It was an incredible feat for two 17-year olds, particularly considering they had only been making music for a year. While their success engendered its share of haters, the doubts were instantly quelled upon the release of their debut album, Skinny Jeanz & A Mic. A critical and commercial success, the LA Times praised Ben J and Legacy’s innate “catchiness and charisma,” while XXL magazine hailed the Boyz as “the breath of fresh air that rap needs.”

While the  world may have initially known them as jerks, the group’s second smash single, the Ray J-aided slow jam, “Tie Me Down” went multi-platinum and was the groups second Top 5 record at rhythmic radio. Revealing their pop gifts and versatility, the collaboration still dominates radio even a year after its initial release. They were up for a BET Award for best group and even snagged Teen Choice Award nomination. Subsequent tours with Chris Brown and Sean Kingston revealed the hysterical fervor of the group’s fan base. Several mall performances even worked the crowd into such a frenzy that law enforcement had to shut them down.

But it’s 2011, and rather than the rest on their laurels, Ben J and Legacy are back with their sophomore album, Too Cool To Care for May 10th release on Shotty/Asylum/Warner Bros. Records. The new album reflects the group’s continued evolution, as they harness different genres (electro, alternative rock, R&B) and blend them with their hip-hop roots and trademark wit and confidence. As they said from the start: New Boyz do new things. “We still support the movement, but we wanted to show our creativity without being tied to jerkin’,” Legacy said. “Too Cool To Care is about how we’ve always gotten criticism from those who want to hate on our fashion or our style. But we’ve always done our thing. The album has crazy pop tracks, rock songs, and electronic songs. We’re testing our boundaries.”

“Break My Bank” combines the best of both worlds: fluid raps layered atop island crooner and labelmate lyaz’s instantly memor able hook. The result is a summer jam that conjures palm trees, white sand beaches, fluorescent waters and pink drinks with umbrellas in them. An instant smash, in just two weeks the single was added to 50 radio station playlists and closed in on pace to be Asylum’s fastest record to #1 on any airplay chart.

Their first single “Backseat” is their attempt to bridge all these influences. Produced by Indie-dance duo The Cataracts and featuring their starlet Dev, the song marks the group’s foray into pop territory while keeping roots in hip-hop inspired fun. The “Escalade-based bager,” described by Entertainment Weekly on its rise up the charts, “is how dance parties start–and how babies accidentally get made.”

Elsewhere on the album, the group proves they can step away from the house-party functions and into a glitzy nightclub, concocting electro-club bangers like “Zonin.” But don’t be misled by the eclecticism. Even hardcore hip-hop heads, who view skinny jeans as the sign of the apocalypse, will be converted by the DJ Khalil-produced “Tough Kids” with its rapid-fire raps, raw boom-bap drums and Hendrix-style guitars.

“We wanted to show that we’ve grown up a little bit It’s not something out of left field, but want to show the world that we’re the New Boyz and we always do new things,” said Ben J. “The first album was more jerkin’ oriented. It let the world know who we are. This album is focused on expressing ourselves to the girls. We’re always trying to get the ladies.”

Their first album made them voices of their generation, but their second explains exactly who the New Boyz are. They’re children of the iPod age, able to switch style as easily as they switch their skinny jeans. The notions of traditional hip-hop mean nothing to them. They’re dedicated to pushing past genre and aesthetic boundaries. They’re perennially on the quest for the new. And if you don’t like it, that’s all good–they’re Too Cool To Care.

But the fun doesn’t completely mask the quarter’s work ethic and serious commitment to working toward power-pop greatness. One clear standout in their growing catalog is “Catching Up,” a call to action-themed track that became a fan favorite after the band performed it in the set of their Suddenly headline tour in the summer of 2010. It appears on the new album, and these particular lyrics definitely have the ring of “mission statement” about them, too. “I’m done hanging out/Talking ’bout what I want/No fun sitting here/Thinking maybe next year,” sings lead vocalist Zach Porter. “I don’t wanna be/Looking back at 23/Saying to myself: Got a lot of catching up to do.”

Older listeners accustomed to pondering what they might regret in middle age or on their deathbeds might laugh to think of Porter imagining the regrets he could end up harboring at age 23–which for him, like the other members of Allstar Weekend, is still three years down the line. But the band members were conscious about keeping the threshold for possible disappointment and remorse that young.

“That was a lyric that we were actually discussing: Should it be ‘I don’t want to be looking back at 23,’ or 33, or 43? But we kept it young, at 23. Because I’ve seen so many of my friends now–after high school, after we set what we wanted to do with our lives and we went to our colleges and whatnot–that are just kind of doing nothing.. Either they lost their sense of direction or were maybe too scared to actually go after something in their life that they really desire. ‘Catching Up’ is a wake up call to people to step out of that comfort zone, take a risk, and go for what you really want.”

If youth is often said to be wasted on the young, it’s definitely not being wasted on Allstar Weekend, who have somehow managed to be both determined and carefree in going for the gold. They started the band while attending the same San Diego high school–though some of the close friendships date back to middle school–and happened into a series of lucky breaks, making their own luck all the while.

