Exploring BBC Sounds

 In this session, you will be

• Listening to radio shows through the BBC Sounds web portal (www.bbc.co.uk/sounds) or the BBC Sounds App
• Making notes about a variety of topics, but mainly on how the NEEDS of the AUDIENCE are met

The notes you make today can ALL be used in your final Component One exam, as well as any mocks that feature radio. This is an important lesson, as you are digging out EXAMPLES. And examples get you MARKS.

In order to complete these tasks , you will need a BBC Sounds account, so please set one up if you do not have one already.

BBC Radio 4

Using Wikipedia, ChatGTP, or asking someone else in your house, write down some BRIEF information about BBC Radio 4, it's target audience, and what kind of shows it broadcasts.

Then, using BBC Sounds, find four radio programmes broadcast on BBC 4. What kind of shows are they? How to they appeal to their target audience? Who is their target audience? How do they meet the needs of their target audience? And how can audiences use these shows?

The BBC Sounds web portal

Many people, especially younger people will access BBC sounds using either the web portal (basically an old fashioned term for website: a 'portal' to other pages, or the BBC Sounds App, which can (and should) be downloaded for free for your phone. This approach is called convergent media, and it brings together different industries to target new audiences. In this case, it means the combination of internet and radio. [MICHAEL VOICE: WRITE THAT DOWN!]

These questions may seem a little weird, because you'll be briefly analysing a website or an app. However, a significant amount of time and money has been devoted to making these as user friendly and enjoyable to use.

Please answer the following question with screenshots from the site or above, as well as your own bullet point notes

How does BBC Sounds appeal and meet the needs of it's audiences? Make reference to:

• Thumbnails (the preview images that suggest programme content)
• Lexis
• Images
• Font
• Colour
• Hyperlinks (the words or images you click on to access content)
• Engagement (these are techniques that keep you engaged with the website, and stop you from leaving it. Engagement is a very important concept for online media!)
• Accessibility (is this website suitable and easy to use for people of different ages and abilities?)
• Plurality (the ability to appeal and meet the needs of multiple audiences)

How does BBC Sounds meet your needs?

This next task is important, and it's fun. In order to explain how BBC Sounds adopts a pluralistic approach to media production, you are going to find an example of how it meets YOUR needs. You will then refer to this briefly in the exam.

Find a podcast, show, music mix, anything on BBC Sounds that is 'made for you'. Not something you 'sort of' like, something that meets your needs and interests in a specific way. You will need to listen to lots of different things.

Then, make notes on how it appeals to you, and meets your needs.

Using me (Michael) as an example, my perfect show is The New Music Show on BBC Radio 3. It's absolutely crazy! It plays some of the most challenging and experimental music I've heard. It's brilliant, and I can't believe it's played on national radio. Why? Because it meets the need of a very niche audience (experimental music fans). But from a financial perspective, it also encourages me to keep paying the TV licence, as I feel represented.

How does BBC sounds meet someone else's needs?

Final task! Find a podcast you ABSOLUTELY WOULD NEVER LISTEN TO. Listen to it. Sorry. How does this podcast meet the needs of a completely different audience that ISN'T YOU?

A textual analysis of Parks and Recreation

Parks and Recreation season 2 episode 1: 'Pawnee Zoo'

Representation - what groups are represented, how are they represented, and why?

Gay people 

Positively and stereotypically. Confident, loud, and motivated by partying. In The Bulge , a tightly packed group of gay men excitedly chant Leslie's name, which constructs gay men as over enthusiastic, loud, proud and confident. Exclusively gay men. Use of Lady Gaga as a gay icon reinforces stereotypical representations of gay men. However, this episode arguably perpetuates a simplistic and straightforward stereotype of gay men, which can cause issues for gay men in real life, as it constructs an idea, standard, and stereotype. Gay men in this episode are an accessory and a function rather than being a fully fleshed character attribute. The gay best friend stereotype. Thingy is represented as feminine for the purposes of comedy, which also represents stereotypes surrounding gay people

Middle-aged women 

Awkward and cringy. This also reinforces a stereotypical representation of middle aged women. Lacks knowledge on current life, on LGBT+ lifestyles, is clueless, ditzy, scatty, and barely competent.

Young people 

[The homeless] - creepy, stalker-y, but also, really funny. Homelessness is a joke in this narrative. The MES of the pit in his former garden is a ridiculously over the top aspect MES. The serious issue of homelessness is so unrelatable to working class audiences that it is treated as straightforward.

Media language - close textual analysis

Genre - what genre is this show and what are the conventions that make it?

