All of the different audiences interact in different ways to my chosen texts as their are preferred, negotiated and oppositional viewings of my texts and it must appeal to the correct audience.
Lost is a very mainstream text as it is open to a wide range of audiences this makes it more accessible by being on ABC which is an American network channel which is similar to the BBC in the UK it is open to all viewers and doesn't narrow their audience down. Lost is aimed at a very passive audience as it gives you indications on what to feel and when to expect things to happen. In the scene where the polar bear attacks they have a high use of score this is giving the audience a narrative and creates enigma codes by how it builds tension and excitement. The score in lost expresses how the audience should be feeling.
In this scene they say 'Its coming towards us' this creates enigma codes by the audience questioning what it is. The enigma codes help the audience to decode the text. It is able to target their audience by keeping them interested and intrigued. Also with the scene where the little boy finds the hand cuffs the question where they have come from. The characters in Lost ask and answer questions that the audience will be thinking which makes it very passive as you do not have to do much work. However as you watch the episode it answers the questions by telling you that the hand cuffs belong to Kate, you do not have to put much thought in to this.
However an active audience could also watch this programme but may find it a lot more difficult because you do not have to put much thought in to what is going on. They will begin to think of theories to why things are happening and question it. They will also get involved in websites such as Lostpedia which talks about Lost and they write reviews and summary's with what is going on in each episode. Also their are things that are not correct with what is going on for example a women who is pregnant on the plane which will make an active audience question this.
In the scene where the plane has just crashed Shannon is lying on the beach in her bikini she is not traumatised by what is going on she is a skinny blonde girl, this instantly creates a stereotypical representation of her which people might be able to relate to. Throughout the episode everyone falls in to their own stereotypical roles. Another example of this would be when Shannon asks to join the group to go on the hike, Kate automatically looks towards the men for their confirmation this shows that the men have authority which shows more stereotypical views. With people being able to relate to these stereotypical roles it takes uses and gratifications as you can relate and find enjoyment through this.
It is also able to open to wider ranges of audience as it includes different cultures such as Korean and American.
Mad men is aired on AMC which is an American subscription channel which targets a more niche audience. A oppositional audience would be aged between 16 - 25 as it lacks in entertainment in uses and gratifications which means they can not personally relate with this programme. Also with this demographic range they are not commonly an active audience and this programme is aimed directly at active audiences. People at this age range are used to passive programmes which use fast editing and simple narratives for example TOWIE and Made in Chelsea this is because they are able to personally identify and aspire to these ideals. It does not appeal to them because of how it is encoded. For example in the scene when Don goes to see Joan about her sleeping with Herb it shows sexual content in the work place from the 1960s this only provides them with sexual content from the 1960s they do not find gratifications from this.
Mad men is aimed at a more active audience and targets middle class men demographic. It has a very high brow nature of the show and lends itself to a middle class audience which is often reviewed by the 'Guardian'. It is aimed at a more active audience as a lot of thought has to go in to it as their is no use of non- diegetic sound until about 28 minutes in, so there is no sound to indicate sympathy or tension. This makes it a lot more difficult for a passive audience as they will struggle to understand what is going on and wont put much thought in to it either.
Mad men also educate their audience from around the 1960s by ensuring their story line reflects typical storylines from this era and the props and background setting all links closely with the correct setting this creates the mise en scene with the old fashioned fridge and clocks and their clothing that the characters are wearing.
Peaky Blinders is able to target their audience through self education as it is set in 1991 just after ww1 it will bring more of an audience who are interested in this era and provides them with historical and social information of the time it is set. Tommy also quotes 'War shy gypsy bastard' this gives historical connects and teaches the audience about post - war attitudes. It is also evident in the narrative when Tommy Shelby says 'Why would I shake the hand of a man who didn't fight for his county?' To the police which makes out that it is shameful not to fight. Also the programme is set in Birmingham which will make it appeal to an audience who are associated with this setting as they are interested in this.
