Tuesday, January 28, 2020

An Overview Of The The Indian Film Industry Media Essay

An Overview Of The The Indian Film Industry Media Essay Every year, 1000 films are released in India, which are watched by 3 billion movie goers. India is the worlds largest film producer, volume-wise. However, factors such as poorly developed revenue stream, excessive reliance on domestic box office collections and inefficiencies prevalent across the value chain, have resulted in poor revenue collection for the industry. As a result, the Indian Film Industry accounts for only 1% of global film industry revenues. However, in the past 3-4 years, the industry has undergone major alterations bringing positive results. Due to the availability of organized funding, advent of multiplexes and increasing overseas collections, the film industry now stands at a better position. The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as  20th Century Fox,  Sony Pictures, and  Warner Bros. (1) Over the past years the business of film making has changed due to corporatization, increasing production costs, spiraling actor fees and high acquisition costs for content. With the recent economic showdown, the film industry is witnessing earlier some of the earlier excesses being brought down to a more realistic level playing field. (1) Components of the Indian film industry The 20th century saw commercialization of the business of film making. The Indian, Chinese and American film industries became global enterprises. Our film industry found markets in over 90 countries. If we bifurcate the Indian Film Industry, we have various Regional Film Industries. The most prominent and popular amongst them at is the Hindi Film Industry, which is based in Mumbai. Other industries are Marathi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bhojapuri, Telugu, Bengali, Oriya, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil. These industries enjoy monopoly in their respective regions. For example, Keralites will prefer Malayalam movies over Kannada movies. Regional choices greatly influence the marketing strategy for the promotion of a film or a product. The cultural variety that the Indian Film Industry offers is what that makes it unique from every other film industry in the world. Its varying range is its identity. Citation FICCI-KPMG Media Entertainment Industry Report-2009 http://www.scribd.com/doc/24474505/FICCI-KPMG-Media-Entertainment-Industry-Report-2009 Total Number of Films censored in 2009 by CBFC: 1288 *Source: Central Board for Film Certification Bollywood In 2009, out of the 1288 films released in India, 235 were Hindi films. This means 19% of the films released in India in 2009 were Hindi films. Hindi film industry is the largest producer of films in India, of which Bollywood is a major part. In fact, Bollywood is referred as the Hindi Film Industry. Out of the 200-plus Hindi films made in India each year, around 150 are made in Bollywood. Bollywood films are the only films in India that enjoy a national audience. Along with that, they also enjoy overseas audience. (2) Since Bollywood films enjoy maximum viewership, they also account for over 40 percent of the total revenues of the overall Indian film industry. The total revenue that Bollywood earned in 2008 was Rs 10,900 crore with an overseas collection of Rs 977 crore. Bollywood today is one of the biggest money making industries in India which provides employment to over 6 million people. (3) Citation 2. Central Board for Film Certification, Annual report 2009 http://cbfcindia.gov.in/html/uniquepage.aspx?unique_page_id=30 3. The Viewspaper, voice of the youth, www.wordpress.com http://theviewspaper.net/brand-bollywood/ Regional Films The Southern film industry is the major regional film industry followed by Bengali and Punjabi. The market size of the Tamil and Telugu segment is ` 7.7 billion, the Malayalam segment is ` 1.4 billion and the Kannada segment is worth ` 0.5 billion. Percentage wise, Telugu and Tamil account for 45% revenue each, Malayalam accounts for 8%, whereas Kannada accounts for 2% revenue of the southern film industry. However the regional market is under tapped, the non-theatrical revenue is lesser as compared to the Hindi film industry and the southern film industry is poorly propagated amongst the international sector. (4) Application of the concept of 4ps to the Film Industry of India The 4Ps: 1) Product 2) Place 3) Price 4) Promotion Product Citation: 4. Indian Entertainment Down South: From Script to Screen, 2009, Report, FICCI Ernst YoungA product is an article or substance that has been manufactured and refined for sale. In this case a film is a product. This product has major components. If we take Bollywood into consideration, itll be safe to call it a highly competitive zone. For the producers, movie making is like a business, where they are selling their product, ie the movie. So in order to make that product the talk of the town, their aim would be to get maximum visibility for their product. Every movie has its own target audience. There are many factors on the basis of which the audience choose to watch