Genre - comedy

Subgenres and styles - situation comedy, mockumentary

Conventions of the mocumentary -  handheld camera, single camera setup, long take, shakeycam, low production values 

This Country, Modern Family, The Office, Brooklyn 99 (borderline!), Trailer Park Boys, Always Sunny

Generic fluidity - how genres change over time. Genres will evolve to appeal to the tastes of the public

Comedy elements - foolish characters for the audience to identify with, fast paced punchy editing, the use of reaction shots, use of song, dance and movement, use of colour constructing a positive atmosphere

Audience - how does this product appeal to multiple audiences?

Uses and gratifications -the ways in which audiences use and take pleasure from a media product

Uses and pleasures of Parks and Rec - themes of the show provide escapism for the target audiences. The characters provide an escapist fantasy, through being relatable. They make mistakes, but then they solve them by the end of the episode. This is in stark opposition to real life, where being threatened with forced resignation and having to go on local news to defend your job would of course be highly stressful and upsetting.

First year: THREE HOURS OF POWER

Rules

1. You can do these questions in ANY ORDER
2. You might do a few in significant detail, or you might complete them all in brief detail
3. There are no 'right answers' to these questions, but you should all use examples from the print edition of these newspapers
4. For each and every heading, you must find EXPLICIT EXAMPLES from the print editions of The Mirror and The Times you have been set. Basically, you could get a question like

(b) Explain how social and cultural circumstances affect audience interpretations of newspaper content. Refer to a print edition of the Daily Mirror to support your points. [10] 

or

a) Explore how newspapers are shaped by the financial implications that surround the producer. Refer to a print edition of the Times to support your points. [12] 

 

You can find the print editions by clicking here.

Questions and study prompts

Bias through selection, bias through omission 

• Outline examples of bias in the two newspapers. 
• How does the selection or omission of stories reflect the ideological perspective of the producer? 
• And why?

Specialised forms of production

• Newspapers are a specialised medium. They do one thing, and they do it differently to every other media product. 
• So find examples of how this newspaper is most definitely a newspaper, and not, for example, a magazine! 
• HINT: check out the layout...

The Mirror is a product of a horizontally integrated organisation

• What are some examples of The Mirror being produced and published by an organisation that essentially just makes loads and loads of newspapers?

The Times is a product of a vertically and horizontally integrated conglomerate 

• Same question again, but The Times is also vertically integrated. 
• Any examples?

Issues with regulation

IPSO specifically STRONGLY SUGGEST that newspapers should not do the following: 

1. intrude in to the private lives of private citizens
2. intrude in to grief
3. cause harm and/or offense through their reporting

what examples can you find which might go against IPSO's guidelines?

Aspects of digital convergence

• If print is dead, no one told the newspaper industry. 
• However, what references to digital media are their in these newspapers? 
• How and why could they get the audience to explore the website, for example?

How does the Mirror appeal to a working class, left leaning audience?

• Remember: left wing BROADLY means collectivistic policies such as higher taxation, a focus on public ownership, the support of a welfare state etc. 
• However, remember that these ideas might be very broadly or vaguely alluded to in the newspaper you are studying!

How does the Times appeal to a middle class, right wing audience?

• Remember: right wing BROADLY means individualistic policies that favour personal freedoms, lower taxation, a focus on private ownership, and less government intervention etc. 
• However, remember that these ideas might be very broadly or vaguely alluded to in the newspaper you are studying!

Ideologies, and how they are encoded and cultivated

• Ideologies are the messages and values of the producer. 
• So what are the beliefs of the newspapers in front of you? 
• And how do you know? 
• Here's a TOP TIP: if in doubt, just guess! This entire subject (and, by extension, life) is all about educated guesses!

Uses and gratifications

How do audiences use or take pleasure form the news stories in front of you? Here are some suggestions:

1. SOCIAL INTERACTION - audience can use the newspaper to make friends 'in real life', for example having a chat at the office (so-called 'watercooler moments'...)
2. INFORMATION - the newspaper tells us things we didn't know about previously. We can then use this information in a variety of circumstances
3. PERSONAL IDENTITY - we identify a viewpoint we already have. For example, you may find right leaning ideologies in the Times, which may reinforce the audience's viewpoints, and make them feel safe. Or angry. This is pretty similar to Gauntlet's theory of identity 
4. SEXUAL GRATIFICATION - we find people attractive. This is a creepier way of saying 'sex sells'
5. SIMILAR LIFESTYLE - We identify with people who are just like us, FR. For example, what working class identities do we see in The Mirror?

Bonus - alternatives to mainstream news

• Clearly, physical print newspapers are not how a lot of people get their news. In fact, you lot get your news in an increasingly digitally convergent hodgepodge of different sources.
• Find and research some 'alternative news' sources. This is really broad, and given that you may be using social media, it can be accomplished on your phone, maybe
• What issues and complications are bought up by using digitally convergent distribution practices to distribute news media?

