Les Revenants: considering genre

Starting with the conclusion: Les Revenants is atypical

In this absolutely bizarre scene, Claire is absolutely terrified by her long dead daughter Camille seemingly returning from the grave. However, Camille to have no idea what has happened. This engrossing scene captures the appeal of Les Revenants, an arguably fascinating show that expertly blends expectations of genre with a highly confusing and involving family drama

By now you will have watched the first episode of the French TV thriller/horror/zombie/drama/tragic romance/surreal/whatever show Les Revenants (AKA The Returned). Les Revs is very very different from the other TV show we have studied (which is either Humans if you are taking the exam in 2023 or Black Mirror if you are taking the exam in 2024 and beyond. In fact, we can take a second right now to present a specific and straightforward argument that you will use in the final exam:

Les Revenants is highly atypical

or

Les Revenants is particularly subversive

or

Les Revenants is extremely unconventional

So if you found Les Revenants difficult, impenetrable, weird, confusing, subversive or just plain odd, then good! Your argument will be that this show clearly does things different. How and why are the questions we need to answer here.

Les Revenants is extremely unconventional in terms of generic conventions 

Most of the things we have looked at so far, with the exception of Adbusters have been extremely conventional in terms of genre. However, it is clear the Les Revenants is very unconventional in terms of genre. It doesn't really fit clearly in to one genre. 

Task 1: generic conventions

Below are a number of genres and subgenres that Les Revs could fit in to. This is all highly debatable. For each of these, make a list of conventional elements and unconventional elements. These should all be related to the textual analysis toolkit, for example shot types, camera angles and so on. Please use the episode itself as guidance for this task.

Genre: Horror

Subgenres: psychological horror, zombie, supernatural horror, folk horror

Genre: Drama

Subgenres: thriller, psychological thriller, soap opera, romantic tragedy, paranormal romance

Examples:

Psychological horror: themes of madness and confusion are encoded through the use of long takes, and through the isolated and nightmarish setting. Further examples include...

Psychological thriller: The use of over the top performances, particularly in the scene when Lena is reunited with Camille emphasise the intense psychological trauma experienced by the main characters. This is further anchored through...

Les Revenant is extremely unconventional in terms of narrative

Task 2 - what narrative techniques does Les Revenants utilise

Consider the following narrative techniques, and explain to what extent Les Revenants uses these elements. Remember to check the glossary (or just google) if there's anything you need a refresher on!

• Todorovian equilibrium
• Multi-strand/flexi-narratives
• Character arcs

Les Revenants is unconventional with it's cinematography

Let's tie together the elements of cinematography and narrative with editing. 

Task 3 - watch the scene where Camille comes home

This is the scene where Camille returns to the Seurat family household and meets with her mum. A very alienating, confusing, and potentially satisfying scene is played out, making full use of a variety of different elements of media language. But what does it mean? Why is Claire freaking out? Why is Camille so chilled? And how can we make sense of this scene?

Task 4 - watch this video 

And make notes on how the 'Camille comes home' scene creates meaning for the target audience.... whoever that may be! 

Political ideology

Introduction: lets make this political

Ideology refers to the beliefs and values of the producer of a media product. But it also refers to our own beliefs and values.

Politics refers to how power is distributed. When we say 'politics', we tend to think of government, politicians, and world leaders like Emanuel Macron, Joe Biden and Liz Truss I mean Rishi Sunak.

For some people, EVERYTHING is political, as everything is about power and its exchange. For example public transport is political, as it reflects a decision as to how easily certain people can and cannot move freely. Videogames are political, as they reflect certain ideologies about sex and violence, and this can be reflected in society. When we think like this, the world becomes very complicated, and even scary.

For other people, NOTHING should be political. Games should just be games, books should just be books, and things like gender and race should be less important. You might have heard the phrase: "let's not make this political". When we think like this, the world becomes very straightforward.

For media studies, we are more likely to assume that everything is political. This is because, at it's heart, media studies is the study of power, who has this power, and how it gets distributed. One aspect of media studies that is unarguably political, however, are newspapers, which always demonstrate a political ideology, and therefore always demonstrate a political bias.

Bias - to favour one perspective, opinion

Types of bias

Bias through selection - where a particular story, image or source is used to reinforce a certain ideology

Bias through omission - where a particular story, image or source is NOT used, to reinforce a certain ideology

This handy guide represents the political ideologies of many of the major UK newspapers. Of course, this is completely up to interpretation, but generally I think it's spot on! Image via Nathan Gamester

Researching the difference between left and right wing politics

You may have heard these terms before, but what do they actually mean? Well, you are going to use the internet to find out!

Task 1: make two headings: right wing and left wing, and make notes about what these could mean underneath them.

BUT: this task is filled with difficulty. Why? Because every media product, and every person is biased. Yes, this includes me. It is absolutely impossible to avoid bias. So please, look at several sources when completing your research. 

By way if example, here's how my father in law explained right and left wing policy to his children when they were young:

"If you worked really hard for your money, would you just give it to someone who hadn't worked at all for it? Let's say you were on a desert island. You work really hard to make a hut and a running water supply. You grow crops and make a toilet. But this other guy lazes around and does nothing. Should he get to use your hut? No. That's why I'm right wing"

This is a pretty unhelpful analogy, even if it is very simple. It is extremely specific and is related to an imagined society of two people rather than 70 million. But most of all, it is deliberately emotive, and is designed to accept one answer. "Yes, I would let the bad man live in my hut" is clearly the wrong answer. In general, simple analogies like this tell us absolutely nothing about our world. A similar example might be "Rishi Sunak is literally Hitler". This is also simple, straightforward, emotive, and means that if you argue against it, you are probably a Nazi.

This type of argument is called a 'persuasive definition'. You cannot disagree with it without looking like a fool. It's a terrible way to make an argument, as it is made to deliberately wind up the recipient

However, newspapers use biased and emotive ideological perspectives like this all the time

Bias in action 1

The above page was published on the night of a general election between Teresa May's conservative government and Jeremy Corbyn's labour government. It is probably the most open and extreme example of political bias ever seen in a UK newspaper. 

Task 2 - use the textual analysis toolkit to answer the below questions

• What techniques are used to construct representations in this front page?
• How does the front page utilise both bias through selection and bias through omission? How do you know?
• How does this newspaper use 'persuasive definitions'? What are you if you disagree with the ideology of the newspaper?
• Why is this newspaper being so blatant with it's ideology? What is it trying to achieve? AND WHY?

Bias in action 2

You're probably really familiar with the above image. If you are sitting the exam in 2024 and beyond, you will be expected to make reference to this front page!

