Call for Authors - The Entertainment Industry: An Introduction

I'm delighted to announce that a leading international publisher, has invited us to produce a new book, to be called 'The Entertainment Industry: An Introduction', this will become the first in an Entertainment Management series, and is due for publication in Autumn 2009.

The book will profile an entertainment sector per chapter, including a breakdown of types of entertainment entity within that particular sector. Other generic information that will be covered per sector will include; brief history & background; products and segmentation; contemporary issues; micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence entertainment products; detailed case studies of entertainment organisations and products; and the predicted future for each sector.

This book is aimed towards undergraduate and post-graduate students studying a programme that involves aspects of the following industries: entertainment; leisure; recreation; events; tourism; the arts; culture; media and spectator sports.

I am looking for contributors to lead the development of a chapter (or chapters), or for contributions in a specific area such as a case study, or any expertise that is relevant to a particular chapter. This is a really excellent opportunity for an unpublished academic to become published, or for anybody to bolster their existing publication list. Anybody that is interested in exploring this further should contact me via email on s.moss@leedsmet.ac.uk . A full list of contributors needs to be submitted by mid May.

The chapters are as follows:

1. Introduction to the Entertainment Industry
2. Staged Story & Variety
3. Live Music
4. The Nightclub Sector
5. Cinema and Film
6. Broadcast Media
7. Recorded Audio and Video
8. The Internet
9. Computer Gaming
10. Printed Media
11. Gambling
12. Spectator Sports
13. Thrillertainment
14. Edutainment
15. Sellertainment
16. Culturtainment
17. Spiritual Entertainment
18. Health Entertainment
19. Adult Entertainment

A breakdown of suggested topics per chapter now follows - this is negotiable with contributors.


1 Introduction to the Entertainment Industry

Entertainment is recreational by nature, meaning that it is part of a process undertaken by people who wish to rejuvenate their body and / or mind. Not all recreational activity is entertainment, indeed recreation also encompasses leisure, hobbies, pastimes, and sports. People seeking entertainment form part of a recreational audience who are searching for something that has the primary purpose of engaging or captivating them through sensory stimulation and / or emotion. An audience can be as large as infinite, and as few as one. It is important to remember that entertainment does not have to be jovial, or created with any form of humour or light relief in mind (traditionally referred to as ‘light entertainment’).

The entertainment industry exists, it is real, and yet all too often entertainment is dismissed as being an aspect of leisure. This is not the case, Vogel (2004) estimated that the global entertainment industry is worth a trillion US$ annually, but where is this money coming from? This chapter will set out to define the entertainment industry, detailing the sectors that make it up, and the complexity of these in terms of identifying exactly which sector(s) different types of entertainment should be categorised within. It will also examine the relationship that entertainment has with other industries, including events, leisure and tourism, ending with the rationale and justification for the stand alone identity of an entertainment industry.


2 Staged Story and Variety

‘Live entertainment that is often set on (or within) a purpose-built area where a pre-determined story or routine is acted or performed.’

Story telling and dance are two of the oldest forms of man-made entertainment. This chapter will cover the history of storytelling and how story has been interpreted into staged performances, it will include: history & background of theatre, opera, variety, pantomime, ballet and other dance performances, as well as other staged performances that follow a pre-determined storyline or routine including puppet shows, stand-up comedy, magic shows, ventriloquism, acrobatic and stunt routines, wrestling, parkour and flaring; products and segmentation including performances targeted at specific age groups and socio economic sectors. Locations and venues where staged performances are encountered, contemporary issues including the ‘feminisation’ of pubs and how these are opening up to staged performance entertainment; micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence entertainment products including changing fashions, the increasing use of technology, unionisation of performers, ethics and the stage; detailed case studies of entertainment organisations and products including The Jerry Springer Opera, The Northern Ballet Theatre Company, Opera North, London’s West End, Broadway, Sydney Opera House, The National Theatre for Scotland, Leeds City Varieties, Jongleurs, WWF / WWE, Punch & Judy, The Black & White Minstrels, The Edinburgh Festival; and the predicted future for this sector.


3 Live Music

‘Entertainment that is musical in nature, performed live by artists and watched / listened by an audience’.

Live music is another example of an early form of entertainment, the rhythmic beating of drums as well as harmonised vocal tones performed to an audience has been happening for thousands of years. This chapter will include the history and background to live music, encompassing varying scales of music concerts, from intimate ‘gigs’ to mega musical events such as the Glastonbury festival. Popular music forms will be covered, as well as classical music, orchestras, brass bands, and choral performances. Products and segmentation of live music events by socio-economic groups as well as the ages of listeners will be discussed; contemporary issues; micro and macro business environmental influences including youth culture and changing fashions from the mid twentieth century to present day, increased competition, globalisation of mega music events, environmental impacts of music festivals, the impact of technology; detailed case studies of Live Music organisations and products including Woodstock, Glastonbury, The Big Day Out, Burning Man, Festival Republic; and the predicted future for that sector.


4 The Nightclub Sector

‘Entertainment venues that stay open after dark, and often into the early morning, that provide music as their primary product, to a recreation seeking audience who are there to listen, socialise or dance, and where the sale of food, and drink (often alcohol) is a major factor in attracting clientele’

A 20th Century phenomenon, this chapter will include the history & background of what is the modern ‘club’ of today, including the rise of the DJ as a star performer alongside and often replacing live musicians, 60s rock and roll, 70s disco, the 80s rave, 90s techno and 00s R’n’B; products and segmentation including club ‘brands’ that are geared towards particular segments of ‘clubbers’, and club nights aimed at particular audiences; contemporary issues including smoking bans coming into force in a number of countries and states across the world, the increased use of technology to enhance the club experience, drugs and alcohol; micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence entertainment products including changing trends in fashions and music tastes, ‘student cities’, the relationship between club and promoter and the importance of marketing; detailed case studies of nightclub organisations and products including Luminar Leisure, Voodoo Promotions, The Hacienda Manchester, Paradise Club Sydney, Manumission Ibiza, Miami Beach, Pacha New York; and the predicted future for this sector.


5 Cinema and Film

‘The entire spectrum of organisations that are concerned with the production, distribution, and showing of big-screen movie entertainment.’

Big screen movie entertainment is getting even bigger, each year the money spent on blockbuster film releases increases, globally the centre of this industry is still the USA, but other countries (especially India) are now staking their claims. In the face of this an extremely competitive entertainment industry as well as Internet driven piracy is directly impacting upon movie audience numbers. This chapter will include: history & background of the film industry including early pioneers and their contributions; the relationship along the supply chain from production to distribution to showing; the impacts of technology (positive and negative); increased competition; film typology and changing tastes; global perspectives from Hollywood to Bollywood; types of cinema from independent and specialist, to chains, multiplexes, megaplexes and IMAX; social influences that have helped shape, develop and influence cinematic products; cinematic phenomenon including Star Wars, Jaws, Blair Witch; detailed case studies including Rank, Vue, Warner Brothers, Disney, Tarantino, Spielberg; Japanese Anime and Manga; the Hyde Park Picture House and the predicted future for the global cinema and film industry.


6 Broadcast Media

‘Entertainment that is produced for mass audiences and broadcast or transmitted from a distant source.’

