LO4- BARB Analysis

Channel 4 is a commercial institution that is partly funded by public service broadcasting, therefore its channels are broadcasted to inform, educate and entertain hence why there are a variety of different programmes for multiple different audiences.In the week ending the 13th of november Gogglebox was the highest grossing tv programme with 3.18 million viewers - programmes such as Gogglebox are not featured on broadcasters such as BBC1 due to it being a public service broadcaster and it not being part of their ethos.

Channel 4 is primarily a youth channel with most entertainment programmes being shown past watershed, therfore the target audience would be based around the ages of 16-30 year olds primarily females due to the more feminine nature of the programmes featured such as First dates and The secret life of four year olds.

LO4: Audience research

Organisations that collate data:

RAJAR - Radio joint audience research (whos listening: gender, age , how long for)
NRS - National readership survey
BARB- Broadcaster audience research board (who is watching, when theyre watching, age, gender)

For this section of the exam we have to analyse data that is collected by the organisations.
Data con be from any of the organisations

Regulations from the BBFC

 Pick out 5 points of regulation from the BBFC for the film that you have studied.

Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of.

References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

No focus on anti social behaviour which is easily imitated by a child.

There may be nudity with no sexual context. Sex/Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.

Frightening scenes or situations which characters are in danger should not be prolonged.

LO6

BBFC - british board of film classification
Give an age rating to films to 'protect' the public from violent or innnapropriate content, used to be called British Board of Film Censors ... changed its name in 1984 - protectionism
From the early 80's Home video came about meaning they couldnt control what people watched at home hence why they changed their name.

In 1984 the video recordings act was brought about due to the 'video nasties' meaning that films began to have age ratings on their covers as prior to this anybody was able to by films that could be potentially harmful.

The BBFC blocked the public from seeing certain films in the cinema so when home video was available they began to panic and additionally rated by age content.

The BBFC used to rate gaming content also until the manhunt scandal came about in 2012 that made the reponsibility be handed directly to PEGI

LO6: Starter

1. The two main areas when media effects are discussed.
passive and active audiences

2. Give examples of a theory that can be applied to each

Hypodermic syringe and uses and gratifications. Encoding/decoding audience background and individual experience plays a part on how they read a text.

3. Give an example of a media text that caused a 'moral panic'

GTA 5 copy cat killing , Halo 3 killing , natural born killers , marilyn manson, breaking bad, wolfenstien 3D. 

KTA 6 production techniques feedback sheet

LO4 Uses And Gratifications Theory

Denis McQuail, 1972
There are four reasons that people consume media products/pleasures they gain from them:

1) Surveillance - Using media to find information about the world
2) Escapism - escaping from reality
3) Building personal Identity - Taking ideas, following trends - Role models
4) Building personal relationships - Establishing yourself amongst others , provides conversation topics


Life of Pi offers the gratification escapism as it shows the viewer a different way of living , the screenplay features adventure and fantasy which is not present in day to day life. The computer generated imagery leads the viewer into the belief that there are areas on this earth that are much like what is being shown on screen , it is just that they havent discovered them yet. In addition to this , it also offers the gratification of building personal relationships as it provides a topic of conversation regarding the different lessons that are learnt through religion and relationships.

Audience profile

Age group : 12 - 35

The reasoning behind this age group is due to the complex hidden stories behind the narrative and the in depth understanding that is needed in order to understand the emotional turmoil the character goes through. Any child under 12 may not necessarily understand the underlying racial tension and religious uncertainty which is a common theme throughout. CGI would appeal to these ages as from 12+ a child would be able to understand the improbability of a Bengal tiger being on the boat during the filming of the production, older than 35 may not be as encaptured by the fantasy genre as say a teenager or young adult.


Social group: ABC1/C2

The social grouping that i believe this film is aimed toward is the ABC1/C2 as there is a strong presence of education and religious understanding that is mature . However there is no product placement which suggests affluent lifestyles or poverty.

LO4 Understand the target audiences of media products.

- Demographic: Different groups of people

- Conglomerate: A large company with many subsidary company

- Horizontal integration: When a  conglomerate company uses its subsidaries in order to market its own media product, this is done across different sectors.

- Audience: The people viewing/using a media product.

- Independent : A company that acts alone with no subsidary companies. Normally only operates in one sector for example Tv, Film or Radio

- Niche: Something that only appeals to a small group of people. (small demographic)

-Mass: Something that appeals to a large group of people. (large demographic).



Audience Theory-

Jhon Hartley (1987) All media products have 'invisible fictions' before they are made.

Ien Ang (1991) All media producers have 'imaginary entities' in mind before their production.

LO4; audience research

What is audience research?

gathering information on the people that you believe benefit most from your product, for example their knowledge, interests, preferances and behaviours.

Why do we do it ?

So we can tailor products to meet the needs and wants of our audiences - this helps to increase the companies profit margin.

when you personally evaluate a product, this is primary research .


primary research- questionaire , interview ect.
secondary - information that has been done for you and needs collecting ; books,web, newspaper ect.

LO3 Theories Of Representation

1. Name one theorist that discusses gender representation that you have looked at so far in unit 1, unit 3 or GCSE - Vladimir Propp


Representation is how the media shows us things about society - but this is through careful mediation.

The main story/plot of Life of Pi , is a young boy deserted at sea with a Bengal tiger. The plot is primarily his fight to get back to civilisation and initially to survive.


Key theory 1; Tim O'sullivan et al. (1998)

For representation to work, there has to be a shared regonition of people and places. All representations therefore have ideologies behind them. Ideology refers to a set of ideas whihc produces a partial or selective view of reality.

1. Wild animals are always dangerous
2. You can only be a part of one religion




Key theory 2 : Richard Dyer (1983)

Audiences should question the representations they see in the media.



Key theory 3: Laura Mulvey (1975)

Male Gaze

women are objectified in media texts and passive objects. Audiences are positioned to view the women from the point of view of a hetero sexual male.

My film opposes this theory as the women in Life of Pi are all strong characters however still appear in the mothering and feminine nature. For example when filming the girl in the dance studio, it is done in a low angle shot to make piscine look more or less submissive.


Key theory 4: Stuart Hall (1995)

Western/ white cultures continue to misrepresent ethnic minorities as in the media due to underlying racist tendencies. eg. non-white as 'the other', evil or barbaric.

Edward Said (1987)

Pittied
Humourous
Exotic
Dangerous

Piscine is seen as both pittied and humourous. He also dresses in cultural clothing and speaks with a thick Indian accent.



Jhon Berger 'ways of seeing'

Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only most relations between men and women but also the relationship of women to themselves.


male

• Active (do)
• Dominant
• Hard
• Intelligent
• Hard (muscle)
• Rational
• Strong
• Thoughtful

female

• passive (talk)
• Submissive
• Soft
• Intuitive
• Soft (curves)
• Emotional
• Weak
• Impulsive