Celebs on social media: Charlie Sheen

When thinking about car crash celebrities the first person that sprung to mind was Charlie Sheen, due to this I decided to try to delve into his social media world starting with YouTube. When searching 'Charlie sheen' on YT you get the expected results of interviews, press related content and general promo, at the top of the list however... his infamous TV meltdown on ABC America (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM) obviously theres no such thing as bad publicity so a video that was posted in 2011 still circulating in 2015 still gives him that infamous association. However Sheen would obviously need some sort of a comeback from this as a public meltdown is not usually the best career move, as a 'comedian' he did what he does best and 2 months later spoofed his own car crash interview using clips of the original interviewer and newly acted clips from him to generally make fun of himself and gain back some credibility he may of lost from fans. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LtBSqGzi3o)
this is from YT comments on the video showing it was a hit with his fans thus buying him back some loyalty:

Regarding other forms of social media i.e. twitter, Sheen hasn't always been on the best of terms with other celebrities and has been in trouble in the past for using fans like attack dogs and abusing his power. One fairly well known twitter rant was against him and Rihanna where she apparently snubbed a meet and greet with Sheens girlfriend at a resutuarnt. Using his power on twitter he ranted, trawling through Sheens twitter I found the posts as well as fan responses. 

 Clearly from this, Sheen is shown to be someone who isn't afraid to voice his opinions and get his fans on side as his rants must be aimed at them. From fan responses its clear that he gets mixed reactions regarding his posts with most of his fans finding it funny or supporting his actions, I tried to use a screen shot of negative comment as well, the one shown is from an angry Rihanna fan showing he has upset the peace. I was unable to find an apology tweet for from him to Rihanna however I found one to Kim K over a rant he had about her. Context mentioned in this article: https://celebrity.yahoo.com/news/charlie-sheen-apologizes-kim-kardashian-gross-butt-rant-211500454-us-weekly.html?ref=gs&nf=1

Such fans praised Sheen for apologising thus presenting Sheen as a man that knows the error of his ways and how to win back his audience.

One thing I discovered why conductiong this research I that a lot of celebs like Charlie have companies that mange their social media, Ad.ly for example specsalises in social media marketing amd have maagange the accounts of stars like Kim Kardashian and Snoop Dogg. They said :

"So we helped Charlie get ownership of @CharlieSheen on Twitter and verify his account to ensure that friends and fans would have no doubt as to his identity and the authenticity of his tweets. As we have with many celebrities, our stellar talent team then helped get Charlie and his team started with Bit.ly, Twitpic and the other Twitterverse tools he might need - something we do quite often for athletes and artists.
"An epic 800,000 followers later, Charlie is an immediate sensation on Twitter. We're happy to have been a part of this moment. We know this is only the start of many interesting and conversation-provoking snapshots of Charlie's fascinating life." (from an article : http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-03/02/gq-gadgets-charlie-sheen-twitter-account-ad-ly)
going back to the 'no such thing as bad publicity' point, it makes you question is it all real?

On twitter, when not attacking people, Sheen also likes to present him self as a caring family member and friend, regularly posting about his daughters and lost icons like Joan rivers, tweets that often are net with adoring comments of fans declaring their love of him and congratulations on news, thus maintaining his bond with fans and presenting himself as a human being after all.
Going through his feed he also interacts with fans mainly through talk of his shows or retweeting/sharing pictures of him and fans examples include:

By retweeting these photos/posts Sheen is showing himself as someone who cares for fans and will associate with them thus presenting his brand positively.

 

Despite this, there has been incidents of Sheen abusing his power, such as the time that his daughter was bullied at school and he urged fans to send abuse to her school (http://uk.eonline.com/news/397549/charlie-sheen-asks-fans-to-send-dog-s-t-and-rotted-egg-to-daughter-s-school-after-bullying-episode) I was unable to find the exact tweet as its been deleted however E online wrote he said: "Cadre! This is a legitimate call to arms. My daughter Sam was bullied out of Viewpoint school and then called a liar. It's on!" he tweeted. "If you have a rotted egg a roll of toilet paper or some dog s--t; I urge u to deliver it with 'extreme prejudice' to their KamPuss run by trolls and charlatans Make me proud." This is clearly about Sheen abusing his power thus promoting his brand negatively and there was no reports of an apology except for the fact he moved on from it showing he does stand by actions.