The first moving images on film were produced in Leeds in 1888, radio closely followed in 1895, and television appeared in the 1930s. From then on these mediums have grown rapidly from the 1970s onwards in terms of manufacturers, program makers, and technological advancements, bringing non-stop entertainment straight into our homes. This chapter will include: history & background of television and radio including government and funded sources; segmentation of media into specialist channels; free to air and pay-per-view, satellite and cable broadcasting; contemporary issues including UK license fees, freedom of speech / censorship globally, US writers strike, the switch from analogue to digital and increasing competition; social change and the impacts upon programming, political sensitivity, Tivo and the impact on advertisement revenue, legal, and technological influences that have helped shape, develop and influence broadcast media products; detailed case studies including The BBC, BSKyB, The collapse of ITV Digital, MTV, Fox, News Corporation, The Disney Channel, Al Jazeera, global and regional radio, Endemol, HBO and the predicted future for that sector.


7 Recorded Audio and Video

‘Entertainment that includes any one or more of the following: music; the spoken word; and moving images. That is designed for the audience to listen and / or watch, in a format that requires a third-party device to be able to play it.’

Technology has had a major impact upon this sector, which has transformed from large and often bulky analogue media, into small and compact digital ones that can be taken anywhere. This chapter will include: history & background of AV formats including vinyl, audio cassettes, Cds, MP3s, Betamax, VHS, Blu-Ray; products and segmentation; contemporary issues such as copy protection, and the threats presented by counterfeiting and the internet; copy protection; home entertainment; mobile entertainment; micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence these products; detailed case studies including The Sony Walkman, Apple iPod & iPhone, Def Jam Recordings, Blu-Ray Disc Association, Island Records, Warner Brothers, Sony, and the predicted future for that sector.


8 The Internet

‘Entertainment that is accessed via web browsers or other software on computers (or other devices) that are connected to the world wide web.’

A 20th century phenomenon that ranks in importance with the telephone, car and television, this chapter will include the history & background of the internet as an entertainment medium including the impacts of broadband and FRIACO; world-wide growth in internet usage and future forecasting; Internet Service Providers, online entertainment products and segmentation, including email, search engines, shopping online, social networking websites and the rapid rise in popularity of online Social Networks, blogs and blogging, Podcasts, file sharing websites, WebTV and Radio, Instant Messenger applications; contemporary issues including censorship of websites by governments, intellectual property theft and the ease of online piracy, other criminal activity facilitated by the internet including security issues and the dark side of the web, future web based entertainment products currently in development; micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence the development of the internet as an entertainment medium; detailed case studies of entertainment organisations and products including AOL, Orange Internet, Sky Broadband, Hotmail and MSN, eBay, Amazon, Friends Reunited, MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Blogger, Google, YouTube, The Open Directory Project, iTunes, BBC.co.uk, Napster, eMule, Imesh, MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger; and the predicted future for that sector.


9 Computer Gaming

‘Entertainment that involves the use of any electronically operated system whereby challenges are presented and an input device is used to manipulate images (and usually sounds) produced by a computer or micro-processor on some kind of display.’

In the 1970s electronic large arcade games began to appear, in the 1980s home game consoles were developed which meant that these games could be played in the home, from then on technological advancements and the rise of home PCs have revolutionised this highly competitive and fast growing industry. This chapter will include: history & background of computer games and devices from Pong, Pac Man, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong Atari, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 up to present day console games against a product life cycle diagram; game products and segmentation including classifications of games and console types; contemporary issues including violence in gaming and the need for age restrictions; social, political, economical and technological influences that have helped shape, develop and influence consoles and games including MMOG; gaming machines in pubs, bars and clubs including quiz machines; detailed case studies of any three of the following Sony Playstation, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft X-Box, Nintendo DS, Playstation portable, Mobile Phones as game consoles, and the predicted future for the computer game sector.


10 Printed Media

‘Entertainment that is typically paper based, involving the use of printed text and graphics.’

Books have been around for thousands of years, and more recently newspapers, and magazines. Reading printed media for recreational purposes has been happening for hundreds of years, but with technological advances, mass production and global distribution channels have lead to ever increasing competition. This chapter will include the history & background of the modern paperback book, as well as newspapers and magazines; different genres of printed media products including both fact and fiction will be examined along with segmentation to targeted audiences; contemporary issues including the battle of the ‘lad mag’, censorship, and paparazzi and ethics; the potential impacts of electronic paper, as well as micro and macro business environmental influences; detailed case studies of Hello!, Zoo, Nuts, Cosmopolitan, Readers Digest, Time Magazine, Viz, Beano, Harry Potter, Penguin Books, Ladybird and the predicted future for that sector.


11 Gambling

‘Entertainment that centres around risking the loss of money for a possible gain.’

Inspired by the media, many of us dream of what it would be like to be wealthy, not to have money worries and celebrating that ‘big win’. The reality however is starkly different, and the gambling industry is one where the only real winners are the organisations that make it up. This chapter will include: history & background of the modern day gambling industry, including Casinos, Bingo, Race-tracks and Bookmakers; contemporary issues such as the UK Super Casino debacle; legislative impacts upon the gambling industry in the US and UK; the impact of gambling and large scale casinos in the US; the impact of internet gambling; and socio-economic factors that have helped shape, develop and influence the world-wide gambling industry; detailed case studies of gambling organisations and products including the new large scale casino development at Great Yarmouth, William Hill, Tote, the National Lottery, TAB Australia, Gala Bingo, Grosvenor Casino; and the predicted future for the global gambling industry.


12 Spectator Sports

‘Entertainment where an audience watches an activity that involves physical exertion and fair competition.’

The competitive nature of human beings, is one of many factors that lead to the development of sporting rituals and competitions, the first Olympic games being held over 2,500 years ago. This chapter will include: the history & background of a number of spectator sports using specific clubs, leagues and competitions as examples of business case studies in the face of increasing competition from within and outside of the spectator sports sector, where audiences are now looking for their sport to entertain them in order to maintain their support; products and segmentation including the use of sponsorship and branding will be examined; as well as contemporary issues including legislative impacts upon sports teams and stadia; micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence spectator sport products will be examined through detailed case studies of sporting entities including, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the London 2012 Olympics, The X-Games, Australian Rugby League, Yorkshire Cricket, The Premier and Football leagues in the UK, Ice Hockey in Canada, Handball in Europe, Major League Soccer, American Football (Gridiron), Ice Hockey in Canada, The Melbourne Cup and the Tour-de-France. Organisations and products from within these areas will be studied with the predicted future for that sector.


13 Thrillertainment

‘Entertainment that is intended to thrill, excite, stimulate the senses – and sometimes cause fright.’

Paying money for the thrill of an experience that may be perceived as being dangerous – or even near-death to one’s self is a relatively new phenomenon, the first ‘thrill’ rides that appeared in the late nineteenth century certainly seem very mild compared to many of today’s offerings, however thrillertainment in other forms such as ancient Roman gladiators fighting to the death and the circus, where man and man-eating animals were only yards apart have been around for thousands of years. This chapter will include the history & background of modern day fairgrounds, theme and amusement parks, as well as other forms of thrillertainment including the Circus and more contemporary heritage related offerings such as ghost walks around stately homes or cities; products and segmentation including which thrillertainment products are targeted at which audiences, along with how and why; contemporary issues including globalisation and competition amongst major providers; micro and macro business environmental influences including the impact of global currency markets on consumer choice, sponsorship of parks and rides, alignment with global brands, increasing technology allowing rides to become faster and even more death defying, pay per ride V pay per entry; detailed case studies of entertainment organisations and products including the Disney Theme Parks world-wide, Merlin Entertainment, Luna Park, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Pleasure & Leisure Corporation Plc, Billy Smart’s Circus, The Moscow State Circus, Ghost walks in York and the predicted future for that sector.


