TV

Television: Industries & Audiences                                   29/10/18

L/O: To research the history, companies & regulators in the television industry

Terminology

Publicly owned TV Channel-

A TV channel that is funded by the government & license fees for the public. BBC

Commercial TV channel-

A TV channel owned by privately owned corporate media funded by advertising 

Convergence-

When new technology makes old technology obsolete, joining lots of technologies into one. 

Watershed-

The time after which programmes that are regarded as unsuitable for children are broadcast on television. 9PM - 5:30AM in the UK

Segmented market- 
Dividing a market of potential customers into groups so you can target the audience appropriately 

Mainstream-
What is regarded as normal, mass audience

Self-regulating-
Able to broadcast anything without the use of third party bodies or industries

Franchise-
License from company if a product to use ideas

Channel-surfing-
Switching to different channels frequently 

PSB-
Public Service Broadcasting: regulators demand channels fulfil certain requirements as part of their license to broadcast

TV license-
A payment required to watch TV. Funds the BBC

Scheduling-
Organising the broadcast of TV programmes on a channel

Conglomerate-
A company that owns several smaller businesses whose products are very similar



1. TV was introduced to the UK in 1936

2. in 1965 there was  three channels: BBC1,  BBC2 and ITV

3. The ITV debuted in the UK on the 22nd September 1955

4. The channels that follow the PSB remits are:
 BBC, ITV, STV, UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and S4C

5. Ofcom regulates TV now

6. In the 1960's

7.

Television Industries: Ownership                          1/11/18

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

BBC

BBC has nine channels:

The BBC's purpose is to inform educate and entertain

• 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.

BBC's most popular shows contain:

ITV

ITV has 7 channels and a free on demand service.

12/11/18

Serial TV Drama

LO: To explore the TV drama genre and conventions

a TV 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. Any TV drama thats organised into a series (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.

Sub-Genres:
Crime drama
Period drama
Teen drama
Medical drama
Sci-fi drama
Fantasy drama
Political drama

TV Dramas:
The Walking Dead- sci-fi drama
Peaky Blinders- Period drama
Breaking Bad- Reverse crime
Sons of Anarchy- Action drama
13 Reasons Why- Mystery drama

a serials narrative continues through the whole series

a series contains the same characters but each episode is a different story

A serial narrative TV drama is a television show which has a continuous plot that unfolds in sequential episode-by-episode fashion. Serials are, more often than not, shows that possess narrative complexity. They typically follow many story arcs that span entire television seasons, or even in some cases, the entire run of the series.

The Avengers & 1960's

The most famous bands were Rock n' Roll and saw the rise of peaceful messages through music.

The Conservative government was in control until 1964 when it changed to labour until 1970.

The main three youth group fashions was the hippies which were all about peace and drugs, the rockers and the mods.

In the media drugs aren't portrayed as a big part of the culture despite actually being used by many.

The Avengers (1965)

L/O: Research the TV show 'The Avengers'

1. ITV & ABC Television produced the show

2. It was aimed at a mainstream audience of adults

3. The first episode was aired on 7th January 1961 and was called 'Hot Snow'

4. The show was ITV's most popular and become a cult classic

5. There was 161 episodes over the course of 6 seasons.

6. The show was last aired in may 1969

7.The budget for series 4 was £56,000 per episode.
8. Film was better for filming because:
Could get more sophisticated camerawork
had better use of location so it was more realistic
Camera was easier to move
9. Dianna Rigg as Emma Peel and Patrick Macnee as John Steed
10.  The Avengers was different to the Forsyte Saga as it wasn't shot in colour, wasn't set in modern times, had a much less appealing style, characters would relate to the middle class characters of the avengers more than the forsyte saga. The Avengers saw the introduction of female characters playing the 'hero'.

A) Being shot on film changed the location, production value, editing, camera work and sound they also had a $2 million budget for the series which greatly improved quality overall, They had a studio and could afford better lighting and microphone equipment.


