- it is a reflection of the UK.
What science fiction codes and conventions are evidenced? Are these utilised in a typical or atypical way?
-Settings: science labs.
-Soundtrack - uses synth strings/ synthesiser
-Presence of robots - not only as an aspect of mise en scene but also as a theme
What groups are represented? What ideological perspective
-Humans
-Robots/Synths
-Anitia is played by an East Asian woman in both the Swedish and British version.
-Family - middle class
Who is the primary target audience for this show?
- Targeted at a middle class audience - representation of middle class family.
All science fiction holds a mirror to society. What real world allegorical themes are dealt with here?
-Ethics
-Roles of women in society - working mum , prostitute, cleaner.
-Capitalism
What character archetypes are utilised in this show? To what extent does the narrative rely on them?
What intertextual references/referential codes did you notice? How do these potentially reward the viewing experience?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST SCENE ANALYSIS -
3 scenes - Opening Scene - Credits (Demonstrates Ideology and Themes) - Family home
CODES
Characters are introduced - Anita looks up at the moon - midshot - she is the only synth that moves. PROAIRETIC CODE
Suggests to the audience that she is special - HERMENUTIC CODE - she is going to do something.
Close up shot of eye is a referential code the Blade Runner (1982)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Midshot of Hawkins family room, showing the various family members sprawled out on their phones. Stereotypes of children/teenagers as well as how this generation uses technology
Longshot of synths lined up in warehouse emphasises the lonliness of their existence.
Over the shoulder close up of nude females - there is much more emphasis of this nudity. Camera tracking slows down on female bodys. Voyueristic.
Extreme close up shot of eye - "eyes are the windows to the soul". Emotion and Humanity
LIGHTING
Lighting in first opening scene is very artificial - unnatural.
Binary opposition with the family home - warmer lighting
SOUND & EFFECTS
When we first see Anita and she starts to move we hear faint techno sounds - like she's being powered on. Non Diegetic sounds. She is unique and a main character (PROTAGANIST)She has her own Leitmotif (theme tune)
Opening credits : all sounds made using digital, synthetic music, artificial, establishes key themes to the audience, intertextual reference to electronic music produce by bands like "Daft Punk" and KraftWerk. Creates context.
MISE EN SCENE
Assorted news footage and articles - montage in opening credits. Use of stock footage - digital distortion has been overlaid to demonstrate ideas of " what is real?" to the audience.
Odi's malfunction - where Odi, a synth, has broken down in a supermarket, and George, his owner, attempts to repair him
Cinematography
-High angle mid shot of Odi's body among the smashed glass and jam connotes Odi's fragility and broken state
-Mirror shot of Anita gazing in to the mirror. Mid shot/ high angle is composed to de-emphasise Anita's face, symbolising a private moment. Provides audience with voyeuristic pleasure, and suggests that Anita is coming to terms with her own identity
- Shot/counter shot (AKA shot/reverse shot) of George and the detective's conversation. George is seen from a high angle, the detective a low angle, which connotes to the audience there is a discrepancy in power, emphasising a binary opposition
-Focal point shifts from Anita to Laura, positioning the audience with neither Anita or Laura
-Extreme close up of Odi's lips as George reboots him. A deliberately uncomfortable and challenging image. Odi functions as a son, a carer, a butler, but also potentially sexual.
Shot/reverse shot of george and Odi's conversation emphasises their difference
Lighting and colour
-Low key lighting in George's house functions as a referential code, suggesting George is a mad scientist fixing his creation. The mise-en-scene of the dental tool only serves to emphasise this
-Use of extreme, harsh, high key lighting emphasises the life and liveliness of the supermarket , which contrasts with George's vulnerability
Sound
-Non-diegetic soundtrack reaches a crescendo when Odi announces he is experiencing a 'fatal error'.
-Synth/ambient soundtrack emphasises the technological/robotic themes of the show. In fact all the music is digitally created
-Odi's tone of voice consistently changes, and becomes harsh and digital, suddenly stopping. A post production digital effect
-The investigator's vocal delivery swiftly changes from threatening to kind, emphasising his complex characters
-Digital recharge noise, somewhat like a phone dying or a defibrillator
MES
-Odi's appearance - smudge of blue blood coming from his noise, his face demonstrates fear at each error, and his collar is untucked and dishevelled. Preferred reading: Odi is helpless, compelling and likeable.