Example newspaper for 2022 - 2024 cohort - The Daily Mirror and The Times 30/12/22

 The Daily Mirror

The Times

Audience responses to Les Revenants

Cultivation theory - the idea that being repeatedly exposed to an ideological perspective or representation will cultivate or grow an ideological perspective in the audience.

What stereotypical representations does Les Revs perpetuate?

• Stereotypical representations of French women. For example, the representation of Adelle being hegemonically attractive and stylish from  a French perspective.
• Stereotypical representations of teenagers. Obsessed with sex, socialising, and rebelliously defying their parents
• Stereotypical representations of children. Victor is represented as confused, but ultimately creepy, which is a representation of children that is cultivated time and time again in the horror genre. It is uncanny to see a small person doing things that they should not do, for example standing in the garden in the middle of the night, or taking the bus by himself 

Conclusion: the representations in Les Revenants are highly stereotypical to present a simple and straightforward ideology to the target audience. While the narrative may be complicated and confusing, at it's heart, the ideological messages of this shows are very simple indeed!

Stuart Hall - Reception theory - how the audience receive ideology encoded in the media product by the producer

The ideology of the producer isn’t completely clear, and the result is that Les Revs presents a complicated, confusing, yet potentially rewarding set of messages which will polarise audiences.

Preferred - audience agrees with the ideology - the audience would understand that Les Revs is an atypical horror show, and would take pleasure from the horror conventions, and the way the show subverts them. The audience will take pleasure with how confusing the show is, and the use of hermeneutic codes. The show is emotionally involved, and says something about our own lives. The characters are highly relatable and appeal to many target audiences. Audiences will take pleasure in the intellectual combination of sex and death. They will also take pleasure in the symbolic encoding of adolescent problems. The unconventional characters may delight audiences. The show also presents a complex representation of teenagers, who are usually not represented at all in TV shows. the audience agrees with the ideology of the producer. The show has a highly confusing atmosphere, and some audiences may find this compelling. The show is completely constructed from hermeneutic codes, which can be compelling. Additionally the audience should feel highly unnerved by what they are seeing. In order to find this show creepy, the audience must accept the narrative, and must accept the reactions of the characters that something impossible has happened. However, the show focuses on the characters and their personal lives, which infers we are supposed to find the characters relatable. Audiences might also relate to the narrative, and may be able to empathise with certain events, for example, sneaking off to the pub, or the death of a loved one.

Oppositional - the audience disagrees with the ideology - the show is boring, it makes no sense, it is frustrating to watch, and it is smug and pretentious. It’s too slow, and not exciting enough. The characters lack any emotion that makes them relatable. Audiences may find the combination of sex and death disgusting, confusing, and just plain offensive. the audience disagrees with the ideology of the producer. The audience may find the show confusing in an unsatisfactory and distracting way, which means they miss out on the show’s creepy atmosphere. Audiences may not relate to any of the characters in this show. This is especially true of children, and working class audience. Audiences may not find the show unnerving because is subverts genre expectations, which the audience may not understand. Audiences might also be put off by the melodramatic performances, which take them out of the narrative

Negotiated: a combination of agreeing and disagreeing with the producer:

• Intrigued by the mystery but hate all the characters
• Really like the characters but hate the supernatural elements 
• May feel conflicted about certain characters, eg Mr Costa
• May enjoy horror conventions, but absolutely are not scared by the show…

Issues with representation

Argument: Les Revenants is highly progressive in many ways, especially in its representation of age and gender. However, it is also extremely lacking in other regards.

• There is an almost total lack of representation of people of colour. France is an ethnically diverse country. Some parts of France are more diverse than others, however, it is unlikely to find an area which is exclusively white. This is almost certainly an attempt to appeal exclusively to a perceived white and middle class audience. We could argue that this approach is highly short sighted, and means Les Revenants is not only missing an opportunity to present atypical representations of POC, but also to appeal to wider audiences. Almost every character in the show is white, which presents a narrow and straightforward representation of ethnicity. This is an example of something that George Gerbner refers to as ‘symbolic annihilation’ 
• It could also be an attempt to represent an area that is predominantly white. 
• Additionally, the producer was clearly making a horror TV show, and has chosen to deliberately not tackle racial issues
• For every positive representation of women, there is also a highly stereotypical one. Two women are murdered in this first episode, in both cases by men. In the scene with the bartender who is murdered in the underpass, the use of low key lighting constructs a stereotypical and threatening mode of address, that reinforces the ideology that women should not walk home alone at night. The POV shot of the murderer stalking the bartender down the ally is an explicit reference to the slasher genre, and once more reinforces and ideological perspective where women are vulnerable. The hooded jacket of the killer symbolically encodes a world in which powerful men attack women. This reinforces stereotypical and patriarchal hierarchies of power. Finally the setting of the abandoned underpass constructs a stereotypical representation of poor and working class areas. The sexualisation of teenage girls. Lena is hegemonically sexually attractive, and by being represented as overtly sexually available, she reinforces a patriarchal hegemonic stereotype, and appeal to a heterosexual male fantasy.
• The show is targeting and almost universally represents a middle class audience. The show asks the audience to not only identify with the middle class characters, but also assumes a certain level of intelligence and education. It assumes a certain knowledge of French culture, French geography, horror film conventions, and the conventions of art films.
• There are a number of stereotypical representations of gender. For example, Claire is a stereotypical gendered representation of a caring mother. Additionally, two women die in this first episode, in both cases at the hands of a male character!