26/11/18
TV: Media Language

29/11/18

The Avengers: The Town of no Return

The Narrative 

John Steed and Emma Peel are sent to a small town after 4 agents go missing to investigate their disappearance. Then people go missing and the town seems empty, they then discover that someone has planned to invade Britain by putting bases underground over the UK.

The Characters

John Steed,Emma Peel, The Vicar, Piggy, The Blacksmith, The Headmaster, The teacher

Links to social and cultural context (the mid 60's)

Emma Peel being a female character is chose to uplift society, specifically targeting the lower class and is it was broadcasted on ITV which had a lot of middle class

Audience Appeal

The Avengers appealed to its' target audience by picking the content that relates to middle class audiences however, the characters both towards the higher class due to their high salary they got to use equipment and vehicles to make it interesting for a mixed audience.

10/12/18

Britishness in The Avengers:

• Drinking tea all the time
• Seaside town-Pub
• Fishermen
• Wary of outsiders
• Bowler hat+Umbrella
• Suit and tie
• Formal language 
• Polite mannered 

How was Media Language used to show the social context of the 1960's?

 Media language is used to show the social context of the 1960's in The Avengers through the use of Mise-en-scene, John Steed's outfit shows a traditional 1960's man, a formal suit and tie with a bowler hat and an umbrella, the suit he wears symbolises the upper class, this clashes Emma Peel's all leather outfit she has while remaining at home. This shows the traditional relationship of men going to work while the female would tender the house.

The inclusion of Emma Peel practising her fencing when John Steed arrives goes against the traditions of the sport mainly being associated with men, this shows the social context of the 1960's because in society women was starting to become a lot more independent due to fighting for woman rights, The Avengers furthermore shows equality between the two genders through the pair having a fencing match in her apartment, this was strange due to the ideas of men being physically superior to women meaning they shouldn't fight with each other.

The Camerawork throughout the fencing scene tracks the two while remaining central between them, this creates a neutral atmosphere throughout the scene where the fight is fair and the camera makes you believe the two are of the same skill level as each other despite Peel being a woman. Although it was still a very patriarchal society, more power to women was a rising movement and Emma Peel may have been one of the first female characters to do something like play fencing against a man and be evenly matched with him. 

The soundtrack goes with typical 60's tradition, throughout the scene an upbeat jazz soundtrack is being played, which was a staple of society in this era as the genre was extremely popular, the track then changes to a slightly more dramatic and intense when the two have a round of fencing, while satirically keeping the same jazz sound which contrasts the typical smooth relaxing style of jazz.


 🎯-Include something from each topic

13/12/18

LO: reflect and improve exam style answer

Targets

Literacy
Structure
Terminology
Context


Television in the 2010's

Cuffs was released in October 2015 what were some key events leading up to this (2010-onwards)

• Mass shootings mainly situated in the US.
• Paris attacks.
• Overhanging threat of terrorism.
•  an estimated £200,000,000 worth of jewels are stolen from Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Ltd, Hatton Garden central London, in a meticulously-planned heist that takes place over the Easter bank holiday weekend. CCTV footage later emerges, at the website of UK newspaper the Daily Mirror, showing the thieves dressed as building workers and using wheelie bins.
• Ireland legalises same-sex marriage.
• Refugee crisis.
• General Election, UKIP was gaining more support.
• Fear of Immigration

The prime minister of the UK in the beginning of 2015 was Labour with Ed Milliband in charge this converted to the Conservative party after the general election with David Cameron now in power, UKIP was gaining more popularity which showed the change of opinion across Britain.

Terrorism was extremely feared living after 9/11 with fear of attacks and killings on a monthly basis.

In 2015 there was multiple wars being fought, such as the war in the Afghanistan, the Iraqi civil war, the Boko Haram insurgency and the Syrian Civil war these wars are mainly in the middle East.