14 Edutainment

‘Entertainment that is designed to promote knowledge and learning.’

The idea of using recreation as a means to learn, was first practiced by the ancient Greeks with their ‘mouseion’. Centuries later, societal and class divides often meant that only those who were privileged enough had access to educational resources for the purpose of education. This however is no longer the case, and this chapter will include the history & background of edutainment facilities displays and shows, from art galleries and libraries, the medical operating theatre and the great exhibition to modern day Museums, Zoos, Aquariums, Planetariums, Conferences, Guided tours, Adult education classes, Art and craft demonstrations, Historic re-enactments, Stately homes, Shows and displays with an educational component, such as transport shows e.g. air shows and animal displays e.g. falconry; contemporary issues across sectors including the need to be competitive in a highly competitive market; socio economic and political influences that have helped shape, develop and influence edutainment products, including the scrapping of charges in Britain’s national museums; the phenomena of Naturtainment; dark tourism; and detailed case studies of entertainment organisations and products including The Royal Armouries, National Media Museum, London Eye, Egyptian Pyramids, guided tours of Edinburgh, open top bus tours of Belfast, Australia Zoo, Seaworld Florida, Bodyworlds; Auschwitz and Jodrell Bank; and the predicted future for edutainment.


15 Sellertainment

‘Entertainment that is designed to sell a product, belief or ideal with the specific intention of increasing take-up amongst the audience.’

From the humble origins of street vendors, hawkers and market traders to a multi-billion dollar advertising industry, sellertainment is BIG business, faced with the challenge of getting a message across about a product, belief or ideal to an audience that are not necessarily there to see it. This chapter will include the history & background of sales related entertainment including advertising billboards and posters; products and segmentation towards different audience members; contemporary issues such as the introduction of advertising standards and codes of practice; micro and macro business environmental influences including the rise of electronic advertising media and other forces that have helped shape, develop and influence sellertainment products; the increasing convergence of the entertainment and advertising industries; detailed case studies of sellertainment organisations, events and products including, various sports sponsorship, the rise of mascots, US political rallies and campaigns, television adverts and the expense of air-time, advertising in the popular press and magazines, pop-ups on websites as well as banner ads and other forms of online advertising, television shopping channels, QVC, Omnicom, Pearl & Dean, Saatchi and Saatchi; and the predicted future for this sector.


16 Culturtainment

‘Entertainment that involves the celebration or commemoration of the values or beliefs of a particular segment of society.’

Society is made up of a plethora of sub-groups, this can be based on ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, profession, beliefs…..the list is endless. This chapter will include the importance of celebration and commemoration for those from distinct cultural groups, including rationale for the celebration of a number of cultural entertainment events; contemporary issues effecting cultural celebrations such as perceived terror threats and increased security; commercialisation of culturtainment including corporate sponsorship; diversification of culturtainment away from the original meanings of the celebration / commemoration; detailed case studies including the Notting Hill Carnival, bullfighting in Spain and South / Central America, Bradford Mela, the Mardi Gras Sydney, Maori celebrations in New Zealand, St. Patrick’s Day, and the New Orleans Mardi Gras; and the predicted future for culturtainment events.


17 Spiritual Entertainment

‘Entertainment that is based upon the belief that mystical forces can control our destiny.’

Supernatural and religious entities have been revered for thousands of years, however their use for the purposes of entertainment is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that some are uncomfortable with. This chapter will include the history & background of a number of Spiritual Entertainment events and practices including evangelism, séances, palmistry, crystal ball, tea-leaf readings & tarot card readings, celebrations at religious festivals as well as: segmentation of these products to socio-cultural audiences; motivations of individuals to participate in spiritual entertainment; contemporary issues, including the popularisation of spiritual entertainments through film and television and other micro and macro business environmental influences that have helped shape, develop and influence spiritual entertainment products; detailed case studies including witch doctors in the Gambia, religious festivals, evangelism, clairvoyants, palmistry, psychics; and the predicted future for this sector.


18 Health Entertainment

‘Entertainment that is designed to promote positive physical and mental health.’

We are living in a society that is becoming increasingly aware of the need to be physically and mentally fit in order to health and quality of life. This is not a modern day phenomenon, indeed for thousands of years people have bathed in sea water believing it to have ‘healing’ qualities. In the face of this an industry has grown that is set to practice therapeutic entertainment on willing audience members. This chapter will include the history & background of commercially available massage, spa treatments and other wellness products; the effects of health entertainment on the audience; the distinction between health entertainment and health leisure; segmentation of products against markets; the changing trends towards health awareness in society; global tourism to health entertainment venues; ageing populations in Europe; how socio-economic factors have helped develop and influence health entertainment products; detailed case studies of health entertainment organisations and products including Wellness centres in Germany; Banantyne’s, Shanti Bhavan Massage (India); and the predicted future for that sector.


19 Adult Entertainment

‘Entertainment that is intended to arouse sexual desire amongst audience members by displays of eroticism.’

Often referred to as the oldest ‘profession’, the providing of sexual favours and gratification for profit has occurred for thousands of years. This chapter will include the history & background of ‘the oldest profession’, looking at prostitution, peep shows, strip-tease, staged sex shows, lap dancing and pole dancing. Contemporary issues such as the rise of high-street ‘gentleman’s clubs’, and legislative impacts upon these. Detailed case studies of entertainment organisations and regions will include Spearmint Rhino, Stringfellows, the Amsterdam sex industry, regulated brothels in Sydney and Nevada, sex tourism in Asia, the US and European porn industries and the predicted future in those sectors. This chapter will examine the many social, ethical and legal principles that have shaped and will continue to shape this sector.

Entertainment Venue: Hull Arena

Hull Arena is the largest indoor entertainment venue in the City of Kingston Upon Hull, it is situated very close to the City Centre. It was opened in September 1988 as the Humberside Arena, and has recently been refurbished, so that it has a seated capacity of 2,000, it is owned by Hull City Council and is a part of Hull Leisure Group(Hull City Council, 2007).

The outside of Hull Arena

The venue consists of an Olympic sized ice rink, surrounded by tiered seating, executive bar, café, and gift shop (Hull Arena, 2007a). The arena is a recreation venue that offers both leisure pursuits and entertainment. In terms of leisure the core product is ice skating (it is a regional centre of excellence for ice sports), but in terms of entertainment Hull Arena offers much more, including spectator sports such as ice hockey and boxing, as well as being a live music and stage venue (Neylon, 2007). As a live music venue, Hull Arena attracts well known bands of international acclaim including The Kaiser Chiefs, Faithless, Keane, McFly and Robbie Williams(Hull City Council, 2007). As a stage venue it has played host to an array of different performances including World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the Lipizzaner Stallions. Hull Arena also offers special ‘disco’ skating nights hosted by a resident DJ and is a venue that may be hired out for private parties – it is also used extensively by local schools as an ice-skating venue (Hull Arena, 2007b).

The Ice Rink

The diagram below is designed to demonstrate the different levels of entertainment product that Hull Arena has, from both the perspective of home of the Hull Stingray's (top half) and as a live music venue (bottom half). the core products in the centre are the key reasons why visitors seeking entertainment come to Hull Arena, the second level in blue denotes products that will have an impact upon the entertainment experience but are most likely not the main reason for visiting the arena, and at the tertiary level are support products which are produced by, or present at the arena which may have impacted upon the decision to visit the arena, or the time spent there, but are not at the centre of the entertainment experience.

