Theatre as Media in the 14th Century

Theatre in the old days was used as a main media outlet by writers, actors, and directors. In that time anything could be said on stage about politics and the current monarchs. In the mid 1500’s Queen Elizabeth I banned the discussion of current events in plays. Shakespeare’s “Henry” plays were used to disguise talk of current events by using old monarchies with similar situations to what was currently happening. Luckily, Shakespeare was clever enough in his writing to get away with indirectly speaking against the current government.

In the 1590’s Queen Elizabeth I was 60 years old and without child. Everyone was concerned about who the next monarch would be, so she declared that it was treason for anyone to ask who the next King or Queen would be. Just before Queen Elizabeth I died a man wrote and produced a play named Richard II, which discussed a monarch who stepped aside to allow a more capable leader to take over. When the government found out about this the creator of this play was immediately imprisoned. This example shows that reporting the truth through media in this time period was a very risky business.

The photo above was taken during a performance of Macbeth at the Globe Theatre in London.

Information taken from a lecture by actor, Philip Bird

Radio City Tower and BBC Radio Merseyside

The tower seen above is actually called St. John’s Beacon. It is in the heart of Liverpool, UK and is now called by locals “Radio City Tower” since it now hosts Radio City 96.7. The tower was built in 1969 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II to be used as a ventilation shaft for St. John’s Market. The tower was never used for its original purpose due to new a law was passed during the year of completion. The tower stands at 138 meters, or 452 feet, and is the second tallest freestanding structure in Liverpool.

When the tower opened it offered a revolving restaurant and an observation platform to its guests. Due to health and safety issues and later lack of business the restaurant portion of the tower was shut down. The tower was refurbished in 2000 with a £5 million remodel and was reopened as Radio City 96.7. The observation deck was closed in and is now used as offices and conference rooms and the first floor where the restaurant once was now holds studio. Radio City 96.7

BBC Radio Merseyside is the local BBC affiliate for the English metropolitan county of Merseyside and north Cheshire. The station first aired on November 22^nd, 1967 and was the third BBC local radio station to be launched. BBC Radio Merseyside broadcasts on 95.8 from its studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool.

The fun fact of the day about BBC Radio Merseyside is that on June 25^th, 2007 the presenter of the Breakfast Show, Simon O’Brien accidentally broadcast an unedited interview in which he said, “Fuck the government, fuck the planners.” Simon O’Brien resigned from the station later that day and now presents the Sunday Breakfast Show on City Talk 105.9 in Liverpool. City Talk later used Simon O’Brian’s slip up phrase as part of their marketing campaign.

Information found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_City_Tower and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Radio_Merseyside

NFTS

The National Film and Television School was opened in 1971 when it was simply the National Film School. NFTS is located at Beaconsfield Studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. NFTS currently has about 160 full time students, a dozen part time students in the script development course, and about one thousand students a year in the short course. NFTS graduation is held at BFI (British Film Institute) Southbank. This graduation is invite only and very exclusive. Student’s work is shown with talent scouts present to ensure maximum exposure for each graduating student. Graduating students of NFTS are almost always guaranteed a job in the industry upon finishing their degree.

NFTS is highly distinguished not only in the UK, but in the world. The BBC stated that the NFTS was the "leading centre of excellence for education in film and television programme making", and also said that it was "relevant to the industry's present and future needs.” Filmmaking.net named NTFS one of two schools outside of the U.S. with the highest international reputation.

Information found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFTS

Trooping the Colour

Trooping the Colour is a ceremony that is performed by regiments of the Commonwealth and the British Army. This ceremony is a tradition of the British infantry regiments that dates back to the 17^th century. On the battlefield a regiment’s colour, or flags were used as rallying points. Other than honoring British soldiers past and present since 1748 the Trooping the Colour has marked the official birthday of the British Sovereign, which is currently Queen Elizabeth II.

Trooping the Colour is held annually on Horse Guard’s Parade by St. James Park on the second Saturday in June. The audience of the ceremony includes the Royal Family, invited guests, ticket holders, and the general public. The ceremony is also known as “The Queen’s Birthday Parade” and is broadcast live on BBC. During the ceremony the Queen travels by horse and carriage down The Mall from Buckingham Palace in a Royal procession and is escorted by the household Calvary, also known as “Mounted Troops” or “Horse Guards.” She then inspects the guards after receiving a royal salute. The music during the ceremony is provided by the Mass Bands of the Foot Guards and the mounted Bands of the Household Calvary with a Corps of Drums and occasionally pipers. There is an approximate amount of 400 musicians on foot and on horseback.

When returning to Buckingham Palace the Queen watches a further march past the opening gates. After a 41-gun salute by the King’s troop in Green Park she leads the Royal Family onto the palace balcony for a Royal Air Force flypast.

Information found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trooping_the_Colour

The BBC

The British Broadcasting Company is the largest broadcasting organization in the world. Global headquarters for the BBC are located in London providing public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man. The BBC is an autonomous public broadcasting company that operates under a Royal Charter. An annual license fee paid for by United Kingdom households, companies and organizations using any type of equipment to record, and/or receive any live broadcasts funds the BBC. The level of the fee is set each year by the UK government and is agreed by Parliament.

The two flagship television channels for the BBC are BBC One and BBC Two. Many digital only stations are broadcast. They consist of BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament, CBBC, and CBeebies. CBBC and CBeebies are both children’s channels. Digital television is widespread in the UK, with analog transmission plans to be phased out by December 2012.

