I quite like the idea of this movie but I do have a few questions surrounding different areas of the film the first being that you said the film is a " realistic portrayal of British life", I don't know what area you guys live in but I am fairly certain a murder, taking the blame, burning down a restroom and then taking somebody elses identity isn't a realistic portrayal of British Life?
I also personally feel that you guys didn't finalize your ending as it kind of comes completely out of the blue and whilst I could see the rest of your film actually appealing to myself but the ending, with the whole bruned face thing, is something that I personally think tainted the film so I was wondering why you actually went with that ending in particular?
That is all and I look forward to your replies
Hi Jack! Thanks for your questions.
The realistic portrayal of British life is not so much about the plot itself as it is about the characters. The two principle roles are a young mum prostituting herself in order to earn enough money to live on, and her friend, a battered wife who admittedly has more money but is equally unsatisfied. Both women feel that the other has a better deal. I think that both of these archetypes are things that a lot of people in Britain will be able to identify with, and the issues explored involve social deprivation, prostitution, domestic abuse and infertility which are all things that we can identify with and many of us struggle with. The plot itself is admittedly not something that happens to a huge number of people, but it is not beyond the bounds of the imagination, and having created characters that we feel our audience will be able to identify with, I think that the things that happen to them will not feel totally unrealistic from an audience's perspective.
That brings me nicely onto the second question, as to whether the ending is believable. The script is Shadi's and as the creative behind it he would probably be better placed to talk about that than I would, but I will try to explain it as best as I can. Essentially, I think that the ending is a means of Nina moving on from her life before and being able to assume an identity that will serve her better, with more money and more opportunities open to her. In order to do this, she has to steal someone else's identity, and the fight between Nina and Annette is a dramatic climax which many people will find engaging. As to whether it is hugely realistic - I think perhaps it does require a slight suspension of disbelief, but a great number of films and TV series do that. There is a difference between a film which is so unbelievable that it puts people off, and a film that slightly requires you to suspend your disbelief but on the whole feels very natural and genuine. I think that this film would fall firmly into the second category.
i am feeling similar in my views.
love the casting & the start of the film. The murder & covering it up i think is ok.
that would go with a gritty drama & i have seen a few films with a similar storyline.
like the marketing as well & budgeting that all seems good to me.
however i have to agree the fire & identity swap came out of nowhere & i think personally is very unrealistic. i just didn't get it other than a way of getting nina out of prison.
seems a very sudden shift from a normal gritty film to something very sci-fi almost. would love to know how this whole idea came about really. Was there a deeper meaning to it or does it have a message?
seeing infertility portrayed on screen is refreshing and i can relate however it seems a bit like with Annette and her getting Nina to take the fall screams 'crazy lady who can't have kids steals her mate's kind of thing' knowing me i am probably reading to much into it though. i like Nina being a determined women who loves her son. However why make Annette go a very dark route , she was abused , unloved , couldn't have kids then ended up going rogue against her friend & ended up being a total bitch in prison to nina. If she felt guilty why would she then try & get off with the murder. though i am sure sympathy is meant to lie with nina i had a lot for annette also. i get the point is there friendship being broken but personally i think the story would need a bit of tweaking. i think the meaning got a little lost perhaps.
also the legal side of the story. How did you go about trying to get the law aspect of the film accurate for your synopsis.?
I think you've really thought about the marketing aspects, which I was a bit worried about after the last task. You've done a much better job on that this time, so well done.
I have a couple of questions about your film itself:
1) Although I like that you've put a lot of detail into it, it does seem that there's a lot of content in there. Would this film be longer than the usual, or would it be fast-paced to compensate for that? What's the beginning? What happens in the middle? What's the climax? - I wonder if you've put in so much detail, and so much story, that these things are a bit lost, if you get what I mean.
2) I do agree with Jack that it seems a bit implausible. I think you've got 2 stories there - the murder story leading up to the fire, and then the identity swap. You could make a decent film out of either of those, but to put them both into one is a little far-fetched. It's also a bit unbelievable that it wouldn't be able to be proved who killed Jacob (DNA evidence etc), or that it couldn't be proved who was who after the fire (dental records etc would solve that one) - I know the actresses are meant to resemble each other, but unless the characters were twins or close family, then those plot points are a bit unrealistic. (If there's an explanation for either then by all means, this point would be a bit redundant)
3) Normally in a film, there's at least one character that you sympathise with and root for. From the synopsis, I get the feeling that we're meant to support Nina, but whilst I do at the beginning, by the end, I find her very unlikeable. Are both characters meant to be unsympathetic, or is there anyone that we're meant to 'support'?
I think you've done really well here Inspired, best of luck
i am feeling similar in my views.
love the casting & the start of the film. The murder & covering it up i think is ok.
that would go with a gritty drama & i have seen a few films with a similar storyline.
like the marketing as well & budgeting that all seems good to me.
however i have to agree the fire & identity swap came out of nowhere & i think personally is very unrealistic. i just didn't get it other than a way of getting nina out of prison.
seems a very sudden shift from a normal gritty film to something very sci-fi almost. would love to know how this whole idea came about really. Was there a deeper meaning to it or does it have a message?
seeing infertility portrayed on screen is refreshing and i can relate however it seems a bit like with Annette and her getting Nina to take the fall screams 'crazy lady who can't have kids steals her mate's kind of thing' knowing me i am probably reading to much into it though. i like Nina being a determined women who loves her son. However why make Annette go a very dark route , she was abused , unloved , couldn't have kids then ended up going rogue against her friend & ended up being a total bitch in prison to nina. If she felt guilty why would she then try & get off with the murder. though i am sure sympathy is meant to lie with nina i had a lot for annette also. i get the point is there friendship being broken but personally i think the story would need a bit of tweaking. i think the meaning got a little lost perhaps.
also the legal side of the story. How did you go about trying to get the law aspect of the film accurate for your synopsis.?
Hi Natalie and thanks for your questions and comments. I'm really happy that you like the basic premise and the casting choices. I have tried with Jack's question to talk about the 'Nina taking on Annette's identity' thing, and I don't think that there is really anything further that I can say about it without Shadi as the scriptwriter. But I can assure you that we are taking your feedback on board as far as that is concerned.
As for Annette, I can see your point in that maybe she comes across in the synopsis as too much of a villain. Personally, I have tried to portray her in a more sympathetic context, and I think that that is expressed in the character description of her. I think that there is no doubt that Annette does have the best of intentions, and at least to start with she really does care about Nina. However, she is constantly abused and victimised by Jacob, and when he dies and she takes on responsibility of looking after Danny, she finds it much more of a struggle than she anticipated. Obviously caring for a three-year-old is a very difficult job anyway, and Annette herself has other reasons why she is finding it hard. She is very aware that her husband is dead and her best friend is in jail because of her, and there is a lot of guilt about that. In addition, she has spent the last several years under the scrutiny of her husband - despite their lack of a healthy relationship he was still a big part of her life - and with him suddenly gone she has something missing, and emotions that she needs to come to terms with. She cares for Danny the best she can, but over time she realises that she is not emotionally stable enough to care for a child. The decision to put him into foster care seemed like the right decision at the time, and she expected Nina to understand. Nina didn't understand however as she wasn't given the full story, and after that Annette finds herself a murder suspect and has to defend herself. This, coupled with the issues with her mental health that have come about as a result of what has happened to her, means that a much more erratic side of Annette comes to the surface, which ultimately results in her trying to attack Nina. I don't see Annette as a villain at all - I think she's a very confused person who really needs to come to terms with herself, and unfortunately her insecurities manifest themselves in some quite dangerous ways near the end. So I would hope that it's more pity and empathy that the audience feel for her than hatred.
We haven't fully considered the legal side of the story, as we only have a synopsis and not a full script, but we will be aiming to keep that as legitimate as possible within the script itself, although obviously allowing the story to progress has to come first.
I think you've really thought about the marketing aspects, which I was a bit worried about after the last task. You've done a much better job on that this time, so well done.
I have a couple of questions about your film itself:
1) Although I like that you've put a lot of detail into it, it does seem that there's a lot of content in there. Would this film be longer than the usual, or would it be fast-paced to compensate for that? What's the beginning? What happens in the middle? What's the climax? - I wonder if you've put in so much detail, and so much story, that these things are a bit lost, if you get what I mean.
2) I do agree with Jack that it seems a bit implausible. I think you've got 2 stories there - the murder story leading up to the fire, and then the identity swap. You could make a decent film out of either of those, but to put them both into one is a little far-fetched. It's also a bit unbelievable that it wouldn't be able to be proved who killed Jacob (DNA evidence etc), or that it couldn't be proved who was who after the fire (dental records etc would solve that one) - I know the actresses are meant to resemble each other, but unless the characters were twins or close family, then those plot points are a bit unrealistic. (If there's an explanation for either then by all means, this point would be a bit redundant)
3) Normally in a film, there's at least one character that you sympathise with and root for. From the synopsis, I get the feeling that we're meant to support Nina, but whilst I do at the beginning, by the end, I find her very unlikeable. Are both characters meant to be unsympathetic, or is there anyone that we're meant to 'support'?
I think you've done really well here Inspired, best of luck
Hi Amy, and thanks for your questions.
I don't think that the film will necessarily be any longer or shorter than usual. We haven't divided up the time categorically, but I can give you some rough estimates. The introductions of the characters and their situations to the audience will probably take around fifteen to twenty minutes, and the death of Jacob and the pact between the two women will take us up to the half-hour mark. The characters' progression immediately after that will take up more time than is expressed in the synopsis. The synopsis is a summary, but when you think about it there is actually quite a lot to put in. We see some of Nina's time in prison, Annette trying and failing to do a good job of raising Danny, Annette's general issues with her mental and emotional health, Isla's involvement in the two cases etc. It doesn't really need explaining in so much detail within the synopsis, but it is a very human drama and that will take up a reasonable portion of time. The fight between Nina and Annette will probably occur about three quarters of the way through, and beyond that we see Nina coming to terms with being in disguise as Annette and leaving her old life behind. I would estimate that the film would be around an hour and a half long.
I am a little confused as to what your second question is. I can see that it is a criticism of our plot lines which we will take on board and work with, but there doesn't appear to be anything there that I can really respond to.
I think that Nina is the character who the audience is supposed to support generally, but I would hope that Annette is someone who the audience feel empathy and concern for. I didn't want anyone to just be a pantomime villain, I wanted our characters to be well-rounded. Maybe that didn't come across that well in the pitch, but as I hope you can see from my response to Natalie's question, these things have been very much considered with regards to Annette. If you don't mind me asking, why don't you like Nina? If you'd like to talk about that character, I will be more than happy to respond.
Hey guys, thanks for your questions and for reading our script.
I just want to note that this script is actually developed by me and it has been for the last year or so. Meaning, the main ideas of the script weren't just created on the spot, as I had been thinking the whole thing through for quite some time and I already explained that to my team during the brain storming session. First of all, the ending doesn't come out of no where, on the opposite, it is the climax. Once Annette enters prison, it doesn't get any better for Nina because all signs point towards her as the murderer, and among all that, she was about to be murdered herself. Nothing was looking remotely up for her, but this accident was sort of a blessing in disguise because she would not have escaped prison unless this has happened, and it paralleled our theme which is change and how hard it is to accomplish when you're chained by your inadequacies and your surroundings. She found redemption and a second chance in that accident. The details of the accidents would be described in details in the screenplay, but this is a synopsis, and I tried to be as brief as possible while delivering the message through. The transitions from one situation to another will be carried out smoothly.
As for the timing of the movie, it would have to be approximate the 100 minutes.
And the sympathetic figure is clearly Nina who was betrayed and almost killed by Annette. She thickened her skin by the end of the movie, but that was in no way a portrayal of evil, it was actually a portrayal of strength.
As for whether this reflects the British society, I don't know because when I wrote it, I thought it would bode well in the Lebanese and American society. Any alterations to fit the British society could not have been carried out by me because I am not British, but I do think that George explained this point accurately.
As for the realism behind the legal and biological aspects in this movie, the frame-work is very realistic, and the details in the script would've been compensated for that. I think we all know that almost all movies have a certain degree of fiction in them, in which coincidences happen more often than they would, or physical and legal phenomena aren't completely explained, but in the movie everything will be explained. NOT that this is a major issue, in my opinion, because this movie is not say a movie about epidemics (where biological facts have to be sacred) or a religious movie (where religious practices should be reflected accurately). This is more or less a drama movie, and as long as everything falls in the realms of reality, I wouldn't sweat the minor details.
I will now be posting the pitches for Team Inspired - starting with the sculptures and models pitch from George to Tyjet
[04/08/2014 21:31:28] George Millman: Good evening, David, and thank you for having me. Tonight, I will be pitching the work of an up-and-coming sculptor named Jean Shin. Born in 1971, Shin is originally from South Korea, but currently lives and has grown up in the United States. She studied at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 1999 and has a BSA and MS from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Shin specialises in installations and sculptures - as with many artists, her works portray the numerous issues that society faces and her personal observations on the human condition. However, her unique selling point is that her sculptures usually take the form of numerous units of a certain object, with the models generally sourced through donations from volunteers. Shin then applies her original perspective in order to create something fabulous.
[04/08/2014 21:31:49] George Millman: I have five pieces of art to present to you tonight. The first one is named Sound Wave: http://www.jeanshin.com/soundwave.htm
The art takes the form of 78 vinyl records, melted down and sculpted to form a wave shape. The object of this art work is to signify each era of new technology, which obliterates the credibility of the previous one, in the same manner as a wave does. A wave looks amazing as it rises, but very quickly crashes down and is absorbed by the sea, just as each piece of new technology becomes lost in history, to be replaced by another. In addition to the primary intentions, Sound Wave also represents the human condition, as you can tell a lot about someone's personality by analysing what pieces of music they own, and in a similar manner to Tracey Emin's My Bed, this sculpture provides a snapshot into a person's life. This sculpture was installed at Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2007.
[04/08/2014 21:32:13] George Millman: The second artwork that I want to show you is called TEXTTile: http://www.jeanshin.com/textile.htm
TEXTTile is an interactive sculpture which contains more than 22,000 recycled computer keys, embedded in a continuous textile. It represents the idea that although media communication and technology may be developing rapidly (as commented on in Sound Wave) the simple QWERTY keyboard is something that continues to be used, and probably will still be in existence for a long time yet. This is an intriguing thing to consider, as this method was invented several decades ago and it is perhaps surprising that we have not moved on from this at all. In addition to this, the artwork comments on the fact that the medium of email has become so huge that it is in effect becoming more vital than face-to-face conversation when communicating with another person. I have numerous 'friends' that I have met rarely, if at all, and even this pitch is taking place using this medium. Something that may not be clear at a glance is that the keys are in a specific order; they actually spell out a line-by-line transcript of an email conversation that Shin has had with fabricators regarding the artwork's creation. Viewers can type messages themselves using these keys, which are projected onto the other end of the fabric, making the artwork interactive. This piece was first installed at the Permanent Collection of Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA.
