Y13 Media

Studies
Monday 14th
January

WALT: to
analyse the
institutional
features of a
contemporary
British film
Y13 Media
Studies
Monday 14th
Topic: Television
January Science Fiction/Thriller

WALT: to
analyse the
institutional Humans
The
features within Returned

UK and
European
Television
dramas
SAMPLE ASSESSMENT MATERIALS: EXAMS
Component 1 Section A: Analysing Media Language and Representation Component 1 Section B: Understanding Media Industries

Representation: 3 (a) Briefly explain what is meant by distribution. [2]

1. Compare how audiences are positioned by the representations in this
Save The Children advertisement and the WaterAid advertisement you have
studied. In your answer you must:
• consider how the representations construct versions of reality
• consider the similarities and differences in how audiences are
positioned by the representations
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far the
representations relate to relevant media contexts. [30]
Language:
2. How does media language incorporate viewpoints and ideologies in these
front pages on 10 November 2016 of The Sun and The Daily Mail? [15]
(b) How have recent technological changes had an impact on the production and
distribution of newspapers? [10]
(c) What is a media conglomerate? [1]
(d) Explain how ownership shapes media products. Refer to The Daily Mirror to
support your points. [12]
4 (a) Explain how national and global audiences can be reached through different
media technologies and platforms. Refer to Late Night Woman's Hour to support
your points. [8]
(b) How do media organisations meet the needs of specialised audiences? Refer
to Late Night Woman's Hour to support your points. [12]

Component 2 Section A – Television in the
Global Age
(a) To what extent can the set episode of
Humans be seen as postmodern? [15]
(b) Television production takes place within
an economic context. Discuss the influence
of economic factors on The Returned. [15]
Component 2 Section B – Magazines: Mainstream and
Alternative Media
Vogue and The Big Issue
Compared with the past, David Gauntlett argues that in the
media today ‘we no longer get singular, straightforward
messages about ideal types of male and female identities.’
Evaluate the validity of this claim with reference to the set
editions of Vogue and The Big Issue and the historical
contexts in which they were produced. [30]
Component 2 Section C – Media in the Online Age
Zoella and Attitude
How far can aspects of identity be seen to affect the
way in which audiences use online media? Discuss,
with reference to Zoella and Attitude. [30]
You should refer to relevant academic theories in
your response.

1 (a) To what extent can the set episode of
Humans be seen as postmodern? [15]
Component 2 Section A – Television in the Global Age
In applying their understanding of
postmodernism to Humans, responses may, for
example, refer to some of the following:
• the way in which the programme explores
postmodern themes such as the relationship
between identity and technology in a
postmodern world/consumer society.
• the way in which the ‘synths’ can be seen to
embody Baudrillard’s notion of simulacra and
the hyperreal.
• the use of intertextuality (e.g. the ‘Asimov
Blocks’ that are built into the ‘synths’ as an
intertextual reference to Isaac Asimov’s three
laws of robotics)
• the way in which the programme ‘borrows’
and reworks material from existing media
sources (e.g. the that it is a remake of the
Swedish science-fiction series, Real Humans).

1 (b) Television production takes place within
an economic context. Discuss the influence of
economic factors on The Returned. [15]
In discussing the influence of economic factors on The
Returned, responses may explore some of the following:
• the need for Canal Plus, as a premium pay channel, to
provide high quality original programming to attract
and satisfy subscribers and the way in which The
Returned can be seen to address this need  the
importance of securing international distribution for the
series due to its €11 million budget, and the extent to
which this can be seen to have influenced the
programme’s production.
• how the grant received from Creative Europe MEDIA
can be seen to have a positive impact on the
programme’s production values (as demonstrated in the
bus crash sequence for example), thereby improving its
capacity for export, which is one of Creative Europe’s
key aims.
• the significance of the locations used for filming (e.g. in
terms of enabling the producers to secure funding
through the Ile-de-France Regional Fund and the
Rhône-Alpes Regional Fund).
Component 2 Section A – Television in the Global Age
 Television in the Global Age:
An Introduction
• Television has changed considerably since the advent of
digital technology in terms of its production, distribution
and consumption. It has become a global, rather than a
national industry and has become increasingly
commercial, with public service broadcasting forced to
adapt its structure, role and function. International co-
production is growing and broadcasters such as HBO have
achieved global success.
• Broadcasters are now ‘narrowcasters’, with multiple
channels targeting different (sometimes more niche)
audiences.
• Audiences consume television texts in a variety of ways as
the industry has increased portability via new platforms
(tablet, mobile phone) and patterns of consumption have
changed alongside this (the box-set and binge-watching,
on-demand and catch-up, Netflix, Amazon, etc.).
• Interactive social media channels such as YouTube have
increased accessibility for the ‘prosumer’ audience, and
social media and viral promotion have become a crucial
part of marketing television texts.
The Returned (Les Revenants) 5 minute Season 1 Summary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AadvodsivY8

• French release - 26 November 2012 on Canal+

• UK release - 9 June 2013 on Channel 4
• Length of show - 2 series, 8 episodes each (1 hour
episodes)
• Based on - French film They Came Back (Les Revenants)
(dir. Robin Campillo 2004)
• Created by - Fabrice Gobert.
• Synopsis - The Returned opens in a small mountain
community which is rocked to its core when several local
people who are presumed dead suddenly re-appear at
their homes. Despite having passed away some years
earlier, these ghostly characters appear in human form,
they have not aged, and they are completely unaware of
their own fatality. Determined to reclaim their lives and
start over, they slowly come to realize that they are not the
only ones to have been brought back from the dead. Their
return augers torment for their community when a
gruesome murder attempt bears a chilling resemblance to
the work of a serial killer from the past. This is a
homecoming like no other.
TV Genre • The Returned is difficult to categorise by genre.
• It won an International Emmy for best Drama
Series in 2013.
• It has elements of a supernatural horror text.
• Wikipedia classifies it as a ‘supernatural drama’,
whilst IMDb classifies it as ‘drama, fantasy,
horror.’
• Rotten Tomatoes classifies it as
‘Mystery/Suspense’.