Break number one, in their minds, was landing their managers, Stefanie and Richard Reines, while they were still in high school. This carries both practical and symbolic importance, since these managers also happened to be founders of the group’s favorite indie record label, Drive-Thru Records, a Los Angeles-based imprint that had signed a good number of the band members’ favorite local pop-punk groups. At the same time, Allstar Weekend knew that striving after indie cred was not the path for them, when, however had they might rock, their hooks were so unabashedly pop and their instincts so unabashedly commercial.

Break number two came when they made a fateful decision to drive up to L.A. from San Diego, on a whim. “Every time we’d walk out of one of those venues in San Diego, there’d always be people handing out free CDs  and flyers. So we started handing out at various shows,” says Quiseng. “We ended up handing a flyer to a casting director at Disney, who gave it to someone from Radio Disney. And then overnight we got this email saying: ‘We checked out you stuff online and enjoyed it. I have this competition, and I need one more band. Do you want to come into the studios and join the contest?’ We went in and we were super-nervous, talking over each other. But hearing our song blasting on the radio in Zach’s car was such an experience, I can’t even explain how much we were freaking out.”

And then, Quiseng hastens to add, “We actually ended up losing the competition”–but, as Chris Daughtry, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Miranda Lambert, and other famous contest losers would tell you, that’s not always such a fatal thing. The Radio Disney exposure led to a series of showcases for major labels, and going with Hollywood Records, “where we wanted to be from the beginning,” was big break number three.

Allstar Weekend  have continued to be embraced by Radio Disney in a huge way. The station’s studio is “practically out home away from home,” says Quiseng. But, of course, the group differs from a great deal of the other fare heard there, first of all by beingt a band, not a solo artist, and then by not being attached to any TV or movie property. Their level of musical accomplishment at the mutual age of 20 is so great that it may be hard for some observers to believe they really are a self-made outfit, and not something put together by some mad, brilliant Svengali. But, as far as they’ve come, they’re not that far removed from their parents’ garages, in years or in spirit.

And before they were a garage band, they were a bedroom band. Because  before Allstar Weekend even formed, singer Porter and guitarist Nathan Darmody had joined forces just to become songwriters. The fact that writing was first love, and remains an ongoing one, may account for the ultimate underlying strength of Allstar Weekend as a song- and not image-based band. It also gives Allstar Weekend the gift of longevity as a band that will long outlast their beginnings at Disney.

“I think some people forming bands go out wanting to make a statement, or become a character, or embody some kind of image,” says Porter. “But we were never trying to be a grunge band, not trying to be a metal band, not trying to be an indie-rock band. Before we were even a band, Nathan and I wanted to be songwriters, and we’re still trying to write catchy songs that people can relate to, and just be who we are.

Among the four of them they agree that guitarist Darmody and drummer Michael Martinez are the most natural, long-standing, and accomplished musicians of the group. Bassist Quiseng admits: “I had dabbled in guitar, but I had never picked up a bass. I just really wanted to be in the band with these guys because they were close friends. So Nathan taught me everything I know, or at least showed me the basics of playing bass, and I just practiced and practiced until I was ready to join them.” Porter had done a similar amount of work to excel as the band’s frontman. “I wasn’t born a singer,” he says. “I remember for years, my parents told me, ‘Zach, this is a pipe dream. You need something to fall back on.’ But I kept at it. It’s a matter of drive and determination and passion.”

Those are all qualities that show up in spades in the 11 songs on Suddenly Yours–along with, of course, the aforementioned fun. The album’s first single, “Come Down With Love,” is one of Allstar Weekend’s hardest-rocking tracks yet, and one–befitting the virus metaphor–with a distinctive ear-worm quality. “I think it’s a more powerful song than we’ve ever written before,” says Porter, “and will definitely be a big step in how people view us,” That song, which the band recently sang to Demi Lovato on the Disney Channel’s hit sitcome Sonny With a Chance, is one of four never-before-heard songs that didn’t appear on the previous EP.

The other newbie tracks are “Catching Up,” the love-struck “Can’t Sleep Tonight,” and “Here With You.” The last number, whih Allstar Weekend have been known to break out acoustically in radio visits and other more intimate settings, is a sincere-sounding but slightly tongue-in-cheek ode to a Masxim pin-upgirl that Porter had on his wall in high school. (“As soon as I moved out, my brother stold the poster,” the singer points out.)

Other songs here are already familiar to diehard fans, like “Dance Forever,” a hit digital download from its initial release on Suddenly EP last summer. It’s a no-brainer to guess that that breakout song is, well, danceable, but the influence of their childhood heroes, blink-182, is more impossible as becoming superheroes. In the tune, addressing his own innate modesty in the face of these no-so-fantastical fantasies, Porter sings, “I’m only five-foot-eight…” But, he jokes, not only have they achieved most of the other goals in the song, but “I’m five-foot-eight and a half now. I’ve stepped up my game!”

The album’s closer, “The Weekend,” may seem like a simple party-pleaser of a rocker, but the band’s seize-the-day philosophy is embedded even in a song that initially sounds like it’s only about seizing a Saturday. “The general theme, besides the weekend, is that whether or not you like what you’re doing in school or like you job, there are always going to be times where you can be yourself,” says Porter. “And it may not be in you job, but there will be moments in life where you can shine as the person you really are. I think people maybe forget that or don’t even know that.”

