KONY 2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

prop·a·gan·da

1.

information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

 

 

52 million views as I begin writing this, it was uploaded 4 days ago. I won't patronise by explaining what the video is about as I don't think I know of anyone who hasn't heard about the campaign now.

My blog post today will come across negatively, but I do not intend for it to be like this. First I will explain I think it is a great idea to use social media and the internet to help catch a criminal, this man is a menace (who before Monday I had never heard of) and he should be captured and killed in my opinion. But my worry lies with the video as a piece of mass propaganda.

The infamous Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels would have killed to have been able to influence the minds of 50 million people in under a week. But back then it wasn't possible. Now as the 'KONY' video refers to; Facebook dominates many lives all over the world, more and more people are getting broadband enabling them to create and share videos all around the world. This means the audience for videos of this nature is growing rapidly.

The video is brilliantly made, I mean if you look at the credits list, alot of work has gone into making it visually stunning as well as delivering the message the group wants to spread. User-generated content is becoming a better standard all the time, as camera prices reduce and we all become more media-savvy. But are we? Many people have watched this beautiful and powerful film and believed and accepted it blindly (I am not saying it is not true) without checking other sources first. I do wonder how many people have donated money without reading up more on the subject. My concern is if I made a brilliant film tommorow and uploaded it to Youtube asking for money for a campaign about something, could I recieve money and support that easy?

If this group can do it, surely anyone can and this is what scares me ultimately. This group made a viral video for a good cause, the video is very persuasive and it is easy to get sucked in, if 50 million have seen this and all of them want a horrendous man captured, could this form of propaganda be used elsewhere and not for the greater good. what if someone decided to use this form of media to spread 'bad' propaganda. As the narrator in the film mentioned 'this is an experiment' and the results are extremely interesting. This could the first of many global campaigns created and supported via social media on the internet.

I would reccommend reading the following articles along with watching the video:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/mar/08/kony-2012-what-s-the-story

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/uganda/9131469/Joseph-Kony-2012-growing-outrage-in-Uganda-over-film.html

Thanks for reading..I suppose by writing this I am also spreading the message and campaign, these guys are very clever!

Crocs and US Drama

I hate it when a US drama starts over here. Why I hear you ask. Well as soon as the first episode is show say on C4 for example, there is always someone who enjoys it and can't helps themselves and starts watching the programme online from Amercian streaming sites. This means every time I am in a room with this person I am terrified they may tell me what happens in the next episode. Why can't people just hold out a week and watch the series s the broadcaster wants us to watch it. It builds excitement waiting a week for the next installment. Like 'The Event' last year (http://jonathandutton.blogspot.com/search?q=the+event), I loved this programme and Im sure you remember my ranting over it's extremely long mid-season break. But even with that programme someone had to be 2 episodes ahead making me panic everytime they spoke.

Of course the new programme that broadcast for the first time (in the UK) on Sunday is 'Homeland'. It has a great cast, if you are into your Amercian drama actors, Claire Danes and Damian Lewis head up the roster and if episode 1's performances are anything to go by they are brilliant. The show tells the story of a former marine who returns to the US after 10 years in Iraq in a prison. He returns to a heroes welcome but one CIA officer believes he has been turned. Episode 1 set up the series really well, we meet (it seems) all the key characters and their personalities are exposed fairly quickly.

I like the plot, the idea of dividing public opinion is an endearing one, is he a hero or a villain and he certainly has the characteristics of a protagonist that the audience will love to hate either way. C4's marketing is good as well, they are advertising the programme regularly through the week and I particularly like their poll online where you can vote if he is a friend or foe of the US (I voted foe, because Im a cynic) http://www.channel4.com/programmes/homeland/articles/vote-friend-or-foe.

The programme does not seem over-produced, it utilises those quirky little close-ups of inanimate objects that I am developing a love for and some of the characters have been given great little issues or dilemmas. For example giving the other protagonist Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) a mental health problem despite the fact she is a talented CIA agent is simply a genius piece of writing.

I look forward to the continuation of this programme as long as none of the plot ruiners don't get to far ahead watching online that I find out the conclusion earlier than C4 wants me to. A great acquisition for C4, give it a watch!

And secondly (and I don't care I begun a sentence with 'and' this is no academic essay), 'Swimming with Crocs' a BBC documentary aired on (well BBC iplayer for me) presented by 'TV's Ben Fogle', you know 'TV's Ben Fogle' right? It's Ben Fogle from the TV. Well he joined a group of people far more intelligent and slightly more crazy than he is and headed to Botswana to swim with crocodiles. I won't lie the idea of 'TV's Ben Fogle' swimming with crocs excited me, maybe I did watch it because I am a fan of schadenfreude but I like crocodiles, this stems back to my days of watching Steve Irwin (RIP). So I put it on and even my housemate joined me as the excitement built.

