Documentary Conventions
Documentary Conventions A documentary is a media text, which deals with "real" issues in the world today. Unlike a drama or a soap opera it does not have a continuing storyline. For this a voiceover/narrator or presenter is used to link one part of the programme to the next. All documentaries use this convention or else they would not be able to flow from scene to scene. There are several different types of documentary the 2 most common are; the classic documentary that presents facts and evidence on a particular subject and the docu-soap that focuses on several "characters" or a specific place. However, as times have changed so too have documentaries. Not only do you get documentaries with dramatisation but also now dramas are taking on the overall look of a docu-soap documentary. "Cops" is a particular example of this; it uses the conventional camera techniques that a docu-soap such as "airport" would incorporate. Both docu-soaps and the classic documentary also share several other key conventions. When dealing with an issue, which needs an expert opinion, the classic documentary uses the typical interview camera shot. The subject is positioned within a location that reflects their profession or relates to the subject they are referring to. Docu-soaps do not focus on a particular subject but an issue within the programme itself. For this the character is the main subject
The Simpsons - Using a specific episode you have watched, evaluate the extent to which the Simpsons follow the conventions of a typical sitcom.
The Simpsons Using a specific episode you have watched, evaluate the extent to which the Simpsons follow the conventions of a typical sitcom. The Simpsons is a very successful animated sitcom. Sitcom is an abbreviation of situation comedy. A sitcom is a comedy in which you have different storylines every episode. Other famous animated sitcoms are Family Guy, Futurama and South Park. The Simpsons was the brainchild of Matt Groening and started of as 30-second sketches on the Tracy Ullman Show. They proved so successful that the Fox Network decided to produce a half hour long version and so on December 1989, The Simpsons as we know and love was born, due to Matt Groening extracting different aspects from sitcoms such as 'Leave it to Beaver' and 'The Honeymooners' and then developing them into a new sitcom. Before The Simpsons was introduced many sitcoms were quite bland and a reflection of perfect family life. Matt Groening decided to make a programme that challenged these middle class, formulaic sitcoms. The purpose of The Simpsons is above all to entertain otherwise no one will watch it, however The Simpsons also exposes stereotypes and satirises aspects of mainstream cultures and institutions. The main appeal of The Simpsons lies with its target audience. Youngsters enjoy watching The Simpsons as they enjoy seeing Bart and Lisa getting into trouble and also because it
What images of family and school life are presented in Malcolm in the Middle?
What images of family and school life are presented in Malcolm in the Middle? In the 21st century there are a variety of family units ranging from the nuclear families, which are immediate relatives, Mum, Dad and children, to the extended family, which also includes Grandparents and cousins, who play a part in daily life. The Simpson's are a typical family. Marge takes charge and doesn't work, but Homer does, also they have three children, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Malcolm in the Middle represents the 'Symmetrical Family.' Malcolm in the Middle is now in its sixth series and sadly has to end as all the actors for the television show are too old for there roles. This television show is one of the best yet! Malcolm is a gifted boy who is stuck in the middle of his family of two brothers, Reese and Dewey also Francis but, he's in Military camp, because his parents wanted him to learn some discipline for himself. The Parents in Malcolm in the Middle are very different to most parents as Lois who is the mother worries a lot and gets upset if she gets something wrong or 'messed up', although she is a very strong character concerning what happens in the house. If Malcolm or Reese do something to Dewey she always finds out what they did to him. On the other hand, Hal who is the father, wants to be a kid again. He always tries to hang around Reese and Malcolm as they are the
The Portrayal of Women on Television.
