Newspapers and online REVISION

Newspapers very often construct a binary opposition between left and right wing policies
the times is vertical and horizontally integrated
the newspaper industry is a vertically,horizontally and multimedia integrated industry


Attitude uses singular representations to create a standardised product


Articles:

News story
"More than 300 same sex couples tie the knot in Taiwan"

Presenting Taiwan as from an international perspective
Paul Gilroy
Taiwan are a good asian country
this reinforces the idea that the western world is superior
Low production values - photo is a screenshot
Basic wesbite - targetting a mass market audience
very short article - tiny copy
REPRESENTATION

This article - targets gay men
Pink pound - gay men have more expendable income to go on these lavish holidays
Reinforcing stereotypes
"Everyone can take on the world" - very inclusive and targets the gay men as it offers them an escapist fantasy where they can leave and be somewhere where they can be themselves
INDUSTRY
REPRESENTATION
AUDIENCE




The magazine targets a middle class affulent target audience
online - targets a basic, mass market target audience.

Magazine circulation - 50,000

Attitude online only exists to sell the magazine as it has a syngergistic relationship with the magazine

attitude magazine sells consistently and distributed

aattitude is published by stream

TV REVISION KEY SCENES

TV
Camille's coming home

• Character introduced by establishing montage of french alps
• Low key, natural lighting - emphaises supernatural genre - moon lighting
• subversive - not obvious supernatural elements
• French middle class home 
• cut from intereior shot to exterior - m/s of french middle class suburban lifestyle - we see the estate
• seurat family 
• diegetic knock at the door 
• tracking shot follows mum out into lowkey liut hall way
• horror genre - hand on fridge - mum is seeing an intruder
• creepy little girl in kitchen - convention of horror
• reaction shot/eyeline match - we can see the mums reaction and how she is focused on camille
• only diegtic sound
• cut to longshot of the kitchen/sitting room - binary opposition camille and mum on opposite sides. Binary oppositions - old and young life and death
• reinforces how middle class they are - tidy and put together house
• soundtrack is pure horror - physcological horror. non diegetic soundtrack slowly getting louder 
• contrapuntal sound - does not go with what is being shown - unsettling for audience
• tracking shot of muwalking down hallway - positioned with the mother
• Soundtrack louder and sounds like a heart beat- anchhors our emotions to fit with mum
• natural reaction - physocological horror 
• this scene reinforces hegemonic norms - white girl the main character
• camille is a stereotypical teenager 
• her character is being established that she is a gobby teenager

Julie stalked by victor 

• stereotypical repsentation of women - Julie is a nurse
• subversive costume - conservative not too feminine
• bus stop - longshot - low key lighting frmo street lamp - horror genre
• isolation of scene
• relatable to audience
• mes of rain - reinforcing who julie is without telling us 
• victor slowly walking up behind bus stop - he shouldn't be there 
• he is abject
• abjection is when something doesnt belong 
• soundtrack is repeated - shows how people keep coming back to life
• cuts to simon - appeal to younger female audience - in a pub. relatable for teenage audience
• les revants cuts frequently from narrative to narratie - character archs
• the first episode establishes lots of character archs
• binary opposition - opposite to camille's situation - we see julie getting of the bus
• producers make it very obvious that julie is working class - she walks through rough areas
• low key lighting
• shot of victor out the window - positioned with julie. she is calm and collected and doesn't really react to victor outside 
• MES of flat - relatable - arty black and white photos, lots of books
• masculine costume - shirt and a jumper
• close up of hands holding - positions us with julie.- maternal. proairectic code - foreshadows their relationship that might happen - she is going to look after him 

this show is very exotic - to a british audience. it is very stereotypical. the french audiences will identify witht the character's look. From a british perspective 

Lena and Simon walking home

• targetting a teenage audience
• paranormal romance - Simon is a monster and lena is human
• wokring class alley way - graffiti
• window - barrier between life and death - simon looks through the window at his wife
• screaming and crying - adele is middel  aged - we get the reaction we were wanting to see 
• appeal to middle aged women - simopn turns down lena and goes for adele 
• audience appeal - sexual situations and attractive characters 

camille/lena sex scene 

• Both of these shows (humans and les revants)end in a montage that sums up the key characters 
• "4 years earlier" igh key lighitng comes up we see the same kitchen
• typical family 
• deliberatly uncomfortable
• crosss cuting between the sex scene and the bus - to show that these two scenes are happening at the same time
• cut to black - after bus goes off - symbolic of death
• "le petit more"  - in france there is a big idea that having sex for the first time is like dying a little bit 
• symbolism of sex and eath together - lena having sex causes camille to die

high production values 

REVISION WEEK 6

ONLINE MEDIA

Explore the extent to which emergent digitally convergent technology has allowed producers communicate complex meanings.

