Culture in the Digital Age: AC2: Problem Solving:
Chosen Idea:
We have been tasked by a fictional company, CMP Media, to complete a documentary regarding the effect on an aspect of culture due to the digital age. When first approaching the planning stage of this documentary - I researched what the digital age is, to gain a clearer idea of what my documentary should be about as to fit the given criteria of the brief. The Cambridge Dictionary defines the digital age as: "the present time, in which many things are done by computer and large amounts of information are available because of computer technology."
This definition provided me with the information that the digital age is based on the increasing use of technology and computers in everyday life. My idea, therefore, must revolve around the idea that the use of technology has had a detrimental effect on an aspect of culture. In the initial planning phase of my documentary I had two ideas - in which I have created mind-maps to further illustrate my ideas and how they apply to the given topic of the digital age.
As I am making the documentary - I decided to base it on something I have an invested interest in. My initial two ideas were film culture and music culture. I think both of these aspects of culture have been affected by the digital age - both due to the ever-increasing use of streaming services. Streaming services work like a membership - in that the consumer pays a monthly fee for access to content to media without owning the media themselves. Both music and film, prior to the digital age, came in two forms - televised or radio media, or at-home physical media (CDs - DVDs). Streaming services have many advantageous benefits in comparison to physical media - in the sense that there is more available content to consume at a more affordable price to the average consumer.
I decided to choose music culture as the topic for my documentary as I am more personally involved with the music industry than the film industry. In planning this documentary I decided to base the interviews core around interviews - as organic ways to share information with the audience without telling them directly in narration. I favored the music documentary over the film documentary as I have more relevant interviews that could be had regarding music.
In my documentary I shall be discussing the effect of the digital age on independent music distributors. I have chosen this idea as I think awareness could be brought to this topic - given the current social standing with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic: more financial pressure has been put on to an already fledgling aspect of musical culture than ever. This idea allows me to frame several interviews around independent music distributors and how the digital age has affected their process in supplying and creating music. This idea similarly lets me educate the audience on the differences between physical music media, such as compact disc or vinyl record, and streaming services. In both of my initial ideas, the effect on film culture as opposed to the effect on music culture, streaming services both play a significant role in the digitisation of both mediums - with physical music media being on a decline for both.
I am to discuss the rise and fall of physical music media - vinyl, cassette, CDs; the pros and cons of each - with Elliot Yule: a worker at, his fathers, physical, music media shop, Hot Rats. I am then going to discuss what independent artists that have came out of the digital age have to say about the current state of music and how they produce and distribute their music as independent artists.
I am to conduct further interviews with independent music creators: Luca Cilliberti and Lloyd Morgan - as a juxtaposition of Elliot, whom will discuss the rise and fall of physical media due to the pressure of the digital age - Luca and Lloyd create their music entirely digitally under the independent music label, Fortunato 35 - they are, if you will, products of the digital age.
Script:
Narrator: "Music is an ever-changing medium. In the modern day we have more access to music than ever before. This is in due part to the accessibility and availability of the Internet in most places in the world. The Internet has allowed access to more efficient and convenient ways of listening to music- in the forms of streaming services such as Spotify and Apple music.
The primary commercial appeal of these platforms is the vast range of music spanning many different genres and eras at a more affordable price to the average person in comparison to buying physical music media. Platforms such as these have affected musical culture in the sense that in the past, due to the limited ability for smaller artists to broadcast their music to a large audience, there was a clear divide between what was considered "underground" and "mainstream" music. Due to the monopolized nature of the music industry prior to the digital age, it was very difficult to get your music heard due to the overwhelming pressure put on artists by musical labels to create what they considered radio-friendly music. Often more experimental genres gained less prominence due to the scarcity of available media. Whereas in the modern day, in due part due to the aforementioned streaming services, artists have more of an ability to make experimental and controversial music without fear of not having commercial radio appeal. This, I feel, is aptly put in an interview with Mac Miller by Larry King.
