Skins

Skins

Would the programme appeal to 16-24 year olds?

This would appeal to a specific type of 16-24 year olds and not all of them. Some teenagers would watch this trailer and think the programme is about ‘sex, drugs, rock and roll’ whilst believing teenagers should actually be studying, however others (the majority) would see this as funny and amusing. They would also probably think it is quite a cool way to act and would watch it thinking ‘I remember when that happened at this party I went too’.

What VAL’s are represented in the trailer?

Values- think it’s important to ‘live life to the full’

Aspirations- probably to have quite high paid jobs, but not have to work up to them and to just be given them, to own houses and to have fast cars.

Lifestyles- drink, drugs, partying, living life to the full, living for weekends, hangovers, own very little.

I think the skins trailer gives the following view of teenagers;

Stereotypical – not all teenagers spend their weekends at parties, not all teenagers act or behave this way.

Post-modern- modern views show teenagers as these partying youths who do nothing else but party and cause trouble.

Insulting- to those who do not act this way, and even to those who do party, skins takes this to the extremes and blows it out of proportion, insulting teenagers/youths.

The representations of teenagers in the trailer of Skins are:

Authentic …………………………………..X………………………………………………………………Fantastic

Realistic……………………………………………………X…………………………………………………Surreal

Entertaining …………………………X………………………………………………………………………..Embarrassing

Offensive…………………………………………………X……………………………………………………Acceptable

They are entertaining and not embarrassing because most teenagers know what they  actually act like, however if viewed to an older viewer, I think they would embarrass teenagers, although everyone was once a teenager and most people know what to expect of teenage behaviour.

I don’t think the representations are ‘fantastic’ because I think it sends out wrong messages of how teenagers should behave to teenagers that don’t know what is going on behind other people’s doors and are better behaved than those representations show.

I don’t think they are realistic or surreal, they are somewhere in between these two representations. They are realistic for some teenagers, but totally surreal for others.

It is not an acceptable representation of teenagers, but it is not offensive either as most teenagers know that some other teenagers do in fact behave like this and it is those people that give teenagers in general this stereotype.

Company pictures produce films, TV shows and news shows.

They do not only produce youth TV dramas, but shows such as Inspector George which is a detective drama, Generation Kill  which is reality TV based on a true story and talk to me which is a comedy drama.

The Leveson Inquiry aims to provide the latest information on the inquiry, including details of hearings and evidence to the public and other parties who are interested.  A wide variety of people including newspaper reporters, management, proprietors, policemen and politicians of all parties will give evidence and be involved.  It is important because it is going to look at the phone hacking and other illegal behavior and look at recommendations for a more effective policy which supports the freedom of the press whilst encouraging high ethical standards.

Give examples of the ways in which E4 tries to attract 16-24 year olds.

E4 tries to attract 16-24 year olds by the way they show their programmes. By having a channel E4+1, youths are able to watch the shows of E4 an hour later than they are shown. This works well for youths, because if they are not able to see the program at the specific time it is showing, they can watch it an hour after, or visit the E4 website and watch it whenever they have time.

E4 also shows a wide variety of shows such as Misfits, Hollyoaks, Made in Chelsea, The Inbetweeners, 90210, Skins and Scrubs. By showing a wide variety of programs, E4 attract a wide variety of viewers.

By showing TV dramas, youths are interested and attracted to the programs which they can form emotional bonds with the characters and can also relate this to their own lives and experiences. By showing these programs, the youths are able to form these bonds and relations to their lives, meaning they are likely to tune into E4 to see what other programs are on this channel which they might also be able to relate too.

Misfits Technical Analysis

Misfits technical analysis- Season 1, Episode 1.

How are the individual characters introduced in the sequence?

-Slow introduction of them getting dressed- how they chose to personalise  and wear overalls followed by them each doing something- one plays on phone, one has a cigarette, one plays with jewellery etc.

-When told “this is your chance to help other people” they all respond in a different way,

All talk in different way, one stands on mobile phone, one says about being portrayed as bad because they are, two start to fight, takes mickey out of girls accent, one stands quietly

-When painting bench their characters are portrayed- one angry/storms off, one quietly paints, one very confident and speaks to “that runner guy”, girl slaps paintbrush about like she can’t be bothered, cheeky/cocky boy tries to get out of painting and talks to girl, quiet guy suddenly ‘bites’ back and gets angry

The way the individual characters are introduced in this sequence tells the audience about how they will act throughout the TV drama but also gives the audience a snippet of their behavioural characteristics and personality before they see the programme. It also tells us what we (the audience) can expect from the characters through the programme.

