Task 2 of Social Action
The topic of our campaign is on extremism and discrimination. The video we have planned to do will focus on the everyday discrimination certain cultures are exposed to and go into why some people may be turned onto joining extremist groups. In order to create an accurate representation of these real world issues, we are having to research the primary reasons for people joining these groups - this information helped with creating the character bios for the screenplay - as well as the way cultures can be subtly put down and discriminated against in media formats. To showcase the prejudice biased media campaigns can create in the general public, I have decided to look at war time propaganda, something which will vilify the opposition to turn entire nations against others. Propaganda posters should be widely recognised and easy to understand, it is for this reason I feel that it would be well placed in the video, it creates an easy to understand real world tie in that will aid us in getting the message of our campaign across without having to dedicate too much time to that one specific section - after all, this is supposed to showcase the incidental, everyday discrimination people face. Having it be blatant would be against the true meaning. We are wanting people to think about their actions and how they treat people. I feel that our campaign will work as we are approaching the issue calmly and comfortably, it is not a blatant exposition dump, which I feel would alienate the target audience. Our video shows the ideologies shared by extremist groups and leaves it up to the viewers to see what's hazardous about that line of thinking. The target audience we have got is young adults, people who can think for themselves, so anything which they feel is talking down to them, they may tune out, which again, is why our on level approach, leaving the key parts of the message up to the audience to decipher we feel will work for them. To pair with our video, we have created social media accounts on the websites most used by people in line with our target audience's age range. Before creating these accounts, as a part of my research I looked on the social media accounts of organisations that deal with radicalisation to get an idea on what should be posted, some of the information they provided was in keeping with the message our campaign was promoting, as seeing as how our social media is used to raise awareness of the subject, I linked the twitter account to that of other radicalisation accounts. I feel the choices made with the social media accounts will make it easily accessible for anyone who is wanting to read up on the subject without any prior knowledge on the subject (Ideal for out age range), it lacks complex terminology and is linked to places where they can go if they feel that they want to know a little more on the subject. It is due to the research done before creating the video and the social media which has allowed us to cater it to the specific audience, we are able to look at the resources which are out there, find out which kinds of resources are missing, which kinds of information would be best suited for the target audience and how to get it across in a manner which they will be able to absorb and understand. I was able to see which methods of communication would not of worked but also to see the merits in others, the Scotland Yard website had younger people design banners for them, getting people involved with the message, we have had the public vote on our social media accounts on things in keeping with what goes on in the short film, this works to raise their awareness of the message and of our film. The ethical considerations were taken into account before we started writing the script, we set out to educate and not to offend anybody, and seeing as discrimination can take many forms and can affect a wide array of people, we thought it best to set our short film in a separate reality and produce our own discriminatory rules, but still keeping the message clear. We used hair colour as it was an easy way as to not risk offending people of different cultures or backgrounds, either in the production period or post release.
My tasks in the group were to aid with the screenplay and to work on creating social media accounts for the campaign. The screenplay has been completed, I created character bios and aided with the overall story and Olivia wrote the screenplay as she had previous experience. The research I had done previously helped to create more believable characters, giving us an understanding for their actions and emotions. I am still wanting to work on creating propaganda posters, I would like to have an artist friend look at some samples and see if they can help to create some as well as logos for separate groups to be used on the social media. I have postponed the creation of the social media accounts as I would like to create the decals for it first. As we are not using the social media to directly promote the campaign but more to get people doing online surveys and voting for their own particular style to get them involved with what will be shown in the video. Having people vote for their own colours without thinking and then having them be shown what this could lead to in the video we felt was a good way to go about promoting and having another tie into the real world. The plans for the social media are to just have the one account for people to follow and vote on. There will be slight stylistic discrepancies between the blondes and the brunette's images though, but that's more of a tie in. And as we approach the time for the video to be released will start advertising the release date asking people to come support their own.
With the screenplay complete we are starting to look into casting. Of course, needing to have a certain number of blondes and brunettes may cause a slight issue as it is vital for the plot to have 4 of each at least, we are having to pick specific people, wigs and dyeing have been discussed but we would have to talk to the actors themselves to check. The second years have the screenplay with the character sheets and are left to the casting - though we will all of course step in to help but I am getting on with the research for the social media and soon to be designing the graphics to be used. I feel that the campaign is making steady progress and we should be on track to film it over the next month.
In the same line as the polls to match the inadvertent mid set that the film will focus on, I made a proposition to create some posters, linked to that of the Nazi Aryanism propaganda posters. My idea for this came as a way of reflecting the real world media that highlights certain cultures in the community, whilst ignoring or only speaking ill of others. Such representations can lead to feelings of superiority and discrimination, in the same way that Aldous Huxley portrayed it in Brave New World, people are brought up hearing it, and are constantly reminded of it, the ideologies take root at a young age without the individual taking time to evaluate it or give alternatives any thought. So for the posters I made some of blondes being portrayed as great beings, capable of anything, and the brunettes poster showed them in factories, describing just how hard they work to make a better world for the blondes. Not purposely saying that the brunettes are bad people, or putting them down- simply putting the blondes above all else.
