Media Revision Wk5

Q1.

-Tag line
-Title
-Cast/crew
-When/how
-Colour palette represents type of film
-Director
-Stars
-Studio logo

Q2.

Title:
The title is very clever; it contains the word "LEGO" while built out of lego bricks. This appeals to the primary target audience as children enjoy playing with lego but simultaneously appeals to the secondary target audience of parents, as they're smart enough to notice this.

Tagline:
The tagline is "The story of a nobody who saved everybody", which is an ideal a family audience can relate to, as most children have aspirations to become heroes and to help others, therefore this appeals to the target audience as children will see themselves as the main character.

Characters:
There is a wide and diverse selection of characters present, all of which fall under at least one stereotype, meaning there is a selection for the audience to choose from and so everyone will like at least one character.

Setting:
The setting is very upbeat and cheery, from the bright blues used in the sky and office buildings, implying that this is an upbeat childrens movie for all the family to enjoy.

Q3.

The main stereotypes within the characters are the protagonist, the antagonist and the side kick. Emmet fits the role of the protagonist, as he has a bright colour palette and seems generally cheery. Lord Business fits the role of the antagonist, as he's much darker in comparison to other character through both his palette and motives. WyldStyle fits the role of the side kick, as she is a strong female character and shown to be much stronger than Emmet. This appeals to the audience as the classic stereotypes are filled, which makes the narrative easier for children to understand.

The Avengers and the 1960s

LO: research the 1960s (UK) in terms of social, historic and political climate of the decade; research the TV show the Avengers

The Swinging 60s

- Childhood was more innocent
- People were poorer
- Bath once a week, couldn't afford hot water
- Kids more respectful towards elders as physical abuse wasn't illegal
- More trusting, no adult supervision

Decade of free love - contraceptive pill was available for single women
1950's contraceptive pill induced birth defects in children
Hippies - Dropouts out of college
Mods and Rockers

Most Famous Bands:
- The Beatles
- The Rolling Stones
- The Who
- Led Zeppelin
- Pink Floyd
- Fleetwood Mac

Famous Sports People:
- Muhammad Ali
- Willie Mays
- Wilt Chamberlain
- Johnny Unitas
- Jim Brown

Political Leaders:
- John F. Kennedy
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Richard Nixon

Main Three Youth Group Fashions:
- Hippies
- Mods
- Rockers

Science/Technology Developments:
- The first video game console
- The first computer mouse
- LEDs
- DRAM
- Electric vacuum cleaner
- Electric floor polisher
- Record players
- Dial-a-disc
- The Mini
- Post Office Tower

- The labour party was in power in 1965, with Harold Wilson as PM.
- According to the media, illegal drugs were a large part of culture, especially hippies with marijuana.
- What scientific development changed womens lives?
- what significant historic events happened?
- what wars were being fought around the world?
- what were people protesting about in the uk?
- how would life have been different in the 60s for women, men and different races compared to now in the uk?

The Avengers

1.  Which institution produced the show?
ITV, ABC America bought into it.

2. Who was the primary and secondary audience?
15+, Female following

3. When did the first episode air.
7th January 1961

4. How many viewers followed the show?
8 Million a week.

5. How many seasons were made?
6

6. What date/year was the last episode aired?
21st May 1969

7. What was the budget for Series 4?
$2,000,000

8. The fourth series was different to the third due to a $2 million deal with ABC. It was shot on film. What did this mean in terms of: locations, production values, editing, camerawork & sound?
Previous series were filmed in studio, so this series was filmed on location with much more expensive props like helicopters and sports cars. Much more sophisticated camerawork and editing as they were shooting on film instead of filming on video, and the budget allowed them to afford a through-composed score for the soundtrack.

9. Who were the stars of Series 4 Episode 1: The Town of No Return? Name the actors, include images and background information on them e.g. age, gender, previous roles.
- Patrick Macnee as John Steed (1922-2015)

- Diana Rigg as Emma Peel (1938)

- Alan McNaughtan as Mark Brandon (1920-2002)

- Terrance Alexander as Piggy Warren (1923-2009)

- Patrick Newell as Jimmy Smallwood (1932-1988)

- Robert Brown as Saul (1921-2003)

- Jeremy Burnham as Vicar, Jonathan Finsbury (1931)

- Juliet Harmer as Jill Manson (1943)


10. ITV was seen as the working class channel, compared the BBC's upperclass. How did The Avengers compare?
It would have appealed to any class; there were upper class actors but the general narrative and content was very gritty and brutal. The Avenger's appeared much more daring a youthful than The Forsyte Saga, a serialisation of a set of novels by Galsworthy, a Nobel prize-winning British author.

