an new artist could be promoted. One way to promote a new artist is to have a bigger artist feature in their first song. An example of this would be Justin Bieber when he had Ludacris feature on his first song 'Baby'. By having a more experienced artist that has been around for a long period of time on a new artists' song, makes the new artist gain more success in their career and they get more fans/followers in the long run. Due to Justin Bieber being alongside a higher more established artist, that is Ludacris, this gained him to get more publicity as people saw him doing a song with Ludacris. In the video Justin and Ludacris are seen together rapping the lyrics. This is good for Justin because. Also when Ludacris is rapping, it switches from him to Justin Multiple times. 














Another way to promote a new artist is through playing their new songs on the radio or music channels on the TV. Television programmes such as Britians Got Talent are a good way to promote new artist. An example of an artist that has come out of this show and is doing quite successful is Bars and Melody. When they auditions, they auditions with one of their own written songs and it was instantly a hit, so when they got further in the competition, Simon signed the to his record label. Despite not winning, it was reported that Bars and Melody were set to sign a £500,000 record deal. On 15 June 2014, it was announced that Bars and Melody have signed an initial one-single deal with Simon Cowell's record label, Syco. The music video of their song "Hopeful" was released on YouTube on 7 July 2014.Their debut single was released on 27 July and went straight to number five on the UK Singles Chart.

Promotion of an artist's change in musical direction or image:
One example of an artist who has a change in musical direction and image is Snoop Dogg. In 2012, he went on a trip to Jamaica and changed his musical style and image, from being Snoop Dogg. After the trip to Jamaica, Snoop announced a conversion to the Rastafari Movement and a new alias, Snoop Lion. Under the new moniker, he released a reggae album, Reincarnated, and a documentary film of the same name, of his Jamaican experience, in early 2013. He is currently working on his last solo studio album under his rap moniker Snoop Dogg. This is a good example of when an artist wants to change themselves, in this case Snoop Dogg didn't just come out with his music the next day, he actually went to find himself in a different environment and started to make new music with his new name and sound.
An example of where he presents a song with his new sound is 'Ashtrays and Heartbreaks' which features Miley. This is a good example because this is one of the first songs he came out with after his change. This is also a good example because it also shows Miley Cyrus' change of direction from being a disney child to a grown up.

















Promotion of and synergy with another media product (film, television programme etc.):
An example of a song that has promoted another media product is the song 'Think Like A Man' by Jennifer Hudson, Ne-yo and Rick Ross. This song promotes the movie of the same name. In the video there are clips from the movie, also at the beginning of the song, one of the main characters is acting in the video, who also features later on in the video with the rapper also there is a scene from the movie the background when the main character is talking to the singer.  This is a good way to promote the movie because it gets the attention of the audience to go and watch the movie if they are fans of the artist's that feature on the song. At the end of the song the tagline for the movie is said by one of the main characters, 'Don't hate the player, hate the game'.





Increasing the income for the record company. In this case find an example of an artist who owns the record label and therefore benefits directly:
Record labels make their money from advertising sales, selling their artist's music and through the music website YouTube. YouTube plays a big part the money that record labels earn, because of the amount views that a song gets when upload to the site. An example of an artist who increases the income for their record label is Jay Z. He is a rapper, music producer, entrepreneur and he also owns his own record 'Roc Nation'. Roc Nation was formed in 2009 by Jay Z himself and has signed many artist since then who have all made good and successful music in their time. Not only is he a producer to many artist, he also does his own music. He has worked with many artist such as, Beyonce, Kanye West and Rihanna. An example of a song that features artist from Jay z's record label is 'Run This Town'. This is good example because this video feature Rihanna and Kanye West, who are both signed to his label 'Roc Nation'. All three of them have an individual verse in the song, on Jay Z's verse he mentions the name of his record label, he says 'This is Roc Nation' due to the three of them all being part of Roc Nation.





Increasing the range of media artist is active in (TV, artists website, DVD release, social networking sites etc.). Find an example of an artist who uses a range of digital media and networking, an explain how a specific music video that fits into the use of media:
One way an artist can promote their music through a digital media source is through Vevo. Many artist use vevo when releasing their music. Vevo (stylized vevo) is a video hosting service owned and operated by a joint venture of Universal Music Group (UMG), Google, Sony Music Entertainment (SME) and Abu Dhabi Media. It launched on December 8, 2009. The videos on Vevo are syndicated across the web, with Google and Vevo sharing the advertising revenue. Vevo offers music videos from two of the "big three" major record labels, UMG and SME. EMI also licensed its library for Vevo shortly before launch; it was subsequently acquired by UMG in 2012. Warner Music Group was initially reported to be considering hosting its content on the service, but formed an alliance with rival MTV Networks (now Viacom Media Networks). An example of an artist that has music shared by vevo is a band called 'The Script' They get their music shared by vevo due to being signed to the record label Sony, which means that they have a vevo account. 

45.A Radio Advertising Analysis.

1. Boots December 2013 ukRAB

Factual Information: The producers of this advert is Boots. the release date of this was December 2013.

Messaging: In advert the woman is explaining what is on special offer for Christmas gifts and how much it is, also she's advertising the advantage card and how you can boost your points.