a particular movie. They could be ranging from the talent (film stars), genre (comedy, drama, action, thriller, romance), storyline, music and the presentation of a movie. For example, the movie Aisha scored big amongst young girls, teenagers and women (Aged 15-35 years), while it was highly criticized by men. The women chose Aisha because its packaging was in feminine colours like pink and orange, the story was based on a Jane Austen novel Emma about a young girl who likes match making, and primarily, the movie revolved around beauty, women and fashion. According to the oxford dictionary a film is defined as a    story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television. A movie product on the other hand is the intellectual property of various individuals who are involved in it and is distributed in the form of theatrical exhibits, non-theatrical exhibits, CDs DVDs, film or tape, internet and television broadcasting through cable or sometimes without cable. Place After making a product which is worth selling, comes the time to find a place where this product will be sold. In this case a place can be anything ranging from cinema halls, multiplexes, broadcast media centres like radio and television, homes, internet, mobile phones (caller tunes, my song), games and news. Distribution takes place through theatres, rental stores; sell-through stores, catalogues, non-theatrical groups, the Internet, cell phones etc. However one of the biggest challenges that our industry is facing is Piracy. According to industry sources piracy is a 20 billion market and its share of the total video market is increasing day by day. (1) Price If we take a birds view of the industry, it appears to be uniformly priced, but the reality is something else. Currently India has 1000 multiplex screens which are supposed to become 1800 by the end of 2010 (1). The advent of the multiplex audience has definitely resulted in revenue hike for the producers, but it is important to realise that single screen movie halls are still in a majority and as compared to multiplexes, tickets are priced keeping in mind the average Indian. For example: A PVR cinemas ticket costs somewhere around `150- 300 depending upon the location, day and time, whereas a balcony seat i.e the most expensive seat in a single screen theatre like Vishal Cinemas (In Rajouri Garden, West Delhi) costs `90. A distribution contract can be structured in many ways that result in very different returns for the producer, the key creative talent, and even the distributor. Elements that are negotiated include Movie Release Date ex: Releasing a movie around Diwali is more profitable than releasing it on a normal day. Territories and market segments ex: A crossover film like Bend it Like Beckham will only do well in metros and not in tier-II and tier -III cities. Splitting of the profit, means of payment and percentages Final budget for promotion (digital, grassroot, print, outdoor The spending capacity of people has increased in the last few years. According to the PWC report, the Indian film industry is projected to grow by 11.5% in the next five years, reaching 184.7 billion in 2018 from 107 billion in 2008. Domestic box office segment is expected to grow at a cumulative rate of 10.2% over the next 5 years to reach an estimate of 132 billion in 2013 from present size of 82 billion. (1) The issue of pricing has become a global issue. Producers are careful to strategize the release of the DVDs at such a time, that it doesnt interfere with the theatrical release of the movie as it is the main source of revenue. However, the piracy industry has created such havoc in the home video market, that the producers are incurring huge losses. In order to curb this nuisance, the producers have come up with cheaply priced DVDs so that the rising phenomenon doesnt become a thorn in their flesh. Promotion Promotion is a powerful marketing tool, not only during the premier of a new product, but throughout its lifecycle. Producers create the end-product for the consumer, but they seldom market that product directly to the consumer. They market their story to investors and distributors. Distributors market to exhibitors, retailers and sub-distributors. The theatre exhibitors, retailers, store clerks, and Internet strategists market to the end consumers. And then, to top off this complex stew, some consumers even market to other consumers their family, friends and co-workers. STATEMENT To study the effectiveness of digital promotion in the box office response of Hindi films Todays Bollywood presents a very different scenario. With over 1000 films releasing in a given year, all of them fighting for a common goal i.e. the box-office success, the multiplex domination it has become a necessity for those involved, to do whatever it takes to enforce that must-watch feeling among the masses in order to win this very competitive rat-race. I want to find out how big a role does the internet play in promotion of a film. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH The internet is increasingly emerging as a profitable medium to create hype and promote a new film. There are approximately 30-40 million internet users in India today. Internet as a medium to promote a film is a viable option as it offers a wide platform of activities like reviews, trailers, bulletin boards, email, and blog for marketing movies which in turn creates a buzz about the film. Industry experts believe that the cost effectiveness of the online medium is one of the reasons for its popularity. An online campaign on the other hand costs only one-tenth of the amount a producer will spend advertising the film in the print medium. A recent survey conducted by the Internet Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) says that close to 90% internet users surf the net for movie related information and 42% of the surfers use the net for this purpose more than once a week. The survey also found that 54% of the net users watched at least one movie per month. Among the first studios to have started off promoting films on the Net was Yashraj Films. Their Mujhse Dosti Karoge went on to win the prestigious ABBY Gold award for its Internet marketing initiative in 2004. To promote Kabhi Alvida Na Kahna, the entire song Wheres the party tonight was featured on MSNs desktop TV. MSN also designed a theme pack on Messenger based on the films characters. RDBs characters wrote interactive blogs; Anthony Kaun Hai ran an online contest with winners meeting the stars. Lage Raho Munnabhais promotion on MSN India consisted of video clips from the film aired on desktop TV airs, and a web link to the official movie website with storyline, information on cast, crew, music, photos and screensavers, trailers, contests and interactive features. Online promotions also enable filmmakers to tap the overseas market. NRIs are also passionate about movies and like to download wallpapers, ring tones and take part in celebrity chats. If we look at our latest internet publicity successes, Ghajini is a very good example. Geetha Arts launched a computer game based on Ghajini, called  Ghajini The Game, developed by Hyderabad-based  FX LABS. Its a3-D PC console game which was built at a cost of Rs 30 million it attracted a lot of fans. UTV  owned Indiagames had also developed five mobile based games on Ghajini which was a huge success Aamir also kept up the internet marketing of Ghajini, with his blog  and the new Ghajini site, which invites journalists to register on the site, upload their photos, and receive personal notes from him. Websites like www.rememberghajini.com; www.findghajini.com and www.wallofsuspects.com  were built to drive curiosity levels around the movie and provide a movie like experience on the Internet. These are just a few examples. There are many more which will follow. Gone are those days when plastering a few posters on the walls and hand-painted Billboard signs were the only means available for a films publicity; Actors barely promoted their films, film-makers never ventured in-front of the camera and our main stream media couldnt care less. However the internet has shaken things up and revolutionized the way movie publicity is done. OBJECTIVES To find out how much of a role does internet play in the promotion of Hindi films. To find out examples where internet played a huge part in a films promotion. Ex: Ghajini To spread awareness of the use of internet among the masses. To make people realise how useful, economic and great is the internet. HYPOTHESIS Internet is emerging as a hotspot for a low cost promotion. The internet is not an effective means for promotion in the box office response of hindi films.

Monday, January 20, 2020

One Hundred Years of Solitude :: English Literature Essays

One Hundred Years of Solitude One Hundred Years of Solitude narrates the inseparability of the past, present and future in the imaginary town of Macondo, Columbia and the folks who established it, the Buendias. Macondo used to be secluded from the outside world but during a time-span of one hundred years that was joined by births, deaths, marriages and love affairs, the town began to develop its culture and views about life that directed the Buendias in creating ghosts that haunted them as the novel draws its conclusion. Marquez’s style in creating a fictional rural town of Macondo as the setting of the novel is perfect; as a reader, I believe that Marquez used this town to tell the readers that the novel will be about the movement between past, present and future. In the beginning of the story, it is stated that Macondo is isolated but as time passed by, industrializations, revolutions and wars reached the town that led to its destruction that made the town isolated again just like what it was a hundred y ears ago. Marquez did not focus to an individual but he used the Buendia family to become the protagonists of the story. If you’re going to look closely, you will realize that the outside forces are not the antagonists but it’s the past which ended the story. The novel was written in an omniscient third person point of view, which allows the readers to know every feeling and thought that each Buendia has. The theme of the novel is about the reality that