Genre Fluidity
-Referential codes relating to numerous sci-fi films, including 2001 (Kubrick, 1969) and Blade Runner (Scott, 1982), the extreme CU of the eye, demonstrating themes of emotion and humanity
THEORIES -
David Guantlett pick n mix theory
Sturart Hall - audience negotiation
Van Zoonen - Feminist theories
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick and Morty Opening Scenes
Genre codes and conventions
Genre theory
Genre fluidity
Camera work - framing and composition shot types, angle,
Genre fluidity
Camera work - framing and composition shot types, angle,
position, movement
Montage of Lighting and colour
Editing – pace, type of edits, continuity
Narrative construction, related to narrative theory
Sound – dialogue, music
Mise-en-scene – setting and location, props, costume/dress, hair/make-up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automomy - having controlover your life
Automiton - someone who has no control of their life, like a slave.
Representation - the Re-presentation by the producer, to show their ideology, producer is always trying to manipulate the audience.
What roles do women/synths adopt in Humans?
-Domestic housewife
-Mother
-Sex worker
-Child
-Friend
-Profesional
-Caregiver
-Maid
Closing montage
representations of gender
Maternal - midshot of Anita standing over young girl
Sex worker is a slave - slow zoom on her face to close up shot, looking directly into camera, makes audience feel unomfortable
Men are demanding and aggressive - makes orders, doesn't care what anyone else wants
Dad is stereotypical patriarchal role - won't take Anita back even though Laura feels uncomfortable, he is primary user of Anita, he is in charge
Madonna/Whore Complex
Madonna - virgin Mary
whore - prostitution
Sigmund Freud developed the theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality ; madonna ( women he admires and respects), whore (women he is attracted to but disrespects)
Anita fits into both categories, she is attractive like a "whore", yet acts like a "madonna"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Humans is polysemic (has multiple meanings) which helps it to broaden its target audience's understanding of the meaning however it also can become more confusing for the audience.
What does it mean to be human?
To find fulfilment
We talk and communicate in a sophisticated way
We feel empathy
We are inquisitive
Education to make ourselves better
We feel love
/ˈalɪɡ(ə)ri/
noun
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
What is Gender Performativity?
Judith Butler theories of gender performativity
Theories for Humans - bell hooks, Judith Butler, Van Zoonen
How is patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination evident in " Humans"?
Always assumed that she will be a women - " i hope she's pretty"
Doesnt let Laura take Anita back - the dad is putting his foot down. He doesn't listen to the her. Laura says " Don't do that, that's my job" (cleaning). set in her ways of doing the housework.
Man in the brothel rapes the sex worker - viewing this synth as a sex doll , and something for his own pleasure.
Joe ( the dad) is the primary user. Dominance is asserted right from the beginning.
Creation of sentient synths by male David Elster - initially to replace his wife
Laura is "replaced" by a synth (domestically , maternally, and eventually sexually) because she is struggling to manage housework
The salesman is male - selling a female synth to another man - as are the cooperate figures who dictate their use
The majority of the ethnic actors are synths ('servants') emphasising Stuart Hall's notion of the black "slave" stereotype.
Everyman in the show has a very specific attitude towards female synths. Women are clearly not equal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Men act, women appear.
Anita's representation within Humans
- subservient, submissive
- stereotypically attractive without being sexualised
- wears conservative clothes - pretty and respectable
A TV show that has loads of main characters - ensemble cast. Makes it tough to tell who the protagonist is
- Leo trying to find Anita
- George and Odi
- Flashback of Leo and Anita together
- Nishka in Brothel
- Dectective and his wife
Van Zoonen argues that gender is constructed by producers who create media products. Humans reflects the gender representations of now. Van Zoonen also suggests that different codes are used to construct men (different shot types and camera angles)
Anita is a hermeneutic code. Her costume tells us what genre the show is. She is a genre convention. She is also being used as a selling point as she is the main image on most of the posters - male gaze theory.
Rough and ready protagnist - costume - dark clothes, old and knackered looking. Unshaven
Close up shot of Leo getting all up in Salam Sadiq. We an see their two heads in one shot - not just a common conversation. He's threatening.
