Television: His Dark Materials - Audience and Industry

 Audience

1) What audience do you think His Dark Materials is aimed at and why? Think about demographic and psychographic groups. You can revise Pyschographics here.

His Dark Materials is aimed at families, as the episode airs on a Sunday night at 8 PM, and is also intended for people who enjoy reading Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials books. It is also targeted at people who enjoy the fantasy genre.

2) What audience pleasures are offered by His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity: 
People can find identity through Lyra and Will as they are your normal teenagers, and Will is also from Oxford, like some other people. 

Personal Relationships: 

People can form relationships with Will and Lyra because they are the main characters, and we get to see things from their perspectives, so people will become attached to them 

Diversion (Escapism): As it is fantasy, it is a different watch and feel from the real world, and so people can find it fun and entertaining, alongside the fact that it also has some comedic moments in it   



3) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to His Dark Materials? Refer to specific scenes or moments in the episode to explain your answer. 

- Visceral: From the Deamons to the witches, these give us thrills, and during the chase scene and the torture scene, we get thrills 

- Vicarious: we experience everything through Mrs Coulter and Will, and Lyra.

- Voyeuristic: When we see the men in the sumberine alongside Mrs Coulter, as we never get to see a business meeting about their matters 

4) How did fans react to Season 2 of His Dark Materials? What about critic reviews? You can find some possible answers for this in this BBC website article on the critical reception for His Dark Materials and watch the fan reaction video above.



5) What might be some of the preferred and oppositional readings for His Dark Materials? Why did some fans love it? Why have other people criticised it? 

Some preferred readings are that females are just as strong or stronger than males, men can also cook, and it's not only women who have to; men are more mature than women.

Some oppositional readings are that Women always need men ( Will always seems to calm Lyra down) and that men are smarter. 

Some fans may love it because they fall into some of the readings and they are on with them, and some may criticise it as they have a different belief 

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

The BBC and HBO 

2) What were the UK viewing figures for A City of Magpies? How did this compare to season 1 of His Dark Materials?

Season one episode one had 7.2 million in the UK and 423000 on HBO 

The second season episode one had 4.4 in the UK and 227000 on HBO 

3) What was American network HBO's role in making His Dark Materials and why is this important? Look at the notes above for more on this.


4) What famous stars are in His Dark Materials and why do you think they were selected for the show? Watch the Comic Con panel video in the notes above to see the stars talking about the show

American star names such as Brits Ruth Wilson and James McAvoy, and American Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the smash hit musical Hamilton.

5) Who are Bad Wolf and what do they produce?

Bad Wolf was founded in 2015 to create ambitious, imaginative and relevant drama for the global TV marketplace.  From its headquarters in South Wales the company has built up an international reputation as one of the foremost independent production companies in the UK, producing over 50 hours of high-end drama for broadcasters and networks including HBO, BBC, AMC and Sky.

Comparison: Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child and His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies

1) How are the technical conventions different between 1963 Doctor Who and 2020 His Dark Materials (e.g. camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene)?

Doctor Who was slow-paced, clunky, had bad quality, and was in black and white. However, HDM is fast-paced in colour, has a lot of CGI and SFX, and is high quality 


2) What similarities and differences are there between Doctor Who and His Dark Materials in terms of genre and narrative?

Both genres mean that they differ from the real world, and they both have two main characters 

3) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?

In Doctor Who, there was normalised racism, and all the negative stereotypes were reinforced in HDM, all, if not most, stereotypes were subverted in a good way 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

blog marking LR

  CHARD, Shameet   Full Name Blog set up and URL provided Introductory 10 Qs Denotation & Connotation x2 Fruit bowl Mise-en-scene: Stranger Things Blog marking LR CHARD, Shameet   WWW: Your fruit bowl is absolutely stunning – great choice of image to start with and then a really well-designed artistic effect. I also like the fact you’re looking forward to the editing / practical side of the course when we make some kind of film in Year 11 – and we definitely want to aim for a grade 4 or higher (much higher please!) We now need to make sure we match your technical skill with ensuring all blog work and analytical tasks are fully completed.    EBI: Unfinished work. You have not completed Denotation and Connotation which was set for homework. You had to analyse the Water Aid advert AND an advert of your choice which seems to be missing. Original task on the blog:   Denotation and Connotation:  https://mediamacguffingcseyear1.blogspot.com/2024/09/denota...
Read more

I,Daniel,Blake

  1) What is independent cinema and how is it different to Hollywood blockbusters? Blockbusters, typically backed by major studios with large budgets, often follow conventional storytelling structures designed to appeal to a broad audience. In contrast, independent films are often crafted with a more intimate and personal approach 2) What is I, Daniel Blake about? It  spotlights the hurdles that the most vulnerable citizens face in realising their basic right to human dignity in the UK's benefits system 3) Who directed I, Daniel Blake and why is this important? I, Daniel, Blake was directed by ken loach and this is important because the BBFC rated this movie 15 rated 4) How was I, Daniel Blake promoted to an audience? List at least  three  different methods used by the film's marketing campaign and  how  they targeted their audience. taste make screenings  street marketing newspaper inclusions 5) What unusual or creative marketing methods were used to ...
Read more

industries ; ownership and control

  1) What is a   conglomerate  in the media industries?  major media company 2) What is a  subsidiary ? smaller companies  3) What are the benefits for media companies of  vertical integration ? Vertical integration helps companies gain greater control over the supply chain and manufacturing process, leading to  lower costs, economies of scale, and less reliance on external parties . 4) What are the benefits for media companies of  horizontal integration ? It  allows companies to gain market share and market power, eliminate their competition, acquire new products and services, a larger customer base, and increase their revenue . It also gives them the opportunity to create new economies of scale and economies of scope. 5) Give  three  examples of media companies or brands that have used  synergy  to maximise their profits. There are examples in the notes above to help you. mobil  pixar disney 6) What is  co...
Read more