The levels of product at Hull Arena

Hull Arena is the home of Hull Stingrays who are a professional ice hockey team and a part of the Elite Ice Hockey League (Hull Stingrays, 2007), Hull Stingrays origins (like the arena) go back to 1988 when Humberside Seahawks were formed, who after a chequered league and financial history finally became Hull Stingrays in 2003 (Strachan, 2007). Hull Stingrays are a major stakeholder in the arena and play all of their home fixtures from there, as well as training at the arena during scheduled hours on weekdays, fans may watch them train free of charge from the café, but during training periods the ice rink and tiered seating is closed to members of the general public.

Hull Stingrays practicing (click below to see video footage)

The majority of the arena’s 250,000 visitors per year come from within the Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire conurbation, as well as surrounding areas across the River Humber, out of this number it is estimated that 170,000 visitors per year are teenagers, although research by the arena has uncovered visitors aged from 2 to 102 (Hull City Council, 2007).

Hull Arena markets itself in a number of ways, including online, posters and 40,000 leaflets which are produced and distributed within the catchment area each year (Hull City Council, 2007), the leaflets are also an income generating mechanism as other companies are offered advertising space upon them. Being the home to an Elite Ice Hockey League team also attracts interest from the Broadcast Media, in particular local radio, and Sky Television who broadcast several games per season on one of the Sky Sports channels (Strachan, 2007). This publicity helps to attract a greater fan base from a city that has traditionally been associated with both football (Hull City FC) and Rugby League (Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers).

The DJ booth above the ice rink which is used on 'disco' nights

References:
Hull Arena. (2007a) Guide to ice skating. (leaflet)
Hull Arena. (2007b) Hull Arena. (leaflet)
Hull City Council. (2007) Hull Arena. [Internet] Hull, HCC. URL available from: <http://www.hullcc.gov.uk/portal/page?_pageid=221,83223&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL> [Accessed 22nd October, 2007].
Hull Stingrays. (2007) Hull Stingrays Ice Hockey Club. [Internet] Hull, Hull Stingrays. URL available from: <http://www.hullstingrays.co.uk/> [Accessed 22nd October, 2007].
Neylon, C. (2007) Interview with Carol Neylon, Hull Arena Operations Manager, 28th September, 2007.
Strachan, R. (2007) Interview with Rick Strachan, Hull Stingrays Coach, 28th September, 2007.

Edutainment needs to be VARK

Edutainment is entertainment that is designed to promote knowledge, awareness and learning, examples of edutainment include: museums; art galleries; exhibitions; zoos; aquariums and planetariums. The purpose of edutainment is to promote knowledge amongst audience members, so that they learn from the experience. There have been numerous studies about the way people take in information and learn from it. One such study is VARK developed by Dr. Neil Fleming. VARK stands for Visual, Aural, Read / Write and Kinaesthetic. Each of these are categories that depict how information may be best presented to promote learning. According to the VARK website http://www.vark-learn.com: Visual means information that is presented in graphical form including posters, diagrams, graphs and charts; aural is the spoken word, and can include listening to information from a person or in a pre-recorded format; read / write is the use of written words to convey information; and kinaesthetic is the use of ‘real things’ such as demonstrations, videos and actual practice. Most people either knowingly or not have a preference for the way by which they take in information and learn from it, some people will have a specific VARK category, whilst others are known as ‘multimodal’ which means that they may share preferences from two or more categories.

In order to appeal to all members of their audiences, edutainment venues need to provide information in all VARK formats. Otherwise the messages that the venues are trying to convey may be lost on certain members of their audience. Museums have a stereotypical image amongst some people as being ‘stuffy’ and ‘boring’ due to perceptions (possibly from childhood) that all they contain are exhibits in glass cases. This may still be the case with some museums, but many modern museums now go much further than this to convey their messages to members of their audience in a number of different formats. This doesn’t apply just to museums, but to all different kinds of edutainment venues (and to edutainment as a whole), at ‘The Deep’ in Hull, (which is an aquarium) there is a rich diversity in the way that information is presented, including: graphical timelines (visual); pre-recorded spoken stories (aural); detailed written information about exhibits (read / write); as well as the tanks themselves that have the fish and other sea creatures swimming in them (kinaesthetic). The images below demonstrate VARK in practice at several edutainment venues.

A visitor watches the fish swimming in tanks at The Deep in Hull (kinaesthetic)

At the National Railway Museum in York, a guide explains about how the Japanese Bullet Train was brought to the museum (aural).

Words on a display at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds (Read / Write)

Why not take the VARK test for yourself at http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire after completing the test, consider the results, and reflect upon your own experiences of edutainment, and which types of exhibit appeal to you the most.

Events, Products and Entertainment

Events Management, Entertainment Management – they do sound rather alike even though they are different subjects. It would be foolish to deny the fact that there is commonality between both subjects, indeed when looking at events such as a music festival or a football match, the driver behind the event is the entertainment which is on offer. The driver behind entertainment centred events is known as the primary product. A product is ‘anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organisations and ideas’ (Kotler et al, 1999, p.11). The primary product is the main product that is on offer, the majority of entertainment primary products are intangible in that they are not something that can be held, but are more likely to be experiences. There are also secondary and tertiary levels of product. At entertainment centered events, secondary levels of product may include: support acts at music concerts; smaller stages at music festivals; and half time entertainment at football matches. Tertiary products include support facilities and materials such as: seating; toilets; catering facilities; signage; programmes; security; the website and car parking. You will note that tertiary products at entertainment centered events are both tangible and intangible.

Entertainment is the primary product of many kinds of event, although not all events. A wedding is an event but the core product is the ceremony itself, of course weddings may include entertainment products also – typically from DJs (and Dad dancing!).

At entertainment centered events both Events Management and Entertainment Management are concerned with all three levels of product and this is where cross-over between the subjects exists. It would be as foolish for Event Managers not to be concerned with the management of entertainers at events, as it would be for Entertainment Managers not to be concerned with signage and seating for entertainment events. Getting all levels of product to match audience expectations and needs is part of the recipe for a successful entertainment event, after all it is no good having a stage crammed with world-class entertainers, if the audience are not comfortable, or couldn’t find the venue in the first place. The diagram below shows all three levels of product for a football match.

Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J. and Wong, V. (1999) Principles of marketing. 2nd European Edition. New Jersey, Prentice Hall.

Firing the Imagination

One can only guess how, where and when it may have happened, but it was probably a lightning strike upon a tree in Africa around 200,000 years ago that caused the first fire to be seen by the earliest relatives of modern man. It may have taken thousands more years, but eventually at some point in pre-history, man began to understand how fire worked so that it’s power could be harnessed and used for cooking, warmth….and entertainment. Some anthropologists believe that the mesmeric dance of flames captivated those who would huddle around fires in the darkness, moulding man’s early thinking skills and helping to develop imagination. At some point in pre-history man’s ability to communicate developed into spoken languages, and when this happened the story-teller was born. Stories may have been about everyday life and occurrences, but the firing of the imagination would certainly have helped to create fictitious accounts. Man sat around fires for thousands of years, in fact this was still the practice in most British homes right up until the twentieth century, when the radio, and then the television became the focal point of entertainment in the home.

If we look today at the way indigenous people live in remote parts of the world, the practice of sitting around fires and listening to stories being told still happens as it has done for thousands of years – this is their entertainment and the thing that is looked forward to after a day performing regular work tasks such as hunting, gathering food and wood, building homes and cooking. As well as this, tribal rituals such as singing and dancing allow us to see where the very origins of modern day entertainment began all those many years ago.