He is a group leader
His vocal delivery is stern and blunt. He's an outlaw
Using his physical presence to assert himself. He approahes Sadiq when his back is turned. Leo is tactical and smart. Often running and fighting. Survivor figure.
Binary opposition - the photo of Anita is very white and pure in a natural setting. But he is holding up this photo in a rough environment - bricks and alleys. Her pureness is a binary opposition with his masculinity.
Men and Women
Human and Synths
Warehouse and the Home
Madonna and Whore
HYPERREALITY - Beyond reality
"It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real" - Jean Baudrillard
Nothing is really real. The only thing that is real
Representation is more real than reality. We latch on to various things
--------------------------------------------------------------------
INDUSTRY
Sci-Fi was invented around the early 1900s - first sci fi was probably Frankenstine and Godzilla
Has shifted more towards robots and stuff as technology is advancing and Humans focuses on this. Whereas old sci-fi stories was more about monsters and advances in medicine that leads towards these creatures being made and being scary. Aliens
Humans is different. It's not completely typical of the genre. It's Atypical. Is more like a family comedy/drama - family setting. The robots are the only stereotypical convention of a sci fi product that is found in Humans.
Genre Conventions are used by the producer in order to fufil audience expectations. Steve Neal theories. Audiences want to see the same things so that we know what is going on.
The synths are actually really really like humans. They look like humans, they mostly act like them. Makes the audience reflect on the very nature of our existence. POSTMODERNISM makes things more interesting
Persona Synthetics
The website allows audiences to explore the narrative of the show beyond the show. You can return synths - meaning that they can go wrong
The option to return a synth is a proairetic code that something is going to go wrong.
The website adds to the immersion - the company is completely committed to selling this show.
The website links into the themes of the show. In the tv show there is an anti technology movement.
This website is part of a marketting programme.
This marketting campaign has worked. There is 3 series of Humans.
Channel 4 and AMC produced Humans.
AMC is an American media company who rebranded in 2009 with the slogan "Story Matters Here". They produced their own tv shows and made them good e.g. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Walking Dead.
About:
Channel 4 was launched in 1982 as a publicly-owned, commercially-funded public service broadcaster.It does not receive public funding.Funded through advertisements on commercials. But also through a small portion of license fee.
Ownership:
Channel Four Television Corporation
Associated Channels:
Channel 4
E4
More4
Film4
4Seven
4Music
All 4
HD+1 Channels
Each channel targets a specific niche audience - if you want to watch comedy then you know to go to E4 which is targeted at a young, "studentty" audience
Channel 4's ideology:
Experimental, Style, Content.
Channel 4's Unique Selling Point was the fact that it was different.
Popular shows: Big Brother, Hollyoaks, Celebs go dating, BigBang, Gogglebox, Bake Off, Skins, Inbetweeners
Scheduling:
Some shows are aired later at night. Watershed placing. Reputation for challenging programmes
Humans is a combination of many different factors - Genre (sci- fi) the audience, the fact that this is a channel 4 show.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- TARGET AUDIENCE FOR HUMANS
Age: 34
Name: Amanda
Gender: Female
Nationality: English
Location: South of england
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Demographic:
Psychographic:
Socio-economic class: working class/ lower middle class
Occupation: Secretary/office job
Hobbies: going on Facebook and bitching about anything
The process of commercial television making is selling audiences. Ad companys make money when people watch their ads. Ads are very specific. Cookies. Ads are tailored towards audiences based on their searches and likes and comments and conversations that take place on your phone.
BREAKFAST SCENE - How does it appeal to the audience?
Fans and Fandom: The Role of
Individual Audience Members
Humans compared to Swedish version
Everything in the Swedish version is a lot more plastic and fake e.g. the hubots
Why include British stereotypes? Humans is made more relatable.
identical hubots - more creepy
Swedish version - the identical factor workers that arent very good as a representation of foreigners - discussion of racism in Sweden
people are using the synths for sex - people are used in the synths as sex workers - discussion of trafficking
Editing – pace, type of edits, continuity
Narrative construction, related to narrative theory
Sound – dialogue, music
Mise-en-scene – setting and location, props, costume/dress, hair/make-up
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automomy - having controlover your life
Automiton - someone who has no control of their life, like a slave.
Representation - the Re-presentation by the producer, to show their ideology, producer is always trying to manipulate the audience.
What roles do women/synths adopt in Humans?
