JO REPORT LITERARY AWARDS

Introduction

In this report I am writing about Literary Awards. I will cover the importance of Literary Awards, their place in the media, the reading public, and the novel ‘Sister’ written by Rosamund Lupton.

Literary awards are presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. Many of the awards are dedicated to a genre of fiction or non-fiction writing; this could be science fiction or politics. There are also awards for several forms of writing such as poetry and novels.

The importance of literary awards

Literary awards can be made very successful in the media. Not only do the authors win a sum of money, they gain acknowledgment and a much higher respect of their work. Even being nominated can be a huge achievement. Winning a literary award provides you with a large amount of publicity and can make you very successful amongst the media industry by being presented with the honour.

The reading public

There is a high probability that the public would be more interested in a prize winning book because that will assure them that it’s incredible, whether it be mystery, non-fiction, or even poetry. Although this may be the case, many readers may take the most interest in the authors they already know. Just because an author hasn't received an award for their book/novel, it doesn’t mean that the public will be less interested in it. The publicity gained from an award will most certainly increase the amount of readers.

'Sister' by Rosamund Lupton

Successful novelist Rosamund Lupton, read English Literature at Cambridge University which then lead to a variety of jobs in London, including copywriting and reviewing for the Literary Review. Her first book Sister was published by Piatkus on September 2nd 2010. It was voted the best book in the first Richard and Judy WHSmith Book Club by readers and New York Times' best-seller. Over 600,000 copies were sold to date in the UK and Ireland, this showed to be the winner of the Best Debut of 2011. Sister was Lupton's most successful book.

Sister is about the bond between sisters. When Beatrice's sister Tess goes missing, she goes to find her and begins to learn the circumstances surrounding her sister's disappearance, which shocks her of how little she really knows about Tess' life. Everyone accepts they have lost Tess but Beatrice refuses to give up on her sister, as she sets off on a dangerous journey to discover the truth she is unprepared for the terrifying things she must now face.

The excellent mystery fiction book Sister was the winner of Best First Novel at the 2011 Strand Magazine Critics Awards. The Critics Awards were judged by a select group of book critics and journalists, from news venues such as USA Today, the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune. The awards were announced at an invitation-only cocktail party which was hosted by The Strand on July 11 2012, in New York City.

Conclusion

Not only do Literary Awards gain publicity of the authors work, but also give the author a great sense of achievement. For instance, Rosamund Lupton said: "Strand Magazine has such an impressive history and I am honoured that Sister was chosen for this award. it means a great deal to be selected by judges who understand and love books and from such an impressive list of fellow novelists."

Australian author Richard Flanagan wrote a critique of literary awards, saying juries can be influenced by vandettas, paybacks and payoffs, "most judges are fair-minded people. But hate, conceit and jealousy are no less human attributes than wisdom, judgment and knowledge." The issue of book prizes sometimes competing with one another means the goals don't always coincide with anointing the best winner. For example, when juries can't decide between two books, they will compromise with a third inoffensive bland book. Flanagan says there are now so many awards and prices it has diluted the prestige of being a prize winning book. I share the same views on literary awards as Flanagan because although he is not against literary awards, he believes they should not be taken too seriously as a form of support for literary culture.

Bibliography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_award

http://www.rosamundlupton.com/

INFO FOR ARGO

Who produced the film – Ben Affleck, George Clooney, Grant Heslov

What studio –

Running time – 120 mins

What location – USA – no way for them to go to Iran for-on location productions. Southern California, Beverly Hills, North Hills

Cert (UK) – 15

The films budget - $44.5million

Date of release – 4^th October 2012 and DVD release February 19^th 2013

Names of characters and organizations involved in the film –

How much of the story was based on fact –

How much it was at the box office

Domestic: $135,994,917

Foreign: $95,800,000

Cast: Alan Arkin, Ben Afleck, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Denham, Clea Duvall, John Goodman, Kerry Bishe, Rory Cochrane, Scoot McNairy, Tate Donovan, Victor Garber

TRAILER ANALYSIS 1.     How has ‘Argo’ been marketed? (What type of film are they trying to sell to the audience?) Political documentary 2.     Which of the film’s USPs are highlighted in the trailer? Based on true events, actors, genre 3.     Is this an accurate representation of the film? I would say that it is an accurate representation of the film because it shows clips of the main sequences but does not give away too much information; it entices you to watch it.  4.     How are the technical elements utilised for the trailer? The backing music creates suspense and the emotion by having a fast pace or sudden volume.

NARRATIVE STRANDS Task: Identify the key narrative strands 1. The 6 houseguests 2. Mendez/Harkins 3. CIA 4. Hollywood 5. Hostages 6. Iranians 7. Sahir Task: Q - What is the role of each narrative? 1. Empathy, humanity, realism, audience 2. Audience, hero 3. Hope, saviours, safe zone, create tension 4. Light relief, provided the audience with a safe zone 5. Create suspense/terror, reminder of what was happening 6. Evil 7. Victim Task Q - How do they compliment each other? It takes you on an emotional rollercoaster, they all link. You need the Hollywood and CIA to make you feel safe with the tension from the Iranians and emotion created by the Hostages. Mendez is the constant link throughout the film; we follow him when all the other narrative strands are introduced.

Tasks:

1.    Write a detailed, critical review of ARGO (1000-1012 words). This will be suitable for publication within a number of Broadsheet Newspapers (within the Media/Arts Review sections) and Specialist Texts eg: Sight & Sound, Empire Magazine.

-       The review will include:

-       A general introduction stating Title, Director, Producer, Genre Cinematographer, Principal Actors, Release date etc.

-       A detailed consideration of Target Audience

-       An outline of the plot  (Narrative structure)

-       A subjective, informed response which will include reference to Macro and Micro elements of Film Analysis.

-       This will involve a close analysis of selected sequences (opening/final and one of your choice) to illustrate your critical points.

-       Your analysis must include reference to the audience’s emotional response.

-       The different responses/reaction/feelings you felt whilst watching the film

-       Who might not like the film and why.

-       Not all your points may be positive but it is important to fully justify any negative criticisms

-       Refer to the marketing techniques used to sell the film, was this accurate?

-        

Keep the Target Audience for this article clearly in mind at all stages!

Structure the review carefully in accordance with the ‘Inverted Triangle’ principle.

YOU MUST SUBMIT:

• Written copy of your film review (page layout optional)
• All drafts, notes taken whilst watching films and in class note sheets (Film Journalism Worksheet, Technical Elements, ARGO film analysis sheet)