DEFINITIONS
Digital technology: anything that involves a computer
Convergence: The coming together of two previously separate industries
Digital Convergence: The coming together of 2 previously separate media industries through digital technology
Hypermodality: Where a media product, most notably an online media product goes beyond traditional modality through the use of hyperlinks. This allows audiences new and exciting ways of exploring and interacting with media products, but it can also lead to users falling down internet rabbit holes.

PLAN

Hypermodality

Algorithmic marketing

Hyper masculinity

Attitude constructs its audience

Feminity 

Zoella channel, social media, blog - synergy

Brand identity

Hyperreality

Targeting a niche and a  mass audience

Representations 

Patriarchal hegemony

Stereotypes

Mode of address

Aspirational figures

Synergy in attitude online and magazine

Capitalist society

Out of focus shots 

Mistakes

Unscripted narrative

Target audiences

Interactivity 

Online media

Homepage and other pages

Codes and conventions

Layout and design

Composition

Font size, type of font (e.g. serif/sans serif), colour 

Images/photographs - camera shot type, angle, focus

Mise-en-scene – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up 

Graphics, logos

Language - formal/informal mode of address?

Anchorage of images and text

Elements of narrative/structure around the site

Interactive features

Menu bar and navigation – structure and design of the site

ZOELLA'S VALENTINES PYJAMA PICKS

• C/U Shot of Zoella holding up duvet in childish way. Bedroom setting, conservative pyjamas. Direct mode of address as she looks directly at camera. Constructs her as younger than she actually is. trying to appeal to young `15 year old TA as constructing herself to have the same playful energy as them. Complex meaning as in reality she is a 29 year old woman
• Non sexualised - high angle shot looking down over Zoella to see what she is looking at. M/S of cup of tea, magazines, and conservative pyjamas. Shows that she is not trying to sexualise herself, she is pure and only concerned about her cup of tea, magazines and her dog.
• Zoella conforms to patriarchal hegemony - categories e.g. Beauty, Food, Style, Life & Shop. Shows that she has the same stereotypical interests that women are presented to have
• Layout of the blog - conventional lifestyle blog 
• Colour and design of blog - symbolic codes of purity/innocence anchored through the white and soft pink colours throughout the blog. Further emphasised through the gentle glistening fairy lights and the zoella banner at the top of the homepage. 
• Handwritten zoella signature - constructs Zoella as a relatable figure for her audience. 
• Teen girls are far more likely to relate to the mode of address of the lifestyle vlogger.
• Hypermodality - at the end of this article there are links to ASOS pages. High production values contradict the intended atmosphere of reality and realatablity. This utilisation of hypermodality in almost every post to different blogs, social medias, products and app. Allowing young female target audiences gratification of interactivity
• Manipulation of naive target audience - in order to gain profit 
• She is a hyperreal construction designed to make money off teenage girls 

ATTITUDE ONLINE STYLE -  THIS WEEK'S HOTTEST CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES

• Attitude constructs its audience as a stereotypical gay man, with expendable income.  Kenzo bag - £225 - the "Pink Pound"
• Top of each article there are social media icons e.g. instagram, twitter, facebook. Allowing audiences to use hypermodal technology in order to explore and relate to the brand identity. Helps to differentiate between other different gay lifestyle magazines
• Hyperlinks at the bottom of each article- clickbait - using algortherithmic marketting techniques to manipulate and entice their target audiences with promises of illicit and illegal content
• Arrangement of thumbnails - images are stylised and easily accessible for target audience which cultivates a stereotypical ideology - allows the producer to construct an audience that wears certain clothes and look a certain way in order to make money through targeted adverts ( e.g. gay packaged holidays

How significant is thew role of individual producers in online media industries? Make reference to Zoella to support your argument

Knee Jerk:

Individual producers are extremely important for online media industries, and increasingly so as digital media becomes ever more convergent. However, while Zoella presents herself as an amateur internet user who is relatable to her fans,

Plan
Clay Shirky
Opposite of mass produced media
Specialised industry
Digitally convergent media
Digital technology
Tanya Burr's lifestyle blog 
Henry Jenkins 
Amateur 
ghostwritten book - "Girl Online"
Mistakes are left in 
Hypperreal construction 
£50 advent calendar 
Vertical integration
Multimedia integrated industry
50% of 16-24yo have watched a vlog in the last month - young and digitally active audience

High levels of expendable income
Brand endorsement 
- "advertorials" 
Curran and Seaton - Zoella is motivated by power and profit 
Motivated by capitalist ideology
£4000 a month from ads on her blog
paid by Youtube £15,000 a month 

Zoella FACTS

• Started Youtube in 2009 - present
• 11.7 million subs
• Over 1 billion views
• Second channel - "MoreZoella" - 4.8 million
• Massive following on social media
• Most popular beauty vloggger in the world

To what extent do the representations in Attitude make claims about realism?