Considering the marketing campaign for Humans within an economic context

Marketing and advertising 

The following task looks at a pivotal element of Human's advertising campaign, and uses it to answer two different exam questions: one on audience, and one on media industries 

Persona Synthetics commercial: industry and audience approach

How significant are economic factors in the TV industry? Refer to Humans to support your answer.

Knee jerk reaction: Economic factors are essential to the TV industry

Plan

MES

Target audience

Representation

Camera angles

Preferred reading

Narrative

Polysemic

Metanarrative 

Allegory 

Multi-strand narrative

Archetypes

Construction

Intertextual readings 

Editing

Fast paced editing

Montage

Semiotics (roland, codes)

Binary Oppostions 

Gender performativity

Postmodernism 

DAC

Definition, argument, context

• Economic factors refer to the financial implications of making and distribution a TV show. In this essay, I shall argue economic factors are essential to the production and distribution of TV shows, as the purpose of every TV show is to minimise risk and to maximise profit for it's producer. In order to explore this point, I shall refer to Humans, a sci-fi series first broadcast 2015 on Channel 4 in the UK, and AMC in America. This US/UK co-production conveys a variety of different meanings to different audiences, and was a remake of a Swedish TV show. 
• The marketing campaign for Humans was highly atypical and even controversial, breaking many of the so-called rules of advertising. An excellent example of this is the Persona Synthetics TV spot advert, which takes a highly unusual mode of address. 
• In a highly atypical move, the Persona Synthetics trailer choses to advertise the cyborg (or synth) from the TV show, as opposed to the TV show itself. None of the main characters appear at any stage, and there is even no reference to the title of the TV show itself. The advert accomplishes a fascinating feat: it is literally placing the audience in to the world of the Humans narrative, and demonstrating an advert that the Hawkins family is likely to have seen. This advert is an excellent example of the company apparently self-sabotaging. The advert completely lacks any information, such as the name of the TV show, any of the names of the characters, and even what time the show will be broadcast. However, this highly atypical mode of address will actively encourage audiences to engage with this advert, for example looking up the website, searching for the included hashtag. This will ultimately encourage audiences to engage with the product both online and in person, and is an excellent example of viral media. 
• It's mysterious nature functions as a hermeneutic code, creating a powerful sense of mystery for the target audience
• The advert constructs a highly shocking and manipulative mode of address, heavily inferring to the mass audience that synthetic lifeforms actually do exist. It is an example of augmented reality, and actively positions audiences within the world of the narrative. It uses many conventions of the advert, including the casting of a stereotypical family, the use of a stereotypical futuristic household , and the use of an upbeat song in a major key, as well as the link to a website and the on screen graphic 'Regent Street Store Open Soon'. All of these elements combine to construct and augmented reality where robots exist.
• While this trailer does not include footage or characters from the show, it does expertly introduce a range of important themes:
• Artificial intelligence "closer to humans than ever before"
• The obsolescence of humans - synths are represented as being more capable, more safe, more reliable 
• Foreshadowing many controversial and unpleasant themes of the TV show: the montage of the kid coming downstairs/reaction of mother /synth walking kid upstairs is absolutely wonderful 
• Sale of merchandise, for example DVDs etc...
• Middle class science fiction fans are a desirable target audience, and advertisers will potential pay a premium for this
• MES of the nuclear family is anchored through the depiction of a mother, a father, and two children. They are white, and extremely middle class, a fact which which is anchored through the highly middle class setting
• The MES of the clean and extremely modern family household constructs a clear ideology of a middle class family. However, the household does not resemble a 'real' house, but instead functions as a hyperreal simulation. It resembles a house that we may see in an advert or in a high end showroom. This advert is clearly trying to resemble an advert. 
• The Persona Synthetics commercial is an advert for a synth, a synthetic human, or cyborg. However, they clearly do not exist. This is a highly convincing advert for a fictitious product. Other elements which make this a highly conventional product advert include the generically appropriate soundtrack, which features a positive, major key piano motif.  It's convincing nature is further anchored through montage of the synth carrying out a range of stereotypically 'feminine' tasks, such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare. It's conventions are similar to that of a kitchen appliance advert, functioning as a highly complex system of intertextual relay, creating a satisfying mode of address for the target, niche sci fi audience
• This highly convincing advert actually convinced a small minority of audience members that cyborgs do in fact exist. This is partly due to it's highly convincing genre conventions. The trailer ends with a title card/on screen graphic with the Persona Synthetics logo. This diegetically situated element of mise en scene essentially communicates to the target audience that Persona Synthetics is a real corporation, and wonderfully positions the audience not as a potential audience for the TV show Humans, but actually in the world of the narrative. 
• AR - augmented reality. Through it's highly convincing set of generic conventions, the trailer forces the target audience to answer the question: is this real? This proairetically brings up one of the main themes of humans, 'what is reality? What is humanity? And other extremely complicated, and highly postmodern. The advert is deliberately creating a sense of anxiety, confusion, and a nightmarish atmosphere. This is a highly atypical way of selling a new TV show! This indicates that Humans is clearly targeting a niche audience.
• The use of the hashtag hashtag humans functions as an example digitally convergent media, encouraging the niche target audience to engage with the show online before ever actually having seen it
• However, the advert also incorporates a highly problematic proairetic code, foreshadowing the themes of the collapse of the nuclear family.
• While the trailer for Humans radically does not include any traditional trailer conventions, it does include it's own self contained an highly effective narrative. The final montage of shots constructs a highly effective deconstruction of the nuclear family. A low angle mid-shot sees a young boy walking down dark stairs in a position of distress. He directly addresses his parents, However, the mother's expression is one of annoyance. This highly effective montage explores the deconstruction and the problems facing the nuclear in the early 21st century. This raises a range of problematic and highly polysemic issues for the niche target audience, and reinforces the complexity of the show before audiences are even aware that it exists

