Newspaper Ideology and Representation

Newsworthy - If something is worthy of being in the news.

Some newspapers believe different things are news worthy, not all the same.

"If it bleeds, it leads"

Broadsheet - More formal, aimed at the middle class audience

Tabloid - is more gossipy and focuses less around global news, more around celebrities. Can also be called a "red top"

Local news paper - more specific to a certain area.

Intertextuality - When a media product makes sense only through it's reference through other media products.

Barthes also referred to this process as referential codes - e.g. in a horror film one character might say " what is this, a horror film?"

"What have they done?" Daily Mirror Paper:

• The language used here is deliberately referring to something very drama " 7 killed in speeding tram crash" - thriller and action

• The day after tomorrow - tsunami hits New York. Genre - Apocalypse/ Disaster. Suggesting Trump's election is a disaster.

• Statue of liberty - looks like a weeping angel (popular villain) from doctor who. British Paper. We can only deduce that his election is wrong.

• Biblical ideas of the apocalypse - red and black - fire and death.
• Planet of the apes reference.

Ideology refers to a system of ideals and beliefs but often used to describe the ways in which those in power use their power to distort meaning. And ideology can be used to normalise the dominant ideas of the ruling class.

Left wing ideology - Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy and social inequality.In the UK the main left wing parties are the Labour Party and the Green Party. 

They believe in making laws that protect women, ethnic minorities, and gay people against discrimination. 

They believe that we should tax rich people more to support people less well off, and they believe we should regulate big businesses so they serve people’s interests. 

They believe that a good welfare system means people are healthier, more able to work, and will put more back into the economy.

 They also typically believe country-wide tax-funded action on climate change is necessary.

Left wing is for EVERYBODY & SOCIAL EQUALITY

Distribute wealth & close gap between rich and poor

Right wing ideology - value tradition, they are about equity, survival of the fittest, and they believe in economic freedom. They typically believe that business shouldn’t be regulated, and that we should all look after ourselves. Right wing people tend believe they shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s education or health service. They believe in freedom to succeed over equality.

Right wing is more about YOURSELF & PERSONAL RESPONSIABILITY

THE TIMES IS PUBLISHED BY NEWS UK

Television Industry

Television is a specialised industry

approx 6-8 episodes in UK drama series

6 episodes in UK comedy series

Humans was made in England, there is 8 episodes, drama series


TV in 21st century


global, rather than national industry
increasingly commercial 
HBO home box office, global success
the tv industry has totally fragmented
channels "narrowcast", which means they target more niche audiences 
audiences consume television in a variety of different ways 


television was the first example of mass media


nazis used it for propaganda - assumed audience could be manipulated and were passive (passive audience theory)

DISTRIBUTION, CIRCULATION AND MARKETING

DISTRIBUTION - how the product gets there

CIRCULATION - how many people see it

MARKETING - how the product is sold/promoted

WATERSHEDS - the time for shows that are not seen as 
appropriate for younger audiences are shown at this time. After 9pm.

Television has always had a negative reputation. Ideas of it making you lazy. Other concerns debates the mass media.

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Ofcom regulates tv

They try to limit harm and offence on television.

Regulation of television now is very infective.

Livingston and Lunt - theories of regulation. It is getting harder to regulate tv.

HARM AND OFFENCE IN HUMANS

Leo attacks Sadiq - Violent scene, ideas of hate crime/racial violence

Kidnapping Scene - Disturbing. Limp Bodies. Triggering possibly.Short close up shots of the body being dragged. 

Gun in Background. In this scene there is a black synth who is picking fruit. Alluding to slavery.

Potentially traumatic scene - Taboo. Sexual Assault. Rape. Man having sex with a robot.

Synth shot to the floor. Depiction of death.

Reception theories

STUART HALL
Dominant/Preferred reading - agreeing with producer's ideologies
Negotiated reading - agreeing with parts of the producer's ideologies
Oppositional reading - disagreeing with producer's ideologies

Les Revenants (2012)

LES REVENANTS EPISODE 1

As you watch the first episode, consider the following:

Cinematography
Editing
Soundtrack
Performance, character archetypes and characterisation
Setting
Representation
Hermeneutic codes and enigmas
Generic conventions and atypical features. Zombie? Drama? Mystery? Cult? Horror? 'New French extreme'???
Intertextuality
'Frenchness' 
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LES REVENANTS FACTS

Les Revenants is a hybrid genre

It is a French,Supernatural Drama

Hybrid Genres attract a wider audience

First broadcast in 2012 on Canal+
UK broadcasted in 2013 on Chanel 4 - Humans was also broadcasted on this channel

Les Revenants is internationally distributed

2 series, 8 episodes each 

Based on the French film "they come back"

Created by Fabrice Goberrt

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There is many different story arcs within Les Revenants 
Todarav - Theories of the Disruption of the Equilibrium 

Les Revenants has an unconventional narrative. This is potentially an issue for audiences as you never fully understand it or solve any mysteries. 