So, exactly the same:

Task 3 - use the textual analysis toolkit to answer the below questions

• What techniques are used to construct representations in this front page?
• How does the front page utilise both bias through selection and bias through omission? How do you know?
• How does this newspaper use 'persuasive definitions'? What are you if you disagree with the ideology of the newspaper?
• Why is this newspaper being so blatant with it's ideology? What is it trying to achieve? AND WHY?

What is your own ideology?

You might have a clear idea of your ideology. You might not. You might not care. But ideology, and politics influences every aspect of your life, weather you chose to think about it or not. 

I Stand With is a comprehensive online tool that lets you answer a number of questions, and then will tell you which UK political party best suits your ideology, based on their own manifestos (which are essentially a list of promises that parties make if they are to get voted in. Whether or not they actually do these things is another story!)

There are some difficult questions on here, and you can click to get more information. Remember, that every definition is potentially biased, and even something like I Stand With, which broadly seems legit, is swimming with bias. But it's a good starting point.

Task 4 - what political ideology are you? Take this quiz to find out!

Click here to take the quiz

First year mock exam feedback tasks

 You have recently completed a mock exam. And, if you are reading this post, you will have probably been emailed a mysterious set of letters, numbers and colours. This is your mock exam grade, marks, and feedback. Please follow the following steps to get the most out of this.

1 - Check your email

Hopefully you've been emailed your results. If not, it's either because you haven't done the mock exam (in which case do it now! You can find the questions in the link below...) or I don't have your blog URL, in which case please email me and I can check it out as soon as possible.

In this email you'll find the stat block. If you just want your grade, it's the letter (followed by a number). But there's more information too!

2 - Click here and read this entire post

You'll need to click here and read this entire post. I don't want to sound snippy, but about 95% of your questions are answered in this post. So please read it.

3 - Answer the following question

After you have fully read the post linked above (again, if you didn't, it's important! Click here!), you should answer the following questions as a blog post:

a) What grade did you get? Is this the grade you were expecting? Why did you get this grade?

b) What feedback numeral (i, ii, iii) did you get? What does this mean? What does your teacher think you should work on next time? Do you agree? (It's OK to disagree!)

c) Looking at the marks, what questions did you do well on? What do you need to improve on?

d) The number one reason why students got lower grades is that they missed out a question. This wrecks your overall grade. What can you do next time to address this?

4 - Apply what you have learned to this task

Click here.  Click the front page of the Daily Mirror (Zero Shame). Save it, and insert it in to your blog post. Then, plan a response to the following question:

In what ways does the 'Zero Shame' Daily Mirror front page use media language to communicate meaning to it's target audiences? You should make reference to:

• Codes and conventions
• Layout and design
• Composition
• Images/photographs - camera shot type, angle, focus
• Font size, type of font (e.g. serif/sans serif), colour 
• Mise-en-scène – colour, lighting, location, costume/dress, hair/make-up 
• Graphics, logos etc.
• Language – slogan/tagline and copy 
• Anchorage of images and text [15 marks/30 minutes]

You can either do this question (again, a PLAN rather than an actual full response, so bullet points are fine) as a pair or individually.

5 - Extension

Stick in some headphones, and try and answer the above question under timed conditions using the plan you have just made!

Humans fact file

Here are a few facts about Humans that will make excellent contextual information in the final exam!

• Budget of £12million for the whole of the eight episodes of the first series
• C4s 'highest rated' drama since 1992 (lol)
• Written by Sam Vincent and Jonathon Ratcliffe
• Screened on Channel in the UK, and AMC in America
• American UK co-production. Allows producers to maximise audiences and minimises financial risk
• Cancelled in 2019, four years after starting, due to decline in viewing figures, especially in America 
• Commissioned in America due to the success of British exports such as Dr Who and Black Mirror 
• Laura had given birth six weeks before film 
• A remake of a Swedish show called Real Humans, with many of the same elements, but the sex and violence were significantly toned down for local audiences
• AMC - American Movie Channel. Previously a low-rent basic cable. However, they pivoted to 'serious' prestige TV, including The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Preacher, Mad Men. Humans totally fits in to their ethos of mid-budget prestige TV. A slightly different version of the show was aired in America to correspond to local regulations
• Channel 4. UK commercial TV channel with a reputation for edgy, out-there TV. The Inbetweeners, Broadchurch, Naked Attraction, GBBO, Gogglebox, Big Brother, Hunted, Black Mirror, Top Boy, Brass Eye, Taskmaster
• Aired on Thursdays at 2100. Post watershed, the time when it is accepted that adult shows may be broadcast (self-regulation). Primetime!

Negotiating Humans

The common consensus regarding 'the media' and how audiences are affected through media, is that media 'brainwashes' us. This idea is what we refer to as a passive model of audience interaction. When someone is passive, they go with the flow, and agree with whatever they are shown. However, in media studies, we generally argue that things are a lot more complicated than this. Stuart Hall's reception theory helps us to explore this idea. 

Stuart hall - reception theory

Reception theory refers to the many different ways that audiences can decode, or make sense of a message within a media product.

Every media product has an ideology, message of belief encoded in it by the producer. However, audiences can decode this meaning in many different ways. This process can be referred to as audience negotiation. In other words, a compromise is reached.

There are three broad ways to interpret a media product:

• The preferred reading - where the audience agrees with the ideology of the producer, and decodes the product in the way they 'should do' 
• The oppositional reading - where the audience disagrees with the ideology of the producer
• The negotiated reading -where the audience agree to some extent, but disagree with other elements of the producer's ideologies

Audiences can negotiate a media product in almost infinite ways. This can be mediated through the audience's

• Morals
• Personality 
• Social groups
• Social class (working class, middle class)
• Upbringing 
• Influence of others 
• Body type 
• Age
• Gender identity 
• Sexual preference
• Ethnicity 
• Race
• Religion 
• Level of education

Applying reception theory to the final montage sequence of Humans

The ending montage of humans constructs a highly inviting and highly polysemic mode of address to it's many target audiences, encouraging a range of wildly different negotiations