can be felt by different people with unique backgrounds not by the way a single person observes it; a reality that conveys the incorporation of the superstition to the real world and Marquez also wants to emphasize that time can be cyclic, it can repeat itself. Marquez used a lot of literary devices such as symbolisms, motifs and foreshadowing. The author used the railroad to symbolize the arrival of the modern world in Macondo. One can say that the names of the members of the Buendias want to signify something. In the span of six generations, the men of the family are named Jose Arcadio or Aureliano that suggests that you can’t simply tell their differences because Marquez wants to tell us that these people are all the same in the sense that they keep on repeating the same mistakes that was done by their ancestors.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

The Hunters: Moonsong Chapter Thirty-One

Why do they always want to be on top of buildings? Bonnie thought irritably. Inside. Inside is nice. No one falls to their death if they're inside a building. But here we are. Stargazing from the top of the science building while on a date with Zander was romantic. Bonnie would be al for another little nighttime picnic, just the two of them. But partying on a different roof with a bunch of Zander's friends was not romantic, not even slightly. She took a sip of her drink and moved out of the way without even looking as she heard the smack of bodies hitting the ground and the grunts of guys wrestling. After two days of living with Zander, she was beginning to get the names of his friends straight: Tristan and Marcus were the ones rol ing around on the floor with Zander. Jonah, Camden, and Spencer were doing something they cal ed parkour, which mostly seemed to involve running around like idiots and almost fal ing off the roof. Enrique, Jared, Daniel, and Chad were al playing an elaborate drinking game in the corner. There were a few more guys who hung around sometimes, but this was the core group. She liked them, she real y did. Most of the time. They were boisterous, sure, but they were always very nice to her: getting her drinks, immediately handing her their jackets if she was cold, tel ing her that they had no idea what she saw in a loser like Zander, which was clearly their guy way of declaring how much they loved him and that they were happy he had a girlfriend. She looked over at Zander, who was laughing as he held Tristan in a headlock and rubbed his knuckles over the top of Tristan's head. â€Å"Do you give in?† he said, and grunted in surprise as Marcus, whooping joyful y, tackled them both. It would have been easier if there were other girls around that she could get to know. If Marcus (who was very cute in a giant shaggy-haired Sasquatch kind of way) or Spencer (who had the kind of preppy rich-boy elegance that some girls found extremely attractive) had a regular girlfriend, Bonnie would have someone to exchange wry glances with as the guys acted like doofuses. But, even though a girl would occasional y appear clinging to the arm of one of the guys, Bonnie would never see her again after that night. Except for Bonnie, Zander seemed to travel in an almost exclusively masculine world. And, after two days of fol owing the macho parade around town, Bonnie was starting to get sick of it. She missed having girls to talk to. She missed Elena and Meredith, specifical y, even though she was stil mad at them. â€Å"Hey,† she said, making her way over to Zander. â€Å"Want to get out of here for a while?† Zander wrapped his arm around her shoulders. â€Å"Um. Why?† he asked, leaning down to kiss her neck. Bonnie rol ed her eyes. â€Å"It's kind of loud, don't you think? We could go for a nice quiet walk or something.† Zander looked surprised but nodded. â€Å"Sure, whatever you want.† They made their way down the fire escape, fol owed by a few shouts from Zander's friends, who seemed to think he was going on a food run and would shortly return with hot wings and tacos. Once they were a block away from the rooftop party, the noise faded and it was peaceful, except for the distant sound of an occasional car on the roads nearby. Bonnie knew she ought to feel creeped out, walking around at night on campus, but she didn't. Not with Zander's hand in hers. â€Å"This is nice, isn't it?† Bonnie said happily, gazing up at the half moon overhead. â€Å"Yeah,† Zander said, swinging her hand between them. â€Å"You know, I used to go on long walks – runs, real y – with my dad at night. Way out in the country, in the moonlight. I love being outside at night.† â€Å"Aw, that's sweet,† Bonnie said. â€Å"Do you guys stil do that when you're home?† â€Å"No.† Zander hesitated and hunched his shoulders, his hair hanging in his face. Bonnie couldn't read his expression. â€Å"My dad †¦ he died. A while ago.† â€Å"I'm so sorry,† Bonnie said sincerely, squeezing his hand. â€Å"I'm okay,† Zander said, stil staring at his shoes. â€Å"But, y'know, I don't have any brothers or sisters, and the guys have sort of become like a family to me. I know they can be a pain sometimes, but they're real y good guys. And they're important to me.