 

Sheens instagram is very similar to the positive side he tries to express on twitter, he posts pictures about work and family which I have assumed is the brand he tries to set. He doesn't seem to have fan photos on Instagram or respond that much to fans so its assumed his Instagram is more observational than interactive when it comes to fans. However when going into his tagged photos there are pictures of him socialising with fans thus meaning he doesn't have to post about fans as they do that for him:

From this study I can assume that Charlie Sheen has tried to build back his life after his public meltdown and despite having a few rants and misusing his power he tries to uphold the image of a work dedicated, fan friendly family man to positively present his brand.

 



Evolution of a specific media type in the last 2 decades: Eastenders (minus print)

Online access

The main difference between Eastenders now and when it first aired, is that it now has a broad range of media attached to it that is available online, compared to 1985 where online coverage simply did not exist. Being broadcast by the BBC, the company's first website was created for their BBC 2 series 'The net' however the BBCs online web presence officially became popular in 1997 due to a small rise in computer access by its audience. Due to its new found internet content (well... it was new at the time) it meant that the audience where allowed access to more content such as TV timetables of when the next episodes should be aired, cast information and much more.
 However due to the time period this was set it, you can imagine that the webpages would be of a shockingly poor quality to what we are used to today meaning there wouldn't be as much content available as there on the current webpage. The website is still around yet it has improved dramatically for when it was first created, it still has the old features of cast info etc. however it is much more advanced as there are more options such as episode guides, games and catch up. This shows the audiences change in demands, along with the revolution of better technology, the website has had to keep its audience interested, this is done by the added content i.e. 'behind the scenes' access you can get to help keep fans interested in the show and therefor maintain website page views. Another need comes in the form of catch up TV, three major things happened in 2007 for the BBC the first being the creation of BBC iplayer. The creation of iplayer shows that the audience demanded a viewing system that meant they could fit their favourite show into their busy lives, by having iplayer available to viewers it allows them the ability to watch Eastenders whenever and wherever they like instead of having to sit at a TV at the same time every night like when it was first broadcast.
The second thing that happened in 2007 was the fact that the BBC signed a deal with google that meant they could post videos onto YouTube, the deal changed advertising for the BBC as they could now post their advertisements onto their YouTube account as well as paying for their ads to be at the start of videos on already existing YT videos. From not only their account, you can also view clips, cast interviews etc. also, due to their 30th anniversary on both the official website and YT account you can watch the original first episodes from 1985 as celebration, this is excusive content as you can only watch it online. This shows a bigger change in audience needs as they not only want to watch last weeks episodes but they want content available from when it first aired, a notion that was not possible a decade ago due to a lack of technology. 
The final major change in 2007 was that with the revolution of the (then) new technology that is 3G it meant that Eastenders for the first time was available to be watched on mobile phones, this is only possible due to the creation and rise in smart phones, this again shows the audiences change in needs as watching their favourite show had then become even more accessible than just watching it on a computer meaning it was more portable and easier then ever to enjoy their show. All thanks to the technological revolution.

Print

Personal magazine cover

 

 

Cover with no text



Photos for the poem Defenceless

 

 

Broadcasting research/plan

 

Research/plan for Broadcasting

The plan to make the (approximately) 2 minute long TV advertisement had changed and I started to look more at what makes a good opening scene and opening credits for a crime drama, being a crime ‘drama’ you can gather that the programme can/will revolve more around the characters themselves, with a theme of crime.
In order to split the editing work equally me and my partner decided that I would edit the opening credits and she would edit the first scene, the filming/planning would be made together so we would be able to produce 2 pieces of work that would perfectly fit together to make one piece of broadcasting.

