TV industry contexts: blog tasks

 

Complete the following questions on the BBC and industry contexts:

 

1) What is the BBC's mission statement?

​inform, educate​and ​entertain​.

2)How is the BBC funded?

The BBC's main source of funding is the licence fee, providing roughly £3.7 billion of its current £5 billion annual income. 1 The remainder is generated through other, non-public means.

3) What must the BBC do to meet its public service broadcasting responsibilities? (Look at the five bullet points above)

It must be high-quality, original, new, challenging and widely available.

4) What is regulation and how is the BBC regulated?

Regulation We are regulated by Ofcom. It issues an operational framework and sets a licence which contains the regulatory conditions we are required to meet.

5) How do Doctor Who and His Dark Materials help the BBC to meet the BBC's remit to inform, educate and entertain?

Doctor Who offers its audience an education about space travel.

 

 

Television: His Dark Materials - Audience and Industry

 

Language and close-textual analysis

 

1) Write an analysis of the episode - using notes from the screening in class. Make specific, detailed reference to moments in the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots and movement, editing, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

 

You can currently watch His Dark Materials on BBC iPlayer here.

 

Camerawork, editing and sound: Theme to “His dark materials”, fast camerawork (to refresh memories) 

Close ups of characters to show the power of them. Epic music and exotic locations.

 

Mise-en-scene: exotic locations, fantasy world, industrial machines, city in the sky.

Narrative and genre: Fantasy, adventure, because there were a lot of mystery things (demons, witches…), journey.

You can access our notes from our close-textual analysis in class here - you'll need your Greenford Google login to open this.

 

2) How does His Dark Materials fit the conventions of the fantasy TV genre?

 

In His dark material was a lot of fantastic things: witches, demons (animals which can speak and morf), city in the sky.

 

3) Applying Propp's character theory, what character roles do some of the main characters in His Dark Materials fit into? 

 

Lyra, Will and Pan.

 

4) What enigma and action codes (Barthes) can you find in His Dark Materials? Make specific, detailed reference to the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.)

 

Action code: “The fuse has been lit”. Enigma code:” What is Mrs Coulter trying to do?”

 

5) What examples of binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) can you find in His Dark Materials? How do these create narrative or drama for the audience? You can find reminder notes on all these narrative theories here - just scroll down to narrative. 

 

Binary opposition: good vs evil, young vs old people.

 

Audience

1) Read this audience rating guide for His Dark Materials. Based on the screening and this article, who do you think the target audience is for His Dark Materials and why? What about psychographic groups? You can revise Pyschographics here.

The Family audience is the target audience for “His Dark Materials”.

2) What audience pleasures are offered by His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity: The women and black people can see themself reflected in the show.

Personal Relationships: Fans of His Dark Materials were caring about relationship between Lyra and Will.

Diversion (Escapism): When we see a different world and strange things (witches, demons…). We can escape our world.

 

3) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to His Dark Materials? Refer to specific scenes or moments in the episode to explain your answer. 

I think we can see all of them. When Lyra found out that Will is murderer - VISCERAL PLEASURE. When we saw witches flying - VICARIOUS PLEASURE. When we saw the city in the sky - VOYEURISTIC PLEASURE.  

4) How did fans react to Season 2 of His Dark Materials? What about critic reviews? You can find some possible answers for this in this BBC website article on the critical reception for His Dark Materials and watch the fan reaction video above.

The second series of His Dark Materials has been welcomed by critics, but many have said it is weaker than the first.

5) What might be some of the preferred and oppositional readings for His Dark Materials? Why did some fans love it? Why have other people criticised it? 

 

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

Bad Wolf.

2) What were the UK viewing figures for A City of Magpies? How did this compare to season 1 of His Dark Materials?

The first episode of the first series of His Dark Materials series was watched by audiences of 7.2 million in the UK and 423,000 on HBO. The first broadcasts of the CSP episode had audiences of 4.4 million on BBC1 and 227,000 on HBO.