The Portrayal of Women on Television Helen Ingham One point of interest would be how people respond to the representations of women embodied through television. I have interviewed four people concerning their personal opinions of how fair these representations are. Person A is female and nineteen years old, person B is female and twenty-years old, person C is male and fifty years old, and person D is male and twenty-four years old. When asked to think of five stereotypes for women, the one stereotype that all respondents gave was the bimbo, a conventionally beautiful young woman with little intelligence and who they considered would usually be found on soaps and quiz shows. All the stereotypes that the respondents gave were from soap operas, dramas and adverts. None of the respondents felt that women are represented in a wholly accurate manner. But what is interesting, however, is the fact that C and D thought representations to be more true than A and B. A and B both rejected the majority of images they spoke about, and even said they felt angry at what television portrays as a woman. The messages that the men and women received were different, but still not constructive. A and B both said that they felt television telling them that their place is behind men and that there is a pressure to always look good. Respondent D said he felt that television dictates what type
Big Brotheris "a uniquely damaging and vicious piece of television, pandering to the worst instincts of the viewer, broadcaster and participant, degrading all three in the process." (David Aaronovitch) - How far do you agree with this assessment?
Reality Television: Big Brother is "a uniquely damaging and vicious piece of television, pandering to the worst instincts of the viewer, broadcaster and participant, degrading all three in the process." (David Aaronovitch) How far do you agree with this assessment? In the summer of 2000 Big Brother fever swept the country. This 'Reality TV' show was first aired and created in Holland and has conquered the globe. Produced by Bazal TV for Channel 4 it reached huge audiences and broke the record for the largest TV phone vote in British History; thousands of people voted every week to evict one member of the house. Every Friday at 11:00 p.m., prime time for a 16-28 audience, evictions took place. Davina McCall, a lively young presenter, fronted the show. The weekly eviction and run up was an immediate hit for Channel 4 the programme built on its popularity despite criticism that the show is populist and uninformative. Now with spin-offs everywhere and Channel 4 about to broadcast the third series of Big Brother, the criticism of the show still comes loud and clear. This television show was aired every day of the week: On Mondays it was the psychological analysis, Tuesdays were the nomination days, and so on. It even had its Omnibus on Sunday like the soap operas. The house started with ten people, five women, and five men, a microcosm of society or so we were led to believe.
Japanese Anime vs. Western Cartoons.
Japanese Anime vs. Western Cartoons WRI 122 6/4/03 Japanese Anime vs. Western Cartoons Memories of television programming from my youth consists mostly of great educational shows like Sesame Street and The Friendly Giant, but also consists of classic 1980s cartoons like Transformers and G.I. Joe. Mention these two cartoons to any other guy in his late teens or early twenties and his face will light up as he reminisces on the great fun they had growing up with these action/adventure shows. However, ask any adult in their forties or fifties about these shows and they'll answer with "All that violence on TV... what a shame." or "Sorry, I didn't watch any of those kiddy shows." These are typical responses in America, where animation has evolved into an industry aimed, more or less, at children. In Japan, an entirely different result has occurred in the evolution of the Japanese animation industry, where the main audience consists of anyone aged from one to one hundred. When westerners turn on the television and see an animated show on, they tend to assume that they are on a children's channel and what they are seeing is a safe, humorous cartoon that would not hold their interest. Half of the time, they would be right, since there are many channels that are loaded with cartoons (e.g. Cartoon Network) or have certain hours of the day where cartoons are shown in lieu of other
How do television companies us scheduling to attract an audience
