Raised through investment by individuals such as rich friends and contacts
There wasn’t a funding body BFI Film Fund was willing to fund Chicken
Raises questions about whether film industry is accessible to lower-income filmmakers
Production Key points for making Chicken:
Adapted from a play by Freddie Machin that originally ran at Southwark Playhouse.
Filmed in 19 days, almost all external locations so victim to rain, issues with lighting etc.
Film produced and distributed by a new company set up by director Stephenson: B Good Picture Company.
Distribution
Chicken’s distribution has been very difficult:
No distribution deal secured in 2014
Two-year festival circuit won awards and generated interest and critical acclaim for film
UK cinema release followed in May 2016. Selected for film subscription service MUBI and acquired by Film4 for TV premiere in April 2017.
UK DVD release distributed by Network Releasing (the internet) . Digital distribution in USA/Canada – January 2018.
Promotion
Alongside film festivals, new technology was vital to promoting Chicken to a wider audience:
Some traditional marketing: trailer, film poster with review quotes etc.
Social media very important to market film – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.
Film available on-demand now; Stephenson hoping for deal with Netflix or Amazon Prime to bring in revenue and find wider audience.
Links To theorists:
Hesmondhaughl:
Risky Business-Joe Stephenson didn’t know if the film would be successful or if people would even watch and enjoy it. “All business is risky” “Audiences that use these texts in highly volatile and unpredictable ways” “Impossible to predict how the market will react.”
Television– “hybridisation of television and internet to produce on-demand services” Chicken can be found on-demand now; Stephenson hoping for deal with Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Curran and Seaton:
More diverse media landscape– There wasn’t a funding body for Chicken as it was an independent micro budget film “Media landscape has fallen under the control of a handful of global media conglomerates” (unlike Chicken which was under B Good picture Company)
Livingstone and Lunt:
Cultural production exists in a loosely regulated framework, biased towards a consumers rather than citizen model. Consumer= People who watch things for a self-fulfilling need.
Self Regulation “Independently left to decide upon moral and ethical codes”
Goes against Livingstone and Lunts “consumer based regulation” as it’s a micro budget film that promotes social realism of seeing a different perspective on life through the eyes of a person with a disability and spreads awareness suggesting it’s a citizen based regulation as it’s regulating social and cultural health of society in which they operate.
Primary audience– People who watch for self enjoyment which links to a Consumer based media=Individual needs and individual gains such as watching specific shows for themselves. In this case it would be people who enjoy crime, murder mystery and horror elements which is a hybridization of genre. This also links to gratification theory by Katz Gurevitch and Haas.
Secondary Audience– People who indirectly receive the form of media without deliberately looking for the media form. e.g. People seeing it on an advert or who just heard about.
Niche Audience– People who study and critique the media form. such as school students.
Theorists- Stuart Hall reception theory
Dominant= Who enjoy it and agree with it as the “mainstream”
Negotiated= Looks at both views such as the oppositional as well as dominant.
Opositional= People and individuals who have a different view of the media.
George Gerbner – Cultivation theory
People watch already knowing what to expect from similar genre codes and conventions that they may have previously watched.
What is the difference between a consumer based media regulation system and a citizen based regulation system?
Consumer=Individual needs and individual gains such as watching specific shows. Citizen= Social needs for everyone such as a news broadcast appealing to a wider audience.
Q. What impact did the 2003 Communications Act have on media regulation?
Labour governments modernized UK regulations systems and assist the UK tele to become competitive in a globalized media landscape. Promoted independent production by getting the BBC and Chanel4 to commission more content from smaller production companies making it more consumer based instead of a citizen based regulation. This suggests production companies could produce and publish what they wanted even if it wasnt in the publics interest.
Q. What is the drawback of a self-regulated system?
producers and editors create their own moral and ethical codes of conduct of what they allow themselves to produce which can be different from others. This could suggest that certain publishers could go against the publics ethical and moral code as well as other institutions.
Q. How do you regulate media content and organisations on a global scale?
Who is the primary, secondary and tertiary audience for this product? The Primary audience is the viewers of the show that want to watch it for no reason other than enjoyment. The Secondary audience would be for the people that want to analyse it eg. Critics and students learning about it. The tertiary audience would be people that only watch it because they can relate to what’s happened or have a specific reason and then they don’t watch it again.
What audience theories can you apply to which help you to develop a better understanding of the potential target audience? It tries to reinforce certain aspects and ideologiea so that people know what’s good and what’s bad.
What organisations (rather than individuals) are involved in the production, distribution & exhibition of this product? An organisation that was involved in production was the ‘Danish national public service broadcaster DR’. It was distributed by the BBC4 on and exhibited on television and streaming sights.
