Explore the main ways your three main texts appeal to their audiences.

In all three of my texts it is clear to see that they have been encoded with certain features which appeal to their audiences.

To start, in Mad Men, in the episode 'The other woman' there is a scene where Don goes to visit Joan at her home regarding the Jaguar pitch. During this scene aspects of the mise en scene are encoded to appeal to an active audience. We see the use of a traditional 1960's flat with the orange wallpaper, the 1960's clock and table. Don is also dressed very formal which is typical of mens fashon at that time. This would appeal to an active audience as they would take a preffered reading to how the mise en scene has been encoded to create a clear representation of the time it is set in. However, a passive viewer would not recognise that these features have been purposely encoded, building onto the idea of a polysemic viewing.

In the same scene Don talks to Joan's mother, asking to speak to Joan. During this we see Joan's mother go into a separate room where Joan is. However the camera doesn't follow her into the room, it stays with Don. This lack of exposition would be gratifying to an active audience as they would realize that the story is not being told to them every step of the way. It would also make the active audience question what they talk about when she goes into the room. Another thing to point out about this scene is how Don speaks to Joan. In the 1960's there were very sexist values around women, it was a very male dominated misogynistic society and it was made out that women were lesser than men. However in this scene we see Don speaking on the same level as Joan saying "I want to tell you its not worth it", like he sympathises Joan and cares about her, respecting her as a woman. This contradiction of the time its set in would appeal to an active audience as they would realise that this feature has been encoded to move away from the stereotype around attitudes towards women in the 1960's. We see a similar idea being shown later on in the episode during the scene where Peggy is handing in her notice and resigning. During this scene we see a shot of Peggy standing looking down on Don whilst he is kissing her hand goodbye. This would be recognized by an active audience as Peggy having power over Don which strictly contradicts the ideology of values of women towards men at that time. The uses and gratifications theory can be applied throughout this as it evidently shows how the producer has encoded the texts with the lack of exposition to suit an active audience, viewing them as more powerful.

Lost however is a mainstream text, encoded to suit a passive audience. During season 1 episode 2 we see characters including Kate, Sayid, Boone and Charlie walking through the forest the use of a film score plays a vital role. As the bear starts to charge we hear fast, tense and dangerous non diegetic music. This would be appealing to a passive audience as it this exposition instantly lets them know what emotions to feel and sets the mood of the scene before anything has really happened, so much so that the need to visually see what is happening isn't needed to understand what is going on. During this same scene when the bear initially roars we see close ups of the characters faces. We see a shocked and scared look on their faces. This close up of their faces, taking up the whole screen with these emotions, again acts as a form of exposition towards a passive audience, letting them know what is happening and how to feel. Kate even says "Somethings coming" which clarify's even further that this danger is approaching fast. The use of a film score, close up shots of facial emotions and the verbal dialogue all contribute to the exposition a passive audience gets and how they are told what is happening step by step without reason to question otherwise. This exposition relates to the hypodermic needle theory and how the producer has encoded the texts with passive connotations.

To build on  this, a little further on we see Boone shoot the polar bear with a gun. As the characters crowd around the bear we see a shot of it. As an audience we can clearly see that it is a polar bear through the white fur. Even so, the vocal clarification and of Kate saying "That is not just any bear, its a polar bear" is still there, thus appealing to a passive audience through this exposition. The fact that Boone has a gun and that there is a Polar bear on a tropical island will work as an enigma and appeal to both a passive an active audience. A passive audience would take a preferred reading and recognise that these aren't usual occurrences and question why they have happened, but not take matters any further. An active audience would also take a preferred reading, recognizing this enigma but will socially intergrate with other Lost fans, discussing this on social sites such as lostpedia. This relates to Stuart Halls idea of a polysemic viewing.


Moving on, the fact that Lost uses an ensemble cast means that there is a wide range of ethnicitys and personality's shown throughout. This in turn leads to a form of personal identification as audience members may be from the same ethic background as some of the cast. Not only does this lead to favoritism with the result of social intergration about the characters but it also expands Losts audience to a global scale with the use of people from different countries. The use of an ensemble cast could also work as an enigma code with the use of different attitudes. This would make a passive and active audience question where this will lead them in the future and make them wonder if any conflict will arise.


During Peaky Blinders, in season 1 episode 2, we see Aunt Polly talking to inspector Campbell in the church. During this scene there is the use of no non diegetic music and there are long pauses between the characters dialogue. This would appeal to an active audience as they would recognize that there is a lack of exposition with no score to convey a certain emotion about the scene and that it purely relies on the characters acting and dialogue to show what is happening. Even when inspector Campbell pushes Aunt Polly against a wall there is no non diegetic music, just the echo of the church they are in and the dialogue they are speaking. To build on this, as Campbell pushes Aunt Polly, she stands up to him by kissing him. This shows how Aunt Pollys character has been encoded to represent a strong independent woman who can look after herself. As this is this is set in 1919, post world war one, the attitudes towards women were misogynistic and there was a patriarchal society. This in turn would appeal to an active audience as they would recognize how the stereotype of women, much like in Mad Men, has been contradicted. During this scene referenes to the time it is set in and the real world issues of the time are shown through reference to the war when Aunt Polly says "Im lighting candles for boys from the garrison who lost their lives in France". This would gratify a active audience as historical references give a clear portrayal as to the time it is set.

Another scene to mention is the scene where Aunt Polly and Ada are sitting in the kitchen. During this scene aspects of the mise en scene show a typical post world war one style kitchen with the use of raggy curtains, brick layered walls and old fashioned wooden furniture. Additionally the lighting of this scene has a sepia effect, looking like it was filmed at that time. This would appeal to an active audience as they would recognize that the producer has encoded the mise en scene to suit and represent the time it is set. Another historical reference is made in this scene also when Aunt Polly says "The IRA are killing our boys, 10 a day". This historical reference along with no non digetic music would appeal to an active audience as they would recognize that this fact has been said with no musical exposition to highlight a certain emotion around the fact that people are being killed.