[04/08/2014 21:32:23] George Millman: The third piece is called Glasscape: http://www.jeanshin.com/glasscape.htm
This piece has a slightly less complex meaning, but is still intensely interesting. Thousands of empty wine bottles are placed at points in the gallery, creating a beautiful visual and allowing the gallery space to be transformed into what could be described as a 'landscape'. I think that when looking at this image, it is very easy to forget that it is only created by empty wine bottles. The significance of the bottles references the fact that glass starts out as just sand, and when covering the ground the bottles are, in a sense, coming home to their natural roots. However, what fascinates me personally about this is that we have all seen wine bottles numerous times, but it probably occurs to very few of us just how beautiful they really are. Shin manages to capture a really powerful image using a simple object that nearly everyone has in their home. This installation is in the Galerie Eric Dupont in Paris. Paris has another connotation, as it references the wine culture which is prevalent in France, but we are also very interested in French wine here within the UK, and I think the piece would work just as well here.
[04/08/2014 21:32:33] George Millman: My fourth artwork to show you is called Hide: http://www.jeanshin.com/hide.htm
Hide consists of thirteen old leather shoes, cut and detached from the soles and then stitched together to form the visual that you see in the image. The intentions of this piece of art are remind the viewer that leather is in fact animal hide. In this context, the shoes' original function is completely forgotten, and are in effect useless as a shoe. The wide range of colour used to decorate them almost makes the viewer forget that the art is simply made from leather shoes, and more allusions are made to the origin of leather, which is something that I think many people turn a blind eye to. This piece was installed at Ulrich Museum of Art, Kansas.
[04/08/2014 21:32:42] George Millman: The fifth and final piece of art is called 20/20: http://www.jeanshin.com/20_20.htm
The artwork portrays the varying perceptions of reality that each person has by allowing a viewer to look literally through another person's eyes. For the construction, numerous pairs of glasses are inserted into a wall facing the street on the outside of the gallery (in the original, the street is 23rd Street in New York, but obviously this would be different with your museum). Looking through each pair of glasses changes the way that the buildings beyond come across, which signifies the way in which each person views things differently - in this case, in a literal context. 20/20 was originally installed at Frederieke Taylor Gallery in New York.
[04/08/2014 21:34:55] George Millman: So there we have it. Five original and unique pieces of art. As you can see, all use the medium of taking a very simple, everyday object and arranging it so that it has an intellectual message. I think that Shin's work is really incredible, and would look amazing in your gallery. Also, she has worked predominantly in the States, and has not installed any work so far in the UK, so your museum would be the first establishment in this country to host any of Jean Shin's work. As far as pricing goes, our thinking is around the £600-£700 mark. We are aware that that is extremely cheap, but the reason we have gone so low is that the materials used to create these works of art are generally sourced through donations, so much, if not all, of the actual materials will be sourced free of charge. However, the work to install them will be intensive and the labour costs drive the price up from around £400-£500, which we were considering initially.
[04/08/2014 21:35:02] George Millman: Thank you for your time. I hope that you are as passionate about Jean Shin as I am, and I happily welcome any questions.
[18:49:54] George Millman: [04/08/2014 21:39:50] David: That was an excellent pitch, George. I love all 5 pieces and I like your interpretations of each
[04/08/2014 21:40:01] George Millman: Thank you very much, David.
[04/08/2014 21:45:12] David: Can you elaborate on your pricing structure a little? How much, roughly, do you think it would actually cost to construct one of these sculptures if most of the pieces are donated?
[04/08/2014 21:46:56] David: Also, could you elaborate on why you've chosen these five pieces specifically over some of Jean Shin's other work?
[04/08/2014 21:53:03] George Millman: I'll answer your first question first. Actually, now that you've brought that up, I am thinking that it would possibly be better to add a bit to the price - possibly around the £900-£1000 mark. I must admit that the pricing was something that we found difficult. It's all estimates and we'll be entirely willing to work with you on that. My estimate is around a few hundred for the people constructed (limited to as few people as possible to keep costs as low as possible) and the rest of that would be profit. Naturally we are willing to work with you on that. We have our ideas, but we want to be flexible.
[04/08/2014 21:56:29] George Millman: There is a lot of work that Jean Shin has created for me to have chosen from, and it was difficult to narrow it down. My reasoning is that these were the ones that interested me the most, and the ones I thought I could sell. Of course, that could be considered to be quite subjective, but I think that you have to be passionate about something in order to sell it. I was passionate about all of it, but these were the ones that really spoke to me, and I felt that with this decision it was best to trust my gut. If other pieces of art didn't strike me so much, I thought it was reasonable to assume that they may not strike you or your visitors so well either. So far, I feel like that assumption has turned out to be right, because you did say to me that you genuinely like all of them. But if they take off, maybe we could talk about you installing some more of her work in the future.
[04/08/2014 21:57:36] David: Ok, thank you for your time George. I'll take all of this into consideration before making a decision
[04/08/2014 21:57:37] David: Good luck
[04/08/2014 21:57:43] George Millman: Is that everything?
[04/08/2014 21:58:15] David: Mhmm, I have to go soon and I have all I need already :P
[04/08/2014 21:58:35] George Millman: Okay. Thank you for having me, and please choose Jean Shin and Team Inspired.
[04/08/2014 21:58:42] George Millman: We'd love to do business with your museum.
[04/08/2014 22:00:16] George Millman: Just a question, are you sending this conversation to Niall and Louise, or do I have to do it? I don't mind, just need to know if that's my responsibility or not.
[04/08/2014 22:00:32] David: I can do it
[04/08/2014 22:00:47] David: I'll be sending them comments/feedback on both the pitches anyway so I'll do it then
[04/08/2014 22:00:57] George Millman: Cool. Thanks for your time, take care.]
The artist I am about to introduce you to is Elaine Matt Schaffner. Elaine is an American Still Life, Portrait, Landscape, and Plein Air artist hailing from Massachussets. She currently holds a position as a Visual Art Educator in Westwood Massachussets Public School District. She took part in many Solo Exhibitions and Juried Art Exhibit Contests throughout her many years of creating art. Elaine's art captured my attention for many reasons. First of all, the realism that is combined with subtle symbolism is a winning formula in my opinion for any Still Art collection, and her collection was radiant with realism and symbolism. Also, Elaine has perfected her craft and it shows in her brilliant use and combination of color and light in all of her art pieces. She had admitted that the process of painting is way more meaningful to her than the final product, as she gets lost into a world with no time or place when she is in the middle of painting an artwork. This undying and burning passion for what she does, along with being equipped with the talent and the skills to carry it out, is what attracted me to Elaine. Schaffner is wildly in love with the nature, where she finds peace, inspiration, and most importantly the motivation to create most of her stunning pieces. Here's to hoping that you will love her work as much as I did!
Pricing
It's important to note that the prices of the last three art pieces were announced on Elaine's official website, which is why I couldn't waver from them. However, the first piece's price could be found on the website, so I priced it within the range of the second and fourth paintings in a way that the total of this collection sums up to 1,000 British Pounds.
Theme
First of all, when choosing specific art pieces from Schaffner's collection, I wanted to make sure that they are related to each other. I had chosen 4 pieces and turned them into a depiction of human life and desire, mainly the process of metamorphosis that we undergo between the life we live and the life we want to live. The beautiful thing about art is that you can interperet it the way you like and you can never be wrong.
This piece seems to be representing the false entities in someone's life. They're lifeless, and don't really enhance or develop peoples' everyday life, but they provide some form of comfort. I like to explain the theme of this stage as the period where a person is trapped inside the routine of his own life, unable to break through, unable to chase after his dreams. This is the phase where a person's life didn't really start, because he's enslaved by those things around him that aren't necessarily providing him with the happiness he deserves. Price: 150 British Pounds
2) Street View in Antibes, France
In this next picture: http://imgur.com/mB4oQCa which also contains a horse (for familiarity purposes), the stage depicted is an extension of the first one. The horse as you can see is looking at the world outside but half of his body is trapped inside the house. This symbolizes the person's desire to break out of his shell and live the life he wants to live, but with that there's a fear of failing, which is why the person remains inside for a long period of time just wondering what it's like to go after his dreams. As humans we don't like the fear of unfamiliarity. So, we often keep slightly in what makes us feel comfort or familiar etc. This can often resulting in us staying somewhere for too long, or missing out on our aspirations. Price: 180 British Pounds.
3) Lilacs in Bloom
In the third one, http://imgur.com/9FGzOUY we see a blossoming of impressionistic style. This symbolizes the stage of a person's life where he decides that he's had enough sitting on the sidelines and in the background. The flowers are of lilac colours, brushed and thickly painted, and represent freedom as they are outside instead of in a vase. From the previous painting it can show a transition of finally breaking free, and growing wildly and freely as these flowers do. They haven't been trimmed, damaged or chopped, so they do represent the break of society's restraints. The cool and dark undertones show a juxtoposition of attitudes. They could be happy to leave, but miss what they had before. Price: 530 British Pounds
4) Backyard Corner III
The fourth stage and final stage, is not a stage, but it's kind of a "before" - "after" depiction http://imgur.com/VDGjxVW We see that the house is dark and empty, and the horse is not peaking out, watching the world. The horse, who symbolized the normal person, has decided to leave the comfort in his house, and run into the bittersweet world. The greater the risk, the greater the reward, but he decided that it was worth it. We see that although his face was replaced with a star, the theme being that he will finally see himself as the star of his own life, a hero in his own way. Also, we see that after he has left, the garden has flourished, and all seems green, blue and pure - possibly representing his decision was the right one. Price: 180 British Pounds
Conclusion
It's not hard to see why this collection would be a great addition to your musuem. It is not only artistically rich, but it also holds so many different meanings within every frame and every line. Most importantly, however, it is relatable, and this is what's important from a marketing point of view. People will love these pieces and the stories behind them because they will understand them.
I[17:24:58] Katie Lamont: Hi Shadi. Well done on the pitch. I like the fact that the work by the artist you've chosen has a backstory to it and that it will appeal to art fanatics as each painting has a different message in it.
[17:25:47] Katie Lamont: I also like the fact that you've taken a risk by choosing a not so well known artist and bringing their art work to the museum. However, I have a few questions I'd like to ask.
[17:26:10] Shadi Awwad: Thank you! Appreciate your feedback.
[17:27:33] Katie Lamont: Firstly, whilst many art fanatics would maybe instantly understand the messages of your paintings some shall we say more casual customers mightn't understand the message of each paintings. How would you ensure these customers get the message of the paintings? Would we need to employ a staff member to explain the message of the paintings each time a customer enters the museum.
[17:28:42] Katie Lamont: My second question is Elaine Matt Schaffner is an artist who the majority of art fans mightn't know. Many art fanatics come to museums to see well known artists work. How would you suggest I use her name and work to encourage customers into my museum?
[17:28:57] Katie Lamont: My final question is if you could use three words to sum up your chosen artist's work what would they be?
[17:32:09] Shadi Awwad: I do believe that art is a very personal matter. These interpretations were my personal interpretations of these paintings. Elaine did not provide an explanation for these pieces either. And I feel that the beauty of an art piece lies in its ability to take you on a personal journey that you have created in your mind. I would encourage all your customers to come in and try to interpret these paintints the way they want, because this is what art is all about. However, the presence of a staff to maybe guide thr customer is very much welcome. But I do believe that a good art piece speaks for itself. Especially still art because theyre easier to explain than say abstract art.
[17:38:03] Shadi Awwad: I believe that people would definitely look at the art first before questioning who did it, and if they fall in love with it, they will not like it less if a not so well known artist did it. Just like when you're turning on the radio and you listen to a song that attracts you. You won't not download it if it was by someone you dont know. On the contrary you will gonand research for more songs by this artist. Same case in here, they will be motivated to introduce themselves to more work done by her. With that being said, I believe that putting together a brochure near her art pieces that introduces the visitors to her would be a good idea. Including samples of her other work as well as her resume (which I have a copy of) and a mini interview would get the job done.
[17:39:47] Shadi Awwad: As for the final question, I would describe her work as relatable, crafty, and criminally underrated.
[17:40:37] Katie Lamont: Thank you for the answers Shadi. Is there anything else you'd like to add before this meeting finishes?
[17:45:34] Shadi Awwad: I just want to thank you for stepping up as a buyer. I heard some great things about you as a player. I hope you're enjoying this season and I just want to say that the reason I love this contest is because every round it teaches me something new, and this time, I got to learn about new forms of art and it was a pleasure diving into this rich world. Thanks again!
And finally, Roxie's pitch to Aliyah for abstract and surreal art!
Roxie:
Introduction:
Good evening Aliyah. Today I will be presenting an emerging artist whose works of art combine pop surrealism with contemporary abstract art – a Liverpool-based freelance artist called Danny O’Connor. O’Connor is a Graphics Art Graduate from Liverpool’s John Moores University of Art – an institution which has many notable alumni such as the critically acclaimed artist Art Rosenbaum. O’Connor has exhibited alongside some of the world’s leading ubran abstract artists such as Banksy and Adam Neate as well as other gallery shows across the UK. He has a wealth of experience and a fantastically unique technique which I think would make him an excellent feature in your museum.
His Work:
What would make him a great feature to have in your contemporary abstract and surreal art museum is his unique abstract style. Influenced by both Banksy and David Lynch, he combines an urban and comic outlook on surrealism with an evocative and almost dream-like palette. His work is also multimedia, ranging from acrylics, spraypaint, ink and paint markers to household paints such as gloss and emulsion to prints and pencil sketches. This combination of different styles results in visually striking paintings full of energy and different emotions with the expressive brush strokes and splashes of paint creating a hypnotic Lynchian allure. The street dimension to his work I think further highlights his unique qualities and enhances a place in any modern art setting.
Further attributes which would make him a good addition to your museum are that he is already quite popular in his industry and has a good reputation. Several companies have commissioned him to do art work for their bars and restaurants, such items include ‘The Hummingbird’ - so he has already built a good corporate reputation. He also has set up a personal website and Facebook page so he already has an established base of support and fans, and is already fairly popular in the pop surrealist world having exhibited next to the likes of Banksy and Adam Neate. I believe his work would be a fantastic feature in your museum.