Allstar Weekend’s ultimate aspiration is to be unforgettable, themselves. For the time being, they stay after every concert to meet every last fan who can stick around–a process that can last as long as four or five hours. These epic meet-’n'-greets are a ritual they won’t be able to do forever, but “it’s really important to do it now,” says Porter. “Because every night on this headlining tour that we’ve been doing, our goal above everything is to make it a night that everyone there can remember the rest of their lives. And having that face-to-face interaction is vital to that, so we take it really seriously.”

“We’re so busy now and we have such little interaction with our old friends or even our family while we’re on the road, the fans are the ones that can almost relate to us the easiest, or understand us the most, at this point. They’re the ones who see us the most! So it’s a really great relationship.” Right now, to a fan base that has emerged almost instantaneously, Allstar Weekend are “suddenly yours,” but they’re counting on that developing into “forever yours.”

But for Rise Against, this particular endgame might just be their beginning.

As the title of the band’s sixth full-length studio album–and the moniker of the album’s title track–Endgame, is indicative of both a world that has run its course, and perhaps ushering in an entirely new start.

“It’s about a dangerous time in civilization, the end of life,” says vocalist/guitarist Tim McIlrath. “What if the life that we’re living right now is this unsustainable bubble that cannot go on and perhaps does not deserve to go on? What if he world we created is a place that is so unnatural and ugly that it is a world that needs to come to an end, so that we could have a world that is better for everybody? It sounds very utopian, but it’s not about a perfect place, but maybe some of these things we/re doing, they need to come to an end.”

McIlrath, bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and guitarist Zach Blair have been making these striking personal and political statements, and providing prompts of great magnitude throughout their remarkable catalog by offering songs that aren’t just merely sung, but very much thought about.

And it’s thought that has made Rise Against such an important bank to its ever-expanding fanbase. For the Chicago-based punk group, the creation of dialogue and discourse with listeners has allowed for a response and career trajectory that’s been overwhelming positive since the band’s launch over a decade ago.

Rise Against’s previous effort, 2008′s Appeal to Reason, further escalated the noteworthy attention already generated by prior successes, including The Sufferer and the Witness (2006) and Siren Song for the Counterculture (2004), which had provided such hits as “Swing Life Away,” “Ready to Fall,” “Prayer of the Refugee” and “Savior.” And Endgame simply picks up on such highlights.

Endgame was largely assembled in the latter half of 2010. The band opted to return to production veterans Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at The Blasting Room in Fort Collins, Colo., and mixed with Chris Lord-Alge, who also worked on Rise Against’s previous two albums.

The album’s first single, “Help Is On The Way” was inspired by McIlrath’s recent visit during a retreat in New Orleans.

“It was a post-Katrina New Orleans, and I was down at the Gulf, going to the Lower Ninth Ward, seeing the damage and meeting people,” he recalls. “It was so eye opening to see how important the city was and to realize that a city like this existed within American borders at all and to see how much it was hurting was something that was really emotional and dramatic.”

McIlrath notes that the song stems from a lot of the imagery that remains embedded in his thoughts.

“I wanted to paint a picture of what happened down there and what is happening down there, and even though New Orleans is moving away from the spotlight a little bit, there’s still a lot recovery that people don’t see that takes place every day and it’s still an important place in America and in the world. It’s a place that should not be forgotten about. It’s a hopeful title in a sense, but there a couple different things, as in help is on the way but it never came. It still needs a lot more help, it still needs to happen.”

On Endgame, Rise Against also shifts the spotlight to homophobia via “Make it Stop,” a topic McIlrath says really hasn’t been addressed in the rock scene. The Catalyst for the song occurred in September 2010, after a wave of gay teen suicides. According to McIlrath, the band received e-mails from gay fans who had contemplated suicide due to the harsh climates in which they live and the harsh world that judges who they are.

“That’s something I’ve seen firsthand,” he says. “It’s bummed me out to create this community of fans, where you want everybody to feel accepted, but then to realize that there are people that don’t feel accepted, even at your own shows, even at a Rise Against Show, where we go out of our way to let you know that if you are here, you belong here, no matter who you are. It’s a place where everyone is welcome. But we’d hear from fans about homophobia in the scene, or even hear from fans who are unsure about how Rise Against feels about homosexuality. That was what alarmed me the most, was to have a fan that even had a question in their mind about where we stood on it. I guess I looked back on our career and Rise Against had never made a definitive statement.”

The definitive statement Rise Against makes on Endgame, is that the band is open to any sexual preference. “It’s something that we certainly don’t judge,” McIlrath says. “I felt there needed to be a song, which came from our world, because I feel that the rock world stays pretty silent. I wanted to put water where the fire was. I wanted to do a song that, first, lets fans know that we don’t tolerate bigotry in our audience and, second, empower fans who are coming to grips with their own sexuality, empower them to be proud of who they are an that we accept them, and create a community that accepts them.”

Endgame also features “Architect,” a song inspired by the forefathers and historical figures of civil rights and activism, including Thoreau, Malcolm X and Howard Zinn.

“They were designing a world in which we would be able to live in,” McIlrath says. “They fought for the design of everything that we can enjoy as Americans and people in the world today. The song is posing the question: Is our generation producing those architects now? It’s wondering if our generation is so overcome with cynicism and apathy that we are in danger of not creating these architects. Every right that we enjoy as Americans, somebody was out there with a picket sign to get it.”

And McIlrath sees Endgame‘s “Survivor Guilt” as a sequel to “Hero of War,” which appeared on Appeal to Reason, hailing from the perspective of a ghost of a soldier who fought for his or her country.