Another historical reference is made during the scene where Tommy is riding his horse through the streets of Birmingham. During this scene we hear the digetic sound of mechanical explosions and loud bangs. As this frightens the horse we hear Tommy say "Its just noise. In France we used to say its just a music horn band turning up". There is also non digetic music in this scene, we hear it is soft and sad, sounding somewhat sympathetic for Tommy and the horse. This scene would be gratifying for both an active and passive audience through the exposition telling the passive audience how to feel and the historical reference teaching the active audience, thus showing polysemic features

In conclusion all three of my texts are encoded with particular features which make them appeal to their targeted audience. However all three show essences of a polysemic viewing.

How typical are your chosen texts of their genre?

When looking at my three texts, Sin City, District 9 and Fish Tank we can see that they all hold conventions which make them typical of their genre. However Sin City and District 9 hold postmodern values with the use of a hybrid nature.

To start, in Sin City, during the scene where Hartigan is going to save Nancy we see typical Noir conventions being addressed. In this particular scene we see the use of low key lighting, dramatic non diegetic music and the viewing of a cynical protagonist. Hartigan in this scene and throughout, typically of Noir, presents himself with a strong and authoritative nature. Aspects of the mise en scene support this with the use of scars on his face and the authoritative close up of his police badge. The use of a voice over narration of Hartigans voice supports this further. His voice sounds, typically of Noir, hardened and depressed with the use of fast talking and mumbling. This voice over gives us an insight into the characters personality and acts as an enigma making us as an audience wonder where this personality will lead him in the future.

Shortly after, in the scene where we see Hartigan and Bob talking we see the idea of 'good cop, bad cop' being addressed. Hartigan wants to go and save Nancy, but Bob is trying to convince him to not do so and leave. This results in Hartigan punching Bob, leading to Bob shooting Hartigan in the back later on. This 'good cop, bad cop, idea highlights the themes of mistrust and paranoia which is a common convention of Noir. Additionally, in the same scene we see Sin Citys postmodern, hybrid aspect being shown through the mise en scene. Hartigan is wearing a big trench coat which sways in the wind much like a super hero's cape would which is a typical character to be in the comic book genre. Propp can be applied in this instance also, we see Hartigan being the hero trying to save Nancy who is the princess, but is stopped by Bob who is the villan/false hero. These are typical conventions of the characters and narrative structure of a comic book story.

The second cynical protagonist we follow throughout Sin City is Marv. Marv presents him self as a strong, tough and dangerous character. However we see essences of depression through him, which is another typical convention. An example of this is when he says "Hell is walking up every goddam day and wondering why you're still here". This depression throughout Noir is commonly associated with a femme fatale who ultimately leads to the protagonists demise. With Hartigan it is Nancy and with Marv it is Goldie. An example of this is in Marvs death scene. In this we see the camera zoom up to Marvs eye where we see Goldie lying in her death bed, where Marvs disequlibrium began. The post modern aspect of this scene with the use of the colour red on Goldie suggesting seductiveness, danger and death highlights how the women in Noir are viewed and represented whilst making an even clearer link of Goldies death to Marvs.

In my second text, District 9, in the scene where Wikkus is walking through the alien zone we see evidence of a typical science fiction dystopian society being shown. Aspects of the mise en scene support this with the use of gritty alien shack and the conflict between humans and aliens. This scene shows science fiction conventions too with the use of aliens walking around, the interaction of humans and aliens and mise en scene aspects such as the big alien spaceship. This scene also shows District 9's hybrid features with the use of a documentary style approach. During this scene we see Wikkus being filmed by a hand held camera. As he is analyzing the alien shacks he is making constant reference to the camera filming him, like he is being interviewed.

Another scene which shows typical science fiction conventions is when we see Wikkus working in the MNU headquarters. In this scene we see evidence of Todorov with his disequilibrium starting to occur through the transformation beginning through his nails falling off. This transformation is a typical feature of science fiction and this particular scene shows close reference to 'The Fly' where the same thing happens to the main protagonists nails.

During the scene where Wikkus is travelling in the MNU truck we see more evidence of District 9's hybrid nature. We see a medium close up shot of Wikkus inside the truck. The use of a handheld camera in this scene pointing at him just sitting there in the truck adds to how it seems like he is being followed and interviewed. This surveillance camera in this scene adds to his also, further empathizing the idea that they are being followed by showing their location from a higher angle. During this same scene we see the idea of a society controlled by the government being shown. Aspects of the mise en scene support this with the use of the MNU logo on the uniform, trucks and even a MNU surveillance camera highlighting how they live in this controlled society.

Fish Tank however is not a hybrid. It follows the stereotypical conventions of the social realist genre. During the scene where Mia is looking out of the window, we see a panning longshot of the area she is part of. Aspects of the mise en scene show a gritty, run down and dystopian council estate she is part of. Mia being, being the main protagonist adds to this with the use of the worn raggy clothes she is wearing. Also in this scene there is no non diegetic music, only the diegetic sound of traffic. This adds no emotional feeling through the use of a film score, thus adding to the realism of the scene.

Another scene which shows typical social realist conventions is the scene where Mia is walking through the street. During this scene we see her being filmed with a shaky handheld camera. Her walk is determined and fast, like she has somewhere and she is of some importance when in reality she has nowhere to go and she is stuck in this continuous dysfunctional cycle. During the same scene we also see Mia get into a fight with some girls and says to a man "Tell her her old mans a cunt". This conflict and the use of informal, violent language, typically of social realism, appears that is has became a normality in her life and the use of this language is part of her natural dialect.

To build on this idea of a dysfunctional cycle being shown we see evidence of this through Mia herself, Mia's mum and her little sister Tyler. Mia's mum is very much like Mia, she represents her self with a very violent and informal nature. We see this has been passed down to Mia and is being passed down to Mia's little sister Tyler who has also picked up the use of a informal and violent nature. This 'passing down of personalitys' is a clear representation of the cycle they are stuck in and adds to the typicality of Fish Tank to is genre with this representation of dystopia.

In conclusion all three of my texts hold typical conventions of their genre. However two hold postmodern features making them appeal to a wider, more modern audience.

'Distribution is the key to success.' How far do you agree? Refer to your three main texts in your answer. [30]

All three of my chosen texts, Lady Gaga, Nirvana and Radio Head have distributed their music in various ways which have led to their success as a artist, with or without the help of certain distribution methods.