Demonising the working class for a working class audience

Click here to read the article as it was published in the Mirror's online edition before reading any further

Back to basics: the four types of media question

Industry - how a media product makes money 

Representation - how a group is re-presented by the producer to demonstrate their ideology

Audience - how the audience uses or interacts with a media product

Media language - how shot types, camera angles, MES etc make meaning for the audience

Representation

Which group is being represented in this article?

Working class people, specifically lower working class, the struggling working class. 

Who is the target audience for this article?

The target audience for the Daily Mirror is working class people, and it targets a left wing audience through it's political bias. 

What ideological perspective about this group is being constructed for the target audience? How?

That this family are unlikable, lazy, and bad with money. Therefore, it's their fault that they're poor. This ideological perspective is reinforced through the selection of images and the anchorage of MES

• Setting of a car boot sale is a sterotypically a working class environment, which has connotations of poverty and finacnial desperation
• The mother is wearing a handbag, which may suggest that far from being actually poor, she is spending money on hereself. This reinforces the narrative of the article. 
• Additionally, she is wearing the bag round the front, which functions as a proairetic code, suggesting that she is showing off her wealth 
• However, a polysemic interpretation is that the mother is vulnerable, and that she is taking care and control of her money, looking after it by keeping it in plain sight
• The man is wearing an Adidas tracksuit, which is a potentially expesive tracksuit. Once more the inclusion of this image constructs a representation of a family that have made poor finacial descisions
• The MES of the objects of the table further connote wealth. This includes a sterero, a keyboard, football shoes, and protien powder. However, the fact thayt they are selling these things constructs a narrative where the family have realised that these are not necesities, and must do things to make ends meet
• The family are clean, and are wearing nice clothes
• The Addidas trancksuit suggests stereotypical connotations of a working class lifestyle, involving council houses, being bad with money, and even crime
• Sterotypes are a widely held belief about a certain group of people, and they must be reinforced by being repeated multiple times in multiple situatuins
• The MES of the man's balding head and severe features further reinforces his status as a stereoypical working class person
• The MES of the cigarette in the woman's hand yet again further reinforces a stereotype that the working class are uncultured and bad with moeny
• The families car is small, modest and non-descript, which could be connotative of poverty

This entire article takes a highly voyeuristic mode of address which positions the audience in a judgemental position. 

Regulatory issues

• IPSO are the regulatory organisation for UK newspapers
• The Daily Mirror is owned by Reach PLC, a horizontally integrated distributor of hundreds of UK newspapers 
• However, despite being factually incorrect to a level that legally means that the newspaper has to apologise for it, the story is still being hosted, for financial reasons.

Why does the Daily Mirror encourage hatred of working class people?

• If the working class hate other working class people, does it make them feel better about themselves? Yes potentially! But it also means that working class people are more likely to blame other working class people for their issues. However, it is the ruling class, i.e. the government, the rich and those in power who actually cause widespread societal issues. If working class people are blaming the working class, then they are not blaming the people in power for their issues.

Does the Daily Mirror force the working class to fight against each other rather than facing their own issues? Does it reinforce hegemony?