As the project was to create a social action piece, it is important that the work actually makes it out to a mass audience. In order to meet this criteria, I have linked the film to Facebook and Twitter pages, through these mediums, I am able to post images linked to the short film itself, to not only broadcast information about the film but to tie it in with the other links and pieces of information posted on the pages- radicalisation charities and informative websites. Tying the pages to known sources helps us to have the film and our name push the information and the message behind our film, and allowing the film to reach its true potential of being an educational tool for young adults. Both Facebook and Twitter are commonly used by the target audience we have been assigned for this film, so we can pass our message along, directly to those who may see our film, easily link other resources from these social media forums as many other informative sites use social media. The links which have been added to these pages primarily focus on young adults or parents of young adults, so if anybody who watches our film feels they would like to read more on the subject, they can with ease, using resources created for them, or by asking their parents about the resources available for older persons.
I have set up a Facebook and Twitter page to support the message of our campaign. By creating social media accounts to go alongside this campaign, we are broadening the reach of our message to the general public. Both accounts will be used to give updates on the short film and to get people involved with the message of the film. To start with we have posed a question to people; 'who do you support?' we want people to get into the mind set that we will be focusing on in the movie, the inadvertent segregation that can lead to discrimination if it is left to progress.
To add to the film's message, Amy felt it would be beneficial to the audience if once the message of the movie was revealed, there was the ability for the audience to go off and do some further reading. For the convenience of our viewers and for any interested members of the public, we are planning to upload links to charities and those who work on cases of extremism up onto the social media accounts. Here are the links I will use.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/report-abuse/dedicated-helplines/protecting-children-from-radicalisation/
http://standforpeace.org.uk/britains-extremism-question/
https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/safeguarding-vulnerable-people-extremism
http://familiesmatter.org.uk/about-us/
https://safe.met.police.uk/index.html
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SHJZRLD (survey for after the film)
(Links for Social Action)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkq5UKuHVlg&feature=youtu.be
https://twitter.com/TribesFilm
https://www.facebook.com/tribesfilm/
In review.
As well as producing a short film to tackle the issues with radicalisation, we also assembled a few forms of social media in order to spread the word on a more mobile based operation. Due to most people gathering their news information from online sources and the most frequently used medium to do so is on the go using one's phone. We believed that it would be best if we could promote our message through some of the most used social media platforms; places where most people will share information with each other and will comfortably be able to read up when on the go, further spreading the word. After creating these accounts we can then easily monitor each account's success by following the number of shares and likes. A successful account should be able to be shared around and attain a number of likes. If our accounts do not achieve such a thing, then we know our message is presented too blandly or our information is not informative enough. Either way; a rewrite is in order. It is important that we follow the accounts' success over time so that we can stay up to date and keep people interested in our campaign, there is a lot of competition out there and if we are not constantly updating our accounts, then we will be unable to be noticed or gather people's attention. Though we were able to get people interested initially, updates slowed to a halt shortly after the release of the film. This meant that people stopped paying attention to our feed and ignored the accounts entirely - and potentially found another news format to follow rather than ours. This was poor practice as it prevents us from sharing our message with those who we may have initially won over. Now if we were to begin posting again, we would have to attempt to win others over again, which may be harder as they may believe the account to go dormant again. I do not believe that our other social media platforms were successful. They were initially useful to get users interested in our message and in our film prior to release, and I believe that we could again rouse interest from the users if we were to return the accounts to use. However, in their current states, I do believe the accounts to have failed as hardly any users still frequent the pages.