 People were protesting for financial support for the NHS and the Police force, there was also union strikes and protesting against humanitarian issues, women were fighting against the gender wage gap.

Youth culture:

• social media
• I-phone
• Drug Culture
• Knife Crime
• Rap Music
• Video game violence/obsession
• Streaming

Human Rights:

• Third wave feminism
• #Blacklivesmatter
• #Oscarssowhite
• Refugees and tolerance

A surge in violent themed video games which glorifies killing and warfare, the most popular franchises in the industry today contain, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed and Halo, all filled with death bullets and murdering out of cold-blood desensitises the audience to gore and bloodshed. With the gaming industry now normalising this to be in games puts young gamers at extreme risk to see disturbing images and scenes, the prevalence of gaming in young people may be bringing up a society that want to feel like the gun-slinging ruthless killers that they have seen in their favourite video game as a child, causing them to commit crimes and cause harm to themselves and others.

2015 vs. 1965

In a 1965 police TV show you would expect to see a very traditional cast of muscular toned white men keeping crooks and killers from committing crimes with not much to do apart from go on patrol and look for crime, in a modernised police show in 2015 I would expect a more diverse set of characters with a few female roles in the show and possibly characters that aren't heterosexual. I'd expect the 2015 show tho deal with more complex criminals like drug dealers and cybercrime, id expect terrorism to show up a lot more due to the heavy threat of it during this period.

Cuffs: Series 1, Episode 1

Main Characters
PC Ryan Draper
A strict, stern police officer who takes their job incredibly serious, he is portrayed as an unlikable character due to his unexplained disliking to the new PC Jake Vickers whom he frequently gives a bad time because of his inexperienced nature.
PC Jake Vickers
The homosexual son of Chief Super Robert Vickers, he is a character that represents the underdog in society by frequently messing up on the job and hasn't got comfortable with the more action packed lifestyle of a police officer .
DS Jo Moffat
A female detective that seems to keep to herself and doesn't have an extroverted personality, she seems very dedicated to the job and a kind woman.
Chief Super Robert Vickers
The leader figure of the police force, he seems like a serious hard-headed man with his career at the forefront of his mind.
DI Felix Kane
Not very much screen-time but seems like a likeable guy who takes his job seriously
PC Donna Prager
A friendly hard working officer, that has the ability to communicate and work very well in a team environment as she is very empathetic and kind.
PC Lino Maretti
The 'funny' character of the show, not the most useful asset to the work force as he is always shown eating and trying to lighten up the situation.

Television Industries: 2010's

Break up of a 'family' viewing-the fragmented audience. More ways to watch TV meant 'family' viewing was no longer necessary.

Erosion of channel loyalty-the BBC viewer or ITV viewer. More channels changed the way the audience watched TV

Channel surfing-seeking the 'eye catching'-because of increase of adverts and channels

Audience as schedule creators- Rise of 'on-demand' and video streaming series render this obsolete 

24/7 media-issues of saturation-

Demand for content- 

Demand for quality-stars;production values- Higher standard of quality

Binge viewing- Watching a tv show or film series in a smaller amount of time than intended

Impact of meme TV shows-Breaking Bad; Game of Thrones- Making a show 'go viral' increases popularity drastically

Search for latest 'on-trend' shows to share on social media- Creates mystery and interest

Need for shock or issue based TV to attract attention- 

TV Shows as brands- X Factor, Britains got Talent etc. iconic TV shows

Using social media to comment on live TV-dual screening/ second screening- The audience being able to interact increases popularity

CUFFS

Cuffs was new to BBC1 under the 'police procedural' genre, offers up insight to the police force and diversity of characters, the channel was looking for a replacement to 'Waterloo Road' which 'Cuffs' targeted the same audience as. 