• East Asian audiences may have a complicated reaction to the character of Anita. these audieces may take exception to Anita's stereotypical representation as an emotionless sex slave, which frankly reinforces racist stereotypes that exist regarding East Asian women. However, Anita is the protagonist, and East Asian audiences may simultaniously take pleasure from seeing an East Asian Brit in the main role, as she increases visibility. 
• Themes of remembering may be both compelling and deeply stressful to older audiences, as it will bring up themes of dementia and aging
• Audiences who have grown in non-traditional household, for example without a mo0ther figure, may find the character Anita as compelling. Additionally, families who are unable to have children may find Anita's desire to have a child compelling and relatable
• Leo has lost Mia/Anita, and is desperate to find her, which calso could be a relatable situation for the audience
• Exclusive representation of heterosexal relationships may of course appeal to heterosexual audiences, but may also alioenbce gay audiences
• Gemma Chan's casting as Anita is clearly becuase she is a hegemonically attractive woman, and many audience memebers, will find her attractive
• The character of Mattie is encoded as hegemonically attractive, and may appeal to teenage audiences in particular. This idea of Mattie being a relatable character is anchored through the MES of her staring into her device in bed, which may connote inteleigence, seriousness, but also ecodes her as a stereotypical teenager. She represents teenage girls, and may appeal to a teenage secondary audience who would not engage with this show otherwise
• The man who visits the brothel is represented as a stereotypical working class man. His appearance is highly stereotypical, being a bald, hegemonically unattractive white man in a tracksuit, all of which reinforce a highly leading and stereotypical representation of working class men. His costume has connotations of blue collar manual work. Working class people may react negatively to this scene, and be angry at the use of stereotyping. However the middle class target audience may simply have their worldview reinforced
• The representation of the scientist is also potentially problematic. He is a stereotypically nerdy east Asian man, who is presented in this context to be as easily identifiable to audiences as possible. East Asian audiences may take offense at this straightforward and lazy stereotype. Even positive stereotypes can be problematic, and arguably even this apparently straightforward scene can be decoded as racist and highly alienating

Postmodern theory and documentary form

The documentary unit has focused on

• The idea of objective truth, and how truth can never be objective 
• Documentary style: micro elements such as shaky-cam, natural/available lighting, reconstructions, archive footage, interviews/talking heads, voiceover/narrator

In many ways, Stories we Tell is a conventional documentary. However, in many other ways, it is completely unconventional, and seeks to do something very different . In short, it breaks rules and conventions!

How does Stories We Tell break conventions and expectations?

• Use of scripted, yet 'personal' speech is completely scripted, which positions the spectator in an emotionally distant mode of address. A binary opposition is therefore formed between emotional relatability and emotional distance, which is highly confusing for the target audience.
• Breaking down of conventional structure of interviewer and interviewee relationship. Rather than simply answering questions, we see Michael reading from a script that he himself wrote!
• A story within a story within a story - mise-en-abyme which is overwhelming complex for the spectator 
• However, despite the savage complexity of the film, it ultimately combines an experimental structure with a cathartic and satisfying narrative conclusion

Breaking the fourth wall: when a character looks directly at the screen, they are looking directly at the spectator. This breaks what we can refer to as diegesis, or the world of the narrative. And it is a clear example of breaking a rule

Applying postmodern theoretical perspectives to Stories We Tell

Postmodernism is a wildly undefined and difficult to apply theoretical perspective that refers broadly to a general feeling as opposed to a well-defined theoretical framework.

Postmodernism as a critical perspective can be 'defined' through the following aspects:

• A general sense of malaise, and a distrust in societal norms and values, including the metanarratives of family, religion, and 'culture' 

Metanarrative - a way of viewing the world

• Self-reflexivity. 'Stories about stories', and an admission that the text is indeed fictional
• Pastiche: the combination of elements from different eras, times, genres, styles and so on in to one product
• A relativistic attitude towards truth, essentially arguing that truth is not absolute
• And, get this, an argument that objective reality simply doesn't exist. Instead, we fixate not on what is real, but a hyperreal simulacrum

Hyperreal - where the representation of something is 'more real' than the thing being represented

Simulacrum - a representation of something that never existed in the first place

Distrust - the Super-8 footage is staged. There is no attempt made at hiding this, which constructs a highly confusing and even alienating mode of address. 

Reflexivity - Michael is being filmed reading from his own book, and essentially reconstructing his own narrative. However, is this an alienating experience, or is it fun and exciting and mysterious for the target audience

Pastiche - Combination of styles and modes. Super 8 footage, the use of montage, talking heads, studio footage, voice recordings, 

Relativism - the idea of what is and what is not true is woven in to the very fabric of this film, and ultimately, it could be argued that what is true is simply not important; what actually matters is the notion of family

Hyperreality - Many characters are hyperreal constructs. Sarah herself is a hyperreal construction of the documentary filmmaker, investigating her own families issues with a sense of power and autonomy that belies conventional limitations

The final scenes: 'The Fly Ending' and 'The Jeff Ending' 

In a bizarre yet satisfying twist, Stories We Tell essentially features two different, contradictory endings, separated by a full twenty seconds of black screen. These can be referred to as 'The Fly Ending' and 'The Jeff Ending' . These final scenes are a perfect example of how Stories We Tell uses a broadly postmodern framework to engage  it's audience, rather than alienate. 

In this sense, we can rightly dismiss the effectiveness of considering Stories We Tell as a postmodern product. In fact, many of the techniques it uses have been so integrated in to documentary film making, it is frankly conventional!

'The Fly Ending' 

As the film reaches its apparent climax, an overwhelmingly beautiful montage of Super-8 footage of the Polley family as children playing in Michael's house is played over a highly leading and emotional voiceover from Michael himself, as he describes the life of a fly. He explains that flies simply exist to mate and then to die, with nothing in-between. This highly poetic use of symbolism could either be read as the validation of the life of a fly (living a life blissfully ignorant of human emotion and sadness), or a bittersweet consideration of the life of a fly, that will never experience the highs and lows of human existence. This poetic and beautiful notion is anchored with Super-8 footage of a fly crashing against Michael's window. The film 'ends' with a profound sense of longing, love, loss and humanity. Audiences will doubtless take pleasure at how the highly poetic cinematography constructs intense and even spiritual emotions.

'The Jeff Ending' 

After a slow fade to black, the screen remains black for a full twenty seconds, apparently communicating to the target audience the conclusion of the narrative. However, the film resumes for a brief coda. Resuming the documentary mode of film making, a mid shot talking head shot of Jeff looking directly at the camera once more plunges the audience back in to the twisting and confusing narrative of the film. Sarah bluntly interrogates Jeff offscreen, who squirms and looks uncomfortable, before he suddenly and unexpectedly announces he once slept with Sarah's mother. The screen cuts to black. This sudden, shocking, 'twist' ending invalidates the beauty and poetry of 'The Fly Ending' and subverts the expectations of the audience. However, it also self-reflexively explores the notion of verisimilitude and the relativistic nature of truth. Does this bombshell invalidate the narrative of the entire film, or does it simply reinforce the idea that documentary truth can never be achieved? 