• Marxist ideology - there are two types of people: the working class, and the ruling class. Everything in our society is based on the domination of the working class by the ruling class. 
• George Gerbner: cultivation theory
• Intertextuality: where one media product makes reference to another media product

Researching Les Revenants

This set of tasks is frankly absolutely essential. But they are all as straightforward as possible, to ensure that you are able to complete them without a teacher present. This means that we can spend the time when I return working on more complicated and knotty issues, such as representation. 

So please take this seriously. This is an easy lesson, but we will not have any time to go over this again!

Please note before you start: while we refer to this show by it's correct, French title of Les Revenants, internationally it was released as 'The Returned'. So, when researching merchandise for this show, try googling 'the returned merchandise' or 'the returned tv show t shirts' or something. You can also search for Les Revenants as well. Go wild!

The Les Revenants EP by Mogwai

Les Revenants: absolute basic facts

Task 1 - please copy the following information in to a new blog post called 'Les Revenants research'

• 26 November 2012 on Canal+
• United Kingdom 9 June 2013 on Channel 4
• 2 series, 8 episodes each
• Based on the French film They Came Back (Les Revenants, dir. Robin Campillo 2004)
• Created by Fabrice Gobert

Music

Stick this on in the background as you complete the next research task 

The soundtrack to Les Revenants is pretty atypical. This is partly because instead of being scored by a conventional composer, or being made up of a selection of music from other artists, it is written be a single band, Mogwai. 

Task 2 - research Mogwai

• Who are Mogwai?
• What kind of music do they make?
• What does this mean? 
• Jot down some facts about them
• Why was this band in particular selected to compose the music for the French TV show Les Revenants?
• What possible advantages does featuring Mogwai in this show have for audiences and the producers of this show?

Trailer 

This trailer is not for the original run of the show in French. Instead, it's for the Australian DVD release of this show. So this trailer gives you a fairly good indication of how this show was marketed to foreign (as in not French) audiences.

Task 3 - Watch and analyse the below trailer

How does this trailer target it's audiences? What techniques does it use? And how does it appeal to potential new audiences?

Merchandise

While Les Revenants is a highly atypical show, it still does have a smattering of merchandise, both official and unofficial that can be found online. This is an excellent example of not only producers minimising risk and maximising profit through vertically integrated business practices (Hesmondhalgh), but it's also an excellent example of audiences interacting with this confusing TV show in completely new ways (Jenkins).

Task 4 - research and screenshot examples of merchandise for The Returned, both official and unofficial

Canal+

Canal+ is the name of the 'channel' that commissioned and funded Les Revs. However, Canal+ is a very different TV channel to something like Channel 4 (which is funded commercially and in part by the licence fee), AMC (an American 'basic cable' channel that is primarily funded through advertising but also increasingly through international franchising of it's often wildly popular TV shows) or even the BBC (a UK conglomerate that is funded primarily through a state mandated licence fee, which makes the BBC 'public access'). Canal+ is a bit different.

Task 5 - Spend five minutes researching Canal+.

They're big! So only include the most straightforward facts. Who are they? How did they start? How much money do they have? What notable shows do they have? How are they funded? Etc!

Regulatory issues

Regulation refers to the rules and restrictions that a media product must face. In the UK, TV is regulated by OFCOM, and DVDs, other physical releases and theatrical releases are regulated by the BBFC.

The principal way in which the BBFC regulate media products is to 

1. Take in to account the context of any sex, violence, swearing, and so on, and 
2. Assess the potential harm and offense caused to the target audience

Task 6 - harm and offense in Les Revenants

• Make a list of everything in Les Revs that might get it shown after 2100 on TV. I'm talking swearing, sex, sexual references, spooky scenes, whatever. Go wild. You may wish to access the episode to help you, and even make screenshots of these scenes and subtitles (!)
• Which scenes in Les Revenants are most likely to cause harm and offense to the target audience? 
• Check out the BBFC page for the episode of Les Revs you watched. Do you agree with this rating? Why?

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

The diegesis of sound in the opening scene of humans

Diegesis - 'in the world of the narrative'

We tend to use the term diegesis to refer to sound, but any element of a media product can be diegetically or non-diegetically situated. 

Examples of diegetically situated elements Iinclude: the character Anita, Leo's wound, the low key lighting of the brothel, the sound of footsteps echoing in the vast warehouse.

Examples of non-diegetic elements include the opening credits, the graphic 'Humans' that appears on screen, and the opening theme tune and incidental music.

How does the diegesis of sound engage audiences and construct meaning in the opening scene of Humans?

The diegesis of sound used in the opening scene of Humans is complicated and highly engaging.