• It is possibly closest to a zombie text because of

its focus on the ‘undead’.
• Gabriel Tate in The Guardian calls it ‘A zombie
series like no other’.
• https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/201
5/oct/03/series-two-french-tv-show-the-returne
d
 Genre RESISTS
• Recurring situations
What are the • Elements of narrative
codes and • Style
conventions • Iconography
• Settings
of a zombie • Themes
text? • Stock characters
Ryan Hollinger: The Accidental History of the Zombie Genre (10 mins): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWaRhTUmkZE
 [THE RETURNED] - ZOMBIE GENRE?
RECURRING ELEMENTS OF STYLE ICONOGRAPHY SETTINGS THEMES STOCK
SITUATIONS NARRATIVE CHARACTERS
• Pandemic • The ‘return’ from the • Disparate • Ripped clothing • The Mall or • Existential themes – • Music soundtrack
• The dead return/rise dead as Todorovian characters attempt • Blank stares community hub nature of human • Low key, often
• The dead move in disruption to work together • Grasping hands • Abandoned condition • Survival of chiaroscuro lighting –
hordes • Quest-based narrative – • Screaming • Blood and gore buildings/streets the fittest OR
• Judgement Day for survival victim(s) • Eerie • Decaying flesh • Community setting • Sacrifice • Bright, high key glare
• Zombie attacks • Narrative positioning child (exceptional • Police/government • Enclosed spaces and • Mortality and human • Hard focus
• Flesh eating with hero on a quest powers) notices/warnings closed frames • Man over-reaching – • Closed frames
• Destruction of society • Binary oppositions of • Arrogant gung-ho • Inarticulate grunts • Isolated settings close playing God by bringing • Gritty (dependent on
• Collapse of law and living v dead, past v type – often meets • Body parts to nature back a life production values and
order present, outsider v a sticky end • Weaponry • Notions of budget)
• Meeting of survivors community • Archetypal • Pallor order/chaos within • Tracking shots
• Holed up and • Faust storylines – making warrior • Blood society • Desaturated colour
besieged the wrong moral choice • Hero/protector • Mist/darkness • Isolation v palette
• Whittling down of because of emotional • Disposable community • Red accents
group, one by one attachment sidekick • Allegorical – reflects connoting danger and
• Military/police • Orpheus narrative • The disrupted anxieties of the time bloodshed
intervention archetype – deals with loss family unit • The • Impact of violence on
• Difficult decisions – • Denouement – character who can’t humanity
killing loved ones for alternative scenarios let go • Humans as the real
the good of the many • Flashbacks to previous • New ‘family’ monsters
• Bloody fightback – existence community created • Social and ideological
shoot’em up • Narrative closure – offers messages
• Climactic battle Todorovian resolution for • Human resilience
• Power and resources audiences questioned
go down • Restriction/derestriction • Themes of control
of narrative • Fate
• Enigma codes • Disillusionment
throughout
 French Poetic Realist Film Tradition
• Some 1930s French films were categorised by their
‘poetic realism’.
• Directors such as Jean Renoir, Marcel Carné and Jean
Vigo focused on aesthetics and had a lyrical style
[INFLUENCES]
aimed at highlighting the poetry within reality.
• Shots were simply constructed but with an
otherworldly purity from the lighting and camera
techniques used.
• They often dealt with characters who were
disillusioned, with perhaps one last chance at
happiness.
• They were fatalistic in tone and had a sense of
impending doom and the bittersweet irony of human
existence.
Key films
La Grande Illusion (Renoir, 1937)
Le Quai des Brumes (Carné,1938)
L’Atalante (Vigo, 1934)
Impact of Poetic Realism on The Returned
• Genre conventions are socially and historically
relative – here the genre is influenced by French
cinematic tradition.
• Visual style: spare and sharp but beautifully
constructed. Lyrical aesthetics.
• Sense of impending doom – enigma codes – the
dam, the horde.
• Fatalistic – Victor’s visions of the future. He has been
likened to Cassandra in myth – doomed to foretell
the future but be ignored.
• Nature of human condition – man’s mortality. Focus
on the irony and bitter-sweetness of loved ones
returning – but things have moved on. Displaced and
marginalised characters who struggle to fit in. Last
chances of happiness.
• Fabrice Gobert: ‘I love silences... I love people
looking at each other. I love suspended time.’
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/oc
t/03/series-two-french-tv-show-thereturned
Task: Watch The Returned Episode 1 and identify the generic Example features
signifiers in the text. Identify the signifiers of the ‘zombie’
show (use RESISTS).
• What other genres/generic features are evident? Use the • Mortality
reviews below as starting points. • Rising from the dead
• What is ‘old’ in terms of genre and what is new, ‘innovative • The undead
and imaginative’? • Pale faces
• Why has the genre changed/developed? Gabriel Tate in The • Creepy child (Victor)
Guardian calls it ‘A zombie series like no other’. • Decaying flesh
• What makes it ‘different’? • Feral hunger – eating flesh
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog • Movement en masse – the horde
/2013/jun/09/the-returned-recapseries-one-episode-one • Police rule/control (Series 2)
• Recurring situations • Cinematography – dusk shooting
• Soft focus
• Elements of
• Attack on Lucy
narrative
• Shock jump scares
• Style • Clean and stark style
• Mist and darkness
• Iconography
• Narrative is fragmented – flashbacks
• Settings • Enigmas – Where have they come from? The
dam?
• Themes
• Stock characters
Narrative Act Four Task: Identify key plot point
progressions in each Act
Structure Act Three Repair
Climax
Recognition
Progressive
Act Two Complication
Tension
Disruption
Inciting
Incident

Act Five
Act One New Equilibrium
New Resolution
Equilibrium
Exposition

Time
Stage The Returned Humans
Equilibrium The bereaved have adjusted (or not) to the Hawkins family set-up. Absent working mother (Laura)
deaths of their loved ones.

Disruption The dead return – e.g. Camille to Léna, Jérôme “We’re going shopping”. Purchase of synth and
and Claire; Madame Costa to Mr Costa; Simon introduction into household. Anita takes over domestic
looks for Adèle. duties. Disrupts family routine

Recognition The ‘undead’ realise they have been absent for Perhaps signaled by Laura’s increasing concern about
years. the relationship between Anita and Sophie, then the
enigma of Anita taking Sophie out in the middle of the
night.

Repair M Costa burns his house with his wife inside it Anita’s flashbacks to the car in the water and holding
and jumps from the dam; Victor appears to Julie someone.
and she takes him in; Lucy is stabbed.

New Does the flashback operate as a type of closure? Not here yet – narrative is episodic.
Equilibrium It ‘explains’ why the bus crashes. Is there
closure? What about at the end of the series?
Theory The Returned Humans
Postmodernism
(Baudrillard)

Binary oppositions
(Levi-Strauss)

Van Zoonen’s
Feminist theory

Bell hooks
intersectional theory

Allegory

Hall’s Reception
Theory

Todorovian 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
narrative structure