Following a preview of our advertisement, we have collected in some viewer's surveys, allowing us to monitor what we did well in regards to the short film. The overarching point we have attained from this preview, is that everyone who watched the film learned something about radicalisation. This is a very good point as it allows us to continue the way we were initially heading. Our overall message was well received. All of those who saw this movie already understood what radicalisation was, and they were still able to learn something. Meaning: if we were to show this movie to those who do not know what radicalisation is, they would still most likely be able to learn something. So this film could be a good educational starting point for younger viewers. Though the point of the film was understood; half of the audience found the film's tone to be slightly wrong for the theme. This narrative dissonance could cause an issue when it comes to people receiving the message, and thus, going against our campaign's ideals. One reviewer stated that they understood what the film was about and that it was supposed to raise awareness, but struggled to get through the film without laughing. This is an important point to note, as we have been informed that our message was strong and understood, but distorted from our film's execution. From this we can discern that if we were to do another movie for our cause, which ought to be the case, we needn't change all that much. The important points can remain, however, certain scenes which have drawn the most attention away from the plot - being the fight scenes - would have to be changed or removed completely. Despite the alterations to some scenes and the acting having to be changed slightly as some viewers reported that they felt unsure as to whom the protagonist was on account of both parties being equally as violent and aggressive. I believe that we can still continue to broadcast our message through our other mediums as the message is still being well received and understood. All reviewers believe that the government is doing enough of an effort to spread awareness regarding radicalisation. The reviewers stated that they felt that the government was doing the right thing by bringing awareness to younger audiences such as school children, and that these videos were a good way to do so. Overall, I believe that our movie was a comfortable success. There is belief that our film could be used in an official standpoint to raise awareness of younger audiences as it was capable of inspiring some thought in those already aware of the dangers of radicalisation. And despite the issues with some narrative dissonance shown in the film, even those who struggled with it were able to learn more about our message. I feel comfortable in showing off our campaign to others, and believe strongly that we have made a good effort in spreading awareness in an engaging manner in regards to the posters and the movie. Even though I feel the social media was a let down for the campaign, I believe it served its purpose in promoting the videos and gaining an initial interest in the film. If we were to do the campaign again, I think that the main focus would be to get the movie's tone aligned with its themes as to not draw away from our message and to keep the social media accounts up to date. This will ensure the longevity of our campaign and the continued interest showed by the public.
My tasks in the group were to aid with the screenplay and to work on creating social media accounts for the campaign. The screenplay has been completed, I created character bios and aided with the overall story and Olivia wrote the screenplay as she had previous experience. The research I had done previously helped to create more believable characters, giving us an understanding for their actions and emotions. I am still wanting to work on creating propaganda posters, I would like to have an artist friend look at some samples and see if they can help to create some as well as logos for separate groups to be used on the social media. I have postponed the creation of the social media accounts as I would like to create the decals for it first. As we are not using the social media to directly promote the campaign but more to get people doing online surveys and voting for their own particular style to get them involved with what will be shown in the video. Having people vote for their own colours without thinking and then having them be shown what this could lead to in the video we felt was a good way to go about promoting and having another tie into the real world. The plans for the social media are to just have the one account for people to follow and vote on. There will be slight stylistic discrepancies between the blondes and the brunette's images though, but that's more of a tie in. And as we approach the time for the video to be released will start advertising the release date asking people to come support their own.
With the screenplay complete we are starting to look into casting. Of course, needing to have a certain number of blondes and brunettes may cause a slight issue as it is vital for the plot to have 4 of each at least, we are having to pick specific people, wigs and dyeing have been discussed but we would have to talk to the actors themselves to check. The second years have the screenplay with the character sheets and are left to the casting - though we will all of course step in to help but I am getting on with the research for the social media and soon to be designing the graphics to be used. I feel that the campaign is making steady progress and we should be on track to film it over the next month.
In the same line as the polls to match the inadvertent mid set that the film will focus on, I made a proposition to create some posters, linked to that of the Nazi Aryanism propaganda posters. My idea for this came as a way of reflecting the real world media that highlights certain cultures in the community, whilst ignoring or only speaking ill of others. Such representations can lead to feelings of superiority and discrimination, in the same way that Aldous Huxley portrayed it in Brave New World, people are brought up hearing it, and are constantly reminded of it, the ideologies take root at a young age without the individual taking time to evaluate it or give alternatives any thought. So for the posters I made some of blondes being portrayed as great beings, capable of anything, and the brunettes poster showed them in factories, describing just how hard they work to make a better world for the blondes. Not purposely saying that the brunettes are bad people, or putting them down- simply putting the blondes above all else.
As the project was to create a social action piece, it is important that the work actually makes it out to a mass audience. In order to meet this criteria, I have linked the film to Facebook and Twitter pages, through these mediums, I am able to post images linked to the short film itself, to not only broadcast information about the film but to tie it in with the other links and pieces of information posted on the pages- radicalisation charities and informative websites. Tying the pages to known sources helps us to have the film and our name push the information and the message behind our film, and allowing the film to reach its true potential of being an educational tool for young adults. Both Facebook and Twitter are commonly used by the target audience we have been assigned for this film, so we can pass our message along, directly to those who may see our film, easily link other resources from these social media forums as many other informative sites use social media. The links which have been added to these pages primarily focus on young adults or parents of young adults, so if anybody who watches our film feels they would like to read more on the subject, they can with ease, using resources created for them, or by asking their parents about the resources available for older persons.
I have set up a Facebook and Twitter page to support the message of our campaign. By creating social media accounts to go alongside this campaign, we are broadening the reach of our message to the general public. Both accounts will be used to give updates on the short film and to get people involved with the message of the film. To start with we have posed a question to people; 'who do you support?' we want people to get into the mind set that we will be focusing on in the movie, the inadvertent segregation that can lead to discrimination if it is left to progress.