Conclusion

Stories We Tell uses documentary conventions as well as highly reflexive and stylistically incongruous elements to construct a confusing, distancing, yet ultimately beautiful and inviting narrative to it's middle class target audience. While postmodern techniques are often used to create negative explorations of societal malaise, here it constructs only warm and positive feelings, of a complicated life that was well lived. 

Newspaper set text for students sitting exam in 2024 +

Considering the representation of mass murderers in tabloid newspapers

Exploring the ideological implications of newspaper mastheads

The selection of font is suggestive of a middle class target audience. It is very fancy, and very serif, which has connotations of wealth and luxury. However, it also is heavily connotative of Germanic font, and clearly has significant historical allusions. This reference to established history anchor's the Daily Telegraph's perceived quality and status as an authority. The word 'telegraph' is a highly old fashioned word for communication, which suggests not only the authority and reliability of this established newspaper, it also makes clear the newspaper's traditional and conservative values

Conservative - straight laced, potentially wealthy, privileged, and highly resistant to change

Basic font, basic of colour, suggests a working class target audience. A basic audience? Red has connotations of sexual passion, bold, blood (!?), gossip and excitement. Use of the term 'star' has connotations of celebrity, and this reinforces the gossipy potential of the colour red. The font makes intertextual reference to comic book fonts. The basic, comic book font could suggest the reading age of the target audience is low, which makes this newspaper appealing to less educated working class adult audiences. 

Light blue background has connotations of innocence, fun and positivity. Blue and white are also the colours of the Israeli flag, a country that will be important to many British Jewish people. Simple and straightforward, which suggests a simple and straightforward subject matter. The use of the term 'Jewish' indicates a specific Jewish target audience. However, the sans serif font is bright and inclusive.

Mass media - media that is made available to the widest possible audience. Radio is an excellent example of mass media

A tabloid newspaper - A smaller format newspaper that traditionally has less writing, more images, simple lexis, use of slang, traditionally targets a working class audience. Cheaper.

Simplistic sans serif masthead connotes a simplistic and straightforward read. Sans serif is informal, and may appeal to slightly younger and less educated audiences. Takes an assumption the target audience are less educated. The masthead communicates that it is easily readable even to a less educated audience, which may make the audience feel included and intelligent. Italic font could infer fun, importance or simply make the masthead stand out. Bright, positive, fun connotations of the word 'sun'

Navy blue backdrop infers a more formal mode of address. Serif typeface anchors it's formal nature, and suggests a well respected news source. Dark blue has connotations of royalty and luxury. Potentially slightly younger target audience, and the font also infers a more modern perspective

Broadsheet - Traditionally a larger paper, with less focus on images and a more complex lexis, appeals to a highly educated middle class audience. Much more expensive.

Exploring marketing material for Humans

Humans has a rich and diverse marketing campaign that utilises a number of techniques not commonly associated with traditional marketing. Many of these adverts are diegetically situated, as in they exist in the world of the narrative of the TV show, and advertise (or active make warnings about) 'Synths', the synthetic humans that are pivotal to the narrative of Humans.

Additionally, it could (and should!) be argued the Humans' marketing campaign positions the audience in an augmented reality, one where it insists that diegetic aspects of the show are real. In this sense, it resembles Orson Welles's infamous War Of The Worlds hoax that freaked out a lot of American radio audiences, as well as the use of street maps and phone cameras in Pokémon Go (click here to check out a write-up I did on this 10000000 years ago).

If nothing else, these key words sum up the marketing campaign for Humans was:

Unconventional

Atypical

Controversial

Economically risky

Augmented reality

Diegetically situated 

Task - Using the resources linked below, answer the following questions in a new blog post:

• What is the importance/ significance of new digital technology in marketing?
• How far was the marketing campaign successful in engaging a wide audience and why is this so important in the global age of TV?
• Explain why guerrilla marketing was an effective strategy for Channel 4 to use to promote the first series of Humans
• How does the marketing campaign support Baudrillard’s theory about hyper-reality?
• Write a “Perfect Paragraph” on one of the above question with examples from the marketing campaign

Click here to access an archive of marketing material. Thank you Naamah for compiling this!

Newspaper initial analysis

Barcode  - Used to scan the newspaper when purchasing. It is an optical, machine-readable, representation of data and contains information such as price

Body Text - Also known as copy. Written material that makes up the main part of an article

Byline - The line above the story, which gives the author’s name and sometimes their job and location

Caption - Brief text underneath an image describing the photograph or graphic

Centre Spread - A photograph, often in full colour, that runs across the middle two pages

Classified Ad - An advertisement that uses only text, as opposed to a display ad, which also incorporates graphics

Edition - Some newspapers print several of these every night, these are versions with some changes and maybe additional late stories

Folio - Top label for the whole page. Can relate to the area covered in the paper for example, National or a big news topic such as Social Media, Syria

Gutter - The blank space between margins of facing pages of a publication or the blank space between columns of text 

Headline - A phrase that summarises the main point of the article. Usually in large print and a different style to catch the attention of the reader

Lead Story - Main story, usually a splash

Main Image - Dominant picture, often filling much of the front cover

Masthead - Title of the newspaper displayed on the front page

Page furniture - Everything on a page except pictures or text of stories

Page Numbers - A system of organisation within the magazine. Helps the audience find what they want to read

Pull Quote - Something taken from within an article, usually said by the person in the main image

Skyline - An information panel on the front page that tells the reader about other stories in the paper to tempt them inside

Stand First - Block of text that introduces the story, normally in a different style to the body text and headline

Standalone - Picture story that can exist on its own or on a front page leading to a story inside

Target Audience - People who the newspaper aims to sell to

 

Applying postmodern theory to Humans

Jean Baudrillard – theories surrounding postmodernism

Odi is a hyperreal construct. To George, he is far more real than anything else in his life. But is this in spite of, or because of how irreparably broken he is? Does Odi and George's intense and subversive relationship reflect a breakdown in societal values? Why does George love Odi so much? What is real, and does it matter?

This 'theory' is extremely difficult to define, as it's an 'anti-theory' theory. So things are going to get very complicated very quickly. Luckily, postmodernism as a critical approach is often applied in a loose way, so don't worry too much about how you apply it in your written work. 