No Offence
What needs to be studied? Key Questions and Issues This product relates to the theoretical framework by providing a focus for the study of: Media Language: No Offence is a television series in which the codes and conventions of the police procedural crime drama are intertwined with aspects of social realism. Detailed analysis of this media form including the process through which media language develops as genre will provide students with an opportunity to understand and reflect on the dynamic nature of genre. Analysis should include: • Mise-en-scene analysis • Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings Narrative • Which narrative techniques are used to engage the audience in the opening episode of. (theory and theorist) No Offence? • How does the use of the narrative conventions of the crime drama – use of enigmas, restricted narration etc. – position the audience? • The ways in which the narrative structure of No Offence offers a range of gratification to the audience. such as enjoyment (self satisfaction Primary audieneces) • Narratology including Todorov Genre • Conventions of the TV drama series and the way in which this form is used to appeal to audiences. • Definition of the series as a hybrid genre, belonging to the drama, social realism and crime genres • Genre theory including Neale Media Representations No Offence provides a wide range of representational areas to explore; gender, place, class, ethnicity, race etc. • Negative and positive use – or subversion – of stereotypes, particularly around the representation of women and the police. • No Offence is unusual in popular television series due to the dominance of female characters. • Representation of place – Manchester – by implication the nation?
Media Industries The central way into an institutional approach is to consider No Offence as a Channel 4 programme and to examine how it can be seen to fulfil the demands of its Public Service remit. No Offence can be studied in the context of Channel 4’s commitment to be innovative and distinctive. • No Offence is an AbbottVision production, an independent company founded by the writer Paul Abbott who also wrote Shameless. • No Offence was a critical and commercial success in the UK, it was also a ratings success in France where it was shown on the national broadcast channel, France2. • Channel 4 uses series such as No Offence to add value to the channel through the availability of the ‘box set’ on All4.
Media Audiences Issues of audience are also relevant throughout the other theoretical frameworks. In media language, the use of different formal structures to position the audience to receive and interpret meaning is central, while the study of representations has at its heart the reinforcement of social and cultural values for audiences. The study of institutions is also indivisibly linked to the need to define and attract specific audiences. • The production, distribution and circulation of No Offence 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 • No Offence was broadcast on Channel 4, can still be accessed on All4, it was also broadcast in France. • The way in which different audience interpretations reflect social, cultural and historical circumstances is evident in the analysis of No Offence which is explicitly linked to contemporary issues. • Audience positioning through the construction of characters who are morally ambiguous. • The advertising campaigns (trailers, websites at home and abroad) for the series demonstrate how media producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences. • Cultivation theory including Gerbner
• Reception theory including Hall Social, political, economic and cultural contexts No Offence deals with a range of social, cultural and political issues arising from contemporary contexts. The Manchester police force is used as a microcosm of society through which to examine changing gender roles, the focus of the case which features children and adults with Down’s syndrome examines the position of people with disabilities in the wider society. Political contexts are evident in the nature of the approach to police work which refers to a history of corruption and the role of police power in society. The economic context can be explored through patterns of ownership and production and how the product is marketed nationally and globally.
The Killing
What needs to be studied? Key Questions and Issues This product relates to the theoretical framework by providing a focus for the study of: Media Language The use of a noir visual style, conventions of the police procedural and multiple narrative strands. The Killing provides a rich area of study for media language, which would form the foundation for work on the other theoretical frameworks. Analysis should include: • Mise en scene analysis • Semiotics: how images signify cultural meanings Narrative • How does the use of the narrative conventions of the crime drama – use of enigmas, binary oppositions, restricted and omniscient narration etc. – position the audience? • A narrative approach to crime drama could include analyzing the appeals of the structure as reassuring and predictable – even when dealing with difficult subject matter. • Focus on multiple plot lines related to the central crime. • Narratology including Todorov Genre • Conventions of the TV series (The Killing had three series which had links but were also stand-alone series) and the way in which this form is used to appeal to audiences; how it is distinct from, but related to series and serials. • Definition of the series as belonging to the drama and crime genres • Analysing the current popularity of the crime genre • Genre theory including Neale