We start off quite literally with a bang here. This piece shows off O’Connor’s more abstract influences with the explosion of colour. The contrasting soft brush strokes and sharp lines show off O’Connor’s love for emulating the contrasting emotions of people. This piece also tells a story – the overlying theme of O’Connor’s artwork – depicting the paralyzing beauty of an intelligent girl he used to like in school and how she is lost in thought. The beautiful vibrant blue, yellow and red palette combined with the energetic sharp brush strokes almost entrance you in this girl’s beauty.
The next piece is in my opinion a subtle but a very strongly emotional piece. While the previous piece highlighted O’Connor’s more abstract influences, this piece highlights his more Lynchian dream-like and darker surreal influences. The story told here is about his mother. O’Connor was born to a working class family and this particular work tells of his mother’s struggles to get a job and therefore find significance within her own life. The almost melancholic black/white palette and half smile here suggests wavering happiness, and the airy brush strokes especially around the hair feel more abstract and the fluid lines depict his perpetual admiration of his mother’s goals and her courage to remain smiling amidst failure.
I believe one of the most beautiful qualities of O’Connor’s art is his love for peace and depicting this through nature. The flowers add a graceful quality to his work and giving a sense of harmony and peace amongst the flurry of emotion. The story told here is one of hypothetical observation about human nature that it is never clear cut but complex with contrasting thoughts and emotions. The juxtaposition of the clear, serene beauty of the face and flowers being caught in a sea of an intense, harsh palette demonstrates this well. The abstract background and intense colours give a wonderful sense of energy and dynamism about the painting too. I also think the raging storm around the peaceful woman is a testament to how external influences can affect our individual perception of the world.
I feel this print highlights his technique better than any other. It demonstrates Danny’s use of digital media and layering within his work, overlaying his traditionally painted works with unique abstract and geometric layers. This piece also wonderfully shows off his urban art influences such as Banksy with the more comic feel and design of the face and butterflies covering the eyes. The story told here is his personal love of summer. For once we are brought into his own world to explore his perception of the joys of summer with the love of peaceful imagery with the butterflies as well as the gentle and beautiful abstract colours in the background with soft blotches and brush strokes.
This is personally one of my favourite pieces by O’Connor. The story told here is a very personal one. It is about the death of O’Connor’s girlfriend in an accident after he had a fight with her the night before. It tells the story of feelings and emotions left unsaid. Danny’s usually fluid multi-layered style is very dramatic in this piece with literally an explosion of colour. Each colour and line representing an emotion: the sharp red and orange lines depicting anger, the deep purples for regret, the splotches of bright red depicting tears and sadness. The most striking feature of this piece is the piercing gaze which feels like pure unfiltered rage but at the same time the gentler shades of blue in the eyes evoke a certain grace and elegance about this woman. This mixture of intense and yet heartfelt emotion makes this probably one of Danny O’Connor’s most striking works.
Pricing
While market research suggests that abstract paintings are mainly targeted at bankers, lawyers – the higher end consumers, Danny O’Connor’s multimedia style gives him an edge over other artists. So while his more detailed acrylic and emulsion based original paintings may cost in the region of around £650 to £950, his pencil drawings and digital prints are available at around £20 to £100 meaning they are accessible to the lower end consumer too. His flexibility is again another trait which differentiates him to most contemporary abstract artists and therefore would make him a great feature for an exhibition at your museum. The prices for each painting and print will be as follows:
1) Caught In Contemplation – An acrylic, emulsion and spray painted painting on a deep canvas = £950
2) In Search of Significance – An acrylic, spray paint, correction fluid and graphite marked painting on a deep canvas = £650
3) Harmonious Tempest – An acrylic, graphite and pigment inked painting on a deep canvas = £950
4) Visions of Summer – An open edition print on cotton paper based off the original drawing = £20
5) Every Line Tells A Story – A limited edition print on fine art paper = £100
Conclusion
I think Danny O’Connor’s unique qualities as an artist with an incredibly unique technique and imagination, with beautifully crafted stories depicted in his artwork and with the mesmerizing way he combines surreal and abstract influences, along with his flexibility in art media, his current reputation and his emerging popularity in this particular area of the modern art world would make him a fantastic addition to your abstract and surreal arts museum.
Once again thank you for taking the time out to listen to my pitch. I hope you have enjoyed it and please feel free to ask me any questions.
Firstly, I just want to commend you on your brilliantly presented pitch. It was very clear, to the point and yet incredibly detailed. In regards to your chosen artist, Danny O Connor's work is something of a gift, I echo you wholeheartedly when you say he has an incredibly unique technique and imagination!
Roxie:
Firstly - I would just like to say thanks for reading my pitch Aliyah and enjoying it. I would be happy to clarify on these points.
Aliyah:
1) Firstly, as you mentioned in your pitch, Danny O Connor is a surrealist artist, however he'd probably fall into the "urban art" area within the surrealism umbrella. Urban art (or street art), as reflected by the name is a form of visual art influenced by "City life''. You already stated that surrealism artwork is mostly targeted at the higher end consumers. Now, from a business point of view, I would ideally like to invest in an artist who would be able to sell universally and not just geographically, it just seems to me at the moment that this sort of artwork has a particular niche which will attract customers in London more so than small towns like Nettleham, it seems pretty limiting, how would you turn that around?
Roxie:
First of all, the higher end consumers come from all over Britain now in towns and villages as well as cities so I believe there will be no geographical isolation due to income groups. Villages have got substantially richer in recent years. Such villages include Virginia Water in Surrey, Alderley Edge in Cheshire, Otford in Kent and Rock in Cornwall. So, there are consumers for it all over Britain. Secondly to bridge any possible income gap divide, I have included digital prints which are substantially less costly and more affordable than the original artworks, thus letting less well-off consumers afford O’Connor’s art in some form at least. The prints make O’Connor’s work accessible to all.
In regards to regional differences in art tastes, the artwork itself is not just simply urban art depicting city life but also depicting human emotion and personal stories as I have explored in my pitch which would have more universal appeal. His work also encompasses influences from abstract expressionism, modernism, futurism and surreal art not just urban art especially with 'Every Line Tells a Story'. His art therefore has cross-market appeal in markets such as surreal and abstract art which are not as limiting in terms of regional tastes. Finally, Banksy is a similar urban artist and his appeal is international and widespread throughout the country. The way he has achieved this is by giving away small-scale, paper based art for free or cheaply around the country so we could also do that as potential marketing and to reduce any region specific isolation or preferences. These four points together I believe will make O’Connor’s work fit in with your ideas for universal appeal.
Aliyah:
2) The experience I've had with urban arts is that they do tend to have a negative connotation attached to it, they don't have the best reputation as they're usually characterised by graffiti art or in other words, vandalism which is related to gang culture and other lower aspects of society. However it is quite interesting that you're actually targeting a high end market even though this sort of artwork is an influence of the lower ends of society, how would that work? And what would make you think that the higher ends would have an interest in the doings of something that is still characterised by gang culture?
Roxie:
As I have stated before in regards to O’Connor’s appeal is that while his art does have some urban art references, it is also influenced by modern surrealism and abstract art so I do not think the urban art side of the works will be associated in a negative way but just as one of his many influences. He also draws on canvas and paper normally rather than walls or public property, so he cannot be associated with the vandalism dimension. He also identifies himself more as an abstract artist discussing human emotion and thoughts rather than depicting urban life as such. Abstract art has subtle messages and collectible value which is targeted towards the higher end consumers who are normally also the art collectors and who may understand the messages better The trends are discussed more in this article.
In regards to reputation of street art itself, in recent years with street art pioneers such as Basquiat and Banksy the public perception of street art has shifted to having more fine art appeal as expressed in this article especially with higher end consumer. This is mainly because of the associations with abstract and surreal art but also the subtle social messages and the massive collectible appeal. Thus these forms of art are actually becoming some of the most expensive modern day paintings. This article gives a museum’s perspective that there is a marked difference between street art and graffiti: street art is a form of giving a purposeful message with thought and expression while graffiti is purposeless.
Moreover O’Connor has already established those selling prices on his website and much of his original artwork has been sold out so clearly this higher end consumer is the correct market for his product. At the same time similar artists in his field with surreal, abstract and street art influences such as Banksy and Adam Neates are selling their art for similarly high prices specifically targeting the higher end consumers as I have shown below. Thus I believe his prices are competitive for the market and the higher end consumers are definitely the correct market for his original paintings.
3) How can you ensure that urban art can be permanent and there is not a risk of councils getting rid of it due to it's relation to vandalism?
Roxie:
I believe with the featured art pieces I have shown that Danny O’Connor prefers to draw his art on canvas or paper and that would be the main form of selling the art as I have illustrated before. If Danny O’Connor wants to draw on walls like he did for ‘The Hummingbird’ then we would of course obtain the council’s permission due process and obtain a signed licence by the council, the owner of said wall and the registered company who has commissioned the artwork before undertaking the painting.
Aliyah:
4) A question in regards to pricing, I do understand why Danny O Connor's acrylic original paintings have to be in the higher range of pricing as you've conducted your market research pretty well. However I am slightly confused by the massively cheap digital prints. So for the original paintings, due to the additional materials, fixed costs and the duration to produce the artwork, the "cost of sales" would probably be a higher amount which is why you have to bump up the prices, so turnover is expected to be really high, deducting cost of sales - you can make a good gross profit which I totally get. However, the pencil drawings and digital prints (Visions of the Summer) is only selling for £20? Could you make a list of the materials, resources, and fixed costs (such as work space/rent space) that would be needed for these in particular and then tell me if you expect to make a gross profit at all? Do you not feel as though it's a wasted opportunity to really bring in the business with these pencil/digital prints?
Roxie:
Digital printing reduces the cost per unit of art work quite substantially by reducing the need for paints, canvases and time spent painting. The only materials for the digital prints require are white cotton fine art paper, glicee printing and pigment ink only really and this can be done all online quite cheaply online for around £7 to 8 as shown on this site. There is also a fixed cost of a scanner to scan the original work which is a one-time. The pencil sketches are even cheaper – only requiring sketch pencils and fine art paper. So yes I expect there to be gross profit quite easily.
There are two points I would like to state about your second question and about the function of these other art formats. The digital prints and pencil sketches are to bridge that income gap you were talking about earlier, increasing accessibility and affordability of O’Connor’s art to lower income groups, thus allowing for more universal appeal which is what you are aiming to achieve.
The second point is that with digital prints these can be replicated relatively cheaply and thus allowing for similar margins to the higher price items. While of course the actual value of profit will be less, we will be selling more of them as the price is lower. The cheaper the art, the greater the quantity and demand of the items sold especially considering the art will be available to lower range income groups. Moreover, as I was illustrating about Banksy earlier – he built a lucrative global brand by giving art away cheaply or for free. Thus there is no wasted opportunity with cheaper artwork as this will market the art and build a brand at the same time, and as I have shown earlier there is at least a 50% profit margin to be gained from this. So there is both profit and marketability to be gained from this.
I hope that has answered your questions. Thanks again for enjoying the pitch.
We are here to introduce the entry for Eurovision 2015: the synth pop duo Hurts, composed of singer Theo Hutchcraft and synthesist/instrumentalist Adam Anderson. We believe that after a few years of poor showings, Hurts have what it takes to achieve a good placing for Britain. Hurts have had great European success with their two albums – having sold 3 million of them worldwide with both albums reaching the top five in the charts of many European countries, including Germany, Austria, Finland and Switzerland, among others. They are also award-winning, having won over ten awards with prestigious award establishments across Europe, such as NME Awards and Echo Awards. In addition, Hurts have toured across Europe alongside Depeche Mode and the Scissor Sisters who are popular European bands. For these reasons, we have good reason to believe that Hurts will appeal very highly to European audiences.
Hurts also have a huge social media following, with numerous Facebook and Twitter fan pages dedicated to them. They are often commended for their live performances, Theo Hutchcraft in particular being a classically trained vocalist with good range and depth which would be well suited to juries. They are also praised for their song-writing abilities, often writing from personal experience which makes their songs relatable and quite emotional, which is often something that the Eurovision audiences have reacted well to in the past. Their style is a mixture of synth pop and rock and is influenced by popular European bands such as Depeche Mode and Muse, so their style is also perfectly in line with European music tastes. Hurts' unique style and very distinct slick image will make them memorable, and we think that they would be a fantastic entry and would give Great Britain a fighting chance of doing well.
Where Have We Gone Wrong?:
Through market and online research we have identified and analysed a number of ways which have contributed to Britain’s poor showings in previous years. We have come up with a number of ways our chosen act will combat these problems. Here are some of the problems and our proposed solutions:
1) Dated entries like Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler, who have not been in line with current tastes – Hurts is more in line with current tastes, having sold millions of records in today’s music industry.
2) Entries such as Molly Smitten-Downes who are modern but may be a bit too unknown and not established enough yet – Hurts are established, having a large fanbase in Europe in places like Germany and Austria where they have had top 5 selling albums and singles.
3) Less than stellar vocal showings which juries and voters do not favour – Theo Hutchcraft is a classically trained vocalist with a vast vocal range, good vocal control and a lot of depth to his voice.
4) Pressure on the day which may contribute to less than stellar jury and final performances – Hurts have had 3 tours preforming in venues across the world so they have a wealth of experience in performing live and thus are also reliable.
5) Lack of an emotional connection such as in Blue’s entry – Hurts' song this year is a very heartfelt and emotional power ballad which will emote well to Eurovision audiences, in the same way as Jade Ewen’s did in 2009 – which was our best result in ten years.
6) Lack of a semi-final performance and therefore a lack of momentum going into the finals, with many already European viewers already having decided their favourites – we will make a request that the United Kingdom, along with the other 4 major financial contributors who automatically receive a place in the finals (commonly known as the 'Big 5'), are allowed to perform in a semi-final to raise awareness of their act.
7) Region-specific voting based on politics or tastes which may work against us – Hurts are popular in the Scandinavian voting bloc in countries like Finland which may actually help us.
8) Lack of knowing about our act on a more personal level which has helped acts such as Conchita Wurst – Hurts are very likeable on a personal level with their down-to-earth personalities and witty senses of humour so our extensive promotional plan will feature Hurts taking many interviews on European entertainment channels.
9) European audience not being aware of our acts at all – we will have a huge and extensive promotional plan which will inform more people about our act. This will be covered in our Promotional Plan section in more detail.
