Discuss the audience appeal of your three main texts. [30]

Lost is a mainstream hybrid text that combines genres such as fantasy, sci-fi, drama and action to a certain extent. Lost was produced ABC Studios, with multiple executive producers including the world renowned writer J.J Abrams. It originally aired on ABC, before moving to a more mainstream channel on Sky Tv. It was on for six seasons which in total showed 121 episodes with its finale reaching 13.5million viewers worldwide. 

Lost tries to attract as wide an audience as possible by using different techniques in their show. An example of this is the ensemble cast. The producers have specifically chosen actors and actresses that make up a 48 character cast of different gender, race, age, nationality and subcultures. Each character has an equal role, and by doing this the audience have at least one person they can personally identify with which can attract audiences worldwide, making higher viewing figures and more money. 

Targeting a wide audience appears to have worked as fans have made fan sites such as lostpedia, where members can discuss episodes and characters. This is a clear example of how the show has been successful by targeting a wide audience. 
Another way in which producers of Lost have appealed to their audience is through the use of a score, which can control how the audience feel when watching different scenes. The producers have created scenes that inflict different emotions, and the music will tell a passive audience when to feel happy or sad or tense. This is also an efficient way to use music instead of already released songs as there is more control over when and how it can be used, and also saves money. This feature will attract a passive and mainstream audience as its easy to watch.

Mad Men is a period drama that differs completely to Lost. It is aimed at a niche audience that has to be active in order to understand and enjoy the text. It is created and produced by Matthew Weiner, who knew exactly what he wanted to make and focused more on his own vision rather that satisfying a wide audience. The series premiered on AMC, an American cable network and is also frequently shown on Sky Atlantic. 
To gratify a niche audience, Mad Men has absolutely no mainstream devices. 
The use of camera shots and subtle dialog is a way in which an active audience can decode the text. There is no ensemble cast, the cast mostly consists of middle aged business men. There are only three women in the text, who are used to represent the sexism in the time of the 1960s. Peggy, Joan and Megan Draper are constantly seen as being degraded by the men in the office. We see this particularly when Don Draper throws money in Peggy's face, signifying his wealth in a humiliating and arrogant fashion. This realistic representation of the 60s can be appealing to a niche audience as there it provides an insight into that time period. 
The use of diegetic sound is perhaps the only sound we get throughout the episode, until the very end. The constant sound of typewriters sets the location of an office, the producers were clever in the sense of making the sounds louder when the door opened for example, and all these details make up for an active viewer to really decode the text. At the very end of the episode is the first time we hear non diegetic music of the Beatles song 'Tomorrow Never Knows', for which the producers of Mad Men paid $250,000 to use. This is an example that the writer was more intrigued by the details of the text rather than making money. Matthew Weiner states 'Whatever people think, this is not about money.' He used the Beatles song because it was appropriate to that time period, and he's dedicated to getting everything accurate. 

Peaky Blinders is a period drama set in 1919 in Birmingham, created by Steven Knight. It is shown on BBC 2, a channel known for high brow cultural dramas, which has helped it succeed in attracting its target audience. it is about a gang post world war 1, which has historical interest, however is dramatised for entertainment. This text is a mixture of both mainstream and niche and there are elements to gratify both an active and passive audience.
The first technique the producers of the text use of the non diegetic soundtrack, performed mostly by the White Stripes and Nick Cave; quite contemporary music to create drama in a historical text. The way this music is used essentially controls the way the audience is supposed to feel at any given moment or scene, at lot like in Lost. This can gratify a passive audience as they don't have to think too much. 
For an active audience, the producers have ensured good quality cinematography, like the slow motion during the fight scene and the long shots of the streets to see the working environment. An active audience would appreciate this and be attracted by the high quality. A colour palette is used for the detail, a niche convention that would be noticed by an active audience that can decode the text.

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

Lost targets a wide range of audiences and does this by using different techniques and conventions. It is a mainstream text that is encoded in a certain way so that it targets a wide audience, including passive and active audiences.

