MS4 responses - The aim of a media text is to appeal to a variety of audiences.’ How true is this of your three main texts?

‘The aim of a media text is to appeal to a variety of audiences.’ How true is this of your three main texts?

PLAN - make sure you write this on the answer sheet!

YES
Westworld - map scene hybrid genre
Kyle - dog scene - british, women, working class, MES of dog, conflict, lexis
BPII - Walrus mother - struggle, positioning, direct mode of address
uses and grats
verisimilitude
anthropomorphisation
eduction
hypo needle
cultivation

Argument  - "I shall argue that it is generally absolutely essential for a TV show to appeal to a variety of audiences. However, in some cases a TV show will appeal only to a very specific audience. In both cases, audience appeal is solely included to demonstrate the ideology of the producer and to manipulate the audience"

Definition - "Audience refers to the group of people who are targeted by a producer. Throughout the last century we have learnt that audiences are far more sophisticated than we have given them credit for. Therefore, producers must think carefully about how they appeal to a wide range of audiences in order to produce more income. There are a variety of different ways that a producer can therefore appeal to an audience through a media product."

Context - "In order to argue that media texts appeal to a variety of audiences, I shall discuss The Jeremy Kyle Show (Thursday 15th March), a reality talk show broadcast on ITV, Westworld series one episode one, a sci-fi/western hybrid, and Blue Planet II, episode one, a nature documentary first broadcast on the BBC in 2017.

Westworld  - map scene

• Westworld makes heavy use of genre hybridity in order to simultaneously appeal to it's target audiences. For example , in the map scene occurring early in the first episode:
• CU of Teddy demonstrates the MES of his Western costume, typica; of the western genre
• MES of wooden train is emphasised through the diegetic sound effect of the train's horn
• Slow zoom out panning shot to a completely different setting, a hologram, now connoting the sci-fi seting
• High production values - excellent and extensive use of CGI
• Non-diegetic soundtrack dramatic, and using a Western style piano, however shifts to a bassy, threatening and dramatic version of the song
• Using genre hybridity is an excellent way of appealing to a range of audiences. In particular, the map scene offers it's audiences the gratification of escapism. It depicts an alternate reality where the audience do not need to worry about the issues in their own lives. However, we can argue that distracting the audience from their own issues is a form of hegemonic control from the ruling classes.

Jeremy Kyle - Dog scene 

• Jeremy Kyle, in stark contrast to Westworld appeals to it's audience through it's low production values, the use of audience reaction shots and the heightened sense of verisimilitude that this provides.
• MES of lack of teeth connotes poverty and bad hygiene
• Editing technique - reaction shots, manipulates the audience in to a specific reaction, also positioned, dominant ideology, anchorage
• Ideological manipulation of the audience
• Through these techniques, the Producers of The Jeremy Kyle Show uses more explicit and manipulative ways to appeal to a very specific audience. Time and time again, the producer presents a dominant reading that the poor are unpleasant and supposed to be laughed at.

All suggestions made by students from R block A2 media. Thanks all!

MS4 responses - How important are characters to the narrative of your three main texts? Some quick notes

How important are characters to the narrative of your three main texts?

Textual analysis - the 'broken window' scene

• MES of the broken glass...
• Lexis - "I'll sort it mum"...
• MS - mother sitting on sofa, crying (performance)...
• Low key, natural lighting...
• Costume - simple, oversized and filthy tracksuit
• Gesture - Swifty sweeping up

Remember to use a range of different words to essentially say the same thing; that the textual elements were applied by the producer to mean something...

• Connotes...
• Emphasises...
• Means...
• Symbolises...
• Suggests that...
• Demonstrates...

Propp's character types - Arbor, the hero
Binary opposition - kindness and spite

"The use of Arbor's lexis, specifically the line "I'll sort it mum" demonstrates the binary opposition between Arbor and his mother. While the mother is shown in a mid shot, crying and slouched on the sofa, Arbor on the other hand is sweeping the floor with his friend Swifty. This emphasises that Arbor and Swifty are headstrong and mature. This demonstrates how essential characters are to the narrative of The Selfish Giant. While the plot of The Selfish Giant is straightforward, the narrative is told through the characters instead."

All responses and suggestions were provided by students. Thanks!

