How global is the appeal of your three main texts?

Nirvana's album Nevermind was their debut album signed to their new major record label Geffen. It was released in 1991and only had about 46 000 copies made however in the UK there were 35 000 copies made this shows that the album producers saw bigger success for nirvana in the UK then in America this was supported by Nirvanas first album bleach having a lot more success in the UK. Compared to Radiohead and Lady Gaga nirvana could only get global through television appearances and tours as they did not have the added exposure of the Internet. When appearing on TV shows they were often rebellious and didn't play by the rules this created a lot of press about the band and the majority of their success was from word of mouth. Their first UK TV appearance was on Top of the Pops promoting their most successful song 'Smells like teen spirit' however they made a joke of the performance but this created an appeal for the audience and wanted to see them again and enjoyed the care free attitude the band represented. Although these TV appearances causes a lot of controversy and talk nirvana had to do many TV appearances all over the world to become global this is why it took 5 months to reach number 1 however for artists now such as lady gaga with a wide Internet fan base it goes straight to the top upon release and with in the first week of its release she sold 1.1million copies. In November of 1991 Nirvana began their European tour to promote their Nevermind album release they relied heavily on touring to get recognition from all areas of the world, however artists like Radiohead already had a mass of success and lots of internet exposure meaning they didn't need to tour for people to hear their music. This raises the argument would Nirvana be more successfully global if the Internet was available for them? one could argue they would because comparing youtube views from both Nirvanas' ' Smells like teen spirit' and Lady Gaga's 'Born this way' Nirvana have about 20 000 000 more views then lady gaga, most of lady gaga's success comes from her Internet fan-base.  
  Radiohead released their 8th album King of Limbs in 2011 with out any record label. The album was first made available on the 18th of February for download copy only in the first week of releases there were 69 000 copies downloaded. The album debuted at number 7 on the UK charts but the alum never reached number 1 where as both Nirvana and Lady Gaga did.

Evaluation

Evaluation

For my research investigation I examined the issue of how contrasting genres use Propp’s character functions. I found out that it is easier to distinguish who the hero/villain is in simplified linear narratives such as fantasy films however its harder for complicated non linear narratives such as action film. My two texts were The Dark Knight Rises and The Black Cauldron I took conventions from each of the genres to construct two action film posters and one fantasy poster. 

The first genre I produced was for the action genre. Key conventions of an action film are big city location and one main protagonist who has a mission to complete. I used these specific conventions in my production getting a male model to be the main focus in my poster as this connotes that the narrative will revolve around him. Also the expression on his face and the title 'Sudden Justice' suggests that justice needs to be returned this provides a motive and a mission to be completed and suggesting a clear binary opposition. The background for my action posters is of a city background with the model surrounded by tall buildings that is a stereotypical location for an action film. 

Fantasy film conventions from my research investigation are very dark and mysterious, also teaser film release posters are often very enigmatic and don’t give too much information away for the preferred audience to decode. The model I uses wore dark makeup especially around her eyes to give her character sinister connotations, her face is covered with shadow to further support the secretive connotation. The poster itself is very plain relies upon an enigma for the films narrative, with the tag line ‘just one bite’ adding anchorage. The model handing an apple to the audience suggests that’s its deadly and shouldn’t be taken also the title ‘ White’ doesn’t suggest a lot especially as the model is a contrast by all in black. A passive audience should be able to decode the enigmas and conventions used, as they would be familiar with the genre. My research suggests that the use of the Disney logo would not allow for any oppositional reading to be taken by a mainstream audience.   

Through the use of facial expressions lighting and body language in my fantasy film ‘White’ the model is portrayed as the villain. As she has a stern facial expression that is very serious and unfriendly also she is in very dark low-key lighting with shadows covering some of her face giving her character mystery and connotes that she has a dark side. This is very similar to all the scenes in The Black Cauldron that feature The Horned King as they all have low-key lighting and is often only seen through the use of shadows. In my Action Film Posters ‘Sudden Justice’ the model will come across as the hero as he is center focus also he is looking down on the city this could connate that he is watching over looking after it. However only half the models face is on show and this is covered in shadows and this suggests a dark side and a mystery to the character, which could also connate that he is the villain and he is looking down on the city as he’s waiting for its down fall. This is very similar to The Dark Knight as Batman is seen as the cynical protagonist and has a dark side and is not viewed as a stereotypical hero and I took influence from this and used it in my posters. The lack of face showing means that there is mystery and enigma surrounding the character this is a pull for an active audience as they would be interested in finding out more and would take a preferred reading.     