One of the ways in which the producers of Lost can attract a wide audience is through the use of an ensemble cast. There are characters of different gender, age, race and nationality, so audiences from all over the world can personally identify with at least one of the characters. Also, because there are so many types of characters in the cast, there are different issues that can be relatable for the audience...................

Another way in which the producers of Lost try to attract a wide range of audiences is through the constant use of enigma codes throughout the text. By using this technique, a mainstream audience can become hooked and it is enjoyable for a vast amount of people. We see enigma codes through the episode and some are shortly answered through flashbacks and in the dialog which keeps the text fast paced and interesting. One of the enigma codes the audience sees in episode 2 of series 1 is when Walt is walking through the forest looking for his dog and comes across a pair of handcuffs. Through the use of close up shots of his emotions and reactions and the way in which the music builds up, the audience is left questioning where the handcuffs have come from and there is realisation that there is an escaped prisoner on the island. Later in the episode the enigma is answered though a flashback of Kate on the plane. The producers are clever in the way that audiences have enough time to make assumptions of who the prisoner is, but then when its revealed its an unexpected twist that keeps the audience interested.

Mainstream narrative devices are a feature of Lost that attract wide and mainstream audiences. One mainstream device is the non-linear approach of the text, the characters have flashbacks of the plane  crash after there have been scenes of them on the island. This technique makes the narrative clear and answers questions such as the enigmas and mysteries in the text, which makes for passive viewing.

'Most texts today mix genres' how true is this of your three main texts?

District 9 does mix genres, its typically a sci fi, however there are some documentary conventions. 

The most visible conventions of district 9 are that of the sci fi genre. The most typical is species from another planet, portrayed by the prawns. However, another sci fi convention and something seen a lot n this genre is the questioning of real life and the world. The prawns symbolise black people, as the film is set in South Africa when the apartheid was in force, they were separated from the white people. Through the use of corporation names seen all the way throughout the film, we are shown how they're under the control of a corporation. This shows a dystopian view, first the segregation of the black people, and the villains signified through this corporation, and the people always under the power of it.  The seperation of black people and white people can be shown to us through the camera shots and editing. There is one shot, after Wikus has been infected by the prawns and is standing outside eating of Wikus, standing alone in power, and then the camera cuts back to two black people standing with him. The fact that Wikus, being white, is standing in the shot alone shows the power of white people in this situation. This then takes the narrative to the convention of body horror, where there is a black substance coming from his nose as he starts being affected by the transformation.                                                              

The documentary genre is shown to us right from the beginning of the film. There is acknowledgement of the camera by Wikus whilst he is putting on the microphone. This is the fourth wall, a rule that isn't usually broken 

Key Characters

 Wikus van de merwe- protagonist. 

- doesn't understand the other species of the aliens, until he transforms into one. Feels empathy for the aliens.

Can be referred to as the polysemic meanings of the text.

Colonel Koobus Venter -villian

-shows pleasure in killing the aliens, and responding brutally to anyone who opposes him. Shows the power men think they have.

Piet Smit - Villian

Wilkus' father in law. Portrays white middle age men as abusing their power when they have it and becomes corrupt. 

Christopher - hero

-Christopher tries to save his species

Sin City

Dwight Mccarthy - cynical protagonist

Marv - cynical protagonist 

John Hartigan - cynical protagonist 

introduction

How realistic are the representations of young people in Skins and Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents?

For my research investigation I am questioning if the representations shown on mainstream tv shows are entirely realistic, and how producers go about showing this. I am particularly looking at episode ?????????? in Skins and episode ????? of Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents. By applying hyperrealism and the cultivation theory and also looking into the uses of gratification I will identify why producers represent extremes of behaviour in young people as realistic and if anything they show as positive is completely applicable to teenagers of today.