Shortly before the advent of the 20th century - the production of music saw a renaissance with the invention and mainstream application of the gramophone vinyl record - music could now be commercialized and readily available for listeners to enjoy in the comfort of their own home.
Shortly after the turn of the 20th century - in the late 1910’s the world saw the rise of popular radio in a commercial sense. The radio was first used in the early 1900’s yet did not see mainstream appeal until the 20’s. The radio revolutionized music in the sense that artists had a platform to broadcast their music on a large scale - similar to how online streaming services, almost a century later, would allow: public platforms such as these allow the average and unassuming person to branch out in to more genres of music without having to invest financially - a detracting quality of physical music media. Mainstream radio helped solidify the concept of pop music - in the sense that due to the wide availability of the radio - singles were tailored to appeal to the largest demographic of people. As the Internet was not yet invented - artists that made slightly less conformist music would not be given the same platform due to fears that the music would not resonate with audiences.
Music would later see somewhat of a cultural revolution with the commercialization of television - allowing artists to pair a visual aspect with their music. In the 1960’s and 70’s - many artists would release films to accompany their music - i.e. The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour and Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Television would play a large part in the popularisation of the music video - a medium that pushed many songs such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller to legendary status - helping propel the said album to become the best selling album of all time. Another notable thing to come from televised music was the concept of live music television shows such as Top of the Pops and MTV unplugged.
Interview with Luca Cilliberti and Lloyd Morgan (Fortunato 35):
Setting: Fortunato Studio, Castletown - Sunderland
Shooting date: 27th December
Narrator: "What is, your label, Fortunato 35?"
Luca: "Fortunato 35 is a collective where we make music and then release the music independently."
Narrator: "How has access to the Internet and technology allowed you to make and distribute music?"
Luca: "So - it has helped us create and release music because we started to make music on digital audio workstations - we use FL Studio."
Interview with Tyler Clementson, Lewy Farquhar, and Tom Daly - Leeds College of Music:
3rd February - Leeds College of Music interview begins shooting. Editing begins and narration is recorded.
8th February - Editing complete.
Locations:
Hot Rats Records, Sunderland:
Prior to the announcement of Tier 4 lockdown by the UK Government on the 19th December 2020 - I intended to conduct the interview with Elliot inside of Hot Rats - with socially distanced conditions. However - due to the announcement - Hot Rats is unable to open due to it not being considered an essential shop. With this in mind - and in adherence to the government restrictions in regard to COVID-19 - I will conduct the interview with Elliot online - in an attempt to reduce the risk of increasing the infection rate of COVID-19. However, while the interview will be held online - I plan to travel to Hot Rats in order to record footage of what the shop looks like; as so that the audience can visualize what Elliot is talking about during this interview.
Unfortunately due to the UK Government introducing Tier 5 lockdown on the 4th January 2021, I was unable to record the interview with Elliot, or his father, in time for the deadline on the 25th January. However, I still plan to make mention of Hot Rats while discussing the effects that the digital age has had on small, independent, businesses. Given that I am local to Sunderland and I assume many will be the same - I think making reference to a business that is local to Sunderland will help further my point as the effects that I will be discussing have a direct impact of the local community. When I mention Hot Rats - I will record footage of the exterior of the shop. Ideally I would prefer to shoot inside the shop - as I think this would give me more diversity and range in the types of shots that I could hypothetically use. Though, with the ongoing pandemic, I cannot enter the shop. With this in mind, I am going to try and get as many shots as I feasibly get of the outside the shop.
2 Twickenham Road, Thorney Close, Sunderland:
Due to the national lockdown imposed by the UK government as a response to the COVD-19 pandemic - I have had to do much shooting within the confines of my own home.
