SECTION B; AUDIENCE QUESTION

B1: Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts. 

The three texts i have chosen all appeal to a different type of audience, they all portray a different era in which they are set, and include characters that people will be able to personally identify with. 

The first text i have chosen is Mad Men, i have chosen this text because it appeals to a niche audience created by AMC a subscription channel in America. Mad Men typically appeals to a active audience, we recognise this in season 5, episode 11 'the other woman' in the scene where Don Draper goes to visit Peggy. 

Music Question

"How global is the appeal of your three main texts?" 

Lady Gaga, Radiohead and Nirvana all had a different approach to distributing their album globally, this could be from the material of the product, the promotion of the album that as produced and the use of technology. 

Radiohead took a different approach when releasing their album "King Of Limbs' they did not produce a physical copy of this album, and used a 'download only' approach from this album, this gained them global appeal as from the previous album 'in rainbows'  you were allowed to pay whatever you wanted for the album. As they do not have a record label and produced the album without being signed, they did not have the funding to create a physical copy, therefore as many copies as they wanted could be sold. However, Nirvana only produced 35,000 copies of CD/vinyl for the UK when they release Nevermind, as a download option wasn't available at the current time. Lady Gaga released singles from her album 'Born This Way' before the album was released, this was also available to buy in a range of ways from download to physical copies. 

Lady Gaga has a set theme for her albums being heavily focused on the appeal for the love of fame, but having songs that deal with subjects such as sexuality, religion, freedom, feminism and individualism, as she is a mainstream hybrid artist, she aims to target a mainstream audience, who listen to the more modern style of music dance-pop. Gaga also includes a narrative to her music videos, this has a global appeal as her quirky style and strong views are portrayed through the videos, she does this to gain global audience appeal and get a reaction from what she does by creating a story. Nirvana of the other hand had a 'don't care' attitude to their music and they way it was produced, compared to Lady Gaga's high budget, music videos that show a narrative, these videos appeal to wider global audience due to the more modern style showing a production and dancers. This attracts more people to watch the video and gains Gaga global appeal as it attracts a wider audience. Nirvana chose to just take a laid back approach when creating a video and were more focused on the music in which they were producing, this also gave them a global appeal to a younger audience, as in the their video for 'smells like teen spirit' portrays a rebellious look and casual attitude. The release of Radiohead's Lotus flower was the only one from 'king Of Limbs' to have a music video too it, this music video had a low budget production that would have an appeal more to the fans of the rock genre rather than showing a high budget pop video like Lady Gaga's music videos. 

The record label itself also plays a huge part in promotion to gain global appeal, Nirvana were first signed to an independent record label called sub-pop who did not have the funding to make the band go global and produce records that would reach a global market outside of the US. They produced there first album 'Bleach' which was popular in the US, but did not appeal to a global audience. Geffen the signed nirvana to promote the band and there second album "Nevermind' this was to gain global appeal by making Nirvana go on promotional tours, appeal on TV shows, such as performing live on Jonathan Ross show and do various interviews.  It took 5 months for the album to reach number one after global tours and increasing the target audience for the grunge genre they had created. As Radiohead did not have a record label after producing 6 albums whilst signed, the chose to go independent  and produce an album without using global marketing and promotion, they relied on their fans and the website for promotion. 

Lady gaga targets a global audience by using technology, she has used various social media sites to gain global appeal, she uses twitter to interact with her 18,198,577 followers which enhances her fame. 

Half Term Homework

"Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts"