To start, Lady Gaga is a worldwide known pop star who uses the mass media and a major record label promotion in her favor. Her 2011 album 'Born this way', released by Interscope records, sold an estimated 440,000 copies on amazon for 99 cents within the first two days and 1.108 million copies in the United States in the first week. A high production music video was also released for the song 'Born this way'. The high production video allows Gaga to present herself in a state of power over her fans, cultivating them to buy the album and socially integrate about her as an artist. However, with the use of this digital distribution method, consequently illegal downloads and the leaking of songs can occur.

Gaga is known for interacting with her fans using social media and forming this parasocial relationship with them. She has a mass following on twitter of 41.5 million followers, and 66 million on Facebook. Gaga replying to tweets and Facebook messages,calling her fans 'little monsters', allows her to maintain her mainstream image by cultivating her fans by interacting with them on a personal level. The term 'little monsters' suggests that Gaga is the 'big monster', like she is above her fans. This draws her fans in even more when they are spoken to personally as she is viewed as some form of icon. This mass following also allows a wider form of promotion for her future releases by letting her fans know. Therefore from this point we see the use of digital distribution  methods as responsible for a huge part of Lady Gaga's success.

Gaga gained more widespread popularity as she released 8 singles over a 5 month period each released with a music video. The high production value of the video, the provocative appearance Gaga gave herself along side the mass social media promotion with the parasocial relationship formed allowed Gaga to gain more hits on her music videos, making them go viral, maintaining her mainstream and popular status with an increased market value. It could be said from this that Gaga is completely dependent on the distribution of music through media technology and that if it wasn't for such a huge social media following and this parasocial relationship she has with her fans then her music would be much more niche.


Nirvana however distributed their music in a complete opposite way to Lady Gaga. Nirvana were a 1990's grunge band which changed the way mainstream music was viewed. Their disorder, teenage attitude, high distorted and angst filled music was revolutionary for sub genres and attracted a big fan base. Aspects of the mise en scene in their music video 'Smells like teen spirit' show this. Throughout we see the the video being set in a school basket ball court with teenagers 'moshing' to their music. This 'moshing' or form of violent dancing was important as it expressed Nirvana's rebellious iconography.

As internet wasn't available as a method of distribution, Nirvana, along side many other bands at that time, relied purely on live performances, word of mouth, music videos and being signed to a major record label. Thus in 1991 after previously being signed to a record label called 'Sub Pop records' where they had already developed a large following, Nirvana signed to Geffen but still maintained this punk attitude towards their music and did not 'sell out' towards their hardcore fans just because they were signed to a major label. Following their new signing, produced by Geffen records they released the album 'Nevermind' on September the 24th 1991. The album being produced by a major record label allowed mass promotion and the distribution of album copies overseas, which was something their previous independent record label could not do. American stores received an initial shipment of 46,251 copies and 35,000 copies were sent to the United Kingdom where 'Bleach' had previously been successful. Therefore the distribution via a major record label played a major factor in Nirvana's success as it mean it would reach more ears overseas as well as at home.

On their UK promotional tour of 'Nevermind' they made some TV appearances such as 'The Johnathon Ross Show' and 'Top Of The Pops'. Maintaining this angst filled, rebellious nature, when appearing on The Johnathon Ross show they played a metal song called 'Territorial pissings' instead of their newly released single 'In bloom'. This 'disobeying of the system' was extremely helpful in terms of promotion as it resulted in distribution via word of mouth and people wanting to see them live. Not only did this help them from a musical promotion perspective but it helped express the fact that Nirvana didn't set out to be rockstars. They purely wanted to express how they felt about society, thus their actions are a consequence of that. Even so this rebellious nature on live TV was important in how Nirvana's music was noticed.

However since the death of Cobain and the development of the internet, Nirvana's music is distributed and heard via online sources such as iTunes and Youtube and is still able to target a rebellious audience through gaining online views and more popularity.



Radiohead are a English rock band formed in 1985. Six albums into their career, Radioheads contract with EMI expired, contrary to how this would effect artists such as Gaga and Nirvana, it had a positive effect. Radiohead self released their album 'In Rainbows' in 2007. This revolutionized the way artists would distribute their music as they allowed the fans to pay whatever they liked for the album, via their website. This meant less illegal downloads and more profit as the band were more in control of how the music was distributed which is something they didn't have when signed to a major label. The release of their 2011 album 'The king of limbs' sold an estimated 300,000-400,000 copies on the website alone. The use of digital distribution through their website meant that the album releases could appeal on a global scale and at the same time seek more sales from its already established fanbase.

As Radiohead already had a well established fanbase they didn't follow the release of 'The King of limbs' with a tour for a means of promotion and distribution. They did however make a low budget, niche music video to a song on the album called 'Lotus Flower'. Much like Gaga, Radiohead have depended on the use of the internet to distribute and promote their music appealing on a global scale. They have however contradicted the typical approach of using a major record label as a way to promote themselves.

In conclusion, all three of my texts have been successful in the distribution of their music We see Gaga and Radiohead have a more closer relationship with the use of digital technology to distribute their music on a global scale and Nirvana using a much harder approach to success with purely the reliance of a major label, word of mouth and live performances to distribute and promote their music.

'How does Lost target its audience?'

Lost is a mainstream text which is encoded to suit a passive audience. In season 1 episode 2 we can see a variety of encoded conventions which appeal to a passive audience.

To start, in the scene where a group of characters including Kate, Sayid, Boone and Charlie are walking through the forest and the bear starts to charge, the film score plays a vital role. The non digetic music we hear whilst the bear charges is dramatic, fast and scary to hear. This instantly sets the mood for the situation, telling the audience to feel these particular emotions. This exposition is gratifying for a passive audience as it tells them how to feel before anything has really happened, so much so that the need for visual evidence to know what is going on isn't needed.  To build on the idea of this exposition, the close up shots of the characters faces, along side the rocky hand held camera, lets us see how they react. In this scene we see shock and fear expressed on their faces as the bear initially roars. This additionally , along side the non digetic music, adds to how the audience are fed with this clear exposition as to what is happening without the need to actively question. Kate even says "somethings coming" to clarify even further that there is danger approaching fast. The use of non digetic music, close up of facial emotions and the verbal exposition shown has clearly been encoded to appeal to a  passive audience appeal as what is happening during the scene has been told in a variety of ways without room to question otherwise. The hypodermic needle theory can be applied in this instance as this scene clearly shows evidence of a passive nature from how the producer has encoded this exposition in each instance of the scene.