Media Representations The Killing provides a range of representational areas to explore, including gender roles, family structures and the political class. It can be argued that these are innovative representations which have been influential in the development of the genre. Part of The Killing’s original appeal was in its representation of Danish culture to a UK audience. • Representation of gender: The woman as police detective, representation of marriage, gender stereotypes etc. • Feminist debates – Violence and the representation of gender. This could include the controversy around using violent crime against women as popular entertainment • Representation of national identity – Denmark including issues of multiculturalism. • Analysis of how the representations convey values, attitudes and beliefs about the world • Theories of representation including Hall • Feminist theories including bell hooks and Van Zoonen
Media Industries The Killing was the catalyst for the wider distribution of foreign language crime programming on UK television, its unexpected success influencing BBC4’s scheduling but also that of other UK channels. The Killing was produced the Danish national public service broadcaster DR, providing the opportunity to study PSB in a different national context. • The regulatory framework of contemporary media, with the focus on PSB • The Killing provides a case study for the specialised nature of media production, distribution and circulation within a transnational and global context. • The Killing personifies a successful transnational, contemporary media product with long duration (it was broadcast in the UK nearly five years after its success in Denmark) has been shown in its original form across Europe and remade by Turkish and US TV (AMC) • Cultural industries including Hesmondhalgh
Media Audiences Issues of audience are also relevant throughout the other theoretical frameworks. In media language, the use of different formal structures to position the audience to receive and interpret meaning is central, while the study of representations has at its heart the reinforcement of social and cultural values for audiences. The study of institutions is also indivisibly linked to the need to define and attract specific audiences. • The production, distribution and circulation of the Killing 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 way in which different audience interpretations reflect social, cultural and historical circumstances is evident in the analysis of the series which are explicitly linked to contemporary issues – often related to gender and feminist issues • New types of characters to construct alignment for the audience/audience positioning. • The advertising campaigns (trailers, websites at home and abroad) for the series demonstrate how media producers target, attract and potentially construct audiences. • Audience behaviour in response to the series – the interest in Scandinavian culture and lifestyle. • Cultivation theory including Gerbner • Reception theory including Hall
Social, political, economic and cultural contexts
The Killing 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. That these series were dominated by the crime genre was part of a wider cultural phenomenon which saw the crime genre become the key form for exploring social contexts – particularly changing gender roles. The Killing was also a key factor in the surge in interest in Scandinavian culture in the UK. The Killing also uses the crime genre to explore contemporary political contexts of multiculturalism and debate the effects of immigration. The economic context can be explored through patterns of ownership and production and how the product is marketed nationally and globally
Curran and Seaton links
Radical free press- links to The killing as there is a female detective which supports feminism which is a radical ideology.
Public service broadcsting- The killing is on DR, public serice broadcatser
Commercial Media
PSB-Public service broadcasting
The killing- produced the Danish national public service broadcaster DR
No Offence-Chanel 4
Horizontal integration
The Killing- DR, produced by BBC
No Offence-
Vertical integration
The Killing-
No Offence- AbbottVision an independent company
Hesmondhaughl
Case Studies:
Genre-Based formatting “Genre based media allows audiences to identify potential rewards”
Both shows “no offence” and “the killing” are crime based Thrillers, which will attract a primary audience of those who watch these genre type of shows for enjoyment.
Television “hybridisation of television and internet to produce on-demand services”
The killing was produced by DR and broadcast on the BBC and can also be found on prime. No Offence was produced by Channel 4 (terestrial and online distribution)
Jean Kilbourne looks at the portrayal of women in advertisements such as Alcohol and Tobacco and magazines. “Children growing up today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and sexiness in the media and popular culture.” The quote is saying how children are exposed to inappropriate concepts when they shouldn’t be but they are because of the media and culture.
Curran and Seaton believe that media is controlled by a small number of companies who are driven by: Profit, power and logic. This led them on to present the radical idea of the Liberal free press which means a free press that isn’t controlled by the government. ” the freedom to publish in the free market ensures that the press reflects a wide range of opinions”. This allows for no political bias in the media which suggests there will be politically balanced stories with in the media. However, to do this there needs to be a free market which is the idea of how no media is forced and is priced, by businesses, at regular quantities without any government control. It is also used to serve the public. “Broadcasting was started as a public service” This relates to the theory of Althusser who suggests the theory of Interpolation. This is a theory that was created by people in high social and political power an example is people in the government. “an ideology always exists in an apparatus, and its practice, or practices” The quote suggests that with in media, there is always an ideology which is presented to the audience which can be used as propaganda to make the audience believe a certain political view. This then relates to his second theory of the Ideological state apparatus which means even outside of media the governmental practices are still adapted because the audience of the political media will adapt these ideologies to everyday life.