Diegetic sound

• The atmospheric squeaking of wheels 
• The tinny music bleeding from a cheap speaker
• The slow and methodical footsteps
• The loud echoing boom of the door slamming
• These diegetic elements combine to construct a confusing, distanced and enigmatic atmosphere

Non-diegetic sound

• A small, weak, ghostly melody is played as Anita looks up at the moon, reinforcing the highly mysterious mode of address of this scene, and positioning the audience in a strangely relaxed and confusing situation. This is further reinforced through the MES of Anita's nudity, which positions the audience in a vulnerable situation. This highly sophisticated combination of elements engages the audience from the very first scene.

Extradiegetic sound/internal diegetic sound

• A high pitched drone comes from no conceivable source, and is a stereotypical, conventional sound of the science fiction genre. 

Key terms related to the diegesis of sound 

Internal diegetic sound: sound in a character's head, for example the thoughts of a character

Extradiegetic sound: sound that exists between diegesis, for example a voiceover

Subjective sound: sound only a particular character can hear, for example a heartbeat

Pleonastic sound: exaggerated sound 

Considering audience appeal and theatrical posters

Discourse analysis of TV listings (Tuesday 12th October 1993)

These scans were taken from the wonderful Transdiffusion Twitter account (@transdiffusion), who you should totally follow if you're interested in broadcast media archival 

Discourse analysis of UK TV spot advertisements (approx 1993-1994)

 Follow this link to view the adverts

Click to a random bit, and just go nuts.

What messages, values and ideological perspectives do you see REPEATED in these commercials?

Applying Gilroy to American snack food adverts

Paul Gilroy's work and analysis of media products sought to outline the ways in which subtle and not so subtle racism is encoded in media products. Gilroy argues that even long beyond it's colonial period, the UK still is inherently racist in it's discourse, and routinely presents white people as normal and acceptable, and black people as disruptive and different.

Much of Gilroy's most famous work was written in the 1980s, when racism in UK newspapers was barely concealed. This article in The Sun from 1987 casually suggests that black men are a sexual threat, and that the famous poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah should not be a visiting lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, on the basic that he has dreadlocks (and "could do with a good shampoo"). Articles such as this reinforce the ideological perspective that black men are violent, threatening, and above all, different. 

For this activity, students analysed recent junk food adverts screened during the Super Bowl, one of the most watched sporting events in the world, with the most expensive advertising slots in the world. This is an excellent example for advertisers to demonstrate the dominant ideology of the society they are representing, and create an advert that appeals to the biggest, broadest audience possible!

Super bowl Doritos, Lays and Pepsi advert 2022

• In the Doritos, Lays and Pepsi advert, white people are represented as being boring, and 'normal'. A stereotypical white suburban setting is used. Audiences will understand this with being familiar with this stereotype, and it is anchored through the open plan staircase and the simple, straightforward furniture. The MES is neat and tidy, and a bland white colour scheme is used throughout. Their conversation is theatrically bland and boring as they discuss crisps and soft drinks.
• The first black person to enter the advert is represented as being loud, obnoxious, intrusive, chaotic, disruptive... The billowing smoke and and shattered wood resemble the conventions of an action film, which reinforces a representation of black people as being exciting, loud, and obnoxious. 
• After the house is literally demolished by two black visors, the remaining white character tells the audience "I'll tell your mum" which reinforces a stereotype about white people that they are no fun, and respect. However, the binary opposition of this is that the black characters do not respect authority, and are fun and exciting. 
• Another binary opposition is constructed through sound. Black characters are associated with with loud and obnoxious noises, while white characters are constructed through sudden silences. This differences reinforces a perceived difference between quite and black people
• The advert reflects commonly held stereotypes about both white people and black people. However, in doing so, the advert argues that white people are in a position of superiority over disruptive black people. 

Steve Carrel Pepsi advert 2019

• In this advertisement, white people are consistently represented as being boring. This representation is constructed through the lexis, which is consistently formal throughout. This encodes the symbolic connotations that white people themselves are stereotypically formal and even dull. 
• This stereotype is further reinforced through the casting of the waiter. He is physically weak looking, and has an awkward mannerism, which is made clear through how slowly he talks and is further anchored through his confused facial expression.
• The advert is set in a stereotypical American diner, which is made clear through the patriotic colours of red and white. This normal, straightforward and stereotypical setting would be instantly familiar to white working class audiences. 
• However, when BME people enter, the cinematography completely changes. The previously static, formalist shots are replaced with a more fluid and energetic cinematography, where the camera moves and drifts throughout the diner. This exciting change is further anchored through the significant change in costume. Cardi B's elaborate nails and jacket match the red white and blue colour scheme of Pepsi, which reinforces Pepsi as an exciting and interesting branding. 
• The deep, rolling sub bass has symbolic connotations of rebellion and excitement. The volume is excessively loud and over the top, which has connotations of both excitement and also threat. This notion of threat is emphasised through Cardi B's performance, as she assertively bursts through the door, which forms a direct mode pf address with the audience.
• Black people in this advert are represented as being loud, threatening, exciting and extravagant. In doing so, this advert constructs a binary between black and white people, where white people are represented as being 'normal' and relatable, and black people are construct as an other.
• However, black working class audiences may identify with the non-white characters in this advert, and see the white characters as 'other' 

Cheers to P and T block respectively for analysing these adverts! Good job!