To build on this, a little further on the same scene we see Boone shoot the bear with a gun. When the characters crowd around it, Kate says "Thats not any bear, its a polar bear" It is evident to see that it is a polar bear just by looking, but again the use of exposition and the clarification of what we see is still present verbally, thus shows more evidence of how its been encoded so suit a passive viewing. Additionally the fact that it is a polar bear on a tropical island and the fact that Boone has a gun acts as a enigma. A passive audience would take a preferred reading of this. They would recognize that Boone having a gun, and the polar bear aren't normal occurrences and will question why, but not take matters any further. Linking to Stuart Halls idea of a polysemic viewing, an active audience would also take a preferred reading of this enigma however an active audience would go online onto websites such as 'lostpedia' and socially intergrate with other lost viewers. This links to the cultivation theory and how these enigma codes have drawn its audience in, drawing them in to watch even more and making them discuss in online forums.

Moving on, the fact that Lost contains an ensemble cast means that there are going to be a wide range of personality's and ethnicity's. This leads to the audience gaining some form of personal identification from this as they could be from the same ethnic background as some of the characters shown. Not only does this cause favoritism with the result of social integration and the discussion of certain characters, but it also expands the audience range of Lost to a global scale with such a wide variety of ethnicity's given to us. The wide range of characters could act as an enigma in itself making a active audience question what the future will bring for a particular character and what conflict may arise. This causes even more social integration due to this cultivation and the drawing in of an audience.  

In conclusion Lost is evidently targeted towards a passive audience with the clear exposition presented in every instance shown. However polysemic viewing is also apparent with the use of cultivation through enigma codes and online social intergration.

How typical are your chosen texts of their genre?

Each of my three texts, Sin City, Fish Tank and District 9 show typical conventions throughout which are clearly associated with their intended genres. However in Sin City and District 9 we see an essence of postmodernism with the use of a hybrid genre.

To start, Sin City is presented as a hybrid genre. Throughout we see themes of comic book and horror alongside Noir. Sin City presents the typical conventions expected of Noir such as the rainy streets, Jazz music, dark scenes and a story evolving around two main cynical protagonists. In this case they are Hartigan and Marv. Throughout Sin City we see essences of mistrust, depression and paranoia presented through the characters. This could be addressed as a result of the post WWII time it is set in and the typical personality expected of male protagonists in the Noir genre. An example of mistrust is during Hartigans part. As he is trying to save Nancy we see the idea of 'good cop, bad cop' being addressed as Hartigan is shot in the back by his colleague. In this instance we see a clear link to Propp with the Hero trying to save the princess but gets stopped by the false hero, thus proving Sin City's hybrid nature with the use of the 'comic book' style hero, princess and villain structure. Another way these themes are addressed to us are through voice overs, which are also another typical noir convention. The story is being told to us directly through voice overs whilst getting supported by the actions on screen. Hartigan and Marvs voices are very dark and depressed, like they somewhat know that their inevitable demise is coming, and a clear example of this depression is when Marv says "Hell is waking up every goddam day and not knowing why you are still here". The use of voice overs, in turn, gives us a direct insight as to what the characters are thinking and tell us about their personality.

In terms of how the male protagonists are presented to us, they typically appear strong with a strong sense of authority, however with a constant underlying weakness usually linked to a girl. It is typical of film noir to have the main protagonists lifes influenced by the actions of a femme fatale, which commonly leads to their demise. In Marv's case it is Goldie and in Hartigans case it is Nancy. There is a clear link to this during Marv's death scene. We see the camera zoom into Marv's eye where we see Goldie lying in her death bed, where Marv's disequilibrium began. This clearly links the death of Goldie to the death of Marv, proving her to be a femme fatale. Throughout Sin City the use of colors are also quite common, contradicting traditional Noir black and white. This postmodernist technique is used commonly to highlight certain features around ones nature, quite commonly with the women we see. The common use of red on women, in particular Goldie, suggests seductiveness, sexuality, blood, danger and death, supporting the femme fatale theme.

District 9 is also a hybrid genre. As well as being typically a science fiction film, we also see a documentary style coming through too. The typical Si Fi conventions are shown through the aliens, the space ships and the human to alien transformation. These conventions are all shown to us through a hand held camera, adding to the documentary style approach given and making it seem as if the events shown are real. In addition, the close relationship Wikkus has to the camera supports this. He is constantly looking, speaking and referring back to the camera during the scenes where there is a hand held camera filming him. This is contradicting to other similar science fiction films such as 'The Fly' where there is no hybrid approach and it is purely science fiction. However, the Si Fi aspect of both District 9 and The Fly are very comparable as both films include a transformation of some sort. Typically of Si Fi, District 9 follows a pattern of Equilibrium, disequilibrium, the recognition of this disequilibrium with an attempt to restore it. In this case the equilibrium is not restored for wikkus, but it is restored for Christopher, who is an alien wikkus worked with to try and get the spaceship working. The idea of a human and alien working together is a clear example of the hybrid nature of District 9 as that type of cooperation isn't a typical feature of Science fiction.

Fish Tank however is not a hybrid. It is strictly a social realist film. Throughout Fish Tank typical themes such as dystopia, underage sex and violence are addressed throughout. To show those themes Cinematography and mise en scene plays a big part throughout Fish Tank. The natural lighting, the ragged old clothes, the digetic sound of traffic in the distance and the rough council estate are all typical conventions of the social realist genre. The use of a hand held camera is also used commonly throughout to express the uneven, gritty nature of a social realist film and poverty in Britain. To support this we have Mia throughout, showing what is expected of the main character in a social realist film. Throughout Fish Tank we see Mia walking around quite fast, like she has somewhere to go, like she is of some importance, when really she is stuck in this continuous, dysfunctional cycle. To build on this idea, when looking at Mia's mum and little sister, we can see a chain. Mia is very much like her mother with a very violent nature and we can see this coming through in Mia's little sister too. Much like Mia and her mum, Mia's little sister, Tyler, also uses bad language to address people and is very aggressive. Thus the 'passing down of personalities' we see adds to the idea of a dysfunctional cycle with no way out. To support this, the fact that the characters in fish tank are unknown actors and actresses adds to the realism of the film, as they appear to be ordinary people. Further more the use of language in Fish Tank is very foul and informal. With the extensive use of the word c*nt among other swear words, it seems as if using bad language has became part of their natural dialect, giving another clear portrayal of the gritty nature of British poverty and social realism.