Basically, this husband and wife duo have found a safe protocol in order to swim with the only living dinosaurs on the planet. So a scientist keen to learn more about crocs underwater behaviour joins the team as does 'TV's Ben Fogle' to dive into croc infested water. Wow, it was exciting viewing, it was like a thriller, the team are inches from this croc underwater, with nothing but a pole and a camera to protect them and you genuinely don't know if 'TV's Ben Fogle' is going to be eaten. That's exciting. Their method was hilarious, but it seemed to work. If you lie on the bottom of the river bed, apparently crocs think you are a small croc. Simples.

There are some great moments where the team do get attacked, the cameraman is genuinely shaken and looking angry, the husband and wife are surprised because ofcourse 'this has never happened before'. And 'TV's Ben Fogle' is as white as a sheet. The programme was well filmed and the natural tension that is built by the camera getting that close to the beast was brilliant. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it but I really did, it's worth a watch. And this Sunday is the 2nd and final part where the team are taking the shizz to the next level by visiting Australia to swim with the biggest crocs in the world. Will 'TV's Ben Fogle' get eaten? That is the question!

Thanks for reading, please comment!

Still Funny (An Apology) and Great News

First I will return to a post from January, in which I discussed Xmas and New Year TV:
http://jonathandutton.blogspot.com/2012/01/xmas-and-new-year-tv.html. In this post I was critical about 'Top Gear's' Xmas special, and I do stand by most of my comments, I didn't enjoy that particular programme. But I would like to apologize if I gave the impression I didn't like 'Top Gear' anymore, that post is fairly critical and mentions the programme maybe getting samey, but i must take it all back becuase the new series has been brilliant.

I have watched every episode on BBC Iplayer, more often than not on a Monday evening, 3 episodes in to the series and I have not just enjoyed the episodes but the programme has genuinely had be laughing out loud. If you read my blog alot you will know I don't LOL at programmes that often, and '10 o Clock Live' and this series 'Top Gear' are two of the very few that do.

As 'Top Gear' always does it supplies fantastic car reviews by three knowledgable experts, mixed with foolery and strange challenges that ultimately make them look more silly. Their guests seem to be getting more and more famous as the series go on, Clarkson is still hilarious, his opinionated and often crude views are entertaining and then of course there is the forgotten about part of 'Top Gear's' brilliance. The cinematography produced on the reviews is simply stunning, these cars whether the presenters like them or not are turned into stars. Through expensive crane, tracking and aerial shots, the programme adds an artsy (BBC edge) to it's arsrnal as well. I will be watching the rest of the series and I will almost certainly enjoy it. This is my apology...I am sorry for saying nasty things about 'Top Gear'.

Get in!!! In the post cited above from January, I wrote about the heartache I was feeling at the prospect of my favourite TV programme 'Something For The Weekend' being cancelled. It is a must-watch Sunday morning programme for me both at home with my family or here in Leeds with my housemates as we nurse our headaches before Super Sunday kicks off. In the above post I alerted you to a save SFTW page on Facebook in which you could email the Director General of the 'beeb'. But have no fear SFTW has been saved sort of! And it is music to my ears.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/16/something-for-the-weekend-channel-4?newsfeed=true

The production team and the dynamic duo of Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer are heading to Channel 4, for a brand new programme (sort of) 'Sunday Brunch'. I imagine the programme will be very similar, well I hope it is. Cooking, chatting and having a laugh. The programme is set to start on C4 in March. Looks like ITV missed out on persuading 'Princess Productions' to move there, but this is surely a coup for C4. It is going to be fascinating to see how many of the BBC Sunday morning audience switches to channel 4. I certainly will be, I will see you there!

Finally, I watched 'Inception' for the first time this week with my housemates, after the 'Jumper' incident last week, I was hoping to be impressed and I won't go into detail, but wow! What an awesome example of what can be done with clever camerawork, CGI, great acting and an almost unfollowable story. It is a masterpiece! If you haven't seen it then a vital piece is missing from your own personal jigsaw of life.

Thanks for reading, please comment and share this post!

The Return of the..... Great Series

The schedules on Monday and Tuesday this week were to my TV tastes very bare and even my housemates struggled to find good TV to watch. They did watch 'Geordie Shore', but I simply refuse to watch a rip off of a disgraceful format.