To add to the film's message, Amy felt it would be beneficial to the audience if once the message of the movie was revealed, there was the ability for the audience to go off and do some further reading. For the convenience of our viewers and for any interested members of the public, we are planning to upload links to charities and those who work on cases of extremism up onto the social media accounts. Here are the links I will use.
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/report-abuse/dedicated-helplines/protecting-children-from-radicalisation/
http://standforpeace.org.uk/britains-extremism-question/
https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/content/safeguarding-vulnerable-people-extremism
http://familiesmatter.org.uk/about-us/
https://safe.met.police.uk/index.html
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SHJZRLD (survey for after the film)
(Links for Social Action)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkq5UKuHVlg&feature=youtu.be
https://twitter.com/TribesFilm
https://www.facebook.com/tribesfilm/
In review.
As well as producing a short film to tackle the issues with radicalisation, we also assembled a few forms of social media in order to spread the word on a more mobile based operation. Due to most people gathering their news information from online sources and the most frequently used medium to do so is on the go using one's phone. We believed that it would be best if we could promote our message through some of the most used social media platforms; places where most people will share information with each other and will comfortably be able to read up when on the go, further spreading the word. After creating these accounts we can then easily monitor each account's success by following the number of shares and likes. A successful account should be able to be shared around and attain a number of likes. If our accounts do not achieve such a thing, then we know our message is presented too blandly or our information is not informative enough. Either way; a rewrite is in order. It is important that we follow the accounts' success over time so that we can stay up to date and keep people interested in our campaign, there is a lot of competition out there and if we are not constantly updating our accounts, then we will be unable to be noticed or gather people's attention. Though we were able to get people interested initially, updates slowed to a halt shortly after the release of the film. This meant that people stopped paying attention to our feed and ignored the accounts entirely - and potentially found another news format to follow rather than ours. This was poor practice as it prevents us from sharing our message with those who we may have initially won over. Now if we were to begin posting again, we would have to attempt to win others over again, which may be harder as they may believe the account to go dormant again. I do not believe that our other social media platforms were successful. They were initially useful to get users interested in our message and in our film prior to release, and I believe that we could again rouse interest from the users if we were to return the accounts to use. However, in their current states, I do believe the accounts to have failed as hardly any users still frequent the pages.
Following a preview of our advertisement, we have collected in some viewer's surveys, allowing us to monitor what we did well in regards to the short film. The overarching point we have attained from this preview, is that everyone who watched the film learned something about radicalisation. This is a very good point as it allows us to continue the way we were initially heading. Our overall message was well received. All of those who saw this movie already understood what radicalisation was, and they were still able to learn something. Meaning: if we were to show this movie to those who do not know what radicalisation is, they would still most likely be able to learn something. So this film could be a good educational starting point for younger viewers. Though the point of the film was understood; half of the audience found the film's tone to be slightly wrong for the theme. This narrative dissonance could cause an issue when it comes to people receiving the message, and thus, going against our campaign's ideals. One reviewer stated that they understood what the film was about and that it was supposed to raise awareness, but struggled to get through the film without laughing. This is an important point to note, as we have been informed that our message was strong and understood, but distorted from our film's execution. From this we can discern that if we were to do another movie for our cause, which ought to be the case, we needn't change all that much. The important points can remain, however, certain scenes which have drawn the most attention away from the plot - being the fight scenes - would have to be changed or removed completely. Despite the alterations to some scenes and the acting having to be changed slightly as some viewers reported that they felt unsure as to whom the protagonist was on account of both parties being equally as violent and aggressive. I believe that we can still continue to broadcast our message through our other mediums as the message is still being well received and understood. All reviewers believe that the government is doing enough of an effort to spread awareness regarding radicalisation. The reviewers stated that they felt that the government was doing the right thing by bringing awareness to younger audiences such as school children, and that these videos were a good way to do so. Overall, I believe that our movie was a comfortable success. There is belief that our film could be used in an official standpoint to raise awareness of younger audiences as it was capable of inspiring some thought in those already aware of the dangers of radicalisation. And despite the issues with some narrative dissonance shown in the film, even those who struggled with it were able to learn more about our message. I feel comfortable in showing off our campaign to others, and believe strongly that we have made a good effort in spreading awareness in an engaging manner in regards to the posters and the movie. Even though I feel the social media was a let down for the campaign, I believe it served its purpose in promoting the videos and gaining an initial interest in the film. If we were to do the campaign again, I think that the main focus would be to get the movie's tone aligned with its themes as to not draw away from our message and to keep the social media accounts up to date. This will ensure the longevity of our campaign and the continued interest showed by the public.
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