The producers chose to show the action and diversity of the show

They represent police life as action-packed

Cuffs & Genre

Police genre conventions:

• The police force investigating, solving, and resolving the crime
• You would expect to see an action packed narrative with dramatic sidelines to accompany the important main one
• Stereotypical police characters would be: an inexperienced rookie, a good cop that plays to the rules, a 'bad cop' that has a hidden corruption and insincerity to him
• You would expect it to be in a densely populated city with a lot of scenes being in the station
• Would usually contain good values towards the police showing them in a good light and contain moral statements

In the opening of cuffs it achieves the purpose of establishing the overhanging 'vibe' that looms in cuffs, the show spends a lot of its script and filming on character development while also handling the seriousness of working in the police force by the stern expression the main characters show. It establishes relationships between characters by introducing some of them together. The show is shown within pre-watershed time which is shown in the credits, the main colour is a bright yellow with fast editing, it has an upbeat sound effect but shows the mundane rundown look of Brighton to make the police force seem needed and in need to clean up the town, it does this by showing shoes on the side of roads,graffiti and a broken chest of drawers in the middle of a field.   

How has sound been used to create meaning? [5]

Intense non-diegetic music that builds up the tensity of the constables speech arguing then finally ends with a bang changes to sombre music for a couple lines then back to intense drumming until the naked man on the beach has a go at him, then silent for when jake vicars gets announced as a policeman, then upbeat music

In the extract sound is used to create a sense of urgency at the beginning, the initial booming sound the audience hears is one that is made to hook the audience by making them believe something potentially dangerous may be occurring. This is then followed by the noise of a policeman's radio going off with the sound of an incident that needs seeing to, followed by an intense build up of non-diegetic drums and heavy music. The ordering of these sounds create a sense of immediate danger and intrigue for the audience and shows the presence of action and tense situations in the show which would hook the majority of the target audience watching a show about the police force for the famously known dangerous situations they show up in. 

The focus on sound then shifts the the later known father of Jake Vicars presenting a prideful speech to the force regarding the everyday dangers and the sacrifices that come with that, while speaking of this intense music plays while it cuts to arguing that the first officer present in the show is now dealing with, which perfectly goes with the effort the police go through which the pc constable was speaking about. The clip uses sound bridges to create smooth transitions between the clips and create a correlation between the scene on the beach with the police station, this is done to show the strong connection between officers in the force and tells the audience that these scenes are happening in tandem at the same time, the juxtaposition of the peaceful and upbeat speech in the station with the heated argument on the beach shows the varied life of a police officer, cuffs wants to inform the audience about this so they expect lots of different situations to be presented in the show creating an exciting atmosphere where the audience can expect the plot to differ from episode to episode. 

4/2/19
Exam Practice DIRT

LO: To review and improve our response.

Cuffs & the PSB Remit

LO: To evaluate how effectively the BBC meets its PSB remit.

Public Service Broadcasting in the UK means it's for the publics' benefit as oppose to commercial benefits.

PSB purposes:

• Informing our understanding of the world
• Stimulating knowledge and learning
• Reflecting the UK's cultural identity
• Representing diversity and alternate viewpoints

PSB characteristics:

• High quality
• Original
• Innovative
• Challenging
• Widely available
• Distinctive

The BBC has extra PSB requirements, because of its distinctive funding.

Cuffs achieves this with a multi-cultural cast with different sexualities, classes, age and religions, shows you both the criminals viewpoint as well as the police-officers.

BBC has a lot of channels to target the wider audience of the UK, appealing to different tastes based on age and identity.

The BBC core mission is "to inform, educate and entertain".