This lack of good programming led me to watching a film on Tuesday night, this is a rarity for me, and the film I chose to watch was a huge mistake. I remember seeing the adverts for 'Jumper' starring Hayden Christensen (off Anakin Skywalker fame) when it first came out and really wanted to see it. But like many films I missed it. So on Tuesday night I put it in my laptop and sat in my room and watched it. I genuinely thought it was terrible. It reminded me of a sequel, I kept thinking those thoughts of the first one must have been better but the first one doesn't exist. Even Samuel LLLLL Jackson couldn't save this one, the acting wasn't bad but I thought there wasn't even a story there, as unlikely as the power to move yourself around the world in a second is, the relationships developed in the film are even more unlikely. Really didn't enjoy it, the one thing it did have going for it was that it is very short.

After that traumatic experience, Wednesday offered me shed loads of my favourite programmes 'Masterchef', 'How To Cook Like Heston' and the return of my stand out show from 2011 '10 o' Clock Live'.

I must state I watched all of these programmes on their individual online players, therefore I didn't watch '10 o' Clock Live' live. I mentioned this programme last year towards the end of one of my posts http://jonathandutton.blogspot.com/2011/01/tv-is-all-around-me-its-everywhere-i-go.html. I enjoyed it last year, casting a fun, sarcastic, raw and sometimes over the top view on the news. With star names such as Jimmy Carr, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker, three of my favourite men on tele, and Lauren Laverne who despite my love for this show I still don't find her funny. Still a token lady on the panle in my opinion.

If you haven't seen the programme, it is basically a live studio show that takes an alternative and comical look at the week's news. This is done through sketches, round-ups, rants and discussions led by the very argumentative and intelligent David Mitchell. It is the exact sort of programme the TV world needs and that the audience needs in this time of moaning and groaning about literally everything.

And it's return on Wed night was also a success, some slight format changes and a fantastic 'Putin' live sketch by Jimmy Carr. Along with a hilariously informative discussion between Mitchell and Alistair Campbell about football. It is light-hearted, fun but also offers an alternative to the mainstream news.

If you havent watched it, please do, you won't be dissapointed http://www.channel4.com/programmes/10-oclock-live/4od

Another programme returned last night 'Celeb Juice' it is still the only programme apart from 'Ford Super Sunday' that my housemates and me all gather to watch together and last night's episode was as funny as ever. It is guaranteed entertainment everytime.

Thankyou for reading.

Pride and Cooking

Frequent readers of my blog will know in the summer I worked on a programme called 'Talent Show Story' at Shiver Productions here in Leeds. The 5 part series is being broadcast on Saturday evenings currently on ITV1. I really enjoyed my work experience and subsequent paid contract with Shiver and working on the programme was brilliant, but this picture below has made me so happy:

As you can see, top of that list is my VERY first TV credit, I was so excited, hence why the picture was screen grabbed and put on Facebook! I felt a massive sense of pride seeing my name on that list. I do hope it is the very first of many to come in the future.

Ok, TV programmes I have watched and enjoyed. I have recovered from my BBC drama obsession ('Sherlock' and 'Public Enemies') and a few old friends have recieved my attention. 'Masterchef' has returned and I do love 'Masterchef', the food, the competition, the challenges, the ever-increasing production values and ofcourse Mr Wallace and Mr Torode with their hilarious put downs and comments as they chomp on pork belly served with everything in the cupboard. The show genuinely makes me salivate and it does what it is supposed to...it entertains.

Another cookery programme I have enjoyed is 'How to Cook Like Heston', it's about time one of these rich chefs showed us how to cook. I will admit he still uses dry ice and blowtorches which aren't neccessarily items in my kitchen, but the techniques he explains are easy to follow and my housemates and me are planning to make truffles and cook steak 'Heston's' way very soon. The programme is fairly quirky like Heston himself, with funny moving kitchen object cutaways. It is easy to watch and 20 mins on 4oD is time well spent.

The return of 'Top Gear' has failed to get me excited, in fact I missed it and I am not too bothered, as I mentioned about the Xmas Special, I am unsure how long 'Top Gear' will remain popular without a change or three. Well that is all for this time around, hope you enjoyed reading. I am back at uni now studying 'The Making of Screen Fact', 'The Making of Screen Fiction' and I am back in the TV studio this semester, hoping to improve my directing and vision mixing skills.

Thanks for reading!

If Carslberg Did Adaptations....

Why didn't I see the series of this programme? How did I miss the hype? Where can I watch the first series? How do Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatiss take ancient tales and more than successfully bring them up to date without having to change the characters?

I am sure you have guessed the topic for this blog post: 'Sherlock'. I will stick my neck out and say, I can't think of a drama series I have enjoyed watching more. And it annoys me that I missed the whole first series. The programme is so beautifully constructed, written and acted. But the plaudits must go to the adaptation, it was the movie starring Robert Downey Jnr. that got me excited about 'Sherlock' (although I still havent seen the second film). The movie is ofcourse a remake but it is set in the time of 'Sherlock Holmes', I really enjoyed the film, lot's of action and you instantly fall in love with Arthur Conan Doyle's character. But to adapt not just the story, but the characters and settings into the 21st century for television is an amazing achievement.

