visual influences

discuss the audience appeal of your 3 main texts? (30)

Lost

Lost is a mainstream text that targets a mainstream audience

Non-liniers narrative is used in a mainstream media texts particularly in lost because it is a way of giving extra information to the viewer allowing them to be passive because they don’t have work things out for themselves. In the opening scene Kate is talking to jessy about when they were on the plain, but instead of us just hearing what he has to say about it, which is a lie anyway, we see the scene on the plain with him hiding from the air hostess as he takes drugs in the bath room, the non-linier narrative makes the audience feel important because they know more than the characters.

Score is used in mainstream texts because it tells the audience what to feel. The score allows the audience to be passive because they don’t have to think about the feelings of the characters. This would appeal to a mainstream audience because they want something they can watch without paying attention to. When a group of the lost characters decides to take the radio up to the top of a mountain the score is used to indicate a quest, it sounds like music from Indiana Jones, this would engage the audience because they might think that something interesting is going to happen on the journey.

Enigma codes are used in mainstream media texts because they are grabbing the audience’s attention and making them want to carry on watching. Lost uses a lot of enigma codes so that the audience stays engaged. In one scene a young boy is in the jungle looking for his dog and he sees some on the floor, the music goes tense and dangerous, then he sees that they are handcuffs so some of the tension is released, but then who did it? And the tension builds again. There are so many enigma codeds used in lost because it is on ABC which is a big American channel with lots of breaks and they need to keep people interested.

Mad men

Mad men is a high brow text that targets a niche audience         

The Cinematography in mad men would appeal to a niche audience because they would be looking deeper than the storyline. Mad Men was made by Mathew Weiner for AMC which is a channel that you have to pay for, this means that the audience would want more for their money, so the cinematography is more for their money because Mathew Weiner wanted quality over quantity of money brought in from the series, this means that they wanted their audience to gain gratification from there carefully thought out lighting and camera angles, an example of this is when penny and Don are in dons office and she tells him that she is leaving to company, she is standing over him as he begs her not to leave, the way they this final scene with the two of them is put together is to show the changing attitudes to women in the workplace, and this is shown thought the power that is portrayed in this scene and is enhanced by the cinematography.

The historical content in mad Men would appeal accuracy in the historical content would appeal to a more niche audience because not everyone would understand whey certain things are happening in the series unless they know about that period of time. The way men react to Joanne, in this series the men swoon over her and she uses her sexuality and looks to get ahead when she sleeps with a business man to get the company a contract and herself a promotion, a more passive audience might not understand that Joanne was considered pretty in the 1950s because she was curvaceous, and resembled Marylyn Monroe. A passive audience might not make the connections with the 1950s so they would not see why she is considered beautiful and an active audience would make their connections.

Peaky blinders

Peaky blinders is a drama made by BBC 2 that targets both mainstream and niche audiences

The mise –en scene and iconography would attract a more niche audience because they would be paying attention to how accurate the clothing and setting is, they would notice and appreciate the smallest detail because they would know that no expense has been spared on the mall seemingly insignificant things, such as the pin on collar that Tommy Shelby wears. Or the spike that goes with the fire when Aunt Polly tries to save Aida’s letter from the fire. A niche audience would also pay attention to the digetic sounds in the scenes. When the scene is outside you can hear sounds coming from the factories, there aren’t important to the main story line but they are to the setting, because this shows that they are in Birmingham when it was an industrial capital.

Sound track the soundtrack in peaky blinders is largely compiled of the white stripes; this would attract a mainstream audience because they are a well known duo so a lot of people would know the music and might be able to relate to it because it is something that appeals to them. Also the music is used to create excitement in the audience because it is used cleverly. There s a complete silence in a scene when the police are all lining up to rade houses, then as the first door in banged on the music starts, this excites the audience and sends them in to a frenzy so that they are griped by the scene

Famous cast in peaky blinders would attract a more mainstream audience because people would see an actor or actress they like and know does a good performance and they would want to watch it to see them. A well known actor in peaky blinders is killian Murphy, he would attract audiences who have also seen him in Hollywood films such as batman and inception and both texts had mass audiences which could potentially follow him to peaky blinders for his acting skills and his looks.