† He glanced at Bonnie out of the corner of his eyes. He looked so apprehensive, Bonnie felt a sharp pang of affection for him. It was sweet that Zander and his friends were so close – that must have been the family stuff he had to deal with the other night. He was loyal, that much she knew. â€Å"Zander,† she said. â€Å"I know they're important to you. I don't want to take you away from your friends, you goof.† She reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the mouth. â€Å"Maybe just for an hour or two sometimes, but not for long, I promise.† Zander returned the kiss with enthusiasm, and Bonnie tingled al the way down to her toes. Clinging to each other, they made their way to a bench by the side of the path and sat down to kiss some more. Zander just felt so good under her hands, al sleek muscles and smooth skin, and Bonnie ran her hands across his shoulders, along his arms, down his sides. At her touch, Zander suddenly winced. â€Å"What's the matter?† she said, lifting her head away from his. â€Å"Nothing,† said Zander, reaching for her. â€Å"I was just messing around with the guys, you know. They play rough.† â€Å"Let me see,† Bonnie said, grabbing at the hem of his shirt, half concerned and half wanting to just check out Zander's abs. He had turned out to be surprisingly modest, considering they were sharing a room. Wincing again, he sucked his breath in through his teeth as Bonnie lifted his shirt. She gasped. Zander's whole side was covered with ugly black-and-purple bruises. â€Å"Zander,† Bonnie said horrified, â€Å"these look real y bad. You don't get bruises like that just messing around.† They look like you were fighting for your life – or someone else was, she thought, and pushed away the words. â€Å"They're nothing. Don't worry,† Zander said, tugging his shirt back down. He started to wrap his arms around her again, but Bonnie moved away, feeling vaguely sickened. â€Å"I wish you'd tel me what happened,† she said. â€Å"I did,† Zander said comfortingly. â€Å"You know how crazy those guys get.† It was true, she'd never known guys so rowdy. Zander reached for her again, and this time Bonnie moved closer to him, turning her face up for his kiss. As their lips met, she remembered Zander's saying to her, â€Å"You know me. You see me.† She did know him, Bonnie told herself. She could trust Zander. Across the street, Damon stood in the shadow of a tree, watching Bonnie kiss Zander. He had to admit he felt a little pang, seeing her in the arms of someone else. There was something so sweet about Bonnie, and she was brave and intel igent under that cotton-candy exterior. The witchy angle added a little touch of spice to her, too. He'd always thought of her as his. Then again, didn't the little redbird deserve someone of her own? As much as Damon liked her, he didn't love her, he knew that. Seeing the lanky boy's face light up in response to her smile, he thought maybe this one would. After making out for a few more minutes, Bonnie and Zander stood up and wandered, hand in hand, toward what Damon knew was Zander's dorm. Damon trailed them, keeping to the shadows. He huffed out a breath of self-mocking laughter. I'm getting soft in my old age, he thought. Back in the old days he would have eaten Bonnie without a second thought, and here he was worrying about her love life. Stil , it would be nice if the little redhead could be happy. If her boyfriend wasn't a threat. Damon ful y expected the happy couple to disappear into the dorm together. Instead, Zander kissed Bonnie good-bye and watched as she went inside, then headed back out. Damon fol owed him, keeping hidden, as he went back to the party where they'd been before. A few minutes later, Zander came down again, trailed by his pack of noisy boys. Damon twitched in irritation. God save me from college boys, he thought. They were probably going to gorge themselves on greasy bar food. After a couple of days of watching Zander, he was ready to go back to Elena and report that the boy was guilty of nothing more than being uncouth. Instead of heading toward the nearest bar, though, the boys jogged across campus, quick and determined, as if they had an important destination in mind. Reaching the edge of campus, they headed into the woods. Damon gave them a few seconds and then fol owed. He was good at this, he was a predator, a natural hunter, and so it took him a few minutes of listening, of sending his Power out, of final y just racing through the woods, black branches snapping before him, to realize that Zander and his boys were gone. Final y, Damon stopped and leaned against a tree to catch his breath. The woods were silent except for the innocent sound of various woodland creatures going about their business and his own ragged panting. That pack of noisy, obnoxious children had escaped him, disappearing without the slightest trace. He gritted his teeth and tamped down his anger at being evaded, until it was mostly curiosity about how they'd done it. Poor Bonnie, Damon thought as he fastidiously smoothed and adjusted his clothing. One thing was abundantly clear: Zander and his friends weren't