Own choice - British artist

Background information – releases, sales, history, label(s), awards, fan base, collaborations,
Marketing – videos, social media, image and ‘look’, costumes, radio play, advertising, genre
Regulation – (this will vary wildly based on the artist) – radio edits, copyright, royalties, piracy, controversy
Global appeal – global success, countries/areas most popular in, global accessibility of music, global accessibility of themes
Audience – Appeal, target audience, uses and gratifications, reception theory (PNO)

How to be sophisticated

Knowing what utensil to use for each course is an excellent example
 of sophistication in the real world, but how can you write a sophisticated essay? 

To be 'sophisticated' is to walk, talk, dress and act in a way that demonstrates how much you know about the world. You will know what wine goes with which meal, you will understand the difference between impressionist and expressionist art, and you will know exactly what to wear at a formal gathering. So it's a little strange that the mark scheme for MS4 uses this term so much.

In the context of the exam, sophistication is knowing exactly what you want to say, and phrasing it in the clearest way possible.  However, if you want to get an 'A' grade in the final exam, here's how you can do it.

The 'A' grade criteria for the MS4 pretty much reads like this:

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

• Sophisticated media language
• Sophisticated understanding of media products
• Detailed and relevant examples
• Coherent and well established point of view

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

• Analysis of relationship between text, industry and audience
• Sophisticated meanings and responses

This is basically the same things you need to do to get a B grade or a C grade. But now you must also be 'sophisticated' and 'coherent'. What you are saying must clearly demonstrate your knowledge, and it must make perfect sense as well. So how can you demonstrate sophistication in an exam? You must use sophisticated language.

SOPHISTICATED MEDIA LANGUAGE

Here are a few terms that potentially indicate sophistication. You will notice that these are all terms we have used throughout the media course. We are going to try and apply them to a key scene.

• IDEOLOGY - the beliefs and values of the producer of the text
• HEGEMONY - the norms and values of society, which are enforced through consent . Reinforced through media products.
• ENCODING and DECODING - Refers to how the producer of the text 'puts in' (encodes) an ideology in to a text, using MEDIA LANGUAGE

Let's pick a representation question. Remember, all the past paper questions can be found on the blog.

Explore the different representations of either men or age within your three main texts.

Given the texts we have looked at, let's go for 'men'. However, we could certainly look at the representation of 'age' (Youth in The Selfish Giant, older and younger women (Madeline and Lucia) Spectre, and the elderly women in Mad Max 4).

In order to get an 'A', you will definitely need an argument. Here's an example of a clear, straightforward yet sophisticated argument related to the representation of men:

Argument - In my chosen texts, men are represented in a variety of complex ways. In some cases, the representation of men reinforces stereotypical beliefs of patriarchal hegemony, but in some cases, most notably Mad Max: Fury Road, the representation of men intentionally subverts these values. 

And finally, let's pick a scene. Spectre is dominated with images and themes of hegemonic masculinity, so any scene would do, but the very first bit of the train fight scene between Bond and Hinx will be perfect. The following suggestions were all made by students in the revision class.

Text - Spectre - Key scene - the train fight

• Group being represented - Men are represented as being stereotypically hypermasculine and powerful. Additionally, British men are represented as more powerful and sexually desirable than 'foreign' men.
• Technical elements that construct this representation - use of fast paced editing and use of jump cuts creates suspense and confusion 
• Madeline lacks screen time, taking up only a tiny fraction of shots
• MS of Maddy lying on ground, performance closed eyes
• MES of the broken glass has connotations of fragility, emphasising the ideology of the producer, and reinforcing patriarchal hegemony 
• Message encoded about the group. A binary opposition is formed between her and Bond. An action code, reinforcing her status as princess. 
• Hinx - extremely powerful, stereotypically ugly, his size emphasised through the consistent use of comparative mid shots, and the connotations of his bulging, tight suit. This also emphasises his foreign qualities, encoding his status as a villain. This presents the producer's ideology, that foreign men are less desirable than British men.
• Impact on target audience - target audience for this film is white, middle class heterosexual men aged 30 - 50. Consistently men are represented as the dominant gender. For the white heterosexual male target audience, this further reinforces the ideological perspective of a patriarchal hegemonic society. 