Peaky blinders is set in Birmingham in 1919, just after the war. It is a crime drama which follows former world war one soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. The broadcaster of Peaky Blinders is BBC2, aiming to target the arts, culture, drama and some comedy. This text should be appealing to audiences already served by BBC1 or ITV, the two main channels on British TV which serve majority of the population. BBC 2 is highly praised for the development of prestigious 'high brow' drama series. However, the text Mad Men is a programme which was created by AMC for a niche audience, an audience which pays to view the programmes in which they show. the programmes shown are targeted for a specific audience, for example usually people who are middle aged working people who can afford to pay for extra channels.  Man Med is a programme which was created by AMC for a niche audience, an audience which pays to view the programmes in which they show. the programmes shown are targeted for a specific audience, for example usually people who are middle aged working people who can afford to pay for extra channels.  The TV show Lost is an American television series that originally aired on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). Lost is a primarily character development based drama series containing elements of science fiction and the supernatural that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean.
A reason that's these three texts may appeal to an audience is the location in which the programme is set. for example Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham (UK) so this would be of appeal to those who live in Birmingham or around the midlands. This may attract an audience because they would be interested to know historical information about the area and how Birmingham had developed since after the first world war finished. People who may be interested in Birmingham as a city also may like to watch this programme as it gives historical information about the place.

Audiences may be appealed to a text due to the social-historical context, Mad Men is a good example of this, as it looks back at the 60's. This would appeal to people who have fascinations with the 1960's. These people like the idea of looking back at the past, so by presenting Mad Men with typical clothing with suits and hats for males and floral dresses for women do have an appeal for people who like to look back at certain decades. This also is relevant to Peaky Blinders also, as it was set just after the second world war, so people who are interested in this time period of post-war activity and how the country coped would particularly want to watch this programme. Again, it would also interest an audience who wanted know about the 1910 era, so it would show some historical facts which would please an audience as they would gain knowledge.

Lost attracts an audience via its characters, The use of the ensemble cast is a way in which lost targets a range of different and broader audience, by using mixed gender and different ethnicity's, it allows the audience to connect with the character that reminds them of themselves. it also is a good idea to use to attract a mainstream audience so that everyone has the same amount of 'screen time' so that everyone feels important and recognised. Peaky Blinders uses characters also to attract an audience, in this programme they use well recognised actors like Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory. By doing this it allows them to gain audience interest by those who follow/admire the actor/actress. The use of having well know stars encourages an audience to watch a text as by having these it automatically indicates that it is a high budget show that will be good due to the actors/actress' that have been selected.

 Lost is a hybrid genre, the producers mix genres to make a wider audience be interested in the programme. We see that in the short scene that we viewed we recognised the elements of 'good and bad' which usually attracts a female audience as it represents the idea of a fairy tale. Other genres that we see within this short clip were the element of action with the guns and drama that appear, this usually would attract a male audience to the programme. Another element within this hybrid genre is the use of the Sci-Fi, we see elements of this by the surroundings and what is in the surroundings, i.e. animals and plants. The idea of a Hybrid genre is to attract a wider audience so that the story lines will appeal to more people. We see that peaky Blinders is not a Hybrid text, but noticeably a highbrow text. Highbrow texts are generally aimed for people who can be an active audience with texts that include intellectual and culturally rich narrative. This text in particular can be polysemic due to the elements of mainstream text narrative which is portrayed throughout. This would suggest that higher class would  tend to be more engaged with the topic of Peaky Blinders, due to evidence in the programme of events and issues that is ported within this. Mad Men is created for a particular audience, due to the show being on cable television, people have to pay to get the channel, it is shown on AMC, usually targeted for middle-class, intellectual people who can afford to pay for the extra channels. We see that Mad Men is primarily aimed at a niche audience, do the amount of limited information given in the narrative which requires an intellectual person to understand complicated story lines and narrative used. 

the music within the programmes may also be an audience appeal, for example in Peaky Blinders, the use of modern music in contrast to the era that it is set in, this may attract a younger audience as it shows the idea of modernism. The non-diegetic sound that is used in this is modern, for instance in the first opening scene in creates a different mood to the audience, as the cinematic influences of the director are shown throughout. Lost is the opposite to this, we see that Lost is set in a more modern futuristic style, but uses the classical music as non-diegetic sound to create an atmosphere, the use of the classical music also may influence an audience appeal to the programme as most mainstream texts use music that is recently produced or famous, the use of classical music shows how the text uses the Hybrid genre to its advantage. 