But it’s important to note that the spectrum of material presented on Endgame is counterbalanced with a number of personal subjects, including the song “This Is Letting Go” which is based around a story McIlrath had penned.

“The songs to me are a selection of who we are as people,” says McIlrath. “We’re not 100 percent political or 100 percent personal. We’re people with many different cares and passions. Many different things make up our daily lives. I don’t consider myself any more political than those out there who care about the world they live in.”

And as for the pressure in following up its string of successes–which now includes three gold-awarded albums and gold singles-McIlrath says it’s all internally generated.

“The pressure that we feel is he pressure that we put on ourselves,” he says. “We try to step up our game on each record and create something that’s relevant, new and fresh, and is still Rise Against. I want to give my perspective, and from the punk community, take in what’s happening, interpret that and put it into a song, letting the world know how we feel about it. Thats the goal behind a lot of the music.”

“Times have been hard for everyone over the last couple of years,” said James Roller, FDHS’s yearbook adviser. “Even our yearbook has been hit hard as a result of the economy. Yearbook orders are lower than at any other time since I began advising here in the 99-00 school year, both business and personal ads are much harder to sell and are, too, at an all time low. We really have to struggled to meet our publication costs.”

“It dawned on me we would need to change our fundraising strategy if we were going to continue to try to produce the quality of book we have traditionally created. My kids’ elementary school has offered a savings card ever since my now 18 year-old first enrolled. I knew as a parent and consumer that their savings card was a great deal, and we buy one every year. Since FDHS did not have such an offer in place, that seemed like a natural way to help not only the yearbook staff, but, honestly, local businesses and members of our community alike,” said Roller.

Just a sample, but probably what the front of the final card will look like.

An example of what the back of the card may look like. Offers shown will not necessarily appear on the final card.

For Businesses

Currently, FDHS is in the process of discussing their card with local businesses to provide them an opportunity to be included. The yearbook staff is looking to include twenty or more savings offers on the card, and as of the date of this writing, they are about halfway there, with a number of agreements pending.

The yearbook staff hopes to begin offering the card for sale before the end of the 2010-2011 school year.

Business that might like to be included on the card (either this year or in future years), should contact Mr. Roller. They can also simply download the FDHS Merchant Agreement and mail or fax in to FDHS.

“Our goal for our business partners with this card is to give people in our community an incentive to visit our partners. As a FDHS Savings Card holder, say I am deciding on a place to eat. I know I have an offer at Wendy’s, but not one for Chick-fil-a. I certainly have a greater reason now to spend my money at Wendy’s instead,” said Roller.

“With our annual Savings Card in the hands of hundreds of people in the Fort Dorchester community, businesses included on our card will have a competitive advantage over their competitors. It is as simple as that,” Roller continued.

The deadline to submit a Merchant Agreement for this year’s card is April 22.

For the Community

Clearly, what the Savings Card offers is twenty or more discounts or other savings offers that are valid on a daily basis until 8/1/2012.

That is over a year of savings at places like Kangaroo Gas Stations, Wendy’s, Chili’s, Wonder Wash, Brat’s Tanning, and Arby’s.

In addition, FDHS’s yearbook staff is currently in discussions with places like Tanger Outlet and reaching out to business owners who have students at Fort Dorchester to provide even more value for our card holders.

“The great thing about our Savings Card is that these offers are not just one-time discounts. Unless indicated otherwise, these offers can be used at all of these businesses every day until August 2012.  That will be a very real benefit for anyone who uses our Savings Card,” Roller said.

The cost of the card will only be $20 and will have the following restrictions:

• Equal or Lesser Value with Buy one, Get One offers
• Not Valid With Other Offers, Coupons, or Specials
• Not Transferable
• Limit One Offer Per Card Per Person Per Day
• Subject to Change Without Notice
• Additional Terms and Conditions May Apply
• Must Present at Time of Order

“We hope to include at least 20 offers on our Savings Card this year. At this point, we are almost there between the agreements we already have on hand and those pending with whom we are currently in discussions.  In addition, we have just sent a voice message to the homes of all Fort Dorchester students to make sure we don’t leave out any business owner who feels they could benefit from being on our card. When this collection of offers is finalized, we feel we will really have something of value to offer both those businesses and our card holders. Really it is a win-win-win situation,”  Roller said.

FDHS’s savings card is expected to go on sale beginning May 2.

Don’t miss out: Text fdhsyearbook to 70359 to sign up to text alerts regarding the Savings Card and other yearbook related info.

Ready?  Maybe not…

GET READY:

1. Sign up for text message updates. Text fdhsyearbook to 84483. (Standard rates do apply.) First notice about new clues will go out via text.
2. Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. These folks will be the second notified about new clues.
3. Get a QR Code reader. Read this post to learn more and to find which readers we recommend. Or visit yearbookunlimited.com to learn more.

KNOW HOW TO PLAY:

Read this information to learn all you need to know to play the game.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN:

The first clue will be release sometime before midnight on 4/11.  Be ready.

Good Luck,

~ Roller

First, it is important to understand what these codes are and how they work. QR codes are simple two-dimensional barcodes that can be read by a phone with a camera and a reader application, or a desktop computer with a web camera and the appropriate software.

There are a few readers that we recommend. I will put links to those at the end of this article.