Genre (Neale)
 Binary oppositions
• Past v present
• Living v dead
• Old relationships v new relationships
• Serge v Toni
• Simon v Thomas
• M Costa v Mme Costa
• Self-sacrifice v self-preservation
• The horde v the police
• Illusion v reality
• Honesty v lies
• The ‘truth’ v perception of truth
• Camille v Léna
• Julie v Mlle Payet
• Death v rebirth
• Immortality v mortality
Story arcs/character arcs
• The dam, the flood – runs throughout
• The quest for the truth
• The returned – a different narrative
strand in each episode, often interwoven
with flashbacks and other narrative
strands: - Camille and her family
• Julie and Victor
• Simon and Adèle
• Thomas and Chloé
• Serge and Toni - Lucy
• The journey/transformation –the living
and the returned learn from each other
Theoretical framework
• The way events, issues, individuals (including
self-representation) and social groups (including
social identity) are represented through
processes of selection and combination.
• The effect of social and cultural context on
representations.
• How and why stereotypes can be used
positively and negatively.
• How and why particular social groups, in a
national and global context, may be
underrepresented or misrepresented.
• How media representations convey values,
attitudes and beliefs about the world and how
these may be systematically reinforced across a
wide range of media representations.
• How audiences respond to and interpret media
representations.
• Theories of representation (including Hall).
Representations are constructed through codes;
stereotypes exist as a consequence of inequality
of power, maps of reality and deviance –
‘otherness’.
• Theories of identity (including Gauntlett). The
media offer a more diverse range of e.g.
characters from whom we may pick and mix
different ideas.
• Feminist theories (including bell hooks and Van
Zoonen) at A Level.
Creating questions out of questions
• Is the narrative entirely linear? If not, why not? Give examples.
• Does the episode have a flexi-narrative?
• Are there story arcs which run across the series/franchise?
• Are there obvious codes (Barthes) around which the narrative is structured?
Give examples.
• Is it realist?
• How are time and space manipulated within the narrative?
• Narrative – Is it a flexi-narrative? Characters are complex, storylines interweave,
we question what is real and what isn’t, it challenges the audience through
enigma, confusion.
• Linear/non-linear? Flashback/forward e.g. the bus crash, Léna and her
boyfriend. Often complex manipulation of time and space challenges audiences.
• Complex flexi-narrative with over-reaching story arcs – e.g. the dam, Victor. Part
of larger narrative – only the beginning.
• It’s a series so we expect an element of closure in the final episode. Here it is
minimal. The supernatural sub-genre is reliant on enigma.
• Intellectual puzzle for an active audience. Not ‘easy’ viewing as there are
enigmas/ hermeneutics throughout – e.g. Why do only some of the dead return?
Why is the water level dropping? Who is Victor? Who killed Lucy? How did Mme
Costa die?
• Symbolic and cultural codes – Barthes e.g. the apocalyptic symbolism of ‘the
flood’; the use of colour; Faustian bartering of life/death; mythical quality of
Lucy/Victor as foretellers of the future (the Cassandra figure).
• Orpheus root story – focuses on loss and how we deal with this.
• Proppian roles and functions shift as the multi-strand narrative progresses – is
there a single hero?
• Christopher Booker suggests a narrative archetype of ‘Rebirth’ which is
applicable here.
• Narrative ellipsis – much is not revealed.
• Surreal /anti-realist elements at times – e.g. Victor in the middle of the road; the
telepathy of the twins.
Application of Theory – [The Returned]
Liesbet Van Zoonen – Feminist Theory
‘[There is] a depressing stability in the articulation of women’s politics and communication . . . The underlying frame of reference is that women belong to the
family and domestic life and men to the social world of politics and work; that femininity is about care, nurturance and compassion, and that masculinity is about
efficiency, rationality and individuality.’ – Van Zoonen Give examples from The Returned that illustrate this concept.
Women Example • Males constructed through movement (active)
• Marginalised Women are represented as nurturers • Silence and impassivity
(or absent) (Claire and Camille, Julie and Victor) • Strength, muscularity and aggression
• Domestic • Julie as nurse to M. Costa • Competition – males as gladiators or combatants – ‘the spectacle’
• Sexualised • Léna as sexual, if not overtly • Constructed more through the intradiegetic gaze – the way they are looked at by other characters
• Nurturer sexualised (e.g. with respect/fear)
• Lucy as vulnerable victim in menial • Allows narcissistic identification without erotic gaze Is this the case in The Returned or are these
job constructed representations challenged
Men Task: Read the paragraphs from Van Zoonen’s essay ‘Feminist Perspectives on the Media’. Pages 33–37, ‘Feminist Perspectives on the Media’ in
• Efficient Mass Media and Society (Curran and Gurevitch) Arnold (1996).
• Rational
• Individual What does she suggest are the key differences between a: Liberal, Radical and Socialist feminist perspective?

