Synopsis: “The Missing” follows Tony, played by James Nesbitt, as a man devastated by the abduction of his young son, Oliver, during a family vacation in France. He becomes a man obsessed, unable to accept that his child may be dead and spends years searching for him.
British TV series
International co-production between the BBC and Starz
Fiction and isn’t based on any real events
Was initially released 28th October 2014 and finished 30th November 2016
Series 1 is about the search for a missing boy who’s family traveled to Northen France for a holiday, however their car broke down and they had to take shelter for the night at the fictional small town of Châlons du Bois , but this proved to be a bad night for the British family
Series 2 is a about a missing girl in Germany
Series 2 is set near a British army garrison in Eckhausen and is paralleled by flashbacks to 2014
Complex mainstream television product
Provides a range of representational areas to explore gender, the family, place, issues, events, class
Representations of gender (Judith Butler), place (Europe and the Middle East)
Curran and Seaton – Neo-Marxian approach
Witnesses
Synopsis: After witnessing a brutal murder, young Amish boy Samuel (Lukas Haas) and his mother Rachel (Kelly McGillis) seek protection from police officer John Book (Harrison Ford). When Book uncovers evidence of police corruption involving narcotics lieutenant James McFee (Danny Glover), Book must take Rachel and Samuel, and flee to the Amish countryside where Rachel grew up. There, immersed in Amish culture and tradition, Book and Rachel begin a cautious romance.
Genre – Similar conventions, all have detectives and is a crime story – Stephen Neale
Capital is a complex mainstream television product in which the codes and conventions of the crime drama are intertwined with aspects of social realism.
Narrative- The ways in which the narrative structure of Capital offers gratification to the audience, use of the narrative conventions of the crime drama
Genre- Conventions of the TV mini-series, Definition of the series as a hybrid genre, belonging to the drama, social realism and crime genres (neale)
Media Representations- Representations of family and their ideological significance, Representation of place – London and by implication, the nation, Theories of representation including Hall.
Media Industries- Capital as a BBC programme, fulfil the demands of Public Service Broadcasting. In addition to the remit to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ this could also be examined as part of the need to represent different groups, nations and regions. Kudos production for the BBC, Kudos specialises in TV series which can be sold or remade for the US market, making it typical of contemporary media institutions which operate globally rather than nationally.
Media Audiences- The production, distribution and circulation of Capital shows how audiences can be reached, both on a national and global scale, The advertising campaigns (trailers, websites at home and abroad) for the series demonstrate how media producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences. (hall & Gerbner)
Social, political, economic and cultural contexts– deals with pressing contemporary issues relevant to British society and culture; the financial crash and its repercussions, divisions in society based on wealth, Britain as a multicultural society, Britain as a European nation (or not), threat of terrorism and its effects.
Deutschland 83
Media Language- Mise-en-scene analysis, Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings, Postmodernism: Use of pastiche and bricolage
Narrative- The narrative of Deutschland 83 has been controversial – particularly in Germany -through its use of binary oppositions to contrast East and West Germany, postmodern in its self-reflexive style.
Genre- Conventions of the TV series and the way in which this form is used to appeal to audiences
Media Representations- Deutschland 83 provides a range of representational areas to explore from the national and regional to political structures and gender roles, Theories of representation including Hall
Media Industries- It is a co-production of AMC Networks’ SundanceTV and RTL Television (German and American), positioning it to exploit the national and global market. Bought by C4 in Britain as part of their ‘Walter presents…’
Media Audiences- production, distribution and circulation of Deutschland 83 shows how audiences can be reached, both on a national and global scale, through different media technologies and platforms, moving from the national to transnational through broadcast and digital technologies. The reception of the series in Germany, Europe and the US. Cultivation theory including Gerbner, Reception theory including Hall
Social, political, economic and cultural contexts- Deutschland 83 is part of cultural phenomenon of the early twenty first century which for the first time saw TV series not in the English language become part of mainstream UK broadcasting,
Social, political, economic and cultural contexts- Deutschland 83 is part of cultural phenomenon of the early twenty first century which for the first time saw TV series not in the English language become part of mainstream UK broadcasting, deals with the political past of Germany through the setting of the last decade of the cold war.