It is target to a wide mainstream audience and it is influenced by it being aired on BBC which is accessible to all audiences and has many viewers already. It also has a high use of film starts which you may have seen these actors in other films which may make you intrigued to see this programme. Also in the opening scene it zooms straight in to the film stars faces which may make people associate with this programme and can relate with them. The different film stars are Cilian Murphy, Helen Mcroy and Sam Niel.
It also has a high use of cinematography which allows an active audience to decode the text. The fight scene at the beginning of the narrative uses a combination of slow motion, reversed music and shallow depth of field. Only an active audience would be gratified and appreciated this. With these uses of editing it can make it seem a lot more like a film and make it have high gratification value to make it more entertaining.
Overall each programme is very successful at targeting their audience.
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
Tuesday, 3 June 2014
Explore the genre conventions in your 3 main texts?
Al of my 3 main texts show typical conventions and all define what genre they are showing however some are more hybrid then others.
Sin City is one text that I have studied, it is a hybrid text as it has connotations of film noir, comic book and some horror genres.
In the scene where Hartigan is going to save Nancy and he is in the car driving it uses low key lighting and has a voice over which is portraying his thoughts also he is in a very old fashioned 1950s car, these are very typical conventions of the film noir. When Hartigan gets out of the car and meets Bob it shows he is wearing a trench coat which helps build the mise en scene, also it uses the theory prop as it shows comic book conventions of how his coat floats in the wind as if he has a cape and is a super hero, this shows that he is a hero. However also the trench coat shows typical connotations of film noir.
Some conventions of the 'cold war' paranoia is through hartigan when Bob shoots him in the back, this shows corruption and mistrust this shows hartigan is a cynical protagonist this shows typical conventions of film noir. These are also represented in the classic films 'Double indemnity' and 'The Maltese Falcon' both of these films show original noir connotations through the use of venetian blinds, low key lighting, femme fatale and their quick talk which is more like mumbling.
Femme Fatale is also another typical film noir connotation their are many different character which fit this role such a Wendy/Goldie, shelly and Gail. However the one who fits this role perfectly is Nancy who is an exotic dancer she lingers in the background in every chapter her seductive lasso tying sin city in knots. For example the scene when Hartigan finally gets out of prison and is looking for Nancy her hair is blowing in the wind which makes it very erotic and like he is living in a fantasy, she is also swinging a lasso around which makes her seem very seductive.The camera follows her body as if it is tracing it to get a males perspective of her. She looks at Hartigan with lust and power.
Sin City is one text that I have studied, it is a hybrid text as it has connotations of film noir, comic book and some horror genres.
In the scene where Hartigan is going to save Nancy and he is in the car driving it uses low key lighting and has a voice over which is portraying his thoughts also he is in a very old fashioned 1950s car, these are very typical conventions of the film noir. When Hartigan gets out of the car and meets Bob it shows he is wearing a trench coat which helps build the mise en scene, also it uses the theory prop as it shows comic book conventions of how his coat floats in the wind as if he has a cape and is a super hero, this shows that he is a hero. However also the trench coat shows typical connotations of film noir.
Some conventions of the 'cold war' paranoia is through hartigan when Bob shoots him in the back, this shows corruption and mistrust this shows hartigan is a cynical protagonist this shows typical conventions of film noir. These are also represented in the classic films 'Double indemnity' and 'The Maltese Falcon' both of these films show original noir connotations through the use of venetian blinds, low key lighting, femme fatale and their quick talk which is more like mumbling.
Femme Fatale is also another typical film noir connotation their are many different character which fit this role such a Wendy/Goldie, shelly and Gail. However the one who fits this role perfectly is Nancy who is an exotic dancer she lingers in the background in every chapter her seductive lasso tying sin city in knots. For example the scene when Hartigan finally gets out of prison and is looking for Nancy her hair is blowing in the wind which makes it very erotic and like he is living in a fantasy, she is also swinging a lasso around which makes her seem very seductive.The camera follows her body as if it is tracing it to get a males perspective of her. She looks at Hartigan with lust and power.