3) What was the American network HBO's role in making His Dark Materials and why is this important? Look at the notes above for more on this.

His Dark Materials had two hugely respected media giants behind it - and in HBO's case a huge amount of money. HBO has over 40 million subscribers and brings in around $7 BILLION in subscription revenue each year.

4) What famous stars are in His Dark Materials and why do you think they were selected for the show? Watch the Comic Con panel video in the notes above to see the stars talking about the show.

 

5) Who are Bad Wolf and what do they produce?

Bad Wolf is a British television production company founded by Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter in 2015, with its headquarters in Cardiff, Wales.

Comparison: Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child and His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies

1) How are the technical conventions different between 1963 Doctor Who and 2020 His Dark Materials (e.g. camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene)?

 

2) What similarities and differences are there between Doctor Who and His Dark Materials in terms of genre and narrative?

 

3) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?

 

Television: His Dark Materials - Language and Representation

 

Representations

 

1) How are women represented in His Dark Materials? Are gender stereotypes reinforced or subverted? Think about Lyra and Mrs Coulter here.

B 

Many characters in this episode of His Dark Materials subvert stereotypes. Lyra is a strong, independent female character who doesn't need or want help from anyone.

 

2) How are men and masculinity represented in His Dark Materials? Think about Will and Lee Scoresby here.

 

Will subverts male or masculine stereotypes. He is kind, welcoming and wants to help Lyra.Not all characters subvert stereotypes though - Lee Scoresby is in many ways a classic masculine man on a mission to help Lyra.

 

3) How is age (e.g. teenagers; older people) represented in His Dark Materials? Does the show reinforce or challenge stereotypes about young people? Think about Lyra and Will plus the abandoned children they meet. Also think about Mrs Coulter and other adults.

 

Most of the main characters in this series and episode are children and they are shown not to need adults or help from older people. In the “city in the sky” all adults died, which demonstrates they can live without adults.

 

4) How is race and ethnicity represented in His Dark Materials? Are stereotypes reinforced or subverted?

 

Teenagers / adults

 

5) How are politicians, religion and people with power represented? Think about how the Magisterium are shown in this episode.

 

Doctor Who: Audience and Industries blog tasks

1) Who is the target audience for Doctor Who? Has it changed since 1963?

 

 I think the target audience for Doctor Who was male young adults.Yes female audience grew to 22%.

 

2) What audience pleasures are offered by Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity:Teenagers and older people.

Personal Relationships:Comes from being a loyal audience member.

Diversion (Escapism):Futuristic, time travel, space travel. 

Surveillance (Information / Facts):Theory of future, technology, other wurld.

 

3) What additional Uses and Gratifications would this episode provide to a modern 2020 audience?

 

It would be a problem because there are more cultures in the UK.

 

4) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to An Unearthly Child?

 

Vicarious Pleasure – we enjoy seeing lives we wish we could have.  Visceral – we enjoy pleasures that excite us or make us feel.

 

5) What kind of online fan culture does Doctor Who have? Give examples.

 

Adult people. (20 - 35)

 

Industries

 

1) What was the television industry like in 1963? How many channels were there?

 

There were only 2 channels. People didn’t have a big choice, so Doctor Who was a very popular show.

 

2) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the level of technology in the TV industry in 1963?

 

In terms of technology, videotape had only been in use for seven years when An Unearthly Child was made. It allowed the BBC to create the space and time travel effects we can see in the episode which were considered amazing at the time. The low-level of technology shows how the science-fiction genre was relatively new to television at this time.

 

3) Why is Doctor Who such an important franchise for the BBC? 

 

Doctor Who is one of the most iconic franchises that the BBC has.  It has been launched all over the world through BBC Worldwide and generates huge income for the BBC.

 

4) What other programmes/spin-offs are part of the wider Doctor Who franchise?

