Half-term revision

Half-term revision

• Avengers: 'The Town of No return' (ITV Saturdays 1965, 9:05pm)
• Cuffs: 'The Luck of the Draw' (BBC1 Wednesdays 2015, 8pm)
• Social historical contexts of 1960s and 2010s

Low mark questions:

• A PSB is ran and funded by the public to benefit them, instead of for commercial interests. A PSB should also follow a remit.
• Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Warner Bros produced and distributed The Lego Movie.
• The BBFC regulates the film industry
• A tent pole film is a film expected to make large profits, which can then be used to support other projects.
• Themes from one or two different genres is genre hybridity
• Bauer owns Mojo magazine
• OFCOM regulates TV and radio
• Diversification is when a business branches out into other areas.
• BBC1 is a mass audience radio station.
• BBC1 Xtra is a more niche audience radio station.
• Bringing together different platforms is called
• Radio and websites distribute the Live Lounge
• P: people can listen to the music they identify with. I: people can find out information about artists. E: people find enjoyment in listening to music. S: people can share what they like about different artists.
• Two generic conventions of music videos could be singing along or performing.
• Two forms a music video might take are narrative and performance.
• The term for describing a mix of styles and genres in a music video is called genre hybridity.
• British magazines are globalised because they are owned by different companies around the world.
• Bauer media is diversified because they own companies in different industries, such as magazines and radio shows.
• Print magazines can gain revenue by selling copies and selling advertising spaces within their magazines.
• Middle-age males are likely to read Mojo.
• Intertextuality is where a piece of media refers to other work within it.
• Genre hybridity is when a piece of media includes themes of different genres.
• The owner of The Observer is The Guardian.
• The regulator of newspapers is the ASA.
• The term for the use of different platforms for the same content is convergence.
• A tabloid newspaper offers soft news aimed at a downmarket audience.
• Two demographics for the online Observer is affluent and well travelled.
• One way that newspaper owners explicitly exercise control over their newspapers is by appointing editors with similar viewpoints.

Cuffs: 2015

• Attitudes to sexuality: people were very open to different sexualities as it was legal and accepted by the vast majority of people, shown by one of the officers and a lawyer being gay.
• Attitudes to gender: women had a lot more equal rights with men, however in Cuffs the senior officer is a male.
• Attitudes to age: younger people were more equal and had more freedom.
• Attitudes to ethnicity: ethnic minorities vastly accepted, shown in Cuffs by having officers of black, white and asian origins.
• Attitudes to the police: police had unfair pay/hours and received a lot of abuse, shown when the officer gets pushed over on the beach.

The Avengers: 1965

• Attitudes to sexuality: homosexuality in the 60s was decriminalised so attitudes towards it were becoming more positive.
• Attitudes to gender: in the 60s there were no heroic female characters until The Avengers, when Emma Peel was shown as a strong female character.
• Attitudes to age: younger people were seen as rebellious by more conservative older people who were tied down by their jobs. The younger people were very style conscious, had their own styles (hippies, mods and rockers) and were often involved in many political movements such as the protests for gay rights and female rights.
• Attitudes to ethnicity: the vast majority of the UK was white in the 60s, and racism (especially to people from the UK's opponents in WW2) was very prominent.
• Attitudes to The Cold War and espionage: people in the 60s were very scared of invasion from foreign countries, which can be seen when Emma and John go to the town and people are scared of them because they aren't locals.

Editing: what to look for

• Order of shots/shot choices: can reveal what motivates the edits/what they are trying to show the audience, shows which perspective is more privilege
• Continuity: creates realism, tells a story with narrative continuity, helps make sense of the action by implying spatial relationships and smooth transitions between shots
• Transitions: implies a passage of time and a change in location, emphasises a connection (like what the character is thinking/remembering/dreaming about)
• Shot duration, pace and rhythm: reflects narrative context, short shot = fast paced action and urgency, long shot = slower pace, conveys intensity/intimacy, allows the facial expression and other aspects of mine-en-scene which would otherwise be missed.
• Special effects: adds realism for audience

Live Lounge

Monday 20th May 2019                                   Live Lounge

L.O. explore the industry and audience behind the Live Lounge.