Serial TV Drama

LO: to explore the TV drama genre and conventions

What is the difference between a TV Drama and a Soap Opera?

Drama: Contains a series of real life situations which are exaggerated yet relatable, through the use of: themes, settings, issues and narrative. Intended to be more serious than humorous.

What is the difference between a TV Drama and Serial TV Drama?

Serial TV drama is defined as any television drama that is organised into a series of episodes (as opposed to one-off dramas). Typically, a series contains between 3 and 12 episodes. A serial has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials typically follow main story arcs that span an entire season, or even the full run of the series, which distinguishes them from traditional episodic television that relies on more stand-alone episodes.

What sub genres can you divide TV drama into?

Crime drama:
- NCIS
- CSI
- Criminal Minds
- Dexter
- Law and Order
- Hawaii Five-0
- Hannibal

Period drama:
- Rome
- Downton Abbey
- The Crown
- Call the Midwife

Teen drama:
- Stranger Things
- Vampire Diaries
- Teen Wolf
- Glee

Medical drama:
- Greys Anatomy
- ER
- House
- Scrubs

Science-Fiction drama:
- Black Mirror
- Marvel: Agents of S.H.I.E.LD.
- The X-Files
- The Flash

Fantasy drama:
- Lucifer
- Doctor Who
- Supernatural
- Game of Thrones

Political drama:
- House of Cards
- Veep
- Madam Secretary



Serial and Series both contain the same characters each week.
A SERIAL has a narrative that continues from episode to episode
A SERIES contains the same characters throughout, but each episode is a different story. So, you can start watching a series casually from any episode.

Serial dramas are popular with TV broadcasters because they offer a range of appeals:
-Familiar characters/stars - audience
-Familiar locations - audience
-Familiar narrative lines - audience
-Diversion/Entertainment - audience
-Social identity - audience
-Known and specific audience - advertisers

Media Revision Wk4

Q1.
Blumer and Katz (1972)

Diversion/Entertainment - Escape from reality/problems, an emotional release
Personal Relationships - Social utility of information in conversation; substitution of media for companionship
Personal Identity or Individual Psychology - value reinforcement or reassurance; self understanding, reality exploration, use it to identify similar values to themselves and mimic them.
Information/Surveillance - Information which may affect someone or help to accomplish something, acquiring information

Q2.
Entertainment - There are several fantasy elements of the poster, making it clear that this game is not set in real life and differenciates the events that take place in this game from the events in real life, offering a distraction from the real world.
Personal Relationships - Emmet is positioned in the foreground of the poster while looking directly at the audience, making them feel important and involved with the characters and building a trusting relationship.
Personal Identity - There are two very clear sides represented in the cover - good and bad; with good represented by the protagonist Emmet and bad represented by the antagonist Lord Business. The viewer must decide by their own morals whose side they should join.
Information - The poster shows a scene that was not present in the film, implying that this game includes new events and content that offer information for the audience to enjoy.

Television Industries: Ownership

LO: To explore the history of ownership in two key channels.

Public Service Broadcasting
- In the UK the term "public service broadcasting" refers to broadcasting which is intended for the public benefit rather than for purely commercial concerns.
- In the UK, the BBC is the main PSB channel.
- Lord Reith - first Director General of the BBC (1927-1938) said: "TV should not give people what they want but what they ought to have."
- The BBC, funded by the license fee, initially had a monopoly over broadcasting in the UK.

Because they are funded by the public, the BBC have to meet the PSB REMIT in terms of the genre variety, audiences, representation & quality of programmes they produce.
- To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.
- To support learning for people of all ages.
- To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services.
- To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom's nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom.
- To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world.

In January 1927 the BBC was established by Royal Charter as the British Broadcasting Corporation and Sir John Reith became the first Director-General. The Charter defined the BBC'S objectives, powers and obligations. When it returned in the late 1940s the elements of children's TV, news and weather were introduced to schedules. In 1953 the live broadcast of the coronations


There are currently 9 channels:
- BBC One
- BBC Two
- BBC Three
- BBC Four
- CBBC
- CBeebies
- BBC News
- BBC Parliament
- BBC Alba

Their mission is "To enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain."
Their vision is "To be the most creative organisation in the world."
Their values are:

• Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest.
• Audiences are at the heart of everything we do.
• We take pride in delivering quality and value for money.
• Creativity is the lifeblood of our organisation.
• We respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their best.
• We are one BBC: great things happen when we work together.

Their most popular BBC1 programme is Doctor Who.