The 5th of November 2006 at the Bramley Bonfire in Leeds, where people go back to their roots and stand around a bonfire, mesmerised by the flames.

Recreation and Entertainment

The debate as to whether the chicken came before the egg or the egg before the chicken, is one that has been discussed and argued about for years, and in all likelihood will continue to be discussed and argued about for many years to come, there has been a similar debate about entertainment and recreation. Take a minute to consider the word ‘recreation’ think of it as re-creation as in re-making or re-constructing. Recreation is the process by which the mind and / or body can be rejuvinated through participation in pursuits that are considered by the individual as being satisfying or gratifying to self. These activities may include leisure pursuits, sports, hobbies, pastimes, and entertainment. Recreation is often participated in by individuals to rejuviante self outside of work and ‘life’s daily routine’, the benefit of recreational participation is often positive mental and / or physical well being.

The Oxford English (OED) Dictionary online defines recreation as being: ‘refreshment or comfort produced by something affecting the senses or body’, (first used in 1390); ‘comfort or consolation of the mind; that which comforts or consoles’ (first used in 1410); ‘the action of recreating (oneself or another), or fact of being recreated, by some pleasant occupation, pastime or amusement (first used in 1400) and ‘a pleasurable exercise or employment (first used in 1430).

Entertainment did not appear until almost 200 years later in 1610 where it was originally defined as being ‘the action of upholding or maintaining’, in 1612 this became ‘the action of occupying (a person's) attention agreeably’. Despite the fact that these definitions have changed through the centuries, the dates of usage clearly demonstrate that recreation as a recognised concept certainly came before entertainment, at least in the English language.

Entertainment is something that has the primary purpose of engaging or captivating an audience through sensory stimulation and / or emotion. It is participated in by people in their own time to satisfy a number of needs that are recreational in nature, for example adult entertainment may satisfy sexual urges, edutainment may satisfy the desire to learn, and music may satisfy the need to relax. All forms of entertainment may satisfy the need to alleviate boredom as a ‘time-filler’ which is why the industry as a whole is growing exponentially as the world in which we live becomes increasingley industrialised, with those seeking recreation having increased amounts of both time and disposable income.

The Tourism & Entertainment Industries

Entertainment is the driver of many tourist journeys, however both the tourism and entertainment industries are separate, albeit sharing some commonalities. According to Mathieson and Wall (1982, p.1) tourism is the ‘temporary movement to destinations outside the normal home and workplace, the activities undertaken during the stay and the facilities created to cater for the need of tourists’, therefore the tourism industry includes (amongst other things): travel agents; tour operators; modes of transport; the transport infrastructure; support services; accommodation; and attractions.

Attractions are an extremely important part of the tourism industry and are the driver for much tourism having taken place. According to Swarbrooke (1995, p.3) tourist attractions are ‘the most important component in the tourism system. They are the main motivators for tourist trips and are the core of the tourism product. Without attractions there would be no need for other tourism services. Indeed tourism as such would not exist if it were not for attractions’. A great deal of tourist attractions have strong entertainment connections, being areas that are used primarily for an audience to be engaged or captivated, through sensory stimulation and / or emotion, i.e. entertainment venues. These include sports stadia, theatres, and museums, all of which could be considered to be tourist attractions, indeed a great many (but not all) entertainment venues are tourist attractions.

The entertainment industry is a vast entity featuring numerous categories of entertainment (see post below), which includes much more than merely venue based entertainment, indeed broadcast media, the internet and computer games, are just some aspects of the entertainment industry that do not take place in entertainment venues, and are therefore not a part of the tourism industry. However it cannot be denied that there is a strong relationship between the two industries.

A Typology for the Entertainment Industry

Entertainment is recreational by nature, meaning that it is part of a process undertaken by people who wish to rejuvenate their body and / or mind. Not all recreational activity is entertainment, indeed recreation also encompasses leisure, hobbies, pastimes, and sports. People seeking entertainment form part of a recreational audience who are searching for something that has the primary purpose of engaging or captivating them through sensory stimulation and / or emotion. An audience can be as large as infinite, and as few as one. It is important to remember that entertainment does not have to be jovial, or created with any form of humour or light relief in mind (traditionally referred to as ‘light entertainment’). The Oscar winning movie ‘Schindler’s List’ is both engaging and captivating and certainly stirs emotion in many who watch it, however few people would consider it light relief.

The global entertainment industry is massive with numerous entities that are worth over half a trillion $US annually (Vogel, 2004). These entities fall within a wide variety of sectors. In an attempt to try and categorise all of these sectors, the following entertainment typology is offered:

Adult Entertainment
Broadcast Media
Cinema and film
Computer Gaming
Culturtainment
Dance
Edutainment
Gambling
Massage
Music
Online Entertainment
Published Printed Media
Sellertainment
Spectator Sports
Spirituatainment
Staged Shows
Thrillertainment


A definition for each and some examples now follow:


Adult Entertainment

‘Entertainment that arouses sexual desire by displays of eroticism.’

Prostitution
Peep shows
Striptease
Staged sex shows
Lap dancing
Pole dancing
Erotic massage


Broadcast Media

‘Entertainment that is produced for mass audiences and broadcast / transmitted / distributed from a distant source.’

Television:
Analogue
Digital Cable / Satellite / Freeview / other
Pay per view

Radio:
Analogue
Digital


Cinema and film

‘The entire spectrum of organisations that are concerned with the production, distribution, and showing of big-screen movie entertainment.’

The film / movie making industry
The film / movie distribution industry

Venues:
Multiplexes
Independent and specialist
IMAX
DVDs

Computer Gaming

‘Entertainment that involves the use of any electronically operated system whereby challenges are presented and an input device is used to manipulate images (and usually sounds) produced by a computer or micro-processor on some kind of display’

Console Games e.g. Nintendo Wii, Playstation, X-Box
Online gaming including massively multiplayer online games
Games for personal computers and Apple Macs
Arcade games


Culturtainment

‘Entertainment that involves the celebration or commemoration of the values or beliefs of a particular segment of society.’

Parades
Festivals
Fetes
Galas
Carnivals
Cultural shows and displays such as poetry recitals and bull fights


Dance

‘Entertainment that involves the watching of rhythmic movement (often to music) with pre-determined or improvised steps.’

Live dance shows and displays, includes:
Ballet
Tap
Ballroom
Salsa
Line dancing
Break dancing
Any other kind of dance display.


Edutainment

‘Entertainment that is designed to promote knowledge, awareness and learning.’

Museums
Art galleries
Exhibitions
Zoos
Aquariums
Planetariums
Conferences
Guided tours
Adult education classes
Art and craft demonstrations
Historic re-enactments
Stately homes
Shows and displays with an educational component, such as transport shows e.g. airshows and animal displays e.g. falconry


Gambling

‘Entertainment that centres around risking the loss of money for a possible gain.’

Casinos
Bingo
Race-track
Bookmakers


Massage

'Entertainment where soft body tissues are manipulated for physical or mental rejuvination.'

Includes all types of massage.


Music

‘Entertainment that is predominantly auditory and incorporates instrumental and / or vocal tones that are structured and continuous for a period of time.’