Commercial media- Kudos/ AMC Networks’ SundanceTV and RTL Television
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) – BBC/ C4
horizontal integration- kudos and bbc made it together
vertical integration- bbc made it and then broadcasted it
media concentrations- number of organisations that produce media
media pluralism- media organisations creating the same products
Hesmondhalgh
Hesmondhalgh
Case Studies
Changing audience consumption patterns
Both programs can be accessed via online services eg amazon prime or c4 player
Multi-sector integration
Deutschland- Reinhold heil- German musician created soundtrack- soundtrack is also on spotify
Star formatting
Toby Jones- in capital- famous actor
Genre based formatting
Deutschland- spy thriller genre – follows the conventions of a period drama
serialization
Deutschland 86 is a sequel created after Deutschland 83
independent stylizing
Deutschland- subtitles non mainstream in British tv
internationalization
Deutschland- a co-production of AMC Networks’ SundanceTV and RTL Television- exploit the national and global market // Capital- on amazon prime can be watched globally
The central characters all have a connection to Pepys Road, a fictional street in an unidentified south London suburb. The houses in the street were once ordinary family homes in an unremarkable residential district, but thanks to London’s ever-increasing property values they are now properties worth millions. Their residents include those such as wealthy banker Roger Yount (played by Toby Jones) who have recently bought their homes, as well as people who have lived in the street since before its houses became so valuable, such as elderly widow Petunia Howe (played by Gemma Jones) who moved there as a young bride. They all start to receive postcards saying “We want what you have”, which some residents interpret as a threat, but which others initially ignore.
Facts
– In November 2016, Capital won the best TV movie/mini series award at the 44th International Emmy Awards
– adaptation of John Lanchesters novel Capital
– produced by Matt Strevens for Kudos Film & Television Company.
– Broadcasted by BBC
– produced by KUDOS and co produced by Banijay SAS (French multinational content media production and distribution company)
– KUDOS is split by News Corp and Banijay Group which both are mass multimedia companies showing vertical integration. However horizontal integration is represented through the co-operation with BBC to air Capital on their channels. This also links to Curran and Seaton statement that mainstream media is mostly involved with the Mass Global Media Conglomerates.
DEUTSCHLAND 83
Deutschland 83 is a 2015 German-American television series starring Jonas Nay as a 24-year-old native of East Germany who, in 1983, is sent to West Germany as an undercover spy for the HV A, the foreign intelligence agency of the Stasi. It is a co-production of AMC Networks’ SundanceTV and RTL Television by the production company, UFA Fiction, with international distribution by RTL Group’s FremantleMedia International and North American distribution by Kino Lorber. The series premiered on 17 June 2015 on the SundanceTV channel in the United States, becoming the first German-language series to air on a US network. The broadcast was in the original German, with English subtitles. It subsequently aired in Germany beginning in November 2015, and in the UK on Channel 4 beginning in January 2016. Despite weak initial ratings in Germany, Deutschland 83 became a sleeper hit.
Facts
– First aired June 2015 on SundanceTV in the US and in January 2016 on Channel 4 in the UK
James Curran and Jean Seaton
Prohibitive costs and risks associated with the production of media products has resulted in the organisation of vertically and horizontally integrated conglomerates. This lead to big companies such as CBS, Disney, News Corporation, Comcast, Time Warner and Viacom. These conglomerates are Horizontally and Vertically integrated to minimize costs such as distributions, productions or production divisions.
Curran and Seaton says that BBC sets a standard for commercial TV stations and channels due to being non profit yet maintaining high quality content.
‘No Offence’ is an extraordinary police procedural series, where A team of cops, based in a criminal-ridden part of town, work together to keep the streets safe. In the UK, the first episode of No Offence launched with 2.5 million viewers, Channel 4‘s biggest midweek drama launch for more than three years. Although subsequent episodes lost overnight viewers, dropping as low as 1.2 million, the weekly consolidated series average remained at 2.5 million and finished 47% up on Channel 4‘s slot average.[5] In France, the first episode of No Offence aired on 29 February 2016 on France 2 and was watched by 5.46 million viewers, 20.4% of the TV audience. The next three episodes were shown back-to-back that evening and together achieved an average 4.6 million viewers, 19.3% of the TV audience.[6]
‘The Killing’ is A crime series that follows the police investigation of the murder of a young girl. It interlocks three different stories.
No Offence:
Commercial Media-
Public Service Broadcaster- Channel 4
The Killing:
Commercial Media- Channel 4
Public Service Broadcaster- DR- Danish Broadcasting
The pair I’ve chosen is The Killing and No Offense.
The Killing:
“Inspector Sarah Lund is due to move to Sweden, however, after the murder of a young girl, she is unable to leave the case behind. She spends the next 20 days investigating the teenager’s death. It interlocks three different stories.”