Their most expensive programme to make is The Crown.

Their other platforms are:

- BBC iPlayer

- BBC Radio

- BBC Online

- BBC Apps

- BBC Podcasts

- Red Button

They primarily generate income through the TV License, but they also sell their programmes to other broadcasting companies.

The advantages of being publicly owned is that they generate more capital and revenue than privately owned companies.

Commercial institutions

These generally have no guaranteed income (even ITV, C4 and C5 which have a small PBS remit) therefore it is essential they are profitable. They can generate income by:

- Subscription e.g. BT Vision, Sky Sports/Movies

- Pay Per View e.g. Sky Box Office

- Sponsorship - many programmes often contain sponsor strings or sometimes "thanks to" messages on credits. Strands of programmes may also carry sponsorship e.g. ITV3 afternoons.

- Advertising - companies pay for advertising slots based on prom ratings. The more potential viewers, the higher 

By the 1950s, many felt the "BBC represented a high-culture snobbery that many leftist associated with an oppressive class structure." There was a "desire for a playful, commercial, anti-citizen address as a counter." This came along in 1955 in the shape of ITV. "We remain focused on out original vision for ITV as an owner, producer and broadcaster of content.

There are currently 9 channels:

- ITV

- ITV2

- ITV3

- ITV4

- ITVBe

- CITV

- ITV Box Office

- ITV HD

- The Store

Their strategy is delivering unrivalled commercial audiences, world class content and global distribution.

Some of the most popular ITV programmes are Coronation Street, Emmerdale, The X Factor and Downton Abbey.

most expensive programme to make
Their other platforms are:
-ITV hub+
-Britbox
-Apps
They generate income through advertising, franchising programmes, premium rate phone lines, reality TV shows, product placement , sponsorship, box sets and online services.
Advantages of being commercially owned means they can get their own money and they don't have to follow regulations.

Duopoly - The era of two competing broadcasters, ITV and the BBC is referred to by many as a "Golden Age" of broadcasting in the UK. The two institutions had full control over the programmes as they produced them in-house.

Pros:
- More effort put into making programmes, higher quality
- Competition leads to better quality as they're constantly trying to improve their shows.
- Full control of all aspects from creation to editing.
- Producer/institution as auteur.
- Production became more of a business as talent was developed and processes improves.

Cons:
- Have to be mainstream, not enough time or space to air niche programmes.
- Ideas subject to the ideologies of those in control/political pressures
- Some argued in competing with ITV the BBC "dumbed-down" some of its content.
- Hard for voices outside the institution to be heard

Television: Industries and Audiences

LO: To search the history. companies and regulators in the Television industry.

Paper 1: Section A
You will be given an unseen extract from a TV drama to watch and analyse.
You will be asked THREE questions about the extract.
You could be asked about:

• How MEDIA LANGUAGE has been used to create meaning
• How the INDUSTRY has influenced the meaning
• The AUDIENCE's reaction to the extract
• The SOCIAL, CULTURAL and HISTORICAL CONTEXT

PUBLICLY OWNED TV CHANNEL: The broadcasting of television programmes via funding from the government.

COMMERCIAL TV CHANNEL: The broadcasting of television programmes by privately owned corporate media.

CONVERGENCE: The integration of services, content offerings and means of communication under one group. It includes cultural, society business, service, technology,  regulatory and content aspects that need tone considered.

WATERSHED: The time when television programmes that might be unsuitable for children can be broadcast.

SEGMENTED MARKET: The process of dividing a market of potential consumers into groups based on different characteristics.

MAINSTREAM: Ideas, attitudes or activities that are shared by most people are regarded as normal and conventional.

SELF-REGULATING: Regulating itself without intervention from external bodies.

FRANCHISE: An authorisation granted by a government or company to an individual or group allowing them to carry out specified commercial activities.

CHANNEL-SURFING: The action or practise of surfing through television channels.

PSB: Programmes produced for the benefit of the public rather than pure commercial information.

TV LICENSE: Legal permission to install or use television receiving equipments to watch or record television programmes as they are being shown on television.

SCHEDULING: The pattern of timing of an advertising.

CONGLOMERATE: A company that owns numerous companies involved in television.

1. When was TV introduced to the UK?

2/11/1936

2. In 1965, how many channels were there in the UK and what were they?

There were three; BBC, BBC 2 and ITV.

3. When did ITV start? Why was it different?

1955, it was different because it was independent. 

4. Which UK channels have to follows PSB remits?

5. Who regulates TV now?

6. Who regulated TV channels in the 1960?

7. List the differences between TV in the 60s and now?