By using your phone or web cam to scan a code, new information will be revealed. In our case, the codes are most often being used to add content to our yearbook in the form of videos or slideshows. However, some codes take you to webpages. They can also be used for many other things.

We knew about them last year, but were uncertain how to implement them properly in the book.

In doing our research earlier this year, we partnered with a company by the name of Yearbook Unlimited. They have helped us not only understand the pitfalls of adding QR codes to this yearbook, but also helped us recognize the power of using them.

Yearbook Unlimited has held our hand through the process, and that is how we were able to implement them in this year’s book.

As to why we chose to implement them, I think that will be evident once the book is in your hands. Imagine, for example, you’re thumbing through the book and you come to the Halloween Hoot page.

Wouldn’t it be great not only to see the photos but also to watch the video of the event? Before, you would have to get out the DVD, find a television with a DVD player, and find the video on the DVD.

Now, all you have to do is scan the code on that page. Boom! You’re watching the Halloween Hoot video.

It is the perfect complement to the material printed on the page. It brings you right into another dimension that we were never able to provide before.

As a result, we will be phasing out the use of DVDs in the yearbook. This year and next year, we will still produce a DVD, but we will not include one in every book. Anyone who would like a copy is welcome to come pick one up from room 109 after the book is distributed.

As smartphones become more ubiquitous, QR Codes are a technology you will begin to see everywhere. The Fort Dorchester Patriot yearbook staff, with the help of Yearbook Unlimited, is happy to be on the cutting edge of this new technology.

We hope you will love it as much as we do.

Here are the readers we recommend:

Phones:

i-nimga — probably the most widespread reader worldwide

Scanlife — comes pre-installed on many phones

Qrafter — a new one that has interesting feature

Computers:

QRreader — only computer reader we’ve tried; works well
However, you have to have Adobe AIR installed (free):http://get.adobe.com/air/

Here is a page where Mr. Roller details his yearbook staff’s experience adding QR codes to the school yearbook: Yearbook QR Codes

Try a code yourself and see where it takes you.

Yearbook Unlimited QR Code

]]> http://www.fdhsnews.com/2011/03/06/yearbook-adds-qr-codes-how-and-why/feed/ 1 http://www.fdhsnews.com/2011/03/06/jane-eyre/ http://www.fdhsnews.com/2011/03/06/jane-eyre/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:29:53 +0000 admin http://www.fdhsnews.com/?p=4829 Release Date: March 11, 2011 (NYC and Los Angeles) and opening in more cities beginning March 18

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga (“Sin Nombre”)

Writers: Moira Buffini (“Tamara Drewe”); Based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Sally Hawkins, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Imogen Poots, Judi Dench

MPAA Rating: PG-13

In a bold new feature version o Jane Eyre, director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe) infuse a contemporary immediacy into Charlotte Bronte’s timeless, classic story. Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) star in the iconic lead roles of the romantic drama, the heroine of which continues to inspire new generations of devoted readers and viewers.

In the 19th Century-set story, Jane Eyre (played by Ms. Wasikowska) suddenly flees Thornfield Hall, the vast and isolated estate where she works as a governess for Adele Varens (Romy Settbon Moore), a child under the custody of Thornfield’s brooding master, Edward Rochester (Mr. Fassbender). The imposing residence- and Rochester’s own imposing nature- have sorely tested her resilience. With nowhere else to go, she is extended a helping hand by clergyman St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell of Focus Features’ The Eagle) and his family. As she recuperates in the Rivers’ Moor House and looks back upon the tumultuous events that led to her escape, Jane wonders if the past is ever truly past…

Aged 10, the orphaned Jane (played by Amelia Clarkson) is mistreated and then cast out of her childhood home Gateshead by her cruel aunt, Mrs. Reed (Golden Globe Award winner Sally Hawkins). Consigned to the charity school Lowood, Jane encounters further harsh treatment but receives an education and meets Helen Burns (Freya Parks), a poor child who impresses Jane as a soulful and contented person. The two become firm friends. When Helen falls fatally ill, the loss devastates Jane, yet strengthens her resolve to stand up for herself and make the just choices in life.

As a teenager, Jane arrives at Thornfield. She is treated with kindness and respect by housekeeper Mrs. Fairfax (Academy Award winner Judi Dench). Jane’s interest is piqued by Rochester, who engages her in games of wit and storytelling, and divulges to her some of his innermost thoughts. But his dark moods are troubling to Jane, as are strange goings-on in the house- especially the off-limits attic. She dares to intuit a deep connection with Rochester, and she is not wrong; but once she uncovers the terrible secret that he had hoped to hide from her forever, she flees, finding a home with the Rivers family When St. John Rivers makes Jane a surprising proposal, she realizes that she must return to Thornfield- to secure her own future and finally, to conquer what haunts both her and Rochester.

A Classic Novel, A Unique New Adaption: Jane Eyre Revisited

For over 150 years, Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre has been one of the world’s most popular books. A mainstay of school reading lists. It has been translated into virtually every language. A story with protagonist whom Bronte saw as “a heroine as plain and small as myself,” it continues to inspire generations and to influence storytellers.

The power of the story and the popularity of the 1847 novel have led to a host of adaptations of the book; there have been 18 feature versions (dating back to 1910, and most recently 1996), and 9 telefilm versions. The team behind what would become the 2011 version, Jane Eyre, was motivated to reach a world filmgoing audience while also honoring the novel.