Finally the themes that are used in the programmes may have audience appeal. Mad men is a good example of a text that contains a lot of reoccurring themes throughout, like adultery and sexism, alcoholism, counterculture, identity, racism and smoking, these themes are all very serious, so may relate to may viewers which will allow them to connect with the characters. Lost shows the idea of being able to connect with the programme through the characters rather than the themes as they appeal unrealistic. However, Peaky Blinders shows the same kind of themes throughout, showing serious themes like gambling addictions, abortions and post-war trauma. The idea of having a theme that may appeal to an audience will increase the appeal to watch the show as many people can relate to issues being shown. Themes are have a strong audience appeal also by the topic itself, it would attract an audience who have an interest in the theme or are suffering with one of the topics/themes that are covered.    

Overall I feel that all three of my texts that I had chosen to study have strong audience appeal due to the amount of rating that they had. Even though the programmes had completely different topics and were meant to appeal to different audience, it shows in each narrative can be portrayed by the use of editing and story lines to encourage an audience to connect and engage with a text.  

Peaky Blinders Question

"How has your chosen media text attracted its audience?' 

Peaky blinders is set in Birmingham in 1919, just after the war. It is a crime drama which follows former world war one soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. The broadcaster of Peaky Blinders is BBC2, aiming to target the arts, culture, drama and some comedy. This text should be appealing to audiences already served by BBC1 or ITV, the two main channels on British TV which serve majority of the population. BBC 2 is highly praised for the development of prestigious 'high brow' drama series. 

Highbrow texts are generally aimed for people who can be an active audience with texts that include intellectual and culturally rich narrative. This text in particular can be polysemic due to the elements of mainstream text narrative which is portrayed throughout. This would suggest that higher class would  tend to be more engaged with the topic of Peaky Blinders, due to evidence in the programme of events and issues that is ported within this. 

Another audience that this may attract would be people who live in Birmingham or the Midlands. This may attract an audience because they would be interested to know historical information about the area and how Birmingham had developed since after the first world war finished. People who may be interested in Birmingham as a city also may like to watch this programme as it gives historical information about the place. 

The opening scene in Peaky Blinders uses modern music in contrast to the era that it is set in, this may attract a younger audience as it shows the idea of modernism. The non-diegetic sound that is used in this is modern, for instance in the opening scene in creates a different mood to the audience, as the cinematic influences of the director are shown in his scene in particular as it shows the build up of drama and the slow-motion of the camera during the fight scene between the peaky blinders and the gypsies, the non-diegetic modern music adds excitement for the audience. However the non-diegetic sound used in Mad Men

Mad Men - Episode 11, Season 5 'The Other Woman'

'Discuss the audiences appeal of your three main texts' - B1 [30 MARKS] 

Man Med is a programme which was created by AMC for a niche audience, an audience which pays to view the programmes in which they show. the programmes shown are targeted for a specific audience, for example usually people who are middle aged working people who can afford to pay for extra channels.  

The audience appeal to Mad Men could be that the range of gender and how they are represented throughout episode 11, we see that throughout this episode that a male audience would feel more dominant, this is due to all of the power that males had in the 1960's. We recognise the idea of male power as the main boss of the company is the man who owns Jaguar, male audiences may like this episode to to the male male power in the workforce in the 1960's. 

Another audience type that would watch Mad Men would be people who have fascinations with the 1960's. These people like the idea of looking back at the past, so by presenting Mad Men with typical clothing with suits and hats for males and floral dresses for women do have an appeal for people who like to look back at certain decades. Another reason is that the set is all made up to look like it is the 60's, we see this by the colour schemes that are used around Joan's home and the colour schemes of the beige colours that are around the work office. 

The character casting is also a reason that may attract an audience to watch Mad Men, we see that throughout the seasons the director tends to stick with the same people throughout all of the series. the idea that an audience can become familiarised with characters and allows people to connect and familiarise with the as the series progresses. The character casting also fits in with the idea of the 1960's - we see that in the 1960's all women aspired to look like Marylin Monroe, so the casting of Joan being a bigger, curvier lady shows that the 1960's figure is present within the era that it is set in. The casting of fewer multi-racial people is also present within Mad Men, as business was mainly full of white males, the idea of not casting many black people gives the idea of the text fitting in with the era that Mad Men is set in. 