Sunday, 1 June 2014
How typical are your 3 main texts of their genre?
All of my 3 main texts show typical conventions of their genres and all define what genre they are showing however some have more genres then others.
Sin City is one text which I studied, it is a hybrid text as it has connotations from film noir, comic book and some horror genres. It is also a poster modern text which uses typical genre conventions. It contains a cynical protagonist who is Hartigan and Marv these are shown through different conventions which are rain soaked streets, low key lighting and a voice over narrative. A very typical cynical protagonist convention is shown through Marv 'Hell is waking up every goddam day and not knowing why your here' in a voice over which shows he despises himself. This also shows typical noir genre connotations with the character portrayal and the thoughts that are conveyed. This all stems from paranoia which in all noir films from 1940s is shown in the view of society in the wake of world was II of the possibility of a 'new cold war'.
Some conventions of the 'cold war' paranoia is Hartigan and how he was shot in the back by his 'buddy' bob, this shows corruption and anxiety which is present in classic films such as 'Double Indemnity' and 'Maletese Falcon'. Also Hartigans heroic actions and desire to save nancy the corrupt senators son shows that he wants to stop evil.
The mise en scene used though out sin city relates directly to its genre with Hartigans trench coat which is typical of film noir and comic book conventions of a 'caped - super hero' making the film hybrid.
Also propps theory is involved with the cape as it represents super hero as it is constantly blowing in the wind. However when marv goes to kill or hurt anyone he removes his trench coat showing he is carrying out good deed, his character is a lot more complex, more of an anti - hero which is another typical noir convention.
All noir films contain 'femme-fatales' and sin city contains many. Each male character has contact with one girl which is said to resemble this character. Hartigan with nancy, Marv with wendy, Dwight with shelly and Gail.
Wendy and Shelly are typical femme fatale. Nancy is an innocent young girl displaying how the genre can be made differently for a post modern audience.
District 9 is another hybrid genre which has conventions from sci-fi and documentary. The different sci-fi conventions used are advanced technology, aliens, robots and spaceships. All of these events are known as real. The use of 'faux' stock footage of news reports and interviews with experts and civilians make it seem more realistic. Also with the use of hand held camera reinforces this with its typical cinematic techniques of a documentary.
In the opening scenes we see interviews with various 'experts' witnesses giving us clear exposition to the events which have led up to the alien landings. This is important in developing a realistic documentary approach to the narrative, this is something which may seem new to typical sci-fi conventions of other films such as 'The fly' and 'Invasion of the body snatchers'.
Interation between wikus and the camera man shows that he is unable to remove his microphone and is playful in mixing realistic and fictional elements of the film. This is something not typical of the sci-fi genre but shows how genres repeat conventions and make them different by mixing styles.
However Fish Tank is not a hybrid text it is just a social realist genre. It has kitchen sink styles which relates to well establish generic techniques and themes. It revolves around social topics like family dysfunction and under age sex. It also uses hand held camera which is viewed as gritty and realistic in terms of its representation of British social life.
The mise en scene created is shown in the opening scene of a working class council estate this is very typical of it genre. This indicates its a social realist genre through mia shouting 'Tell your old man I think hes a c*nt' this shows its a working class upbringing.
It also uses long takes, hand held cameras and diegetic sounds of urban background of walking through the estate which is seen as stylistic conventions of the social realist genre. She is also walking very fast throughout the film which shows someone who is going nowhere fast.
This relates to 'Saturday night and Sunday morning' and 'A taste of honey' as it shows similar social issues and similar techniques. However they use more non - diegetic sound to support action and emotional context to appeal to a more mainstream audience. It shows how genre develops over time as all genres do. But 'Fish Tank' it pushed the genre to new depths by trying more realistic representations of social situations.
The narrative issue of 15 year old Mias desire for a sexual relationship with Connor, her mother boyfriend, can be seen as a controversial topic in todays society to spark debate. A regular consequence of generic conventions of social realism.