10) Lack of a memorable performance, such performances such as Russia’s entry from 2013 and Conchita Wurst’s performance were incredibly memorable. We feel Hurts’ unique style, promotional plan as well as the staging will make our act stand out and hugely memorable. Our staging plan is covered in more detail below.
11) Europe’s perception that Britain does not take the contest seriously, for example by submitting last minute entries in the past – we will make sure to announce well in advance to the rest of Europe who we are submitting to give us enough time for an extensive and serious promotional campaign.
So we have a number of inherent problems which will be solved with our chosen act, as well as some proposed solutions in terms of staging and promotion which will definitely make the difference for Great Britain’s entry this year.
This particular Hurts song will be a great choice because of the powerful emotion and rousing lyrics which will contribute significantly to creating an emotional connection between Hurts and the viewers as illustrated in the previous section. The huge build-up, rousing bridges and emphatic, dramatic chorus will also engage viewers. The song shows off a lot of vocal skill, good control particularly in the verses with runs, good power with huge belting notes in the chorus and excellent range using Theo Hutchcraft’s falsetto and lower register throughout the song. We will also have an acapella section for the final verse to highlight and expose the vocal. Hurts also perform this song very well live, so they are reliable. Hurts have also been critically acclaimed for their song-writing skills and this song is no exception. The song has a beautiful and simple symbolism behind it, desiring and looking for a person whom you would devote and give your whole life for. The vocals, the acapella section and the song itself will therefore have a great chance of gaining support with juries too.
Staging and Performance:
The set will start with a gold backdrop and a silhouette of a sunset in the background projected on to the backdrop for the verses. We will then lose the silhouette effect exposing the gold staging with gold light flashing through in the choruses. Hurts will sing the final verse acapella with two lone white spotlights on Adam and Theo. A gold rain effect comes in on the final chorus with pyrotechnics going off at the end of the performance at each corner of the stage. According to our research, gold staging has done very well in recent years, so we felt this should be reflected in our staging. We feel that the overall staging we have gone for is dramatic and aesthetically pleasing, and will make for a very memorable performance. Theo and Adam will also be dressed in smart black tuxedos which will reflect beautifully off the gold staging and lighting.
The camera angles will be close and personal in the verses alternating between shots of Theo and Adam to highlight the vulnerable parts of the song. We will use wider shots of both Adam and Theo while taking in the whole stage in the choruses to show the beauty of our staging. During the instrumental parts we will use a mixture of wide shots of the audience and the stage and close shots of the band playing. At the end of the performance we will use an aerial shot of the stage to highlight the rain effect and pyrotechnics at the end.
As part of our promotional campaign, we will have a series of concerts throughout Europe to promote Hurts and increase awareness about our act. We will have our Eurovision entry featured twice in the concert with special staging to emphasise it in the minds of potential voters, whilst also having Theo talk about Eurovision a little bit in a few transitions to increase support. We will also have a support act as people have commented in our market research that they enjoy the hype and energetic atmosphere that a support act creates in preparation for the main act. Our support act will be Marina and The Diamonds – we feel that she would be a popular choice across Europe, having had a debut album which has been successful there. We believe that Marina is the perfect act to make the crowd feel excited and energised for our main act, as well as being a great vocalist in her own right.
We will also prepare our concerts in a number of ways to ensure people enjoy them. People often complain about waiting around for songs, so our sets and songs will have smooth, quick transitions and the entire concert will only have one break. People also seem to enjoy snacks and beverages while watching so we will also make sure snack and café bars are available on site. Also our research shows that people really enjoy it when the main act involves the crowd. So we will ensure that Hurts will communicate with the crowd and get them to stand up/sing along/clap their hands at regular intervals, especially for some of the more upbeat songs such as Wonderful Life and Under Control. We will also invite Kylie Minogue to perform with Hurts - as she has done before with them on tour - at certain locations; she will also be having her European tour, so we will play at the same locations for a few dates so that she can come to duet on Hurts' original duet with her. As a massive star even in Europe, a person who openly enjoys Eurovision and a person who has regularly supported Hurts in the past, we feel her presence and association will increase promotion of Hurts and their Eurovision entry exponentially.
Concert Locations:
Our research into the statistics from each country since the last time the UK won Eurovision suggests that it would be best to focus our advertising campaign on countries who have voted for us more frequently in the past. Countries such as Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and the countries that directly follow on the list are a must, but we will also be focusing on countries which we think we can make a new impact on - countries such as Spain, France, Germany and Italy. Hurts has sold very well in the latter of these two countries, so they already have a following, and there is the advantage that we as a nation are often allied with these countries on a political level - whilst we might be ashamed to admit it, politics is a very big factor in the Eurovision voting process and so we should take advantage of any bloc voting advantages we may have. So we have chosen fourteen locations for Hurts to perform which we feel would be the most productive places in terms of translating promotion into votes for Eurovision. We have purposely coincided some of the locations with Kylie’s 2014 European tour so that as stated before she can support us for one duet:
Ireland: Dublin - The O2 ***
Croatia: Zabreb - Vatroslav Lisinski
Greece: Athens - Megaron
Estonia: Tallinn - Estonian Concert Hall
Israel: Jerusalem - International Convention Centre
Spain: Madrid - Palacio Deportes ***
F.Y.R. Macedonia: Skopje - Daut Pasha Hamam
Denmark: Copenhagen – Koncerthuset
Malta: Valletta - Teatru Manoel
Cyprus: Nicosia - Oytun Ersan
Turkey: Istanbul - Cemal Reşit Rey
Germany: Berlin - O2 World ***
France: Paris - Bercy ***
Italy: Rome - Parco della Musica
Kylie will perform in venues with a ***.
Concert Overview
First Half: The lights dim with 10 seconds to go. Marina will be on stage by the time the lights are off and then the music will begin.
Marina and The Diamonds - Electra Heart:
An energetic start to the evening, starting off with a simple blue backdrop turning red when the music starts, apart from two lights at either end of the stage which turn blue and swerve around. White spots come on Marina as she starts to sing. The blue lights settle back down for the second chorus and then the backdrop goes blue and red, with the ordering changing throughout the rest of the song.
Marina and The Diamonds – Lies:
What is arguably Marina’s most emotional and vocally striking song will start off with a black background, with just a white spotlight on Marina to focus on the intimacy for the verses. White light will gently flood the stage during the chorus and ending.
Marina and The Diamonds – Primadonna:
Marina’s trademark song will start with gentle blue lighting, which will rotate and gradually turn purple during the verses. This lighting would then start to flash in the choruses where Marina will interact directly with the audience and encourage them to sing along. When the lights go black, Hurts will take their place and Marina will come off. Theo will move immediately to where Marina was to go straight into the first song in what should be a well-rehearsed and slick transition.
Hurts – Miracle:
An explosive start to Hurts’ performance, the music starts to white blinders coming in against a black backdrop with spotlights on Theo and Adam. Theo will try to get the energy going in this song by encouraging the audience to stand up and sing along with him. Blues and purples are gently introduced throughout the song until the end when white floods come on and everything else comes off. Theo thanks Marina and the audience for being there, going on to make a short introduction to himself and Adam explaining the goal of this promotional concert in terms of Eurovision.
Hurts – Stay:
Arguably one of Hurts’ most touching and a more anthem-themed song starts against a blue backdrop with warm reds and oranges being introduced giving a sunset kind of effect. The lights will gently flow throughout the song with some flashing in the more upbeat moments. Theo will also serenade the audience and ask them to sing along with him and wave their hands along to the beautiful chorus.
Hurts - Better Than Love:
Another upbeat song showing off a lot of the duo's influences, Better Than Love starts with just the black backdrop at the start. Blue lights begin switching on for the verses and then all change to red for the choruses. Theo also serenades the audience encouraging them to raise their hands and sing along with the choruses. The lights flicker on and off as per the beat of the song to match the heavily synth vibe of the song.
Hurts - Somebody To Die For:
Theo introduces this song as their proposed Eurovision entry. It starts off with the stage flooded with red lights slowly turn purple during the verses with overhead spotlights on Theo and Adam. Then red light will flash from the left, purple light will flash on the right and white light will flash at the top of the stage at the start of the chorus, and the whole stage will illuminate with red light. After the last note all goes black and the floods come on for the break.
20 Minute Break
Second Half: About half a minute before the start of the second half the light dim until black on zero. The music will then start again.
Hurts - Under Control:
Hurts’ most upbeat song will start with the lights changing colour and gently flashing. Spotlights will come on as the lyrics start, with the light settling down on blues and purples with reds being introduced which will occur throughout the song. Theo will get the crowd dancing and jumping along with the song throughout and get them to clap their hands throughout the song to energise them for the rest of the evening.
Hurts – Illuminated:
Theo then welcomes back the audience and starts singing their most vocally striking piece. Simple white light will cut through the dark background with a very soft, almost white blue, light being introduced in the verses. The lights will come on at different angles for the whole song, no more than two or three lights coming on at any one time with no spotlights. This set will emphasise Theo’s vocals and the intimacy.
Hurts – Sunday:
One of mainland Europe’s favourite tracks Sunday will start dramatically. From black at the end of the last song, blinders will flash on the first note with white light flashing after. Spotlights will come in for the verses. Blues and reds introduced in the more upbeat moments when Theo will try to get audience members to sing along. The light will gently switch rather than flash in the slower moments. Ending with the stage flooded in white light for the final moments.
Hurts – Mercy:
The white light will slowly blink out as red light is introduced 15 seconds in, and spotlights are introduced when the lyrics start. Alternating white/red lights roam the stage for the verses with blinders used at the start of each chorus. Theo will once again try to get the energy of the crowd going with the dramatic verses, encouraging them to stand up and move along with the choruses.
Hurts - Wonderful Life:
Theo will once again speak to the crowd about Hurts and Eurovision before starting their trademark song. There will be blue light against the backdrop with blue/white spotlights alternating on and off in a set sequence for the verses to suit the slick nature of the song. The blue/white lights will switch to gold for the chorus in the same slick sequence while Theo encourages the audience to sing Hurts’ most well-known song.
Hurts – Devotion:
This song will start off black, with floods coming on with Hurts on stage for the first verse and chorus. Kylie (at set concert locations) or Marina (at locations where Kylie cannot attend) will then come on for the second verse, with a spotlight dramatically focusing on them to surprise the audience, with the lights at the end of the stage roaming about. The lights at the end of the stage will alternate between light blue and white as they roam with opposite ends on the other colour. Ending on black, the floods will come on as if the show is finished. But then the band will play once more as the floods dramatically come off and the entire stage is filled with white light.
Hurts - Somebody To Die For:
To the audience’s mystery and enjoyment, Hurts encore with their Eurovision entry after the dramatic false finish. The entire stage turns dark as the first note is played with the lights simultaneously going out followed by two lone white spotlights focusing on Theo and Adam for the verses which will be slower to really emphasise the intimacy and vulnerability of those lyrics. White light will then flash from the left, right and the top of the stage for the chorus as the whole stage is illuminated with a flood of white light. Theo will again encourage the audience to sing with him on the choruses and will get them waving their hands. At the end of the verses, fireworks go off during the final chorus to make the evening and this song in particular really memorable. Theo then thanks members of the audience for coming and informs them one final time about Eurovision and their entry.
We are using the above sites as a guideline by which to compose concert ticket prices, and assuming that the concerts are one night events taking place over a series of evenings. When you also take into consideration the fact that we have sponsors funding us as well as mainly using these concerts as a form of promotion rather than gaining profit, thus wanting to get as many people to these concerts as possible we feel a reasonable cost to tickets would be roughly between £10.00 and £15.00, which at the current market would be roughly between €12.50 and €19.00 depending on the venue chosen for each country on the tour and the market at the time of the tour.
We feel the poster highlights the main qualities of our concert well: the members, our supporting acts, the locations, the songs, the prices and the fact that it's being entered as Eurovision 2015's entry, as well as emphasising some attractive unique selling points for band such as being award-winning and selling millions of records. The poster will be the main way we will advertise the concert as well as using social media and advertising on various forums and websites as described below. The poster will be sent around online on Hurts fan pages on Twitter and Facebook. It will also be advertised on various popular European entertainment websites and forums. We would also build an extensive social media/email database using contacts from family, friends, fans, forum visiters, Eurovision fans and send it around to them too to increase awareness of the concert. As illustrated below in our promotional plan, we will also be performing interviews on various entertainment channels such as E! and MTV Europe so we will also be informing people about the concerts through that.
Promotional Plan:
We will have an extensive promotional plan campaign throughout Europe in addition to the concerts to increase awareness and support for Hurts’ entry. Firstly we will have an extensive social media campaign. Our Facebook, Twitter pages and Blog, Support Hurts In Eurovision 2015, will be opened well in advance of the concert to get people excited about it and increase awareness. There will be opportunities to ask questions about the upcoming Eurovision appearance and about concerts in particular for the European fans, and all admins will respond to any questions or comments promptly. We aim for Hurts' supporters to be not just fans but a community, and through the modern medium of social media this has never been easier to achieve.
We will organise an interactive question/answer session with the members of Hurts through our YouTube channel, which will be affiliated with the Facebook, Twitter pages and Hurts’ Blog. Fans will be given around two weeks to submit questions on the pages, and the best ones will be put to the band in a public interview which will be broadcast on YouTube. We believe that this will not only raise awareness of the band and what they are doing, but also increase the feeling of the fans having interaction with them. In this world of social media, the public having contact with celebrities is a lot more feasible than it once was, and many public figures have taken advantage of this to raise their own profile.
There will also be games, quizzes, more opportunity for social interaction, exclusive videos and competitions which we will run in the weeks leading up to the concert. Some lucky fans may be given the opportunity to win tickets to the concert.
We also plan to feature the members of Hurts in numerous magazines and play their music in various music festivals. Our research into the stats from each country since the last time the UK won Eurovision suggests that it would be best to focus our advertising campaign on countries who have voted for us more frequently in the past, such countries have been identified in our market research and are explained more thoroughly in our Concert Location section. Therefore, Hurts will be featured in popular magazine publications across Europe such as Orkus in Germany, Télérama in France and Hot Press in Ireland to further increase awareness of our entry. Also playing in popular European festivals such as Rock Am Ring and Berlin music festivals will also give a chance for those who are not so well acquainted with Hurts a chance to listen and perhaps even support them.