BBC Radio is cherished by most UK citizens. BBC Radio has much more to offer than the music format dominated American radio. BBC Radio offers a large variety from news and sports talk to dramatic theatre to international music flavors. BBC Radio has five major national stations. Radio 1 is “the best new music and entertainment.” Radio 2 is the UK's most listened to radio station, with 12.9 million weekly listeners. Radio 3 is classical and jazz music. Radio 4 is current affairs, factual, comedy and drama. Radio 5 is 24 hour news and sports and talk.

Newspapers in the Tube

Free newspapers are a common site in the London Tube stations. Venders hawk free newspapers outside of every busy station, which hardly any passengers refuse to take. Once in the train a sea of newspapers open as commuters spend their 20 minute ride to their destination learning about the world, checking the football schedule, or ogling at the “page 3 girl” of the day.

While free newspapers in the London tubes promote education and knowledge they also have some negative effects for Londoners. When tube riders are finished with their papers for the day many will leave them on the train or in the station with no way of recycling. Mike Tuffrey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly environment spokesperson "Each and every day well over 1.5 million free newspapers are handed out to commuters and people travelling around London, yet the opportunities to recycle these papers as you travel remain totally pitiful.”

Tuffrey is urging the Mayor of London to ensure action is taken to improve recycling for London’s commuters. Tuffrey has received assurances from both the past and current mayor that recycling facilities for free newspapers will be dramatically improved. The free morning newspaper contract organized by Transport for London in April was to ensure that recycling facilities were put in place, but since then not one recycling bin has been placed in an underground station.

Mike Tuffrey states, "It is now time to start recycling newspapers, not excuses. We need real action to ensure that recycling facilities are as routine at every station as the free newspapers that are handed out. It should be as easy to recycle a free newspaper at tube or train station as it is to simply pick one up.”

Information found at the London Assembly of Liberal Democrats website at http://www.glalibdems.org.uk/index.html

CinemaScore

CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas, NV that surveys public film audiences for their personal ration and viewing experiences by grading the film with a letter grade. They then report the results of the surveys and forecast box office receipts based on the data found.

I attended the opening night for the film Shrek: Happily Ever After in a local theatre in London. Since it was the debut of the film in the UK I was asked to fill out a CinemaScore card. The card asked the viewer to tear out one of the answers provided for each question. The questions were “Would you buy this movie on DVD or VHS?”, “Would you rent this movie on DVD or VHS?” and “Reason for attending the film.” The card also asked the viewer to grade the film on an A-F letter scale, and for the viewer’s gender and age.

Data from 1999 says that CinemaScore was reviewing approximately 140 films a year, including about 99% of major studio releases. For each film 400 to 500 moviegoers were polled in three of CinemaScore’s 15 sites.

Information found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CinemaScore

Art and Media: Self Burial (Television Interference Project)

Keith Arnatt, a British artist, captured this series of photos in 1969. I viewed this piece in the Tate Modern Art Museum in London. Arnatt was fascinated with works of art that are created in the natural landscape, but leave that don’t leave any trace of their presence behind. He once wrote, “The continual reference to the disappearance of the art object suggested to me the eventual disappearance of the artist himself.” This series of photographs was broadcast on German television in October of 1969. Only one photo was shown each day, and only for about two seconds. The photos often interrupted prime time television programs and they were never announced or explained to the audience. Viewers were forced to make what sense of them they could. This series of photos shows that modern and abstract art can definitely play a role in consumer television and film. These types of works allow viewers to open their minds and really think about what the artist is saying, or how the piece speaks to them. Often in modern Western television and film viewers do not get the opportunity to really view media as art because they are often spoon fed the viewpoint the creator of the film or television show is trying to make.

Information found at the Tate Modern Art Museum in London, UK.

BBC’s Radio 2 Sunday Half Hour Show

The Sunday Half Hour Show celebrated 70 years of being on the air by holding a live audience taping at St. Martin-in-the-Fields at Trafalgar Square in London. The live taping consisted of singing hymns and special music by two featured choirs. A message by Father Brian D’Arcy was to be recorded in the studio and edited together with the rest of the show at a later time. The live taping of the Half Hour Show was a little deceiving as half an hour easily turned into three hours.

The Sunday Half Hour Show is broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Sunday evenings at 8:30 and focuses on Christian hymns and prayer. It is now only one of two Christian based shows on Radio 2. Each show includes congregational sung hymns and special music by the featured choir of the week. Prayers and discussion each week are based on a subject matter, for example, the family might be a subject discussed for one show. The current presenter is Father Brian D’Arcy, a Passionist priest from Ireland.

The Millennium Footbridge

This photo was taken from the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral and is of the Millennium Bridge in London. The bridge is a steel suspended bridge that crosses the Thames river and connects Bankside with the city of London. Construction for this pedestrian-only bridge began in 1998 and the bridge was opened on June 10, 2000. The millennium Bridge is currently owned and maintained by the Bridge House Estates, which is a charitable trust that is overseen by the City of London Corporation.

The Millennium Bridge received the nickname Wobbly Bridge by Londoners after participants of a special charity walk for Save the Children experienced awkward swaying motions on the bridge during the first two days of the bridge being open. The bridge was closed after only two days of being open and was modified for two years before being re-opened in 2002.

Some might also recognize The Millennium Bridge as the bridge that is destroyed by Death Eaters in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Information found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Bridge_(London)