Concept one – it is impossible to objectively define what is real. Therefore, there is no such thing as reality

Concept two – we live in an age where there is more and more information, and less and less meaning

Concept three – Since all forms of meaning have collapsed, media products reflect ideologies and messages that have never even existed in the first place

Hyperreality

Hyperreality - where the representation is more real that the thing that is represented 

Baudrillard argued that we are increasingly unable to differentiate between what is real and what is not, but this does not matter, as there is no quantifiable, objective reality

Examples of hyperreality 

• Instagram accounts of famous models, for example Kylie Jenner and Bella Hadid generally feature highly editing, 'perfect' reconstructions of reality, that are far more interesting than how they actually live their lives. Audiences are absolutely aware that Jenner is a hyperreal construct, and is 'fake' or not real... but we don't care! This is because the world is so complicated that we have absolutely no idea what is actually going on anymore, and it is preferable to simply accept the surface value of representations. The fake is BETTER than reality.
• News headlines and reportage of big stories, often reduce difficult situations to more easily digestible examples
• Advertisements: chocolate bars, for example Lindt chocolate sell an exciting sexual lifestyle that goes beyond the simple act of eating chocolate 
• Makeup, clothing, brands, products, all promise to transform us in to something completely different 

What examples of hyperreality are evident in the breakfast scene?

Sophie - "is this a party?"
Joe - "No Soph, this is what breakfast is supposed to be like!"

But what is breakfast 'supposed' to look like? For one thing, the whole family are eating together 

The family are surrounded by a number of different options, including the MES of teapots, a range of cutlery, toast in a toast rack, and little pots of jam and milk. It resembles a breakfast at a hotel rather than a 'real' breakfast at home. When Joe says 'this is what breakfast is supposed to be like', he is making reference to breakfast scenes on TV and in adverts.

The Hawkins family themselves are a stereotypical ,hyperreal and traditional white middle class family. They resemble other stereotypical white middle class groups, such as in Friends, Home Alone, Modern Family, My Family, Outnumbered, and many more examples. They fulfil every hegemonic norm and expectation. Even if you are from a white, middle class, nuclear family, it is frankly very unlikely you live in a similar manner to the Hawkins family. Yet, despite not resembling the vast majority of even white middle class families, they still seem more real through their familiarity. The audience not only suspend their disbelief, but simply accept this contradiction. 

Anita as a hyperreal construct

Anita herself is a hyperreal representation. She is absolutely perfect. What makes her perfect?

• Symmetrical facial features
• Well spoken 
• She is very tall
• Her movements are soft and graceful
• She is emotionless
• She laughs when she is told to 
• She is controllable
• She does what you tell her
• She is subservient 
• She is submissive
• She is conservative
• She doesn't need to eat or drink

But these ideas of 'perfection' are highly problematic! Anita resembles a hyperreal hegemonic approximation not of a real woman, but of a simulacrum of a 1950s British housewife 

The collapse of meaning

Baudrillard argued that we live in a world with more and more information and less and less meaning. This is a concept that has become more apparent since his death. 

The news cycle is engineered to be highly stressful and extremely confusing, with a number of highly contradictory stories. On any given day, themes of nuclear annihilation, economic collapse, and political manipulation are combined with stories about football, celebrity gameshows, and how thin Bela Hadid is. This extremely confusing mode of address instigate feeling of depression, misery, anxiety, resignation and confusion. The news cycle could be argued to be a form of social control. By presenting such a confusing, misleading and highly inflammatory set of contradictory narratives, audiences are simply so confused that they slip in to other media products, and escape in to less stressful situations. The world in which we live in has been structured in such a way that it is impossible to understand. 

The main news headlines from The Mail Online, 16th November 2022. A highly confusing and contradictory mess of information is presented to the audience

How are themes of confusion, anxiety and paranoia encoded in Humans?

• Laura is anxious and paranoid about being replaced as both a mother and a Lover, by Anita, a perfect, fake human. This could symbolise the collapse of the metanarrative of marriage, and traditional values that generally state we should remain with one partner
• Matty has completely lost all motivation, as traditional metanarratives of work and employment have been replaced. Increasingly, even highly skilled jobs can be carried out by robots and artificial intelligence. Traditional jobs, such as security guards, flight attendants, mail people, factory workers, media studies teachers, artists replaced with artificial intelligence
• Many of the human characters have found it hard to adjust to robots just existing. Laura refuses to get one, and inspector Drummond is highly critical of his wife's rehabilitation synth. 
• Laura gets very defensive: it's just a robot, she isn't your friend. "you're just a stupid machine, aren't you?" Constructs a 'them and us' situation
• George is highly critical of the police and the government for interfering with his private life with Odi. The MES of George's DON'T RING/NO VISITORS sign indicates his preference for isolation
• Leo has had his friends and lovers stolen from him, and he is desperately trying to get them back
• Leo is going through a significant identity crisis. He is not human. Or is he? He is half robot, and has essentially been bought back to life through technology. In many ways he should not exist, which adds to the confusing nature of the show
• The use of low key lighting throughout the show encodes a sense of paranoia
• Laura has a significant fear of being replaced by Anita. She is terrified of her role as a mother being replaced by Anita. Previously, she cleaned the house, read stories and cooked for her children. All these aspects have now been taken away from her.
• Themes of the singularity. Matty is absolutely dejected by the idea of the singularity. She has completely given up, because artificial intelligence will take any job that she applies for. Her future is completely uncertain, and frankly pointless

Key scene - breakfast

• While the breakfast scene may seem on the surface to be nothing but comic relief, the escapist hyperreal fantasy it offers presents deeply rooted themes of anxiety, distrust and depression, which are fundamental to the postmodern condition.
• The mid-shot reaction shot of Anita's laughing at Joe's performatively terrible joke anchors and emphasises the creepy and robotic nature of this laugh. This laugh has been digitally looped in post production to further emphasises her robotic nature, and the simple fact that she does not exist. This is further anchored through a montage of mid-shots of the increasingly confused reactions of the Hawkins family, followed by absolute silence, which constructs an awkward and uncomfortable binary opposition.
• Laura is clearly highly irritated by Anita's presence, at one stage shouting "for God's sake, that's already clean, just sit down'. This exasperated outburst is further anchored through the gesture of her hand being held up to her face in resignation 
• Joe's attempt at a joke is clearly an attempt to distract from a toxic situation 
• After referring to Anita as a 'dishwasher', Matty admonishes Toby with the line "because we can't guess why you like her so much , crusty sheets'. Matty realises and is disgusted by Toby's sexual desire for Anita, and by bringing up his masturbation in front of his family, is desperately trying to upset toby. This is symbolic of a collapse of the traditional nuclear family, and deliberately breaches sexual taboos 
  
  