Last, but by no means least, we will have online promotions, TV promotions and playing in more intimate venues. Whilst a lot of our online content will take place on social media as I have already discussed, there will also be a great deal of promotional material and advertisements on popular entertainment websites which Europeans would go onto. We would also ensure Hurts are set up for interviews in as many countries as possible on popular entertainment and music channels such as MTV Europe and E! which would give other countries a chance to learn about Hurts on a more personal level. As said before, both members of the band are likable, witty and down-to-earth so we feel that their personalities would be liked by members of the European public. Therefore these interviews would increase support for them throughout Europe. As mentioned before too, Hurts’ vulnerable style, exquisite vocals and beautiful song-writing skills are perfect for a more intimate setting. Playing around local bars, streets and pubs around concert locations would also increase awareness and support of Hurts and their Eurovision entry through delivering their passionate vocals as well as getting people to see them on a more personal level once again in these smaller, intimate venues.
Conclusion
We feel that Hurts, with their incredibly unique style and exquisite vocals, averting many problems faced by previous acts, as well as being promoted with a brilliantly produced concert tour and an extensive media campaign - carefully crafted with both market and online research – will make Great Britain’s entry stand stronger than ever. We are all confident that this will be a successful Eurovision entry.
Thanks again for your time and we hope you have enjoyed our pitch. We would now like to open the floor to questions.
I'm pleased that you included some of my feedback in the pitch, there's just a couple of things that I want to ask:
1) Is there a specific reason for including the entry twice in the concert? Normally this doesn't happen unless it's separate versions. (Encore numbers generally don't get played during the main concert as well).
2) Eurovision entries usually have a maximum time length (around 3 minutes 10 seconds is the limit) - have you thought about where the song might be edited if needs be?
3) I haven't seen this mentioned specifically in your promotion section, but the higher placed Eurovision songs normally have a lot of radio airplay throughout Europe in the run-up to the contest (Sweden's winning 2012 entry was no.1 in a lot of countries for instance). Have you considered maybe organising radio interviews and trying to go for the radio airplay and iTunes market?
Wonderfully presented pitch! I think the choice of using Hurts is a really inspired choice and I like how you followed on from their evident European success at the moment to show how they are pretty much guaranteed some success in Eurovision.
Following on from that actually, just going back to your concert and how you've gone about picking countries for Hurts to perform in, it has come to my attention that a lot of countries have been missed out where Hurts already have a big following and therefore from a business point of view - you've perhaps missed out on an opportunity to bring in the business? Hurts have equivalent amount of chart success in Austria to the UK, Austria will be hosting the next Eurovision and therefore they are pretty much guaranteed to get a HUGE response from the crowd as they also have a top 5 album there. They also have top 10 albums in Sweden, Switzerland and Finland which are also not in your concert venue list. I know you based the venues on countries who have previously given the UK high points, however these countries will pretty much give Hurts high points due to the already-present fanbase, wouldn't you say it would've been a good idea to perhaps look at countries where Hurts already have a big following and give something back to the crowd there whilst equally taking advantage of the incoming business there?
I'm pleased that you included some of my feedback in the pitch, there's just a couple of things that I want to ask:
1) Is there a specific reason for including the entry twice in the concert? Normally this doesn't happen unless it's separate versions. (Encore numbers generally don't get played during the main concert as well).
2) Eurovision entries usually have a maximum time length (around 3 minutes 10 seconds is the limit) - have you thought about where the song might be edited if needs be?
3) I haven't seen this mentioned specifically in your promotion section, but the higher placed Eurovision songs normally have a lot of radio airplay throughout Europe in the run-up to the contest (Sweden's winning 2012 entry was no.1 in a lot of countries for instance). Have you considered maybe organising radio interviews and trying to go for the radio airplay and iTunes market?
I'm really impressed Team Inspired
Hi Amy - we are glad you have enjoyed our pitch. I would be happy to help you answer the first two questions.
1) The entry has been used twice in the concert as we are promoting that track specifically so by doing it twice we are making it stand out more and have made it more memorable to people. It will stick out in people's minds if Hurts perform it twice. And it is not common in concerts, but then most concerts aren't intended to promote a specific song, whereas ours is a promotional concert.
2) So we would be following the version in the music video up until the last minute where there is a long instrumental, we would cut back on this bit of it and make the chorus from 2:45 to 3:00 our last chorus and the last bit of the performance. So we would cut out 3:10 to 3:50.
Hope that has answered your questions Amy. George will post the answer to your 3rd question soon.
3) I haven't seen this mentioned specifically in your promotion section, but the higher placed Eurovision songs normally have a lot of radio airplay throughout Europe in the run-up to the contest (Sweden's winning 2012 entry was no.1 in a lot of countries for instance). Have you considered maybe organising radio interviews and trying to go for the radio airplay and iTunes market?
Hi Amy, and thanks for your question.
It's a really good idea - it actually occurred to us literally minutes after we posted the pitch, which was very annoying but c'est la vie! In all seriousness, we are considering it, and your suggestion reinforces the notion that it would be a good idea, which myself and my team mates were talking about earlier. In addition, we will be re-releasing our single and distributing it through European iTunes. Of course we will request radio broadcasts and do live radio performances and we have already got interviews and features planned so we can promote the single for radio airplay further.
Wonderfully presented pitch! I think the choice of using Hurts is a really inspired choice and I like how you followed on from their evident European success at the moment to show how they are pretty much guaranteed some success in Eurovision.
Following on from that actually, just going back to your concert and how you've gone about picking countries for Hurts to perform in, it has come to my attention that a lot of countries have been missed out where Hurts already have a big following and therefore from a business point of view - you've perhaps missed out on an opportunity to bring in the business? Hurts have equivalent amount of chart success in Austria to the UK, Austria will be hosting the next Eurovision and therefore they are pretty much guaranteed to get a HUGE response from the crowd as they also have a top 5 album there. They also have top 10 albums in Sweden, Switzerland and Finland which are also not in your concert venue list. I know you based the venues on countries who have previously given the UK high points, however these countries will pretty much give Hurts high points due to the already-present fanbase, wouldn't you say it would've been a good idea to perhaps look at countries where Hurts already have a big following and give something back to the crowd there whilst equally taking advantage of the incoming business there?
Hi Aliyah! It is great that you have enjoyed our pitch. I will answer this question for you:
In hindsight Aliyah I would definitely agree with you. Our concert location list is in no way the final version and we are flexible for bringing in new locations, Austria being one such location. However, we did do research online and found out who was voted for our entries the most frequently since 6 years ago and by using that list as a basis we have come up with a list of concert locations. Unavoidably political and regional taste bias does play a part in the Eurovision process so we wanted our locations to be in countries where we have a realistic chance of translating concerts and promotion into potential votes keeping in mind we have a budget. We have also considered where Hurts are already popular such as in Germany and have included such locations in the list but we will definitely include some more of such locations where Hurts have already established too if that helps the campaign.
Thanks for taking the time out once again to listen to our pitch and I hope that answers that question for you.
Good evening, and welcome to our pitch. We are Team Inspired, and tonight, we would like to present to you Sushrata's Cher, a new amusement park with a theme of science and technology, which will be opening soon in Delhi, India.
Our Science and Technology theme taps into the growing popularity of science fiction, incorporating such brands as Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who. This theme park will not just contain a vague space-themed ride; Sushrata's Cher will be entirely based on physics, chemistry and biology, in both a factual and fictitious instance. In addition to the enjoyment of going here with one's family, this will be a great educational tool for school trips to reinforce ideas introduced in the classroom in an entertaining way in which the children will not realise that they are learning. We believe that this concept will be welcomed by the scientific community as an accessible way for the public to interact with science, whilst the public can still enjoy themselves on all of their favourite rides and get something out of it at the same time.
We think that with the large historical interest in science that India has had for thousands of years, having made significant scientific advancements throughout the years in both medical and traditional science, India will be a prime location for such a theme park. India is regarded as a global central hub for the sciences - for instance, it has one of the highest rates of medical tourism in the world, one of the largest space industries in Asia and the globally-renowned Indian Institute of Science. Science itself is a hugely popular subject area, with many of the educated Indian population becoming engineers, doctors and scientists, as well as many children stating it is their favourite subject at school. Sushrata's Cher will be in some ways a learning experience, especially on the gentler, family-friendly rides which will appeal to the Indian family demographic very well. We therefore feel India is a prime location for a science based theme park.
Sushrata is arguably India's most famous scientist and is commonly regarded as being the father of modern medicine. He devised the first recorded surgeries such as caesarian section, management of haemorrhoids, prostate removal, tooth extraction and even laparoscopic work (using probes) as far back as 600BC. He also came up with first sedative techniques using mainly alcohol and cannabis for anaesthesia, and devised many of the fundamental surgical techniques which modern medicine is based on, such as making incisions, extracting foreign bodies and probing, among others. He was arguably the pioneer in mapping out the skeleton, various kinds of fractures, prosthesis and diseases. All of his work in published in the Sushrata Samhita which is how we know about it today. Therefore, we feel no other name would encompass the identity of our theme park more appropriately. We feel that it would be the most common name that springs to mind when talking about science in India. In Hindi, 'cher' literally means 'large community - in effect, 'city' or 'town'.
Literally our name means 'Sushrata's City' – a simple, striking and catchy name combining both the Indian and scientific roots of our park which would be familiar to domestic consumers and eye-catching to tourists.
We have chosen Delhi in India to construct our theme park for a multitude of reasons. Delhi is the second most populous city in the world with a population of around 25 million and roughly 50% of the population being below the age of 24. This statistic fits in perfectly with our main target demographic, which is families and younger adults/teenagers, so there is a huge market available for our theme park. India itself is the third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, with Delhi being one of the two wealthiest cities in India. It has the highest GDP per capita out of all cities in India, so it has the highest number of people within India itself with large enough disposable incomes to spend money on our theme park. In terms of tourism, it is also one of the largest domestic and foreign tourist destinations within Southern, Central and Eastern Asia, with 13 million domestic tourists and 9 million foreign tourists per year. India also has one of the fastest growing tourist industries in the world due to its rich history and culture with mildly hot weather throughout the year, so it is becoming an increasingly attractive tourist destination. According to research, there has also been a huge change in consumption trends, as people are moving away from spending money on just the basic necessities onto education and recreational activities. In terms of population demographics, India and especially Delhi would be a prime location to open a theme park and there has never been a more favourable time to invest.
India is also a great location due to the large amount of inherent investment within the country and therefore potential sponsorship. Delhi is a great location in this way because it is the central hub for many of the biggest investors in the country – many lucrative industries and famous businessman such as Mukesh Ambani and Cyrus Mistry base much of their business there. India also has one of the fastest growing theme park industries in the world, making investment opportunities attractive right now. In terms of promotion, India has the one of largest film industries in the world – Bollywood - which often uses commercial businesses, malls and especially theme parks to promote movies and actors. Additionally, television soap operas are a huge industry with ten channels such as Star Plus and Sony TV which have gone global. India, and in particular Delhi, also has many huge malls, big market places and many leaflet stalls so we can take advantage of these areas for promotion. We certainly intend to take advantage of this huge industry in order to promote our theme park. We feel that India and in particular Delhi will create many marketing opportunities and this will be covered in more detail in a section below.
India also is advantageous in that it has a relatively low cost of production/manufacturing so the costs of manufacturing the theme park itself would be low. This is because raw materials, skilled labour and capital are very cheap to obtain - one of the reasons why it is an emerging economic superpower and attracts investment. Raw materials such as steel are easy and cheap to obtain with the main steel industry in India located in Delhi - Tata Steel for example. India has new workplace and safety laws passed in its Factory Act amendments in 2010 to make sure personal protection is given to each worker whilst constructing the site, and to ensure that they are skilled and adequately trained in the jobs that they undertake. These new safety laws will ensure a safe environment for construction workers, staff and the theme park itself. Infrastructure is also rapidly being improved with 1.83 trillion rupees (i.e. £17.7 billion) being injected into various projects such as airports, hydro power projects and roads. Delhi has English as its joint first language with Hindi so there is huge ease of communication with many foreign tourists.
To conclude it is this large combination of factors which make Delhi in India a prime location for our theme park, both as an attractive place for domestic and foreign tourists as well as having such a large inherent population.
We have designed a number of rides and attractions, all centred around our theme, for our park. I must stress that these will not be our only attractions; we will naturally have more, but for the purposes of this pitch, we have created a small sample. I must also point out that this is very much an early plan; we have naturally not designed these physically, so it may be possible that one or more of them may not work in practice in exactly the way that we envision in theory. Rides with asterisks are not suitable for children under the age of eleven.
Bohr** – A large fast-paced roller coaster shaped as a popularised version of the Bohr model (http://www.azoquantum.com/images/Article_Images/ImageForArticle_11(1).jpg) with the tagline “The ride that is anything but boring!” This ride will be a simple roller coaster where the rails represent the orbit path of electrons and the carts will be shaped like billiard balls to reflect the popular view of electrons.
The Body train – similar to a ghost train but entering via the left nostril heading through the brain and going through all the main body parts with various body parts/”foreign objects” such as various bacteria and viruses jumping out at you instead of ghosts/ghoul.
Conical flask ride* – Start off in the conical flask, with “chemicals” added together to start the reaction (the ride); you shoot to the top of the flask with lots of foam and you gently, but still reasonably quickly, slide back down to the bottom of the flask where the ride ends. In addition there will be a smaller version built to accommodate children, which will be slower and have more suitable carts where older children can ride alone and younger children can be accompanied by parents/guardians.
*The regular model for this ride is unsuitable for children. However, we have a smaller model which children will be able to use.
Star Trek ride – This ride will start off with the player going into the Enterprise and being led by the voices of Spock and Kirk to the Bridge. Once everyone in the group is on the Bridge the crew go to red alert and everyone is told to hold on tight as they are in for a bumpy ride. As this is going on a message comes in from the Klingons warning the crew that they are in Klingon space, and that they must state their reason for being there. This results in the Enterprise going to warp speed and dashing through Klingon space ending in an asteroid belt. Staying on red alert, the crew navigates the belt and then lands on a nearby planet. The Captain then orders the new recruits (the passengers/audience) to go with Spock on an exploratory mission of the planet. The player then goes to the Teleporter room where everyone will get on the Teleporter and the room rotates to reveal the alien world. “Spock” then leads the recruits through the alien world where they meet Klingons, Tribbles, Romulans and Vulcans amongst other well-known original Star Trek aliens. It ends back where they started, where the crew is teleported back on board and is ordered to go straight to the Bridge where they are informed the crew have found a short cut which leads to a short “flight” home. The ride lasts about 15 minutes, in which you are on your feet the whole time and there are 2 or 3 rooms all identical that have the same story so up to 3 groups can access the ride at once. Other rides from other popular Sci Fi franchises such as Star Wars and the Bollywood Sci Fi series Krrish.