entirely human. Stefan twitched. This was al just kind of strange. He was sitting in a velvet-backed chair in a huge underground room, as col ege students roamed around arranging flowers and candles. The room was impressive, Stefan would give them that: cavernous yet elegant. But the little arrangements of flowers seemed chintzy and false somehow, like a stage set in the Vatican. And the black-masked figures lurking in the back of the room, watching, were giving him the jitters. Matt had cal ed him to tel him about some kind of col ege secret society that he'd joined, and that the leader wanted Stefan to join, too. Stefan agreed to meet him and talk about it. He never was much of a joiner, but he liked Matt, and it was something to do. It would take his mind off Elena, he'd thought. Lurking around campus – and it felt like lurking, when he saw Elena, with the way his eyes were irresistibly drawn to her even as he hurried out of sight – he'd watched her. Sometimes she was with Damon. Stefan's fingernails bit into his palms. Consciously relaxing, he turned his attention back to Ethan, who was sitting across a smal table from him. â€Å"The members of the Vitale Society hold a very special place in the world,† he was saying, leaning forward, smiling. â€Å"Only the best of the best can hope to be tapped, and the qualities we look for I think are very Wellexemplified in you, Stefan.† Stefan nodded politely and let his mind drift again. Secret societies were something he actual y knew a little about. Sir Walter Raleigh's School of Night in Elizabethan England wrestled with what was then forbidden knowledge: science and philosophy the church declared out of bounds. Il Carbonari back home in Italy worked to encourage revolt against the government of the various city-states, aiming for a unification of al of Italy. Damon, Stefan knew, toyed with the members of the Hel fire Club in London for a few months in the 1700s, until he got bored with their posturing and childish blasphemy. Al those secret societies, though, had some kind of purpose. Rebel ing against conventional morality, pursuing truth, revolution. Stefan leaned forward. â€Å"Pardon me,† he said politely, â€Å"but what is the point of the Vitale Society?† Ethan paused midspeech to stare at him, then wet his lips. â€Å"Well,† he said slowly, â€Å"the real secrets and rituals of the Society can't be unveiled to outsiders. None of the pledges know our true practices and purposes, not yet. But I can tel you that there are innumerable benefits to being one of us. Travel, adventure, power.† â€Å"None of the pledges know your real purpose?† Stefan asked. His natural inclination to stay away was becoming more resolute. â€Å"Why don't you wear a mask like the others?† Ethan looked surprised. â€Å"I'm the face of the Vitale for the pledges,† he said simply. â€Å"They'l need someone they know to guide them.† Stefan made up his mind. He didn't want to be guided. â€Å"I apologize, Ethan,† he said formal y, â€Å"but I don't think I would be an appropriate candidate for your organization. I appreciate the invitation.† He started to rise. â€Å"Wait,† said Ethan. His eyes were wide and golden and had a hungry, eager expression in them. â€Å"Wait,† he said, licking his lips again. â€Å"We †¦ we have a copy of Pico del a Mirandola's De hominis dignitate.† He stumbled over the words as if he didn't quite know what they were. â€Å"An old one, from Florence, a first edition. You'd get to read it. You could have it if you wanted.† Stefan stiffened. He had studied Mirandola's work on reason and philosophy with enthusiasm back when he was stil alive, when he was a young man preparing for the university. He had a sudden visceral longing to feel the old leather and parchment, see the blocky type from the first days of the printing press, so much more right somehow than the modern computer-set books. There was no way Ethan should have known to offer him that specific book. His eyes narrowed. â€Å"What makes you think I'd want that?† he hissed, leaning across the table toward Ethan. He could feel Power surging through him, fueled by his rage, but Ethan wouldn't meet his eyes. â€Å"I †¦ you told me you like old books, Stefan,† he said, and gave a little false laugh, gazing down at the tabletop. â€Å"I thought you would be interested.† â€Å"No, thank you,† Stefan said, low and angry. He couldn't force Ethan to look him in the eye, not with al these people around, so after a moment, he stood. â€Å"I refuse your offer,† he told Ethan shortly. â€Å"Good-bye.† He walked to the door without looking back, holding himself straight and tal . He glanced at Matt, who was talking to another student, as he reached the door and, when Matt met his eyes, gave him a shrug and a shake of the head, trying to telegraph an apology. Matt nodded, disappointed but not arguing. No one tried to stop Stefan as he left the room. But he had a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. There was something wrong here. He didn't know enough to dissuade Matt from joining, but he decided to keep tabs on the Vitale Society. As he shut the door behind him, he could sense Ethan watching him.