The primary audience for The Killing are adults, probably those who speak Swedish as this is the language the show is shot in. Because The Killing can be found on Netflix, the secondary audience is probably Netflix users.
No Offense:
No Offense is written by Paul Abbott, and is a police series which features a team of cops, based in a criminal-ridden part of town, work together to keep the streets safe.
Curran and Seaton are able to argue that the UK governement is partly responsible for the widespread domination of the media landscape by huge congomerates.
Money wins, while audience size and audience share determine content.
Succesfull media formats are often replicated to deliver to mass audiences.
Horizontal intergration of large conglomerates can reduce production costs while maximising profits.
Advertising prompts media broadcasters to make content that focuses on capturing an ABC1 demographic. – (wealthier demographic of people.)
Products with less popularity are often sidelined into late night slots on secondary channels.
Commercial Media:
No Offense‘s PSB is Channel 4.
Fox Broadcasting Service is American owned commercial broadcaster for The Killing.
Produced by DR (Dutch) and ZDF Enterprises (German)
DR = CEO Maria Rorbye Ronn, Public service radio and television broadcasting, founded 1925 Denmark
ZDF Enterprises = German, founded 1993, child company to ZDF (independent non profit, public service broadcaster), THOMAS BELLUT (general director)
First American
APPEALS TO INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE
Who is the primary, secondary and tertiary audience for this product?
What audience theories can you apply to which help you to develop a better understanding of the potential target audience?
What organisations (rather than individuals) are involved in the production, distribution & exhibition of this product?
DISTRIBUTED on Amazon Prime
Female protagonist – radical
Crime drama – stephe neale genre theory – repertoire of elements (repeated features, specific to crime drama so it’s recognisable to the audience)
Narratology – TODOROV – beginning, middle, end, equilibrium then balances out again at the end, can happen more than once, has to be resolved to end a story
Feminist critical thinking BELL HOOKS, VAN ZOONEN
Audience theory – Hall – theory of preferred reading
Primary audience – Directly receive communication (Viewers of the TV show), crime drama show lovers aged 16 upwards, swedish people
Secondary audience – Indirectly receive communication (People who analyse it, critics), netflix watchers
Tertiary audience – People are familiar with someone conveying the communication, focus group (friends / family of the producers / actors)
Audience theories: Reception theory / preferred reading
Organisations involved :
Production – Søren Sveistrup (screenwrite) (has also been remade by Turkish and US TV (AMC)
Distribution – (How it’s shown to an audience) , Amazon, BBC4 and Netflix
Exhibition – TV show, moving image
NO OFFENCE
OWNERSHIP
Anna Ferguson Simon Meyers Philip Leach
m=Manchester
Mainstream TV series using code and conventions of the police crime drama intertwined with aspects of social realism
THEORY OF GRATIFICATION
TODOROV
STEPHE NEALE GENRE THEORY – hybrid – combination of more than one genre to create one sub genre (drama, social realism, crime)
Negtative and positive representation of stereotypes (female police)
RADICAL – dominance of female characters (counter-type)
REPRESENTATION THEORIES – HALL
Streamed on Channel4, All4 and in France – public service broadcasting DISTRIBUTION
The Killing is a Danish TV series released in 2007 that was adapted to an English version in 2011.
The primary audience for this product is people who are interested in crime dramas, as this is the genre of the series.
The secondary audience would be people who wish to learn about the TV culture of foreign countries like Denmark since this series is produced in and set in Denmark.
No Offence is a production by AbbotVision, An independent company founded by the writer Paul Abbot who also wrote Shameless.
No Offence was a critical and commercial success in both the UK and France, similarly to The Killing No offence became popular in a different country to it’s country of origin.
Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) – No offence was originally aired by the public service broadcast Company Channel 4- Media made less to make money and focusing more on artistic intent.
“High quality minority interest programming is provided [by PSBs]”
“Diverse Ownership creates diverse products”
Commercial Media: Channel 4(NF)
Public Service Broadcaster (PSB): Channel 4(NF), DR(TK)
Horizontal integration:
Vertical Integration: Channel 4 Television Corporation is the owner of Channel 4. C4TC owns other companies in the Television industry such as Film4. The parent company is the department for digital, culture, media and Sport, a department of the UK government.
Hesmondhalgh: How media Companies minimise risk and maximise profit
HESMONDHALGH
CASE STUDIES
Internationalisation
No offence became popular in France and was broadcast on the French national broadcast channel, France2. The Killing was broadcast in the UK were it became popular in a different country to it’s country of origin.
