Mass Audience vs Fragmented

Mass Audience

• Reaches a large audience, all consuming the same text.
• Competitive.
• Main aim is to make as much profit as possible.
• In the past most texts had a mass audience, now it is harder to have and keep a mass audience due to the amount of choices and channels.
• 'Broadcast Audience' - News and information mainly
• Mainstream
• Highly regulated
• Not focused on a particular group/audience. Tries to target as many people as possible.

Fragmented Audience

• Digital technology has led to a fragmented audience.
• Aimed at a specific audience.
• Division of audience into smaller groups due to the variety of media outlets, 400 + channels with TV on the Internet as well.
• Niche audiences.

Strictly Come Dancing attracted 11, 413,000 viewers on the 17th of November 2012 that is without even adding the amount of people that watch the results (10,467,000) the next day,  from the viewing figures we could suggest that Strictly targets a mass audience however other factors such as TV schedules, the genre and who their target audience is. On Saturday Strictly is on from 6:40 to 8:00 in the evening, and on Sunday it is on from 7:20 to 8:00 (prime time TV). On Saturday the majority of families will be eating their dinner sometime during strictly, this means that they could be watching this all together at the same time, this also connotes that it is targeted at a mass audience. Due to the fact that families are likely to watch this together there is no swearing or adult themes, also the genre of the programme defines it as family friendly as it is light entertainment like the xfactor, you don't have to follow a plot or watch every week to know what is going on. Audience participation is also very important in Strictly and the Xfactor as they both have live audiences and you have to vote for your favourites every week to keep them in the show. This also invites the mass audience to watch and participate as most of the contestants or celebrities have twitter or face book so that their fans can follow them and their progress on the show. The BBC also aim to provide for everyone reinforces that they are trying to target a mass audience which seems to work as Strictly is always the top of the BBC's list of most watched programme at the moment.

Homeland is also the highest on the list of most watched programmes on channel 4 but compared to Strictly has a much lower amount of viewers (3,040,000) however the figures remain constant showing that they have a dedicated audience who watch it regularly. Homeland is a political thriller which only relates to a certain audience, also some scenes/language featured in political thrillers may not be appropriate for children therefore the audience is already fragmented in the household. It also means that there is a plot so you would have to watch regularly to know the full story or it may be confusing. Although Channel 4 televises a diverse range of television programmes they are mainly documentaries and comedies rather then reality programmes, the only one they feature is 'Tool Acdemy' which is targeted to a audience of young adults so that is not family friendly viewing either. Channel 4 also is the main channel that promotes American programmes to the English Audience, this could also be a reason that the viewing figures are lower then the Strictly come dancing viewing figures as American programmes could be seen to only really relate to the intended audience. However Homeland is featured on Sunday evenings which gives the opportunity to attract more people as there is little on television on Sunday nights and it entices people who haven't watched it before to start as it is the only thing on television that they are interested in at that moment.

Hartley and Fiske

Hartley
Outlined 7 categories used when identifying audience. He suggests that industries should clearly know who their target audience is in order to target them effectively. 

• Self - (Aspirations)
• Gender
• Age Group - (Needs and aims in life.)
• Family - (Place in family)
• Class
• Nation
• Ethnicity

Fiske
Added to the list

• Education
• Religion
• Political Allegiance
• Region
• Urban vs Rural Background (Different Values/Beliefs)