Liberal Radical Socialist

• Fighting for power through the equal, legal rights
of women in society
• Media perpetuate sex role stereotypes because
they reflect dominant social values
• Male media producers are influenced by this
• Men are not the enemy– can live alongside each
other as equals
• Women can be superwoman – home, family, body
and work.
• Men control a patriarchal society through
dominance and physical strength
• Men have no place in feminist utopia
• Believe in women dominating society
• Reject typical gender roles
• Media production is owned by men,
operates to the benefit of the male and
should be by women, for women
• Concerns with class and economics – ‘power is located
in socio-economic structures’
• Women’s ‘production of labour’ and the ‘economic
value of domestic labour’ are not recognised
• As this work is lower/unpaid, it is essential to maintain
a capitalist society
• Women as consumers in this society
• Linked often to class, age and ethnicity
• Advertising reinforces sexual objectification of women.
Application of Theory – [The Returned]
Encoding/decoding bell hooks
• Narrative: e.g. • bell hooks argues that
audiences feminism is a struggle
identify/empathise to end patriarchal
with characters oppression and the
through the ideology of
restricted nature of domination, and that
our narrative the position of the
positioning under-represented is
• Humour – by class and race as
dialogue well as gender.
• Technical codes • ‘Women in lower class
(language) – and poor groups,
camera, editing, particularly those who
audio are non-white, would
• Lighting – 70s not have defined
• Framing women’s liberation as
• Mise-en-scène women gaining social
(costuming, setting) equality with men since
• Performance they are continually
• Barthes – cultural reminded in their
codes everyday lives that all
women do not share a
common social status.’
• Task: Is ‘patriarchal
oppression and the
ideology of
domination’ evident in
‘‘The Returned?
Stuart Hall - the spectacle of ‘the Other
• ’ Stuart Hall also discusses the notion
that the powerful elite groups
(white, male, middle class, etc.),
which control the media, create a
‘norm’ which reflects themselves.
• Representations of other groups are
then constructed in terms of their
difference to this – their ‘otherness’.
• ‘Stereotyping … is part of the
maintenance of social and symbolic
order. It sets up a symbolic frontier
between the ‘normal’ and the
‘deviant’, ‘the normal’ and the
‘pathological’, ‘the acceptable’ and
‘the unacceptable’, what belongs and
what does not or is ‘Other’, between
insiders and outsiders, Us and Them.’
Further reading - Representation:
Cultural Representations and Signifying
Practice, S. Hall, ed. 2013 Sage, p.258
Hall identifies three classic stereotypes
of black people:
A) as slave, willingly serving a white
master
B) as native, savage and uncivilised
C) as clown or entertainer, to be laughed
at but not taken seriously.
The Returned as allegory
• ‘Pierre symbolizes the current mediatic characterization of Others as ‘savages’
that serve the purpose of presenting the West as human, and migrants as non-
human.
• While Gobert has not openly said that the series was a reflection of the Syrian
migration, it can be inferred from the series’ narrative arcs that the many
similarities in script and scenario with Campillo’s 2004 film do reflect the same
sort of malaise concerning the treatment of migrant Others in contemporary
French society.
• Furthermore, in positing the character of Pierre as the voice of a traditional,
Christian society that purposely rejects Others, drives them out of their ‘civilized’
town and into the woods, and characterizes them as the antithesis of humanity,
Gobert is able to extend his criticism of the current situation in France.’
• Zombies and Refugees: Variations on the ‘Post-human’ and the ‘Non-human’ in
Robin Campillo’s Les Revenants (2004) and Fabrice Gobert’s Les Revenants
(2012–2015), Claire Mouflard, 2016
Task: How are the returned constructed as ‘other’? Use the digital resource to allow
students to compare their ideas with those suggested.
• Reflects contemporary issues – immigration, camps and the integration of
refugees (e.g. Syrian) into French society
• The returned as ‘other’ – non-human – the ‘horde’
• Temporary camps (Episode 8)
• Origins of zombies in Haiti- – voodoo mythology – the native
• Conflict, fear, savagery – flesh-eating
• Serge as malevolent, destructive force within the ‘others’ – (shades of Islamic
State?)
• Forced out of town, hunted down by police
• The ‘others’ as destroyers – the dam. The returned cause apocalyptic events and
destroy nature.
 Industries
• Processes of production,
distribution and circulation by
organisations, groups and
individuals in a global context. This
could begin with an
overview/introduction to television
industries – commercial and PSB.
• The specialised and
institutionalised nature of media
production, distribution and
circulation.
• The significance of patterns of
ownership and control including
conglomerate ownership, vertical
integration and diversification.
• The significance of economic
factors, including commercial and
not-for-profit public funding, to
media industries and their
INDUSTRY CRITERIA
products. Look at C4 here.
• How media organisations
maintain, including through
marketing, varieties of audiences
nationally and globally. Marketing
and global reach of The Returned?
• The regulatory framework of
contemporary media in the UK.
OFCOM, BBFC classification,
watershed.
• How processes of production,
distribution and circulation shape
media products.
• The role of regulation in global
production, distribution and
circulation.
• Regulation (including Livingstone
and Lund) at A level.
• Cultural industries (including
Hesmondhalgh) at A Level.
Key Facts
The Returned (Les Revenants)
• 26 November 2012 on Canal+
• UK on 9 June 2013 on Channel 4
• 2 series, 8 episodes each
• Based on the French film They
Came Back • (Les Revenants) (dir.
Robin Campillo 2004)
• Season 2: 8 episodes • 28
September 2015 on Canal+.
• UK on 16 October 2015 on
More4
• US on 31 October 2015 on
SundanceTV
Canal+
French premium cable channel
• Founded 1984
• Owned by Canal+ group (Studio
Canal – major French film
investor/producer; news, sport
and entertainment TV across
Europe and Africa)
• Owned by Vivendi SA
https://www.vivendi.com/en
• At year-end 2016, Canal+ Group
had revenues of €5.253 billion
FILM/TV UNITS:
• Eagle Rock Entertainment,
PolyGram Entertainment,
Universal Music TV.
• Canal+ Group.
• Canal+, Canalsat Afrique,
Calédonie Caraïbes, D8,
StudioCanal UK. OTHER ASSETS:
• Video hosting: Dailymotion
(90%) Video games: Ubisoft and
Gameloft (96%) Telecom Italia
(20.03%) Mediaset (12.3%)
• Vivendi Ticketing (retail) and
concert venues; Paddington Bear
Vivendi
Vivendi is a French multi-media
conglomerate whose assets include: MUSIC:
• Universal Music Distribution, Decca
Records, Island Records, Mercury Records,
Roc Nation, Republic Records, Hip-O
Records, Def Jam Recordings, Show Dog-
Universal Music, Vevo.
• Capitol Music Group, Apple Records, Blue
Note Records, Harvest Records, Motown,
Virgin Records. • Interscope Geffen, A&M
Records, Geffen Records, Interscope Records.
• Capitol UK, Decca Records, Island UK,
Polydor Records, Virgin EMI Records.
Sundance
‘Since its launch in 1996, SundanceTV has
remained true to founder Robert Redford’s
mission to celebrate creativity and distinctive
storytelling through unique voices and
narratives found in the best independent
films. From delivering critically acclaimed
Emmy®, Golden Globe® and Peabody Award-
winning television featuring some of the
world’s most talented creators and
performers, to showcasing some of the most
compelling and iconic films across genres
and generations, SundanceTV is a smart and
thought-provoking entertainment
destination. SundanceTV is owned and
operated by AMC Networks Inc.; its sister
networks include AMC, IFC, BBC America and
WE tv. SundanceTV is available across all
platforms, including on-air, online at
sundance.tv, on demand and mobile.
Channel 4
Channel 4
Launched in 1982 with an alternative programming remit. Page 3: Task: Look at the link to
C4’s ‘Creative Greenhouse’ Report, particularly pages 4 and 5, and answer the questions:
http://www.channel4.com/media/documents/corporate/C4_KeyFacts_2016.pdf
• Is C4 a public service broadcaster? Yes
• Is C4 a profit-making organisation? No
• Is C4 commercially funded through advertising? Yes
• Is C4 regulated by Ofcom? Yes
• Does C4 have in-house production facilities? No
• What is meant by C4’s ‘Social Enterprise’ or ‘Robin Hood’ model? Commercially-funded
by advertising Not-for-profit: all surplus goes back into content ‘Robin Hood’ system:
profit-making genres such as Factual Entertainment cross-fund lossmaking ones like News
and Current Affairs.
• List 6 of C4’s key public service elements
1. Be innovative and distinctive
2. Stimulate public debate on contemporary issues
3. Reflect cultural diversity of the UK
4. Champion alternative points of view
5. Inspire change in people’s lives
6. Nurture new and existing talent.
Marketing Task: analyse the trailer and other marketing materials. Identify how the
marketing targets audiences How is the text marketed to target audiences?
• Sold on genre with a twist – focus on trailer and reviews (link to Neale).
• Sold on enigma – social media buzz.
• Sold as a quality drama – marks of trust – Canal+, C4, etc. Peabody and BAFTA awards
used to target ABC1 audience.
• Sold worldwide (US spin-off for 1 series); subtitled versions in e.g. UK and Germany.
• Coverage in magazines – ‘event’ of second series covered in TV listings guides.
• Some merchandising (e.g. spin-off, novelisation, T-shirts) target collector/fan audience
who become part of the fan community.
• Magazine coverage in SFX and Total Film targets film fan, sci/fi horror audience.
• Innovative, interactive website targets a younger, tech-literate audience.
• As does Canal + strategy offering 360˚ virtual navigation of the town on multiple
platforms.
• Created series ‘brand’. These elements target different audiences. Theory –
Hesmondhalgh argues that companies use these techniques to minimise risk and
maximise profit. With its follow-up series 2 and spin-off American version, it reflects his
notion of major media institutions formatting their own cultural products.
AUDIENCE CRITERIA
Audiences
How media producers target, attract,
reach, address and potentially
construct audiences through media
language and representations.
• How media industries target
audiences through the content and
appeal of media products and
through the ways in which they are
marketed, distributed and circulated.
This will be through a combination of
marketing and media language.
• How audiences interpret the media,
including how they may interpret the
same media text in different ways.
• How media organisations reflect the
different needs of mass and
specialised audiences, including
through targeting.
• How audiences use media in
different ways, reflecting
demographic factors as well as
aspects of identity and cultural
capital.
• The role and significance of
specialised audiences, including niche
and fan, to the media.
• The way in which different audience
interpretations reflect social, cultural
and historical circumstances.
• Reception theory (including Hall).
Encoding and decoding, preferred,
negotiated and oppositional readings.
Examples – target audiences
Who is the audience for The Returned? Think
about gender, age, psychographics (e.g. VALS),
socio-economic group, interest. Is there more
than one audience? Justify your response.
• How does the text itself target audiences?
Consider genre, narrative, star and character,
representations, intertextuality.
• How does the marketing target audiences? See
Marketing notes. Use the digital resource to give
students the opportunity to compare their ideas
with those suggested below:
• Primary Target Audience – fans of
zombie/supernatural texts = mainstream
audience. 15+ (primetime TV slot).
• Cross-gender appeal – male audiences may
identify with e.g. Simon (role models) aspiration.
Female audiences of different ages may identify
with e.g. Camille/ Adèle.
• Experiencers may enjoy the vicarious thrill of
the genre.
• C4 audience is traditionally ABC1- may also be
attracted by the highbrow kudos of the subtitled
text. Similar audience to fans of e.g. Nordic noir
(similar scheduling)
• Secondary audience – fans of
zombie/supernatural texts– hybrid generic
elements in the text – more alternative/niche
audience – younger fans e.g. students. 360˚
marketing including interactive websites and
multi-platform reach.
• Alternative audience because of non-linear,
surreal narrative structure and lack of closure.
• Inherited fan bases – from e.g. Twin Peaks or
fans of aMC programming (The Walking Dead).
Example – audience response
The audience models are on printable cards –
group discussion which can be differentiated.
• Identification – Uses and Gratifications
Model. Link to context – audiences may
identify with the characters as the concept of
bereavement and loss is universal.
• Diversion – Uses and Gratifications Model.
Audiences use the text as escapism. There are
elements of fantasy and the surreal in the text
which divert us from our own mundane
existences. The non-linear narrative also helps
with this. There is also diversionary appeal in
the development of the relationship between
Simon and Adèle – a bittersweet love story –
and the family focus (maternal sacrifice, etc.)
which may hold more appeal for a female
audience.
• Enigma – Who is Victor? Why is the dam
receding?
• Testimonial – On DVD cover – quotes from
e.g. Time magazine (ABC1 audiences).
Sundance branding. Two-step Flow. These act
as opinion leaders and audiences believe in
the show’s quality because of this.
• Social interaction – Uses and Gratifications
Model. Audiences may discuss the text
(watercooler effect) or
tweet/comment/follow on social media. They
may attempt to ‘solve’ the intellectual puzzle
that is posed.
• Audiences may consider their own attitudes
by comparing them to those of e.g. Claire or
Adèle.
Additional detail
Awards
• International Emmy for Best Drama series
• Peabody Award
• 100% on Rotten Tomatoes
• Facebook 109,000 likes; 106,000 followers
• Also FB fan sites and fan fiction
• IMDb – 8.2 score
• Cult audience
• The most watched original fiction created by
Canal+ of all time
• Voted best 2013 drama by The Guardian.
Audience pleasure
. • Audience expectations of genre – pleasure in
seeing expectations fulfilled (Neale)
• Pleasure of intellectual puzzle – enigma codes
• Reality – creates audience empathy and
identification (U and G)
• Escapism – diversion
• Aesthetic pleasure – it looks beautiful •
Star/character identification
• Moral messages – reinforces/challenges
dominant ideologies
• Catharsis
• Narrative pleasures – recognition of patterns
which are then varied
• Voyeurism, scopophilia
Readings - Stuart Hall
Extended writing task: Write a paragraph on each
of the following questions • What is the preferred
meaning of The Returned? • How is this
encoded? • What other readings might this text
generate?
Humans Season 1 & 2 Recap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDbtXl8NWWs

