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