Friday 16 May 2014

Music Industry | Practise Question

How global is the appeal of your three main texts?

All of my artists (Nirvana, Radiohead and Lady Gaga) have different global appeals. Lady Gaga, who is signed to Interscope, would be considered the most global artist out of my three main texts. Her second album reached the top 5 spots of every major artist, as well as selling 1.108 million copies in its first week of release, being the largest first week album sale in 5 years. One reason why her album has such a global appeal was due to the singles she released from the album, accompanied by the high budget, film like music videos. The music videos have high production value, with each album having a new and different concept. 'Born this way' touches subjects such as sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism and individualism. This would lead to a global appeal due to many people all over the world being able to relate to her songs and her beliefs. Another factor that helps Lady Gaga's global appeal is the use of digital technology. Lady Gaga uploads all of her songs to her Vevo youtube channel which has over 41.7 million subscribers. This provides people all over the world access to her music, being able to listen to it for free. As well as her youtube channel, Gaga has a twitter with over 41.4 million followers, in which she talks to her fans, uploads photos and promotes her singles. This again helps her global appeal due to the accessibility of her page and the vast amount of people being able to communicate with her. Lady Gaga has created a para social relationship between her and her fans by tweeting and retweeting them, as well as providing information about what she is doing along with photos of her in her everyday life. This makes fans believe that they know her on a friend level leading them to support her with her music and buying her songs and merchandise. Another way that helps raise her global fan base is the creation of her fan website 'Littlemonsters.com', letting fans chat and communicate with each other to talk about her. Again this creates excitement about new albums and singles, making those fans feel obliged to buy every single product that Lady Gaga releases. 

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Television Industry | Audience Homework

1A) Identify the main target audience of Madmen 
Madmen is a period drama series set in the 1960's and is aired on AMC, which is an American cable and satellite channel that viewers have to pay for. This text attracts a niche active audience. 

1B) Identify one way the text has been encoded to appeal to that type of audience. 
One way the text has been encoded to appeal to a niche active audience is the use of complex character representations. e.g females breaking away from their gender roles.
       
1C) Justify how this point/technique/convention would gratify your previously identified type of    audience.
By the show displaying a range of character and behaviour representations, it gives an insight to the viewers and helps them learn about the circumstances at this time. The audience of madmen would enjoy decoding the show, so the use of complex characters and complex narrative would gratify them, so they would be attracted to watch the show.

1D) Describe a narrative sequence where this point/technique/convention is present. 
In the episode Peggy, who has worked hard herself to work in a high position within the business, got offered a job working for another company in a higher-ranking job that earns more money. She takes this job and informs Don Draper that she is leaving his business. She opposes the gender role that women are controlled by men and proves that she makes her own decisions and has respect from her other colleagues.

2) Does Lost target a passive audience?
Yes, Lost does target a passive audience as the storyline is often explained for the audience and doesn't require the audience to work things out for themselves by closely watching the show.

3) Identify how Lost is encoded to gratify a passive audience?
The use of score helps gratify the passive audience as the score helps inform the audience about what might happen next in the show e.g if the score is tense it creates an enigma and the audience can decode the text and can anticipate what is going to happen.

4) Justify one point/technique/convention that would force Mad Men's audience to decode the text actively in order to gain gratifications. 
Mad men rarely use non-digetic sound throughout their episodes, which means that the audience would have to actively watch the show in order to be informed about what might happen next as their is no music/score to help them. The active audience would have to rely on the encoded text itself to help them decode it.

5) Explain and justify how Peaky Blinders has been encoded to gratify both passive and active audience. 
The use of historical context helps gratify the active audience. Peaky Blinders makes reference to WW1 and the king e.g When pictures of the king are being burnt in the fire as retaliation for the bad situation they are left to live in after fighting for the country, while the king lives in luxury. This would gratify the active audience as they would be interested in how it relates to the story and helps them understand the deeper storyline. The use of soundtrack helps to gratify the passive audience as they might need more help decoding the programme and the relatable soundtrack helps them to do so. It helps portray what emotions are being felt within the show and have a better understanding so they can be gratified.

6) Justify the statement 'Lost is encoded to be inclusive'.
Lost's target audience is a passive mainstream audience. Many conventions are used in show to help gratify these audience such as the use of an ensemble cast, the use of score, hybrid genres and relatable casts. Lost has encoded all of these conventions into the show so that their target audience can have a better understanding of the show and to be entertained so that they will be gratified.