How do the technical features combine to present the characters to the audience?

Camerawork-

-close up shots

-extreme close up shots

-establishing shot

-medium shot

-two shot

-reaction shot

-pan

Mise-en-scene

-lockers

-overalls- all characters choosing how to wear their overalls

-mobile phones

-natural, basic hair, make-up and clothing

-natural environment for filming

Actor’s performance

-extravagant

- clear & precise actions

-each act differently but all follow same ‘can’t be bothered’ mood

-use gestures

-use strong facial expressions

Editing

-jump cut

-cutaways

-credits at beginning

Sound

-diagetic sounds

-characters speech

-slow music as introduction

How do the technical features combine to present the characters to the audience?

The slow music during the introduction shows how the characters chose to act and what the audience can expect from the characters behaviour-wise throughout the episode. The use of the slow music, a diagetic sound encourages the audience to concentrate on the characters introduction.

By using a variety of shots such as close up shots and extreme close up shots the audience are able to see the side of the audience that the editors want to portray. The establishing shot at the beginning instantly tells us where the characters are, and so in effect the type of places the characters of this TV drama ‘hang out.’ A reaction shot has been used to show the audience how the characters respond to the action which gives the audience a view on how they are affected by different actions and their responses to these.

By using overalls and lockers we learn that the teenagers are obviously somewhere where they need to follow rules, hence why they have overalls that are all the same. The way the mise-en-scene is interpreted by the teenager’s shows us what their characters are like, for example the way they chose to wear their overalls, with one character choosing to wear them round their hips whilst others zip them right up to the top. The basic hair, make-up and clothing alongside the natural environment work well alongside the youths.

The main technical feature used to present the characters to the audience alongside the others is the actor’s performance. The actors use extravagant, clear and precise actions and all act different although follow the same ‘can’t be bothered mood’. The use of strong gestures and facial expressions presents the characters to the audience well.

By using all of these technical features, the editors have been able to, from the beginning to the end of the extract; present the characters to the target audience. The strong presentation of the characters works well and means other teenagers and viewers of misfits will be able to link and engage with these characters.

Do you think that there are any representational issues in the sequence?

I think teenagers are misrepresented in this sequence, because these teenagers are obviously how the media stereo-typically portray teenagers. Not all teenagers are the same, and therefore this sequence misrepresents the majority of teenagers.

Leveson Enquiry

Leveson Inquiry                                                                Poppy George

The Leveson Inquiry aims to provide the latest information on the inquiry, including details of hearings and evidence to the public and other parties who are interested.  A wide variety of people including newspaper reporters, management, proprietors, policemen and politicians of all parties will give evidence and be involved.  It is important because it is going to look at the phone hacking and other illegal behavior and look at recommendations for a more effective policy which supports the freedom of the press whilst encouraging high ethical standards.

I think the press have been out of order and have gone too far.  They have intruded people’s lives, such as with the Anne Diamond case where they had to travel abroad, to Australia for the birth of their second child because of the ‘horrendous experience’ with the journalists after the birth of their first child. Firstly, everyone has the right to privacy, especially during such an emotional time as a baby being born, but secondly for the press to employ a Australian photographer, who then took a photo of her relaxing in her back garden oversteps the mark, showing Anne had no privacy at all. There is however, a very fine line as celebrities know the media are going to follow them, and know that their lives are basically part of the public’s entertainment anyway. Celebrities are paid an astonishing amount of money, however they expect for this to fit around them, and for them to be able to choose when the photos are taken, whereas if they were always fully made up and portrayed in a positive view then this would not be as entertaining for the public eye.

Kate Harwood

Dear Kate Harwood,

                                I am emailing after watching your video about Youth TV Drama.

Firstly, I disagree with your comment of young people not watching as much TV drama as older people. Many youths spend much of their leisure time watching TV dramas, choosing to relate their own experiences to these dramas. A number of youths watch TV dramas and then link this to other types of media, such as following the actors on twitter or liking their pages on Facebook. Many youths have also been introduced to new media recently, so they are able to catch up on TV and can watch it when they wish too, examples of the new media are Sky+, 40D and BBC iplayer.