The Peacock - Six bars are attached to a centre pole. Each bar will contain seats for people, and will also look like a peacock feather in shape and colour. The ride will start by lifting off the ground and rotating around the centre, alternating between faster and slower and dipping to the left and right. Each bar will also wave up and down slightly to give the effect of a feather.
Animal ride - a slow-moving cart ride which mimics at different points the way that different creatures move. At one point it may move like a four-legged mammal; at another point it may twist and turn fluidly to simulate the movement of a fish; at another point it may shake and jump in the style of a frog or another amphibian. At certain points, there will be open spaces for passengers to move into another cart, as it is unfeasible with this ride to remain in the same cart throughout.
Digestive system roller-coaster - a classic roller-coaster in the shape of the human digestive system, with a train racing along it at top speed. At certain points, it will pause for biological functions to occur - for example, it will go through the oesophagus, vibrate to mimic peristalsis and then go through the stomach to bypass the liver and go into the intestines, which is where the classic roller-coaster loops will occur.
Hazardous House of Fun - a house of fun where the idea is to get to the end without dying. Each room contains some sort of object which will either help the player (such as water to prevent dehydration) or harm their health (such as radiation or alcohol). (These objects will of course be hypothetical, and displayed on a screen). The idea is to reach the end without harming your body so much that you cannot continue.
Acid/alkaline water slide - This is a series of water slides which will involve acids, alkaline and neutral substances. Each slide will have an image of some kind of substance, along with its name - lemon juice, milk, water etc. When someone has gone down it, they will end up in a pool. The water will be the colour that litmus paper turns when it is added to each of these ingredients.
As with most theme parks there will a gift shop where you will be able to pick up themed gifts based on the featured Sci Fi franchises: Star Trek, Star Wars and Krrish. It will also include Doctor Who themed gifts (which is not currently popular in India, but online research suggests that the population is gradually becoming more aware of it) and the usual T-shirts and other memorabilia. Other memorabilia will include amongst other things a clock, which is a replica of the floor plan of the park itself (more on that in the next section). We will also sell the popularised home chemistry sets that give you the opportunity to do chemistry in your own home. And we feel that this shop could potentially be a very lucrative addition to our theme park.
Comments
Hi Jack! Thanks for your questions.
The realistic portrayal of British life is not so much about the plot itself as it is about the characters. The two principle roles are a young mum prostituting herself in order to earn enough money to live on, and her friend, a battered wife who admittedly has more money but is equally unsatisfied. Both women feel that the other has a better deal. I think that both of these archetypes are things that a lot of people in Britain will be able to identify with, and the issues explored involve social deprivation, prostitution, domestic abuse and infertility which are all things that we can identify with and many of us struggle with. The plot itself is admittedly not something that happens to a huge number of people, but it is not beyond the bounds of the imagination, and having created characters that we feel our audience will be able to identify with, I think that the things that happen to them will not feel totally unrealistic from an audience's perspective.
That brings me nicely onto the second question, as to whether the ending is believable. The script is Shadi's and as the creative behind it he would probably be better placed to talk about that than I would, but I will try to explain it as best as I can. Essentially, I think that the ending is a means of Nina moving on from her life before and being able to assume an identity that will serve her better, with more money and more opportunities open to her. In order to do this, she has to steal someone else's identity, and the fight between Nina and Annette is a dramatic climax which many people will find engaging. As to whether it is hugely realistic - I think perhaps it does require a slight suspension of disbelief, but a great number of films and TV series do that. There is a difference between a film which is so unbelievable that it puts people off, and a film that slightly requires you to suspend your disbelief but on the whole feels very natural and genuine. I think that this film would fall firmly into the second category.
love the casting & the start of the film. The murder & covering it up i think is ok.
that would go with a gritty drama & i have seen a few films with a similar storyline.
like the marketing as well & budgeting that all seems good to me.
however i have to agree the fire & identity swap came out of nowhere & i think personally is very unrealistic. i just didn't get it other than a way of getting nina out of prison.
seems a very sudden shift from a normal gritty film to something very sci-fi almost. would love to know how this whole idea came about really. Was there a deeper meaning to it or does it have a message?
seeing infertility portrayed on screen is refreshing and i can relate however it seems a bit like with Annette and her getting Nina to take the fall screams 'crazy lady who can't have kids steals her mate's kind of thing' knowing me i am probably reading to much into it though. i like Nina being a determined women who loves her son. However why make Annette go a very dark route , she was abused , unloved , couldn't have kids then ended up going rogue against her friend & ended up being a total bitch in prison to nina. If she felt guilty why would she then try & get off with the murder. though i am sure sympathy is meant to lie with nina i had a lot for annette also. i get the point is there friendship being broken but personally i think the story would need a bit of tweaking. i think the meaning got a little lost perhaps.
also the legal side of the story. How did you go about trying to get the law aspect of the film accurate for your synopsis.?
I think you've really thought about the marketing aspects, which I was a bit worried about after the last task. You've done a much better job on that this time, so well done.
I have a couple of questions about your film itself:
1) Although I like that you've put a lot of detail into it, it does seem that there's a lot of content in there. Would this film be longer than the usual, or would it be fast-paced to compensate for that? What's the beginning? What happens in the middle? What's the climax? - I wonder if you've put in so much detail, and so much story, that these things are a bit lost, if you get what I mean.
2) I do agree with Jack that it seems a bit implausible. I think you've got 2 stories there - the murder story leading up to the fire, and then the identity swap. You could make a decent film out of either of those, but to put them both into one is a little far-fetched. It's also a bit unbelievable that it wouldn't be able to be proved who killed Jacob (DNA evidence etc), or that it couldn't be proved who was who after the fire (dental records etc would solve that one) - I know the actresses are meant to resemble each other, but unless the characters were twins or close family, then those plot points are a bit unrealistic. (If there's an explanation for either then by all means, this point would be a bit redundant)
3) Normally in a film, there's at least one character that you sympathise with and root for. From the synopsis, I get the feeling that we're meant to support Nina, but whilst I do at the beginning, by the end, I find her very unlikeable. Are both characters meant to be unsympathetic, or is there anyone that we're meant to 'support'?
I think you've done really well here Inspired, best of luck
Hi Natalie and thanks for your questions and comments. I'm really happy that you like the basic premise and the casting choices. I have tried with Jack's question to talk about the 'Nina taking on Annette's identity' thing, and I don't think that there is really anything further that I can say about it without Shadi as the scriptwriter. But I can assure you that we are taking your feedback on board as far as that is concerned.
As for Annette, I can see your point in that maybe she comes across in the synopsis as too much of a villain. Personally, I have tried to portray her in a more sympathetic context, and I think that that is expressed in the character description of her. I think that there is no doubt that Annette does have the best of intentions, and at least to start with she really does care about Nina. However, she is constantly abused and victimised by Jacob, and when he dies and she takes on responsibility of looking after Danny, she finds it much more of a struggle than she anticipated. Obviously caring for a three-year-old is a very difficult job anyway, and Annette herself has other reasons why she is finding it hard. She is very aware that her husband is dead and her best friend is in jail because of her, and there is a lot of guilt about that. In addition, she has spent the last several years under the scrutiny of her husband - despite their lack of a healthy relationship he was still a big part of her life - and with him suddenly gone she has something missing, and emotions that she needs to come to terms with. She cares for Danny the best she can, but over time she realises that she is not emotionally stable enough to care for a child. The decision to put him into foster care seemed like the right decision at the time, and she expected Nina to understand. Nina didn't understand however as she wasn't given the full story, and after that Annette finds herself a murder suspect and has to defend herself. This, coupled with the issues with her mental health that have come about as a result of what has happened to her, means that a much more erratic side of Annette comes to the surface, which ultimately results in her trying to attack Nina. I don't see Annette as a villain at all - I think she's a very confused person who really needs to come to terms with herself, and unfortunately her insecurities manifest themselves in some quite dangerous ways near the end. So I would hope that it's more pity and empathy that the audience feel for her than hatred.
We haven't fully considered the legal side of the story, as we only have a synopsis and not a full script, but we will be aiming to keep that as legitimate as possible within the script itself, although obviously allowing the story to progress has to come first.
Hi Amy, and thanks for your questions.
I don't think that the film will necessarily be any longer or shorter than usual. We haven't divided up the time categorically, but I can give you some rough estimates. The introductions of the characters and their situations to the audience will probably take around fifteen to twenty minutes, and the death of Jacob and the pact between the two women will take us up to the half-hour mark. The characters' progression immediately after that will take up more time than is expressed in the synopsis. The synopsis is a summary, but when you think about it there is actually quite a lot to put in. We see some of Nina's time in prison, Annette trying and failing to do a good job of raising Danny, Annette's general issues with her mental and emotional health, Isla's involvement in the two cases etc. It doesn't really need explaining in so much detail within the synopsis, but it is a very human drama and that will take up a reasonable portion of time. The fight between Nina and Annette will probably occur about three quarters of the way through, and beyond that we see Nina coming to terms with being in disguise as Annette and leaving her old life behind. I would estimate that the film would be around an hour and a half long.
I am a little confused as to what your second question is. I can see that it is a criticism of our plot lines which we will take on board and work with, but there doesn't appear to be anything there that I can really respond to.
I think that Nina is the character who the audience is supposed to support generally, but I would hope that Annette is someone who the audience feel empathy and concern for. I didn't want anyone to just be a pantomime villain, I wanted our characters to be well-rounded. Maybe that didn't come across that well in the pitch, but as I hope you can see from my response to Natalie's question, these things have been very much considered with regards to Annette. If you don't mind me asking, why don't you like Nina? If you'd like to talk about that character, I will be more than happy to respond.
I just want to note that this script is actually developed by me and it has been for the last year or so. Meaning, the main ideas of the script weren't just created on the spot, as I had been thinking the whole thing through for quite some time and I already explained that to my team during the brain storming session. First of all, the ending doesn't come out of no where, on the opposite, it is the climax. Once Annette enters prison, it doesn't get any better for Nina because all signs point towards her as the murderer, and among all that, she was about to be murdered herself. Nothing was looking remotely up for her, but this accident was sort of a blessing in disguise because she would not have escaped prison unless this has happened, and it paralleled our theme which is change and how hard it is to accomplish when you're chained by your inadequacies and your surroundings. She found redemption and a second chance in that accident. The details of the accidents would be described in details in the screenplay, but this is a synopsis, and I tried to be as brief as possible while delivering the message through. The transitions from one situation to another will be carried out smoothly.
As for the timing of the movie, it would have to be approximate the 100 minutes.
And the sympathetic figure is clearly Nina who was betrayed and almost killed by Annette. She thickened her skin by the end of the movie, but that was in no way a portrayal of evil, it was actually a portrayal of strength.
As for whether this reflects the British society, I don't know because when I wrote it, I thought it would bode well in the Lebanese and American society. Any alterations to fit the British society could not have been carried out by me because I am not British, but I do think that George explained this point accurately.
As for the realism behind the legal and biological aspects in this movie, the frame-work is very realistic, and the details in the script would've been compensated for that. I think we all know that almost all movies have a certain degree of fiction in them, in which coincidences happen more often than they would, or physical and legal phenomena aren't completely explained, but in the movie everything will be explained. NOT that this is a major issue, in my opinion, because this movie is not say a movie about epidemics (where biological facts have to be sacred) or a religious movie (where religious practices should be reflected accurately). This is more or less a drama movie, and as long as everything falls in the realms of reality, I wouldn't sweat the minor details.
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Continued in the next post...
Good evening everyone!
We are here to introduce the entry for Eurovision 2015: the synth pop duo Hurts, composed of singer Theo Hutchcraft and synthesist/instrumentalist Adam Anderson. We believe that after a few years of poor showings, Hurts have what it takes to achieve a good placing for Britain. Hurts have had great European success with their two albums – having sold 3 million of them worldwide with both albums reaching the top five in the charts of many European countries, including Germany, Austria, Finland and Switzerland, among others. They are also award-winning, having won over ten awards with prestigious award establishments across Europe, such as NME Awards and Echo Awards. In addition, Hurts have toured across Europe alongside Depeche Mode and the Scissor Sisters who are popular European bands. For these reasons, we have good reason to believe that Hurts will appeal very highly to European audiences.
Hurts also have a huge social media following, with numerous Facebook and Twitter fan pages dedicated to them. They are often commended for their live performances, Theo Hutchcraft in particular being a classically trained vocalist with good range and depth which would be well suited to juries. They are also praised for their song-writing abilities, often writing from personal experience which makes their songs relatable and quite emotional, which is often something that the Eurovision audiences have reacted well to in the past. Their style is a mixture of synth pop and rock and is influenced by popular European bands such as Depeche Mode and Muse, so their style is also perfectly in line with European music tastes. Hurts' unique style and very distinct slick image will make them memorable, and we think that they would be a fantastic entry and would give Great Britain a fighting chance of doing well.
Where Have We Gone Wrong?:
Through market and online research we have identified and analysed a number of ways which have contributed to Britain’s poor showings in previous years. We have come up with a number of ways our chosen act will combat these problems. Here are some of the problems and our proposed solutions:
1) Dated entries like Englebert Humperdinck and Bonnie Tyler, who have not been in line with current tastes – Hurts is more in line with current tastes, having sold millions of records in today’s music industry.
2) Entries such as Molly Smitten-Downes who are modern but may be a bit too unknown and not established enough yet – Hurts are established, having a large fanbase in Europe in places like Germany and Austria where they have had top 5 selling albums and singles.
3) Less than stellar vocal showings which juries and voters do not favour – Theo Hutchcraft is a classically trained vocalist with a vast vocal range, good vocal control and a lot of depth to his voice.
4) Pressure on the day which may contribute to less than stellar jury and final performances – Hurts have had 3 tours preforming in venues across the world so they have a wealth of experience in performing live and thus are also reliable.
5) Lack of an emotional connection such as in Blue’s entry – Hurts' song this year is a very heartfelt and emotional power ballad which will emote well to Eurovision audiences, in the same way as Jade Ewen’s did in 2009 – which was our best result in ten years.
6) Lack of a semi-final performance and therefore a lack of momentum going into the finals, with many already European viewers already having decided their favourites – we will make a request that the United Kingdom, along with the other 4 major financial contributors who automatically receive a place in the finals (commonly known as the 'Big 5'), are allowed to perform in a semi-final to raise awareness of their act.
7) Region-specific voting based on politics or tastes which may work against us – Hurts are popular in the Scandinavian voting bloc in countries like Finland which may actually help us.
