IP Statement justification

IP. Opportunity statement

Surgery - Forecast

Food - Forecast

Surgery - Horizon scanning

Food - Horizon scanning

 Looking into upcoming food media, I have disovered a number of shows and television programmes that are yet to air. An example of this is:

· Supersizers: A retread of the BBC series The Supersizers Go... and The Supersizers Eat..., two "foodies" "explore the history of cusine in different eras and receive medical exams to see how the diets of days past affect their bodies." (January 2012)

Judging by the comments on the page, people are getting very tired of the food network and the shows it is producing - perhaps this will instigate a change in the way food shows are produced and presented?

Information: Brion, R. (2011). The Food Network Announces a Bunch of New Shows. Available: http://eater.com/archives/2011/04/14/the-food-network-announces-a-bunch-of-new-shows.php. Last accessed 29th Nov 2011.

Back casting - Surgery

Looking into the origins of plastic surgery, it seems to be part of the 'catch 22' of warfare. In war, where the whole idea is to fight and kill for your country, technology advances more quickly as development of new weapons and electronics occurs. This new technology is then used to improve a whole host of other industries.

The first recipient of plastic surgery was the sailor Walter Yeo, who suffered horrendous facial injuries while operating a warship gun array. The skin graft surgery used to repair his eyes was the beginning of the plastic and cosmetic surgery industry, which is now ironically more used to prey on peoples vanity than improve quality of life.

Daily Telegraph. (2008). Pictures of first person to undergo plastic surgery released. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2636507/Pictures-of-first-person-to-undergo-plastic-surgery-released.html. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011.

The earliest example of a celebrity in the public eye that underwent cosmetic surgical procedures is Maralyn Monroe. She apparently has surgery on her nose and chin to make her more appealing to the public. The surgery was implemented after signing with 20th Century Fox.

Below are pictures of Monroe before and after surgery.



website. (2011). Marylin Monroe plastic surgery. Available: http://www.celebrityplasticpics.com/marilyn_monroe_plastic_surgery.htm. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011.

In ancient history, there was an unusual gap where surgery seemed to fall out of grace with the world. Surgical instruments have been discovered as early as the Egyptian empires, but didn't reappear in Europe until around the 15th century, where it was recognised as a true, albeit lesser form of medicine.

 The fascinating thing about ancient surgery is how advanced it had started to become before it fell out of favour - a roman legionnaire was more likely to survive an amputation than an American revolutionary! Roman surgeons could also remove and cauterise tumours and perform cataract removal operations!

Claude Moore Sciences Library. (2009). Surgical Instruments from Ancient Rome. Available: http://www.hsl.virginia.edu/historical/artifacts/roman_surgical/. Last accessed 29th Nov 2011. 

As time has gone on, surgical instruments have become smaller and the operating theatre cleaner, with stricter rules and regulations as to how the surgery should be performed and as to how those performing it should dress and clean themselves.

Will these trends continue? Will we eventually be performing surgery with automated surgeons on a microscopic level? Will there be a need for surgeons at all,or will everything be computer controlled?



Food in the past - Back casting.

Keeping to the theme of celebrity chefs, the first chef to ascend to level of celebrity, with TV shows, magazines, and newspaper articles was Julia Childs. She was one of the first chefs to take fine cuisine and adapt it for the simple family home.



Prisco, J. (2010). How Julia Child Rocked Me Like a Hurricane. Available: http://www.parade.com/food/blue-plate/2010/05/14-how-julia-child-rocked-me-like-a-hurricane.html. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011.

The father of modern cooking and founder of the haute cuisine movement was Antoine Careme, the first chef to develop Haute Cuisine in earnest, and publishing written works on the creation of it. The work of Careme became prominent at the turn of the 19th century. It was from his written works that chefs developed more home - friendly recipes available for a wider audience, and created the more user-friendly cooking of today.



Matinez, M. (). The Orphan who became a culinary king. Available: http://culinarymccook.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html. Last accessed 22nd nov 2011.

In the world of fast food, the first official chain was not McDonald's, as I originally believed, but the American chain White Castle. White Castle worked to improve the public view of food such as burgers, which were thought of as low quality or spoiled meat. They also started to promote their restaurants as cleaner, better places to eat, even using the colour white to signify cleanliness.