How do television companies use scheduling to attract viewers to their channels? All television companies need to attract viewers, and they attract viewers in many different ways. I shall be exploring how channels use one method of attracting an audience, TV scheduling. I will find out the different methods of scheduling, how and why they are used, and why channels need to attract a large audience. BBC The BBC is one of the only channels in the country that doesn't use advertisements to make profits. Instead, they use merchandising. To make money, the BBC sells popular programmes to other countries, such as selling "Eastenders" to America. This makes millions for the BBC, but when they get this money, they don't just give themselves a pay rise. Instead, they put the money back in to the programmes to make them better. The BBC also gains funding through the TV licence. A colour TV licence costs £131.50 and a Black and White TV licence costs £44. This is paid by everyone who owns a TV, and all this money goes to the BBC, so they can develop their programmes to gain more viewers. The BBC needs to attract a good share of the audience (around 30-40%), in order to give good reason for the TV licence. There are many popular shows which the BBC broadcasts, such as "Eastenders", "Little Britain" and "Only Fools and Horses". ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 The other Terrestrial
Marketing Article Analysis
Eric Beste Marketing Article Analysis 0-27-03 "ESPN's Risky New Game Plan: Relying Less on Play-by-Play" WSJ, Friday, Oct. 24th, 2003 ESPN is widely known as a 24-hour sports channel leader that broadcasts the most popular American sports and some of the biggest games, including Sunday night NFL football. The popular sports channel latest move of creating original programming about the lives behind the scenes of professional football players with the show "PLAYMAKERS" represents a dance with marketing fire. It risks weakening of strong brand identity that has yielded a leadership position in sports broadcasting and alienation of strategic partners that made that leadership position possible. As with most brand weakening moves, the result will at best not be close to what is being promised and at worst end up ruining the ESPN brand. Mark Shapiro, the head of broadcasting, decided to create the show PLAYMAKERS for various reasons. This line extension, which is not a play-by-play show which ESPN is known for, is an effort to ward off challenges in the industry. The main challenges are a growing backlash against the high fees being charged to cable companies and strategic partners beginning to bring their business to other broadcasting outlets. Instead of working to strengthen their strategic partnerships and leadership position, there is a desire to appeal to new
Evaluation of Soap Plan.
Evaluation of Soap Plan Dene View I was asked to design a soap and name my target audience, draw a map of the area my soap was set in, write about the main meeting places that would be in my soap, describe some of my main characters, plan the first episode of my soap and then draw a storyboard and write a script for a scene in the episode. A target audience is the sort and age group of people that you are aiming your soap at. I decided that my target audience would be teenagers and young adults because I know more about what they like to see on television than I do about what older people like to see. I was also trying to make it the sort of soap that I would like to watch. My soap is set in an uptown area called Dene View. It is full of action, happiness and tragedy. It is a very busy area with shops, hairdressers, clubs, pubs and takeaways. There are three streets of houses in my soap that would attract different people to live in them because of how big they are and how much they are worth. When I was creating my soap I had to decide what sort of things I wanted in my soap, the different places that people would meet and also the sort of people that would live there. When I was thinking of my characters I tried to make them as interesting and as different to other characters as possible so that there was a mix of different personalities. When I was creating my
English Essay: Reviewing TV Shows "It seems today that all we see is violence, movies and sex on TV, but where are the good old fashion values on which we you to rely?" - The ironic opening lyrics to Family Guy's opening theme tune.
English Essay: Reviewing TV Shows "It seems today that all we see is violence, movies and sex on TV, but where are the good old fashion values on which we you to rely?" - The ironic opening lyrics to Family Guy's opening theme tune. Family Guy is an animated American comedy programme that revolves around the Griffin family, who strive to cope with everyday life as they are tossed from one crazy scenario to another in each episode. Without a doubt, Family Guy has to be the freshest new animated comedy around and has been dubbed as the 'new Simpsons'. However, I find that comparison fairly inaccurate as Family Guy presents its own unique style of animated comedy. In my opinion, the Family Guy creators and writers found their inspiration from the Simpsons, despite making more close to the bone scenarios and storylines. The Griffin household is comprised of two awkward teenagers, Chris and Meg, a smooth-talking yet cynical dog named Brian, parents Peter and Lois and a malformed baby called Stewie, who craves for world domination and the death of his family. Father Peter Griffin attempts to provide his family with the best but ends up in all types of sticky situations that are absurdly unthinkable. He often resembles Homer Simpson, whereas Homer is a clumsy oaf and yet loveable, it's hard to find Peter Griffin adorable. Lois Griffin puts up with the tribulations that come