Kate Does "The Daily Mail"

[mku77]

Here is a in depth article from a very "esteemed" Conservative Newspaper,

It's long,very long,

But a good insight into Current viewing figures-2.3 Million if we are to believe Miles


tinyurl.com/39oa5r



A Little snip from the journalist.....


"There seems to be a definite need for face-to-face interaction for the fans,' he said. 'Guerrilla film-making is more responsive to that type of audience.

'Once you're in this once, that's not where it stops. We will keep bringing you back. If you do well today, then the scriptwriters will write you in again and again and again for sure.

'You need to respond to your audience. They will be wanting to ask you all kinds of questions. “How hot is Tariq? Is Kate really an artist?” They will read things into your appearance. “Is she a Watcher? Is she part of the cult Hymn Of One? Maybe she's an Elder. Is she after Kate's blood?”'

The internet community is notoriously fickle in its likes and dislikes, and fashions come and go in the blink of a cursor. I, meanwhile, am a level-headed and objective journalist whose job it is to take the long view.

But what Rowe appears to be saying is that I could be in on the ground floor with a recurring role in a pioneering show that is spearheading a marketing revolution and could possibly mean the beginning of the end for television.

My episode can be viewed tonight. In the meantime, I'm off to set up a Bebo profile for my fans. "

[elixir]

Oh dear. Long? Yes. In depth? Not so sure about that one. There's only so many times I can read shit like this before my head explodes.

I suppose I've gotten somewhat used to the lies about the views and the "interactive elements." While there are some, they are few and far between, highly manipulated, and certainly not groundbreaking.

It also grinds my gears when they compare LG and KM to television shows et cetera that really do have a much higher quality. This line in particularly made me laugh; 'Both Lonelygirl15 and KateModern are mixtures of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or X-Files and Dawson's Creek, teen dramas with a twist of the occult.'

Since when was the X Files a teen drama? And where was the occult in Dawson's Creek? Basically those two shows are padding, as it is really just a really cheap, lame version of Buffy. And no I am not a Buffy fan. But yes, I do know quality when I see it, even if it's not my taste.

And is it just me, or was that article (in particular Tara's comments) rather insulting towards the fans? I found it quite patronising. Even the reporter suggesting basically that these lame internet viewers will become her fans now after her one big line. I hope they don't involve her in the story. Not because I don't like her, but because it would not make sense in-plot. She was just some random woman.

Jessica Rose being a bigger internet star than Paris Hilton? I wish it were so, but honestly I don't know anyone who knows who Jessica Rose is, or what Lonelygirl15 is - unless I've told them. Yet, everyone I know knows about, or has seen Paris Hilton's sex video that is floating around the internet. Besides, I'm sure "Paris Hilton" has been googled more than "Jessica Rose."

...And if I have to hear about how fickle I am one more effing time!!!!!!!! Don't they realise, that like TV, if you have something made of quality, you can hold people's attentions spans.

Anyway, there's more I could go on about, but frankly I don't have the energy to do it anymore.

Still, great find Mku. It is interesting to see the information the general public is exposed to, and of what kind of spin the creators of these shows put forth to the press.

[oweniscool]

Ugh, I'm so sick of hearing that these shows are a serious threat to television. I don't see hordes of people switching off their tv to go watch a 2-minute episode of KM. If internet TV wants to substitute cable, it it YEARS away from delivering programming of near the production quality. Not to mention that we are increasingly seeing established tv networks promoting and even offering full episodes of their shows online, so more likely what we will see is these companies play both mediums for a while.

[elixir]

Yeah I think it will be more like TV and internet will kind of merge. You know how mobile phones these days are not just phones, but cameras and music players too. Well I think it might go this way with TV and Internet, so the programming will be the same as we see on TV now, but we will get to watch it on our computers and portable devices.

They are already starting to do this. I think that if internet series don't improve their quality soon they might just all but die out if this happens, and more people choose to watch TV shows on their computers, rather than independent productions like what we are seeing online now.

Maybe there will only be one or two exceptional shows that actually make it big. I think it will increasingly get harder and harder for independent productions to cut through. So I think they should make use of the time now, and work on the quality of their productions to make it big, before TV merges anymore with the online world.

[milowent]

Ok, ok, ok.