 

The BBC has maximised the popularity of the Doctor Who franchise by creating a series of spin-offs that build on the same universe or characters as the original show. These include:

1.K9

2.Sarah Jane Adventures

3.Torchwood

4,Class

These spin-offs allow the BBC to target slightly different audiences while still taking advantage of the huge Doctor Who fanbase.

 

 

5) Why does the Doctor Who franchise have so much merchandise available? Give examples. 

 

Because it had a big audience: from kids to adults, boys and girls. Also it’s a family show so parents can buy merchandise for their childrens and for themself. Finally, since the BBC earns no money from Doctor Who airing on TV (since it is not a commercial broadcaster), merchandise represents an important source of income for the BBC.

 

Doctor Who: Language and Representation blog tasks

1) Write a summary of the notes from our in-class analysis of the episode. You can use your own notes from the screening in class and we'll also post a Google document of class notes too (you'll need your GHS Google login). 

 

Camerawork and sound: Slow camera movement, close - ups on each character.

Mise-en-scene: Susan introduced as a typical 1960s teenager.

Narrative and genre: opening title sequence.

2) How can we apply narrative theories to this episode of  Doctor Who? 

 

Todorov's Equilibrium:  Susan and her grandfather are both exiled aliens but then the new equilibrium is that they all land on a alien planet.

Propp's character theory: the hero is Barbara the helper is Ian the heroine is Susan and the doctor is seen as a villain in this episode but generally is an anti-hero. 

Barthes's enigma and action codes: The foggy London at the first scene of the episode which denotes mystery and horror.

Levi-Strauss's binary opposition: 

3) In your opinion, what is the most important scene in the episode and why?

 

I think the most important scene was when they walked into the time machine.  

4) What genre is An Unearthly Child and how can you tell? Make specific reference to aspects of the episode.

 

An Unearthly Child is Science fiction and fantasy, because the characters are aliens. 

 

5) How does An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical contexts of the 1960s?

 

An Unearthly Child reflects social contexts of the 1960's through the relationship between Susan and her teachers this is shown when they offer to tutor Susan at her house. The Historical context is shown through how Susan listens to music through a caste player whereas now we use our mobile devices and the cars in the episode. 

 

Representations

1) What stereotypes of men are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

 

Men being subverted is them being reinforced is that men are in charge this is shown by Ian taking charge and The doctor being male

 

2) What stereotypes of women/girls are reinforced and subverted in Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child? How?

 

Women are overly emotional this is shown at Susan's over reactions and outbursts.

 

3) How do the representations of young people and old people in An Unearthly Child reflect the social and historical context of the 1960s? 

 

The old men was travelling with young girl and it was improper in 1963

 

4) What representations of race/ethnicity can be found in Doctor Who: An Earthly Child? Is this surprising or not? Give reasons for your answer and consider historical / cultural context (the 1960s). Has this changed in more recent series of Doctor Who?

 

The representations of ethnicity in the episode is that white people are the dominate race this is shown by there being a white cast and that there was no there race in the episode.

 

5) How is social class represented in An Unearthly Child? Think about how education and knowledge is presented in the episode.

 

In the episode having a higher intelligence is represented as strange and suspicious this is shown by the teachers suspicion of Susan.The teachers were the middle class because they were dressed well, so they were higher than low class.

 

Television: Introduction to TV drama

1. 1.I think  the main characters in His Dark Materials are the boy and the girl, because they have a lot of screen time in the trailer.

2. 2.A young girl is destined to liberate her world from the grip of the Magisterium which represses people's ties to magic and their animal spirits known as daemon.

3. 3.The trilogy takes place across a multiverse, moving between many parallel worlds. In the trailer I’ve seen: knives, blood, boat, woods, old artefacts, computers, church.

4. 4.TV fantasy drama

5. 5.It aims for young people. Because the fantasy elements include witches and armoured polar bears; the trilogy also alludes to concepts from physics, philosophy, and theology.