Television industries

Friday 15th November 2019

Television industries: Ownership

LO: To explore the history of ownership in two key channels.

Television 2010s

LO: Research the 2010s, in terms of social, cultural and political climate of the decade.

• David Cameron legalised gay marriage.
• Neck nominations on Facebook that lead to many deaths.
• Terrorism threats: Afghanistan war, Syrian war, Isis, Terror attacks in the UK.
• Immigrants.
• Drug culture.
• Knife crime.
• Rap music
• Video game violence/obsession.
• Streaming.
• Brexit.
• Trump election.
• UKIP influence.
• Hacking.
• Third wave feminism.
• Fashion: Emo/chavs

The differences i would expects to see in the police dramas in 1965 compared to 2015 is that it will be more diverse,more races/religion and sexuality will be represented. There would also show mixed class, not just middle or upper class.

Friday 29th November 2019

Avengers practice question

LO: To analyse representation and use of media language.

How is 'Britishness' represented in this scene in terms of mine-en-scene?
They are sat in the carriage having afternoon tea, reading the newspaper.

What stereotypes were used in episode 1?
The women are being sexualised, the man is also in charge of everything.

How was steed represented in episode 1?

How was Mrs Peel represented in episode 1?

What would you be looking out for?
-Gender inequality and changing role in women.
-Fashion and design.
-Class structure.
-Changing view on sexuality.
-Representation of different ethnicities.
-Social values in  general.

How was the context of the 1960s show in the different representation used in episode 1?



Friday 10th January 2020

1960s revision

LO: research the 1960s (UK) in terms of social, historic and political climate of the decade: Research the TV show 'The Avengers'

• 1940s-50s, people didn't have anything and were all conservative.
• End of 50s most people were financially stable and starting to save up.
• New labour government.
• Younger generation had money and jobs.
• Vietnam war in the US affected the UK, cold war was a race to see who could develop a nuclear weapon first.
• Sexuality, music, fashion and art were a sign of the changing times.
• Women had more rights, but it was a patriarchal society dominated by men.
• Older generation were conservative., the younger generation were free thinking and liberal.
• Steed from avengers, represents the older generation in the mid 60s. Mrs peel represented the younger generation.
• Dominance of the older generation were stronger.
• All of the music, art and fashion were all about rebellion and going against the older generation.
• Illegal drugs were a big part of the culture; including marijuana, LSD and acid.
• The contraceptive pill was a massive development that changed women's lives.
• People protested for civil rights, sexism and peace.

How could the following areas be seen in the avengers episode?

• Gender equality changing.

- When Mrs Peel and Steed are fencing in the living room and he falls into as she 'dominates' him.

• Patriarchal society.

-When the camera angles in the clips are making Mr Steed look bigger than he actually is, and as though he's much tougher than Mrs Peel.

• Youth movement in fashion, art and music.

• Changing attitudes to sexuality.
• Fear of the cold war.
• Civil rights.
• Traditional British traditions.

Friday 17th January 2020

The Avengers: The Town of No Return

LO: To explore the narrative, characters and context of series 4, episode 1.

Notes:

• Seaside with a fisherman (stereotypical).
• Opening scene filmed on location, with lots of equipment with more money meaning higher production value.
• Mrs Peel and her apartment show the more modern side of the 60s. They reflect the new movements of art and design.
• Mr steed represents a stereotypical male, representing the patriarchal society as a dominant figure, with the way the camera angles.
• Mrs peel represents younger generation.
• Mr steed represents the older generation.
• Mrs peel represented as clever for writing an article on science.
• Mr Steed sexualising Mrs peel.
• Represented as 'partners' but Mr steed has all of the control.
• Stereotypes of britishness with a 'cream tea' on the train and the language of 'afternoon'.
• Stereotypical British pub with darts around a small village.
• Dominant role of Mr steed saying to Mrs peel 'you are having a drink'.
• Small english village with a church, pub and school.
• The blank street was a sign of the war and winning.
• Peels Outfit and how she is tied up relates to relationships and sexuality.

Friday 31st January 2020

Television industries: 2010

LO: To explore the tv industry in 2010s and the effect on tv shows and audiences.

TV Industry & Audiences notes:

• Shifting audience- lack of channel loyalty and identity.
• Need for 'stars' and glossy production values.
• Remakes of old shows (exploit brand) - e.g. poldark.
• Move to tv shows as programme brands for marketing.
• Use of pre-title hooks to entice/keep viewers.
• Catch-up tv.
• Streaming tv.
• Box sets via streaming (sky; iPlayer; Amazon; Netflix)
• External sourcing of product content.
• Serials rather than series - the ongoing narrative to hook viewers.

• Break up of 'family' viewing - the fragmented audience.
• Erosion of channel loyalty - the BBC or ITV viewer.
• Channel surfing - seeking the 'eye-catching'
• Audience as scheduled creators.
• 24/7 media - issues of saturation.
• Demand for content.
• Demand for quality - stars; production values.
• Binge viewing.
• Impact of meme TV shows - Breaking Bad; Game of Thrones.
• Search for latest 'on trend' shows to share on social media.
• TV shows as brands.

Cuffs trailer:

• What elements did the producers choose to include and why?

- The producers used a clip of Brothel to make the trailer appeal to the target audience. They also included a clip of the policeman searching for drugs, which could appeal to the target audience as it is a modern aspect.

• how have they represented police life?

- In the trailer, life as a police man comes across as hectic. This is shown when the public hit the policeman in the chin, and the younger policeman was being controlled by a woman out in public. These scenes are included to show how the policemen are treated by the public.

• how have they represented personal dramas?

- They represented relationships

• How have they used Media Language (editing, sound, MES, camerawork) to make it appeal to the target audience.

- The producers used mise-en-scene to capture the audiences attention by provoking body language. The use of background music is used when danger approaches the characters.

Cuffs notes:

• Part of a winter schedule for 2015: aired October 2015.
• Typically, a time aimed at wider family audiences. e.g. Apprentice and Strictly.
• Broadcast 8pm on a weekday. Pre watershed.
• Cuffs targeted a broad family audience of 16-65, similar to that of Casualty and Waterloo Road.
• Offered range of characters and storylines to appeal to as many segments of demographic as possible.
• Format/appeal: Fits modern post 2010 populist series format - everyday relatable storylines with a consistent set of troubled characters with different issues.

Passive V Active audiences:

• Explain the difference and give examples.

- A passive audience is when someone can sit watch whatever, whereas an active audience is someone that has preferences of what they want to watch.

• Explain how the audiences for the Avengers and Cuffs would have been very different and why.

- Audiences for The Avengers would have been a passive audience as it would have been one of the only sources of entertainment for them at that time, so most people would sit around as a family and watch it. However, the Cuffs audience would have been an active audience, because in 2015 there would have been more platforms for people to ask questions. 

• How did the producers of Cuffs use the following to target a mainstream family audience: Comedy elements, a range of multicultural characters, authentic locations, exciting police procedural scenes?

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