All recorded music:
All music genres whether mainstream ‘popular’, or niche / specialist

All live music:
Concerts
Music ‘festivals’
Orchestras
Brass Bands
Choirs
Karaoke

Also:
Nightclubs
Raves


Online Entertainment

‘Entertainment that is accessed via web browsers or other software on computers or other devices that are connected to the internet. These often take the form of interlinked documents on the world wide web’

Web pages
Social networking
DHTML & ‘Flash’ documents
Podcasts
Online streaming video
Online gaming including massively multiplayer online games
Other downloads


Published Printed Media

‘Entertainment that is typically paper based, involving the use of printed text and graphics’

Books
Newspapers
Magazines
Comics
Journals
Periodicals
Brochures
Leaflets


Sellertainment

‘Entertainment that is designed to sell a product, belief or ideal with the specific intention of increasing take-up amongst the audience.’

Brochures
Themed bars and restaurants
Trade shows such as fashion shows and the motor show
Product demonstrations
Pub quizzes
Sponsored competitions
Political rallies


Spectator Sports

‘Entertainment where an audience watches an activity that involves physical exertion and fair competition.’

Pitch sports
Water sports
Motor sports
Cycling
Equestrian
Court sports
Country pursuits
Track and field
Marathons
Winter sports
Extreme sports


Spirituatainment

‘Entertainment which utilises and / or celebrates the belief that supernatural powers can have a control over destiny and fate.’

Religious festivals
Evangelism
Clairvoyants
Psychics
Palm readers


Staged Shows

‘Entertainment that is predominantly set on (or within) a purpose-built area where a pre-determined story is acted or performed.’

Opera
Theatre
Musicals
Pantomine
Plays
Dance shows
Wrestling entertainment
Stand up comedy
Sketch shows
Magic shows
Puppet shows
Mime
Multi-performance shows


Thrillertainment

‘Entertainment that is intended to thrill, excite, stimulate the senses – and sometimes cause fright.’

Theme parks
Multi-leisure parks
Fairgrounds
Water parks
Circus
Ghost tours / walks / hunts
Murder mysteries


The complexity of the entertainment industry is such that many entertainment entities would fit within one or more of the above categories, for example a television advert could be considered to be both broadcast media and sellertainment, and ballet could be considered to be dance, and a staged show, having elements of music could also partially include it within this category. Therefore it needs to be recognised that this is an industry where few entities are homogenous in nature, and that many can include characteristics from a number of sectors. What is more certain is that mostly anything that has been created with the primary purpose of engaging or captivating an audience through sensory stimulation and / or emotion should fit into at least one of the above sectors. This is work in progress so I would be happy to hear from anybody that disagrees with this or can think of anything that doesn’t.

The Novelty of Entertainment

Imagine the scene, you look out of your window every day at a particular time, and you see a man walking a dog, the man is average height, average weight, wearing normal clothes, walking unremarkably. His dog is a brown mongrel, about 50 centimetres tall, and 80 centimetres long, it is on a brown leather lead and does not stand out in any way as being different. The sight of the man walking the dog is typical, and to most people in England and in many other parts of the world this would not be considered as being special.

One day you look out of your window at the same time, and you see the same man walking again with the same dog, except this time the dog is not on a lead, instead it walks upright besides the man on it’s two hind legs. You momentarily stop what you are doing and are transfixed by the spectacle of the upright walking dog as you watch it walk with the man into the distance. When somebody else comes into the room you immediately tell her about the dog that is walking into the distance with the man, she looks at you unremarkably and says that she sees this every day outside of her house, and does not seem as excited or enthusiastic about the site as what you do.

This scenario is used to demonstrate the importance of novelty in entertainment. According to the Apple online dictionary (2007) novelty is the quality of being new, original or unusual. When you looked out of the window and saw the dog walking on two hind legs, you saw something new, this captivated you and you were entertained by it. To the other person this was not a novel sight, and therefore not entertaining. In real life there are actually dogs who are trained to walk on their hind legs for entertainment purposes, and to many audiences this is a novel sight.

A great deal of entertainment is novel, sword swallowers and stilt walkers are not every day sites to most people and therefore would prove to be an entertaining spectacle, however to somebody who worked in a circus this may not be the case. Novelty is one measure by which the quality of entertainment may be measured by an audience. The challenge is to present something that the audience will find novel so that they are entertained by it. The now defunct ‘National Centre for Popular Music’ in Sheffield was praised for it’s novel building design, but slated for it’s unremarkable and often ‘boring’ exhibits, this lead to low visitor numbers and eventually the Centre’s closure. The buildings are now used by Sheffield Hallam University’s Students Union, as an entertainment venue and the base of a radio station.

Update 27th March 2008: See this - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7310993.stm

I know that it's been a long time coming....

But at last another entry in the old blog. This particular entry is inspired by the sheer enormity and breadth of the entertainment industry. I am currently putting together a reading list for a revised level one 'Entertainment Environment' module for the 07/08 academic year. As the name suggests the module is primarily focussed upon the enviornment in which the entertainment industry operates. This environment is both business and geographical in nature. The business environment is concerned with both the micro and macro influences upon entertainment organisations. Micro being concerned with internal, stakeholder and competitive forces, and macro being concerned with the external STEEPLE factors, STEEPLE standing for Social, Technological, Environmental, Ethical, Political, Legal and Economical factors which have influenced the development of entertainment organisations and products.

As well as this, the module will look at how the entertainment industry has developed in three distinct geographical areas: rural areas; the seaside; and urban towns and cities. The assessments for the module centre around the UK Music Festival scene, and urban entertainment based upon a particular city.

The reading list for this module draws upon texts books from business, events, tourism, entertainment, leisure and media. This has highlighted to me the enormity of the entertainment industry, which in terms of thematic apperception is a very complex Venn Diagram, or a giant squid with a tentacle in each discipline. The complexity and sheer size of the entertainment industry, is I suspect one reason why there are so few text books which focus upon all of it, or indeed most of it, and why at present a large reading list is necessary, so that those wishing to learn more about the entertainment industry as a whole, are learning about a number of sectors which at times, are very distinct, and at other times have very blurred edges indeed.

Live at Leeds

The City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England is 800 years old, and to celebrate this there will be a new festival called the 'Live At Leeds Festival' This event is the innovation of Leeds City Council and local promoters Futuresound who are to host three-day music spectacular over the late May Bank Holiday weekend. There will also be many other diverse events going on in and around the city as part of Celebrate Leeds 2007.

On Friday 25 May a series of edutainment seminars will take place aiming to provide a broad insight into all the aspects of getting into, and indeed surviving, the music business. Venues: Pulse at Leeds University Union, Woodhouse Lane, 0113 380 1234, Leeds College of Music, 3 Quarry Hill, 0113 222 3400, Leeds Guide HQ 80 North Street, 0113 244 1000.
For all seminar timings and more info see www.liveatleeds.com , www.illustrious-creative.com and to book your place email info@illustrious-creative.com .

Saturday 26 May will host the Live at Leeds all dayer — one £10 wristband entitles its wearer entrance to any gig at any of the participat­ing venues for the entire day, which will feature bands such as Wild Beasts, Grammatics, Breaking The Illusion, Sky Larkin, Hot Club De Paris, Tiny Dancers, Winnebago Deal, Air Traffic, The Harrisons and Middleman. Please refer to http://www.liveatleeds.com/ and www.myspace.com/liveatleeds07 for full line-up , timings and venue information.