How does Cuffs meet the PSB remit and the BBC's core mission? [5]

Cuffs keeps to the PSB remit and the BBC's core mission by informing the audience the often challenging side of working for the police force not often portrayed in typical cop shows, it deals with the emotional struggles of the police as well as the physical challenges of catching a criminal in the least damaging way for the public, it causes the viewer to feel empathy for the police and may influence them to change their view on the UK police force by filling them in on the realities of enforcing the law in a high area of crime. It reflects the UK's cultural identity by choosing the seaside city of Brighton for the location, this allows the show to create the feeling of a UK city effectively, especially through the beach scenes which perfectly encapsulates the typical english seaside. The show has a diverse cast with varied personalities and status, it includes a homosexual police member, which shows the slowly more accepting attitude towards individuality and different sexualities, the show includes mixed race, with white, black and latino members both male and female. Overall the show informs their viewers of the sometime-harsh realities of working for the police, it educates the viewer on modern-day crime and the life of a police officer, it entertains its audience with different tense scenes and often putting the cast in 'life or death' situations, keeping to the BBC's core mission.

Julie Grearey created cuffs in 2015, she had previously wrote Coronation Street (2000-2002), Causality and Prisoner's Wives.



7/2/19

Tiger Aspect & Cuffs

Mixture of serious drama and humour in cuffs, wanted to create character based narratives, very loyal audiences in the soap opera drama which meant a drama would have been a lot easier.

Possible exam question

How did Cuffs fit into the BBC schedule in terms of targeting audiences and why was Tiger Aspect chosen to produce it?

Television Audiences in 2010's

L/O: To explore targeting television audiences and technologies

The main stream audience has changed since the 1960's, there is more devices to watch television on and no dependancy on a schedule with apps like Netflix and on demand services. Major increase in number of channels. 

Audiences now are segmented, far more than in the 70's, BBC and ITV have a broad range of shows to reach a mass audience, also you get specific channels targeting one type of audience, offering more individualised viewing.

When cuffs was produced 81% of people still was watching TV through the use of scheduled broadcasting which meant their slot on 8 'o' clock on Wednesday was important as the bill wasn't shown on this day meaning 'cuffs' could reach their audience.

Uses and gratifications theory

P.I.E.S.

Personal Identity
Cuffs meets the needs of personal identity by having a diverse cast with different personalities to relate to any viewer, despite them all being police officers, they each have different views and motivations that can taylor to a wider spectrum of audience.

Information (surveillance)

Cuffs can supply a viewer with information on multiple subjects and new technologies within the police team, it can give insight on to how criminals work and operate making them easier to spot. It being set in Brighton can tell people more about the culture and lifestyle of a beachside British town, a sense of informing the viewer about aspects of a society that they may not be so familiar with.

Entertainment

Cuffs being a police orientated show can create gripping stories and situations filled with entertainment, the characters tracing down ruthless criminals often creates a sense of danger with no understanding how evil they are, when their task is to detain them in the safest way possible it often creates life or death situations when the audience are on the edge of their seat wondering how the outcome will turn out, this false sense of danger for the audience creates entertainment. Also through the use of comedy throughout with multiple narratives going on at once, fictional world appeals for use of escapism.
                                   
Social Interaction

TV series with ensemble casts, such as Cuffs, offer audiences a team, or subsitute family, towards whom they can adopt a 'mother' role-forgiving the characters' weaknesses, admiring their achievements, and hoping for the best for them. This offers particular pleasures for viewers who can then talk about this in discussion and be proud of them for their directed achievements.

Explain the Uses & Gratifications offered to audiences in Cuffs. Give specific examples from episode 1. [10]

Cuffs is a police drama set in Brighton, it applies to the Uses & Gratifications theory through the use of its location, cast and dialogue. 

Personal identity is reflected in Cuffs in its ensemble cast, the many different personalities and lifestyles in the force appeals to audience by giving the viewer a character to have as their favourite, the traditional alpha males have the strict, drill-surgeon-like PC Ryan Draper while even hard-working lone-ranger women have the ambitious PC Donna Prager. Personal Identity can be further shown through Cuffs by the beach-side culture that is being shown in Cuffs this makes it appealing to watch for any Briton as it encapsulates the feeling of a walk around a seaside city perfectly.

Information is given in Cuffs by showing the realities of working for a Police force, as well as showing high speed car chases and combat, it includes the everydayness of going to the Police Station everyday and showing them engaging in everyday classes like eating lunch, this corrects the stereotypical activities a police action would have you believe that they're always out there firing weapons and mercilessly killing people.