7) Why does the use of score appeal to a more passive audience? 
The use of score appeals to a more passive audience as the score helps the audience to decode the show. The use of score helps to create enigmas which will keep the audience entertained but also helps portray emotions of the character within the show which the audience might find hard to decode without the use of score. An active audience might be able to decode the text without the need for the use of score which is why it is aimed towards the passive audiences.

Monday 3 March 2014

Exam Question | Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts

Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts (30)

            The three main texts I will be looking at are Lost, Madmen and Peaky Blinders who all appeal to different audiences. Lost is a science fiction television drama aired on ABC, following the lives of survivors after a plane crashed onto an island. The intended audience for JJ Abrams 'Lost' is a wide mainstream audience, where passive and active audience can be gratified. Madmen is a period drama series created by Matthew Weiner. The series is aired on AMC, which is an American cable and satellite channel that viewers have to pay for. It is set in the 1960’s and focuses on the life of Don Draper and his business. This text attracts a niche audience due to the advanced cinematography and complex character representations. Peaky Blinders is a six-part crime drama aired on BBC 2. It is set in Birmingham in 1919 and follows the lives of former soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. Peaky Blinders has elements of highbrow but also has mainstream conventions appealing to both niche and mainstream audience.

            A range of conventions have been used to appeal to the audience of Lost. One convention that has been used to appeal to this wide mainstream audience is an ensemble cast. 'Lost' has a wide range of actors and character roles with different ages, races, genders and nationalities included. Each character also has a different personality style with different views and opinions on things, so that there is a character that relates to everyone watching. An example of this is that there is a young American female called Shannon who is perceived as being vain and selfish. When asked by her brother to come help the survivors of the plane crash, Shannon rejects him and continues to sunbathe amongst the rubble. On the contrary, their is Hurley, a teenager with long curly hair and is much larger than the rest of the cast. He is willing to get to know the people on the island and get stuck in helping out. When Sawyer is fighting with Syiid he states 'we are all in this together man'.

Combining escapism and relatable plot is another convention that will help appeal to a wide audience. By each character having a somewhat relatable back-story that is revealed in the flashbacks and flash-forwards, it gives the audience not only a character to relate to but a situation or problem that they can relate to as well. An example of this would be the relationship between Michael and his son Walt. It is revealed that Walt's mother has recently died so Michael is responsible for taking care of Walt however because Michael is new to this, his relationship between him and his son is flawed. The audience might be able to personally identify with Michael, influencing them to watch more episodes of Lost to see how his situation turns out. On the other hand the series is set on an island somewhere which is not relatable to many peoples personal situations, leaving them a place to escape to while watching it. By using a neutral location it appeals to all different types of audiences and doesn’t alienate any group of people.

A third convention is the use of score, which is the background music of a film. A composer writes a score specifically for a particular film or TV show. It is written specifically to match the emotion in that particular scene of the show with the purpose that the audience will feel that same emotion at the particular time watching it. In Season 1 Episode 2, the use of score is used to create tension amongst the audience. When some of the characters are walking through the jungle on the island, they hear the sound of an animal running towards them. As they start to run away the score starts playing, getting louder and faster with high and low pitches to make the audience feel what the characters in the show are feeling; scared and anxious. This will appeal to the audience as they will feel a variety of emotions watching the show making it more entertaining for them as well again being able to escape to the island by feeling the emotions of the characters.

            Peaky Blinders also has high audience appeal. One reason why this series appeals to its intended audience is because of the historical context featured on the show. Peaky Blinders make reference to historical events, such as WW1 and the lives of the people during and after this time. An example of this in the text is when Thomas Shelby states ‘we fought for our country, fighting for the upper class’, which explains that when they came back from war they lived in poverty while the king lived in luxury and they are getting nothing in return for it. Peaky Blinders is also based around a real gang that formed in Birmingham in 1919, so by giving an insight into the circumstances of others, it attracts and gratifies an audience that wants to learn about the circumstances of the past. This appeals to the niche audience watching the show.