Audience positioning in Homeland

The second episode is the first time we see the title sequence of homeland it features images of Carrie sleeping as a child and adult, the music also has a jazz element to it which we know relates to Carrie's life as we have seen the posters and images of her playing the trumpet. The Sequence also features political images and images of terrorism from the past 25 - 30 years which suggests how old Carrie is and that this has all happened in her life time. When the images of 9/11 are shown the highest note is also played this suggests that everything has been a build up to this one act of terrorism and destruction. Overall the Title sequence is very abstract which attracts the audiences attention of the music and the images fit together because it creates tension but at the same time contrast each other as it is not the typical music for a political thriller.
  At the start of the second episode 'Grace' the first shot looks hazy and has a dream like feel to it this tells the audience Brody is having another flashback. We then see Brody digging a hole for Tom's body with blood and mud covering his face, suggesting that he has been badly tortured. Brody starts to sing the American royal marines song louder as the man puts the gun to his head, suggesting that he has put himself in a very dangerous position by singing this song. For a post 9/11 audience this is very uncomfortable viewing as before this would not seem like something that would happen but now, from the news and other sources the viewing public know that this is an imminent danger of going to war. This is especially emotional for people who have families involved in the war as this could be seen as a realistic expectation of war. It could be said that it affects British audience's less then American audiences because it is based around an American royal marine but it still relates to the fears of families with relatives involved in war.
  When the gun is fired at Brody's head he automatically wakes from the dream, the gun shot is very loud and even startles the audience making the audience feel sympathy for Brody and the situation he was put in due to his job. In the other flashbacks that Brody has they give the audience an in depth view to his thoughts and memories which show the truth about what happened even when he is lieing to his friends and family. However in this flashback he gets shot in the head which didn't really happen making the audience doubt whether he is a reliable character for information or not. Even though this makes the audience unsure whether to believe him or not it still gives us privileged access to his dreams and thoughts and is a powerful way of positioning the audience as it gives us a sense of closeness. His thoughts are so dark that we start to feel the trauma he has been through and it puts us in his shoes by showing us the gritty reality of war.
  When he touches his wife Jessica she automatically jumps, we then find out that he has been shouting 'Kill me' in Arabic in the night and also violently attacking Jessica without knowing even leaving blood and scars. This shows that audience that entire families are affected by the outcome of war not only the soldiers so we begin to feel sympathy for Jessica and their children as well as Brody. Brody also generally feels sorry for hurting Jessica as he doesn't realise what he is doing and can't control his actions or feelings after the situation he has recently been in. The audience and his family can also see how agitated and nervous Brody gets about the smallest things such as the phone ringing or the people outside his house.
 Immediately after everyone leaves he gets another flashback of him alone in a cell, shouting. The music used creates tension and suspense and gets louder and louder every second. It almost sounds like he or the place is being attacked. He then sits in the corner of his bedroom all day like he does in the flashback but when his wife comes back he pretends he has been busy and fine, reinforcing that he is hiding something.
  We see Saul in a gentleman's club looking at art, wearing a suit and glasses. This connotes that he is intelligent and has power over the other man. We then see that Saul is blackmailing the other man but also calls him 'Your Honour' so even though we see a darker side to Saul's personality he still acts in a professional manner. The low key lighting on his face also shows that he is showing a different side to his personality but he is doing this ultimately to look after Carrie reinforcing that he is a father figure to her.
  David and a man from the royal Marines are pressuring Mike into pushing Brody into the spotlight. We see a very different type of blackmailing here, Mike is being forced to put his friend in a difficult position which he does not want to do but his reputation and job could be on the line if he doesn't follow orders. This makes the audience immediately dislike David and the other man i and we have seen from other episodes that David is a very harsh character and doesn't get along with Carrie. David is also very sarcastic when he is talking to Carrie about protecting a woman's life, because she is a prostitute he doesn't care what happens to her and he is very unprofessional the way he talks and handles matters with Carrie.
  Chris asks his dad (Brody) what its like to kill someone whilst he is playing a video game involving violence. All of a sudden Brody turns silent and looks away from his son, this also makes the audience feel sympathy for Brody as no one understands what he has been through and the trauma he has been put through. He then reacts when he sees a photographer in his garden but punching him, this suggests that after years of being locked away he doesn't know how to act in society anymore. He also doesn't own up to his actions when questioned about them suggesting that he doesn't think he has done anything wrong. However we do see a softer side to Brody when he is talking to his son before he goes to sleep, Chris is wearing white which connotes his innocence however Brody is wearing dark colours which could show a darker side to him that we haven't seen yet.
  Ultimately the audience feels sympathetic for Brody throughout the episode grace as it seems that he now has no control over his life or his feelings. Also no one else knows what he has been through and just want him to appear as a 'Poster boy' for America whilst not thinking about his true feelings or making sure he has fully recovered first.
 

HomeLand And Representation

First Impressions

From the poster we can see that these two are the main characters, in the front is the male and slightly behind is the female. This connotes that are both important but also that she could be following him and looking over his shoulder with out him knowing, it could also suggest that she may stand in his way at some point in the television series. The women has blue eyes and blond hair which suggests that she is the stereotypical 'blond bimbo' it also suggests innocence but she also has a serious look on her face which suggests that she could be considered to be a Strong character.

The male has half of his face blurred so he is an enigma to the audience as we can't see all of his face. This suggests that there are two sides to this character, possibly the old part of his life and the new part of his life. It could also suggest that he is now leading a double life, this is shown through the use of the picture being made to look like a TV image being distorted which also tells the audience that there may be a contrast between the media image and reality. He is wearing an American military uniform which connotes his power and strength to the audience. It also reinforces that America is his homeland and his responsibility to protect it.

The white typography stands out against the dark background and it also suggests that there will be conflict between the two characters as she has a hunch that he isn't what he seems, it also gives the audience a clue what that the genre of the TV programme is action/drama. The yellow typography also stands out against the background and also connotes happiness or optimism however black is slowly creeping up the letters which connotes that the happiness and normality will slowly be taken over or over shadowed by a treat, possibly terrorism. The 'E' in Homeland is also backwards suggesting that he doesn't consider America to be his homeland anymore and could possibly want to return to the place he has just been.