Cuffs being a police orientated show can create gripping stories and situations filled with entertainment, the characters tracking down ruthless criminals often creates a sense of danger with no understanding of how evil they are, when their task is to detain them in the safest way possible it often creates life or death situations when the audience are on the edge of their seat wondering what the outcome will be, this false sense of danger for the audience creates entertainment. Also through the use of comedy throughout with multiple narratives going on at once, fictional world appeals for use of escapism.

TV shows that contain a big cast, give the audience their own team, a 'substitute family' of sorts, from this they can subliminally adopt a mother role where they understand characters mistakes and weaknesses, as well as celebrating their achievements alongside them and praying for the best outcome for their character, this offers particular pleasure for viewers who then discuss an incident in the show and justify their characters actions against their friends character, it enables actual care to be produced for their cast.

11/2/19

Exam Preparation

Section A: Cuffs & Avengers

Three questions based on the extract shown, two questions on TV Industry, Audiences or Context.

 Could be on:

• Q1-Media Language

Sound, Editing, Camerawork, Mise-en-scene [5 mark question]

• Q2- Media Language & Representation

Will ask the following:

How particular viewpoints have been shown, How certain groups have been represented, How the audience have been positioned (how are the audience supposed to feel), How certain values have been constructed. [10 mark question]-meaning you must give 3 specific examples from the extract

• TV Audiences
• Social, Political and historical context

• Q3-Long essay based question

Same as question 2 but longer, will ask the following:

How particular viewpoints have been shown, How certain values or ideas have been represented, How the audience have been positioned, How the context has effected the meaning. [15 mark question]- Make sure to link to the context

• Q4-TV Industry

May ask about the TV Industry in general, will ask the following:

Scheduling, Regulation, PSB (public service broadcasting), Technology. [5 mark question]- Use appropriate terminology.

• Q5-Context

Will ask about the social, political or historical context of either programme. Will ask the following:

Influence of social context, Influence of political context, Differences between 1965 and now, Effects of context on programming. [10 mark question]-Mention specific events and dates.

Section B: The Lego Movie

Likely to be asked 4 questions, consisting of 2 shorter ones and 2 longer ones.

The first 2 questions are general questions based on Promotional Techniques (Posters, Social Media etc.) 

The second 2 questions will be using Lego Movie as an example.

Q6- Fact based

Will be asked about:

Regulation, Film Industry, Promotional methods [1 mark question]- Be accurate and specific

Q7- Reasons why

Will ask why certain promotional methods have been used. Could be asked about:

Promotional methods, Targeting audiences [4 mark question]- At least 2 examples, explain why each method is used

Q8 & 9-Essay style Q's 

Will ask about Promotional methods and ask to use The Lego Movie as an example, will be asked about:

Audience Appeals, Targeting Audiences, Genre Conventions, Promotional methods used [10 mark question]- Give specific examples. Use appropriate media terminology. 

Uses & Gratifications theory

Mock feedback

Q1- use more specific and accurate terminology with at-least 2 examples
Q2-Be more specific in your answer, avoid being vague. Narrative components. use sound, mise-en-scene, editing and camerawork,one from each one.
Q3- Write about: Camera,Sound,Editing,Mise-en-scene, Narrative and characters. Don't overcomplicate your answer
Q4- Public service broadcasting- funded by TV licensing and has remits and standards they have to meet. Requirements include:
High Quality content
Informing the public
Will only be on ITV or BBC 
Q5- Need to have accurate knowledge on context for both extracts, detailed description.
Social and historical context

To improve my mark on the media exam, I need to practice answering question in detail with specific terminology.
I also need to explore meaning to the audience
and revise the social and historical context of the extracts

Q8- P.I.E.S.

For the Lego unit i need to practise relating campaigns to target audiences and promotion techniques.