            High production value and cinematography is also an aspect that appeals to the niche audience of Peaky Blinders. An example of this is the fight scene in the beginning of season 1 episode 2. The fight starts with a slow motion close up of Thomas Shelby taking off his hat and hitting a man across the face with the blades cutting him. This is then followed by slow motion mid shots of all the other men fighting with close ups of their faces showing their emotions. As the shots are slow motion the camera cuts are slow and a shallow depth of field is used. There is also rewinded music played over the fight scene to create the confused and chaotic emotion.  This high quality cinematography will appeal to eh niche audience.

A third reason for this is the use of film stars on the show. By using popular faces on the show, it helps attract the audience to watch their favourite actresses and actors on the show. Such actors and actresses include Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby, Sam Neil as CI Chester Campell and Helen Mcroy as Aunt Polly. This cast will attract a wider audience to watch the TV drama. Using a well known cast will also help give a good reputation for the show, as the film stars are in high quality films, which will attract an audience looking fro that same quality.

            Madmen appeals to a niche audience with particular aspects of the show attracting this audience to watch. One of these aspects is the representation of the characters on the show. The females present in season 5 episode 11, are keen to break out of their gender roles present in the 1960’s. This might gratify a female audience as it gives them a model of behaviour and a character to inspire to themselves. In the episode Peggy, who has worked hard herself to work in a high position within the business, got offered a job working for another company in a higher-ranking job that earns more money. She takes this job and informs Don Draper that she is leaving his business. She opposes the gender role that women are controlled by men and proves that she makes her own decisions and has respect from her other colleagues. By the show displaying a range of behaviour and representation of women, it gives an insight to the viewers and helps them learn about the circumstances at this time. Again this could gratify the audience, as women would enjoy seeing other women do well in their business place. The audience of madmen would enjoy decoding the show, so the use of complex characters and complex narrative would gratify them, so they would be attracted to watch the show.


            Another aspect of Madmen that might appeal to the audience is the common context occurring in the show. The characters all work for a business and are shown working in the office. We also follow the personal life of Don Draper as well which is relatable to the audience that are also experiencing this. The preferred audience for Madmen are middle aged, middle class males, similar to the characters in the show. This means they would be able to relate to these characters, which would gratify them.

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Lost | Exam Question

'Most media texts target a rage of different audiences'. how true is this for your chosen text?

The intended audience for JJ Abrams 'Lost' is a wide mainstream audience, where passive and active audience can be gratified. A range of conventions have been used to appeal to this audience.

One convention that has been used to appeal to this wide mainstream audience is an ensemble cast. 'Lost' has a wide range of actors and character roles with different ages, races, genders and nationalities included. Each character also has a different personality style with different views and opinions on things, so that there is a character that relates to everyone watching. An example of this is that there is a young american female called Shannon who is perceived as being vain and selfish. When asked by her brother to come help the survivors of the plane crash, Shannon rejects him and continues to sunbathe amongst the rubble. On the contrary, their is Hurley, a teenager with long curly hair and is much larger than the rest of the cast. He is willing to get to know the people on the island and get stuck in helping out. When Sawyer is fighting with Syiid he states 'we are all in this together man'.

Combining escapism and relatable plot is another convention that will help appeal to a wide audience. By each character having a somewhat relatable back story that is revealed in the flashbacks and flash forwards, it gives the audience not only a character to relate to but a situation or problem that they can relate to as well. An example of this would be the relationship between Michael and his son Walt. It is revealed that Walt's mother has recently died so Michael is responsible for taking care of Walt however because Michael is new to this, his relationship between him and his son is flawed.

A third convention that would help gratify the widest audience possible is the use of hybrid genres.

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Exam Question Practise | Fish Tank

How typical of your chosen text of it's genre?

Fish Tank includes many typical conventions of its genre, social realism. There are typical social realism technical conventions that are common in the film Fish Tank, one in particular being the use of natural lighting. No extra use of lighting occurs in the movie unless it wouldn't already be there in the scene in real life. One particular scene that shows this technical convention well is when Mia is waiting for someone to bring her some alcohol. Mia is waiting in the shade watching a boy do back flips of a wall and Mia and the boy are both unlit as they are in the shade and no extra lighting is used to light their face. To show the contrast the teenagers playing football in the sun are lit fully like they would be in real life. Another scene that shows the use of natural lighting is when Mia is dancing in a room of an empty flat. The only light source within the room is coming from the daylight from the window. When Mia is dancing she is moving her body in and out of the shade and the direct sun light. At one point Mia is bending down so that her whole body has no direct sunlight on her or shadows, and then when she lifts her body up she has a bright line across her face when the sun is directly on her and shadows occur from where it is not. This has purposely been left this way instead of being fixed to show the realism of the film. This could not be fixed in real life so therefore they are not fixing it within the film. You are viewing the film as if you are there with them in real life so using the natural lighting and shadows helps create this.