To improve my production I would do three completely different posters rather then two of the same this was I could show more of the different genres as the two films I chose for my research investigation have hybrids of many genres and I could have shown this more for example doing a horror poster for The Black Cauldron or thriller for The Dark Knight. I would have used different action conventions for my two different actions films one that would have adhered to the genera and one to subvert the genera.  

How Has your Chosen Media Text Attracted its Audience?

Peaky Blinders is a crime drama on BBC two set in Birmingham post war (1919) It is a mainstream text this is shown through the use of well known main stream actors the most well known is the lead of the programme Cillian Murphy who has featured in many big films such as the Batman trilogy and inception another mainstream actors include Sam Neil and Helen McCrory. All three of these actors are most known for high achieving films so it is surprising to see these all together in a TV series however the director Steve Knights originally attended for the series to be a film this is shown through out the program as there are cinematic conventions such as the use of slow motion shots we see this at the beginning of the show when tommy and his fellow brothers start a fight will the horse owners workers during this scene there is post modern non diegetic music playing. Also it has a high production value this is very appealing to a active audience and they get a gratification of entertainment. The series was very short with only 6 episodes (many have 12) and this gain criticism as there wasn't enough time to get into depth with the characters and this means as an audience they could not fully connect to the character and this is key if there are going to be multiple following series. Referring to Steward halls theory of polysemic the audience will decode the text by seeing may well known mainstream actors however the director encoded this to attract an audience, as this is the first show of its kind that involves a lot of post modernism the use of a list actors will attract an audience. Another criticism for peaky blinders is it has has a failed attempt of copying the US show Broad Walk empire

Discuss the audience appeal of texts? ( madmen)

Man men is a niche tv programme shown on AMC a subscription american channel, this means the audience has to pay to watch it so they have a starting appeal to the show. a specific scene of season 5 episode 11shows a particular twist to keep the audience hooked, two scenes run along side each other giving the illusion that they are happening at the same time however its only when we see the jaguar invester in both scene we realise this isn't the case. There is a cleaver uses of jump time to hook the audience, it also makes the audience relate to Joan as we see her face when she realises not everyone wanted her to sleep with the investor but she already had she takes her time before she answers don draper this gives her time to compose her emotions and put on her best over face as in the 1960s woman were objectified and Joan didn't want to seem as weak as she is. because this is along running TV program the audience get time to know the characters and become attached to them and this would keep them entertained to see how their favourite characters react to situations thrown to them.

The show has received many awards for directing, writing and acting, which gives credibility to the programme and has been rewarded for it's unique approach to Television. This new stye of retrophilia  mad men first adopted has spiralled many there programme to that this route of nostalgia and period drams.

As well as an audiences getting escapism watching mad men that are also being informed of the times  in 1960s as there are many accurate representations, such as how women were mainly seen as objects as there is many references of sexisms through out the seasons and this episode inpartcular  an example of this is when don throws money in to peggys face, dismissing everything she is saying to him and just trying to shut her up.

The new yorker magazine reviews mad men as 'the shows main draw is behaviour,observes with such exactness that one can imagine the shows being transposed to the 40s and 80s with different clothes and slags

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

Lost is a Mainstream TV programme that is shown on ABC which is a Big American company. a scene i will be focusing on would be when a group of survivors are waling through the forest trying to fined signal on the radio. There are many enigma codes that features though out this 3 minute clip, and these enigma codes are created by the uses of non diegetic sounds. when they first hear rustling in the trees there is a deadly silence between the cast this is where the first enigma code features, 'are they alone?' 'what else s in the Forrest with them?' As soon as the camera starts moving quicker it draws the audience in more, as they have the sense of being part of then scene and feel very much involved as well as these sharp cutting back and fourth shots the non diegetic sounds increases and influences the audiences feeling to danger and as the pass increases the audience as well feels the sense of running away. As the bear approaches closer and closer the music changes from a tense music to a more 'slashing' kind of music that would stereotypically be found in a horror film, for example this music is similar to the film psycho. once the bear was shot and killed the music an all sound in the scene stopped it gives the audience a realisation that this island its what it seems, again this creates more enigma codes such as ' why is there a polar bear in a tropical forest?' 'where did it come from?' 'and what was bigger that killed the pilot?'
The audience for lost would be mainly a passive and would take the preferred reading from the program and would take an entertainment approach from the text they could also used it for social intergration as it is a big mainstream programmed and via the use of enigma codes people can share ideas and thoughts to answer them.

Targets from mock exam

Refer to key scenes in techni8cval detail to make analysis more  relevant for the question

discuss other films in more depth for each genre to support your point of view  #

try to be consistent though out all texts to raise over all grade

revise key scenes in reparation for future mock exam questions