Knee Jerk:

While representations often make claims about reality, it is working noting that representation can never be real because they are a reflection of the ideology of the producer. however the representation of a certain group will not only effect the target audience, but also the people being represented.

David Gauntlet

George Gerbner

Stuart Hall

1. Who is being represented?

2. How is this representation constructed?

3. What message is presented to the target audience?
4. How does this effect the group being represented?

Attitude presents a hypereal representation of gay, young men to their target audience of gay, young men. By making claims about reality, this raises many issues.

Representations of gay men

• rich and young
• out,proud and confident
• particularly interested in style and fashion

One way in which the representation of gay men in Attitude make claims about realism is through the representation of gay men being out, proud and confident with their sexuality. For example, in the article  "TARON EGERTON AND SIR ELTON JOHN TEAM UP FOR BRAND NEW SONG ‘(I’M GONNA) LOVE ME AGAIN’ Elton John is presented as being a proud, gay icon 

• Flamboyant costume
• Direct mode of address
• Status as a celebrity 
• Hyppersexualised men

Article creates a sweeping and stereotypical representation of gay men for the target audience. Hall considered stereotypes, which through constant repetition can cultivate a self fulfilling prophecy. Additionally, over time stereotypes can change...

• 70s
• Homosexuality was regarded as a mental health issue
• Now widely accepted

There is a discrepancy between the representation and the reality. A hypperreal and perfect "reality" is constructed for the target audience.  However this is unlikely to be the reality for every audience member. The front cover of Attitude magazines takes a completely different perspective and through its confrontational lexis shines light on the significant problem of young gay men 

Why?

• Escapist fantasy for a marginalised and discriminated group 
• Confidence through normalisation
• A sense of identity and a way of having your life 

REVISION WEEK 5

Explore how the set editions of Woman and Adbusters reflect the historical context of the time they were made in?

Woman
1964
offers singular and straightforward representations of women
targeting a basic, mass market audience
Women's liberation movement - object to the ideology presented in this magazine
Challenging hegemonic expectations

Adbusters
2016
Subversive - breaks rules of magazines and in society
Adbusters hates adverts - 0 ads in the magazine. Non profit
Typically 1/3 of a magazines typical revenue comes from advertising
Adbusters costs £10.99
Anti Capitalist
Anti consumerist

 

Breeze Advert - Woman
Genre Conventions -

• Woman's lifestyle magazine
• This advert aims to sell a lifestyle that can only be achieved "with breeze". Makes audience feel like they're missing something
• This advert is aspirational - presents idelistic body image and makes women feel inaequate about their bodies

Mise En Scene -

• Costume - naked woman, dry hair, full makeup, overall pampered look to her - unrealistic for bath setting. Presents an unrealistic image of women and the female body

Font -

• Sans Serif font - informal - creates the idea that this is one woman talking to another

Anchorage -

• "Because you're a woman..." Anchors audience to be a woman and reinforces the idea that this is what women should look like
• Patriarchal hegemony and expectations of beauty at the time

Language -

• Soft words - "gentlest lather", "kindness" & "please" - clearly aiming for a female TA
• Use of elipses - very airy and spaced out - soft tone
• Almost like reading an actual conversation - appeal to TA of working class women

Mode of Address -

• Direct mode of address - use of words e.g. "you're","Darling", "please"

Codes -

• Gesture code - quite promiscuous and racy
• Just about covering herself - appeal to secondary TA of men who buy this soap for their wives
• Proairetic codes - "please, bath with breeze" - slightly sarcastic tone - attacking women who don't use this soap, makes them feel like they're unhygienic

Images -

• Mid shot of woman - she has been sexualised. Audience can see a naked woman in bath
• Voyueristic

Layout -

• Main image dominates this advert - her beauty is most important
• Caption underneath image for anchorage - and to sell the product 

Colour -

• Limited colour - typical of magazines at the time

Ideology -

• Women need to be pretty and take care of themselves in order to appeal to men
• This woman is hegemonically/stereotypically attractive - selling a dream to audience - she is an aspirational figure and this is true femininity 

Adbusters

Genre Conventions -

• Anti capitalist magazine - attacks luxury brands 

Curran and Seaton - Media Industries are driven by profit and power. Power is concentrated in the hands of a few extremely wealthy corporations. Makes it hard to individual users and independent corporations to compete.