Possible arguments for each industry

Humans and audience - Humans primarily targets a niche audience of pre-existing science fiction fans, but it also targets a range of secondary audiences of more general demographics 

• Excellent example: opening shot of ECU of eye is an intertextual reference to Blade Runner, and will appeal to hardcore sci-fi fans
• Another example: the confusing advertising campaign blended fact and fiction, which will appeal to hardcore fans of science fiction

Les Revenants and representation - Les Revenants uses highly atypical representations to confuse and challenge the target audience

• "representation is a reconstruction of reality made by the producer to convey their ideology'
• Possible representations: historical context, gender, location, stereotypes, men, women, children

Magazines, media language - "Woman magazine uses media language in a simple, straightforward sexist way to appeal to a huge target audience, while Adbusters uses media language in an anti-capitalist, atypical and confusing way to manipulate the political ideology of it's niche target audience

• Woman: straightforward and very sexist to reinforce dominant hegemonic patriarchal ideologies
• Adbusters: ant capitalism, radical, criticises commodity fetishism, anti advert, lacks anchorage, polysemy, not for profit

Online media, media industry - Zoella and Attitude are both simple and straightforward products that use every opportunity to minimise risk and maximise profit

• Regulation
• Digital technologies
• Hypermodality

Everything you need to know about the component one exam in 2022

If you are reading this in 2023 or beyond, hold your horses! This information ONLY applies to the May 2022 version of the component 2 exam! Check out elsewhere for information, because this will just confuse you!

General

 

• Your first exam is on Friday morning
• It is called component one
• There are two sections in this exam, section A (media language and representation, UNSEEN), and section B (industry and audience)
• You should spend 90 minutes on section A and 45 minutes on section B
• Each question is on a different aspect of media (media language, representation, industry and audience). You should make sure you are talking about the right thing in the right question. ALWAYS LINK EVERYTHING BACK TO THE QUESTION
• Underline the key terms in each question
• Do a plan for question one and question two (music video and film poster), and put it on your answer paper. You get marks for the plan

 

Section A

 

Question 1

 

• You will be shown a music video you have never seen before, twice.
• This will link to a media language question.
• This question will be 15 marks and you should spend 30 minutes on it
• Good theorists to use here are Roland Barthes and Claude Levi-Strauss

 

Question 2

 

• You will be given a film poster you have never seen before.
• You will be asked to write about it and also the poster to Kiss Of The Vampire.
• You will not be given the Kiss Of The Vampire Poster
• This question will be a representation question, but you will also have to talk about media language (analysis)
• This question will be 30 marks, and you should spend 60 minutes on it
• Good theorists to use here are Liesbet Van Zoonen, Stuart Hall (representation), Gilroy and hooks

 

Top tips

 

• if the exam starts on time, then you should move on to section B no later than 10:30 am (10:50 if you have extra time)
• Don’t worry if you get through section A more quickly than 90 minutes, but don’t spend too little time on it. The examiner is expecting to see a LOT of writing!

 

Section B

 

Question 3

 

• This question is split in to lots of sub questions
• The questions will add up to 25 marks
• It will be on the newspaper industry
• You should spend 25 minutes on the newspaper industry
• The questions will be about industry
• You should spend one minute per mark
• You will be expected to talk about the newspapers we studied during revision (the ‘Nazanin papers’)
• You will also be expected to talk about the websites for both the Mirror and The Times
• A good way to revise for this question is to make flashcards for all the industry terms, to re-read the ‘Nazanin papers’, and to check out the websites for the Mirror and The Times (you can use any stories you want to back up your answers)
• Good theorists to use here are Livingstone and Lunt, Curran and Seaton and Hesmondhalgh

 

Question 4

 

• This question is also split in to sub questions, probably two
• The questions will add up to 20 marks
• You should spend 20 minutes on this question
• This question/s will focus on WaterAid and audience
• A good way to revise this question is to watch the WaterAid advert 10000000 times and make notes on how it appeals to it’s audiences and how audiences can respond to it
• Good theorists to use here are Stuart Hall (reception) and David Gauntlet (identity)
• If you talk about representations here, good! But Always link them back to audience, otherwise you won’t be answering the question

 

Top tips

 

• Be strict with timings in section B
• Don’t worry if you don’t write quite as much. The examiner is expecting to see ten minutes of work for a ten mark question