Producer Alison Owen, an Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner, offers, “If you say to someone, ‘What’s the definitive film version of Jane Eyre?’ no one really has an answer. Having made a number of movies from or about women’s fiction, I wondered, ‘Why not?’”

“We’re a company that is rapidily building a healthy reputation for being able to successfully convert well-known written works into big- and small-screen entertainment. Taking on Bronte seemed like the natural next step up the literary ladder,” adds produre Paul Trijbits. “It’s a book we already knew had an enormous fan base, so the responsibility was also a major consideration. We wanted to move this interpretation forward into the 21st Century whilst maintaining the story’s haunting beauty.”

Owen and Trijbits’ Ruby Film & Television began on the project, which they took to one of the U.K.’s most prolific film funding organizations, BBC Films, to begin the development process.

Owen adds, “It’s timely in that Charlotte Bronte, seen as ‘the darker sister’ when compared to Emily and Anne Bronte, is being rediscovered much like Jane Austen was nearly 20 years ago.”

“As a producer, I make sure to have general meeting with my favorite writers all the time; right after I’d thought about Jane Eyre, I was meeting with Moira Buffini. I happened to mention it and it turned out to be one of Moira’s favorite books, if not her favorite.”

Buffini seized on the chance to adapt the book, and she and Owen quickly outlined their vision for a full-on-big-screen approach to the story. They knew it had to differ from adaptations that had gone before. Buffini’s approach was to draw out the gothic elements of the story, and make them engines of the piece.

“Moira wanted to make it dark and spooky on an intensely romantic journey. That was her take, which I wholly supported,” recalls Owen.

Further, as the novel would be adapted into a two-hour movie, Owen found that “what was brilliant about the script Moira delivered was the structure she’d chosen. The book is quite difficult in some ways to translate to film. Everyone remembers the sections of Jane’s childhood, of Jane being a governess at Thornfield and falling in love with Mr. Rochester, and then bolting.

“But from then on, there’s another set of characters introduced- the Rivers family. You can do that in a novel, but it’s harder to do two-thirds of the way throught a movie. Moira’s stroke of genius was that instead of abbreviating or loosing this part entirely, which previously adaptations have done, she put it right at the beginning – and turned the novel’s early sections of the young Jane at Lowood and her initial days at Thornfield into flashbacks. Therefore, midway through the third act, we catch up with Jane and you get the emotional punch of being in real time at the end as she comes to terms with everyone and everything.”

Buffini comments, “I hope this will please the many who love the book; while we may not be faithful to the original structure, our version does include every key stage of Jane’s story. Giving  the complete picture was also meant to help the uninitiated- those coming to this story for the first time- to understand and identify with Jane all the more.”

CHARLOTTE BRONTE: AUTHOR OF THE NOVEL

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) was born in Thornton, Bradford in Yorkshire, the third of six children.

Her mother died in 1821. In 1824, she enrolled at the Clergy Daughters’ School at Cowan Bridge. There, she and her sisters Maria, Elizabeth, and Emily, were mistreated and malnourished. They were taken out of the school the following year, but the damage had been done and Maria and Elizabeth died of consumption.

In 1829, Ms. Bronte began to write such stories as The Search After Happiness, History of the Year, and the Angrian and Glass Town sagas. The latter chronicles encompassed correspondences and writings of fictional characters in their towns and kingdoms.

Educated at Roe Head, she returned to teach there from 1835 to 1835. She subsequently spent time in Brussels, studying with her surviving sister Emily, and then teaching English.

A book of poems was published in 1846 under two pseudonyms; Ms. Bronte had contributed 19 poems to it. She had also by then written a novel, The Professor, which went unpublished; and began work on the novel Jane Eyre. Published in 1847, the latter quickly became a bestseller. Her subsequent novels included Shirley (1849, but not published until 1857) and Villette (1853).

Ms. Bronte married Arthur Nicholls in 1854; she died nine months later, and was laid to rest in the family vault at Haworth Parish Church.

KEY PLAYERS: CAST AND CREW

Mia Wasikowska: Star of Tomorrow, Today

Just one year ago, only the savviest talen spotters would have recognized the name “Mia Wasikowska” among a list of up-and-coming actresses. But having previously appeared in several shorts, television programs and indie features, Wasikowska suddenly is everywhere. She stars as Alice in Tom Burton’s worldwide hit, Alice in Wonderland; was nominated as one of MTV’s 2010 “Best Female Breakout Stars”; plays a lead role in Gus Van Sant’s upcoming Restless; made the cover of Vanity Fair; played the pivotal role of Joni- so named bu her lesbian parents, after Joni Mitchell- in Lisa Cholodenko’s Oscar-nominated Focus Features release, The Kids are All Right; and plays the inspiring literary heroine in Cary Joji Fuckunaga’s Jane Eyre. And all that before she turns 21. Indeed, Wasikowska’s rapid fame has even caught her by surprise – “It feels really weird seeing me on a movie poster,” she told UK’s The Guardian.