How have people responded to mad men?

• people have made character profiles and analysed them on youtube 
• Mad men  fan sites
• won 68 awards
• merchendice- T-Shirts, mirrors, bobbly heads, hip flask, clocks posters
• other writers who like the program have housed it to influence there programs
• 
  

Most media texts target a wide range of audiences 'how true is this to your chosen text'.

Lost is a mainstream text this means the director JJ Abrams target a wide rainge of audiences both passive and active.

A narrative device that is used in lost is enigma codes. An enigma code controls what the audience sees and knows, this device is used to keep the audience hooked as some information is kept from then. An example of this is when they see a polar bear. Kate says "guys this isn't gust a bear,its a polar bear." then boon says that can't be a polar bear" and the rest say back to him its a polar bear. the is creating an enigma code because they are in a jungle and polar bears live in the north pole.
the uses of enigma codes keeps the audience hooked because they want to know what is happening which means that they will keep watching to find out.



Another narrative convention that lost uses is the use of a score. score is music that has been specially written to accompany the text to help the audience to




another convention that lost uses to appeal to a mainstream audience is the use of an ensemble cast. this is when the cast has a wide variation in there age, race, gender and nationality.
an example of this is when they find our

My Targets

To improve my grade i have to:

. gather all of my notes for the different industries and text that i am analysing so that it is easier to revise.

. i need to keep up with the workload that has been set, if i don't finish it in lesson i need to spend time catching up.

.i need to be more punctual to lessons because i sometimes miss the start and that is as important as the rest.

. when i am doing independent study i need to stay focused, especially if i am on the computer.

Fish Tank genre analysis.

How stereotypical is my chosen text to its genre?

The scene i will be analysing is shortly after Conner takes the family to the pond. the scene is when a woman comes to the house to tell Mia about a school that she has been accepted in to, but Mia doesn't want to talk so she runs out of the house and gos to a internet cafe where she watches videos of dancers. as she goes to leave she is confronted be some girls from a previous scene, and she meets them with hostility. 

The social realism genre often contains long editing, this is shone is fish tank when Mia is in bed, there is nearly 27 seconds of her just lying there. this is used it the social realism genre to make the film scheme more real, it shoes how slow pace life really is.

Another thing that is often in the genre is over the camera shots, to show life from the point of view of someone, often the main protagonist. this is scene in fish take when carrie is talking to Mia about the school. You see carrie and the living room over mias shoulder. this is used it the social realism genre so that you see the world through the persons eyes, and it helps you to gain empathy as you see everything from the is point of view.  

social realism genre conventions

Character roles
The protagonist is usually a typical working class hero, who strives for a better life, better than the one which they have is the beginning of the film.

Usually a non-nuclear, often dysfunctional or broken family.

Representation- it is widely agreed by critics of the genre that social realism has represented females is a negative light. often representing them as dependant on men.


Narrative themes 
Social realism films represent real life and its difficulties.

The narrative follows the lives of niche underrepresented groups of people usually through headship, struggle or social injustice.

The narrative themes are ones that are typically under discussed and are either not or not entirely expected in society.

Typical narrative themes include issues such as the so called underclass, underage pregnancy, phedophilia, depression homosexuality and abortion.


Technical conventions
-Digetic sound
-Shallow depth of field
-hand held camera work
-Natural lighting
-Point of View (pov)
-linear narrative
-Closeups
-simple cuts

Mise en scene & Iconography
-real unvarnished, typical working class locations
-factories, council houses, terraced streets or other traditional locations
-alcohol, drugs cigarettes
graffiti filled run down locations
so called working class fashions that connotate certain subcultures and stereotypes