Livingstone and Lunt - Media industries are regulated in a variety of different ways however there are serious flaws in each method of regulation, primarily due to digital technologies.


"All media products are purely created to ensure financial success" To what extent do you support this statement? Make reference to Adbusters and Woman.


Knee Jerk Reaction

While most magazines are driven by profit and power for example woman, however Adbusters is a clear exception to this rule

Adbusters

• £10.99
• Bi-monthly
• Non profit - 0 ads
• Independent magazine - culture jamming
• Confronting front cover 
• Lack of anchorage
• TA is weird - working class ideology but high cover price to 
• Self publishing - The Adbusters Media Foundation
• Satyrical, independant magazine - only appeal to a niche audience
• Non mainstream
• Counter Cultural
• Indirect mode of address
• Subverts capitalist ideology
• Anti consumerist
• 120,000 circulation per bi month - small circulation
• No page numbers
• 2016
• 
  
• sophisticated lexis - suggests an educated audience
• Lack of anchorage - forces reader to create their own readings/beliefs - alienates the audience
• gesture codes - man with first clenched - subversive and aggressive front cover - not appealing to the mass
• deals with issues in world today - e.g. homeless page
• attacks on luxurious brands - e.g. louboutin and zuchetti 
• Broadly left wing ideology 
• Subverts male gaze theory - unconventional
• atypical structure - magazine is divided into chapters

Woman

• 7 old pence equivalent of 80p - cheap 
• Weekly 
• 1/3 of revenue comes from advertisements and 2/3 from sales 
• Targeting a mass audience e.g. title "Woman"
• 3 million copies per week in 60s
• Targets working class women aged 30-50, heterosexual, white
• Direct mode of address
• Published by IPC - horizontally integrated corporation 
• IPC also published several other women's lifestyle magazines. Reducing competition to ensure financial success
• Social Historical - after WW2 - trying to sell a happy lifestyle to women who were struggling with returning to normal life after WW2
• Reinforces capitalist hegemonic norms
• singular straight for representations of women
• 1950
• Breeze soap advert - selling a lifestyle
• sans serif font - women are uneducated - easily read mode of address
• MES of woman on front cover costume - stereotypical confirming to hegemonic norms
• "Are you an A level Beauty?" - conforming to standards
• Contents page - idea that this are the only things that appeal to women. Women live in a patriarchal society
• Adverts published in this magazine are there to make women feel like they need more in their life
• Alfred Hitchcock article - Star appeal 
• Stereotypical woman in the magazine - Grace Kelly. Thin, middle aged, stereotypically attractive - cultivates the ideology that there is one way to look like a woman

EXAMPLES

ADBUSTERS

Changing masthead every publication - brand identity
Lack of coverlines on front cover - Audience does not know what is inside
subversive representations of women


WOMAN

• In the 1964 set edition we see a clear ideological perspective constructed which is highly appropriate to the socio-historical context of the time it was made. This is typified by the relentless promotion of a hegemonically acceptable heterosexual, working class lifestyle. An excellent example of this is the advert for the Breeze soap , which feature a mid-shot of a stereotypically attractive young woman wearing no clothes. Her body is emphasised through the mise en scene of soapsuds, and the bath itself has been removed to provide the target with the voyueristic pleasure of seeing a hegemonically attractive nude woman. This clear example of sexual objectification is included as a means of manipulating a singular and mass market audience. The advert reinforces and cultivates the ideology that women purely exist to be the subject of a heterosexual male gaze. By reinforcing a patriarchal hegemonic ideology, the producer encourages the primary mass audience to take on this role, ensuring that they adopt a subservient lifestyle
• Woman is creating a standardised product for its standardised audience. It is owned by a media conglomerate and can't break any rules
• It ensures its success by constructing the perfect audience e.g. Contents page. By constructing a specialised and singular audience Woman magazine is able to sell this audience to advertising companies
• Fashion in the magazine is stereotypical and conservative. Conformist.

Adbusters

• However Adbusters subverts the commonly held perspective that all media products are soley motivated by power and profit. In fact Adbusters is a resolutely anticapitalist magazine, that seeks to break the standard conventions of commercial magazine. In the set edition's front cover, the coverline  "POST-WEST" encodes the ideolgical aftermath of decadesof terror attacks on the western world. Adbusters routinely lacks anchorage, however , and there is nothing on the front cover to explicitly suggests any preferred reading. Instead, the audience are positioned in a way that they must for their own conclusions. This makes adbusters hihgly unconventions and goes against the notion that all media products are focused on profit and power
• Adbusters is not motivated by profit and power
• Adbusters takes an aggressive anti commercial ideology. Attacks on well known brands e.g. louboutin 
• The copy occupies very little of the page and there is use of the gutter. Overall damaged look to the magazine - to a mainstream, mass audience this is not appealing
• Front Cover - No anchorage, dirty effect. Preferred reading is unknown

More Paragraphs ideas

Niche vs Mainstream audience

Major conglomeration owned vs independent owned
Save the planet Kill yourself 
Ethics of being purely motivated by profit

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Explore how the set editions of Woman and Adbusters appeal to their target audiences.