This makes the audience want to carry on watching the show as it is based on a series of hermeneutic codes.

This show also makes use of heavy intertextuality. References to the Omen (the little creepy boy)

Avant Garde is experimental. In many ways Les Revenants is experimental, through the use of its non linear narrative.

Cult TV - something that gets an intense audience/ passionate fan bases. Invites the audience to interact with it. They can make games and all this

Cult Tv Shows creates a different and new world and that is why so many people rate them.

What makes Les Revenants different from normal supernatural shows? - it looks at a middle classed family and more - like a soap opera .

Comparing Les Revenants to Night of The Living Dead

- The zombies look more alive and attractive in Les Revenants (iconography)

- The Night of the Living Dead - stereotypical representations of zombies

- We are supposed to feel scared by The Night of the Living Dead whereas in Les Revenants we feel confused.
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Exam Practise

"In the 21st century, it is essential for TV shows to offer multiple meanings" - evaluate this statement with reference to Les Revenants  

Introduction scenes, bus crash, costa having a snooze and Camille going home -

Establishing shot - mountains on the road - bus 
Alps - french settings
Camille- wearing coat, scarf, costume 
Black screen - present day 

Slow zoom from exterior to interior of house
slow zoom into the butterflies - one of them comes back top life as well.
Camera slowly tracks butterfly looking down on a high angle shot to an older character - binary opposition between young and old.

Use of music - as the camera zooms in on the butterfly the music crescendos- music getting louder-  key moment, key symbolic code - helping the audience to understand the whole concept of the show

Low key, desaturated colour gradient emphasises to the audience that something eery is going on - a potential hermeneutic code. Forces the audience to negotiate their own perspective on the narrative. This enforces a polysemic reading of the text

Camille on the bus - she has more screentime on the bus and is consistently framed in a montage of close up shots. Creates the idea that she is an important character to the story. Positions the audience with the young Camille. Camille's age allows teenage audiences to invest in the complicated narrative.

The sudden and mysterious dip to black following the long shot of the traumatic bus accident is symbolic of not only the audience's own confusion and the show's primary theme of death and finality.

The establishing shot and the subsequent long shot of the bus establishes an isolated and exotic setting (exotic for the secondary english audience). This emphasises the importance of Les Revenants adopting a polysemic narrative. It must mean different things to audiences of different nationalities.



The combination of these 3 scenes creates a lot of mystery.

Genre codes and conventions 
Genre theory 
Genre fluidity
Camera work - framing and composition shot types, angle, position, movement 
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 

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REPRESENTATION - The re presentation of something

Representation is needed as it allows the audience to relate with characters, audience learns about the world, not real, CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY

REPRESENTATIONS CONSTRUCT REALITY - they change what we think of other people

Ideologies are always presented through representation. Representation confirms these ideologies or challenges them.

BIAS - having an inclination towards one thing - being in favour of one thing.

All of these images are staged for promotional shots. What ideological perspective is being presented?

Camille - young female teenagers. Midshot infront of yellow flowers. Supposed to be a bright and bubbly teenager so this creates a binary opposition as she frowns Pale Skin, Ginger hair, not a lot of makeup - in France minimal, natural makeup is the style. She was casted for this role as she is younger. Atypical and complex representation - smartly dressed - binary opposition. Her complicated character reflects the complicated storyline. Audience empathises with her, she seems well rounded.

Claire - representations of a middle class mother. stereotypical aspirational mum. Low Key chic costume.

Representations of rural French life - Atypical French setting for international audience, all white cast in image. France is more ethnically diverse than the UK. Ls Revenants is targeting a white middle class audience.  

Mme Costa - older women. Her costume is a brown jacket - reinforces a stereotypical representation of old people

Julie - early 30s, working class, she looks nerdy. The heavy eye/tired almost ill look is attractive in France. Messy hair - effortlessly pretty

Simon - Young man, mid 20s, dark features, long hair, curly, natural. stereotypically attractive for a French audience. Sharp jawline. He looks like a renaissance sculpture.Very stereotypically French.

John Berger - "Ways of Seeing" - book. In this book he was mainly studying painting but then he applied this to tv shows - argued that men act and women appear.

Themes and Allegorical Perspective:

It is important for Les Revenants to be allegorical so that a larger audience can relate to the themes within the media product. 

Les Revenants is about death and how people deal with it.

ABJECTION - to have something cut off

Les revenants deals with abjection. 


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LES REVENANTS SOUNDTRACK

Glasgow Megasnake - Mogwai


Mogwai - Scottish Post Rock. Instrumental Rock Band. No lyrics. This track is more like Metal rather than rock. Distorted guitars. Their songs tend to be very long timewise.

Mogwai lack a frontman. Their is no lead person.