To conclude, each text holds various classic conventions that make it typical of their genre, some however do mix with other genres to create a more postmodern viewing, attracting a wider, more modern audience.

How global is the appeal of your three main texts?

The three main texts i am going to talk about is Nirvana's 'Nevermind', Radiohead's 'The king of limbs' and Lada Gaga's 'Born this way'. In doing so i will be discussing how each artist has promoted their album, if it has been successful and the global appeal as a result of this.

To start, Nirvana are a 1990's grunge band who's characteristics included a sludgy guitar sound with a high level of distortion, energetic live performances, angst-filled lyrics and a reckless nature. As a band they didn't set to be anything big, thus why they were signed to an independent record label called 'Sub-Pop'. As the internet wasn't a widely accessible thing there wasn't an easier way of promotion other than live performances, word of mouth, being signed to a major record label, interviews, tours, reviews, awards and live television appearances. However the ball started to roll for Nirvana when they signed to Geffen records in 1990, this was followed by the release of the album 'Nevermind' on he 24th of september 1991. American stores received a initial shipment of 46,251 copies and 30,500 copies were shipped to the UK where their previous album 'Bleach' had been successful. This was good for Nirvana's exposure because being signed to a major record label means promotion on a global scale. Even so it took 5 months for the album to reach number one. In modern day with the use of the internet and social media, 5 months is an extremely long time for an album to reach number one. However Nirvana didn't have this type of exposure so it took a long time of touring, promoting and interviews to get their name exposed. So when relating back to the question "How global is the appeal of your three main texts?", for Nirvana they did appeal globally but only after a long period of promoting through older, longer methods.

A comparison to this is Radiohead's 'The king of limbs" (2011). Radiohead are a English rock band from Oxford, formed in 1985.  In 1991 they signed to EMI on a 7 album contract. Six albums into their career, on the verge of their seventh album, Radiohead's contract had expired. As a result of this they self-released the album "In Rainbows" on the internet but letting fans decide how much they pay for the album, thus revolutionising the way artists would distribute their music. This itself shows a clear comparison. Radiohead can gain publicity and sell albums through the internet alone, without a label,  where as nirvana had to use a major record label to ship albums for people to buy. 

Discuss audience appeal of your three main texts.

Throughout the three main texts there are a variety of conventions and representations which are presented to us, appealing to a wide audience to create a wide range of responses, each with polysemic features.

To begin, set in Birmingham in 1919, Peaky Blinders is a crime drama which follows former world war one soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. Throughout examples we see of it being a highbrow text, showing cultural and intellectual richness with postmodern values, each contributing to attract its audience. To begin the fact that it is set after the first world war would attract a audience who are interested in the culture at that present time, mainly a much older audience. In addition, the fact that it is set in Birmingham will have more appeal to those in the midlands than those who aren't. This gives the audience a sense of national identity when watching Peaky blinders. Peaky Blinders has been complimented on its high production values and cinematography. The use of key lighting, slow motion scenes and camera movement helps portray what is going on with more detail. For example when Tommy is sleeping and has a flash back to the war, what we see is a fight scene but the camera movement is very disjointed and the only clear thing we see is someone getting stabbed. This as an audience makes us focus on key things in the scene and tells us about the character in more detail, in this case we learn that Tommy is still suffering from the war with the flashbacks and disturbed sleep. This is favoured by the viewers and is more pleasing to watch. In addition, at the beginning of episode two of season one we see a lens flare during the fight scene. Research suggests that a negotiated audience enjoyed the text. Even so Peaky Blinders requires quite an active audience to be viewed to its full potential. However throughout it lacked originality and often seemed to mirror some of the key narrative themes of board walk empire. This is similarly about American gangsters around the same era perfuming similar acts. 

Encoding and decoding is an active theory developed by Stuart Hall which examines the relationship between a text and its audience. This theory can be applied to Peaky Blinders. The characters we see have been encoded in a certain way to appeal to us as an audience. For example Tommy is portrayed as a strong confident male. His attributes are easily shown to us with leader like traits but along side this he has a mental problem from the war and he's an alcoholic. Aunt Polly is protruded as a strong willed, strong minded independent woman. The society Peaky Blinders is set in is quite a mysoginistic one so her persona is very good. She has mother traits to people she involves herself with, and especially in comparison to the other female characters as they are shown to us as quite vulnerable. Chief inspector Campbell is also another strong male. However he is a rival to Tommy. The fact that he's Irish also brings up issues of the Irish republican army which was a big deal at that time. As an active audience, decoding these characters allows us to engage with the texts and allows us to find out their personality and finding out why they're this way appeals to us and helps us plot what will happen to them.  

Mad Men is an American TV series drama. One of the main appeals of Mad Men is its attention to detail. To begin the use of retrophilla is always represented from the date it is set in. Being set in the 1960's, audiences who remember that time will recognize the attitudes and views of the time. An obvious one is the attitudes towards women. Women in Mad Men are represented as if they are lesser than men, and his is clearly shown in the workplace as the mens attitude towards them is always quite perverted and sexualised with no serious attitude. In episode 5 of season 11 there is a scene where Don Draper is making his Jaguar pitch for his company. This particular scene is constructed in a very clever way which active audiences would like. As he is describing the car in all its beauty we see Joan who is getting used for the company. As a result of this it appears as if Don is also describing Joan, or women in general. As an active audience this is a very interesting scene as it represents the attitudes towards possessions of that time Another one is what they all wear. They dress in a very classy way with men in suits and women in dresses which is a strong representation of the time. These conventions will bring nostalgia to the audience provide entertainment through that. To build on this, racism is also shown. Although this is very subtle it is still a underlying current throughout. Looking at the work place and the workers it is noticeable that there are no other ethnicity's show apart from white American males and females. The segregation, the fact that one of them says "Get a colored person in, they don't mind being told what to do" and the fact that that nobody challenges those comments saying that its racist gives us a clear portrayal of how people of that time regard a multi ethnic workplace and society. It is clear to see that Mad Men has been produced with the intent to touch peoples personal identity as a lot of its viewers would have experienced these attitudes in their lifetime. With these features its is easy to say that Mad Men is aimed at an active audience as these little features included will only be noticeable with an active viewing. 