Remakes
The Killing received an English language remake of the original series
Serialisation
No Offence used the same cast as Shameless, A series produced by the same company who produced No Offence, Abbotvision.
Livingstone and Lunt:
Consumer-based Regulation System – Based around the desires of audiences who consume the media.
Citizen-based Regulation System – Directs media producers to “contribute to the enrichment of cultural and social life and the potential for self-development of individuals, groups and communities”.
The implications of the 2003 communications act on media regulation: Created Ofcom, a government regulatory organisation As a result, independent televsion production companies were freed up to produce content that was more commercially viable (Consumer based rather than Citizen based). “Little accountability was forthcoming regarding actions to further citizen interests”.
The drawback of a self-regulated system is that without outside regulation there is no way for standards and laws to be enforced within media companies.
CATEGORY
FAMILIARITIES: from your chosen CSP’s
DIFFERENCES: from your chosen CSP’s
THEORY
CHARACTERS
Both in The Killing and No Offence detective characters are female, some middle aged instead of the traditional young male, independent character
PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, etc.
NARRATIVE
CHATMAN / FREYTAG /TODOROV
THEMES
murder story in the killing – In no Offence, the police team is dedicated to enforcing law and justice in a “criminal-ridden” area.
LEVI-STRAUSS the use of key themes to structure stories and characters around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice. Often set up as binary oppostions: right/wrong urban/rural, young/old, good/bad
REPRESENTATION
PIERCE / BARTHES / SAUSSURE: SEMIOTICS radical and reactionary representations of police, family, law and order, through a range of signs (visual, graphic, audio, narrative, thematic etc)
TECHNICAL CODES / LANGUAGE OF MOVING IMAGE (music, setting, props, lighting, use of camera, editing etc)
The narrative of Deutschland 83 has been controversial – particularly in Germany -through its use of binary oppositions to contrast East and West Germany
The narrative of Deutschland 83 can be defined as postmodern in its self-reflexive style
Conventions of the period drama and reasons for its popularity
It is a co-production of AMC Networks’ SundanceTV and RTL Television (German and American), positioning it to exploit the national and global market.
Media Language The series is visually interesting, constructing a stylized representation of ‘real’ places which transmit meanings about characters, places and issues. A detailed analysis of different aspects of mise-en-scene will provide students with a strong foundation to build on in terms of analyzing representations, ideological meanings and audience positioning. Analysis should include: • Mise-en-scene (placing on stage) analysis • Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings • Postmodernism: Use of pastiche and bricolage (construction or creation from a diverse range of available things.
Curran and seaton
commercial media – an organisation that makes or distributes products for economic gain. commercial media usually makes products for entertainment purposes.
A total of 20 broadcasters and subscription VoD services have picked up German thriller series Deutschland 83 from FremantleMedia International (FMI).
2. Media industry is driven, Curran and Seaton tell us, by the twin forces of creativity and business
3. Media creatives are tasked to gives us exciting innovative and aesthetically pleasing products.
4. UK government policy is responsible in part for widespread domination of media landscape by huge conglomerates (deutschland 83 RTL group, free mantlemedia)
Horizontal integration – ownership of subsidiaries that produce similar types of products
fremantlemedia producers of Deutschland 83 have the subsidiaries fremantlemedia north america and wildside which both produce films.
media concentration/ convergence a term used to describe the reduction in the number of media organisations that produce products
capital is owned by kudos which an independently owned company which is owned by parent company Endemol
Category
Familiarities
Differences
Theory
Charecters
PROPP, presents the idea of STOCK CHARACTERS, inc ‘hero’, ‘false hero’, ‘princess’ (Witnesses), ‘father figure’, ‘despatcher’ (Missing)
Narrative
CHATMAN / FREYTAG /TODOROV
Themes
LEVI-STRAUSS the use of key themes to structure stories and characters around familiar themes: family, community, law and order, justice. Often set up as binary oppostions: right/wrong urban/rural, young/old, good/bad
Representation
PIERCE / BARTHES / SAUSSURE: SEMIOTICS radical and reactionary representations of police, family, law and order, through a range of signs (visual, graphic, audio, narrative, thematic etc)
In Germany, Deutschland 83 began to air after the U.S. run on RTL 26 November 2015.[77] There, the series lost viewers over the course of its run; the series finale had 1.72 million viewers, or approximately half of the series premiere’s viewers. As a result, German newspaper Bild called the show “the flop of the year”
Walter presents, Deutschland 83, The two-step flow of communication model says that most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media.