If you didn't already know the British press is completely prone to overexagerration, here is the millionth proof in this article mku77 posted.

i have never read the daily mail. i know of it only thru its mention in the classic Smiths song, the queen is dead:

I said Charles, don't you ever crave
To appear on the front of the Daily Mail
Dressed in your Mother's bridal veil ?

-------

Welcome to my webworld: How our reporter became star of UK's first online soap
By CLAUDIA JOSEPH

KateModern is Britain's first online soap opera. With 2.3million viewers and advertisers paying £250,000 for product placement [that's $500,000 U.S. per advertiser! this is big leagues], it has become an internet phenomenon and a serious threat to the future of TV. [come on! i bet no one fact checked that statement.] Claudia Joseph went on set to investigate...and became the drama's latest star. [this is the shite they want housewifes dreaming of - wow! she's on katemodern! let me go make a response video! apparently the reporter fell for it too! she became a "star"? she was on camera for about 2 seconds!]

Walking down the escalator into Liverpool Street station in London to buy some sunflowers from a florist, I pray I will not fluff my lines – sorry, my line.

Leading lady Alexandra Weaver walks up to me, webcam in hand, and admires my colourful bouquet.

I flash her a beaming smile and say: 'They are beautiful, aren't they?' Then I turn on my heels and leave. It's all over in one take, lasting about five seconds. [but you are a star, claudia!]

My appearance in the 44th 'webisode' of Britain's first online interactive soap opera, KateModern, may be fleeting but it is still exciting to be part of a show that is fast becoming the must-watch phenomenon for the internet generation. [Must-watch? Who is paying for this article? The Brits don't tend to be as critical for their own though, do they? At least not here.]

KateModern, which launched last month on the social networking website Bebo, charts the ups and downs of the eponymous teenage art student – the title, I'm informed, is a play on Tate Modern.

The drama revolves around Kate, her Australian flatmate Charlie, her Muslim boyfriend Tariq and his business partner Gavin, played by Royle Family actor Ralf Little.

It has already been seen by more than 2.3million people, viewing figures that many prime-time TV programmes would be proud of – and the number is growing. [2.3 million - at best - over 44 episodes. that's about 52,000 views per episode, and i doubt its that high on average actually.]

Advertisers are apparently falling over themselves to get on board since Bebo reaches an audience of nearly 11 million people aged between 15 and 30.

The show takes the format of a video blog or diary and is posted on the internet daily in short webisodes, each lasting between one and three minutes.

It aims to replicate the phenomenal success of Lonelygirl15, ostensibly the video diary of a Californian teenager called Bree who posted short films on video-sharing website YouTube about her problems with her religious parents.

Lonelygirl15 started in June last year and initially purported to be a genuine blog.

It became a huge success, peaking at 50 million hits, but was eventually outed as a fake by suspicious viewers who recognised Bree as New Zealand actress Jessica Lee Rose, a graduate of the New York Film Academy. [the average reader will think this means 50 million regular viewers, instead of just 50 million views across all the videos]

The news did not seem to affect the show's audience – it only increased its popularity. [this is now common folklore, though its far from true.] Lonelygirl15 has just screened its 276th webisode and Rose appears in Lindsay Lohan's latest film, I Know Who Killed Me.

She is now a United Nations ambassador and was named by Forbes business magazine as the biggest celebrity on the internet – bigger even than Paris Hilton. [Wow, even the UN got dragged up again? I wonder how much Jessica has been doing for the UN lately? And I do love the claim that she is bigger than Paris Hilton, since I once claimed JRo was bigger than LLo.]

Former medical student Miles Beckett, 29, conceived the idea of Lonelygirl15 with screenwriter Mesh Flinders after seeing how popular video blogs were on YouTube. 'It started out as a girl in her bedroom video blogging but it has expanded way beyond that,' Beckett says.

'Both Lonelygirl15 and KateModern are mixtures [read: mishmash] of Buffy The Vampire Slayer or X-Files and Dawson's Creek, teen dramas with a twist of the occult.

In KateModern there is a secret society called Hymn Of One, who are the bad guys, and girls with special “trait positive” blood, whom they want for evil purposes. [please forgive me, i have to confess i wondering if the Tampax commercial was going to be connected to the trait positive storyline. the order stole my tampax! i apologize in advance for trying to make any humour out of "female issues"]

'In Lonelygirl15, you can watch the videos, interact with the characters by sending them messages and solve puzzles which organically pop up in the storyline. [What does organically mean here? Like organic tomatoes? Puzzles always have to inserted into the storyline, people don't normally communicate in scratchy videos with binary and the such.]