Lost is an American television series created by JJ Abrams. In the little sequence we see in Lost there are examples of how the producers are trying to target their chosen audiences. To begin Lost is made by ABC which is a major film label, so we know it is aimed at a mainstream audience.  Furthermore some enigma codes are shown. We see a handful of characters walking through the forest together in a big group, like they are vulnerable on their own. As an audience this makes us question what is in this forest and what danger could possible happen. This is supported by the non-digetic sound. The the slow flowing music is full of  tension and suspense. The second enigma code we see is when Syed and Sawyer argue. These two characters clash and argue quite a lot in the starting stages, we even see them fighting earlier on. This makes us as an audience question what will happen between these two. Will they fight even more or become friends? The use of the hypodermic model through this allows the audience to passively be entertained by these devices. However the uses and gratifications theory can be applied after a audience watch Lost. After it is over they still think about what has happened in the text and actively engage with it in their mind others online. Before we even see the bear we hear the use of digetic sounds such as bushes rustling and aggressive growling. As this is happening the camera queues to close ups of the characters faces and their expressions. This allows the audience to gain a deeper insight as to what each of the characters seen is like, letting us learn about their personality and how they act when in trouble. The use of an ensemble cast with a range of age, race and personality allows the audience to pick their favorites and even gives them some form of national identity if they are the same ethnicity. 

How has your chosen media text attracted its audience?

                                                  Peaky Blinders.   


Set in Birmingham in 1919, Peaky Blinders is a crime drama which follows former world war one soldiers who have returned home and formed a criminal gang. Throughout examples we see of it being a highbrow text, showing cultural and intellectual richness with postmodern values, each contributing to attract its audience. To begin the fact that it is set after the first world war would attract a audience who are interested in the culture at that present time, mainly a much older audience.  In addition, the fact that it is set in Birmingham will have more appeal to those in the midlands than those who aren't. This gives the audience a sense of national identity when watching Peaky blinders.

Peaky Blinders has been complimented on its high production values and cinematography. The use of key lighting, slow motion scenes and camera movement helps portray what is going on with more detail. For example when Tommy is sleeping and has a flash back to the war, what we see is a fight scene but the camera movement is very disjointed and the only clear thing we see is someone getting stabbed. This as an audience makes us focus on key things in the scene and tells us about the character in more detail, in this case we learn that Tommy is still suffering from the war with the flashbacks and disturbed sleep. This is favoured by the viewers and is more pleasing to watch. Research suggests that a negotiated audience enjoyed the text, however throughout it lacked originality and often seemed to mirror some of the key narrative themes of board walk empire. This is similarly about American gangsters around the same era perfuming similar acts.

Encoding and decoding is an active theory developed by Stuart Hall which examines the relationship between a text and its audience. This theory can be applied to Peaky Blinders. The characters we see have been encoded in a certain way to appeal to us as an audience. For example Tommy is portrayed as a strong confident male. His attributes are easily shown to us with leader like traits but along side this he has a mental problem from the war and he's an alcoholic. Aunt Polly is protruded as a strong willed, strong minded independent woman. The society Peaky Blinders is set in is quite a mysoginistic one so her persona is very good. She has mother traits to people she involves herself with, and especially in comparison to the other female characters as they are shown to us as quite vulnerable. Chief inspector Campbell is also another strong male. However he is a rival to Tommy. The fact that he's Irish also brings up issues of the Irish republican army which was a big deal at that time. As an active audience, decoding these characters allows us to engage with the texts and allows us to find out their personality and finding out why they're this way appeals to us and helps us plot what will happen to them.

Discuss the audience appeal of you three main texts.

One of the main appeals of MadMen is its attention to detail. To begin the use of retrophilla is always represented from the date it is set in. Being set in the 1960's, audiences who remember that time will recognise the attitudes and views of the time. An obvious one is the attitudes towards women. Women in MadMen are represented as if they are lesser than men, and his is clearly shown in the workplace as the mens attitude towards them is always quite perverted and sexualised with no serious attitude. Another one is what they all wear. They dress in a very classy way with men in suits and women in dresses which is a strong representation of the time. These conventions will bring nostalgia to the audience provide entertainment through that. To build on this, racism is also shown. Although this is very subtle it is still a underlying current throughout. Looking at the work place and the workers it is noticeable that there are no other ethnicity's show apart from white American males and females. The segregation, the fact that one of them says "Get a coloured person in, they don't mind being told what to do" and the fact that that nobody challenges those comments saying that its racist gives us a clear portrayal of how people of that time regard a multi ethnic workplace and society. With these subtle features its is easy to say that MadMen is aimed at an active audience as these little features included will only be noticeable with an active viewing.

New york magazine Matt Zoller Seitz says: "The shows main draw is behaviour, observed with such detail that one can imagine the that the shows being transposed to the forties and eighties, with different clothes and slang but still delivering the same basic satisfactions." This quote describes further how people in the audience may feel nostalgic and feel a sense of personal identification through watching this.

Most media texts target a range of different audiences, how true is this of your chosen texts?

In the little sequence we see in Lost there are examples of how the producers are trying to target their chosen audiences. To begin Lost is made by ABC which is a major film label, so we know it is aimed at a mainstream audience.  Furthermore some enigma codes are shown. We see a handful of characters walking through the forest together in a big group, like they are vulnerable on their own. As an audience this makes us question what is in this forest and what danger could possible happen. This is supported by the non-digetic sound. The the slow flowing music is full of  tension and suspense. The second enigma code we see is when Syed and Sawyer argue. These two characters clash and argue quite a lot in the starting stages, we even see them fighting earlier on. This makes us as an audience question what will happen between these two. Will they fight even more or become friends? The use of the hypodermic model through this allows the audience to passively be entertained by these devices. However the uses and gratifications theory can be applied after a audience watch Lost. After it is over they still think about what has happened in the text and actively engage with it in their mind others online.

