+*-Exam question: targeting audiences-*+:

 +*-Exam question: targeting audiences-*+:

What techniques do your chosen texts use to effectively target and maximise their online audiences?

+*-2A Television case study 2: The Bridge Intro genre analysis-*+

 

2A TELEVISION CASE STUDY 2 The Bridge INTRO GENRE ANALYSIS

What is Nordic Noir ?  Summarise its key elements ( themes, settings, characters , mood etc.)  and key texts ( TV and books  )

Nordic Noir, also known as Scandinavian noir, is a genre of crime fiction usually written from a police point of view and set in Scandinavia or Nordic countries.

Themes: Brutal crimes in safe communities, a bleak setting, tortured protagonist, strong plot.

Setting: Bleak e.g. urban city or remote fjord

Examples include: The Bridge, Trapped, Bordertown, Deadwind, The Killing

The girl with the dragon tattoo

Refer to Neale's Genre theory to support your points

Nordic Noir is a subsection of the crime fiction genre that is typically set in bleak urban settings and centres around a tortured protagonist whom is typically a police figure. The themes generally include brutal crimes in otherwise safe communities, and a conventionally crime drama plot. Much as Neale's genre theory suggests, the repetition of themes within the genre means that Nordic Noir is a popular and successful genre of crime fiction. Some examples of Nordic Noir books include The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo alongside tv shows including The Bridge, Trapped and The Killing.

+*-Paper 2 Section A television crime drama Introduction-*+

 

PAPER 2 SECTION A TELEVISION CRIME DRAMA Introduction:

Summarise the key genre. narrative and character genre conventions of crime drama using your own examples and any we watch in class.  Luther is particularly useful  
Focus on the following :

Subgenres   e.g  procedural, gangster, forensic, buddy,  historical   

Hybrid genres  e.g crime/horror , crime/scifi

Narrative e.g recurring themes, situations and events e.g car chases, crime scenes.
                           Narrative resolution and structure: is the crime solved each episode?
                           Are there ongoing enigmas ( mysteries or problems to be resolved )
                            throughout a series as well as in each episode? What are they?

Character codes    e.g the investigator/hero, nemesis/villain, stock characters e.g boss, sidekick
                           What personal qualities or relationships with each other do they often have?   
                           Are they conventional representations of their gender, ethnicity or age? 

Technical codes :  Visual and sound  codes related to genre, especially in key scenes   
e.g  use of lighting and colour, music and sound effects, establishing shots of background setting, 
closeup camera shots, cross-cutting narrative scenes, fast-paced editing in action scenes, 
shot/reverse shot of investigator/nemesis, costume, iconography and props linked to character or narrative. 

+*-Exam Paper 1 Section B-*+

 

+*-EXAM PAPER 1 SECTION B-*+:

PAPER 1 Section B  45 marks ( 45 minutes writing time) Complete all of the following questions and publish on your blog. You can plan and research your answers.   

 3a What is a media conglomerate? ( 2 )

A media conglomerate is a large company that owns other subsidiary media companies. An example of this is the media conglomerate, Disney.

3b  How does ownership shape the content of newspapers? Refer to the Mirror and The Times (8)

Ownership shapes magazines in many ways. For example, the political alignment of the newspaper ownership may influence the viewpoint they share in articles. The Mirror tends to align with left-wing, labour-centred viewpoint; this means that they may share anti-conservative views on current affairs. Similarly, The Times tend to share right-wing viewpoints which may influence the content they produce as they might be politically biased when discussing particular topics such as politics, the economy or education.

Another way in which ownership shapes the content of newspapers is through media concentration. This is the idea that the more people the content is passed through, the less opinionated it becomes. An example of this can be seen in large scale magazines and newspapers that are owned by large companies. The Times is owned by News UK, a huge media conglomerate which means that content produced is run through a far greater amount of people which makes viewpoints more concentrated when finally published.

3c  What has been the impact of recent technologies on all elements of the newspaper industry and how has it responded to these challenges?  Refer to The Mirror and The Times  ( 12)

Since mobile technology has been created, there has been a decline in people's purchases of print newspapers. This is because more people find that news is a lot more accessible via social media instead of the traditional newspaper formats. Responding to these challenges, this has meant that the newspaper industry has had to diversify to protect their readership. The creation of social media and the rise of mobile phones and devices has meant that more individuals can access newspapers on the go, increasing the number of people accessing the content. Furthermore, since mobile devices are easily transportable and easy to access, it means that a larger group of people can access the content during any time of the day which is extremely beneficial to newspaper companies. An example of this can be found in The Times which has converged with different types of media including traditional print and The Times mobile app, allowing individuals to access content on their phones.