-Domestic housewife
-Mother
-Sex worker
-Child
-Friend
-Profesional
-Caregiver
-Maid
Closing montage
representations of gender
Maternal - midshot of Anita standing over young girl
Sex worker is a slave - slow zoom on her face to close up shot, looking directly into camera, makes audience feel unomfortable
Men are demanding and aggressive - makes orders, doesn't care what anyone else wants
Dad is stereotypical patriarchal role - won't take Anita back even though Laura feels uncomfortable, he is primary user of Anita, he is in charge
Madonna/Whore Complex
Madonna - virgin Mary
whore - prostitution
Sigmund Freud developed the theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality ; madonna ( women he admires and respects), whore (women he is attracted to but disrespects)
Anita fits into both categories, she is attractive like a "whore", yet acts like a "madonna"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Humans is polysemic (has multiple meanings) which helps it to broaden its target audience's understanding of the meaning however it also can become more confusing for the audience.
What does it mean to be human?
To find fulfilment
We talk and communicate in a sophisticated way
We feel empathy
We are inquisitive
Education to make ourselves better
We feel love
Humans is an allegory
allegory/ˈalɪɡ(ə)ri/
noun
a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
What is Gender Performativity?
Judith Butler theories of gender performativity
Theories for Humans - bell hooks, Judith Butler, Van Zoonen
How is patriarchal oppression and the ideology of domination evident in " Humans"?
Always assumed that she will be a women - " i hope she's pretty"
Doesnt let Laura take Anita back - the dad is putting his foot down. He doesn't listen to the her. Laura says " Don't do that, that's my job" (cleaning). set in her ways of doing the housework.
Man in the brothel rapes the sex worker - viewing this synth as a sex doll , and something for his own pleasure.
Joe ( the dad) is the primary user. Dominance is asserted right from the beginning.
Creation of sentient synths by male David Elster - initially to replace his wife
Laura is "replaced" by a synth (domestically , maternally, and eventually sexually) because she is struggling to manage housework
The salesman is male - selling a female synth to another man - as are the cooperate figures who dictate their use
The majority of the ethnic actors are synths ('servants') emphasising Stuart Hall's notion of the black "slave" stereotype.
Everyman in the show has a very specific attitude towards female synths. Women are clearly not equal
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Berjer - bonus theorist
Within a narrative, it will be male characters that drive the story. They will be the guys doing stuff. Women are there to be looked at.Men act, women appear.
Anita's representation within Humans
- subservient, submissive
- stereotypically attractive without being sexualised
- wears conservative clothes - pretty and respectable
A TV show that has loads of main characters - ensemble cast. Makes it tough to tell who the protagonist is
Story arcs within Humans
- Hawkin's family- Leo trying to find Anita
- George and Odi
- Flashback of Leo and Anita together
- Nishka in Brothel
- Dectective and his wife
Van Zoonen argues that gender is constructed by producers who create media products. Humans reflects the gender representations of now. Van Zoonen also suggests that different codes are used to construct men (different shot types and camera angles)
Anita is a hermeneutic code. Her costume tells us what genre the show is. She is a genre convention. She is also being used as a selling point as she is the main image on most of the posters - male gaze theory.
How is Leo constructed through camera angles and shots? (Leo's confrontation)
Rough and ready protagnist - costume - dark clothes, old and knackered looking. Unshaven
Close up shot of Leo getting all up in Salam Sadiq. We an see their two heads in one shot - not just a common conversation. He's threatening.
He is a group leader
His vocal delivery is stern and blunt. He's an outlaw
Using his physical presence to assert himself. He approahes Sadiq when his back is turned. Leo is tactical and smart. Often running and fighting. Survivor figure.
Binary opposition - the photo of Anita is very white and pure in a natural setting. But he is holding up this photo in a rough environment - bricks and alleys. Her pureness is a binary opposition with his masculinity.
Binary Oppositions within humans:
Men and Women
Human and Synths
Warehouse and the Home
Madonna and Whore
HYPERREALITY - Beyond reality
"It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real" - Jean Baudrillard
Nothing is really real. The only thing that is real
Representation is more real than reality. We latch on to various things
--------------------------------------------------------------------
INDUSTRY
What is the historical context of the genre? How has it shifted over time?