Youth audiences want an interesting, fast paced and realistic drama which they can relate too and talk to their peer groups about. They want a TV drama they can follow and emotionally attach themselves too whilst being able to look forward to watching the next episode or series. They also want an up to date TV drama which focuses on modern problems and issues.

TV dramas such as Eastenders really draw in the youth audience and many youths tweet or Facebook about this program, making them part of their lifestyle and consider these TV dramas as part of their weekly program, watching them each week. Many youths watch Eastenders because of the fast-paced storylines which change in every episode. The story lines in Eastenders are also over exaggerated, but fairly realistic and youths can easily form emotional bonds with particular characters.

TV dramas such as Misfits and Skins, although watched by many youths are also watched by an older audience. The way these programs represent youths sends out a mis-representation, forcing youths to feel ‘put out’ by these programmes and these stereotypes mean youth’s do not wish to watch a false representation of themselves.

Regards,

Poppy George

Hotel Babylon annontations

Hotel Babylon: Immigrant Raid                                                                                 Poppy George

                                                                                                                                                               

Camerawork

Reaction shot- when the illegal immigrant notices the police

Head and shoulders shot- to show expression/emotion

Two shot- when the police arrive/ establishing their relationship of working together

Medium shot- when the police arrive and the worker see’s them

Zoom- on illegal immigrant/shows reaction to spotting the police

Sound

Serious voices- diagetic

Quick paced music when police come in- Non diagetic

Cliff hanger/ music with a hint of eeriness when they find out the lady laying down is diabetic- Non diagetic

Panic in voices of immigrants- diagetic

Heels clicking/running- Non diagetic

Editing

Continuity editing- from when the police spot the illegal immigrant to when the illegal immigrant spots the police to when the police catch him

Freeze frame- freezing moment when illegal immigrant spots police

Parallel editing

Eye-line match

Mise-en scene

Props- boxes, tables, sofa, notice boards, offices, kitchen of hotel, hoover, calendar, jam for hypoglycaemic woman,

Makeup- natural, simple

Costume- smart suits/dresses for hotel receptions/hotel office workers, police uniform for police, burgundy aprons/clothes for cleaners,

How are the illegal immigrants represented in this extract?

The illegal immigrants are represented as only doing positive in this extract of Hotel Babylon. They are represented as trying to do good for their families and only working to keep a roof over their family’s heads. The illegal immigrants are also represented with a positive view because they are working hard when the police enter. The kindness of the immigrants when the woman has a hypoglycaemic attack also represents them positively.

How are the police represented in this extract?

The police are represented in a negative manner in this extract, the way they barge in and try to hunt down the illegal immigrants seems unfair and nasty because the immigrants are only trying to work and are benefiting themselves and the hotel. The police also listen to no-one when they find the single immigrant and this makes them seem selfish.

Who are the audience positioned to sympathise with?

The audience are positioned to sympathise with the illegal immigrants here which is the total opposite of the normal stereotypical views people have on illegal immigrants. Because of the way the illegal immigrants are represented, we see a different side to the way they are normally portrayed in the media, making us feel sympathetic towards them and their situations.

Eastenders- Good & Bad characters

Eastenders- Good/Bad characters.

Aim of Eastenders- for teenagers to relate too, over exaggerated, entertaining because covers a variety of topics, aimed at a wide range of age groups through age range of characters, emphasises stereotypes on certain people/age groups e.g. Lola=teenage pregnancies, Dot= old and slightly slow, always finish’s on a cliff hanger which encourages people to watch another episode.

Rainie- bad character, drunken, drug taker, harsh, self-centred, insensitive, un-thoughtful, manipulative.

Tanya- good character, people are made to feel sorry for her, was seen as bad through affair with Max, shows emotion, nervous, scared, unsure.

Jack- good character, caring, worries/shows concern for others, masculine, ‘hero’, stands up for his rights/what he believes, proud of his achievements/ownership, clever.