8) Lack of knowing about our act on a more personal level which has helped acts such as Conchita Wurst – Hurts are very likeable on a personal level with their down-to-earth personalities and witty senses of humour so our extensive promotional plan will feature Hurts taking many interviews on European entertainment channels.
9) European audience not being aware of our acts at all – we will have a huge and extensive promotional plan which will inform more people about our act. This will be covered in our Promotional Plan section in more detail.
10) Lack of a memorable performance, such performances such as Russia’s entry from 2013 and Conchita Wurst’s performance were incredibly memorable. We feel Hurts’ unique style, promotional plan as well as the staging will make our act stand out and hugely memorable. Our staging plan is covered in more detail below.
11) Europe’s perception that Britain does not take the contest seriously, for example by submitting last minute entries in the past – we will make sure to announce well in advance to the rest of Europe who we are submitting to give us enough time for an extensive and serious promotional campaign.
So we have a number of inherent problems which will be solved with our chosen act, as well as some proposed solutions in terms of staging and promotion which will definitely make the difference for Great Britain’s entry this year.
The Song:
Hurts – Somebody To Die For
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt1kc_FniKM
This particular Hurts song will be a great choice because of the powerful emotion and rousing lyrics which will contribute significantly to creating an emotional connection between Hurts and the viewers as illustrated in the previous section. The huge build-up, rousing bridges and emphatic, dramatic chorus will also engage viewers. The song shows off a lot of vocal skill, good control particularly in the verses with runs, good power with huge belting notes in the chorus and excellent range using Theo Hutchcraft’s falsetto and lower register throughout the song. We will also have an acapella section for the final verse to highlight and expose the vocal. Hurts also perform this song very well live, so they are reliable. Hurts have also been critically acclaimed for their song-writing skills and this song is no exception. The song has a beautiful and simple symbolism behind it, desiring and looking for a person whom you would devote and give your whole life for. The vocals, the acapella section and the song itself will therefore have a great chance of gaining support with juries too.
Staging and Performance:
The set will start with a gold backdrop and a silhouette of a sunset in the background projected on to the backdrop for the verses. We will then lose the silhouette effect exposing the gold staging with gold light flashing through in the choruses. Hurts will sing the final verse acapella with two lone white spotlights on Adam and Theo. A gold rain effect comes in on the final chorus with pyrotechnics going off at the end of the performance at each corner of the stage. According to our research, gold staging has done very well in recent years, so we felt this should be reflected in our staging. We feel that the overall staging we have gone for is dramatic and aesthetically pleasing, and will make for a very memorable performance. Theo and Adam will also be dressed in smart black tuxedos which will reflect beautifully off the gold staging and lighting.
The camera angles will be close and personal in the verses alternating between shots of Theo and Adam to highlight the vulnerable parts of the song. We will use wider shots of both Adam and Theo while taking in the whole stage in the choruses to show the beauty of our staging. During the instrumental parts we will use a mixture of wide shots of the audience and the stage and close shots of the band playing. At the end of the performance we will use an aerial shot of the stage to highlight the rain effect and pyrotechnics at the end.
As part of our promotional campaign, we will have a series of concerts throughout Europe to promote Hurts and increase awareness about our act. We will have our Eurovision entry featured twice in the concert with special staging to emphasise it in the minds of potential voters, whilst also having Theo talk about Eurovision a little bit in a few transitions to increase support. We will also have a support act as people have commented in our market research that they enjoy the hype and energetic atmosphere that a support act creates in preparation for the main act. Our support act will be Marina and The Diamonds – we feel that she would be a popular choice across Europe, having had a debut album which has been successful there. We believe that Marina is the perfect act to make the crowd feel excited and energised for our main act, as well as being a great vocalist in her own right.
We will also prepare our concerts in a number of ways to ensure people enjoy them. People often complain about waiting around for songs, so our sets and songs will have smooth, quick transitions and the entire concert will only have one break. People also seem to enjoy snacks and beverages while watching so we will also make sure snack and café bars are available on site. Also our research shows that people really enjoy it when the main act involves the crowd. So we will ensure that Hurts will communicate with the crowd and get them to stand up/sing along/clap their hands at regular intervals, especially for some of the more upbeat songs such as Wonderful Life and Under Control. We will also invite Kylie Minogue to perform with Hurts - as she has done before with them on tour - at certain locations; she will also be having her European tour, so we will play at the same locations for a few dates so that she can come to duet on Hurts' original duet with her. As a massive star even in Europe, a person who openly enjoys Eurovision and a person who has regularly supported Hurts in the past, we feel her presence and association will increase promotion of Hurts and their Eurovision entry exponentially.
Concert Locations:
Our research into the statistics from each country since the last time the UK won Eurovision suggests that it would be best to focus our advertising campaign on countries who have voted for us more frequently in the past. Countries such as Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and the countries that directly follow on the list are a must, but we will also be focusing on countries which we think we can make a new impact on - countries such as Spain, France, Germany and Italy. Hurts has sold very well in the latter of these two countries, so they already have a following, and there is the advantage that we as a nation are often allied with these countries on a political level - whilst we might be ashamed to admit it, politics is a very big factor in the Eurovision voting process and so we should take advantage of any bloc voting advantages we may have. So we have chosen fourteen locations for Hurts to perform which we feel would be the most productive places in terms of translating promotion into votes for Eurovision. We have purposely coincided some of the locations with Kylie’s 2014 European tour so that as stated before she can support us for one duet:
Ireland: Dublin - The O2 ***
Croatia: Zabreb - Vatroslav Lisinski
Greece: Athens - Megaron
Estonia: Tallinn - Estonian Concert Hall
Israel: Jerusalem - International Convention Centre
Spain: Madrid - Palacio Deportes ***
F.Y.R. Macedonia: Skopje - Daut Pasha Hamam
Denmark: Copenhagen – Koncerthuset
Malta: Valletta - Teatru Manoel
Cyprus: Nicosia - Oytun Ersan
Turkey: Istanbul - Cemal Reşit Rey
Germany: Berlin - O2 World ***
France: Paris - Bercy ***
Italy: Rome - Parco della Musica
Kylie will perform in venues with a ***.
Concert Overview
First Half: The lights dim with 10 seconds to go. Marina will be on stage by the time the lights are off and then the music will begin.
Marina and The Diamonds - Electra Heart:
An energetic start to the evening, starting off with a simple blue backdrop turning red when the music starts, apart from two lights at either end of the stage which turn blue and swerve around. White spots come on Marina as she starts to sing. The blue lights settle back down for the second chorus and then the backdrop goes blue and red, with the ordering changing throughout the rest of the song.
Marina and The Diamonds – Lies:
What is arguably Marina’s most emotional and vocally striking song will start off with a black background, with just a white spotlight on Marina to focus on the intimacy for the verses. White light will gently flood the stage during the chorus and ending.
Marina and The Diamonds – Primadonna:
Marina’s trademark song will start with gentle blue lighting, which will rotate and gradually turn purple during the verses. This lighting would then start to flash in the choruses where Marina will interact directly with the audience and encourage them to sing along. When the lights go black, Hurts will take their place and Marina will come off. Theo will move immediately to where Marina was to go straight into the first song in what should be a well-rehearsed and slick transition.
Hurts – Miracle:
An explosive start to Hurts’ performance, the music starts to white blinders coming in against a black backdrop with spotlights on Theo and Adam. Theo will try to get the energy going in this song by encouraging the audience to stand up and sing along with him. Blues and purples are gently introduced throughout the song until the end when white floods come on and everything else comes off. Theo thanks Marina and the audience for being there, going on to make a short introduction to himself and Adam explaining the goal of this promotional concert in terms of Eurovision.
Hurts – Stay:
Arguably one of Hurts’ most touching and a more anthem-themed song starts against a blue backdrop with warm reds and oranges being introduced giving a sunset kind of effect. The lights will gently flow throughout the song with some flashing in the more upbeat moments. Theo will also serenade the audience and ask them to sing along with him and wave their hands along to the beautiful chorus.
Hurts - Better Than Love:
Another upbeat song showing off a lot of the duo's influences, Better Than Love starts with just the black backdrop at the start. Blue lights begin switching on for the verses and then all change to red for the choruses. Theo also serenades the audience encouraging them to raise their hands and sing along with the choruses. The lights flicker on and off as per the beat of the song to match the heavily synth vibe of the song.
Hurts - Somebody To Die For:
Theo introduces this song as their proposed Eurovision entry. It starts off with the stage flooded with red lights slowly turn purple during the verses with overhead spotlights on Theo and Adam. Then red light will flash from the left, purple light will flash on the right and white light will flash at the top of the stage at the start of the chorus, and the whole stage will illuminate with red light. After the last note all goes black and the floods come on for the break.
20 Minute Break
Second Half: About half a minute before the start of the second half the light dim until black on zero. The music will then start again.
Hurts - Under Control:
Hurts’ most upbeat song will start with the lights changing colour and gently flashing. Spotlights will come on as the lyrics start, with the light settling down on blues and purples with reds being introduced which will occur throughout the song. Theo will get the crowd dancing and jumping along with the song throughout and get them to clap their hands throughout the song to energise them for the rest of the evening.
Hurts – Illuminated:
Theo then welcomes back the audience and starts singing their most vocally striking piece. Simple white light will cut through the dark background with a very soft, almost white blue, light being introduced in the verses. The lights will come on at different angles for the whole song, no more than two or three lights coming on at any one time with no spotlights. This set will emphasise Theo’s vocals and the intimacy.
Hurts – Sunday:
One of mainland Europe’s favourite tracks Sunday will start dramatically. From black at the end of the last song, blinders will flash on the first note with white light flashing after. Spotlights will come in for the verses. Blues and reds introduced in the more upbeat moments when Theo will try to get audience members to sing along. The light will gently switch rather than flash in the slower moments. Ending with the stage flooded in white light for the final moments.
Hurts – Mercy:
The white light will slowly blink out as red light is introduced 15 seconds in, and spotlights are introduced when the lyrics start. Alternating white/red lights roam the stage for the verses with blinders used at the start of each chorus. Theo will once again try to get the energy of the crowd going with the dramatic verses, encouraging them to stand up and move along with the choruses.
Hurts - Wonderful Life:
Theo will once again speak to the crowd about Hurts and Eurovision before starting their trademark song. There will be blue light against the backdrop with blue/white spotlights alternating on and off in a set sequence for the verses to suit the slick nature of the song. The blue/white lights will switch to gold for the chorus in the same slick sequence while Theo encourages the audience to sing Hurts’ most well-known song.
Hurts – Devotion:
This song will start off black, with floods coming on with Hurts on stage for the first verse and chorus. Kylie (at set concert locations) or Marina (at locations where Kylie cannot attend) will then come on for the second verse, with a spotlight dramatically focusing on them to surprise the audience, with the lights at the end of the stage roaming about. The lights at the end of the stage will alternate between light blue and white as they roam with opposite ends on the other colour. Ending on black, the floods will come on as if the show is finished. But then the band will play once more as the floods dramatically come off and the entire stage is filled with white light.
Hurts - Somebody To Die For:
To the audience’s mystery and enjoyment, Hurts encore with their Eurovision entry after the dramatic false finish. The entire stage turns dark as the first note is played with the lights simultaneously going out followed by two lone white spotlights focusing on Theo and Adam for the verses which will be slower to really emphasise the intimacy and vulnerability of those lyrics. White light will then flash from the left, right and the top of the stage for the chorus as the whole stage is illuminated with a flood of white light. Theo will again encourage the audience to sing with him on the choruses and will get them waving their hands. At the end of the verses, fireworks go off during the final chorus to make the evening and this song in particular really memorable. Theo then thanks members of the audience for coming and informs them one final time about Eurovision and their entry.
Pricing:
http://www.ticketline.co.uk/ (select various artists, look at the various venues, click on book now and the prices will come up)
http://www.pollstar.com/atpDetail.aspx?SearchBy=A
(£7.92-£44.15 for pop/rock costs, £6.62-£99.58 for cheapest to most expensive tickets)
We are using the above sites as a guideline by which to compose concert ticket prices, and assuming that the concerts are one night events taking place over a series of evenings. When you also take into consideration the fact that we have sponsors funding us as well as mainly using these concerts as a form of promotion rather than gaining profit, thus wanting to get as many people to these concerts as possible we feel a reasonable cost to tickets would be roughly between £10.00 and £15.00, which at the current market would be roughly between €12.50 and €19.00 depending on the venue chosen for each country on the tour and the market at the time of the tour.
Concert Poster
We feel the poster highlights the main qualities of our concert well: the members, our supporting acts, the locations, the songs, the prices and the fact that it's being entered as Eurovision 2015's entry, as well as emphasising some attractive unique selling points for band such as being award-winning and selling millions of records. The poster will be the main way we will advertise the concert as well as using social media and advertising on various forums and websites as described below. The poster will be sent around online on Hurts fan pages on Twitter and Facebook. It will also be advertised on various popular European entertainment websites and forums. We would also build an extensive social media/email database using contacts from family, friends, fans, forum visiters, Eurovision fans and send it around to them too to increase awareness of the concert. As illustrated below in our promotional plan, we will also be performing interviews on various entertainment channels such as E! and MTV Europe so we will also be informing people about the concerts through that.
Promotional Plan:
We will have an extensive promotional plan campaign throughout Europe in addition to the concerts to increase awareness and support for Hurts’ entry. Firstly we will have an extensive social media campaign. Our Facebook, Twitter pages and Blog, Support Hurts In Eurovision 2015, will be opened well in advance of the concert to get people excited about it and increase awareness. There will be opportunities to ask questions about the upcoming Eurovision appearance and about concerts in particular for the European fans, and all admins will respond to any questions or comments promptly. We aim for Hurts' supporters to be not just fans but a community, and through the modern medium of social media this has never been easier to achieve.
We will organise an interactive question/answer session with the members of Hurts through our YouTube channel, which will be affiliated with the Facebook, Twitter pages and Hurts’ Blog. Fans will be given around two weeks to submit questions on the pages, and the best ones will be put to the band in a public interview which will be broadcast on YouTube. We believe that this will not only raise awareness of the band and what they are doing, but also increase the feeling of the fans having interaction with them. In this world of social media, the public having contact with celebrities is a lot more feasible than it once was, and many public figures have taken advantage of this to raise their own profile.
There will also be games, quizzes, more opportunity for social interaction, exclusive videos and competitions which we will run in the weeks leading up to the concert. Some lucky fans may be given the opportunity to win tickets to the concert.