The typical female character role in films for mothers are usually domestic, loves her children and treats them correctly and looks after appearance. However the typical character role of the mother in Fish Tank is opposite. She doesn't look after the children correctly and doesnt treat then nicely. Instead she looks after herself and cares more about her own love interest Connor. One particular scene that shows this occurring is when Mia arrives home and her mum immediatley starts shouting and swearing at her telling her the police have been over looking for her and pushes her over. Mia and her mum then start arguing with each other and treating each other badly. This behaviour does not conform to the typical stereotype of a mother. 

Monday 2 December 2013

Exam Question Practise | District 9


'Most texts today mix their genres'. How true is this of your chosen texts?

District 9 adheres to the statement 'most texts today mix their genres'. It includes conventions from the sci-fi genre and documentary style genres. As the text is a hybrid of both of these genres, it would appeal to a larger variety of people as it includes aspects from both genres which they might enjoy. 

One particular science fiction convention that 'district 9' conforms to is that it covers political and social issues. The city of Johannesburg is largely controlled by cooperations, specifically MNU. When the aliens arrived there, MNU immediately took charge and put them in a compound called 'District 9' in which they are not allowed to leave unless they are under supervision. One particular example of the cooperations taking charger and controlling the situation is when it is revealed that Wikus is transforming into an alien. MNU immediately take him to the science lab to be experimented on. The first shot we see of Wikus being taken to the lab on a hospital trolley he is in a body bag which shows that he is trapped and has lost control of his body. In this shot we also see who it is that is controlling him by the MNU logo being printed on the uniform of the MNU staff. The next shot is a low camera angle looking up towards the MNU staff from the perspective of Wickus, which shows that they have power over him with a following high angle shot looking down on Wikus, showing he is the weaker human in the situation. A few shots later there is a shot of wickus with a breathing mask on, showing he has even lost control of breathing while MNU cuts into his arm. This issue they are covering in 'District 9' relates to how cooperations take over in the real world. 

One particular science fiction convention that 'District 9' conforms to is characters being transformed t o something else. In the case of 'District 9' Wickus goes through the transformation from human to alien after he is accidentally exposed to liquid from the aliens. This is shown to the audience in various parts throughout the film. When


Wednesday 27 November 2013

Characters | Fish Tank, Sin City and District 9



Fish Tank




Mia: Represents young people in the lower class. 

- She is defensive and violent
- She doesn't express feelings as no-one expresses them to her









Connor: Represents white middle aged male in power. 

- He abuses his power as a father figure/love interest to Joanne and Mia.
- He leaves them when they are vulnerable






Joanne: Subverts typical stereotype of a mother. 

- She cares more about her love interest than her own family
- Doesn't show any love to Mia and her sister which affects them. 






Sin City 


John Hartigan: Represents typical protagonist in film noir and comic book.

- He is trying to save someone/be with his love interest.
- Gets framed for something he didn't do by corrupt characters. 
- He is super strong and seems invincible.
- Tires to kill the real villain.

  
Marv: Represents protagonist in film noir and comic book. 

- He is super strong (comic book).
- He is being framed/attacked for something that he didn't do. 
- Tries to find out the truth about what happened.
- Tries to kill the real villain.



Nancy: Love Interest

- represents Post Modernism and she is a mixture of femme fatal and normal love interest.
- She doesn't purposely use the men for her own gain however she is objectified throughout the film. 





Senator Rourke: Represents white middle aged male. 

- He is in power and has authority, however he abuses his power
- He frames John for something that his son did. 
- As he has power he is believed by others. 



The Yellow Bastard/ Rourke Jr: VillIan

- Tries to make the protagonists unhappy/ tries to hurt the ones he cares about. 
- Yellow - shows illness/weakness
- Protagonist eventually kills him. 


Cardinal Rourke: Represents white middle aged male.

- He is in power and has authority, however he abuses his power. 







Kevin: Villain



























District 9