There are even opportunities for live events in the real world. We are now bringing that same world to the UK.

Beckett and another Lonelygirl15 co-creator, lawyer Greg Goodfried, 28, are behind KateModern. But this time the team has made it clear that the show is fiction not fact.

Instead of posting the blogs on YouTube, the producers have chosen Bebo, currently the UK's most popular social networking site.

Fans are encouraged to contact the characters, registering as friends on their Bebo profiles.

They are also invited to search for hidden clues in the storyline and even influence the plot by making suggestions.

Series producer Pete Gibbons, 28, ensures that the content and interaction is strictly monitored. 'I don't think it will ever get rid of TV,' he says, 'but it's definitely a step in that direction.

'It's something a lot of young people are getting involved in right now. It is also trailblazing for brand integration and sponsorship.'

Indeed, the show's unashamedly commercial edge has created something of a stir on the internet. Brand integration – or product placement, as it's more commonly known – has been around for a long time in TV and films but is usually kept low-key.

In KateModern it is very much upfront, maybe because it funds the show's entire £1million budget. [my god! glenn must be cursing when he reads this shit.]

Blue-chip companies such as MSN, Procter & Gamble, Orange and Paramount have paid around £250,000 each to advertise their brands for six months within the show. [$500,000 PER ADVERTISER. Hershey's paid only $10,000!!! You know Miles and Greg are laughing their asses off now. I hope Mesh is cashing in too. I wish I got a share of lg15 for my $5 paypal donation last november.]
Bebo's international president, Joanna Shields, 45, says: 'KateModern is a great proposition for advertisers and brands. Bebo users average 41 minutes per session and that can't be ignored.' [though 38 out of those 41 minutes are usually spent in cybersex IM sessions.]

Bafta award-winner and Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell, who is currently appearing in the film Hallam Foe, made a guest appearance in a recent webisode in which Charlie got his autograph.

'My first experience of internet drama with KateModern was great,' he says. 'It was fascinating to get involved in something so unique. The internet is a big part of my own life.' [like those cybersex sessions.]

Filming my own cameo role earlier this week, I met Alexandra Weaver, who plays Kate, and Tara Rushton, who takes the part of her friend Charlie.

Weaver, the beautiful 22-year-old granddaughter of The Long Good Friday director John Mackenzie, landed her role after playing a pregnant teenager in medical drama Holby City and Evelyn Carnarvon in the BBC's Egypt.

'I originally thought, “Ooh internet, that could be a bit dodgy,”' she says. 'But the more I read up about it and looked into Lonelygirl15, the more I realised that this is the new media phenomenon.

'When you first finish drama school, you have these expectations of how you want your career to go and then reality sets in. It's a hard career to follow. I'm just looking for good scripts to work. If that brings fame, so be it.

'I've become a massive internet junkie since being Kate. It has caused loads of arguments with my boyfriend. [because he disapproves of cybersex sessions and messages from mku77]

Every day I go home and I'm on the internet for about an hour or two looking at the comments that the fans are writing to Kate.'

For former model Rushton, 23, KateModern is her first acting experience.

'Some of the fans are very die-hard,' she laughs. 'I have been asked to go and hang out in Texas and there is a Charlie Appreciation Society, which has been started by a guy called Thomas. [Why say his name is Thomas? I'm no copy editor, but that doesn't seem relevant. I.e., not only did someone start a fan club for Charlie! But it was a Guy! Named Thomas! Like Thomas The Tank Engine! Which is British too!]

'He has been putting up his own video blog, where he sits in his studio with no shirt on talking about his love for my character. [oh, what i have missed lately. shirtless charlie fans!]

'It's very flattering. I don't get fazed by things like that. He probably thinks we are quite good friends.' [Thomas says - thanks for that crumb of semi-acknowledgment, you were much nicer when we had cybersex]

The show is filmed in a warehouse flat in Shoreditch, East London, on two cameras. A basic webcam is used for the video blogs and a Sony Z1 for the more professional shots.

Being a relatively low-budget production [except for the $2 million+ in advertising money], there isn't a hairdresser or make-up artist, but a stylist helps choose the girls' wardrobes and clothing industry sponsors donate outfits.