We also plan to feature the members of Hurts in numerous magazines and play their music in various music festivals. Our research into the stats from each country since the last time the UK won Eurovision suggests that it would be best to focus our advertising campaign on countries who have voted for us more frequently in the past, such countries have been identified in our market research and are explained more thoroughly in our Concert Location section. Therefore, Hurts will be featured in popular magazine publications across Europe such as Orkus in Germany, Télérama in France and Hot Press in Ireland to further increase awareness of our entry. Also playing in popular European festivals such as Rock Am Ring and Berlin music festivals will also give a chance for those who are not so well acquainted with Hurts a chance to listen and perhaps even support them.
Last, but by no means least, we will have online promotions, TV promotions and playing in more intimate venues. Whilst a lot of our online content will take place on social media as I have already discussed, there will also be a great deal of promotional material and advertisements on popular entertainment websites which Europeans would go onto. We would also ensure Hurts are set up for interviews in as many countries as possible on popular entertainment and music channels such as MTV Europe and E! which would give other countries a chance to learn about Hurts on a more personal level. As said before, both members of the band are likable, witty and down-to-earth so we feel that their personalities would be liked by members of the European public. Therefore these interviews would increase support for them throughout Europe. As mentioned before too, Hurts’ vulnerable style, exquisite vocals and beautiful song-writing skills are perfect for a more intimate setting. Playing around local bars, streets and pubs around concert locations would also increase awareness and support of Hurts and their Eurovision entry through delivering their passionate vocals as well as getting people to see them on a more personal level once again in these smaller, intimate venues.
Conclusion
We feel that Hurts, with their incredibly unique style and exquisite vocals, averting many problems faced by previous acts, as well as being promoted with a brilliantly produced concert tour and an extensive media campaign - carefully crafted with both market and online research – will make Great Britain’s entry stand stronger than ever. We are all confident that this will be a successful Eurovision entry.
Thanks again for your time and we hope you have enjoyed our pitch. We would now like to open the floor to questions.
I'm pleased that you included some of my feedback in the pitch, there's just a couple of things that I want to ask:
1) Is there a specific reason for including the entry twice in the concert? Normally this doesn't happen unless it's separate versions. (Encore numbers generally don't get played during the main concert as well).
2) Eurovision entries usually have a maximum time length (around 3 minutes 10 seconds is the limit) - have you thought about where the song might be edited if needs be?
3) I haven't seen this mentioned specifically in your promotion section, but the higher placed Eurovision songs normally have a lot of radio airplay throughout Europe in the run-up to the contest (Sweden's winning 2012 entry was no.1 in a lot of countries for instance). Have you considered maybe organising radio interviews and trying to go for the radio airplay and iTunes market?
I'm really impressed Team Inspired
Wonderfully presented pitch! I think the choice of using Hurts is a really inspired choice and I like how you followed on from their evident European success at the moment to show how they are pretty much guaranteed some success in Eurovision.
Following on from that actually, just going back to your concert and how you've gone about picking countries for Hurts to perform in, it has come to my attention that a lot of countries have been missed out where Hurts already have a big following and therefore from a business point of view - you've perhaps missed out on an opportunity to bring in the business? Hurts have equivalent amount of chart success in Austria to the UK, Austria will be hosting the next Eurovision and therefore they are pretty much guaranteed to get a HUGE response from the crowd as they also have a top 5 album there. They also have top 10 albums in Sweden, Switzerland and Finland which are also not in your concert venue list. I know you based the venues on countries who have previously given the UK high points, however these countries will pretty much give Hurts high points due to the already-present fanbase, wouldn't you say it would've been a good idea to perhaps look at countries where Hurts already have a big following and give something back to the crowd there whilst equally taking advantage of the incoming business there?
Hi Amy - we are glad you have enjoyed our pitch. I would be happy to help you answer the first two questions.
1) The entry has been used twice in the concert as we are promoting that track specifically so by doing it twice we are making it stand out more and have made it more memorable to people. It will stick out in people's minds if Hurts perform it twice. And it is not common in concerts, but then most concerts aren't intended to promote a specific song, whereas ours is a promotional concert.
2) So we would be following the version in the music video up until the last minute where there is a long instrumental, we would cut back on this bit of it and make the chorus from 2:45 to 3:00 our last chorus and the last bit of the performance. So we would cut out 3:10 to 3:50.
Hope that has answered your questions Amy. George will post the answer to your 3rd question soon.
Hi Amy, and thanks for your question.
It's a really good idea - it actually occurred to us literally minutes after we posted the pitch, which was very annoying but c'est la vie! In all seriousness, we are considering it, and your suggestion reinforces the notion that it would be a good idea, which myself and my team mates were talking about earlier. In addition, we will be re-releasing our single and distributing it through European iTunes. Of course we will request radio broadcasts and do live radio performances and we have already got interviews and features planned so we can promote the single for radio airplay further.
Hi Aliyah! It is great that you have enjoyed our pitch. I will answer this question for you:
In hindsight Aliyah I would definitely agree with you. Our concert location list is in no way the final version and we are flexible for bringing in new locations, Austria being one such location. However, we did do research online and found out who was voted for our entries the most frequently since 6 years ago and by using that list as a basis we have come up with a list of concert locations. Unavoidably political and regional taste bias does play a part in the Eurovision process so we wanted our locations to be in countries where we have a realistic chance of translating concerts and promotion into potential votes keeping in mind we have a budget. We have also considered where Hurts are already popular such as in Germany and have included such locations in the list but we will definitely include some more of such locations where Hurts have already established too if that helps the campaign.
Thanks for taking the time out once again to listen to our pitch and I hope that answers that question for you.
Our Science and Technology theme taps into the growing popularity of science fiction, incorporating such brands as Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who. This theme park will not just contain a vague space-themed ride; Sushrata's Cher will be entirely based on physics, chemistry and biology, in both a factual and fictitious instance. In addition to the enjoyment of going here with one's family, this will be a great educational tool for school trips to reinforce ideas introduced in the classroom in an entertaining way in which the children will not realise that they are learning. We believe that this concept will be welcomed by the scientific community as an accessible way for the public to interact with science, whilst the public can still enjoy themselves on all of their favourite rides and get something out of it at the same time.
We think that with the large historical interest in science that India has had for thousands of years, having made significant scientific advancements throughout the years in both medical and traditional science, India will be a prime location for such a theme park. India is regarded as a global central hub for the sciences - for instance, it has one of the highest rates of medical tourism in the world, one of the largest space industries in Asia and the globally-renowned Indian Institute of Science. Science itself is a hugely popular subject area, with many of the educated Indian population becoming engineers, doctors and scientists, as well as many children stating it is their favourite subject at school. Sushrata's Cher will be in some ways a learning experience, especially on the gentler, family-friendly rides which will appeal to the Indian family demographic very well. We therefore feel India is a prime location for a science based theme park.
Sushrata is arguably India's most famous scientist and is commonly regarded as being the father of modern medicine. He devised the first recorded surgeries such as caesarian section, management of haemorrhoids, prostate removal, tooth extraction and even laparoscopic work (using probes) as far back as 600BC. He also came up with first sedative techniques using mainly alcohol and cannabis for anaesthesia, and devised many of the fundamental surgical techniques which modern medicine is based on, such as making incisions, extracting foreign bodies and probing, among others. He was arguably the pioneer in mapping out the skeleton, various kinds of fractures, prosthesis and diseases. All of his work in published in the Sushrata Samhita which is how we know about it today. Therefore, we feel no other name would encompass the identity of our theme park more appropriately. We feel that it would be the most common name that springs to mind when talking about science in India. In Hindi, 'cher' literally means 'large community - in effect, 'city' or 'town'.
Literally our name means 'Sushrata's City' – a simple, striking and catchy name combining both the Indian and scientific roots of our park which would be familiar to domestic consumers and eye-catching to tourists.
We have chosen Delhi in India to construct our theme park for a multitude of reasons. Delhi is the second most populous city in the world with a population of around 25 million and roughly 50% of the population being below the age of 24. This statistic fits in perfectly with our main target demographic, which is families and younger adults/teenagers, so there is a huge market available for our theme park. India itself is the third largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, with Delhi being one of the two wealthiest cities in India. It has the highest GDP per capita out of all cities in India, so it has the highest number of people within India itself with large enough disposable incomes to spend money on our theme park. In terms of tourism, it is also one of the largest domestic and foreign tourist destinations within Southern, Central and Eastern Asia, with 13 million domestic tourists and 9 million foreign tourists per year. India also has one of the fastest growing tourist industries in the world due to its rich history and culture with mildly hot weather throughout the year, so it is becoming an increasingly attractive tourist destination. According to research, there has also been a huge change in consumption trends, as people are moving away from spending money on just the basic necessities onto education and recreational activities. In terms of population demographics, India and especially Delhi would be a prime location to open a theme park and there has never been a more favourable time to invest.
India is also a great location due to the large amount of inherent investment within the country and therefore potential sponsorship. Delhi is a great location in this way because it is the central hub for many of the biggest investors in the country – many lucrative industries and famous businessman such as Mukesh Ambani and Cyrus Mistry base much of their business there. India also has one of the fastest growing theme park industries in the world, making investment opportunities attractive right now. In terms of promotion, India has the one of largest film industries in the world – Bollywood - which often uses commercial businesses, malls and especially theme parks to promote movies and actors. Additionally, television soap operas are a huge industry with ten channels such as Star Plus and Sony TV which have gone global. India, and in particular Delhi, also has many huge malls, big market places and many leaflet stalls so we can take advantage of these areas for promotion. We certainly intend to take advantage of this huge industry in order to promote our theme park. We feel that India and in particular Delhi will create many marketing opportunities and this will be covered in more detail in a section below.
India also is advantageous in that it has a relatively low cost of production/manufacturing so the costs of manufacturing the theme park itself would be low. This is because raw materials, skilled labour and capital are very cheap to obtain - one of the reasons why it is an emerging economic superpower and attracts investment. Raw materials such as steel are easy and cheap to obtain with the main steel industry in India located in Delhi - Tata Steel for example. India has new workplace and safety laws passed in its Factory Act amendments in 2010 to make sure personal protection is given to each worker whilst constructing the site, and to ensure that they are skilled and adequately trained in the jobs that they undertake. These new safety laws will ensure a safe environment for construction workers, staff and the theme park itself. Infrastructure is also rapidly being improved with 1.83 trillion rupees (i.e. £17.7 billion) being injected into various projects such as airports, hydro power projects and roads. Delhi has English as its joint first language with Hindi so there is huge ease of communication with many foreign tourists.
To conclude it is this large combination of factors which make Delhi in India a prime location for our theme park, both as an attractive place for domestic and foreign tourists as well as having such a large inherent population.
Bohr** – A large fast-paced roller coaster shaped as a popularised version of the Bohr model (http://www.azoquantum.com/images/Article_Images/ImageForArticle_11(1).jpg) with the tagline “The ride that is anything but boring!” This ride will be a simple roller coaster where the rails represent the orbit path of electrons and the carts will be shaped like billiard balls to reflect the popular view of electrons.
The Body train – similar to a ghost train but entering via the left nostril heading through the brain and going through all the main body parts with various body parts/”foreign objects” such as various bacteria and viruses jumping out at you instead of ghosts/ghoul.
Conical flask ride* – Start off in the conical flask, with “chemicals” added together to start the reaction (the ride); you shoot to the top of the flask with lots of foam and you gently, but still reasonably quickly, slide back down to the bottom of the flask where the ride ends. In addition there will be a smaller version built to accommodate children, which will be slower and have more suitable carts where older children can ride alone and younger children can be accompanied by parents/guardians.
*The regular model for this ride is unsuitable for children. However, we have a smaller model which children will be able to use.
Star Trek ride – This ride will start off with the player going into the Enterprise and being led by the voices of Spock and Kirk to the Bridge. Once everyone in the group is on the Bridge the crew go to red alert and everyone is told to hold on tight as they are in for a bumpy ride. As this is going on a message comes in from the Klingons warning the crew that they are in Klingon space, and that they must state their reason for being there. This results in the Enterprise going to warp speed and dashing through Klingon space ending in an asteroid belt. Staying on red alert, the crew navigates the belt and then lands on a nearby planet. The Captain then orders the new recruits (the passengers/audience) to go with Spock on an exploratory mission of the planet. The player then goes to the Teleporter room where everyone will get on the Teleporter and the room rotates to reveal the alien world. “Spock” then leads the recruits through the alien world where they meet Klingons, Tribbles, Romulans and Vulcans amongst other well-known original Star Trek aliens. It ends back where they started, where the crew is teleported back on board and is ordered to go straight to the Bridge where they are informed the crew have found a short cut which leads to a short “flight” home. The ride lasts about 15 minutes, in which you are on your feet the whole time and there are 2 or 3 rooms all identical that have the same story so up to 3 groups can access the ride at once. Other rides from other popular Sci Fi franchises such as Star Wars and the Bollywood Sci Fi series Krrish.
The Peacock - Six bars are attached to a centre pole. Each bar will contain seats for people, and will also look like a peacock feather in shape and colour. The ride will start by lifting off the ground and rotating around the centre, alternating between faster and slower and dipping to the left and right. Each bar will also wave up and down slightly to give the effect of a feather.
Animal ride - a slow-moving cart ride which mimics at different points the way that different creatures move. At one point it may move like a four-legged mammal; at another point it may twist and turn fluidly to simulate the movement of a fish; at another point it may shake and jump in the style of a frog or another amphibian. At certain points, there will be open spaces for passengers to move into another cart, as it is unfeasible with this ride to remain in the same cart throughout.
Digestive system roller-coaster - a classic roller-coaster in the shape of the human digestive system, with a train racing along it at top speed. At certain points, it will pause for biological functions to occur - for example, it will go through the oesophagus, vibrate to mimic peristalsis and then go through the stomach to bypass the liver and go into the intestines, which is where the classic roller-coaster loops will occur.
Hazardous House of Fun - a house of fun where the idea is to get to the end without dying. Each room contains some sort of object which will either help the player (such as water to prevent dehydration) or harm their health (such as radiation or alcohol). (These objects will of course be hypothetical, and displayed on a screen). The idea is to reach the end without harming your body so much that you cannot continue.
Acid/alkaline water slide - This is a series of water slides which will involve acids, alkaline and neutral substances. Each slide will have an image of some kind of substance, along with its name - lemon juice, milk, water etc. When someone has gone down it, they will end up in a pool. The water will be the colour that litmus paper turns when it is added to each of these ingredients.