Key scene - the brothel

• The montage of Leo walking down the narrow of the brothel draws attention to the MES of the building itself. The tight corridors function as a hermeneutic code, constructing a powerful sense of mystery and confusion for the target audience
• The gesture of Niska slapping Leo in the face is anchored through the use of a close-up reaction shot of Leo's confused face. This highly contradictory binary opposition further reinforces the themes of anxiety and confusions
• There is a huge contradiction formed between Leo walking in to the brothel, and Leo leaving Niska's room. Walking in to the brothel, Leo is constructed as a stereotypical, patriarchally dominant man. His sharp, dominant delivery of the line "keep walking" reinforces his dominant status as a hegemonically powerful man. However, this quickly unravels as he enter the brothel. A close up of his face as he rings the doorbell symbolises his nervousness, which stands in stark contrast to his earlier confidence. Through the use of POV shots, we as an audience are suddenly positioned as Leo himself. A close up reaction of his facial expression reveals a complicated polysemic mixture of disgust, confusion, paranoia and anxiety. This highly confusing and highly contradictory collection of emotions informs the audience that the world in which we live in is so completely complicated and contradictory that we have no hope of understanding
• The brothel itself is a hyperreal construction of a locations that audiences will be both highly familiar with, yet have no direct experience of. The MES of pink lighting, coupled with the uncomfortable MES of hegemonically attractive women dancing seductively behind glass makes intertextual reference to crime dramas. This contradictory and confusing mode of address positions the audience in a confusing way. 
• MES captured of panning shot of the already established brothel encodes women as a mere commodity, a highly dehumanising, anxiety inducing and emotionally distancing technique. It symbolises that prostitution is accepted or at least tolerated in a postmodern society, which forms a proairetic code, encoding the potential anxiety of the audience as they consider the outcome of sexualising women, which supports the postmodern theory that previously held metanarratives have been destroyed, and the audience must accept a confusing new world.
• "I was meant to feel pain". Niska defines her humanity through her ability to feel pain, and chooses to feel the pain of sexual exploitation even though she technically doesn't have to. This draws attention to uncomfortable and challenging themes surrounding sexualisation and objectification. 
• The character of Niska herself is particularly confusing. She is a cyborg. but she believes/knows that she is a human. She is also a prostitute, as encoded through the MES of her lingerie, and she is a friend, a murderer...

These elements underline and reinforce a powerful critique of the postmodern condition 

Distrust of metanarratives

Metanarrative: a way of understanding the world

• Examples of metanarratives include marriage, the nuclear family, traditional career paths, traditional gender roles, traditional sexuality, religion
• Postmodern theory not only disagree with these, but simply presents that they do not exist anymore. They never even existed in the first place...

Further examples of metanarratives include...

• Parenthood, with clearly defined gender boundaries as to what parents should do
• Sexuality - heteronormativity. Being heterosexual is 'normal', and being gay is tolerated, but generally seen as different, or 'abnormal'
• Capitalism! Getting money is important! You can buy stuff with it! Success in life can clearly be defined through earnings 
• Religion. Live a good life and receive an eternal reward

Simulacra and Simulation

This is the title of perhaps Baudrillard's most famous essay, which was published in a book of the same title. 

A Baudrillardian simulacra is a representation of something that never existed in the first place. It is a representation of a representation of a representation. An excellent example is Anita, who appears as a combination of a stereotypical 1950s housewife, a maid/butler and prostitute. Yet Anita is none of these things. She is not even Anita.

A simulation is a virtual world. Since we have ascertained that nothing is real, we all live in a simulation. Yep. Sorry. This isn’t real.

Negative criticisms of postmodernism 

• Theory is highly inconsistent, and has no sense of continuity
• Theory has no structure, and is completely unsubstantiated
• Self-destructive. How can a theory be 'anti-theory'?
• Postmodernism is arguably a metanarrative. It is a way of thinking about the world. However, it also argues that metanarrative do not exist. This is highly contradictory
• There is no objective accuracy, and we can never make definitive conclusions
• It's extremely confusing and difficult (impossible!) to understand 
• It is not a sustainable way to think about the world. Without some form of positivity, everything will collapse and no one will ever do anything
• Highly destructive, nihilistic, damaging to society
• It is a black hole of theory, it goes nowhere, and it contradicts
• It is extremely unpopular in academic circles 
• It's simply a cool and edgy theory, nothing more
• Postmodernism is yet another passive media theory. It argues that life sucks and we have no power
• Highly deterministic, absolutely lacking in nuance, it doesn't consider individual aspects

Post number 1000

This is the one-thousandth post on the A-level media studies blog! It's almost exactly seven years since this blog was started! These are big numbers!

Thank you so much for all your hard work and contributions. The work of hundreds and hundreds of students have gone in to these posts, all of which are freely accessible to students and teachers everywhere!

I've no idea what picture to include on this post, so here's a boomer meme about proper binmen

Key assessment one 2022: questions, mark scheme, feedback, and indictive content

Introduction

The Waitrose Christmas 2022 advertisement takes an unconventional approach, focussing on the supply chain, and how food reaches us

You've now completed key assessment one, your first mock exam. Well done! 

In A-level media studies, you are given feedback in four different ways:

1 - A fine grade, for example B2. This would indicate a mid or safe B.

2 - A mark. Lots of marks, actually. You'll have to use the mark scheme to work out how you did in each question

3 - A feedback numeral. This will be a Roman numeral, i.e i, ii, iii, iv etc. This will link to one piece of feedback that you will have to address next time

4 - Verbal, 1-1 feedback. This will be given in your upcoming progress audit 

Questions

Section A – Media language (please spend 30 minutes on this section. Your time starts the second the advert is first shown)

Advertising

• The advertisement will be shown twice.

• First viewing: watch the advertisement and make notes.

• You will then have five minutes to start your response.

• Second viewing: watch the advertisement and make final notes.

• Once the second viewing has finished, you should answer Question 1

You can view the advert by clicking here

1 - Explore how media language combines to create meaning in the It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Waitrose advert you have been shown. [15]

Section B – Media industries (please spend 20 minutes on this section)

Film industry

2a) Briefly explain what s meant by an independent film [2]

b) Briefly explain what you understand by horizontal integration [2]

c) Explain two features of independent film production? Refer to I Daniel Blake to support your points [6]

d) Explain how mainstream films are shaped by the means of their production. Refer to Black Panther to support your answer. [10]

Marks and grades

Above is a hypothetical stat block. You will be emailed something VERY similar. From left to right, these are the marks you got for all five of the questions in this exam, the total mark you received, the fine grade you received (in this case a high C), and the feedback you received, in this case a 'i'.

The colours are related to your target minimum grade. This comes from your average GCSE grade. Yellow means you achieved your TMG. Red is below, and green is above. In the example above, this person did pretty well!

