Marketing

Marketing around big productions always help the box office. Might be for good or bad, but it always causes a big impact. With the brazilian film "The Elite Squad" (or Tropa de Elite") for example, it might not have been on purpose, but the fact that it was the first brazilian film to hit the streets way before its original release date brought a big discussion to the film that definitely helped the huge success when it finally premiered.

Not the same thing but, with Cloverfield, marketing was a plus to make it so succesful in its first week. J.J. Abrams, the producer of "Lost" and also creator of Cloverfield, created the suspense and curiosity behind the film months before it was supposed to hit the screens. Nobody knew what Cloverfield was, and everybody went to the movie theaters on January 18th to find out what it was about.

In Brazil, however, the story was a bit different. There are just a few people, mostly fans of J.J Abrams work with Lost and other productions, that had followed the whole internet marketing with Cloverfield and were waiting eagerly to watch the movie. Most people, on the other hand, had no idea what it was until they saw the trailer at the screens or something about the premiere on the internet. But as soon as they read the title of the movie in portuguese they knew exactly what was in the film - "Cloverfield - Monster".

Cloverfield is good because it is totally different from anything around. The script is built in a total different way, it has the "Blairwitch" style of filming, as if one character was always with the camera on his hand, filming their escape from a monster that had attacked NYC. The problem is that when people hear it is about a monster, that is not very attractive. There are thousands of films about monsters and most of them are pretty dumb and bad. Cloverfield has a different approach and it is not about the monster - that is not the main story line. It is about their escape, what they feel when, for example, a character has to answer his mother on the telephone and tells her that her son is dead. It makes you feel as if you were there.

In my opinion, however, it would be a lot more succesful if not even in the film people found out what was attacking NYC. Might sound a bit crazy - but could be something like "Lost", where you never know what is the supernatural things around the island, or even if they are supernatural or not. It would be a lot more - intriguing, and would not bring the monster film stereotype to everyone who reads what the movie is all about.

The music business

A lot of people talk about the music industry crisis that is happening today. Bands have gone independent and are now using the internet features to get to their fans; youtube has changed the way people watch videos on the internet; tv series are being watched all over the world through the computer. And those who are mainstream are often criticised for being manipulated by the big industry guys who just want to make money.

In my opinion, each artist should get recognition for what they worked for. There are bands that I like that are meaningful because of their work, because of their writing abilities, because of how they treat their sound to become something inspiring, and they do it all by themselves. But you can't deny that there are bands and artists that are just, let's say, fun. I don't think there's a problem with that.

For example: Does anybody know about John Shanks? Maybe some of you do, but I believe most people have never heard of him. Have you heard, however, about Michelle Branch, Hilary Duff, Anastacia, Alanis Morisette, Ashlee Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Lindsay Lohan, Backstreet Boys, Celine Dion... I guess you have. John Shanks is a writer and producer and he worked with all of those artists, writing with them or for them, and producing their entire album. That's saying something. I have no idea if the guy is nice or whatever, but someone that did all of that certainly knows something about writing songs that people will like. And there's no shame in that.

I don't think it's very wise to say that Hilary Duff is the best singer and writer of all times. She's not. But she managed to work with the right people and build a fan base that sells out most of her concerts, and that goes to the movie theater to watch her movies.

Each one has their on carreer path, and should be recognized for that. And also, those who work backstage should also get their credit.

This is what this blog is about. You can like pop, rock, jazz, dance, punk, or whatever. You don't need to follow a trend or like only one of those things. You can like them all and admire those who worked to get it done. You're not emo just because you like Simple Plan. Maybe you just like Simple Plan, period.