'Miles Beckett was very specific in how he wanted Kate,' explains Weaver.

'It's difficult when you are on a budget. I bring some of my own clothes sometimes when I feel Kate's wardrobe is pretty limited.' [Grant Steinfeld took a picture of Jess Rose's suitcase last summer - you could see some of the outfits she wore in videos in it.]

The director for my scene was Gavin Rowe, a music-video producer who has worked with the likes of Natasha Bedingfield and McFly.

He is convinced that IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is the future – despite the short attention span and fickleness of its audience and fears that quality will be driven down. Bizarrely, he is so impressed by my fleeting cameo that he invites me back. [as long as she keeps writing stuff like this, of course.]

'There seems to be a definite need for face-to-face interaction for the fans,' he said. 'Guerrilla film-making is more responsive to that type of audience.

'Once you're in this once, that's not where it stops. We will keep bringing you back. If you do well today, then the scriptwriters will write you in again and again and again for sure.

'You need to respond to your audience. They will be wanting to ask you all kinds of questions. “How hot is Tariq? Is Kate really an artist?” They will read things into your appearance. “Is she a Watcher? Is she part of the cult Hymn Of One? Maybe she's an Elder. Is she after Kate's blood?”' [This is fascinating. here we have a crew member trumpeting the fact that fans will take any minor character and run crazy with theories! It revels in the creation of pink herrings! But I personally believe Claudia Joseph is indeed a Watcher.]

The internet community is notoriously fickle in its likes and dislikes, and fashions come and go in the blink of a cursor. I, meanwhile, am a level-headed and objective journalist whose job it is to take the long view. [sure. 100% objective.]

But what Rowe appears to be saying is that I could be in on the ground floor with a recurring role in a pioneering show that is spearheading a marketing revolution and could possibly mean the beginning of the end for television.

My episode can be viewed tonight. In the meantime, I'm off to set up a Bebo profile for my fans. [she's really sucked in huh? let's start a fan appreciation group for her. shirtless response videos anyone? And don't forget to msg her for cybersex!]

[flautapantera]

Oh holy CheezWhiz®, Milo. How I love (and have missed) your article notations...

[elixir]

I second that, FP. Milo, this was cracking me up. I didn't understand the whole "organic" thing either. I personally thought the puzzles were more genetically engineered.

[Tempestarii]

I despise that Tory rag. Really despise. They have written pieces calling for all a return to a Christian only society, calling for women to cease having a career as it has shaken up British life as we know it, oh and lavish articles on the beauty and grace of some latest inbred royal mare.


Bleurgh. Plus a majority of the Mail readers would not even know what Bebo is let alone the internet.

[hyemew]

I agree Milo, let's start a movement to get a return on our investments heh.

And are they serrrrrious that KM has a 1 million pound budget? Cause that's kiiiind of ridiculous.

This for a show which doesn't surpass 5k views a week on YouTube? I can't find the stats for bebo vids, which is a much better measure of it's audience, but a recent video Ultimatum has 33 comments, Gavin Steps Up has 14 comments, and Forgiveness Prevails? haha to the LG reference has 23 comments. I didn't pick the three lowest, just three at random.

A Google blog search (which canvases a huge amount of blogs for search terms) has 496 hits for KateModern and 391 for "Kate Modern". All that really matters when measuring is the amount of hits though, so if anyone has that information I'd be much obliged. I see the Daily Telegram claimed 3 million views for the first three weeks (but where did that information come from? The same counter that said 300,000 fans dropped by November's Bree chat?) but a 1 million pound budget for these little videos seems completely ridiculous. Just seems like an audience that large would supply more than 30 comments per video on Bebo.
If they can get it more power to them, but it both makes me wonder why so much is needed to make little 2 minute videos of people carrying around webcams and with so many problems in the world why companies are choosing to spend this amount of money to get a few mentions in a youtube video.

[wixy15]

tempestarii said:

I despise that Tory rag. Really despise. They have written pieces calling for all a return to a Christian only society, calling for women to cease having a career as it has shaken up British life as we know it, oh and lavish articles on the beauty and grace of some latest inbred royal mare.


Bleurgh. Plus a majority of the Mail readers would not even know what Bebo is let alone the internet.

Gotta love the mail. It is brilliant, the views are often shared by many but are not spoken in public because of the right wing nature. I totally agree with the stuff they write about the illegals and state of the imigration laws (?!?).