Before we even see the bear we hear the use of digetic sounds such as bushes rustling and aggressive growling. As this is happening the camera queues to close ups of the characters faces and their expressions. This allows the audience to gain a deeper insight as to what each of the characters seen is like, letting us learn about their personality and how they act when in trouble.

Targets

-Try to be more consistent.
-Refer to key scenes in technical detail to make analysis more relevant for question.
-Discuss other films in more depth for each genre to support my  point of view.
-Try to be consistent throughout all texts to raise my overall grade.
-Revise key scenes in preparation or further mock exam questions.

Most texts today mix genres. How true is this to your three main texts?

This is true of District 9. Throughout we see lots of references to other films of the Science fiction genre  with reference to postmodernism and its conventions. To start, the idea of someone fighting their own race to save another is a common feature in this film. At the end of district 9 there is a big shoot out where Wikkus is in the alien machine fighting the militia and the MNU while Christopher is running to the mother ship. This idea of killing your own race to save another links to Avatar and how he also fights his own race for another. In this particular scene of District 9 the idea of a dystopian society is obvious. When looking at the Mise-en-scene we see the war torn ground, MNU vehicles and soldiers, the Militia soldiers, alien technology and corpses lying everywhere. These conventions give a clear message that this is a dystopian society, a aggressive world they live in with no clear way of peace. In addition to this, in District 9 there are some typical Si-Fi genre conventions involved in this. The alien technology and the transformation are the two obvious connotations. In the scene where wikkus is sitting at his desk, just as the transformation is starting to occur we see use of Pastiche with reference to 'The Fly'. In this scene we see Wikkus pull off his nail as his human body is starting to decay and transform. Putting the two scenes side by side we can see that it is almost equal to the scene in the human fly where he also pulls his nail of in the early stages of transformation. However the Mise-en-scene in District 9 in this scene is filmed with a much more documentary side approach. The digetic sound of the office and people talking just makes it seem like it is an ordinary work place. However everywhere we see the MNU logo, showing that this is a dystopian and dominated society with strict rules, giving a feeling of great oppression. There is also bricolage in this scene. There is a mix of documentary, horror and science fiction. The documentary side is the office and its typical conventions, the horror side is the gore aspect with he use of decay and the sifi aspect in this scene is the transformation.

That was terrible ^^^^

Induction paragraph.

I will be exploring if Hip-hop presents stereotypical views on ideas of masculinity and if so how are they shown.

Throughout i shall be looking at particular songs and music videos which represent clearly what the society is like and how they're trying to express this. In doing so i shall be looking into artists to compare associated with this album. The artists and albums which i am looking to compare and contrast are Public enemy - 'It takes a nation of millions to hold us back', a more older version of hip hop, and Dr.Dre's album -'The Chronic', still a older version of hip of hop but the views and musicality between these artists is comparable.

Gender representation in Hip-hop slide

http://genderrepinhiphop.blogspot.co.uk

"Hip Hop is one of the largest cultural movements that the world has seen. It was born in the United States through racial, class and gendered divides as a way for marginalized, primarily black and brown youth in the United States, to share their stories and experiences. In desegregated communities suffering from the effects of “white flight”, from near non-existent social services, from police who were the bad guys, from the devastation of drug addiction and dealing, in communities that suffered – hip hop grew.
The spirit of hip hop has always been one of empowerment through artistic expression. The four elements of hip hop - b-boying/b-girling, DJing, graffiti and MCing - are art forms that have enabled people to articulate the reality of their lived experiences and to share their knowledge with the world. It is the artistic embodiment of “the personal is political.” These art forms have always represented another aspect of hip hop: the notion of constant battle. Just as hip hop is about fighting both self-imposed and systemic oppression; success for hip hop artists is about competition - with oneself to be better, and among others to be the best.
Hip hop is about self-education and the encouragement of people to improve their circumstances through advancement of their knowledge and their skills." 

http://www.themissgproject.org/teachers/MissG-Curriculum-HipHopUnit.pdf

Fish tank.

Fish tank is a social realism film targeted at a Niche audience. This film was constructed to give a clear representation of the realism of this particular society, what the culture is like and what troubles the individuals face. As the film starts, before we see anything we can already hear the sound of traffic, sirens and the outdoors. To the trained ear it would be easily identifiable to recognize this as a social realism film just from this as usually in other genres to start off there is some form of music, digetic or non digetic. Shortly after this we see Mia who happens to be the main character. In many social realism films the directors use unseen actors as it helps add to the realism of the film. To add to this many of the actors in Fish tank had never acted before, so their untrained acting also has that sense of naturalness too it which you couldn't find in Hollywood films for example. In social realist films the main goal is obviously to make it as real as possible, and to portray a clear picture of that society. In Fish tank there are a series of things which help achieve that. The English accent, slang and swearing. The gritty accent and the use of foul language in Fish tank helps express the idea of poverty in that area, even what they are wearing adds to that. The raggy cheap track suits and vests which a lot of them seems to wear sends us a message of no money and little motivation to look good. Another thing which helps achieve this gritty social realist style is the use of natural lighting and hand held cameras. Being a low budget film it works perfectly in social realist films as it actually relates to how real life is. As far as natural lighting is concerned you wouldn't have hard and dark lighting effects in normal day to day life, so this natural lighting really helps portray them as real people with normal things happening, relating to use as an audience as we also live in the real world. The hand held camera on the other hand makes us feel like we are there. There is a scene where we see Mia walking quite fast and a hand held camera is following her. It just adds to the realism of the scene instead of a expensive shot where it wouldn't connect with the audience as much as a hand held shot where the screen is all shaky would. Her walk says something too. Her walk is fast and rushed, like she has somewhere to be, or even running away from something. But in reality she has nowhere to go and is just trapped in this place.

