Lines of business are ways that businesses gain revenue. For Vice, their business lines are multiple categories for their audiences.

Each business line caters to different business and media. These are treated as if they have their own audience, but people often cross over.

Vices business lines:

Vice Media -This is where they post online content on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, etc.

Vice Studios – They do films and documentaries with no hidden content. They say it as it is. There are no concerns about offending comments or footage, etc

Vice TV – Here they do tv shows for young adults

Vice News -A news channel for mainly young adults the content they show is chosen to entice a younger generation of viewers. There is no censorship and they say it as it is.

Virtue – This is a branding and advertising site. Toyota and Samsung use Virtue to advertise their products to Millenials and young adults. Toyota is trying to make some of their cars in their range appeal to the younger generation so they advertise on Virtue, cars such as the Aygo model designed with the young person in mind. They know that the target audience is young adults, therefore they choose Virtue.

Production formats:

Production formats are products that can be achieved and produced. Here are some examples and how I could make use of them for my Culture Brief. Production formats go hand in hand with a business line.

Short film/documentary

I could make a short film or documentary about theme parks, which is what I am hoping to do. A documentary or a vlog about Alton Towers or Roller Coasters would be a good idea.

Short films are usually 2-20 minutes and short documentaries can vary in length. I will keep my documentary/vlog short if possible, so it doesn’t drag and be boring to watch.

This fits into Vice Studios if it was a documentary as they do films and documentaries. Vice Media if it is a Vlog, is because the platforms for vlogs are usually found on Social Media such as YouTube and Instagram.

I would have to make sure my documentary was suitable for Vice Studios audience by making sure it featured things that 18-24-year-olds would find enjoyable like fast coasters. For example, I will not bother filming the young children’s area as I don’t think this is what my audience and Vice Studios audience will want to see. Instead, I will concentrate on the big rollercoasters, The Smiler, etc. It would have to be informative to make it a documentary. I could talk about good and bad things that have happened at parks as it’s content that they would talk about or I could just talk about positive things.

Here is a documentary about Alton Towers’s 1997 season and the opening of Oblivion:

It is very informative, interesting and told like a story. I could take inspiration from this for my documentary if I choose to do one.

Music video

I could make a music/typography video that takes place in a theme park

Music videos are filmed in person, or done as a lyric video using after effects such as text and motion graphics

This fits into Vice Media as it is online content. It could be showcased on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook, for example.

Here is an example of a song about a theme park and a music video set in a theme park (swear word warning): This would be ok to broadcast on Vice Media as there is no censorship on this business line.

2d animation

I could make a 2d animation about theme parks which is my backup idea in case I don’t go to a theme park. This could be about the top 10 best roller coasters in the world or a steampunk-themed roller coaster as steampunk is quite popular at the moment, but it would be difficult to do in 2d.

Animations don’t need to be complicated or long, just long enough to tell the story or message you want to show.

This fits into Vice Media as it is online content. However, I might have to change my idea slightly to make it more humorous for young adults by putting in adult humour. I will probably use YouTube to upload the video.

An example of a 2d animation of a roller coaster:

Zine campaign

I could make a Zine about theme parks, I could look at a specific theme park and talk about it. A theme park that’s popular with young adults, as they are the target audience of Vice Virtue, Thorpe Park. For example, it has extreme roller coasters.

Zines are booklets made by someone or a group that is aimed at marketing a certain topic.

This fits into Vice Virtue, as it is branding and marketing

Stop motion

I could make a stop motion video about theme parks but there isn’t any time for me to make one, which is a shame because I would like to make one.

They are made with everyday items, settings, and cut-outs to purpose-made characters, Lego or people. These take a long time to make as you have to film each slight movement, I don’t have enough time to produce a stop motion for this brief, this is because it can take up to three working weeks to produce just one minute of animation. To make the sets and figures, characters will also take more time on top of the three weeks.

This fits into Vice Media as it is online content. The target audience would like to watch stop motions if they were adult-themed. So if I was to make one, I would make sure it was not too childish, had subtle adult jokes in it and was about something that young adults are into, a genre or theme that appealed to young adults. Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run were very popular with all ages when they first came out.

Here is an example of a stop motion about a boy going to a theme park:

VFX sequence

I could make a VFX shot at a theme park or I could use VFX to integrate footage by which imagery is created or manipulated outside the context of a live-action shot in filmmaking and video production.

They can be entirely CG or a compositing shot with footage.

This fits into Vice Virtue if it’s a poster. This fits into Vice Media if it’s a video. Young adults are very interested in VFX effects and if it is a poster about what is popular at the moment amongst young adults, then it will work very well on Virtue. To fit in with the target audience, I could showcase the most extreme top 10 coasters in the world using VFX.

I looked at how my idea fit into a business line and a production format:

The format I prefer is a Short film/documentary because I aim to do a vlog on Alton Towers. If this isn’t possible, I will do an animation. For the business line, I will use Vice media as it is online content, and many vloggers use social media to post their vlogs on YouTube. My idea fits in with the target audience of 18-24 and Vice media is for a young audience.

Smart target: By the end of Tomorrow, I will research adverts and documentaries and decide on a case study I will do before the end of the week.

I completed last week’s smart target on time, though it took a few days to do. I will try to speed up this week’s target and also add a blog. As it will help me complete my culture brief faster and I can get quickly into the practical work.