Proposal for Media Project – activism campaign.

 

Client – Make It Live!

 

The aim of Make it Live! is:

To support the interest of live music performance recognising that musicians and venues need audiences and funding.

 

My client - ‘Make it live!’ -  is a non-profit organisation that is setting up a new platform called ‘Live Support’ to help musicians and venues during the Covid 19 pandemic and beyond. Make it Live! is a campaigning organisation that wants to protect live music, performers and venues from the effects of the current pandemic. Nations all over the world are experiencing their own form of restrictions on public gatherings. The effect of this has been that more and more people have fallen back on to pre-recorded forms of entertainment. But younger, talented performers may not have a lot of pre-recorded work and many parts of the music industry rely on live performance for the majority of their income. If we lose talented performers, and venues, global arts will be poorer when the pandemic is over.

 

My brief for the film is to encourage 18-30s:

·         To support struggling art forms where they can

·         To attend safe venues when and where possible

·         To use a virtual platform where performers could put their work on-line, and receive payment, and consumers could view live or pre-recorded music on a pay per view basis, or maybe as a monthly subscription model.

·         The platform also has a fundraiser and links to local campaigns that aim to petition governments to support live music through taxation of large media corporations who have benefited form Covid 19, such as Amazon and Netflix.

How does your project link to the project theme 'Activism'? 

The ‘Live Support’ platform and by following links to petitions and information about local demonstrations.

What specific cause will your project be centred around, and why? (Include any research you have found to help justify your reason for choosing it) 

My project will be centred on the problems musicians and music venues have faced in lockdown and due to Covid 19 restrictions. I chose this because I have many friends who are musicians. A recent survey by the Help Musicians found that half of all professional musicians in the UK have earned nothing during lockdown and 96% lost the majority of their income.

What do you hope to achieve from your project? (Think about the overall message to your audience and how you will achieve it) 

I hope to achieve an awareness of the vital role the music industry plays in modern society and how damaging the current Covid-19 restrictions are to that industry The film will show the difficulties musicians have had, but will also show how fantastic the live music industry is, and that is worth supporting.

What type of research will you conduct? (Include both primary and secondary examples) 

Primary research

Twitter survey aimed at 18-30s:

1. Are you someone who likes to attend live music events?

2. Would you pay to see independent bands or musicians play virtually?

3. Do you think musicians have found lockdown difficult?

4. Would you consider donating small sums of money to bands or musicians to help support them through Covid 19?

 

The Twitter survey will enable me to find out some information about my target audience and I can use this to help focus the film towards what they are interested in (Blumler and Katz, 1979, Uses and Gratifications Theory).

 

Questions to musicians who will film themselves answering these questions, for use in the film – to show the audience how musicians have suffered and need supporting

1. How has Covid 19 affected you?

2. Has the Internet helped or hindered your work over this crisis?

3. Have you received any donations directly related to your work?

4. What would help you?

 

Interview materials to show haw difficult the lockdown has been.

Secondary research

Internet and news articles such as,

https://www.wuft.org/nation-world/2020/10/09/u-k-musicians-protest-governments-covid-19-response-with-music/

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/06/watch-400-musicians-take-part-socially-distanced-performance/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-54437872

https://www.gramophone.co.uk/classical-music-news/article/musicians-launch-campaign-to-let-the-music-play

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000nvsv

https://www.helpmusicians.org.uk/

What timeframe do you hope to have your project completed by, and what order of tasks? 

Before December I want to complete my script and storyboard, do my Twitter Poll and send my questions to musicians. I want to have my project completed by the beginning of January so I can spend time gathering feedback and evaluating the film and printed materials before it needs to be handed in.

What products will you design? 

Along with my film I may design a pamphlet or webpage (wix.com), or an on-line news letter that could be sent out to subscribers to the platform. But I have not decided yet.

How will you present your portfolio work? (Be specific in the pages you will create for each section of your portfolio e.g. research, planning, construction and evaluation) 

I have started a blog https://charlienelsonactivism.blogspot.com/ and I am going to document a lot of work on this. I am also keeping a diary of what I do and what information I use.

Can you identify any possible limitations in your project and how you will overcome them?

I would like musicians to film themselves. Some of them may not do this for me. I am asking about 4 or 5 musicians, so I am hoping 2 or 3 might film themselves.

Trying to attract views to the campaign, and trying to encourage them to donate, when they can get a lot of music free on the internet – there may be problems

Are there any additional factors you need to consider for your project? (e.g. media regulation) 

There may be legal issues over hosting musician’s music for the platform, which might cause problems when using musical clips for the 10 minute film.