Another impact of the media industry is the pliability of individuals in distribution. Social media has become one of the biggest forms of communication in the last decade, meaning that creating awareness of different subjects has become increasingly more easy to do. To keep up with the demand of the social media industry, the newspaper industries have used social media to create brand notability amongst new audiences. The Mirror uses media convergence to use social media users as a cheaper form of distribution. This includes social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Accessing these forms of technology has meant that they can create a conversation amongst their audience which helps to distribute their content.

4a  What is the importance of fandom in media products?  Refer to the Assassins Creed franchise to support your points  ( 8 )

Fandoms have a huge importance in media products. Fandoms create hype surrounding a brand and create a conversation which creates brand notability and influences others to invest their time and money into it. This can be done through posting comments and opinions, creating and sharing fan art, using hashtags etc. An example of this can be made evident in the Assassins Creed Franchise. The Assassins Creed franchise has a well-developed fanbase coming from their multiple game instalments in their franchise. This has meant that past players and fans of the games have been able to distribute the game and build a larger user group.

Another reason that fandoms are important in media products is that they have a huge impact on how a media product is viewed and seen. If fandoms promote a media product positively, they are providing notability to the brand, making it seem for genuine and legitimate. Since creating a genuine fanbase is difficult to commercialise, when a brand can access this group of people, they can tap into a different wider audience, including the people who access reviews and comments of individuals from their fan base and people who view social media posts etc, which helps to make a different community of loyal buyers and supporters.

4b How is the gaming industry regulated or what are the challenges in this particular industry?  (8)

The gaming industry is regulated through PEGI which stands for Pan European Gaming Information. There are 5 ratings to describe the maturity of the game: 3, 7, 12, 16, 18 (with 3 being light themes, lack of graphic violence, more innocent language and 18 being the opposite) Any games 12 or above are not allowed to be rented to anyone below the respective age in order as mandated through UK law.

 

Some challenges of this particular industry include a difference in opinions on the ratings. Whilst PEGI might rate games such as mobile games higher ratings, the app stores they are sold on including Google Play might rate them differently making it harder to regulate the games within this industry. Another challenge might be the impact on younger users. Children and teens are among the majority of users in the gaming industry therefore, some parents may choose to allow their child to play a particular game whilst others may disagree with the rating of a regulator.

5 How important is a historical context to media products? Refer to your Tide advertising case study. (7) 

Historical context has a huge impact on media products. The context surrounding media products is significant as it helps to reach the target audience. An example of this can be seen in the Tide case study. The context surrounding the advert was the role of women in 1960s society. In the 1960s women were seen as homemakers due to the patriarchal society and since their job was seen as doing household duties, Tide's campaign centred around cleaning supplies for that reason. When the context surrounding a product is aimed at a specific group or audience, it usually personalises the product and makes individuals want to purchase the product. Similarly, some historical contexts can provide nostalgia for buyers. The individuals who wish to purchase the product may see an element of remembrance from their childhood and wish to relive these memories which increases product purchases.

+*-Daily Mirror Newspaper Research-*+

Research The Daily Mirror newspaper and answer the following questions. 

 1. Who owns Reach Plc? 

Nicholas Prettejohn (Chairman of the board) Jim Mullen (CEO)

2. What other newspapers do Reach Plc own?

Reach Plc also owns major regional papers the Manchester Evening News, Daily Record and Liverpool Echo.

 3. What ways can audiences access this newspaper?

Through their e-edition app - Accessible on most devices.

Through their website - Online news - Accessible to all.

In print - In shops etc.

4. How much content can you access for free and what type of content is available?

The app and online content are free but the print costs less than £!

The type of content available comes from a tabloid format - Football, news, celebs tv politics, sports etc.

5. Visit the website of some of the other newspapers Reach Plc owns and read some of their articles. What political agenda or bias do they hold?

Daily Record - Left-wing viewpoint - Holds the labour political view.

Liverpool Echo - Left-wing viewpoint - Labour leaning.