Godfrey, A. (2010). White Castle Hamburgers. Available: http://nostalgia049.wordpress.com/2010/01/18/white-castle-hamburgers/. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011

The first toy advertised on television was Mr.Potato Head, which was created on the basis that children like to play with their food. This in an interesting discovery for me as the Mr. Potato Head toys are still widely available today on the market, and still made popular by the modern media (Particularly with the heavy characterisation in Pixar's Toy Story movies). The idea that you can take something as simple as a potato and make it into a consistently popular children's toy is fascinating, and possibly something I can use in my final work. The theme of giving inanimate and inane objects a life of their own is potentially a wide and wonderful prospect!

This is the first point in my research that has really jumped out to me to have some real development potential! Referenced below are a few examples of how the Mr.Potatohead toys have been developed to include a wider variety of pop culture characters.







Martin, D. (1999). The Mr. Potato Head® Collector's Page . Available: http://www.mrpotatohead.net/index.htm. Last accessed 22nd Nov 2011.

Consistent themes in my topics - Present day

Food:

In the present day, consitent themes in the food industry are food content relating to health, advice on how to make various types of food and competition.

Surgery:

Consistent themes in surgery in the present day are looking into the lives of the people that perform the surgery and how it affects them, and the persuit of physical perfection.

These are quick observations that can be refferred to later when creating my IP.

Surgery in the media - State of the art analysis

The media today is fraught with news and articles on surgery. There is a large cosmetic surgery industry, and surgical procedures are constantly developing and improving.

Image: Hearst Magazine. (2007). Toys you pestered your parents for. Available: http://www.handbag.com/celebrity/entertainment/gadgets/toys-you-pestered-your-parents-for-69434. Last accessed 08th Nov

The operation game shown above is a world famous example of surgery in the popular media. I remember playing it as a kid, as I'm sure many people my age will if they read this article. It is interesting to look back on it now and relate it to actual surgical procedures!

The game acts not only as entertainment but as a very basic form of education about the human anatomy. Shown below is a reskinned version of the game with a Shrek theme to 'reinvent' it to sell more effectively with a popular franchise attached.

This method of simplifying something in a game to be family friendly is often adopted today by smartphone games. 

Image: Hasbro. (2011). Shrek 4 Operation Game from Hasbro. Available: http://www.cheaptoys.co.uk/shrek-4-operation-game/. Last accessed 08th Nov 2011

Television programmes that include surgery range from dramatic to comedic, factual and fictional.

Image: Fanpop. (2006-2011). Scrubs. Available: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/scrubs/images/34323/title/scrubs-cast-wallpaper. Last accessed 08/11/2011.

Scrubs is a popular example of the media making a light hearted series out of an initially serious place, as hospitals are often linked with bad experiences. Although a comedy, it still informs the viewer about certain aspects of the lives of medical staff, such as night shifts, having to become emotionally detached, and other issues.

Image: IMDB. (1994-2011). ER (TV Series 1994–2009). Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108757/. Last accessed 08/11/2011.

Above is a poster showing the cast of ER - a more serious incarnation of the medical drama. ER addressed issues such as the social lives of the medical staff, and the effects of their work on their social habits and how they interacted with people.

Image: IMDB. (2008). Repo! The Genetic Opera. Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0963194/. Last accessed 08/11/2011.

 REPO!:the genetic opera is a 2008 film that is set in the future, where organs are given out on loan after a viral epidemic. This idea creates an unusual mix of horror and comedy. The film also acts as a fictional prediction of what could (theoretically) happen in the future with surgical procedures, even if the concept is a little far fetched.

Image: Carpe Diem. (2011). Transform cosmetic surgery group. Available: http://www.transforminglives.co.uk/. Last accessed 08/11/2011.

The above website is advertising cosmetic surgery procedures for the Tranform cosmetic surgery group. Cosmetic surgery appears all over newspapers, television and the internet - usually regarding famous people that have had some sort of surgical alteration. Common conception of why this is popular is because people feel better knowing that even the rich and famous have body issues. What a pleasant species we are.

Image: Cindy Jackson. (2011). Plastic surgery advice & anti-ageing expert. Cosmetic surgery info. Best reviewed home microdermabrasion.. Available: http://www.cindyjackson.com/. Last accessed 08/11/2011. 

Above are some pictures showing the difference between Cindy Jackson's face over 33 years, with extensive cosmetic surgery. She is known as a leading expert in cosmetic surgery in the media today, and works to break teh stereotype that all women who have plastic surgery are air-headed dolls (She is a member of the MENSA high IQ group).