Summary

NAME: US OBAMA 20081113I TAPE: EF08/1146 IN_TIME: 10:32:04:12 DURATION: 00:02:36:18 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION DATELINE: Various, 12 Nov 2008 RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST: Washington, DC 1. Painting of US President-elect Barack Obama on a building, "Progress" written below with image of victory sign 2. Close-up of painting 3. Zoom into building Chicago, Illinois 4. Obama banners on street lights Los Angeles, California 5. Artist Shepard Fairey with posters in studio 6. Mid of Obama poster 7. Fairey with posters 8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shepard Fairey, artist: "I made this image very hopeful and patriotic and used red, white and blue with half the face being red the other half being blue to symbolise the convergence of the red states and the blue states because I think that Obama is somebody that's going to unite people." 9. Fairey in studio 10. Magazine cover showing Obama and McCain designed by Fairey 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shepard Fairey, artist: "My idea was to make the image of Obama pervasive and hopefully he would get some cultural traction. I mean that may sound not very intellectual or lofty but I think a lot of aspects in politics actually aren't, and I think that to try to cut through the clutter and get people to find out more about Obama was the ultimate goal because I think he does have substance and merit." New York, NY 12. Various of Obama T-shirts being sold on street 13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Arianna Ratner, Vox pop: "It reminds me of the Che Guevara shirts and stuff like that. He'll be an icon in the future, even if he wasn't elected I think he would be. I think his face has been, I mean I see it everywhere, so, yeah I think he's been, he's just become a pop icon." 14. Close-up of lithograph on T-shirt 15. SOUNDBITE: Jodie Patterson, Vox pop: "It will become iconic, I think it's a face that we haven't seen before in politics and it's refreshing for us but it's a face that many of us have seen in our families, so it's really nice to see someone that looks like someone that we know closely and dearly in a political role." 16. Woman folding Obama T-shirt 17. Obama T-shirt for sale STORYLINE: The pop appeal of Barack Obama was sculptured, in part, by a lithograph of the now president-elect, which went on to become a wildly popular poster. Back in May, getting permission from the campaign first, Los Angeles street artist Shepard Fairey chose a photo of the candidate gazing ahead, then used the colours red, white and blue to create his image, underlined by the word, "HOPE." The Obama image created by Fairey is ubiquitous, and appears on tee shirts, buildings, and street banners across the country. Fairey said he wanted to spark the curiosity of people who did not know much about Obama in order to encourage them to find out about the candidate. He said he made the image appear "hopeful and patriotic". Fairey said that when he was making the image, he wrestled with the idea of putting someone on a pedestal, but did not want the poster to lead to idol worship. Fairey said he does not feel that creating an image of Obama should suggest the man is beyond criticism. He said his goal was to make Obama's image pervasive. According to the artist, the Obama campaign contacted him about two weeks after he first created the "Hope" image, and asked him to create a poster specifically for the campaign. Fairey then created the "Change" poster, followed by the "Vote" poster. An Obama supporter in New York said the president-elect had become a pop icon. Arianna Ratner said the tee shirt reminded her of the popular shirts bearing the image of revolutionary Che Guevara.