• BBC radio 1 aimed at 15-29 year olds
• Mix of new music and entertainment
• Definite intertextual references to pop culture

BBC Radio 1 remit

• 'to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners with a distinctive mix of contemporary music and speech.'
• It's target audience is 15-29 year olds and should also provide some programming for young teenagers.
• Offer a range of new music, supports emerging artists - especially those from the UK - and provide a platform for live music.

How have they met the remit in their web-page to entertain and engage a broad range of young listeners?

They have included many artists from the UK, such as Little Mix and Lewis Capaldi, both of whom are artists under the pop music genre. They also have current pop stars that are very popular with young listeners, such as Billie Eilish. They have a young presenter (Greg James) who is a similar age to the target audience, and is likely to relate and entertain younger listeners. They have a Little Mix quiz so that the young listeners are entertained and engaged to see how much they know about a current and popular girl group. There is also a whole section on Live Music, which is part of their remit.


Convergence

• Merging technology due to digitalisation. BBC can be accessed many different ways (Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), FM Radio, Long Wave (LW), Medium Wave (MW), Freeview TV, Sky TV, Virgin TV, online, on mobile phones, apps, digital music players, smart speakers.
• The Live Lounge section made a deal with Vevo so artist's Live Lounge performance are put onto Vevo. This is an advantage because if someone watches one, they might listen to more and therefore BBC Radio 1 may receive more viewers. It is also beneficial because both companies receive a larger target audience. It is an advantage for the audience because they can both listen and watch performances, and can go back and watch it as many times as they like.
• The website for Live Lounge includes direct links to Radio 1 and 1Xytra to allow users easy migration to their main radio stations. Also links to videos, photos and galleries so more information about the Live Lounge can be accessed.

• Regulated by OFCOM
• If people complain against radio or TV stations, OFCOM have to investigate to determine whether the broadcasting code has been breached.
• OFCOM exists to ensure the broadcasting code is upheld and that listeners are protected from harmful/offensive material, unfair treatment and loss of privacy.
• OFCOM also need to make sure, in terms of plurality (a range of viewpoints and prevention of one media owner or voice having too much influence over public opinion) that opinions are fair and unbiased as the BBC should be.
• Protection of under 15: re-scheduling things that may impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under 18 must not be broadcasted pre-watershed.

BBC Radio 1Xtra

• Live Lounge is broadcasted on Radio 1 and Radio 1 Xtra
• 1Xtra can only be listened to digitally, whereas Radio 1 can be listened to both digitally and analogue.
• Being hosted by Radio 1 or 1xtra allows artists to be broadcasted across the two, so artists receive a larger target audience.
• Presenters: Clara Amfo (ex-kids TV presenter, interned in KissFM and was nominated for a Sony Radio Award as a 'rising star', known for her interest in music in particular, became a 1Xtra host in 2015); and Ace and Vis (became presenters in 2004, left in 2012, Ace returned in 2014).

• Live Lounge is popular because it gets well-known artists to play their own songs, and other songs (perhaps of a genre that they wouldn't usually do) to perform live and acoustically in an intimate setting.
• Audiences may also hear artists that they haven't heard of, so it is a good opportunity for listeners to find new artists that they may enjoy.
• It can also be watched/played back online which encourages even more people to listen or watch a Live Lounge performance.

Most recent Live Lounge: Lewis Capaldi

• Background: learned to play guitar when he was 9, and began his musical career singing in pubs aged 12.
• Age: 22
• Where he's from: Glasgow, Scotland
• Genre: pop, folk rock
• Current songs: Someone You Loved, Bruises, Grace, Lost on You
• Current album: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent
• Critical reception: good reception, described as 'a sensation' by The Independent
• Awards: The Brit Awards - Critics' Choice Award for 2019, Scottish Music Awards - Best Breakthrough Artist Award, MTV - Brand New for 2019 Award.

Example Question: 

Explain how and why producers of radio programmes target different audiences. Refer to the Radio 1 Live Lounge to support your answer.

Revision (Magazines)

Key Terminology
(what to talk about)

• Audience
• Denotation (literal meaning of a word)
• Connotation 
• Common conventions
• Colour palette
• Genre
• House style
• Iconography (visual symbols)
• Mediation
• Mise-en-scene
• Representation
• Shot type
• Stereotypes
• Star vehicles

Magazine terminology

• Banner
• Masthead
• Main image
• Main cover line
• Cover lines
• Features (e.g. puffs, free CDs, etc) 

Radio 1 Case Study

Explain how and why producers of radio programmes target different audiences. Refer to the Radio 1 Live Lounge to support your answer.