Evidence is presented by The Daily Mail and The I newspapers. The Daily mail was founded in 1896 and is owned by General Trust PLC which owns multinational companies and the chairman of the company is The viscount Rothermere. The paper has a right winged political view. This is shown through the paper which uses propaganda such as its articles based on the presidential election of 2020. The paper released on November 5th of 2020 where it states the election to be “knife edged” which was in large title text and used as click bait. This states the election is viscous, this makes the public believe that the election is similar to a war where there will be harm caused if either win the election which makes this form of media look capitalistic. This allows a wide number of individuals who read the daily mail to become right winged because of subtle uses of propaganda and they mainly target middle class women . As of November 6th 2020, there was a circulation of 1,134,184 which shows how many people will believe and follow the daily mail as there dependent source of use.
This is unlike The I newspaper. The I was founded in 2010 which is where radical left ideologies were more viewed. The paper claims to have an unbiased political view and the paper focuses on social and political issues. Evgeny Lebedev owns 41%, Sultan Muhammad Abuljadayel owns 30%, Justin Byam Shaw owns 26% with minor shareholders owning 3 percent. On Thursday 5th of November, The i released a news paper with the front cover page of the 2020 presidential election. The paper states “Biden edges closer to the White House” In big, bold black text. Unlike the daily mail, The i doesn’t use click bait and only states the political and social issue by using facts seemingly without any right or left winged bias and is for simply serving the public and public good. The paper targets 15-35 year olds which are subject to being swayed in the terms of political bias and has a circulation of 215,932 in 2020 of November which means these people won’t be biased and this is their source to get public information.
The theories link with these forms of media because The i newspaper seems to be a free market which serves for the public good which shows how the paper isn’t controlled by any political view and remains unbiased and reviews a wide range of opinions which is beneficial to the public as a whole. However, The daily Mail seems to reflect Althusser theories of Interpolation and Ideological state apparatus. This is because the paper reflects the right winged views which the theory of Interpolation states there will be a political ideology in an apparatus and is practices which means in media there will be a political bias. This is a form of propaganda and links the Daily Mail to the theory of ideological state apparatus because the consumers of the paper will have a right winged bias and adapt this bias into their everyday life and there’s a circulation of 1,134,184 which means this many people will be subjected to this. This then relates to audience theory and the theory of Chomsky’s lack of freewill which suggests readers believe what they see and adapt it to their own lives and don’t make their own political opinions and adapt the ones they see unwillingly.
I believe that people believe what they read and agree with it because they innately do so and it biases them. This suggests that the readers of The Daily Mail will have a right winged political bias where as readers of The i remain politically biased.
The difference of Propaganda and Persuasion. Propaganda is overtly manipulative where as Persuasion is Covert and is used in subtle ways.
Harold Lasswell, Theory about audience behavior. Wrote the pook “Propoganda in war”. Talks about the poison” BEING INJECTED INTO THE VEINS//// Hyperdermic model= we have a passive audience fed by the media.
Zuboff= conditioning people/ new technology stimulates new behavior. New technology makes new methods to control behavior.
Cambridge analytica Alexander Nix
Who? Article by Barbra Jones
Says what? Rhinos were butchered by a poaching epidemic because an animal reserve lost millions because a lack of tourism
Channel? l was a Newspaper of the Daily Mail
To Whom? to viewers of the daily mail ( A right winged bias paper)
Paul Lazarfield suggests that a linear model may not be difficult to understand the message sent to the message received. In 1948 he developed the two-step flow model of communication. This suggests a message isn’t directly absorbed by the audience. This means it’s filtered through opinion leaders who interpret media and then feed it back to a bigger audience
The Theory of preferred reading. same time as Stuart Hall looked to analyse mass media communication and popular culture to work to uncover invidious work and big businesses.
Louis Althusser presented the theory of Interpolation. Interpolation is an ideology which is created by people who are in high in social and political power. An example of this is, people in the government. “an ideology always exists in an apparatus, and its practice, or practices” The quote suggests that with in media, there is always an ideology which is presented to the audience which can be used as propaganda to make the audience believe a certain political view. This relates to his idea of ideological state apparatus which suggests that even outside of political media, such as governments, the dominant ideology of the government will still have its values represented. This is because the audience or consumer of the particular media will adapt the political or social ideologies to their everyday life.
Evidence is presented by The Daily Mail and The I newspapers. The Daily mail was founded in 1896 and is owned by General Trust PLC which owns multinational companies and the chairman of the company is The viscount Rothermere. The paper also has a right winged political view. This is shown through the paper which uses propaganda such as talking highly and agrees with Boris Jhonson who supports the conservative party. This is unlike The I newspaper. The I was founded in 2010 which is where radical left ideologies were more viewed. The paper claims to have an unbiased political view and the paper focuses on social and political issues.