Feedback

i - You must include more media language. Shot types, camera angles, mise-en-scene, lexis, colour, setting, whatever, if you're not using these words, you're not getting marks!

ii - You must focus on analysis and suggesting meanings. What do the de-saturated colours mean? How does the lexis target a working class audience? Don't describe... analyse!

iii - Focus on theory. You don't use enough. You should use more. Make sure to properly revise at least three theories for the next mock!

iv - Focus on presenting a clear argument or point of view. You've ticked every other box, so what do you think? Get argumentative! Get angry! And make a big conclusion!

v - Avoid colloquialisms and find your academic tone. Check out the detailed feedback below for more information on this. This one will take time: there's no quick fix!

Grade boundaries 

This assessment didn't have a lot of questions, so the grade boundaries are really close together! That's life!

A* - 81% - 29/35

A - 71% - 25/35

B - 61% - 21/35

C - 52% - 19/35

D - 43% - 16/35

E - 35% - 13/35

U - 0 - 12/35

Indicative content

This will be added to as your teacher marks your papers...

1)

2c)

2d)

Mark scheme

1 - Explore how media language combines to create meaning in the It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Waitrose advert you have been shown. [15]

Apply knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media to analyse media products

5/A

13-15 marks

• Excellent, consistent, and accurate application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to analyse the advertisement

• Analysis of the advertisement is perceptive, detailed and is likely to be informed by relevant theories

4/B

10-12 marks

• Good, accurate application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to analyse the advertisement

• Analysis of the advertisement is logical and may be informed by relevant theories

3/C

7-9 marks

• Satisfactory, generally accurate application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to analyse the advertisement

• Analysis of the advertisement is reasonable and straightforward

2/D

4-6 marks

• Basic application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to analyse the advertisement, although this is likely to lack clarity, relevance, and accuracy

• Analysis of the advertisement is undeveloped and there may be a tendency to simply describe features of the advertisement

1/E

1-3 marks

• Minimal, if any, application of knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to analyse the advertisement with significant inaccuracies, irrelevance, and a lack of clarity

• Analysis of the advertisement is superficial and generalised

0 marks

• Response not attempted or not worthy of credit

Section B – Media industries (please spend 20 minutes on this section)

Film industry

2a) Briefly explain what s meant by an independent film [2]

Two marks: A film made outside of the commercial mainstream and outside of the financial and artistic control of a large film company. A film which is privately conceived and funded or is made by a smaller film company on a low budget. A reasonably detailed and elucidating example may be included in addition to a satisfactory definition

One mark:  One that is not mainstream, a film that costs less to make, etc

Credit any valid responses

b) Briefly explain what you understand by horizontal integration [2]

Two marks: Where an organisation acquires another organisation at the same level of industry, or at the same level of the supply chain. A reasonably detailed and elucidating example may be included in addition to a satisfactory definition

One mark: when companies work together, when a company buys a similar company or something similar. 

Credit any valid responses

c) Explain two features of independent film production? Refer to I Daniel Blake to support your points [6]

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework

5-6 marks/A/B

• Excellent, detailed, and accurate explanation

3-4 marks/C

• Good, accurate explanation

1 - 2 marks/D/E

• Basic explanation which may be undeveloped or contain some inaccuracy

0 marks/U

• Response not attempted or not worthy of credit

d) Explain how mainstream films are shaped by the means of their production. Refer to Black Panther to support your answer. 

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of contexts of media and their influence on media products and processes

5/A

9-10 marks

• Excellent, detailed, and accurate knowledge and understanding of how production contexts shape mainstream films, with possible reference to relevant theoretical perspectives

• Detailed reference to the set film to support points made

4/B

7-8 marks

• Good, accurate knowledge and understanding of how production contexts shape mainstream films

• Reasonably detailed reference to the set film to support points made

3/C

5-6 marks

• Satisfactory knowledge and understanding of how production contexts shape mainstream films, although this may lack development

• Straightforward reference to the set film to support points made

2/D

3-4 marks

• Basic knowledge of economic contexts, but there is limited, if any, understanding of how production contexts shape mainstream films

• Partial reference to the set film to support points made, but this is undeveloped

1/E

1-2 marks

• Minimal knowledge of economic contexts, but there is very limited, if any, understanding of how production contexts shape mainstream films.

• Very limited or no reference to the set film to support points made

0 marks/U

• No response attempted or no response worthy of credit

Exemplar answers

Teacher exemplar

Section A – Media language

1 - Explore how media language combines to create meaning in the It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Waitrose advert you have been shown. [15]

Media language refers to the combination of elements that constructs meaning for an audience. The Waitrose Christmas Advert uses a complex set of media language in order to construct a complex range of meanings, that predominantly construct a nostalgic mode of address for its middle-class target audiences. Waitrose is a UK supermarket that appeals in particular to middle class shoppers, and UK supermarkets will typically use expensive advertising campaigns to compete with one another directly at Christmas.

One excellent example of how the Waitrose adverts constructs meaning is through it’s inviting and inclusive use of representation A variety of different groups of people are represented in a variety of different ways. In the first half of the advert, a montage of predominantly working-class characters is constructed. Farmers and labourers are represented in a number of frankly stereotypical ways, including through the anchorage of working-class iconography such as tractors, the MES of tan lines on arms, and the depiction of traditionally working-class settings, such as a muddy field. This reinforces the idea that working class people are essential to Waitrose producing it’s food, However, the advert switches in a sharp binary opposition to a stereotypical middle class household. The MES of luxurious golden lighting, as well as the MES of thick cardigans and plentiful food constructs a stereotypical and highly leading representation of a middle-class family. The producer has chosen this family to be represented by mixed race actors, which provides a sense of inclusion for the target audiences and allows it to maximise profit. However, the message is still constructed that Waitrose is targeting affluent, middle-class families with the promise of working class labour.

A highly nostalgic mode of address is constructed through the use of stereotypically Christmas associated MES, that will allow the older, middle class target audiences to remember their own childhood. This is particularly evident in the second half of the advert, which is set in a stereotypical middle-class household. The use of low key, golden lighting is further reinforced through the luxurious MES of stereotypically Christmas food, which constructs a highly comforting and delightful mode of address for the target audience. The house itself is old and traditional, which reinforces an ideological perspective that tradition and conservative values are preferable. This is further anchored through the highly conservative and stereotypical selection of song, ‘It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas by Bing Crosby (I THINK?), which once more reinforces and anchors a nostalgic mode of address. By reinforcing these conservative values, Waitrose communicates to it’s target middle class audience that it is the correct, traditional, and ‘real’ choice to make this Christmas.