Radio 1's target audience is mainly people age 15-35 year olds, in last 10 years listening figures have dropped because of access to music online and younger people prefer streaming. Live Lounge tries to solve the problem for loss of listeners as it targets younger audiences and can be streamed online. One successful example is Harry Styles' cover of Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'. The song in itself also helps to attract older audiences because Fleetwood Mac is an older rock band formed in 1967. 
Harry Styles has a variety of different audiences his music caters for. The first being younger people and family audiences from the UK because of his appearance on The X Factor. These would have been the first people to have listened to his music so its the first members of his 'fan base'. This means that this song instantly targets these members to listen to his Live Lounge cover, which was clever by BBC 1 because these young people are likely to listen to this Live Lounge cover, which in turn increases their listening figures.
The next target audience for Harry Styles is young, British teenage girls because of his membership in One Direction. The X Factor has a mass mainstream audience appeal, so with Harry Styles being well-known for being in One Direction, it brings in another audience to the BBC as these young teenage girls listen to his cover.
Another target audience this Live Lounge cover would have brought in is older males. Fleetwood Mac is a band that was formed in 1967 but still make music today. These people are likely to be part of the older generation and into rock music. Half of the band members in Fleetwood Mac are American, so this cover would have also brung in audiences from America. This is another target audience the BBC have received from this cover because these people are not as likely to listen to BBC Radio 1, however because of their interest in Fleetwood Mac, they are likely to tune into the radio to see how Harry Styles has covered the song.
Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain' was also featured in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. This cover would have brought in fans of the film who are younger audiences, but also males and females aged over 35 (i.e. parents). This is also a new audience for the BBC as these people may have not listened to BBC Radio 1 before, but because they like the song from the film they are likely to tune in and listen to it.
Therefore, producers of radio programmes may use ideas such as the Live Lounge to help increase their viewing figures and popularity.

The Music and News Industry Revision

The Music Industry - Section A
The News Industry - Section B

• 70 marks - 35% of overall grade

Blumer and Katz' Uses and Gratification Theory

Personal Identity

• Links to the music industry - audiences identify with the stereotypes of certain music genres.
• Links to the news industry - audiences can identify with political and moral values of the newspaper they choose.
• Links to The Lego Movie - audiences can identify and look up to the different characters in the film.
• Links to Avengers and Cuffs - audiences can identify and look up to characters from the different dramas.

Information

• Links to the music industry - Mojo gives people information about bands, tours, gigs, albums, etc and keeps readers informed about music.
• Links to the news industry - news gives people information about local, national and international events.
• Links to The Lego Movie - film and adverts use intertextuality to give information about the film, characters and Lego products.
• Links to Avengers and Cuffs - The Avengers and Cuffs give people information about crime fighting in the 1960s and 2000s.

Entertainment

• Links to the music industry - Mojo is a music magazine that provides entertainment, the Radio 1 Live Lounge is also entertaining.
• Links to the news industry - news uses many different emotive images and language to entertain readers.
• Links to The Lego Movie - the Lego movie uses bright colours, engaging characters, sound, narrative and Lego to entertain family audiences.
• Links to Avengers and Cuffs - both dramas were created to entertain audiences through engaging narratives, characters and themes.

Social relationships

• Links to the music industry - audiences feel as though they have formed a bond with the musician or song.
• Links to the news industry - audiences have a bond with people they see in news stories and feel a certain way about them.
• Links to The Lego Movie - audiences form a bond with the different types of characters in the narrative as though they were real people.
• Links to Avengers and Cuffs - audiences form a bond with the different types of characters in the narrative as though they were real people.

Mojo Cover 1 - Dave Growl

Layout

• The layout is sophisticated and busy. The free CD image covers about a 5th of the cover. 
• Large fonts, a large masthead and text boxes may connote with a crammed edition that is exciting and good value for the older male target audience.

Main Image

• Denotations - a low angle, medium-close shot of indie icon Dave Grohl dressed in a plain black shirt has been used. He is staring directly at the camera which addresses the reader, and the camera angle makes him look serious and powerful.
• Connotations - these mies-en-scene choices connote that this is a magazine for older males who take music seriously and would have grown up idolising Dave Grohl, first in Nirvana and then in Foo Fighters.