Audience terms
Niche
Mainstream
Positioning
Anchorage
Demographic
Preferred
Negotiated
Oppositional
Alienating 
Fetishism
Patriarchal hegemony
Cultivation
Pick & mix
Target
Secondary
Modes of address


WOMAN

Cultivates hegemonic capitalist ideological perspective
Founded in 1937
7d cover price (approx 80p) - cheap cover price for a mass mainstream audience
Target demographic: 30-50 year old working class, housewife, heterosexual, white
Singular stereotypical representations
Reflects the social historical context of the time
Circulation 3 million copies sold each week: big market share!
(12 million women's lifestyle magazines sold in UK each week)
IPC also owned several other women's lifestyle magazines
Published by IPC, a horizontally integrated corporation
IPC buys out rival magazines, reducing competition and increasing specialism
Lack of creativity

ADBUSTERS

Not for profit
Anti Capitalist
First published in 1989
Broadly left wing ideology
£10:99 UK cover price - expensive cover price targeting a niche and middle class audience
120,000 readership/circulation
Bimonthly frequency
Self published: Adbusters Media Foundation
Complete lack of anchorage, and a complete lack of commercial intent
Culture jamming/detournement/brandalism
Ill defined target audience
Lacks brand image - masthead changes every issue
Lack of corporate restriction may lead to creative freedom

Knee Jerk Reaction:

Both magazines appeal to their target audience in different ways. Woman targets a mainstream audience and appeals to audience's through hegemonic capitalist ideological perspective and low price. While Adbusters, appeals to a niche middle class audience through it's anti consumerist ideology and its high cover price. 

Plan:

Woman

• Woman stepping on the man's head. Subversive of patriarchal hegemony at the time. Positions the audience with a cheeky, light hearted mode of address. Appeal to female target audience as they can have a giggle
• Aspirational figure - woman in central image standing on man's head. She is hegemonically and stereotypically attractive but not unattainable 
• Presents men as hyper masculine and mysterious - "man sized bottles" masculinity is power, appeals to the audience by making a gender binary. Hegemonically appealing
• Insider information on men - reinforces the ideology that men are important and this is something that a straight woman needs to understand these ideas in order to secure a man. Extremely heteronormative
• Feminists audiences can pick and mix (Gauntlet) their own ideologies of image of woman standing on man's head

Adbusters

• Left wing ideology - 350 ppm refers to high carbon dioxide emissions. The lettering is plastered across the image of a model, a figure of wealth. Implies that wealthy people contribute to global warming. - Appeal to audience - tackling issues. positions audience as someone who can make a difference as they are neither extremely wealthy or extremely poor. Positioning audience as a hero 
• Binary opposition between homelessness and wealth - shows TA how they can be a hero and help. Appeals to audience
• Damaged mise en scene of photos through the rough post-production technique- rejection of commoditity fetishism - appeal to a niche audience. Subversive of magazines. Edgy.different magazine - appeals to middle class audience
• Steve Neal's genre theory (repetition and difference) - reinforces consumerist beliefs
• Sophisticated lexis - appeal to middle class audience - words e.g. "disintegration of polar ice caps"
• Assumed knowledge of who "Justin Gillis" is 
• Direct mode of address - both images of the model and the homeless woman - asking audience to do something
• Issues surrounding climate change - sophisticated mode of address - presents an agreeable, political message there there is a discrepancy between reach and poor. And this is effecting the climate
• Pick and mix - Oppositional reading - audiences may feel disgusted by the homeless person and might take exception to their presence
• Pick and mix - can enjoy the magazine from a design and aesthetic perspective

REVISION WEEK 4

TV - component one section a 
In what ways are Humans and Les Revenants shaped by specialised forms of production, distribution and circulation?
In what ways are Humans and Les Revenants shaped by specialised forms of production, distribution and circulation?

Knee jerk
Both set texts are fundamentally shaped by their contexts of production, distribution and circulation at a technical, narrative and an audience level. In both instances, the shows can be seen to be standardised products, shaped by industrial contexts to ensure maximum profit.