Additionally, the advert uses media language to construct a compelling and highly relatable narrative to it’s middle-class audience. This is constructed through the use of mysterious hermeneutic codes in the first half of the advert, which use low key natural lighting, bleak use of setting, and miserable, affecting MES such as mud and rain. This constructs a mysterious, confusing and provocative mode of address to the target audience, which is further anchored through the diametrically opposed, cheerily happy soundtrack. The preferred reading of this advert is doubtless that audiences should be confused, at least for the first half of the advert. However, when we switch to the more traditional setting of the middle-class household, audiences will recognise the genre conventions of the Christmas advert, and will realise that the producer’s ideological perspective is to infer how much graft and effort has gone into the production of it’s good. This compelling narrative will doubtless encourage audiences to engage with the second half of the advert, therefore maximising profit for the conglomerate.

The narrative, of course continues in the second half, with a highly relatable (to middle class people) slice of life story, with a young boy crying because he does not get a sausage. The emotional impact of this scene is emphasised by the use of a mid-shot, which emphasises the emotion of his crying face. This is yet further anchored through his age, and the MES of his soft, fuzzy cardigan, which functions as a symbolic code for innocence and purity. This supposedly delightful scene constructs a highly emotionally manipulative mode of address, made more affecting through the non-diegetic soundtrack being removed at the point of him crying. The narrative is concluded with a girl, presumably the crying boy’s sister cheerfully intoning “don’t worry, you can have mine”. Once more, this delightful scene allows Waitrose to associate it’s own produce with the so-called ‘magic’ of Christmas, and arguably functions as a proairetic code, indicating the exciting and delightful Christmas adventures that should occur should the audience choose to shop at Waitrose.

It is interesting that Waitrose have chosen a straightforward Christmas advert this year, with no hint of animation, big name celebrities or grand, complex narratives. In fact, the montage of the bleak realities of farming in the opening half of the advert reinforces the harsh realities of agricultural work, and symbolises the thankfulness that even well-off, middle-class families should experience when purchasing food. The second half of the advert is also remarkably straightforward. Although the family are mixed race, which could point towards a more modern, inclusive Britain, the MES of the household and the set design is fiercely traditional, and suggests far more conservative, old-fashioned, and traditional values. Once more this will appeal to Waitrose’s more conservative, older, and comparatively wealthy target audience, with an advert that proairetically encodes themes of value over more flashy, expensive, and ‘modern’ Christmas adverts that rival supermarkets tend to release.

Section B – Media industries 

Film industry

2a) Briefly explain what s meant by an independent film [2]

An independent film is a film produced outside of the mainstream, and without the financial backing of major producers, distributors, and conglomerates. An excellent example of an independent film is Primer (2002), which was independently financed, and cost only $8000 to produce.

b) Briefly explain what you understand by horizontal integration [2]

Horizontal integration refers to when an organisation buys out another organisation in the same sector, or at the same level of the production chin. An excellent example of this would by Disney forcibly acquiring Pixar. This invariably happens to minimise risk and to reduce competition.

c) Explain two features of independent film production? Refer to I Daniel Blake to support your points [6]

One essential feature of independent film production is that they will usually be financed by a range of different companies rather than one single financer. This is because even a small film like I, Daniel Blake (IDB) will cost a not insignificant $2million. IDB was funding by a range of organisations, including BBC Films, the BFI, The National Lottery and so on in the UK, and with additional funding from several French interests, including Canal + and related subsidiaries in France. Germany’s Wild Bunch also helped to finance it. This highly collaborative approach to financing is typical of independent film production

A second feature of independent film production is the often less mainstream themes, genre conventions and ideologies that they will evidence. For example, IDB, rather than being shot on sound stages in Los Angeles, like stereotypical Hollywood films, was shot on location in the streets and rundown flats of Newcastle. This led to the film having remarkably low production values. This production context extends to the choice of actors: IDB, like many independent films, uses ‘unknown’ or less successful actors, who perform in a more naturalistic and therefore ‘realistic’ way, which will appeal to the target audience. This reflects the political ideology of the film IDB has been constructed to present a blunt and straightforward political ideolog to it’s audience, in this case criticising the UK government. This criticism extends to the unusual promotion of the film, where the director Ken Loach went of Channel 4 news to argue with conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng about the economic impact of Tory austerity.

Clearly IDB targets a niche audience, and, like many indie films, this is reflected in its production context

d) Explain how mainstream films are shaped by the means of their production. Refer to Black Panther to support your answer. [10]

Mainstream, big budget, blockbuster films are typically highly shaped by the ways in which they are made. Black panther is an excellent example of how a blockbuster film is shaped by the company that makes it. 

One way in which Black Panther is shaped by being produced by a major film producer (Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Disney), is that it has very high production values. This is shown off in the promotional trailer through the use of highly polished CGI, well known and hegemonically attractive actors, huge, expensive special effects and sets, and easily identifiable themes of good vs evil. It is absolutely essential that mainstream, big budget films demonstrate these qualities, in order to minimise risk and to maximise profit for Disney.

Another way in which BP has been shaped by being owned by a major conglomerate is the fact that it was constructed to receive a 12A rating. Film regulation can easily stop a film from maximising profit, and a 15 certificate would stop the younger, teenage target audience from watching this film in the first place. Therefore, while BP is filled with violence and conflict, it is only ever ‘fantasy violence’ which is deemed more acceptable by the BBFC. The BBFC explains how BP does not show excessive injury detail, and that there is only brief use of swearing (for example a middle finger gesture made in jest), which allows the film to achieve a 12A rating and therefore appeal to and be accessed as many audiences as possible.

Another way in which BP has been shaped by it’s ownership by Disney, a vast multinational conglomerate, is it’s highly expensive and expansive promotional campaign. Unlike an independent film such as IDB, a vast number of different marketing techniques have been used to advertise the film, from traditional (cinema trailers, teaser trailers, billboard posters and newspaper adverts and publicity interviews), to modern, digitally convergent methods, for example viral marketing campaigns on social media featuring catchy hashtags, banner adverts on websites and so on. Additionally, a vast range of additional merchandise, including toys, games, statues and clothes allows the vast conglomerate Disney to use its vertically integrated business practices to maximise revenue by using the Black panther branding in a variety of different products. This avenue of marketing would simply not be available to indie film producers.

Finally, Black Panther himself is an established superhero brand, from Marvel, a brand synonymous with superheroes. Audiences will be presold on the character, and Disney will be able to rely on the enormous amount of pre-existing fans coming to the cinema, and subscribing to Disney +, it’s digital streaming service, in order to maximise profit