Lola- bad character, thief, teenager who’s pregnant, liar

Lauren & Abbie- good characters, used for teenagers to relate too, deprived/difficult childhood, hard family upbringing, Abbie is a nervous character, not seen as bad for the ‘bad’ things they do, stressful lives, responsible/lots of responsibilities, serious, honest, Lauren is protective over Tanya and Abbie

Mise-en-scene- natural clothes and makeup- apart from Roxy who has lots of overdone makeup, main settings=café, market, houses and Queen Vic- all normal places for teenagers to hang out so can relate too, realistic settings.

Camera angles- over the shoulder, binary opposition- Carol and Amy- Roxy shouldn’t be there so over her shoulder so audience can see what Carol’s reaction is when she spots Roxy also Max and Tanya over Dot’s shoulder, showing the emotions on Max/Tanya’s face after Dot’s heart to heart with Tanya.

E4

Give examples of the ways in which E4 tries to attract 16-24 year olds.

E4 tries to attract 16-24 year olds by the way they show their programmes. By having a channel E4+1, youths are able to watch the shows of E4 an hour later than they are shown. This works well for youths, because if they are not able to see the program at the specific time it is showing, they can watch it an hour after, or visit the E4 website and watch it whenever they have time.

E4 also shows a wide variety of shows such as Misfits, Hollyoaks, Made in Chelsea, The Inbetweeners, 90210, Skins and Scrubs. By showing a wide variety of programs, E4 attract a wide variety of viewers.

By showing TV dramas, youths are interested and attracted to the programs which they can form emotional bonds with the characters and can also relate this to their own lives and experiences. By showing these programs, the youths are able to form these bonds and relations to their lives, meaning they are likely to tune into E4 to see what other programs are on this channel which they might also be able to relate too.

Cutting it essay

How are the audience positioned to respond to the characters in this extract? How do the MICRO elements encourage this positioning?

Younger viewers would probably respond to this by turning away from the scene or saying it was predictable whereas older viewers would probably respond to this by wondering what was going to happen next and when she gets hit, asking themselves ‘is she going to die?’. Older viewers would probably respond to the sequence by saying he is a true gentleman.

The sequence uses a storyline which could possible actually happen and doesn’t seem overly made up to attract to the audience. The sequence story line of the woman not wanting to wait to tell the man the news is also very appealing because we wonder what the news was going to be, and it leaves us on a cliff hanger wanting to watch more to see what we will find out.  The use of the day-to-day basic costumes and basic normal high street scene also makes it seem very realistic.

The facial expressions of the characters, paired alongside the other micro elements, make up a predominant part of the audiences responses to each different part of the extract. The use of sharing emotions with the audience, is a really good way for them to be pulled into the extract, and makes their response more emotional because the audience feel closer to the characters because they know how the characters feel through their choice of emotions.

Sounds are a major part of this extract of ‘Cutting it’ and really help the viewer to imagine the scene at specific important points throughout the extract.

The use of the long shot when the woman gets hit shows the audience the extremity of what has happened. It also shows  the audience where the storyline was set and at what time during the day it was. The use of the slow motion encourages the characters to respond with shock when the man runs towards the woman who has been hit. The slow motion shows the characters exactly what is happening and gives them time to respond and think about the woman being hit.

When the woman is hit by the bus, lots of sounds are used. The use of lots of sounds makes the audience quite confused, but you could also know what was going on just through the use of sounds and not watching the extract. By using traffic and car sounds such as horns, screeching tyres and car brakes we instantly think of a crash or something dangerous. The audience respond to this being followed by the sound of a slow heartbeat with the instant thought that someone is injured or has been hurt and is in a bad way.

The long drawn out music is a significant indication to the audience that something sad has happened; in this case it confirms to the audience their response of “has the woman died.”

Cutting it annotations

Cutting it: Tragic End                                             Poppy George, Media Studies

Camera

Long shot

medium close up

extra long shot

extreme close up

high shot

Mise en scene

high street scene, props very minimal and ‘normal’ to a high street

costumes are ‘day to day’ clothes

facial expressions are a predominant part of the scene, sharing emotions with the audience

Editing

slow motion

some of the shots jump from one to another

lots of cuts for different clips

lots of different camera angles used

Sound

traffic

woman shouting

horns

screeching tyres

car brakes

heart beat

running

conversations

long drawn out music at the end

crying

breaking glass

SOUNDS ARE A MAJOR PART OF THE VIDEO CLIP AND REALLY HELP THE VIEWER TO IMAGINE THE SCENE AT THE TIME.