Michael Fassbender: A Classic Character

In Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre, Michael Fassbender brings a new twist to the character of Edward Rochester, a figure who remains as enigmatic and unforgettable as he was in 1847 when Charlotte Bronte’s novel was first published. Indeed, Fassbender joins a long line of celebrated actors, including Orson Welles and George C. Scott, who’ve put on Rochester is a brusque, brooding, but ultimately good man. In her Elle profile of Fassbender, Karen Durbin includes the actor’s take on this literary titan: “A Byronic character burnt by experience, arrogant but also eloquent and introspective. He’s world-weary and jaded, sensual, self-destructive; yet there’s a good sense of humor in there, and at the end of the day a good heart. He sees the freshness and beauty in Jane when everybody else looks past her.”

Judi Dench: From Stage to Screen

Dame Judi Dench, who plays Mrs. Fairfax in Cary Joji Fukunaga’s new film Jane Eyre – based on Charlotte Bronte’s book – is one of the most acclaimed screen actresses of the past decade; however, Dench was and is a reluctant movie star. Essentially a late bloomer when it comes to film acting, Dench told The Times of London, “I’m more comfortable on stage, where there is an audience to tell a story to, as opposed to a film set where you are not in charge at all. On stage you can hear an audience’s reactions. Within two minutes of a play starting you know how the evening will go. On film you’re more reliant on the director. The moment he leaves you, you’re like a child learning to walk.” Dench has taken huge strides as a cinematic performer – with an Oscar to show for it – but her mastery of screen acting is undoubtedly rooted in the confidence she gained from her work on stage.

Cary Joji Fukunaga: Beginnings

As the story goes, after attending a screening of the restored version of Orson Welles’ Classic Touch of Evil, Jane Eyre director Cary Joji Fukunaga met the great editor Walter Murch, who oversaw the restoration. Murch invited Fukunaga, who had grown up in East Bay and attended U.C. Santa Cruz, to sti in on the sound mix for The Talented Mister Ripley and then gave the erstwhile directo simple, sage advice: “Travel.” “There was no reason I should be rushing out to intern at a company just because I wanted to make movies,” recalled Fukunaga to Time Out New York. “I should be having experiences in the world and be able to comment on them when I ended up directing films.” So, before attending graduate film school at NYU, Fukunaga spent a year traveling the world, returning with an internationalist cinematic agenda. He told Filmmaker magazine, “I love what Michael Winterbottom’s been doing recently. He’s making films all over the world and investigating all these different cultures. Ideally, that’s what I’d like to do.” Fukunaga’s first filmic border crossing was to Mexico, where he made Victoria Para Chino, a riveting, tragic short about 17 illegal Mexican immigrants who die of suffocation while being smuggled across the border to Victoria, Texas. With a budget of only $5,000, Fukunaga made us feel not only the desperate, stifling heat of the immigrants’ locked trailer but also the larger social injustices that resulted in this tragic true story. The film went to numerous festivals, including Sundance, won a silver medal at the Student Academy Awards and announced Fukunaga as one of the film world’s most promising young directors- a status he cemented with his breakthrough feature debut, Focus’ 2009 release Sin Nombre.

“We all kept thinking: ‘How are we going to win a band show without a band,’” adds Adam of their lack of a rhythm section. “So when we got there, it was all a little overwhelming and I just wanted to make it to the top 5. I didn’t think we were gonna get very far in it.”

But thanks to fan votes, not only did they make it past the top 5, The Clark Brothers went on to win the 2007 competition, beating out 10,000 contenders for the title and scoring a recording contract with 19 Recordings/Interscope Records in the process. Says Austin: “It was amazing and at the same time, humbling. We just felt very honored that from all the bands, people picked us.”

Call it a fluke, but the way the brothers see their television discovery, it was all a matter of fate and faith. In fact, there are two things Ashley, Austin and Adam have never doubted: that music runs in their blood and wherever it may lead them, that’s the path they were meant to take. Such has been their mantra from a very young age where the siblings, three of 11 born to preacher parents, began playing and touring North America.

Over time, the brothers had ostensibly gone their seperate ways, at least professionally, until Ashley orchestrated the basement reunion that would lead to the formation of Sons of Sylvia, the name change (inspired by their mother) signifying “a clean, fresh start,” according to Ashley.

What followed their Next Great American Band win were months of nonstop writing as the guys continued on their musical journey Destination: unknown. “We took everything we love about country music and put it into this record,” Ashley explains. “And after writing, like, 300 songs, we weren’t ready to stop there, so we thought we’d take a leap of faith and do something totally new and different.” The result? The hard-driving “John Wayne,” in which Austin does to the dobro what autotune did to the pop chorus. Indeed, distortions abound on this track, Ashley proves his vocal range has no limits and Adam takes the mandolin to another dimension. Upping the ante on “50 Ways,” the brothers deliver undeniable hooks while upping the BPMs on their stringed instruments. But it’s on the anthemic. “Love Left to Lose,” which Ashley co-wrote with their cousin, hit maker and OneRepublic frontman, Ryan Tedder, that these Sons wear their hearts on their sleeves, while making their audience’s melt. Or at least that’s been the case as nightly sing-alongs have sprung up on Carrie Underwood’s tour, which S.O.S. is opening.

“Love Left to Lose” is a special song because Ashley and Ryan have a really cool history of living and traveling together before Ryan made it big,” says Adams. “And now we’re on the same label! It’s so weird how our lives are a series oof strange events like that – impossible situations over and over again, becoming possible.”