Pilot episode - Carrie

In the first scene there is an establishing shot of Baghdad, it is represented as a very busy place and is in stark contrast to the shot of America after it says 10 months later as the shots of America are calm. we are then introduced to a woman called Carrie who is in Baghdad speaking on the phone and driving, she begins to shout on the phone and get frustrated. We then find out she is speaking to her boss David who works in the government, in this scene we see her to be very argumentative and even though he is her boss she goes against his orders. This goes against the stereotype of a woman usually in an action or drama because she is in a different country and normally the woman in a government position would be behind a desk and would not be in a place that could be considered dangerous. She then enters a prison without permission from David and speaks to a prisoner as the guard pulls her away to leave she reacts in quite a violent way towards him, this also suggests that she is not the stereotypical woman and that she is persistent and will get her own way in order to find out the truth. When she talks to the Prisoner the audience also finds out that she has the power to save the mans families lives which is not stereotypical as this is such a huge responsibility for someone to have especially a woman. The audience is also positioned from her vision, we see the narrative through what she does and her actions, this makes the audience feel like she is reliable to trustworthy. When Carrie is back in America we see her rushing into her house, in this scene she could be see as an object of the desiring male gaze as the camera shows her undressing but is quickly shown that she is not only a sexual object when she starts cleaning and getting ready as she is now seen as a normal person and we now respect her for her intelligence and work again instead of her looks. The audience also has a voyerist view of Carrie when she is undressing, we know this because we can see the door frame in the shot and as she moves to the bathroom we follow but are not in the same room. This gives a sense that we are looking into her private life and seeing something that is not normally seen by anyone else making us feel like we are spying on her, this also follows the narrative as she is watching Brody's every move without his knowledge. In the bathroom she controls the gaze and where the audience looks. The music in the scene gives the impression that she is hurrying to be somewhere and her movements also symbolise this. We see that her house and her room are not stereotypical as the walls are blue and it is very simplistic and everything is in boxes and although this could show that she is unorganised they all have labels on them which shows she is but she doesnt have enough time to unpack them. this could connote that she has just moved in or she spends alot of time at work and does not have a very good social life. This is also emphasised when she is sitting in her room watching brody's life for a whole day. We also see that the relationship between Saul and Carrie is a contrast to the relationship with david because Saul and Carrie have a very respectful relationship and he also seems like a father figure to her, he also refers to looking after her as 'babysitting'.

Stereotypical representation of women in film or TV

• Damsel in distress
• Weak
• Always the side kick or love interest never the main character.
• Sex object
• 'Blonde Bimbo'
• Dependant on men
• Dilemma (Create the problem, men save them e.g. Horror films)
• Irrational (emotional)
• Home makers
• Motherly
• Cowardly
• Obsessive

Feminist film theory is mostly concerned with representation and sexuality. It also argues that society is dominated by male power structures and suggests these power structures extend to media productions and that films are constructed by men for men.
Claire Johnston is one of the earliest writers of feminist film theory and published 'Women's cinema as counter cinema' in 1973. She claims that women have been largely absent from films and any woman in film is a male vision of women not a real woman.Johnston explains that 'Woman as woman is largely absent'.
Laura Mulvey's theory of the 'Male Gaze' from the paper 'Visual pleasure and narrative cinema' written in 1975 discusses the patriarchal viewpoint of the cinema. The pleasure gained from looking (scopophilia) is the male pleasure because the view is controlled by males and only directed at females. A voyeuristic view is sexual and a narcissistic view is idealised versions of ourselves.

Exam Practise

 Analyse the front covers for both GQ and Saga magazines commenting on

• Visual codes
• Layout and Design
• Language and mode of address

Saga Magazine has Michael Caine on the front cover, he is in the centre of the page and is using direct address this feels like he is including the audience by looking straight into the camera at them. He is wearing a suit, looks very smartly dressed and is wearing glasses which shows that he is smart and intelligent. This shows us that the target audience are around the same age as him (40 - 50 ) and may share the same views on life. It also suggests that the target audience would be of quite a high demographic because of the type of clothes he is wearing. The fact that Michael Caine is a man and he is on the front cover could suggest that the readership is male dominated and this might be someone who interests them. Next to him is a quote from the interview in the magazine, this could leave the readers wanting to know more about what he has got to say about crime therfore enticeing them to purchase the magazine. It might also interest them because in the quote we can see that he may of came from a rough background so the readers could find out how he went from poor to a rich famous actor and this would be aspirational for them.
The Front cover uses 3 main colours which are red, white and black. The black and the white connotes an old fashioned feel but the red suggests there is something interesting about the magazine or something new and exciting. The simple bold typography and the colours stand out because they are against a white and grey background. This makes the magazine look smart and straight to the point. apart from the main interview with Michael Caine there are four other features on the cover, these all feature celebrities who are around the same age as the target audience. The target audience would be interested in these features because they are sterotypical things for older people to do as hobbies such as gardening and cooking. One of the features also includes a interview with the BBC about Agisam and this relates directly to the target audience. Across the top of the page it says 'The UK's Bestselling Monthly Magazine' this helps to persuade the target audience into buying the magazine because it has been voted best monthly magazine by the readers and critics which shows the the majority of the target audience would enjoy reading this magazine. The masthead is at the top of the front cover to the left and readers of the magazine will be able to recognise the name and the logo of the magazine straight away because it is recognisable, 'magazine' is written in bold whereas 'Saga' isent this makes it stand out on the page because the majority of the typography is in bold. The front cover also features the website for the magazine so that the target audience can access the magazine and its content in different forms for example Mobile phones and laptops suggesting that the target audience have enough money and intelligence to be able to access the magazine all the time.