Plan

• Production values
• Conglomeration 
• Vertical integration, horizontal, multimedia integration
• Digital convergence
• Curran and Seaton - POWER: certain media companies wield too much
• Hesmondhalgh - (cultural industries, integration)
• Livingstone and Lunt - Regulation - regulation of most media products is ineffective
• Controversial aspects: Humans: Niska's rape Les Revenants - Lena's sex scene
• Scheduling
• Circulation - cult audience! 
• Successful for their genre
• Specialised products
• Budget and funding - spesh for Les Rev!
• Marketing and advertising
• Typecast
• Persona synthetics
• Misleading trailer for the international DVD release of Les Rev
• Humans shop front on Oxford Street
• Humans website - return slip adds to the hyperreal themes of the TV show. The audience cannot differentiate between reality and fiction - themes of paranoia
• Existential themes for a niche audience... yet straightforward for mass audience. POLYSEMY for MAXIMUM PROFIT!
• Intertextuality: both texts make reference to other texts. Yet both texts are highly atypical!
• Mass audience appeal - both texts feature relatable middle class families
• Channel 4: Humans distributed via 4OD, or by DVD and Blu Ray. 
• Humans shown in US on AMC (Preacher, The walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Mad Men and other mid-budget prestige shows)
• Les Rev: distributed internationally on Netflix, and on Channel 4 in the UK - demonstrates the subversive ideology of Channel 4
• Move to digital streaming has threatened traditional media
• Production values: high production values
• Humans overall S1 budget: 12 million quid
• Humans opening: 6.1 million
• Celebrity endorsement: Stephen King loves Les Rev!
• Remake ensures bigger mainstream british audience for Humans. Changes include language, location, the 'look' of the actors, the tone of the show, violence and sex
• Budget for les rev: 11.5 million pounds
• Exported to US: fits in to exotic British sci-fi like Dr Who and Sherlock
• Setting of Les Rev: exotic for a British audience
• Channel 4 sell audiences, make their revenue through selling advertising space and through franchising series
• An industry motivated by profit and power
• Nearest competitors for Humans include Dr Who, Black Mirror, Sherlock
• Prestige programming - adds to the prestige of the institution 
• Standardised production: 
• Clear, standardised narrative: Tzvetan Todorov: clear stages. Disruption and restoration of equilibrium and a range of clear and identifiable character arcs. A clear serial narrative, with a range of enigmatic hermeneutic codes and cliffhanger
• Reinforces hegemonic norms of attractiveness for the purpose of financial gain

--------------------------------------------------------------------

TV - Component 2 section a - Explore how representations position the audience in Humans and Les Revenants
Liesbet Van-Zoonen argues that media language encodes how male and female characters act in media products. Explore how representations position the audience in Humans and Les Revenants. 30

Introduction

Liesbet Van-Zoonen's argument is an excellent way of exploring how gender is encoded in both Humans and Les Revenants. Not only does she argue that female characters are primarily situated in media products to appeal to a heterosexual male audience, she also infers that men and women are constructed in completely different ways by the producer. Through this, the ideological perspective of the producer can be decoded by the target audience. I shall argue that both Humans and Les Revenant use complicated and subversive representations of women in order to position their audiences in often uncomfortable positions. Humans is a sci-fi TV show first broadcast in the UK in 2015 on Channel 4. It is an adaptation of the Swedish show Real Humans, although a number of changes were made in order to make the show appeal to a UK market. Les Revenants is a French horror/thriller TV show set in a small village in the French Alps. It relied on Funding from the European Union, and has been successful with its niche/cult audience.

Plan

• Consumerism
• Objectification
• Women, especially young women
• Comparison between Matty and Lena
• Semiotic codes
• Vulnerability encoded through voyeurism/scopophilia
• MES - Anita's maid costume: a doll, a sex object. Fetishisation. A passive.
• Hyperreality - a representation that is more real than the thing it is representing. Anita is perfect because she is NOT REAL
• Simulacrum
• Male Gaze
• Gender performativity - Judith Butler - gender roles, and the construction thereof, enforced through hierarchies, hegemonic norms etc
• bell hooks

The Breakfast scene

• This is what breakfast is supposed to be like. Here breakfast is presented as a fantasy, through the fact that it has been created by a subservient, sexually attractive young woman. Anita adopts the role of both a maid and a mother.
• Matty compares Anita to a dishwasher: objectification
• Joe attempts to impress Anita with a joke, casually flirting
• Laura is drawn into competition with Anita. M/S of Anita cleaning the table over Laura positions Anita as dominant and overbearing "oh for god sake, you've already cleaned that"
• Intradiegetic gaze: different characters look at Anita in different ways. Matty with frustration and hatred, the son with undisguised lust ("crusty-sheets")
• Anita is referred to as a 'she', a gender, a personification. The prefered reading is to see Anita as a compelling, and interesting character
• Allegorical - explores the ways in which women are treated in society. C/U of Niska's face in ending montage positions audience in a deliberately uncomfortable position