Main Cover Line

• The main cover line is "DAVE GROHL" and it appears in the middle of the page in a large, capitalised masculine font in yellow and white with "THE SONGS THAT SAVED HIS LIFE + NIRVANA READING 92" in the same font, but about 1/3 smaller slightly beneath it in grey, yellow and red. 
• This lexis connotes this is a magazine for older males who remember this band, artist and decade.

Cover lines / teasers

• The other cover lines represent older males too as they name drop older famous male artists such as David Gilmour, Ian Dury and Cat Stevens who represent the males in the target audience.
• Lexis like 'mystery', 'unseen' and 'weird' connote the magazine will be entertaining and exclusive represent males who want escapism and entertainment (uses and gratifications).

Colour palette

• The blue background represents the older male audience as it is a masculine colour that connotes the audience still want to be young, cool and edgy.
• The white and yellow connote that this magazine will be entertaining for older males who are seeking escapism and entertainment (uses and gratifications).
• NIRVANA is the only part of the main story that appears in red, making it more eye catching and making it nostalgic for the audience to remember this 90s band. The lexis "READING 92" connotes that this magazine will represent older males as they are going to remember this time.
• Red, grey and white connotes the genre is indie/rock as these colours connotes with rebellion, depression and anger which are all themes in this genre of music and is something the audience to identify with.

Revision: (Music Videos)

Monday 25th March 2019

Explain how MISE-EN-SCENE has been used in your two music videos to show the genre and represent the band/artist.

• Beyonce: 'If I Were A Boy' - in the music video, Beyonce looks very glamorous and feminine while playing a police officer and a wife. This helps represent her because she is an RnB artist and females looking like this is a large part of this music genre. There is also an urban scene which helps link to the RnB genre.
• Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars: 'Uptown Funk' - in the music video there are urban locations with elements of 1950s style made modern. This helps represents the artists because they are making a modern pop song with retro interests. The people in the video are wearing colourful clothes which also helps link to the retro scenery.

Explain how CAMERAWORK and EDITING has been used in your two music videos to show the genre and represent the band/artist.

• Beyonce: 'If I Were A Boy' - there are long cuts and clips that help tell the story of this narrative based music video. There are also no graphics in this video to help convey the seriousness of this song. Throughout the video, a monochrome filter has been placed onto it to also bring across a more serious theme. The camerawork is smooth and natural as it presents reality better and reflect the sombre mood of the song. There are also some high angle shots which helps the viewer follow the narrative of the music video as it focuses in on the main characters.
• Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars: 'Uptown Funk' - There are different editing techniques in 'Uptown Funk' that makes it differ from the other music video. The cuts are different in this video and are made to change clip along with the beat, whereas the other video changed slowly to tell the story. In this video there is a filter where the colour looks more saturated to make the video look more retro and urban to match with the theme. There are a lot of canted and twisting shots which help to add to the fun theme and match the genre of the song.

Half-term revision

Names: 'If I Were A Boy' - Beyonce and 'Uptown Funk' - Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars

Background Information:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Similarities:

Differences:

Viewers of these videos:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Gender:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Age:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Race:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Sexuality:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Narrative/performance:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Setting:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Costume:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Camera shots/angles:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

Editing:

• If I Were A Boy:
• Uptown Funk:

If I Were A Boy: Video Marketing

• Released on:
• Views: 
• USA Chart Position: 1
• USA iTunes position: 3
• UK Chart Position: 1
• UK Digital Charts Position: 29

Uptown Funk: Video Marketing

• Released on: Vevo and Youtube
• Views: 2.6 billion on Youtube as of 2017 (5th most viewed video of all time)
• USA Chart Position: 1
• USA iTunes Position: 1
• UK Chart Position: 1
• UK Digital Charts: 1

Revision: (Mojo Target Audience)

Monday 18th March 2019

Explain the demographics of the target audience of Mojo magazine: be as specific as you can and explain the appeal of Mojo to them.

The target audience for Mojo magazine is mainly males aged 20-50 years old. Their social class will be ABC1 so they have a high disposable income that they can spend on music. They be interested in rock/alternative music to listen to on CDs they have bought. Mojo is a rock/alternative music magazine so it will appeal to the people who like that genre. The majority of Mojo's covers have mainly large, bold, sans serif font, and the artists on the covers are predominantly males that appeals more towards men. As the articles are quite lengthy and because of the language used, people in the ABC1 category will be more interested in Mojo than people in C2DE.