In the film there are quite a few scenes of the female gaze, contrary to the male gaze in a lot of films. We can say this female gaze makes her the sole focus even more as throughout the film the camera is either through her eyes, or on her. Seeing this female gaze we learn about her personality. Learning that  she does feel attraction towards men. The fact that the director of fish tank is female shows her views and how she wanted to turn a nice twist on what gaze is represented. Another thing to point out about Mia is that she takes after her mother. Her mum is dressed like a tart and speaks uneducated, with swearing and cursing. She is not an appropriate role model for her daughters. As a result of this Mia looked up to her and took after her. They both share a similar attitude of hate and anger. Mia's younger sister is on the verge of becoming the same too, as a result of bad parenting Mia's little sister looks up to her mum and Mia and swears just the same, even though she looks eight years old. This example is a realistic portrayal of what this society is like, how everyone takes after each other with this broken language of swearing, the cheap clothes and horrible attitudes, and how its just on a continuous cycle through generations. Relating back to the idea of Mia being somewhat trapped in this place throughout the film we also see a horse on a chain. Mia and this horse seem to connect throughout as they are both in similar situations. They are both trapped with no clear way of getting out. Mia feels sorry for the horse and when it goes she starts to cry. This is the only time in the film where we see proper emotion come from her, telling us that there is more to her behind the strong and angry front she puts on.

X factor audience.

X-factor has a mainstream audience. We see examples of why and how this audience is gathered and attracted. For example it is shown on ITV 1 at 8:00pm on saturdays and sundays. These particular times, channels and dates make the X-factor a more popular thing to watch as it is on a channel which lots of mainstream programmes are shown. 8:00 o'clock is a time which most people sit down to watch TV and are not working, therefore this will be a peak time to show a programme as lots of people will be watching TV, and on top of this the fact that it is shown at weekends means a lot of people will be at home and not at work or as busy in the evening, creating a larger mass audience. An addition to this is the way it appears to someone viewing it. The big lights, big audiences on screen and loud music are all things which are attractive to the eye and ear, so someone who hasn't even watched x-factor before will be interested as to what it is. The producers also construct it in a way where the contestants aren't all amazing singers. This creates another source of entertainment for the viewers as viewing others misfortune is humorous and will draw the audience in. This is an essential part of the x-factor because if all the producers show is good singers then it would soon become boring to the audience. A similar thing to this is Gordon Ramsay's kitchen nightmares, if he didn't shout and swear at people and just cooked and spoke nicely then the audience would get bored much easier. The big audience on screen will make those viewing at home feel a part of the show, like they are somewhat involved and to build on this the fact that the audience can vote will make them feel like they have power over the show. Furthermore when we see the contestants go through to the next round it creates enigma codes and the audience will then pick their favourites in the show which will cause social integration as people will argue over who is better, creating a wider interest to those who haven't watched it before. One other reason why it has such a mass audience is because of the cultural enjoyment and cultural/regional identity. For example it is a English programme but also for the auditions they go to various regions across england so viewers of the particular place will be attracted to see what talent comes out of their particular region. As far as age range is concerned, when talking about target audience, it ranges from around 12-60. It is on before the watershed hour so it is more likely to be viewed by younger audiences. Also the age range of the contestants is similar if not the same as the target audience so this could give the viewers personal identity if someone of the same age is singing on there.


The American death core band 'Chelsea grin' will have a niche audience. They do not play mainstream music and are not a mainstream genre. The term 'death core' is unique in itself and will attract a fairly unique audience as opposed to some mainstream chart music which will have a wide audience kind of all ages, which is not particularly unique. The niche audience of Chelsea Grin however are easily influenced by them, causing them to dress similarly and following in their footsteps creating a personal identity.

Die another day

In this particular scene there are many examples of the male gaze theory being applied and passive and active roles. The first thing we see is James Bond looking through some binoculars at the beach and his attention gets caught when he spots a female coming out of the sea. When the camera focuses on this woman it shows her walking out of the sea in slow motion, but at the same time the sea is glistening bright in the sun and the non-digetic music gets louder as the camera focuses on her. This gives some form of Goddess like representation and applies the gaze theory as Bond is actively watching her through in binoculars which also allows us to see her through a male characters eyes, creating scopophillic pleasure for the male viewers. To build on this idea, before they even speak she stands relatively close to bond  with her back turned to him as she admires the view of the ocean. This again allows us to see her body through Bonds eyes and again relating to the idea of scopophillic pleasure and we can also say that she is being passively objectified for her body and Bond is the active subject by looking at her up and down and allowing us to see this male gaze.

American Beauty.

In the clip from American Beauty we see various examples of Laura Mulvey's 'Gaze' theory applied. Initially we see a basket ball game and the camera flicks to the cheerleaders so we know that this is stereotypically American. However this on this part there are no obvious signs of the male gaze theory being applied. The first time we see the theory applied is when the cheerleaders start their dance. Referring back to the stereotypical cheerleader it is how they are are dressed which applies the male gaze theory, and when they start to dance we get a full view of what they are wearing. The short skirts, long hair and dancing around are typically male gaze material. This idea is supported when we see the character (who is playing the father role) has his attention caught by this particular blonde female. His reaction to this is clear when we see a close up of his face, it is shocked and somewhat seduced by this female and getting scopophillic pleasure from it. 

CSI.

In this text we see examples of dominant ideology and hegemonic values. One of the first things to point out is the fact that they're all American. This can come across as patriotism, creating a dominant ideology that America has the best crime scene investigation force. This can effect the viewer in a few ways. For example, if an American citizen was to watch this they would get a feeling of safety and security from believing this false mediation that the American CSI and police are as good as they appear to be, creating a hegemonic ideology that the police are always right. In addition to this how the crimes are solved in this text also leads the viewer to believe even more false assumptions. In CSI the crimes are solved from the smallest of things and the suspects are easily found and accused. This leads away from reality where it is much harder to solve crimes, and not so easily solved from a piece of hair or some fingerprints. As far as male and female representation is concerned male and females are treated as equals in this, with a similar position on power. For example in this particular text a female investigator constantly has a serious face and talks with meaning and confidence and when confronted she stands her ground with confidence. To build on this it is that same female which actually figures out who one of the dead women are, portraying intelligence and understanding. This leads away from other texts and real life in some cases where there is usually some male dominance. However in this the equality is clearly shown which can lead the viewer to think differently about their views on male and female roles and positions of power. Narrative theory can also be applied to this. Enigma codes are shown through the dead bodies and the whole crime scene. This leads the audience the feel curious about how this has happened, who did it and what will happen in the end.