Camille's return

• Camille's mother's reaction is complicated and nuanced. Initially she takes an atypical 'cold' reaction, before running to the bathroom and crying is a hysterical and stereotypical manner
• Camille's attitude is stereotypically argumentative and at times disrespectful. She is neither kind nor sweet nor innocent
• Camille's entrance is emphasized through stereotypical horror film soundtrack, demonstrate a generic cliche that young girls are both creepy and threatening.
• Low key artificial lighting again emphasises horror film conventions. A stereotypically wealthy and middle class household
• DIVERSIFICATION - When one organisation has many different industries in it

TV - component 2 section a - 

explore the generic fluidity of Humans and Les Revenants
"All genres exist and function through a process of repetition and difference" - use Steve Neale's genre theory to explore this notion in Humans and Les Revenants [30]

Introduction - DAC

Definition
Argument
Context

Neale argues that that genre works through presenting a series of easily identifiable generic paradigms in order to ensure an audience. However, in order to maintain audiences over time, there is also a requirement for the producer to vary genre conventions. Thus all media products exist as a combination of the repetition and difference of genre conventions. I shall argue that both of the TV shows I have studied are simultaneously typical and yet atypical in the ways they present as genre. This is primarily to appeal to both a core and a niche audience. In order to explore this, I shall be using the examples of Humans, a 2015 Channel 4 sci-fi UKTV series, based off the Swedish sci-fi show Real Humans, and Les Revenants , a French supernatural drama/zombie show, first broadcast in 2012 on Canal Plus. and based on 2004 film of the same name. Both shows have been distributed to a number of audiences in other countries.

I pinched the following notes off of Luce. They're great! Thanks!


Les Revenants

• Julie wears oversized clothing, going for comfort over style - atypical representation
• not obvious, going against Hollywood stereotypes
• proairetic code as Mr Costa is walking down the corridor, expecting to see something scary but rather just see a woman eating pasta out of a pan, which suggests a comfort within the home, and seems more 'cute' as opposed to something scary as audience expects 
• the whole show is extremely anti climatic, subverting conventions in order to appeal to a cult audience 
• establishing shot, with diegetic ambient rain noise, and mogwi soundtrack, high pitched synth, low tempo and sparse to create a creepy feel
• on the bus, shallow depth of field allows the audience to see Victor in the background, suggesting Julie is being stalked
• Cross cut to Lena at the bar, interjecting moments of more light heartedness in order to build more tension with Julie, then cuts to a middle class family house setting - all these different settings help to appeals to a mass audience 
• silence when the doctor is examining Camille - this suggests somethings a little bit off, and the silence makes the audience uncomfortable
• ensemble cast - large cast with variety of ages, genders and class 
• tracking shot of Victor following Julie, mise en scene of the gritty, dark colours. harsh artificial lighting within the apartment building
• long shot of victor stood in the garden 
• lack of expressions on victor's face in his performance 
• choosing to set it in a council housing estate makes it more relatable to an audience - plays upon the idea that it could happen to anyone 
• binary opposition between the extremely young boy in a dark, deserted location by himself 
• les revenants takes the notion of hermeneutic codes to the extreme - asks more questions than it answers - this causes the audience to become more active and interact with and discuss the show. henry jenkins theory of fandom
• each episode focuses on a different character
• the setting looks very french - makes les revenants very atypical, never seen a horror set in the alps as opposed to Paris

Humans

• humans focuses on AI, and themes around the idea of what happens when technological AI becomes equals to humans, an allegory about jobs, but also emotional labour 
• Anita acts as a mother to Sophie, taking on the role 
• Laura see's Anita as competition in terms of motherhood and attractiveness, while to Matty she is a toy
• 'this is what breakfast is supposed to look like' anita is perfect because she is not real - she is everything to everybody. she is hyperreal. this highlights the differences between men and women in society
• Mise en scene of british supermarket, loads of british brands, we as an audience are positioned as if we are there - remade to appeal to a british audience
• atypical science fiction setting - supermarkets, middle class homes etc
• low angle shot of George, shows his weakness both as an old man but also with the authoritative voice over him
• odi is hyperreal, he is more real than real. he is broken and needs to be looked after, and george loves him completely
• humans deals with numerous extremely controversial topics such as rape and kidnap
• anoushka is blank faced while being raped
• bright green synth eyes
• entire show is a comment of objectification - odi is being objectified due to mental health issues
• humans offers numerous readings - negotiated, preferred, oppositional etc 

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Explore how Humans and Les Revenants uses marketing and promotional campaigns to maintain both local and global audiences

Knee Jerk Reaction

D - Humans and LR use a range of innovative and viral marketing techniques in order to attract and maintain their global and local audiences. Marketing is an absolutely vital aspect of ensuring that media products reach their intended audiences. In order to ensure this happens, producers are increasingly reliant on digital technologies in order to efficiently promote media products on both a local and global level. 

