Motion Picture Association of America reviews Marketing Material

You may know that the Motion Picture Association of America is responsible for the motion picture rating system that parents use to make sure content is age appropriate. Most of us don’t know that they are also responsible for making sure that marketing material that is used to promote the movies is age appropriate as well. What’s the sense of taking a child to a G rated movie about horses, if the previews are going to be about passionate lovemaking?

The Motion Picture Association of America reviews the marketing material that’s used to promote every film that is rated by the Classification and Rating Administration. This is over 60,000 different pieces of marketing every year. Some of the promotional material included is print ads, radio and TV spots, billboards, press kits, bus shelters, posters, and trailers.

Their goal is to make sure all of the material is appropriate for whatever audience views it.  They intend to allow filmmakers to reach their target markets with these while making sure parents have piece of mind. If a parent takes a child to a PG rated movie, then the MPAA makes sure that all the trailers are suitable for that audience. They are not going to have a preview for Chain Saw Massacre in Shrek.

This has an effect on the film industry as a whole. Filmmakers have to be careful and specific in their marketing techniques. If the movie trailer, billboard, or marketing item isn’t acceptable for the venue they are trying to present it, then the time that they put into it will be lost. Even some websites for movies are restricted. In a way, it can be useful. By the MPAA not allowing them to present R rated previews in G rated movies, it helps them to pinpoint their target audience. Once the MPAA decides that the ad is acceptable, then filmmakers can reach their potential viewers with the marketing item. 

Youtube Copyright Speech

             As leaders and experts in our industries, we must obtain the skills to inspire and influence an audience. TED.com has hundreds of speeches that people can view. Because of my interest in film and video production, I checked out some of the speeches listed under entertainment. The speech given by Margaret Gould Steward was relevant to my interests. The name of the speech was How YouTube Thinks About Copyright.

            Before I discuss her skills as a speaker, I’ll bring up a few of the great points that she made. First of all, if you're like me and you’re an aspiring director or videographer you may want to show off some of your projects on YouTube. I know how this can be frustrating because of copyright issues. Some of my videos were deleted because of the songs that I used. But this doesn't just pertain to songs. Pictures and video footage can also be traced on YouTube. The problem for me is that I have no musical talent whatsoever, and I needed audio to make my videos come to life. And every great filmmaker knows how much the audio affects the video. Don’t believe me? Watch one of your favorite actions scenes without the music score.

            Margaret discusses some of the same points from a different standpoint. Her audience is the people who want to upload their own copyrighted material to YouTube. She uses her skills as a speaker to influence people not to be so strict on their copyrighting policies when uploading. Or better yet, to consider what the best option is for the purposes of your video. She explains that fans uploading copyrighted material can serve as free advertising for the product or company. The example she gave was of Chris Browns Forever song. Because of a wedding video that got millions of views, the song reached number 4 on the charts when it was 18 months old. So it depends on how it will service you if you are going to have strict policies. Some policies will just remove the audio file from the content, others will have the whole video deleted.  A personal example is when I used the song Swagga Like Us, they removed the video. But when I used the song Cell Therapy the policy holders used my video as advertisement and put a link to iTunes where the song can be purchased.

            As a speaker she used storytelling to make her speech interesting and to capture the audience attention. It’s easy to just spit out facts, but she used the Chris Brown example in a way that was relevant to people and it was also amusing. She used her knowledge of how YouTube detects copyrighted material through advanced technology. By being informative and making the speech relatable, she was able to deliver useful information about a confusing topic, that many people have issues with. As an expert in the film industry, I can use this speech as well as others on TED.com as a way to sharpen my skills and strategy as a speaker. 

Planning a Film

The filmmaking process consists of preproduction, production, and postproduction. Planning must be done in all three of these stages, but the preproduction stage consists of the most planning. The steps taken in the preproduction stage save time and money in the filmmaking process. 

