Commissions Unit: Fan Development/Research

To help make sure that we have chosen the right fans, and to make sure that we portray them efficiently so that the audience know who and how are characters are, I've decided to do a little bit of some fan research. This escalated from some of the feedback Helen gave us, so I have decided to evaluate the Gaga fan reaction from the 'Graham Norton Show' as well as showing how we are going to portray are characters.

The Graham Norton Show: Lady Gaga Fan Reaction

When watching the video, you can see how it is the fan himself who makes the story here (and in most cases). His reactions to seeing his hero are priceless which works in two ways as it remains very entertaining and humorous as well as inspiring for him as he gets to meet Lady Gaga. Nonetheless, there is also a conservable amount of emotions within this 3 minute clip which works extraordinary well considering the clip is so short, that the audience see humour and happiness within this time.

Therefore, this is a perfect example of showing how the fan plays a huge role within the narrative (particularly in documentaries). Without this reaction this clip probably wouldn't be as funny and entertaining as it was.

So what are my group and I trying to get from our fans? What do we want them to do?

Jake: Gaga Fan

Out of our two fans, Jake is definitely our strongest character. This is a mixture of him generally seeming more of a fan compared to Kylie, however more importantly because of his uniqueness and generally being unordinary, considering he is male and his hero is a female artist. This is reinforced by him knowing Gaga's dance moves and even dressing up like her. 

However, what makes Jake stand out (his USP) is his different approach for inspiring towards his hero. He began to talk to us discussing how Lady Gaga made him feel confident about his sexuality due to her 'Anti Gay Protests', as well as him finding her general outcomes and persona inspiring which he follows, giving him the confidence he has now. Our group learnt that although he is very energetic and forward, he is deep down quite insecure, which however has been influenced by Lady Gaga.

Thus, our group and I should try to focus on the idea of Jake being insecure and how Lady Gaga gave him the confidence and status has now. This will help to include emotiveness within our documentary as some of the audience may be able to relate to the character's emotions, or if not understand how being a super fan does have its benefits.

Kylie & Jaimie: Girls Aloud Fans

Although not as strong as Jake, Kylie & Jaimie still remain quite strong super fans. The only downfall is ironically because of the fan's hero - Girls Aloud no longer tour due to them already having their reunion after they split up. This puts us in a difficult position as we can't follow them as they go to see the band or anything similar, meaning there won't be much actuality for this section.

However, as spoke about in our feedback, we are aiming to follow the idea of following a Girls Aloud tribute - to show how our fans are still trying to see anything close of seeing the girl band again, even though they know its not them. it still allows them to review all of the songs and dances they sung, but ironically just isn't them!

So my group and I found a Girls Aloud tribute band called 'Girls Allowed', whom have their own website called: www.girlsallowedtribute.com. We then browsed the website and found their email address, where we then contacted them. Our aims are to:

     - Film their performance, focusing on not only their performance but also on our fans' reactions to
       their performance i.e. excited, them dancing, etc.
     - The build up and journey of the gig i.e. do they listen to them whilst they travel to go see them
     - Interviewing the group asking basic questions as well as anything relating to the idea of fans

Bouncer Character

The bouncer should wear (if he has it) the uniform he
wears at work. Security logo, walkie talkies, hats, etc.
Anything iconic which the audience can identify as a security guard.

Unlike our two main characters, this character should focus more on the stories than the character itself. This is because for this we are aiming for some surprising and unexpected stories about the extents fans would go through just to see their heroes. Therefore the character isn't entirely important - however, the bouncer should obviously not be monotonous and boring. 

We want our audience to believe that he is actually a bouncer (and isn't set up and fake), so having him in his uniform and having the right persona (standing up straight, serious NVC, etc) must be evident otherwise the audience may not believe that he is real.

Therefore, I feel like my group and I now know exactly the idea of what we want from our characters. Jake's story is more emotive and serious, where as Kylie & Jaimie is more comedic yet original as the audience may want to know what they do now that the band isn't together. Whereas our bouncer character must have interesting and believable stories. This can be influenced potentially by any evidence he may have (i.e. photos). The character must easily be recognised as a bouncer and could even be positioned where he usually works (main location) and all the gear he uses as a bouncer.