• Release Date: Series 1, Episode 1 (2015)

• Original Broadcaster: C4/aMC (UK/US)
• Production Companies: Co-production between C4- commissioned Kudos
Film & TV, distributors Shine Ltd and aMC in the US
• Adaptation: Based on the Swedish series “Real Humans” which ran for 20
episodes across 2 seasons
• Reception: C4’s highest-rated drama since 1992. 2 series of 8 episodes each.
• Synopsis - A suburban family buys the latest tech gadget--a robot servant--in
this remake of a Swedish series. In Season 1 of HUMANS, when Joe (Tom
Goodman-Hill) brings Anita -- later known as Mia (Gemma Chan) -- a robotic
assistant known as a "Synth" into the family home, the repercussions change
their lives forever. As Toby (Theo Stevenson), Sophie (Pixie Davies) and Joe
become enamored with Anita, Mattie (Lucy Careless) and Laura (Katherine
Parkinson) realize something is amiss. Meanwhile, Niska (Emily Berrington), a
conscious synth, seeks help from her human brother Leo (Colin Morgan) after
an incident places their unusual family in danger; and Pete (Neil Maskell), a
police officer investigating Niska's actions, is shocked when his partner Karen
(Ruth Bradley) reveals her secret past. Elsewhere, retired scientist George
struggles to keep his aging synth Odi from being decommissioned; and Laura
and Mattie assist Leo as he tries to uncover the truth behind his father's
work.
• Key themes - The series explores a number of science fiction themes,
including artificial intelligence, consciousness, human-robot interaction,
superintelligence, mind uploading and laws of robotics.
Channel 4 is:
• a public service broadcaster
• a non-profit-making organisation
• commercially funded through
advertising
• regulated by Ofcom Channel 4’s key
public service elements

1. Be innovative and distinctive.

2. Stimulate public debate on
contemporary issues.
3. Reflect cultural diversity of the UK.
4. Champion alternative points of view.
5. Inspire change in people’s lives.
6. Nurture new and existing talent.
 [HUMANS]
RECURRING ELEMENTS OF STYLE ICONOGRAPHY SETTINGS THEMES STOCK
SITUATIONS NARRATIVE CHARACTERS
• What if…? • Usually clear • GFX - particularly in • Sci-fi jargon – • Dystopian settings • Sociological debates • Mad scientist/creator
• Exploration of space disruption of title sequence and SFX technical • Destroyed future – hierarchies of the monster
• Battling equilibrium • ES of settings - closed • Technology – worlds • Science v humanity • Final girl – tough
aliens/machines • Reliance on enigma frames or vast open screens, data etc. • Parallel universe • Man v machine – female survivor
• Creating a monster codes throughout spaces • Robotics • Spacesuits • The future reflects society’s fears • Aliens – aggressor or
(or machine) • Narrative positioning • Usually glossy - • Lasers and hi-tech • Different times about technology misunderstood
• Hubris/over- with hero(es) on a UK/US, dependent on weaponry • Space/spaceships • Divided society and • Robots or AI –
reaching/playing God quest production values and • Control panels • The Lab prejudice (ideological sentient and emotional
• Self-sacrifice (for the • Binary oppositions of budget • Reflective surfaces • Distant planets context) or not
greater good) earth v space, human v • Music to suit mood and clean lines • Inside the machine • Freedom and slavery • Corporate rep -
• Robots develop alien, man v machine and pace – parallel or • Scientific or production line • Nature/nurture usually villain
human characteristics • Flashbacks and contrapuntal iconography • Sacrifice • Eccentric professor
• Explanation of laws manipulation of time • Verisimilitude • Mortality • Super-intelligent
governing environment and space • High key and low • Man over-reaching - sidekick
• A central quest • Narrative closure contrast OR low key, playing God
• Personal freedom is offers Todorovian chiaroscuro lighting • Notions of
threatened resolution for • Slow panning shots order/chaos within
• Manipulation of audiences • Hard focus society – reflecting
mind and memory • Restriction/de- • Colour palettes of contemporary fears
• Attack by the restriction of narrative cold (e.g. 1950s sci-fi and
creature/virus/aliens • Often epic/mythical white/silver/blue/gree Communist threat)
• Countdown to in scale with n
destruction recognisable
archetypal situations
and characters