In conclusion all 3 texts are typical of their genre, using many classic conventions of their genre. In some cases these might be mixed genres to develop a wider audience and create different modern audiences.
Sin City is one text which I studied, it is a hybrid text as it has connotations from film noir, comic book and some horror genres. It is also a poster modern text which uses typical genre conventions. It contains a cynical protagonist who is Hartigan and Marv these are shown through different conventions which are rain soaked streets, low key lighting and a voice over narrative. A very typical cynical protagonist convention is shown through Marv 'Hell is waking up every goddam day and not knowing why your here' in a voice over which shows he despises himself. This also shows typical noir genre connotations with the character portrayal and the thoughts that are conveyed. This all stems from paranoia which in all noir films from 1940s is shown in the view of society in the wake of world was II of the possibility of a 'new cold war'.
Some conventions of the 'cold war' paranoia is Hartigan and how he was shot in the back by his 'buddy' bob, this shows corruption and anxiety which is present in classic films such as 'Double Indemnity' and 'Maletese Falcon'. Also Hartigans heroic actions and desire to save nancy the corrupt senators son shows that he wants to stop evil.
The mise en scene used though out sin city relates directly to its genre with Hartigans trench coat which is typical of film noir and comic book conventions of a 'caped - super hero' making the film hybrid.
Also propps theory is involved with the cape as it represents super hero as it is constantly blowing in the wind. However when marv goes to kill or hurt anyone he removes his trench coat showing he is carrying out good deed, his character is a lot more complex, more of an anti - hero which is another typical noir convention.
All noir films contain 'femme-fatales' and sin city contains many. Each male character has contact with one girl which is said to resemble this character. Hartigan with nancy, Marv with wendy, Dwight with shelly and Gail.
Wendy and Shelly are typical femme fatale. Nancy is an innocent young girl displaying how the genre can be made differently for a post modern audience.
District 9 is another hybrid genre which has conventions from sci-fi and documentary. The different sci-fi conventions used are advanced technology, aliens, robots and spaceships. All of these events are known as real. The use of 'faux' stock footage of news reports and interviews with experts and civilians make it seem more realistic. Also with the use of hand held camera reinforces this with its typical cinematic techniques of a documentary.
In the opening scenes we see interviews with various 'experts' witnesses giving us clear exposition to the events which have led up to the alien landings. This is important in developing a realistic documentary approach to the narrative, this is something which may seem new to typical sci-fi conventions of other films such as 'The fly' and 'Invasion of the body snatchers'.
Interation between wikus and the camera man shows that he is unable to remove his microphone and is playful in mixing realistic and fictional elements of the film. This is something not typical of the sci-fi genre but shows how genres repeat conventions and make them different by mixing styles.
However Fish Tank is not a hybrid text it is just a social realist genre. It has kitchen sink styles which relates to well establish generic techniques and themes. It revolves around social topics like family dysfunction and under age sex. It also uses hand held camera which is viewed as gritty and realistic in terms of its representation of British social life.
The mise en scene created is shown in the opening scene of a working class council estate this is very typical of it genre. This indicates its a social realist genre through mia shouting 'Tell your old man I think hes a c*nt' this shows its a working class upbringing.
It also uses long takes, hand held cameras and diegetic sounds of urban background of walking through the estate which is seen as stylistic conventions of the social realist genre. She is also walking very fast throughout the film which shows someone who is going nowhere fast.
This relates to 'Saturday night and Sunday morning' and 'A taste of honey' as it shows similar social issues and similar techniques. However they use more non - diegetic sound to support action and emotional context to appeal to a more mainstream audience. It shows how genre develops over time as all genres do. But 'Fish Tank' it pushed the genre to new depths by trying more realistic representations of social situations.
The narrative issue of 15 year old Mias desire for a sexual relationship with Connor, her mother boyfriend, can be seen as a controversial topic in todays society to spark debate. A regular consequence of generic conventions of social realism.
In conclusion all 3 texts are typical of their genre, using many classic conventions of their genre. In some cases these might be mixed genres to develop a wider audience and create different modern audiences.
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