Uk politics in the Media

I'm normally immersed in a world of news and tech, and surprisingly sometimes despite this I do miss the big stories of the day but the one I can't miss is the upcoming UK election. I make my political views known. I say things like, "if you don't vote you have no right to complain about anything you don't agree with the govenment is involved in".

So why am I writing politics now and why is it a big deal? The truth is the biggest shake up in political history is happening right now and the media is at the center of it all.

In the past the papers would decide which party they were backing, the sun for example supported conservative for years until it decided Tony Blair and Labor was the horse to back and supported them, and now they are trying to back conservative once again, with the hopes of persuading the voters once again.

Now for the first time ever, the three main parties have done three live TV debates, a surprise when you consider this is the norm in America. The main reason is a loss of voters, the UK has seen voters, especially the young deserting the polls.  Another reason is it's the first time that no party was clearly going to win from the beginning.The reason it hasn't happened before the party in power was certain to win  and those out of power knew it.

So with these debates now all over what can we learn? The media has really opened up democracy in the uk. The debates have given platforms for the parties and we have seen big changes in the way people want to vote. The press coverage has increased in a way I've not known and the reaction from the debates has started bringing politics into daily conversation like an Eastenders storyline.

These debates and politics in the media still need to be improved, as you can tell there's lots that has gone wrong over this debate. That could actually be a good thing, with little spin just the person laid bare has it's advantages, but on the other hand we like things to run smoothly. I'm hoping that this is the start of an ever evolving politics in the UK, too long we have stuck with the safe but flawed system. Democracy should develop with its citizens and for the first time in a while we are seeing another shake up to bring democracy into relevance of today.

I guess the only way we will tell if these changes are going to work is by the results on election night. I for one hope it's just the first step on the long road and step they'll step away from.

UK Film Marketing - needs pirates

I've had a busy few weeks and I have lots of things I want to blog about but I was relaxing in front of a film last night and a subject close I like to talk about came up. UK Film, in particular in this case the marketing.

I was watching 'the Boat that Rocked' and I realized something, despite its OK success, it's marketing was crap. The trailer just didn't sell the film in UK, I've since gone on line for this blog and found an American trailer that sold the film so much better.

This isn't the first time I've seen this, I quiet often have my head in film trailers and enjoy watching films when I can and especially British, but sometimes the trailer doesn't sell the film in the way it should. I'm first to admit there have been some dodgy UK films that had the potential to wow but didn't because people were put off by the trailer.  Recently I've seen UK cinema improve to its glory days but the marketing is just bad, its like the person who edited the trailer didn't actualy watch the film, or didn't care enough to create a trailer that sold the main idea properly.

Here are some of my favorite, trailers for good films, that didn't quiet sell the film.  Though I must admit it was the whole marketing that failed these. 

The Italian Job
Lesbian Vampire Killers
I Want Candy 

So here is what I advise to UK film industry, get better marketers this country can sell papers on a celebs latest drunk night out. They can make and break politicians with facebook updates but they we sell a film, why is that. The UK film industry needs to find a way of creating the revolution music saw in the boat that rocked, then maybe it can have it's summer of love. Pirate radio promoted music people loved, so maybe pirates are what are needed to promote cinema people love. I don't condone pirate videos but maybe its whats needed till the industry can supply what the public want.