Theoretical framework
• The way events, issues, individuals
(including self-representation) and
social groups (including social
identity) are represented through
processes of selection and
combination.
• The effect of social and cultural
context on representations.
• How and why stereotypes can be
used positively and negatively
• How and why particular social
groups, in a national and global
context, may be underrepresented or
misrepresented
• How media representations convey
values, attitudes and beliefs about
the world and how these may be
systematically reinforced across a
wide range of media representations
• How audiences respond to and
interpret media representations
• Theories of representation
(including Hall). Representations are
constructed through codes,
stereotypes exist as a consequence of
inequality of power, maps of reality &
deviance - “otherness”
• Feminist theories (including bell
hooks and Van Zoonen) at A Level
[Humans]
Application of Theory Creating questions out of questions
• Is the narrative entirely linear? If not, why not? Give
examples
Audience pleasure • Does the episode have a flexi-narrative?
Binary • Are there story arcs which run across the series/franchise?
• Are there obvious codes (Barthes) around which the
oppositions • Audience expectations of genre – pleasure
in seeing expectations fulfilled (Neale) narrative is structured? Give examples
• Pleasure of intellectual puzzle – enigma • Is it realist?
• Man v machine • How are time and space manipulated within the narrative?
• Anita v Laura codes
• Reality – creates audience empathy and These are on printable cards for differentiated group
• Captivity v freedom discussion
• Progress v regression identification (U & G)
• Escapism – diversion • 3 Act Structure? Part of larger narrative - only the beginning
• Family v institution • Old v young
• Appearance v reality • Star/character identification
• Moral messages –plays on contemporary • Linear/non-linear - is it? Manipulation of time and space
• Individual v society challenges audiences
• Conscious v unconscious fears
• Safety • Surreal /anti-realist elements at times. Flashbacks and
• Past v present montages
• Male v female • Catharsis
• Narrative • Intellectual puzzle for an active audience. Not “easy”
• Old v young viewing
• Voyeurism, scopophilia – the ‘gaze’
• Often Proppian roles
• Plot driven, punctuated by clues which become narrative
markers- enigmas/hermeneutics throughout.
• Lacks denouement and satisfying conclusion
• Narrative - Is it a flexi-narrative? Characters are complex,
Story arcs/character arcs storylines interweave, we question what is real and what
isn’t, it challenges the audience through enigma, confusion
• Anita and the Hawkins family – Tristan love triangle – Joe, Anita, Laura • Complex cross-cutting between past/present and lines of
• Laura’s relationship with Mattie action
• Dr George Millican, social services and Odi • Journey/quest structure – to find the synths, for family
• Leo and his quest to recover the “conscious” synths harmony- link to Campbell/Vogler.
• The corporate mission – Elster, Hobb
• Niska and her journey, the brothel
• Pete and Jill Drummond – Simon the synth physio and their relationship
• DS Karen Voss and relationship with DS Pete Drummond
 [Humans]
Application of Theory
Encoding/decoding Elements of Construction How is “patriarchal oppression and the ideology of
domination” evident in “Humans”?
• Narrative : e.g. • Non-diegetic audio track reflects heartbeat – “birth” of a synth. • Creation of sentient synths by male David Elster – initially
audiences • We initially see only her feet in the mesh “delivery bag”. She is an object to be to replace his wife
identify/empathise bought and sold. • Laura is “replaced” by a synth (domestically, maternally
with characters • Sophie comments “Can we change her if she’s not pretty?” Female value lies in and eventually sexually) because she is struggling to
through narrative physical appearance. manage home/work effectively and is seen as imperfect
positioning • She is “revealed” – to them and to the audience as a spectacle. Reaction of Sophie by her family. The decision is taken unilaterally by
• Humour - dialogue • and Joe as she is revealed – she gasps, he does double-take. “To-be-looked-at-ness” husband Joe who is impressed by the perfect, beautiful,
Technical codes • Programmed for “standard domestic model …basic housework” – female as domestic Anita (initially created as a babysitter and
(language) – camera, domestic reaffirming the notion of woman as nurturer)
editing, audio. Look at • Use of CU on eyes/face and panning shot as reveal occurs • The salesman is male – selling a woman - as are the
use of deep/shallow • Costuming is bland and uniform in grey/green (connotations of sci-fi). Lack of corporate figures who dictate their use
focus. embellishment suggests utilitarian nature of the “product” but also draws attention • The majority of the ethnic actors are synths (“servants”)
• Lighting to her physical beauty. emphasizing Stuart Hall’s notion of the black “slave”
• Framing • “My primary user” suggests she is simply an appliance “used” by the humans stereotype. This is particularly apt when looking at Anita
• Mise-en-scène - • “She’s ours” – ownership of the object. in the home and Fred when fruit picking (overtones of
costuming, setting • Her voice is low, attractive and without emotion – a seductive machine. Joe grins cotton-picking slaves). They are referred to as “just
• Performance sheepishly like a younger boy faced with an attractive woman – “Hello, Joe” freaks”, emphasizing their “otherness”. Anita conforms to
(including intra- • Contrasted with Laura who is costumed in more natural (but duller) browns through the racial stereotypes identified by Alvarado of
diegetic gaze) crosscutting. “sexualized” and “exotic”.
• Barthes - cultural • Anita is presented to Laura holding cleaning products – the perfect domestic • The attitudes of the males, particularly towards Niska in
codes female, in opposition to Laura as the frazzled, emotional working mother. the brothel – “using” women who are clearly not equal.
• Referred to by Laura as “a machine” • The physio synth Simon is a hypermasculine (Zaitchik &
• Focus – use of deep and shallow focus to connote dominance e.g. Laura in Mosher) stereotype – and replaces Pete Drummond in
background, Anita clear in the foreground. Jill’s affections.
• Construction of femininity (Judith Butler) through costume, reaction, performance.

