GENERATING IDEAS

 GENERATING IDEAS ( P1, M1 U21)

Interpretation of the client brief requirements:

Learning Outcome 1 (U21): Be able to generate ideas for an original media product based on the client brief

I have been approached by CineCloud Pictures to produce a new online/print-based film magazine. The client has explicitly stated a geodemographic target audience within North London as many independent film companies are currently rising, creating plenty of competitors for CineCloud. CineCloud has also said explicitly to promote a new film release produced by an independent company, this could be because many people within North London are interested in independent films. As well as Cinecloud has asked me to reference a current and new coming streaming platform this is explicit as well. Examples of this would be Netflix as a current streaming platform as most mainstream films and some niche is accessible on Netflix and Films4U as a new streaming platform that has more niche films rather than mainstream. Cinecloud has required local distribution initially, this is explicit as it is a technique many new-upcoming company use to approach their market research method and see if it accompanies the target audience. However, they have encouraged us to look at the wider-mass distribution, this is implicit as it most likely will only occur once the magazine has acquired some recognition. In addition, Cinecloud has said they hope to promote the magazine at popular film festivals across all areas of London. Nevertheless, this is implied as they are unsure if promoting the magazine at the festivals will be successful therefore it's not a priority and only an idea. 

THREE KEY IDEAS:

     I have a range of possible ideas in response to the client brief, for a new film magazine for North London. Firstly, one possible theory is that the magazine edition will focus on actors who star in indie films. As CineCloud focuses on the production of independent cinema the recognition of actors who star in these films could be helpful in gaining the attention of those interested in independent cinema and want to know more. The magazine would evidently focus on different actors mainstream and less well-known. However, I would feature a well-known actor on the front page to catch the attention of my target audience. The layout I plan on using on the inside would be different articles about independent actors and their storylines; this would include how they achieved their roles in the films and also why they chose to stick to independent cinema. The client brief states they will at first distribute the magazine locally, therefore, I have decided to include some actors who are from North London, this way the target audience will connect with the actors on a level they can not with others. 

    The next idea I have in response to the client brief for a new magazine distributed in North London is themes, a concept that unifies the film to society. The idea revolves specifically around introducing different themes within the movie industry. A few examples of this are love, family, death, coming of age, etc. I hope to distribute each magazine monthly and have each magazine represent a different theme. The layout I plan on creating is featuring an iconic moment from a film that represents well the theme; this is done to catch the eye of film connoisseurs that are not only interested in the film but also in why it was created and what the films represent. I plan on having 30-50 pages of different ways films have represented a theme and how they correlate to the storyline of the film. For example, I would put other shots from a single film on one page and create various articles. Theoretically, if I were to create a magazine about the theme of love I could use "the notebook" as an example. I would feature a well-known scene from the film in the center of the page and surround it with articles featuring interviews from actors explaining the meaning of the storyline. As my target audience is quite a niche, I would sell the magazine for £1.99 in local shops. 

    The last idea I have in response to the client brief for a new magazine distributed in North London is the production design. This correlates with how different producers decide which costumes to use in a film and props. This idea targets an audience interested in fashion and how to bring a character into real life, however, I will still distribute the magazine locally as the client brief has asked. I intend to focus the magazines on different famous props and costumes that are highly praised by fashion magazines. The magazine's layout would include a well-known costume on the front with an interesting fact to intrigue the reader into scrolling through the magazine. Throughout the magazine, the props and costumes that are mentioned will be presented in the middle of a double-spread page with different articles surrounding it evaluating the designer and how the prop/costume correlates to the character it was used by. The magazine will sell for £7.99 due to an unsure target audience, however, if the magazine is successful I would intend to increase the price and distribution. 

 DISCUSSION OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES FOR EACH IDEA

KEY IDEA ONE- INDEPENDENT ACTORS
STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
- Promotes actors that would usually be ignored by larger companies	- Has a niche target audience which narrows the probability of success
- Contacting small actors is easier to contact compared to A-list	- Finding information about small actors could be difficult
-Many storylines to write interesting articles about	- Receiving an actor's permission might be difficult and unreliable
-Good reputation can be gained from promoting "neglected" actors.	-Financial resources could be limited as the magazine would have to reimburse the actors
	-Content could get repetitive and dull

 

KEY IDEA TWO-THEMES
STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
-Many different topics to be spoken about within articles.	-Inconsistent topics as themes will change monthly e.g. October will be horror.
-Large target audience as each magazine will target different target audiences.	-Could be difficult to collect information and actors for different themes with the short time constraint of a month.
-A different theme each month enables the magazine to be exciting and interesting and not repetitive.	-Some customers might avoid a magazine that doesn't expand further from themes.
-All films explicitly develop stories based on particular theories	- Might be difficult to downsize data
-Independent films do conventionally have a better storyline to contrast them as they normally do not emphasize high production values meaning e.g. special effects.

 

 

KEY IDEA THREE-PRODUCTION DESIGN
STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
- Many aspects of production design to discuss e.g. costume, props.	- Film audiences tend to be into actors, directors, and genres, therefore, creating production design is quite a niche topic.
-Can take a more creative turn as the magazine would be more practical based contrary to the other ideas.	- Would have to get aid from personnel to create the appropriate amount of creativity within the magazine.
-Due to the different aspects that the magazine can expand to, a variety of target audiences can be reached.	-Intereseting information might be difficult to obtain due to confidentiality such as behind the scenes of the costume design.
- Uncommon to create a magazine solely on production design which creates a gap in the market for my magazine to expand into.

 

CONCLUSION

Having considered the strengths and weaknesses of all three key ideas I have come to the conclusion to choose production design. Production design is the factor that goes into media productions to set the scene, and create an atmosphere; personally, this is what I'm most passionate about. However, I do also want to use production design as the topic for my magazine as I had never come across a magazine based on production design which causes me to be more intrigued and motivated to create a magazine based off of my thoughts with little to no inspiration.