My initial aim is to discuss how the producers represent the young people in these two shows. The genre may affect this because of the conventions, Skins as a drama may be seen as more dramatic and exaggerated whereas Sun Sex and Suspicious Parents should be portraying a true reality as a documentary.

I will initially explore the representations and stereotypes of young people in society today. I will find how the news, print based media and popular tv shows confirm or contradict of how young people really are. I will do primary analysis and secondary research to discover if the characters in these two texts conform to modern stereotypes.

My next aim is to discuss how the texts portray young people’s aspirations, which differ from educational to minimal or no aspirations at all. To do this I will analyse the characters morals in these texts, their conversations and characteristics towards each other and other people.

And finally I will look into how these representations can affect a passive audience. Representations and stereotypes are shown throughout the texts through the use of mise en scene, dialect and camera shots as well as construction and mediation of the text. For a passive audience this can influence them to believe the representations are completely realistic, and therefore start believing any stereotype the producers confirm or set out are entirely true. The target audience for these texts are young people of about 16-19 year olds and through watching these shows could begin to be influenced by their behaviour. I am going to discuss if this can make the representations in these texts realistic and true in society today.  

Research

I have researched into the cultivation theory, which suggests that the more we watch of something the more influenced we are by it. It is a theory by Professor George Gerbner, and he states that people who watch more television or intake more media texts are most likely to be influenced by what they see.

 Another theory i could apply is the idea of hyperreality. In the modern world, much of "reality" is mediated in some way. Reality programmes are constructed for the viewers entertainment, a lot of what we see on screen in reality shows is not actually reality. People know they're being observed which makes them act differently and the producers choose what to show when, even if it isnt in realistic form.  Information is edited and packaged into news programs, so what is real is often processed and shaped to fit a particular narrative structure. In hyperreality, the copy becomes more valuable than the real thing, and what something symbolizes is more important than what the thing actually is.

Constructions of realism. The media tries to represent what they show as real, and for passive audiences they are influenced and believe what they see as the 'real world'. This can change their views on people, issues and other aspects of society, to the way the producers want them to be seen. 

Sin City

How do your chosen texts use genre conventions?

The genre of Sin City is film noir with elements of comic book and the horror genre. We see this through iconography and typical conventions of these genres. Right from the first scene of the film we see it in black and white, with red being the only colour of her lips. Connotations of this colour would be passion and danger, which indicates femme fatales. Femme fatales are a typical feature of this style of films, and because of the threat of war people lived in fear and mistrust of everyone in this time period. This meant that even the women were dangerous and using the colour red on her lips instantly gives us a sense of a femme fatale character in this film. This use of unnatural colours is also an element of the comic book genre.
Another convention of film noir is the use of highly contrasted shadows and low key lighting. A lot of split lighting is used, particularly on the protagonists faces, which gives a reference to good and evil. This can link to both genres of the film, the hero and villain side of the comic book genre, as well as the idea of mistrust in the film noir genre we are unaware if these characters are good or not through the use of split lighting. The low key lighting we see throughout the film is a convention of the film noir genre and gives us an idea of the dark and gloomy time that the film was supposedly set about.

A typical convention of the comic book genre is shown in the scene where Hartigan is crouched down near the beginning of the film after being injured. We then see him stand up in a heroic fashion, with his long trench coat flowing out behind him, which resembles a superheroes cape. This is iconography of the comic book genre, and also the use of low angle shots on him as he stands indicates his power and strength, that of a hero figure.

Elements that we see of the horror genre are in the scene in the forest where Kevin is tied against a tree by Hartigan and eaten by his dog. This scene alone has the disturbing feel of a horror, however the typical conventions and iconography we see in this scene is the lightning in the back ground and even the location of a dark forest can be seen as a generic feature of many horror films. In this scene it quickly switches to the comic book genre and we see an animated version of him getting attacked by a dog, which by no means is realistic. It also turns a grotesque event into a more light hearted view, which could be seen as a comic book convention, highly stylised and not taking anything too seriously.