Hesmondhalgh: The Cultural Industries
“Humans”
Hesmondhalgh argues that whilst the
traditional arts industries (e.g. theatre,
ballet, opera) have been subsidised
because they are “legitimized” culture,
media industries are equally high risk
but have no subsidy “cushion”. Some of
the risks are:
• No guarantee of profitability
• Expensive production costs
• Cheap reproduction
• Big hits are disproportionately
profitable
• Digitised content enables piracy Media
producers must therefore attempt to
minimize risks to maximise profit.
• Vertical and horizontal integration
• Cross-media conglomeration and
convergence
• Developing a repertoire of tried and
tested stars, genres, adaptations,
franchises – “formatting” their own
cultural products
• Controlling release
schedule/copyrights to create artificial
scarcity
• Control of circulation through
distribution/marketing, including the
internet
[Humans]
Application of Theory
How is ‘Humans’ marketed to target audiences?
• Sold on genre with a twist – focus on trailer .
Sci fi but family drama, with some action in
Leo sequences. (link to Neale)
• Sold on narrative enigma and “what ifs?”-
trailers and posters are driven by
hermeneutics
• Sold on novelty – “water-cooler” effect of
“guerrilla” marketing techniques and social
media buzz • Sold on stars – William Hurt
taps into US/global market, as does Carrie-
Ann Moss in Series 2; Colin Morgan (‘Merlin’)
, Will Tudor (‘Game of Thrones’) attract the
fantasy audience.
• Gemma Chan – single image – appeals
aesthetically to audience – she becomes the
spectacle - male gaze?
• Sold as hyperreality, reflecting ideological
context (taps into society’s fears about AI)
• Sold as a quality drama from aMC and C4 –
mark of trust – link to industrial context and
reputation.
• Sold worldwide (adaptation from “Real
Humans”, global reach)
• Coverage in magazines and television - front
pages of TV listings guides.
• Comic Con – “event” Some merchandising
(key rings, T-shirts for Persona Synthetics
available) Fanboy/fangirl audience.
• Created series “brand” becomes iconic
• These elements target different audiences
(link to Media Audiences PDF)
How does ‘Humans’ target audiences?
• Primary Target Audience – fans of TV
drama - C4 and aMC - mainstream
audience. 15+ (postwatershed TV slot).
• Cross-gender and age appeal –
audiences may identify with e.g. Leo,
Joe, Laura, Karen (role models) -
aspiration. Audiences may find
characters attractive, e.g. Anita, Leo,
Niska.
• Secondary audience - fans of science–
fiction – hybrid generic elements in the
text - more alternative/niche audience
– young males. Alternative audience
because of non-linear elements and
enigma. Experiencers may enjoy the
vicarious tension of the sci-fi/thriller.
• Tertiary audience – the box-set viewer-
attracted by the marketing and
publicity to a genre they may not
normally watch.
• Inherited fan bases – from original e.g.
‘Real Humans’; from aMC “The
Walking Dead”, “Breaking Bad”, from
Kudos : ‘Life on Mars’, ‘Ashes to Ashes’,
‘Broadchurch’.
• Fans of stars – Will Tudor, Colin
Morgan (younger TA – fantasy
intertextuality with ‘Game of Thrones’
and ‘Merlin’); older TA – William Hurt.
How do audiences responds to ‘Humans’?
Identification – Uses & Gratifications Model.
• Link to context - Modern audiences identify with the characters
as the different world is so similar to our own, mirroring our own
fears and concerns.
• This is helped by the surface realism and verisimilitude within
the text. Universal themes (love, loss, betrayal) are explored and
the domestic, familiar, family drama strikes a chord with a range
of audiences.
Diversion – Uses & Gratifications Model
• Audiences use the text as escapism.
• There are elements of fantasy and the surreal in the text which
divert us from our own mundane existences.
• The non-linear narrative with Anita’s flashbacks also helps with
this.
• There is diversionary appeal in the development of the
relationships and the different lines of action. Leo’s story is more
action-based.
Enigma codes and narrative devices
– as most science fiction, ‘Humans’ is based on “what ifs?” In
Episode 1, audiences are drawn by the hermeneutics surrounding
Anita’s past, and questions are raised throughout– will Laura and
Joe regain their relationship? Why did Anita take Sophie into the
night? Will Niska escape? Are the synths really sentient?
Two-step Flow.
Testimonial – on DVD cover – quotes from Mail on Sunday and
Independent (BC1 audiences) The papers act as opinion leaders and
audiences believe in the show’s quality because of this.
[POSTMODERNI • Baudrillard argues that the media create
SM] hyperrealities based on a continuous process of
mediation. What is encoded as ‘real’ (and what we
decode through media products) is not ‘real’ but
instead a ‘simulacrum’ which offers us a hyperreality
(“A real without origin or reality” – Jean Baudrillard)
that we accept as real because we are so consistently
exposed to it.
• Thus media images have come to seem more “real”
than the reality they supposedly represent.
• ‘Our mental pictures of the perfect body, house,
meal and sexual relationship have been created
through exposure to constantly recycled media
depictions that have no basis in fact – but it is these
images that create our expectations’ (Em Griffen
(2012) A First Look at Communication Theory, p319).
• Lévi-Strauss suggested that media texts are now
made up of “debris” that we recognise from other
texts and these are combined – “bricolage”. This may
be heard in e.g. a musical “mash-up” or remix.
 Simulacra and Simulation (Baudrillard)
Modernism – philosophical movement – transformations of 20th Music video and postmodernism - Blurred boundary between the real
century Western society – rejected certainty of Enlightenment - the ‘three minute culture’ – the MTV
and imagined
thinking and religious belief – “make it new” – stream-of- generation length of peoples’ attention - Distinction between media and
consciousness novel, abstract art, self-conscious style, experimental spans – fast editing, intense imagery
reality has collapsed
form, rejection of realism – creative revolution (science, art, - Relevant theory: - Reality defined by images and
technology) – power of human beings to create, improve and Lyotard/Baudrillard/Jameson –
representations
reshape environment – progress and growth emphasised. ‘structures of feeling’ and ‘cultural - This meta-conceptual realm is a
Post-modernism – as cultural production peaked, post-modernism logic’
form of hyper-reality
became a new movement that critiqued the modernist era with - Guy Debord - Society of the spectacle - Deals with the ambiguity of polar
scepticism, deconstruction and a post-structuralist mode of analysis – overly visual culture that pursues
opposites – artifice and authenticity
– it is marked by a cyclical return to previous styles but adding new high levels of stimulation
contextual meaning through bricolage.