Style: This advert would be conversational in style because the woman in the advert is talking to the audience, it's informal in style because it's not in the type of a lecture and she's just telling you something's and it's simple because there's some detail but not a lot, also the background music makes it sound simple.

Structure: This advert is a one-off advert because it only gets played at Christmas time. However, during the rest of the year, there are other adverts like this one that are for different products, or seasonal items.

Purpose: The purpose of this advert is to sell products and directly raise awareness for a particular section of the store, the Christmas gifts you can buy. Also, this advert is a seasonal awareness raising as it's raising awareness for Christmas gift.

Use of sound bed: The music in the background of the advert sounds like an upbeat pop song. In this advert there is no sound effects just the pop song. In the beginning of the advert there is no music but then it starts about 3 seconds after she starts talking about what she is advertising. I think that this music was used because it sort of sounds like an christmas song which them makes it suit the what the advert is about. This is an effective sound for the music and it has an impact on the listeners which makes them want to go out and buy what is being advertise

Use of voice-over: In the advert, the use of voice-over is very calm in the tone of her voice. This advert is a single person voice. The way the woman is talking is in a informal tone, and not in a formal lecture type of way. The woman's accent is very posh sounding which doesn't make the audience bored. Also the voice is very clear so that it is easy to understand for everybody even if they don't speak in the same accent. This is a good techniques because it wouldn't be as effective if the voice-over was dry and boring, it's better that it's an upbeat sounding voice

Persuasive techniques: In the advert, the woman is trying to sell Christmas products, so to make it sound more persuasive, she also advertises that by buying a certain product you could get advantage points, which would then equal to an amount of money that you could then use to purchase another product. This is effective because it they didn't use persuasive techniques the company would lose money and the customers would become less interested in the store. This has an effect on the listeners because makes them more interested in what else that the store has to offer. 

Level of distribution: This advert is National as it would be broadcast all over the country.

Use of contact details and potential feedback from listeners: to get feedback from customers the store would ask the customers to fill out survey for a chance to win a prize on their website. To get in contact with them, they have a website and all their contact details to get in contact with them.

Regulation A : The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (BCAP Code) is a series codes that advertisers have to abide by to get their adverts published on the radio. Some of these codes include things like harm and offence; which is a rule to ensure the adverts do not cause harm or serious or widespread offence to the viewers, one about children which is rules that must be followed if directing ads at children or featuring them. Includes rules about unsafe practices and unfair pressure; pester power and sales promotions for children.

Regulation B: If this advert was phrased differently, it could've broken section 3 which is the misleading advertising. For example, because this is an advert advertising products, if it had said that their products are at a higher discount then other stores of the same product and it was found out that they had lied, their advert would be allowed to be on the radio and they could face a fine.


2. Drinkaware December 2013

Factual information: The producers of this advert are the people that run DrinkAware. This advert is is part of the drink awareness campaign and was published in December 2013. They started drink aware in October 2013.

Message: This advert is trying to aware parents that there are some things that their kids are too young to do, in this case it's drinking alcohol. This is a persuasive advert because the example of the son asking to try and use the chainsaw represents things that young children are not ready for.

Style: This advert is a serious advert due to the tone of the woman's voice, also the website that she states in the advert makes it a serious matter. Also this advert is formal, because the way she is speaking is in a proper manner to keep the seriousness of the advert. The woman sounds like she doesn't want to see any more children drinking when they shouldn't be. Also this advert would be conversational in style because the woman in the advert is talking to parents who have children.

Structure: This advert is a part of a series of adverts as the drinking awareness started their adverts in October and went right through to December.

Purpose: This is a informational advert. Drinkaware wanted to speak to parents with their campaign and encourage them to believe that an alcohol free childhood is best. This advert demonstrates the power of sound by using the audio of a chainsaw to demonstrate that there really are some things that children just aren't ready for. This was chosen so it hopefully gets through to the parents of children that have maybe been influenced to drink, or maybe just to ensure them that they need to inform their children that they are too young to drink and wait until the legal age.

Use of sound bed: The use of the chainsaw at the beginning of the advert is an appropriate sound because for some children the sound of chainsaws are not the more pleasant sound. This is a persuasive technique because it parents should know that their children shouldn't be using a chainsaw, so therefore they should know that their children shouldn't be drinking. 

Use of voice-over: The of the woman's voice in the advert is a very serious sounding due to the importance of this advert and why it is being presented to parents. Also the use of the child's voice is good because it doesn't sound like the boy is very old, he sounds like he is still a child due to the sound of his voice and the face that it is higher than a teenagers voice would be. If it was a much older boy, I think that the voice would sound deeper.

Level of distribution: This advert is National as it would be broadcast all over the country.

Use of contact details and potential feedback from listeners: to get feedback from customers the store would ask the customers to fill out survey for a chance to win a prize on their website. To get in contact with them, they have a website and all their contact details to get in contact with them.

Regulation B: If this advert was phrased differently, it could've broken section 4 which is the Harm and Offence code. For example, if they talked about someone dying from the use of alcohol, this could've made the listeners feel disturbed and upset. This also could've made them pay a fine because it's an inappropriate use of tactics to no get them to drink.

Radio Advert Evaluation

For this assignment i worked with Audrey. The radio avert task was quite difficult to do as it was hard to come up with a good enough script for it but eventually we came up with one.