GQ also has one main celebrity on the front but it is Clint Eastwood, he is wearing jeans and a denim shirt this shows that even though he is quite old he is still on trend and in fashion. He is also using direct address which means he is looking straight at the potential reader, this could leave the reader wanting to know more about him and what the interview is about. The text that anchores the image is 'Badass of the year' This is in bold white typography and also suggests that he is currant and interesting in the media at the moment, it also shows that even though he is considered to be old he is still considered to be cool aswell.
GQ magazine also has three main colours that are used on the front cover, these are red white and blue. The blue could suggest a that the preffered target audience is men and the red connotes danger and excitment which shows that the magazine would interest readers. The front cover features 3 main articles one of which is 'Men of the year' and features many different types of men and they are all different ages this shows that the magazine is aimed at men aged from around 25-35 of quite a high demographic because the people that are featured are aspirational and well off. The other main article features talkes about tings that mainly men are interested in such as cars and gadgets. The website is shown at the bottom and so is that iphone app this suggests that the target audience has enough disposible income to spend on expensive phones so that they can acess the magazine from the internet aswell. The slogan under the masthead 'Look Sharp. Live Smart' relates to the target audience because they are of quite a high demographic and although they care about manly things they also care about fashion and things that are on trend at the moment.

Royal Wedding.

'Guest to impress'

'Celebrities stream into Abbey for Wedding'

In News papers such as the sun they focused on the celebrities and the different designer clothes that were on show in the day. The main picture was of the celebrities attending the wedding. One of the main articles of the royal wedding was focused on Victoria and David Beckham who attended the wedding and contained information about what they were wearing and other celebrities who also attended the ceremony and party. This is aimed at lower class audience or people that are not interested in the traditional element of the wedding so this may also appeal to a younger audience.

'The wedding speaks volumes about our fascination with royalty'

'The monarchy sidesteps the awkwardness of patriotism and allows us to feel a rare British pride'

The guardian looks at the the royal wedding as a source of national pride and it has been represented as a huge event for England and the world. They focus on the way the public see the royal family and how important they are to the British public. The article also features a picture at the top of the article but unlike The Sun it is a small picture and it is very traditional, it shows members of the household cavalry which is symbolic of the royal family and Britain. This article is aimed at middle to high class audience and older people that are more interested in the importance of the wedding rather then the celebrities and the designer clothes that are being worn.

Explore representations of issues in Breaking Bad

Breaking bad is about a man called walter who starts to make and sell drugs with an ex student when he finds out he has cancer and he wants to secure his families financial difficulites before he dies. It is produced by AMC and is produced by Vince Gillian who also produced the X- files so the audience of X - files may also like Breaking Bad. Walter the protagonist wears glasses and dresses quite smartly and is a sterotypial teacher but when he fins our he has lung cancer he becomes a drug dealer to earn more money. Altough he turns to drugs and a life of crime he still maintains the same look but he does start to stick up for himself more and has more of a voice.
Jesse Pinkman is the sterotypical highschool drop out, we can tell this by the way he dresses for example he always wears very baggy clothes he also takes drugs and sells them. Walter and Jesse are an unlikely couple because of their differences but they are dependant on each other because they both need each other, Walter needs Jesse to help him make money and Jesse needs walter to help him make crystal meth. Their relationship shows the differences between the two because they argue and disagree alot but they always work together to get the job done.
Walters son Walter Jr has cerebral palsy and is represented as a sterotypical diabled person he has to go to the shops with his mum and dad to buy clothes. When they go to the shops the boys that are Walter Jr's age all laugh at him and make fun of him and Walter Jr shys away from them and tries to ignore them. Walter sticks up for his son, this shows a change in walter he is now trying to regain control in his life. 
We can tell who are the drugs dealers because they are sterotypical latino gangters. They have an expensive car and lots of tattoos. They are also very violent to Walter and Jesse when they find out that they have started making drugs.