Interviews that will be conducted throughout documentary:
Interview with Elliot Yule, Hot Rats -
This shall be the first interview that is shown in my documentary. Based on the initial storyboards I have made during the production of this documentary, the film will open with a brief narration about the decline of physical media due to the rise of commercial streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music - in which I will discuss the impacts of this on businesses that rely on the sales of physical music media. This will then lead to the interview with Elliot Yule, a worker at Hot Rat records, a independent record shop based in Sunderland city centre, and his father and owner of the establishment - Marty Yule, who was a member of the Toy Dolls - a punk band that started out in Sunderland in 1979 - as a part of punk rock’s second wave. Michael "Olga" Algar originally formed the Toy Dolls as a four-piece with a singer, Peter Zulu Robson, Philip "Flip" Dugdale on bass & Mr. Colin Scott on drums. Pete Zulu soon left and his replacement, Paul Hudson, lasted one gig after which Olga (Michael Algar) took on the singer/guitarist/front-man role.
Unfortunately due to COVID-19 and the subsequent Tier 5 lockdown imposed by the UK government, I was unable to interview Elliot or his father. This is disappointing as I believe showing the effects of the digital age on a small, local, independent business would've helped the audience understand how businesses such as Hot Rats have been affected. Interviewing Elliot's father, Marty, would've given aid to my documentary also - given his direct ties to the music industry in a pre-digital age world - being a member of the Toy Dolls.
I think this would've made a very effective juxtaposition - as my initial draft for this documentary would've contained the interview with Elliot and Marty - followed by the interview with Lloyd Morgan and Luca Cilliberti of Fortunato 35. Given that Marty's band, 'The Toy Dolls, had most of their prominence prior to the digital age as opposed to Fortunato 35 - entirely products of the digital age. I think having these two interviews as parallels to each other would have effectively demonstrated how music has changed over time.
Interview with Ryan Brickle -
This is an interview I will conduct with my friend. In discussing the concept of my documentary with him - he raised the point of VR (virtual reality) music events with the ever-pressing limitations of COVID-19. He described a gig he attended in the own safe space of his bedroom. This intrigued me, in the sense that not only is physical media under pressure in the midst of the digital age - so are gigs! In this segment I will discuss the implications of online gigs - the pros and cons.
Due to his work schedule, I was unable to shoot an interview with Ryan in time for the initial deadline of the 25th January. I am planning to have this interview shot for the final cut of the doc. In spite of this interview not being able to be shot - I am still going to mention the points that Ryan initially brought up to me in our initial discussion about the documentary's contents, in my narration - discussing how smaller music venues have been affected with the accessibility to technology that allows you to access a gig remotely from home.
Interview with Lloyd Morgan and Luca Cilliberti of Fortunato 35 -
In this section of my documentary I will be interviewing Lloyd Morgan and Luca Cilliberti about their independent music label - Fortunato 35.
Interview with Tyler Clementson, Tom Daly, and Lewy Farquhar: Leeds College of Music -
In this interview I will interview three students from the Leeds College of Music about the recent rise in popularity of vinyl - as well as the implications of the Internet on music culture. I think using these three people is advantageous to the cause of the documentary as they have direct ties to the music industry - as well as being within the given age range that the documentary is meant to appeal to.
Preparing a shot list through creating storyboards:
0:00 - 2:00:
I will include an overhead shot of my record player - showing the central art of many different vinyl I own, I will cut them in quick succession - to emphasize the variety of vinyl record - while not directly stated, at least during the duration of this short montage - I have found in my research that the art of a vinyl is considered to be an attractive feature to those that buy vinyl records. Following this I will have a shot that I level to the base of my record player - slowly showing the needle come down to strike the vinyl. This shows the viewer the practicality of a vinyl player without telling them directly, it is a visual aid to help those who aren't familiar with how vinyl works - understand. As the needle strikes the vinyl - the initial title sequence will appear, titled: How has the digital age affected independent music distributors?
Interview 1: Fortunato 35:
Presentation:
In class we were tasked with creating a powerpoint explaining our idea to our teacher in order to gain feedback and further improve our idea during the planning stage of our documentary.
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