There needs to be a script before almost anything can begin. Without a script and an idea of the characters personalities, there can be no appropriate casting. If there's no casting, there's no shooting. If no shooting, then no editing. The next thing that is needed once filmmakers have a script is a storyboard. Most filmmakers find them very useful. This is another planning method inside of the preproduction process. A storyboard consists of drawings that explain the framing for each camera shot in the movie. This saves time and money during the production and the postproduction process. Because all the shots are drawn out, shooting the scenes are done much faster. The director and cinematographer don't have to struggle to figure out how each shot should be framed as they go along. They frame the shots according to the storyboard and have more time concentrate on the actors and the content in the scene. It also helps when editing the movie. It takes longer for an editor to examine and cut 10 different shots of the same scene than it is for him to edit with 5. Storyboarding eliminates some of the trials and errors that come with framing, so the editor has to deal with a smaller amount of footage. Storyboarding is an example of how the preproduction process saves time in both the production and postproduction processes. Everyone knows that time is money. 

The amount of necessary planning and the budget are directly related. Movies with big budgets actually have more freedom and don't have to plan as much. One example of a movie like this is The Fugitive. Several of the scenes that were done were not planned. One of these spur of the moment scenes was the chase in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Many of the shots for the train scene were not planned out in specific detail either. This is because the filmmakers had a huge budget that gave them the freedom to experiment, and even change the script as they went along. In movies with a tighter budgets, this can never happen. There's a specific amount that can be spent for each scene, so all the equipment, props, and shots must be calculated beforehand. Planning will always save time and money when it comes to film even though filmmakers with a larger budget can sometimes get around it. 

This article explains film planning in 10 easy steps. 

http://www.cd-writer.com/10steps.html

Team Work as it Relates to Film

Team work is important in every area of entertainment. Whether it is music, television, or film, it is impossible to deliver a professional product without the help of others. I learned this very quickly in my undergraduate courses. I was required to deliver several film projects. When producing a short film or anything like that there are a few people that you simply must have. There are the actors of course, the director, the cameraman, the sound operator, and then editors.
The obvious statement would be, "You must get along with team members." The problem sometimes isn't getting along with team members, it's just getting team members. I remember my frustration senior year when I was required to do a program excerpt for senior project. I was the writer, the director, the main character, and the sound and video editor. My problem wasn't getting along with team members. I got along fine with my non-media buddies who volunteered to hold the camera steady and act.
I cannot stress how important it is to constantly network and find people who have similar interests. Jim Collins explains that disciplined people, "First ask who, then ask what." If I would have been able to collaborate with others, I wouldn't have spent countless hours trying to piece my project all together. It would have been executed better as well. Having people who want to work with you before a project even comes up is the ideal situation.
Now the question may be, "How can I find people to work with before I even get a project?" Network and build relationships! Volunteer and get involved in projects that others are working on. You'll be surprised at how many people feel obligated to return favors. Once you start working with the right people, you will eventually find the ones that work the best together and have similar interests, visions, and messages to convey.

Collins, J. (n.d.). Jim Collins - Articles - Good to Great. Jim Collins - Home. Retrieved November 2, 2010, from http://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html

Website Review: Film Industry Bloggers

Website Review: Film Industry Bloggers

http://filmindustrybloggers.com/

I learned all about readers and feeds last month in my Media Literacy and Research Methodologies class at Full Sail University in the Entertainment Business Masters Program. At first I was thinking, "I'm never going to use this." However, I had no choice based on the assignments. I was really surprised that I actually liked the sites that I subscribed to. My favorite site that I subscribed to using Google Reader is Film Industry Bloggers. I ran across this site while trying to find articles that were relevant to my carreer interests. 

Let me explain exactly what the site is. Film Industry Bloggers has a variety of Bloggers whose blogs are about their current job position. Their position is also listed in the title of every post on the homepage. Some examples are, The Standby Painter - A Miraculous Return, A Future Film and The Hollywood Career Coach - WHAT’S YOUR CAREER OBJECTIVE? I really like that you are able to choose a blogger, such as The Manager, and review his posts. Based on my interests, I may choose to read posts by The Director or The Screenwriter.  If someone has a Google Reader account, or any other reader account, they may want to subscribe via RSS to one of these bloggers. I prefer, however, to subscribe to the homepage where I can see every new post that is published by the site. 

Film Industry Bloggers isn't a blogger site like www.blogger.com, where anyone can join. It seems to be a group of professionals that must qualify to blog on this site. There is a contact page with a 'request to blog' option. I doubt anyone who is not 'among the elite' will be granted this privilege. Overall, I would rate this site 9 out of 10 as far as information and examples are concerned. I would encourage aspiring filmmakers to check this site out and tap into information from real professionals. 