The editing in Mad Men in this particular is very intelligent n the way that it is done. we see the idea of parallel editing between the scene when Don goes to talk to the big boss of Jaguar in the board room, and we also see the boss with Joan in his apartment, so we soon realise what joan has done the night before. We then realise that she had made a mistake as Don had told her not to go through with it, but the editing shows that she already had. this style of editing may attract an audience as its lows them to think and work out what has happened for themselves. 



RESEARCH; 

In a recent interview with the creator of Mad Men, Matthew Weiner he's admits that the programme is 'not for everybody' this would be because of the niche audience that it is broadcasted to. The creator of the programme didn't want it to 'work to a formula', so by doing this it will please an audience that is driven to watch it by characters. He stated 'By operating on a human scale, it is his job to entertain by creating interesting story lines', he works on things within the episodes that create moods and what people are able to relate too through the characters and situations that occur. 

A fan forum 'The orange couch' the review the episode 'The Other Woman'. The dicuss that in the first scene 'it gives women an option to be objects or humans' this then appeals to a female audience as it suggest that women have the choice to escape the idea as being seen as sex objects, relating to Laura Mulvey's theory. The forum suggest that men in the 1960's are seen as the main people, and think that women should not have as much rights in the industry. 

Lost Analysis

'Most media texts target a range of different audiences. How true is this for your chosen texts?' 


Lost is mainstream text that was originally broadcasted in the US, we recognise it is mainstream text for a range of different audiences by the enigma codes that are presented through the scene. The enigma code in this particular scene was the use of not knowing what was coming to attack the group. so by the use of the sense of mystery and fear it presents the enigma code to the audience to keep them intrigued to what this could be that is putting lives in danger. 

 The use of the ensemble cast is a way in which lost targets a range of different and broader audience, by using mixed gender and different ethnicity's, it allows the audience to connect with the character that reminds them of themselves. it also is a good idea to use to attract a mainstream audience so that everyone has the same amount of 'screen time' so that everyones feels important and recognised.

by creating Lost as a hybrid genre, they mix genres to make a wider audience be interested in the programme. we see that in the short scene that we viewed we recognised the elements of 'good and bad' which usually attracts a female audience as it represents the idea of a fairy tale. other genres that we see within this short clip were the element of action with the guns and drama that appear, this usually would attract a male audience to the programme. Another element within this hybrid genre is the use of the Sci-Fi, we see elements of this by the surroundings and what is in the surroundings, i.e. animals and plants. within this short clip we see the idea of a hero, this is shown when Sawyer saves the rest of the group from being killed by the polar-bear. Another element of the idea of a hero is when the Sayid tries to pull the women away form the danger.

'Drive'

Drive shows some conventions of Film Noir, we see within the first scene that low key lighting is used, this suggest a darks tory line that that danger is ahead. Within the first scene also the location is established, to be in an urban environment which is typically used within 'Noir' films. `for example, when we are first introduced to Sin City, we see that the film is set within an urban environment, suggesting similarities between the two. Another convention of film noir is that rain drenched steers and damp weathers used frequently, we see this is established when the disequilibrium begins to occur, also the same as it does throughout the whole of Sin City.

The introduction to the femme fatale in Drive is also an convention of film noir. When we first see her character, she is wearing red lipstick and is smoking these are two very common uses of iconography within film noir as it suggest danger. The villain also states that she is a 'beautiful lady' which tells the audience that she may be dangerous throughout the film. This believes us to think that this film has the same conventions as a film noir, as the use of a beautiful woman wearing red lipstick is used in films such as 'The last seduction' and   'Sin City'.  This then contradicts the idea of her being a femme fatale during the end of the scenes in which she is in, this is because her character dies, which is usual as it is usually the male character that she has become involved with that end up dead or severely injured.

Drive also shows another convention of film noir, is the use of neon lights on typical american places such as american dinners and motels which are frequent in other noir films. for example in Pulp Fiction the opening scene is set in typical american place in the dinner, whereas in Drive, this is set in the typical american place in a Motel.