Sci-Fi was invented around the early 1900s - first sci fi was probably Frankenstine and Godzilla
Has shifted more towards robots and stuff as technology is advancing and Humans focuses on this. Whereas old sci-fi stories was more about monsters and advances in medicine that leads towards these creatures being made and being scary. Aliens
Humans is different. It's not completely typical of the genre. It's Atypical. Is more like a family comedy/drama - family setting. The robots are the only stereotypical convention of a sci fi product that is found in Humans.
Genre Conventions are used by the producer in order to fufil audience expectations. Steve Neal theories. Audiences want to see the same things so that we know what is going on.
The synths are actually really really like humans. They look like humans, they mostly act like them. Makes the audience reflect on the very nature of our existence. POSTMODERNISM makes things more interesting
Persona SyntheticsThe website allows audiences to explore the narrative of the show beyond the show. You can return synths - meaning that they can go wrong
The option to return a synth is a proairetic code that something is going to go wrong.
The website adds to the immersion - the company is completely committed to selling this show.
The website links into the themes of the show. In the tv show there is an anti technology movement.
This website is part of a marketting programme.
This marketting campaign has worked. There is 3 series of Humans.
Channel 4 and AMC produced Humans.
AMC is an American media company who rebranded in 2009 with the slogan "Story Matters Here". They produced their own tv shows and made them good e.g. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Walking Dead.
About:
Channel 4 was launched in 1982 as a publicly-owned, commercially-funded public service broadcaster.It does not receive public funding.Funded through advertisements on commercials. But also through a small portion of license fee.
Ownership:Channel Four Television Corporation
Associated Channels:
Channel 4
E4
More4
Film4
4Seven
4Music
All 4
HD+1 Channels
Each channel targets a specific niche audience - if you want to watch comedy then you know to go to E4 which is targeted at a young, "studentty" audience
Channel 4's ideology:
Experimental, Style, Content.
Channel 4's Unique Selling Point was the fact that it was different.
Popular shows: Big Brother, Hollyoaks, Celebs go dating, BigBang, Gogglebox, Bake Off, Skins, Inbetweeners
Scheduling:
Some shows are aired later at night. Watershed placing. Reputation for challenging programmes
Humans is a combination of many different factors - Genre (sci- fi) the audience, the fact that this is a channel 4 show.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- TARGET AUDIENCE FOR HUMANS
Age: 34
Name: Amanda
Gender: Female
Nationality: English
Location: South of england
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Demographic:
Psychographic:
Socio-economic class: working class/ lower middle class
Occupation: Secretary/office job
Hobbies: going on Facebook and bitching about anything
The process of commercial television making is selling audiences. Ad companys make money when people watch their ads. Ads are very specific. Cookies. Ads are tailored towards audiences based on their searches and likes and comments and conversations that take place on your phone.
BREAKFAST SCENE - How does it appeal to the audience?
- Warm coloured lighting in the dinning room. Makes everything feel all happy and perfect. The dinning room is clean and well put together.
- Close up shot of food. Slow pan. Mise En Scene. Easily identifiable scene for the audience. Idealic. Hyperreal fantasy aspiration for the middle class audience
- Establishing shot of the " nuclear family " (normal, perfect looking) - creates an aspiration for the audience, this is what the audience strides for.
- Close up shot of Laura's face - establishes her dislike of Anita. A relatable situation for the target audience who made debate over whether or not to get a maid/cleaner.
- Snide remark the dad made "This is what breakfast is supposed to be like" - a low key criticism of Laura, she is not as reliable as Anita. Argues that she fails to provide for her family and isn't good at playing the role of the Mother.
- Mise En Scene - dressing gowns - conventional of the sitcom genre. However this is also unconventional. Steve Neale theories. This difference in conventions keeps the audience interested so we're not always expecting.
- Debates are created. We see the tension already - makes audience want to watch it again.
- Dad jokes "micro chips" - relatable for an older male audience who are also cracking dad jokes. They will find this funny.
- A series of close up shots of the whole family laughing
Individual Audience MembersHumans compared to Swedish version
Everything in the Swedish version is a lot more plastic and fake e.g. the hubots
Why include British stereotypes? Humans is made more relatable.
identical hubots - more creepy
Swedish version - the identical factor workers that arent very good as a representation of foreigners - discussion of racism in Sweden
people are using the synths for sex - people are used in the synths as sex workers - discussion of trafficking
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