Article Review 1: Creative Executive

Review of the post: The Manager- What’s a creative executive to Do in Hollywood these Days? on Film Industry Bloggers website.

http://filmindustrybloggers.com/blog/2010/10/04/the-manager-what’s-a-creative-executive-to-do-in-hollywood-these-days/

            This article discusses what a Creative Executive (CE) should do to find scripts that can be potential motion pictures. A CE (especially in the context of this article) is someone who has to find scripts and other material that can be turned into motion pictures. They are also responsible for establishing relationships with producers, scriptwriters, and directors in some cases.

            As an aspiring successful screenwriter, I need to know how to get the most money for my scripts. What could be better than understanding the position of the person looking for the script? Based on the information in this article, CE’s shouldn’t just sit around waiting for scripts to come to their offices. They are encouraged to go out and hustle. It may be wise for a screenwriter to get an agent that they can trust so they wont get "hustled." Agents are often targeted by CE’s, and they have knowledge on the legal aspects of this business.

            If a screenwriter is going around showing their spec to CE’s and other’s interested in it, there is a possibility that their idea will be stolen. It happens too often. The idea is taken and turned into a successful movie and the author doesn’t see a penny. The worst part about it is that in some cases there isn’t a thing they can do about it legally. Often times the screenwriter is too intimated to take legal action because of threats to be blackballed from the market.

            Although it can be dangerous, a screenwriter can’t be too cautious or their script will go to waste altogether. The author of this article encourages CE’s to meet writers in the beginning stages of their career. This way, the CE’s can see the script before anyone else. As a new writer I would take advantage of this. I would go to a CE with my copyrighted script before putting it on the open market. This way he may feel more compelled to take advantage of the opportunity. Then everyone would get paid!

            The author of this article gives some general advice to CE’s, writers, managers, and agents, “Go out and start meeting people! Create your own destiny; don’t let it pass you by” (Miller, 2010). These are words that we should all take heed to.

References 

Miller, R. (2010, October 4).   What’s a Creative Executive to Do in Hollywood These Days? : The Manager.  Film Industry Bloggers. Retrieved October 10, 2010, from http://filmindustrybloggers.com/themanager/2010/10/04/whats-a-creative-executive-to-do-in-hollywood-these-days/

Interview with Carla Alleyne

Carla Debbie Alleyne is a talented screenwriter and director. She wrote the original draft for the movie Honey, which was released in 2003 by Universal Studios. She also directed and produced a public access show called Keep It Real where she conducted the first interview ever with NOTORIOUS B.I.G. I had the pleasure of meeting her at Oral Roberts University. We became friends and she was able to tell me several things about the industry during our time together. These are the interview questions that I emailed to her and her responses.

1. Who are some of the most prominent people that you’ve worked with, and what was your position when working with them?

Debbie Allen, Damon Dash/JZ and Jermaine Dupree.  I worked for them as a screenwriter.

2. What are some of the challenges to being a director and/or scriptwriter?

You have to continually encourage yourself through rejection.... and keep pressing because it is a process.

3. What other advice would you give to aspiring directors/scriptwriters?

Don't stop training and practicing your craft daily.  You will get better and better, until you are great!

4. What are some steps that I should take professionally in order to become a successful director? How should I begin my climb to the top?

Find people you like to work with.  Build a team.  Be a loyal team member.  Learn how to serve each other.  Eliminate competition and jealousy.  Work on projects that will touch the world.

5. What are you doing now in the industry?

I am still writing screenplays.

6. Anything else you would like to add…

Never, ever, ever, ever, give up.... William Churchill

Those who are new to the film industry, especially screenwriters, can learn a lot from Carla. Although she has been successful through her own hard work, she knows the importance of teamwork. Production is always a team effort; No one can complete any type of professional film production alone. Therefore, it is imperative that you surround yourself with people you enjoy being around and that you work well with. 

Job Interest

My name is Alexandria Reynolds. I am new to the film industry. I am interested in a job in post production. My skills are editing with avid and graphics with After Effects. I have done several projects using these two programs. I am a quick learner and can learn other programs quickly. I understand how certain visual elements psychologically affect viewers. I would be a great asset to any production team.