Christian May Speaker

Christian May Speaker - Editor of City A.M

• News Bias - Christian spoke about many different newspapers and magazines having a bias towards a certain side of a story, but his newspaper tries not to show bias. For example, before Brexit was voted to happen, he was one of the only papers to not say what side they would be on.

• Declining circulation figures - as more and more news is shown online, circulation figures are decreasing because people aren't buying physical newspapers anymore. This is a challenge because these papers need to find money to afford to print stories.

• Fake news - he spoke about how newspapers have to try and avoid fake news and spoke about untrustworthy sources that people have to try and avoid. He also said about Donald Trump and that he accuses stories of being fake news because he doesn't like what has been printed about him.

• Relationship between print & online news - online news is becoming increasingly popular whereas print news is declining in popularity. This is because people can find news online for free so don't bother buying a newspaper (although Christian said City A.M was free).

Cuffs: Episode 1

Imagine you are a TV critic who writes for the Independent. Write a review of the opening episode of the new BBC Police Drama Cuffs.

Cuffs: Season 1 Episode 1 review, worth the watch?

If you enjoy shows such as The Bill, Line of Duty and Luther, you may want to watch the eight episode, 2015 series - Cuffs. Created by Julie Gearey, Cuffs is a drama series that follows the South Sussex Police Force around Brighton, and what its like to be on a modern day front-line. Episode one ("Luck of the Draw") was aired on BBC1 on the 28th October 2015. The eight episodes then ran until the 16th December 2015, but was cancelled after one series, however, don't let this put you off.

In episode one, we get introduced to eight main characters: PC Ryan Draper - a serious but committed and principled police man; PC Jake Vickers - new to the job, Jake is being trained by Ryan and the son of the Chief Superintendent; DS Jo Moffat - a talented detective with a slightly awkward side, and a crush for the Chief; DC Carl Hawkins - only seen a few times, Carl is a tough detective constable who isn't afraid to get stuck into the action; DI Felix Kane - the Detective Inspector with a few too many secrets for his own good; PC Donna Prager - hard working, capable, dependable, and an overall brilliant officer; PC Lino Moretti - dedicated to the job, but a somewhat comical character who can't keep up physically; finally, Chief Superintendent Robert Vickers - Jake's dad and a master at his job, but hints that maybe everything isn't ok at home...

"On his first day working with Ryan, rookie cop Jake faces a challenging shift on the Brighton streets. But, being the boss' son, Jake's biggest challenge is earning the respect of his new colleagues." - this is the basic summary of episode 1. The South Sussex Police Force face a number of challenges that they manage, with a lot of setbacks - not only do we meet the main characters, but we meet a depressed drug addict, a racist murderer and a kidnapper! 

As mentioned, BBC1 in 2015 was the first and only channel to broadcast Cuffs, however the show was sold overseas to New Zealand (broadcasted in January 2016) and Australia (broadcasted in February 2016). The program fits in with the others shown on BBC1 as it follows the same genres, for example, Luther, Bodyguard and Sherlock, as they are all drama series just like Cuffs.

Cuffs was shown on a Wednesday at the pre-watershed time of 8pm, which could have the wrong time for it. Being broadcasted before 9pm really limits what the show could convey. If it was shown at a later time, extra violence and comical scenes could have been added to bring more drama to the show - maybe a missed opportunity? Not only this, but 8pm may have been an inappropriate time for the show to be broadcasted. With scenes of semi-nudity and violence the show may have not been suitable for children still awake at the time.

Undoubtedly, Cuffs would have been a very appealing show to a wide range of different people. A vast mix of different characters ensures that the audience will find at least one character to relate to, adding more appeal to watch the show. Whether you like the serious character (PC Ryan Draper), the secretive character (DI Felix Kane) or the comical character (PC Lino Moretti), there is someone for everyone. The storylines and plot is also bound to appeal to those who love drama and police series, as it is gripping and easy to follow.

So, is Cuffs worth the watch? If you're into fast-paced, action-filed police drama series, with a good mix of hostilities and excitement, than its a definite YES.