I turned my laptop on and plugged it into my TV and clicked the 'watch Sherlock in HD' button (which I must reccommend if your laptop is powerful enough, the programme looked perfect and only buffered twice), from the very beginning both my girlfriend and I were hooked. The scripting is just so clever, you instantly develop a love/hate relationship with 'Sherlock' and begin to sympathise with Watson. 'Sherlock's' sharp quips towards the supporting cast are brilliant and Watson's simple looks and sighs are enough to produce laughter.

The actors, I like it when the main actor is less famous than the supporting actor and in this programme it works brilliantly, Benedict Cumberbatch is obviously a very skilled actor and Martin Freeman has such a long credit list it is untrue. The casting is genius due to the height difference although sometimes the camera will shoot Sherlock from a low angle to reduce his status in relation to Watson.

The modernisation is suberb, one of my favourite parts (because it is just simple) is the text messages appearing on screen. It is used in programmes like 'Hollyoaks' and looks like a desperate attempt to keep up with the times. But in 'Sherlock' it adds to the mystery which is being recounted in a modern age. I loved the 'thought castle' that 'Sherlock' uses it so close to being a computer programme in his brain and it just another way of cleverly incorporating the 21st first century to the story. The clever transformation of 'Baskerville' into a research facility and I particularly enjoyed Morriati's attempt at using the media to destroy Holmes, this reminded mea bit of what 'Black Mirror' was trying to say. A person can be publicly destroyed or killed by the media but still live on in hiding.

The programme truly is a masterpiece, the cinematography is very high end as is the editing and it seems that no expense has been spared by the cost-cutting BBC. 'Sherlock' is an example of a programme that can justify the licence fee, there isn't many but this is one of them. If you haven't seen it..watch it and if you have the series 1 box set can I borrow it please?

If Carlsberg did adaptations...Sherlock would be it's first!!!

A quick brief note before I publish, still on the topic of the 'Beeb', I read in Broadcast Now, that the BBC are planning to bring in PPV (pay per view) for their online archive programmes, what are your opinions? I think it's a good idea which could bring vital income into the BBC, whether I would pay x amount a year extra on top of my licence fee to watch 'Sherlock' series 1 in 3 years time...oh wait a minute.

Finally I was going to mention the SOPA and PIPA debate but at the moment I am slightly underinformed so I will not pass comment, but I will say piracy is bad in any form to the media industries.

And don't miss the 'Talent Show Story' Saturday 8.30 pm, part 3 covers the changing role of the talent show host and takes a look at 'Opportunity Knocks' the first big UK talent show!

Brilliant BBC Drama

A recommendation from my studio tutor led me to watching 'Public Enemies' on BBC1 (I watched all 3 episodes online on the Iplayer, in case you are obssessed with how the audience watches programmes). The 3 part drama was written by the ever-present Tony Marchant and explores the relationship between a convicted murderer and his probation worker.

The programme stars the beautiful Anna Friel and Daniel Mays, who are in fine form in protraying this unbelievable story. Steve November (Head of Continuing Drama) at ITV in a lecture stated that TV dramas are still about the story and this is a great story.

A probation worker is given a second chance after messing up with her previous ward, and she meets 'Eddie Mottram' who pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend and spent ten years in prison. Great acting not only from Friel and Mays but the fairly large supporting cast was also excellent in adding may twists and turns to the narrative.

I won't call it a ground-breaking drama, it was just a fairly simple production with very few sets, long dialogue and an brilliant script. And it is definetly the script that makes 'Public Enemies' a brilliant programme. I will mention a certain aspect of the shooting of the programme, I did enjoy the pull focuses on inanimate objects, mainly used as cutaways or to start scenes. It reminded me of a similar feature of 'The Shadowline', which was another BBC drama that I loved.

I won't add any plot-spoilers to this blog post, but the programme had the perfect blend of tension, twists, cliffhangers between episodes and even some light comedy. All of this can be directly attributed to Tony Marchant's great script. The music used, helped to create intense moods and the feeling of something was about to happen and the ending was nowhere near predictable despite the hints the programme give me, I just didnt see it coming.

To sum up, 'Public Enemies' is a brilliantly written drama, with enough freshness and twists to make it interesting. It is well acted and in particular the performance of the beautiful Anna Friel is outstanding, it is still on Iplayer I believe, I recommend you watch it. It's refreshing for a drama to be amazing for not trying to break boundaries but for a great script.

Thanks for reading, let me know your opinions!