A - In this essay i shall argue that it is possible to ensure both local and global success through the use of digitally convergent advertising and promotional techniques

C - Humans is a sci-fi TV show first broadcast in the UK in 2015 on Channel 4. It is an adaptation of the Swedish show Real Humans, although a number of changes were made in order to make the show appeal to a UK market. Les Revenants is a French horror/thriller TV show set in a small village in the French Alps.It relied on Funding from the European Union, and has been successful with its niche/cult audience. LR tended to rely on more traditional forms of advertising and marketing to target its audience

Plan

LES REVENANTS

• Trailer - english subtitles - targeting an international audience
• Quotes/reviews from British newspapers - "Must watch, best drama of the year"
• Montage in trailer - makes the tv show look more interesting and more like an action film. Fast paced editing
• French setting - targeting the local audiences - establishing shot - French alps 
• Funding from French alps heads - tourism in the area - encourages more tourists who watch LR and drama of the alps
• Soundtrack - Mogwai - targeting global audience - the band is Scottish 
• Hybrid genre - attracting a wider audience - French/Supernatural 
• Was broadcasted on Channel 4 in 2013 - popular British channel 
• Cult tv show - creates opportunity for fandom
• Unique Selling Point - French tv show - appealing to British/International audiences
• LR - French Supernatural tv show 
• Poster campaign (traditional marketing)- features a load of different characters and themes

HUMANS

• British sci-fi, with intertextual links to similar shows like Doctor Who and Black Mirror
• Humans: unconventional , subversive, atypical sci-fi. philosophical themes and raises a lot of questions. Hyperreality as a promotional technique - it is a reflection of the uK
• Contemporary British setting 
• Diegetic advert (in the world of the narrative) - Persona Synthetics product recall advert - advertising Humans however this is not mentioned - encourages audience involved - Henry Jenkins/Clay Shirky Theories - makes them want to find out more - helps them to maintain a niche audience - also encourages viral marketing
• Subversive advertising techniques - campaign breaks rules of tv show marketing - 
• Magazine covers - Total TV guide - aimed a a working class British Audience - mainstream audience
• Horizontal integration
• marketing stunts -oxford street shop 
• Humans Twitter page - viral marketing - interacting with fans - global audiences - adopts mode of address of persona synthetics, allowing the cult fandom that the show is targeting to take pleasure from interacting with the diegetic world of the narrative
• Similar to the viral marketing campaign which was released in 1999 - changed the rule book behind marketing
• Has a campaign that relies on digital convergence and tech
• Young middle class educated TA
• Appeals to a mainstream and a casual audience
• Offers a range of characters for audience to identify with.

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Explore how audiences are positioned by the representation of social issues in Humans and Les Revenants.

Knee Jerk Reaction

D -

A -

C -

PLAN

Stereotypes - nuclear family

Patriarchal hegemony 

Consent - issues

Allegory

Post Modern

Hyperreality

Themes

Supernatural 

Sex work 

Slavery

Coping with loss

Symbolic codes

Moral panic

AI and the singularity - the fear

Sex robots - big ethical issue - links to consent 

Sexual objectification of men

Themes of immigration: new arrivals to this small, white, middle class town - "Mass immigration" 

Teenage sex : sexual awakening 

Stuart Hall - readings

Women's Rights

Disabilities - Odi is a reference to this 

Humans

• Close up - Laura Concerned face looking at Anita - question autonomy, anchored by synthesised non diegetic sound track - builds suspense. Sci-fi soundtrack is a proairetic code which tells the audience that we will be dealing with the rise of robots
• Anita is hegemonically attractive - Laura is threatened by this
• Binary oppositions - Humans and Robots  
• Channel 4 in background - diegetic sound - realism of the show- "No way a robot could ever harm anybody" - proarietic code - this is going to happen
• Adueince can get involved in debates and discussions - Henry Jenkins theories of fandom

NISKA SCENE

• Scene before an archetypal children's bedroom to brothel
• Hard cut - creates a binary opposition - used primarily to force us to realise that she is someone's daughter
• Dominant colour of red - lust
• M/S of man's face - he is a punter - audience don't like him
• Niska is the victim - stereotypical representation of women. Women who are in a situation, passive need to be rescued
• Niska blank face - direct mode of address. Uncomfortable - forces the audience to confront the issue of sex work, consent and prostution 

Les Revenants 

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