Audience

How might different audience groups respond to the sequence?

Younger viewers would probably respond to this by turning away from the scene or saying it was predictable whereas older viewers would probably respond to this by wondering what was going to happen next and when she gets hit, asking themselves ‘is she going to die?’. Older viewers would probably respond to the sequence by saying he is a true gentleman.

What techniques does the sequence use to attract, talk to and appeal to the audience?

The sequence uses a storyline which could possible actually happen and doesn’t seem overly made up to attract to the audience. The sequence story line of the woman not wanting to wait to tell the man the news is also very appealing because we wonder what the news was going to be, and it leaves us on a cliff hanger wanting to watch more to see what we will find out.

Blackpool Essay

What do we learn about the characters in this scene? How is this reinforced through the key MICRO elements?

We learn that the family are wealthy and have been well bought up through the lots of gold frames, gold mirror and gold items that are in the house scene. We also learn the father is very protective of his daughter, and the large family home gives the feel of a typical family. The father is anxious of her newest boyfriend and we learn this through the sound and speech from him. We are also taught that the daughter has had previous experience of ‘tattooed’ boyfriends and the father hasn’t approved of them. We learn the daughter’s newest boyfriend works at the theatre and the mother is the peacemaker. From the fathers blunt tone of voice and use of language we are lead to believe he doesn’t approve of his daughters newest boyfriend and thinks he is too old to be in a relationship with her.

The use of the medium close up and extreme close up shots show us the close up expressions of the father. This shot lets the audience see the emotion of the character and lets us focus on his actions.

The long shot lets us see what time of the day and where the scene was set which is really useful to let us start to judge the scene.

The crumpling when the 2 younger characters get off the sofa and the pacing and walking in the bedroom sounds set the tense quiet atmosphere for this scene.

We learn the characters are all quite causal, because the use of make-up is natural with a day-to-day style and the costumes are casual and not formal.

Throughout this extract, sounds play a big part in us learning about the characters. The calm opening music along with the large family home backdrop makes us think the extract will be calm and relaxed, whereas when  the characters start talking the atmosphere suddenly changes to quite a tense atmosphere, making us realise the father is very protective and particular about who his daughter falls in love with.

The atmosphere isn’t tense throughout the whole extract though, and the faint use of ringing, tinkling and laughing lightens up the mood of the extract.

The backlighting of the characters is used to make us realise the extract is mainly focused on the characters and so this makes our focus turn to this part of the extract.

The main facial expressions used throughout this extract are happy, sad, laughter and anxious. All of these facial expressions are used to portray thoughts of the characters and most of these are filmed using close up or extreme close ups to really make us focus on the emotions.

Blackpool annotations

-Props

-glasses to drink from and lots of bottles in background

-simple family home props

-Lots of gold frames/gold mirror and gold items- wealth?

-Facial expressions

-used to portray thoughts

-happy

-sad

-laughter

-anxious

-Settings

-Family home gives the feel of a typical family- father being protective over daughter

-Large house- well bought up people?

-Make-up, costume

-make-up is natural

-day-to-day style

-casual, not formal costume

-Body language

-casual & simple

- Nothing extravagant

- The father of the girl’s body language is very unwelcoming

-Editing

-Most of the shots jump from one to another

-straight cut

-lots of cuts between different clips

-Speed

-quite fast paced for people talking

-not filmed particularly quick or sped up though

-Lighting & colour

-backlighting of the characters

-soft lighting

-Camerawork

-over the shoulder shot

-medium close-up shot

-long shot

-Sound

-calm opening music

-slamming of a door

-characters talking

-faint sound of ringing/tinkling

-laughing

-crumpling when the 2 younger characters get off the sofa

-pacing/walking in the bedroom

What do we learn about the characters from this extract?

We learn that the family are wealthy and have been well bought up. We also learn the father is very protective of his daughter, and is anxious of her newest boyfriend. We are also taught that the daughter has had previous experience of ‘tattooed’ boyfriends and the father hasn’t approved of them. We learn the daughters newest boyfriend works at the theatre and the mother is the peacemaker. From the fathers blunt tone of voice and use of language we are lead to believe he doesn’t approve of his daughters newest boyfriend and thinks he is too old to be in a relationship with her.