Saturday 26 May will also mark the first of two homecoming shows from The Pigeon Detectives. The first date at Leeds Town Hall sold out in three days, and a second date had to be added on the Sunday night. In addition to this, Saturday night will also see Biffy Clyro take to the stage at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Sunday 27 May sees the return of the Slam Dunk Festival to Leeds University, with a selection of punk and ska acts it will be headlined by Ska Legends Reel Big Fish and the latest emo sensation Paramore

Live At Leeds will also be involved in screening several music docu­mentaries at the Carriageworks Theatre on Sunday. For further line up and ticket info on all the above events.

For further details please go to http://www.liveatleeds.com/, www.myspace.com/liveatleeds07/ or call 0113 244 344.

Remember the Numa Numa Guy?

Little did Gary Brolsma know what world wide fame and notoriety he would achieve as the ‘Numa Numa Guy’ when he recorded himself on his web cam miming to ‘Dragostea din tei’ by Moldovan band ‘O-Zone’ and then posted it on the internet. This was back in 2004, and since then the video has been viewed over 14 million times. Gary was at first a shy celebrity, but his video which truly paints a colourful picture of his eccentric persona has made him a cult hero, to the point where he was recently voted the No. 1 Internet Icon in the ‘40 Greatest Internet Superstars’ by cable music channel VH1. See his original video below.

Now Gary is back cashing in on his success with a blatantly commercial ‘New Numa’ song. The New Numa is based loosely on a Russian childrens’ story in which a rabbit is chased by a hunter and shot, but survives. The New Numa song also comes with a competition where fans can submit a video to YouTube to acompany the song, the top prize of the competition is $45,000. To hear the song and see the competition click here, and before anyone says anything – NO, I look nothing like him!!!

79 Year Old Thrillertainment

Thrillertainment as a word may be relatively new, but entertainment that is intended to thrill, excite, stimulate the senses – and sometimes cause fright has been around for a lot longer than what you might think. In ancient Rome gladiators fought to the death in front of audiences of thousands, while animals ranging from bears to elephants were slaughtered or made to fight each other in the name of entertainment.

Less gruesome thrillertainment has been around in the form of fairground and amusement park rides for over a century. The worlds oldest wooden roller coaster that is still in operation today is Leap-the-dips at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania, USA which was built in 1902 and operated until 1985, before being closed down, and then restored and re-opened in 1997.

In Great Yarmouth the Pleasure Beach’s main attraction is the roller coaster, which is a ‘woodie’ or wooden roller coaster, this was originally built in France in 1928 for the 1931 Paris Colonial Exhibition and taken apart, shipped to England and rebuilt for a 1933 opening on C.B. Cochran’s sea front amusement park in Great Yarmouth where it was named the ‘Scenic Railway’. Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach (GYPB) was taken over by the Botton Brothers in 1954, and then the Jones family in 1975. The park is now owned and operated by Pleasure and Leisure Corporation Plc, with Albert Jones being the managing director.

The Roller Coaster at GYPB is the third oldest operational roller coaster in the UK, the other two being the Big Dipper (1923) and Roller Coaster (1909) at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. At GYPB the Roller Coaster has a brakeman which is unusual for such a ride, however he is a necessity as the ride has no on-track brakes. The tracks are approximately one mile long with a maximum height of 70 feet. After an initial pull-up lasting 35 seconds the ride is controlled by gravity (and the brakeman!), and gives a ride lasting two minutes and twenty seconds until arriving back at the station, the total ride time from entering the car to leaving it is approximately four minutes. The cars (or trains) reach a maximum speed of 45 mph, usually only one car operates at once, but the ride is capable of running three cars at once, handling 2,500 passengers per hour.

Despite its age, and lack of technology the Roller Coaster at GYPB is the most popular ride at the park, and is a testament to an excellently manufactured piece of thrillertainment equipment – long may it continue. Footage of the ride can be found below.

The Disney Experience Part 2: Disney MGM Studios

As I waited for a taxi to Downtown Disney, my heart sank when the receptionist at my hotel informed me that Disney MGM Studios (MGM) was only worth ‘half a day max’, and that I should instead go to the Animal Kingdom, this was in light of my initial disappointment with the Magic Kingdom the day previously. Never the less onwards to MGM I went, where I caught a bus to a Disney Resort which I cannot for the life of me remember the name of, but it was rock and roll themed with some quite cartoony décor, including a giant mobile phone on the end of a building. I only waited a short while before catching the bus to MGM which today was a thankfully uneventful experience. I have to say that I am quite, impressed how disabled friendly these buses are, not only do they lower to allow easier access, they also have ample room for wheelchairs. On this occasion there were two wheelchair users on the bus, and plenty of space to pass by to the seats. Just as an aside to this I noticed that American's tended to use the word 'handicapped' rather than 'disabled', where as in the UK we very rarely say 'handicapped'.

Upon arrival I was greeted by a gentleman wearing a pale yellow and white striped shirt, and pale yellow trousers (who designs these uniforms!?), I was directed towards the ticket office, where hey presto my details were on file from the day previously. Admission to MGM was cheaper than at the Magic Kingdom (I’m afraid the exact price escapes me). Once again I went through a theatrical security bag check, and had my finger scanned by Big Brother Disney, which I have now been informed is not a finger print scanner, but a different kind of scanner that measures the distance between, and depth of specific points on the finger – it’s still a ‘tracking’ device, and I still found this hard to get used to.

The finger scanner on the entrance barriers

Upon entering the park, I was confronted by my worst nightmare – the High School Musical parade! I knew that I would not be able to escape Disney without seeing High School Musical somewhere, and here it was, all singing, all dancing, all smiling, and all gut wrenchingly annoying. Before going any further I should explain that I have been tortured with High School Musical almost continually for the past six months, courtesy of my ten year old watching the Disney Channel. I even know the words to some of the songs – which annoys me even more when I find myself singing them in the shower. What I did find quite amusing was the almost ‘Presidential Parade’ level of security entourage which followed the parade – evidence perhaps of me not being the only person who hates High School Musical! In all seriousness though the sunglasses and ear piece wearing security entourage was something of an overkill, I mean I couldn’t exactly see anyone ‘bum rushing the show’ – it was reminiscent of ‘The Simpsons’ where the Springfield street parades are stewarded by Secret Service style goons!

As the parade melted into the distance, I walked along the main street of the park which (due to the time of year) was refreshingly quiet. Along the way I noticed several cast members performing street theatre routines, a nice touch by the park, and certainly popular with the visitors as each scene attracted a reasonable audience. I made my way to the main Disney icon which forms the centrepiece of the park – Mickey’s Fantasia hat. Stood in front of the hat meeting and greeting delighted children were Mickey and Pluto – it then struck me that despite the fact I had spent several hours the previous day at the Magic Kingdom, I had not seen Mickey or Pluto once.

Mickey's Fantasia hat

From Mickey’s hat I headed towards ‘Star Tours’, passing Sully, and a 60’s style diner on the way. Then the site that I had been yearning to see ever since 1980 loomed before me – an AT-AT. My favourite film of all time is The Empire Strikes Back, my favourite scene in that film, which 25 years later still sends shivers down my spine is when the rebels on the ice planet ‘Hoth’ first spot the AT-ATs on the horizon. The same shivers went down my spine as I stood dwarfed by the metallic beast, needless to say that it was photographed and filmed from all angles. Whilst I was so engrossed with this hulk, I hadn’t realised that the laser guns in the head of the AT-AT were in fact giant water pistols, and had I not realised at the last second, Disney would have been facing a bill for a new video camera. Thankfully it was only my elbow that actually got wet. Maybe a warning sign here will help to prevent future similar litigation.