Manchester Evening News - Left-wing viewpoint - Politically aligned with the labour party

6. What evidence of this do you have? 

Article from the Courts section of the Daily record - This article had a focus on stories and events that affect minorities and side with them - use of "racist" as opposed to "Accused of racism.

7. Who is the intended readership (audience) for The Daily Mirror. You must consider the demographic profile and the psychographic profile.

C1, C2, D and E classes (Working class) with a focus on people of an older demographic The majority of readers are Strugglers, Mainstreamers and people who are retired.

+*-The times and the mirror-*+

Tabloid or broadsheet     
Explain the differences between these terms and how it links to different audiences.

Tabloid - A tabloid are usually image-led, popular newspapers - commonly have 'red tops' which are the red mastheads and focus on the gossip instead of more dedicated news.

Broadsheet - Quality lead newspaper - More news content than pictures - Cost more to purchase - Offer an in-depth analysis of particular pieces of interest.

 

Ownership : 

The times is owned by News Tv - A corporation. - The mirror is owned by Reach plc -the more individuals it goes through, the more concentrated it gets, the less opinionated it becomes.

Political bias:

To have a deeper understanding of newspaper we must have some knowledge of the British Political System, specifically English political parties. The political allegiance each paper has will impact what and how they report to their target audience.
Left-wing refers to a type of political position where people who hold these views support social equality whilst opposing forms of social hierarchy and inequality. They are assumed to be concerned about the disadvantaged in society, seeking to reduce or abolish any unjustified inequalities.
Someone with right-wing politics would have a political position that views social inequality or social divide as natural, normal, inevitable or even desirable. They will typically defend this political position on the basis of tradition, natural law or economics. Therefore, people with right-wing politics view society having hierarchies and the inequalities that result as being the natural outcome of traditional social differences or the result of competition in market economies.

+*-Statement of Aims-*+

Statement of aims:  
 
 
My magazine will be called, ‘Paradox TV’ and will be a television magazine discussing my audio-visual production called ‘The Enigma’ which is a crime drama, fitting in with the age demographic of both the genre audience and magazine audience. Much like other television magazines, my magazine will highlight my unique selling point, which is using conventions and codes of crime drama’s and shows in the print publication, to promote and describe the audio-visual production to the 18-34 mainstream audience. The foundation of the article I will include will focus on a brief synopsis of the drama, using enigma codes as to not reveal to much information to the audience, and provide some behind the scene details though the medium of an interview of the star vehicle evident on the front cover of the magazine. I will also provide some contextual information including the date it is made available in order to fit in with the brief. 
 
My magazine will have a neutral colour palette to symbolise the crime genre. As Barthes semiotics, I’ll use “Paradox” to symbolise the genres of the television shows that will be represented such as crime and mystery. It will also represent the focus on the magazine which takes a microscopic analysis of the darker elements of the television genre. The front page of the magazine will include various cover lines such as the name of protagonist, and others providing further information, drawing the audience in whilst still being enigmatic, engaging the reader. I will use studio photography, centrally framing the star vehicle with an indirect mode of address to show the protagonists power. The indirect mode of address is an enigma code, and reader will begin to question what the protagonist is glancing at. The mise en scene of the photo will be minimalistic with dim lighting in order to represent the genre. Much like the character Luther, my protagonist’s costume will be scruffy yet professional clothing in order to portray the star vehicle’s flawed hero trait.  
 
I will target the 18-34 mainstreamer and succeeder audience through the conventions of the specific groups. Mainstream audiences seek tested methods and content, so I will follow the popular conventions of a crime drama in my audio-visual production, with establishing shots of urban, city settings also using dim and darker lighting to represent the fear and mystery. Similarly, succeeder audiences seek control over the content they watch, including using the best brands and producing the best content. A popular theme amongst this age category is detective storylines. Therefore, my storyline will also centre around a detective plot to mimic the success of other crime dramas in this specific category such as Luther and Marcella. 
 
I will produce my audio-visual content on adobe premiere pro, creating an extract of a gripping crime drama for BBC 1, with a co-production with ITV. This will be a 3 minute clip of my drama, including an establishing shot of the setting, and will be used to introduce the protagonists  
Job as a detective and will represent some of their characteristics including their anti-hero and flawed hero attributes (evident through flashbacks of the crimes the detective committed himself.) I will also use slow and enigmatic music in the background to represent the genre.