Deconstructing – picking apart media to Causality – many stories no longer follow a

find out the motive and purpose of a structured cause-and-effect pattern but
product, to the point of abstraction JEAN mess with linearity and consequence – some
Subversive – challenging the conventions
of previous media – anti-conformist in
BAUDRILLARD stories decide to subvert the notion of
‘meaning’
nature
Hybridity – the blurred boundary What is post-modernism? Meta-narratives – disjointed narrative
structures that play with casuality and
between high culture and popular
linearity – usually associated itself with
culture – genres blend, sources of
avant-garde movements
influence vary – media forms are
juxtaposed

Hall-of-mirrors/ paradoxical – from The zenith of cultural production

Escher’s drawn architectural illusions,
to story-in-a-story-in-a-story narratives
– to oxymoronic notions such as ‘loving
hate’ – ambiguity and illusion reigns in
the post-modern world
Hierarchies of taste - - Blurring of high
and low culture to create new meaning
Self-conscious – one could argue that
post-modern thinking is very
narcissistic – looking in on oneself,
taking one out of an experience and
into the theoretical – conceptual art for
conceptual art’s sake (the Emperor’s
New Clothes effect)
‘Truth’ is merely a concept
Bricolage – culture ‘eats itself’ – everything has
– there is no right or wrong, merely interpretations
– propaganda or ‘taste’ are the deciding factors - fusing two cultures can been made – therefore, culture must
regarding which ‘truth’ prevails at any given time change its meaning – remake itself in abstract and cyclical
- Sense of reality dominated by media images punk socialists forms of self-reference
- Cultural forms can no longer hold up a mirror to (particularly bands like - Many artistic products are are
reality because reality itself is saturated by The Clash) would have a influenced by its predecessors to the
advertising, films, TV, video games and print very different ethos to point of parody, homage and
media swastika sporting neo- intertextuality
- Truth claims via images are more problematic Nazi punks - anything can be art
thanks to Photoshop technology – reality is - Iconography can be - Reflection of an ‘alienated’ society –
distorted to either beautify or implicate, adapted when combined personas and characters are
sometimes unrealistically with icons from another reinvented (ie. Madonna, Michael
- Mediation – media reality is the new reality – cultural expression, and Jackson, David Bowie) as the pursuit
society must mediate between cultural forms in therefore create a very for identity subverts conventions
order to decide on the prevailing ‘truth’ new meaning
[GENRE]
Genre (Neale) “Genre is a repetition with an underlying pattern of variations.”
“Difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre.”

Main Film Genres Film Sub-Genres

5 types of film Robert Stan (Stereotypical Minefield) –
Action Animation believes genres are made up by critics and
- Form finding itself regularly compartmentalise and label
Adventure Biopic
- Classic products rather than letting it transcend.
Comedy Detective/mystery
- Stretching Boundaries
Crime/gangster Disaster
- Parody Films previously made, within a certain
Drama Fantasy genre, establish certain expectations
- Homage regarding what key features will appear in
Epic/historical Film Noir the film.
Rick Altman Horror Rom-com
- Semantic Elements – example: Steve Neale declares that ‘genres are
Musical Sports
thriller genre – guns, urban instances of repetition and difference’
landscapes, victims, stalkers… A Romance Supernatural (1980) adding that ‘difference is absolutely
collection of features and props essential to the economy of the genre’ and
Science Fiction Thriller-suspense
create an umbrella term of a genre. that we derived pleasure in how the genre
- Syntactic Elements – themes, plots War is manipulated.
– more ambiguous and harder to
Western
identify within a genre, but crucial
Altman thinks that genre classification:
all the same.
- bridges multiple concerns.
- defined by industry, recognised by audience.
Daniel Chandler - clear, stable identities and borders
- definitions of genres tend to be - gives individual films belonging to a group.
based on particular conventions of - is transhistorical.
content (such as themes or settings) - undergoes predictable development.
and/or form (including structure and - located in particular topics and structures.
style) shared by the texts belonging - have fundamental characteristics.
to its grouping. - have a ritual or ideological function.
 ‘Humans’ contains many intertextual elements with
[INTERTEXTUALITY] which audiences may be familiar. These include:
• Black Mirror – Nosedive: life mediated through
technological advances.
• Elster – Hitchcockian reference to Vertigo in which Gavin
Elster “creates” the perfect woman to serve his own
ends – voyeurism.
• The Stepford Wives– domestic, beautiful, subservient
female robots replace real women (male conspiracy) –
misogyny.
• “AI” – Odi is treated like a son by George Millican. Odi
(ODI) references the Open Data Institute founded by Tim
Berners-Lee.
• Blade Runner – synths becoming sentient – conscious.
Niska is reminiscent of Pris – the “basic pleasure model”.
• ‘Asimov blocks’ in their programs (Laws of Robotics
outlined e.g. in I, Robot).
• Remake of Real Humans.
• Hawkins family – close to Stephen Hawking.
 NATIONALISM CONTROL
state focused dictate AUTHORITARIAN
NATIONAL anti-freedom
COMMUNISM FASCISM

FUNDAMENTALISM
TOTALITARIANISM NATIONALISM

COMMUNISM
REPRESENTATION NATIONALISTIC
SOCIALISM TRADITIONALISM

Ideology AUTHORIT-
STATISM ARIANISM
CONSERVATISM
[Source: David McCandless
‘Knowledge is Beautiful’]
SOCIALISM NEOLIBERALISM

LEFt Right
SOCIAL
COMMUNITARIAN DEMOCRACY LIBERALISM PROGRESSIVISM
ECONOMY TARIAN
welfare of the people welfare of the economy
DEMOCRATIC LIBERTARIAN
SOCIALISM CAPITALISM

LIBERTARIAN ACTIVISM LIBERTARIANISM

SOCIALISM
COMMUNISM
ANARCHO-

CAPITALISM
ANARCHO-
ANARCHO-
INDIVIDUALISM
SOCIALISM
SYNDICALISM MUTUALISM
ANARCHO-
COLLECTIVISM ANARCHISM
LIBERTARIAN CONNECT CHAOISM
freedom of the individual relate anti state
PRODUCERS AND AUDIENCES
Uses & Gratifications Theory

• Katz, Gurevitch and Haas (1973) saw mass media as a means by which
individuals connect or disconnect themselves with others. They developed 35
needs taken from the largely speculative literature on the social and
psychological functions of the mass media and put them into five categories:
• Cognitive Needs: Acquiring information, knowledge and understanding
• Media Examples: Television (news), video (how-to), movies (documentaries or
based on history)
• Affective Needs: Emotion, pleasure, feelings
• Media Examples: Movies, television (soap operas, sitcoms)
• Personal Integrative Needs: Credibility, stability, status
• Media Examples: Video
• Social Integrative Needs: Family and friends
• Media Examples: Internet (e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, social media)
• Tension Release Needs: Escape and diversion
• Media Examples: Television, movies, video, radio, internet
Language Representation Industry
Linked to social, cultural, economic, political and historical contexts.
Imagine UK – Season 7 Episode 9
And Then There Was Television, 19 December 2006
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007cjkz
Watch the documentary and answer the following
questions:
1. Why are Lord Reith and John Logie Baird so important in
terms of the development of TV?
2. How did television develop during the 1930s?
3. What was the impact of WW2 on TV, especially Post
War?
4. What television genre developed during the late 1940s
and into the 1950s?
Audience
BBC and Public Service Broadcasting
The BBC’s own homepage has a wealth of information,
historical timelines, factsheets and clips about ‘The Digital
Revolution’, information about PSB, funding and the
Licence Fee: http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc
BBC Research Task: In pairs, look at the BBC website on
the ‘Inside the BBC’ section and make notes on the
following: 1. How did the BBC develop historically? Create
a brief timeline (historical context).
2. What is Public Service Broadcasting?
3. How is the BBC structured?
4. What is the Licence Fee, how is it collected and how is it
used?
5. Why does this make the BBC different?