Mogwai are renound for being fairly plain looking guys. Not exactly photogenic.

They own their own record label - 'Rock Action'

Why select Mogwai to create the soundtrack for Les Revenants?

By selecting Mogwai it attracts a preexisting audience - Mogwai Fan

Synergy - 2 media products coming together and working well.

By having Mogwai creating the soundtrack this allows Mogwai to target an international audience.

Both Les Revenants and Mogwai are very moody and freaky. They gain subcultural capital. Both Les Revenants and Mogwai share the same ideology.

The Soundtrack is contrapuntal - it goes against the show

Les Revenants Trailer:

How is this trailer targeting its audience?

Targets an International Audience as all of the writing is in English.

Including Quotes and Reviews from British newspapers such as the Sunday times which quotes " Must watch ... the best drama of the year."

This trailer uses montage to sell the tv show as a lot more exciting then it actually is. Face paced editing - from the whole first series. The trailer insinutes that Les Revenants is super exciting.

Les Revenants is an atypical horror show that is very hard to sell.

STURAT HALL theories

Les revenants encourages audiences to take an active reading

Les Revenants invites its target audiences to negotiate their reading

One of the key themes within this show is the binary opposition between the dead and the alive and a lot of the art/posters/covers advertising the posters  convey this idea too. 

The Title is split in the middle and distorted showing the different between dead and alive. Reflection of the image.

There is also a book of Les Revenants produced after the tv show - say you really like the tv show then it ends it gives you something else to do.

More merchandise - t-shirts soundtrack and more . Shows that you're a super fan. 

CANAL+ Research

Ideology: They are a Premium channel - you have to pay for it. Their ideology is based on this idea of quality.

Funding: Creative Europe - Allows European tvshows to be funded. Had to be payed for using grants.Also funded by the Alps tourism board - increases tourism in the Alps. 

Scheduling: 8:50pm in France, 9pm in England

Ownership: Vivendi SA - massive conglomerate

Notable Releases: all shows are made for a domestic audience

Ethos: 

Conglomeration

Imports: Tellytubbies, Vampire diaries and game of thrones
Exports

Canal +

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END OF WEEK EXAM PREP

"It is essential for a TV programme to simultaneously target both mass and specialised audiences"

Explore this statement with reference to Les Revenants

Thirty minutes

Knee jerk reaction: Yes! Les Revenants expertly targets both 'casual' and 'devoted' audiences, by providing the audience with a range of polysemic readings

Key theory: Stuart Hall's reception theory

MICHAEL'S TOP TIP - how useful is this theory really? Does Les Revenants even have a preferred reading? Surely it lacks one, instead focusing on confusing the audience as much as possible with a range of hermeneutic codes and complex use of intertextuality?

Do we think that shows really have mass audiences anymore?

There is now a diverse range of choices in Tv so No.
Initially there was only 1 channel when TV was first made a thing. 

1982 - Channel 4

Until fairly recently we have only had a few channels. Previously tv shows had to appeal to a mass audience as it had limited options/choices as there was less channels.

Moved from Broadcasting to Narrowcasting. 

Mass audiences do not exist anymore.

Stuart Hall

Preferred reading - the audience agrees with the ideology of the producer

Negotiated reading - every other possibly reading

Oppositional reading - the audience disagrees with the ideology of the producer

The whole point of Les Revenants is that we need to make up our own mind. It's polysemic Therefore we don't think that Les Revenants has a preferred reading.

Emotional Response, Intellectual Response, Loving it and Hating it.

Producers force the audience to think of their own responses so the audience becomes an active audience - which makes the audience talk about their opinions and all - gives the show more clout

Camille and Claire Reunion

Intellectual responses: a clear subversion of horror genre. The dark atmospheric music anchors this. 

Enjoyment at genre conventions exploded. Camille does not look like a typical zombie. Her costume looks very casual and normal.

Enjoyment of Claire's atypical response - a fully fleshed out character. Subverting character archetypes 

The tracking shot of Claire running up the stairs. Intertextuality to Phsyco and Halloween

Thinking it is clever use of foreshadowing - mother is in Camille's room then she comes home

Oppositional response: Dislike to reading subtitles. This scene is very quiet and boring. There's nothing much going on. The montage of Camille walking home is too long. 3 longshots in a row. Lack of definitive action and fast paced editing.

The foreshadowing is cliche 

This is nothing like the trailer.

Emotional Responses: Close up shots of Claire's upset facial expressions, far too uncomfortable.

Camille is a brat.

Excited at the many questions the show is asking. How did Camille survive?!

People might take pleasure in Camille's character. She is a gobby teenager. Relatable character.

Claire is attractive

Humans TV Show (2015)

Humans came out in 2015
- 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?
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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


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Rick and Morty Opening Scenes

Genre codes and conventions 

Genre theory 
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 

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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" 

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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
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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

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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 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?

• 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 

 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