SOPHISTICATED PHRASING 

Sophisticated language does not just mean cramming in a load of big words and feeling smug. In series ten of Friends, Chandler and Monica ask Joey to write a reference to show they are suitable to adopt a child. Predictably, this happens:

 Monica: It doesn't make any sense.
Joey: Of course it does. It's smart! I used a thesaurus!
Chandler: On every word?
Joey: Yep.
Monica: All right, what was this sentance, originally?
Joey: Oh. "They're warm, nice people with big hearts."
Chandler: And that became, "They're humid, pre-possessing homosapiens with full-sized aortic pumps?"

The issue here is that Joey has assumed that every word with the same definition can be used interchangeably. This is of course wrong, for reasons we'll skip for now (but if you want to look in to it, check out David Chandler's excellent Semiotics for Beginners and jump down the rabbit hole of language!). However, Joey was right in the sense that certain words hold more power than other words.

Check out this sentence:

Consistently men are represented as the dominant gender. For the white heterosexual male target audience, this further reinforces the ideological perspective of a patriarchal hegemonic society. 

There's nothing actually particularly complicated about this sentence. If you said to a non-media student that men are more powerful than women in Bond films, and the director wants the audience to agree that men are in charge, they would probably think it was pretty obvious. The sophistication here comes through the correct use of key media terminology. Every media student can write a sentence like this. For most of you it's going to require a bit of practice. So make sure you complete a range of past paper questions, and give them to your teacher for feedback!

Verisimilitude and the nature documentary

Nature documentaries are typically referred to as prestige programming. They are expensive, lavishly produced affairs, with high production values and shooting schedules that often run into the years. However, institutions such as the BBC rely on such productions to promote their brand to an international audience, and to demonstrate their ideological mission to create high quality television programmes. 

Nature documentaries, unlike most genres, are beloved by particularly wide demographics, panning both age and social class. This is in part due to the perception that documentaries are in some way more 'real' than other genres. This perception is broadly formed from three assumptions:

• The BBC are an established and trustworthy institution, and therefore what we are seeing is 'real'
• A documentary isn't fiction, but a documentation of 'real life'
• A nature documentary in particular lacks any actors, and therefore what we are seeing is 'real'

However, nature documentaries are no more or less real than any other genre. While we may be watching 'real' animals, the images we have seen have been selected from up to thousands of hours of footage. In order to film secretive animals, the camera people have to acclimatise animals to their presence, and may use recording of predators cries in order to get the response that the audience wants to see. Scenes have been assembled using footage from different times to create a compelling narrative. As wild sound is generally unusable, the vast majority of sound effects are recorded using studio techniques and added later. Post production techniques such as slow motion and extensive colour grading are applied to manipulate audience responses. A dramatic (or comedic, or melancholy) soundtrack is added to anchor the response of the audience to match the dominant ideology of the producer. And the animal 'actors' are heavily anthropomorphised through the use of an emotive voiceover.

Remember that every shot used in a nature documentary has been
carefully constructed, a fact the even the animals are aware of!

So what we ultimately see is no more or less real than any other TV programme. Nature documentarians have been open about this for years. But audiences are unwilling to accept that what they are watching is essentially an impeccably edited fiction. When this mask slips, audiences get upset.

The term 'realism' doesn't really work in media studies, as no media product is 'real'. The second an edit is made, a programme is commissioned or an actor selected, we are as far away from 'real life' as we could hope to be. So the term we use is not 'realism', which is absolute and objective enough of a term to be largely useless, but verisimilitude. Verisimilitude means 'like the truth' and we as audiences all have different expectations of the verisimilitude of different genres and media. You can read more about verisimilitude and exactly how to write about it here.

Below you will find a series of articles on how nature documentarians and photographers use a range of techniques to construct 'reality'. In your answer, you may wish to argue that this is yet another way of manipulating the audience to accept the dominant ideology of the producer.

The recent scandal surrounding Blue Planet's sister show Human Planet has seen audiences find out that certain scenes were 'faked'. This Guardian article explores how valid this criticism actually is. 

This sort of controversy extends to wildlife photography as well, which lots of shady tricks used to present a more exciting version of reality. 

Prepare to have your dreams shattered and your childhood ruined, as The Huffington Post discusses some common ways in which scenes in nature documentaries are staged. 

This excellent article from The Verge looks at how narrative is constructed in BBC nature documentaries. Highly recommended read. 

And this article on Vox discusses how sad it is that audiences even need to have a narrative to spice up what is already exceptional and fascinating footage of animals.