Recorded in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, Canada, featuring production by Jack Joseph Puig, Ryan Tedder, Jeff Trott, Brian Howes, Gerald O’Brien, Catt Gravitt, ahnd Mike Shimshak along with co-writes by them and Lindy Robbins, Revelation is the beginning of a newly-charted course for this immensely talented group. And Ashley, who has been on a stead diet of the Beatles, U2, Elvis and The Doors and considers himslef a “late bloomer,” is gladly leading the charge – with gusto and swagger. “I think in my heart, I’m more of a rocker,” he says. “For a long time, it was like I couldn’t always express myself orhow I really fee. Now, I want to go wild and dance around the stage.”

“I started writing songs when I was 14, but didn’t play anything. So I started playing piano to be able to put down the melodies that I was already writing and singing into a little recorder.” She had no formal training and picked the instrument up by ear. Even when she began to be more accomplished, her musical aspirations were unknown to her classmates. “I definitely wouldn’t talk about my music at school. I didn’t go to any of the high school parties. I would do my homework and do all my AP classes, go to the studio, go to sleep. That was my entire life- along with classical ballet, which I was very into. I’m proud to say I wasn’t one of the cool kids.”

Kaprelian has a classic story of being discovered more or less at random. Actually, she’s got two or three of those stories. Her first discovery came at the age 15, when a talent scout tapped her on the shoulder at her local mall after watching her sing with a school group for a fundraising event. One contact led to another until, right as she was about to go off to UC Berkeley at age 18, she was instead personally signed to a major label by one of the world’s most famous record company chiefs. That particular fairy tale was not her destiny. That would-be debut album was scrapped and Kaprelian and her former label parted ways. Then, in odds akin to being hit by lightning twice, she got discovered more or less of the street again.

Mindful that some other singers had broken through with covers, Kaprelian’s producer suggested that she film herself doing a solo cover of OneRepublic’s “Apologize” to post on YouTube. “He said, ‘You’ve always liked Ryan’s style of writing, and it’s piano-based. What have you got to lose?’” Soon after, she learned OneRepublic was sponsoring a contest to see who could do the best cover of “Apologize,” so she uploaded it. Weeks later, she was getting twin messages from people at Interscope- one informing her that she’d won the contest, and another inviting her to come in for a meeting. And here’s where she really rolled a seven: “Honestly, I feel so lucky, because Interscope let me make the record I wanted to make. My A&R guy was like, ‘Do what you want. I trust you.’” The rewards of that mutual faith are abundant.

Her core recording band included well-known players Abe Laboriel and Matt Chamberlin on drums, Chris Chaney on bass, and Lyle Workman on guitar. That the album would also have some orchestration was given – “I wanted the record to sound very rich and lush and full. And there are barely any synths on the record. I wanted everything live.” The strings are usually used for seasoning, but they become altogether prominent on the song “March Mornings.” Kaprelian says: “No other instumentation aside from the strings and a vocal. I really wanted people to hear my voice. When you have a song that has a much bigger arrangement, like ‘New Day’ or ‘Sinner and a Saint,’ you can’t tell if I can really sing or not. In ‘March Mornings,’ you can hear the quality of my voice, and that was the goal for that song-aside from trying to model it after one of my favorite Beatles songs.” Lyrically though, “March Mornings” couldn’t be any more different from the lonesome “Eleanor Rigby.” It’s a song of ebullient, newfound hope, and-not coincidentally-the first song she wrote after signing her deal with Interscope, “about how incredibaly excited I was about the whole situation.”

“New Day” is also a profoundly positive song, but with a slightly darker lyrical edge; it was written after Kaprelian lost her previous label deal and before she signed the new one, when she was struggling to maintain faith in her musical path. That first single, which was prominently featured at the climax of an episode of MTV’s The Hills, was written “about how completely unhappy I was, and really about struggling, persevering, and being in a situation where you don’t know how you’re gonna dig yourself out of it. And at the end of it, life is like a road-you don’t stop in the middle of it. I really want people to listen to this record and get aa sense of hope from it.”

Kaprelian veers darder in “Should Have Known Better,” which is “definitely about someone who did me wrong and led me in the wrong direction. Had I not gone through that experience, I wouldn’t have written the record that I wrote.” “Raw” is a pure lost-love song sent out “for every angry female who’s ever been wronged by a man.” But that rage exception, and not the rule, on an album that has more tender than raging moments. “Purified,” for instance, is “my ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ moment. I remember listening to Carole King’s Tapestry over and over and over again. I wrote it about my producer, Xandy Barry, who stood by my side and said ‘I believe in you. We’re gonna do this together. And I will spend as much time with you as I need to, to help you get over this next step.’” The bulk of the album’s tracks were produced by Xandy Barry and longtime associate Wally Gagel. On “Sinner and a Saint,” she collaborated with Tedder. Bandmate Brent Kutzle produced “Three Simple Words,” a nonalbum, iTunes-exclusive single.

The ten songs on Kaprelian’s debut album are full of dashed hopes, fierce renewal, and proud vulnerability. The singer expects to bond with a younger audience, but has already been surprised at how her music clicks with listeners of a certain age, too – which maybe should be no surprise at all, given its lyrical depth and roots in rock classicism. By the end of the album, listeners both young and old are certain to feel the emotional connection. Or, as she said, “Spend a couple hours and we’re all best friends.” How was it that a piano woman from another generation once put it? Oh yeah: You’ve got a BFF.”