Credits

We plan to make opening credits (under a minute long) to open into the first scene.
Similarly to the True Blood opening credits, we wanted to create an idea of what the programme is about, True Blood use a fair bit of gore, sex and religious imagery in their opening scene to hint at what the show is about. Taking inspiration from this the plan is to feature short panning clips of location and the MISSING poster prop to give the audience a sense of what the programme will be about, the kind of location it is set and the general feel of a crime drama.

Also, inspiration was taken from the way the True Blood credits feature no main characters directly, in the credits we plan on having none of the main actors except the title credits. A similar idea is used in the hit series Game of Thrones as they have a changing cast due to plot changes and character deaths, as this is a crime drama featuring murder, having only names not faces in the credits can be useful for plot change.

Another important feature when creating a successful opening credits/title sequence is audio/music, the chosen music should fit the pace and theme of the sequence its used in, this can enhance any ideas the audience has about the programme or can even make it memorable if it become associated with that show.

 The song I chose to edit the opening credits to is Kids with guns by Gorillaz,
I decided on this song as I could picture using the numerous build ups In the song to enhance different parts of the clips as well as using the songs pace to set the general flow of the credits, I also thought that the song lyrics could hint towards a crime drama in particular a teen crime drama as the lyrics refer to 'Kids' and the 'guns', 'taking over' could hint towards the crime/murder aspect.

 Opening(first) scene

The opening scene will be edited by my partner (http://rabiaahmed1997.blogspot.co.uk/) For filming we plan to have camera angles from both p.o.v of the actor as well as wider shots as if they are being watched, the scene should hopefully look as if the actor Is being followed and is paranoid about such. cut scenes from the actor to clips of the MISSING poster being typed should give the impression that the actor is about to go missing and to build tension with some tense music building up in the back ground, this should end with a fade to black ready for the next scene.

Missing poster prop

 

Missing poster prop created for use in both print work and filming.

This was created in Microsoft word and a natural photo of the girl playing the victim was used, consent was given by the girl in question as she allowed for her photo to be used in both filming and printing.

Multiple printed copies of the poster were made (and aged using dirt, water and a blood like substance, also created) to be used in the project, this is the original I printed from.

 

 

 

In order to create this missing poster I researched/looked at past missing posters to get a sense of what a real missing persons poster would look like. Through Google I found a range of posters that had been created, I also found a website that provides people, wishing to create one, with information on how to do so as I tried to make the poster appear real. The website in question is http://knownasmonique.org/create-a-missing-person-poster

 

 

Print work teaser adverts. Subtle improvements/changes

 

 

These teaser posters are the final ones I will use, the 3rd will be added when it is finished. They have been edited to improve the colours and make them more vibrant to the audience as well as improving any parts that needed to be sharper.

Teaser posters for Missing (including E4 logo)

 

 

Teaser posters created for the TV show Missing, the missing poster prop was created by myself in Microsoft word and is one of many copies made (and distressed with dirt and water) for the project.

The 'I KNOW' letter was also created by me with newspaper lettering, the 2nd and 3rd photos, (with more editing changes) are the final ones I will submit however the first one will either be re-shot or edited to fit the programme better or be less obvious to the audience.

Inspiration for these shots was taken for the ad campaign for the E4 show Glue, as I chose the look at this show in particular is thought it was fitting to observe the Glue teaser posters as well as the shows title sequence for their first (opening) episode as that is the other part of the brief my partner (http://rabiaahmed1997.blogspot.co.uk/) and I chose to complete.

Teaser poster (Missing): E4 logo

 

 

This logo was created using a guide made by E4 that includes templates of the elements used to create similar logos (creating the E4 identity) as well as information/examples into what is considered a conventional E4 logo.

The link for this guide is here;

http://www.channel4.com/about_c4/styleguide/e4styleguide/e4-brand-guidelines.pdf

Here is the one I made to add to my teaser posters for the TV show the will be created called 'Missing'