The AT-AT

After inspecting the AT-AT (and avoiding its weapons!) I went on the Star Tours ‘ride’ which was similar to the Back to the Future Ride at Universal, in that what you see on the screen in front of you, and some motion of the car that you are in, gives the illusion of exaggerated movement. The ride was OK, but maybe in 2007 it is getting a little dated now. After leaving the ride (through the gift shop) I was DELIGHTED to see a good range of quality Star Wars merchandise – and in my size too! When you have a 50 inch chest, buying t-shirts and tops is usually a laborious process, but the generous American sizes in stock (to cater for generously proportioned American visitors) meant that I had no trouble in satisfying my purchasing requirements, and I left with a cool cartoon style Boba Fett T-Shirt and a Darth Vader hoodie. This presented me with my next challenge – what to do with everything! I already had with me a bag, and camera tripod, so the additional shopping bag meant that my luggage could well become a pain. I had little to worry about however, as MGM comes equipped with lockers, into which went everything apart from my tripod (which unfortunately didn’t fit), so I ended up carrying it around. The locker cost approximately $3, with a deposit of $5 for the safe return of the key – and it was well worth it.

Next on my list was the 3D Muppet Show movie, which was quite entertaining and enjoyable, followed by ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’ which was packed full of screaming kids – so I left quickly before exploring further. I decided to get some lunch near Honey I Shrunk the Kids, the choice wasn’t particularly extensive, and the price was quite dear at $7 for a Hot Dog with chips (crisps) and a drink, but that said, it was on par or even cheaper than UK theme park catering prices.

I left the food outlet and made my way towards the ‘Tower of Terror’ – I was determined to have some thrillertainment – and thrillertainment I would get! The queue was of a reasonable length, and I stood in line for approximately 15 minutes before entering the first part of the ‘hotel’ which was themed on the Twilight Zone. Costumed cast members lead us into a room where we watched a short video before being taken into the ‘guts’ of the building – the basement, which looked quite authentic, with numerous pipes, vents, water tanks and gas cylinders. I was soon shepherded into a ‘lift’ which would take me up the tower. I was seated on the back row of a car that had approximately 20 people in. The lift doors closed, the ascent began, and my stomach began to knot ever so gently. I had a good idea of what to expect, but still the first time on a ride such as this is always going to be in the very least a ‘bit’ nerve racking. The ride included video footage and voices from the Twilight Zone, and before the ‘scary’ bit, the car that I was sat in was transported horizontally along rails. Some more video followed, then darkness, before the car didn’t just drop, it was pulled down at a speed faster than gravity alone, before coming to a stop and then shooting back up into the air, then dropping, then up again and then down again. During this time you see the briefest glimpse of daylight through an open window, which gives the crowds below a snap shot of you, but more importantly – they hear your screams! I have been on similar ‘drop’ rides prior to this, which were actually scarier than the Tower of Terror in the fact that the height and view of the landscape presented much more of a fright, none the less the Tower of Terror was good thrillertainment, and an experience which I was glad that I’d had.

Next to the Tower of Terror was the ‘Rock 'n' Roller Coaster’ – I love rollercoasters, so was really looking forward to this ride. Again there was a short queuing time of ten minutes, before I found myself watching a video of the band Aerosmith in their recording studio. There was a feeble amount of acting from them, and a storyline which suggested that they were going to cruise in a limo, and we the riders could join them. In my opinion the ride doesn’t need this kind of branding, I mean would you associate a new, fast, dynamic, jet coaster with wrinkly old rockers, that are not far off being pensioners? I think the ‘Rap 'n' Rollercoaster’ would have had a better sound and image for a young audience, although this probably wouldn’t sit comfortably with a number of ‘conservatives’ who may consider Hip Hop as not being American enough and tainted due to the image of gangster rap. Let’s not mention the antics of Aerosmith and other rock and roll artists over the years then! Anyway (before I get side tracked on an issue which will be explored further in a future blog entry), after watching the Aerosmith video, a door opened and the queue began for the ride itself. This again took approximately ten minutes, before I found myself sat seated in a Rock and Rollercoaster car. There was no slow cranking start to this ride, the rock and rollercoaster is a jet coaster, so immediate acceleration was followed by twists, turns, loops and drops to a rock and roll soundtrack. Again this was decent thrillertainment, but what I found most disappointing about the ride was the fact that it was a dark coaster, so it was difficult to get a perspective of the scale, size and layout. I much prefer rollercoasters that are out in the open, and believe that they achieve a greater ‘thrill’ effect.

I moved on to the Indiana Jones show, which featured a number of well rehearsed re-enactments of scenes from the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. The stage, arena, and show itself were all impressive, the stunts and pyrotechnics were spectacular, the audience lapped it up and gave rapturous applause – some scenes from the show can be seen below.

Time was getting on and unfortunately I missed the stunt car show, as I got side tracked watching some street theatre performers. I did get chance to look around just about all of the park though and was impressed with the attention to detail, and the effects, one example being a stack of newspapers which was made of fibreglass, I also liked the street which was designed like a movie set and backdrop. I did find to my disappointment that like the Magic Kingdom there were still far too many shops and other concessions here. Whilst walking around, I came across a row of Disney photographers who were being put through their paces with how to use an SLR Camera to capture an image, they all stood in a row and took turns photographing a subject, this is a rarity at Disney, witnessing their staff development in a live environment, when it is traditionally ‘behind-the-scenes’.

Fibreglass newspapers

I really wanted to see the evening water show ‘Fantasmic’ which uses lighting, sound, pyrotechnics and other special effects to help Mickey Mouse do battle against a number of Disney bad guys, but unfortunately I had an evening appointment away from the park and would have to miss this.

Disney MGM Studios, was a much more positive experience for me than what the Magic Kingdom had been previously. What Disney MGM presented was a snapshot of large and small screen ‘greats’ from my youth – Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the Twilight Zone, and the Muppets. It is interesting that these now ‘dated’ icons can still attract audiences of fans, and is a testimony to their greatness. Whilst the Magic Kingdom was aimed at more of a ‘family’ market, MGM seems to have a greater mass appeal. It is interesting that my hotel receptionist (who was aged approximately 20) only considered it worthy of half a day, when I spent a full day there and still didn’t get to see everything, evidence enough that people have differing tastes and perceptions, there will never be a product that can please everybody all of the time. What Walt Disney World has is a number of theme parks that are aimed towards differing segments of the visitor market. What would have been more helpful for me from the outset would have been a plain speaking, and honest guide book that explained this.

In short I had a good day at MGM, so good, that on my way out I even bought Rebecca a ‘Wildcats’ High School Musical T-Shirt! I hope to return with my family in the not too distant future.

THE END (for this Disney adventure anyway).

Naturtainment

Naturtainment is a naturally occurring spectacle that can can truly engage or captivate an audience. Examples of naturtainment include: a lunar eclipse; a tidal bore; an erupting volcano; dolphins jumping in oceans; flocks of migrating birds; geysers and waterfalls. Naturtainment is not controlled or managed by man, the ‘performers’ in naturtainment are controlled entirely by events in the natural world - this means that naturtainment as a spectacle does not fall within the man-managed entertainment idustry.

Whilst there are no objects of entertainment or entertainers within naturtainment, there are venues, which have been purposefully created for audiences to witness naturtainment phenomenon. These include: observatories; zoos; viewing platforms; and bird hides. As these venues often contain factual information (including human guides) about the naturtainment which audiences may be witnessing, naturtainment venues can be considered as being within the edutainment sector of the entertainment industry.

To see naturtainment in action click here and here.