Unit 01
In this unit I will be investigating a media institution and researching different aspects such as understanding promotion and legal and ethical issues associated with specific media products. I will also be concentrating on one specific area of the media institution I am researching and concentrating on the ways that it is promoted to a specific target audience.
P1
BBC:
Ownership
The BBC is a statutory corporation which means it was originally set up by the government. It was originally created for radio and news but then began to branch out into television and other aspects. The BBC has a public ownership which means that it is not owned by a particular person or company. When members of the public buy a television, they are required to pay a liscence which is how they are able to make their money.
Operating Model
The BBC want to "enrich peoples lives with programmes that entertain, inform and educate". It has the purpose of providing a value for money service to the public through its wide range of media platforms that the BBC owns. The BBC uses various different skills to achieve their intentions which other channels would not consider for example regarding ethnic minorities and having a wide range of channels which specify for different age ranges . The BBC is expected to be "Private and public, profit and non profit making, a respected and responsible national institution as well as nimble and entrepreneurial entity".
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Ofcom is a television regulation body which filters the communications services that people use each day such as television and radio. Ofcoms aim is to filter what is showed on these communications services and what time they are put out in order to represent the interests of the public and also to protect the public from harmful or offensive material. When a complaint is made to of com about something on BBC TV or the BBC Iplayer an investigation is made by of com to see whether any of their rules may have been broken and if it has then it will be sorted and the investigation will be held on the records of the BBC. If the same rule is broken again then it may be required for of com to take legal action against the BBC.
Products
The BBC produces a wide range of products. One of their main products is BBC 3 which is an online channel featuring programmes on the internet. Some more examples of products released by the BBC are:
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-BBC One- Eastenders
-BBC Two- The Apprentice
-BBC ALABA- Scottish Women's Premier League
-BBC Parliament- Monday in Parliament
-CBeebies- Teletubbies
-CBBC- Bear Behaving Badly
Market Position
BBC One is currently the most popular television programme in the UK which is closely followed by channel 4 and ITV. In terms of fame, BBC One and BBC Two are both behind Channel 4 and ITV which shows that although the BBC is popular and possibly features better programmes, ITV and Channel 4 are more widely known in the UK. In 2019 BBC news received nearly 18.9 million viewers worldwide while Itv 2 have just over 3.7 million viewers worldwide.
Competitors
The BBC has many different competitors but ITV is seen as the biggest competition that the BBC has in the uk. ITV is one of the largest channels in the uk and distributes content of high quality which can be viewed worldwide on the multiple television platforms and even on the ITV hub. ITV also has platforms where the same programmes can be viewed in high definition. The biggest competition that the BBC has in America is called Turner Broadcasting System. Like the BBC, Turner Broadcasting System also have many products such as CNN, CNN International, LNT, HLN and Turner Classic Movies. It has almost 100 million viewers and Turner Broadcasting System provides 24 hour services.
P2
Doctor Who
Purpose
Doctor who was originally created to be a historical documentary style programme which would be aimed at familys as two of the creators were history and science teachers. The original idea was that time travel could be used as a means of exploring new scientific ideas and moments in history. At first, doctor who was failing to get the viewing numbers but then the Daleks became the first aliens to be in the series and from then the viewing numbers increased and the producers decided to stick with the idea if including science fiction to doctor who.The historical elements eventually were lost from the series's around the late 60's due to popular opinion which then gave Doctor who its more science fiction element. It has also always had slightly comedic approaches to each episode which makes it appealing to both adults and children.
Genre
Doctor who was originally intended to be a historical documentary style series but due to popular opinion introduced more aliens which drove it to have more of a science fiction genre. As each series went on the story lines of the episodes began to vary more and also became longer which made each episode seem like science fiction/drama with elements of comedy which came up frequently throughout.
Form
Doctor Who is a television series which originally started off to be 25 minute long episodes which appeared weekly but as time went on and the show became more popular the episode lengths grew to 1 hour. However, as the length of the episodes grew, so did the time between them because the BBC were putting more work into each episode to make it as interesting and high quality for the viewer. Doctor who is on BBC One for one episode every Christmas easter and occasionally around Halloween/autumn time. These episodes can then be rewatched on the BBC Iplayer or on Netflix. The BBC also make money from the doctor who merchandise that is sold.
Style
The style of each episode of doctor who varies depending on how scary the episode or what setting it is in. Often a darker style is introduced to the episodes with monsters and usually brighter when the mood of the episode becomes more light hearted. They have chosen vary their style because it is a good way of contrasting between different moods. A standard episode of doctor who either begins in a natural setting or with some action to attract the viewer from the very beginning. After that the doctor and his companion usually meet the donors or realise that something mysterious seems to be happening. The tension always builds to a climax in each episode which could be a battle or a problem which faces the heroine. Then comes the moment when the problems are solved and the action begins to die down. The ending of each episode usually returns to normal and there is a happy mood and sometimes a mysterious hint to what may be to come in the next episode. Claude Levi-Strauss is a man who came up with an idea of structures based around binary opposites and that these binary opposites are the central climax of a narrative structure.In doctor who the opposites used in the structure is good vs evil but in each episode there is many underlying opposites.
Content
Doctor who has many different visual elements such as props and a very detailed set design. The people used in the episode depends on which doctor it is and which companion he has then there will also be other actors to play any other characters in the episode. There is a lot of different types of music in each episode to show a change of mood and there are also special effects used to create the alien technology. There are many dark themes in doctor who but nothing that is too unsuitable for children because it is intended to be a family series.
Meaning
The main thing that is conveyed by the visual and audio editing choices is the mood and theme. Usually when there is lots of action happening there will be some loud grand orchestral music and bright visuals and when there is a sinister moment possibly some low music and darker visuals to make the viewer feel tense. The editing in doctor who allows the viewer to feel fear but not so much as to scare the younger audience that could be watching.
Production Process
The pre production process would be where the creative planning takes place and for doctor who that would include writing the script and finding actors other than the doctor and his companion who are already cast. Most of the filming for doctor who is done at the BBC studios which means that only any outdoors or shots out of the studios would need to be sorted. This would involve getting permission filming in a location if it was private property. The budget would have to be sorted in order to hire any people to work on the film and any props or equipment needed for the episode. When filming the production, the actors must be prepared and know what to do and the set must be suitably prepared to begin filming with any equipment in place. The director must be there to see what is being filmed, add their comments and keep the process organised. The post production process is where the editing happens and this involves making the audio and visuals fit and arranging the footage. For Doctor Who this would be a very long process as there may also need to be complicated visual effects added such as CGI.
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The director will begin by reading the script for the episode they are going to be working on. They will then need to come up with some visual and audio ideas for scenes within the episode and make notes. This could be a long process as the director will need to fine tune every idea to make it the best that it can be. The ideas that the directors come up with will then be developed into shot ideas. The directors will also try to find suitable locations that could be used for filming outdoor scenes or whether the BBC studios will be suitable. During the filming process the director will need to be on set at all times to manage anything and communicate to the rest of the set what needs to be done. The director will also need to clearly communicate their ideas to the editors in the post production and make sure that everything looks and sounds how they want it to.
Links
The links between purpose, form, content, and meaning is what shows how the elements of the production allow it to reach its intended target audience and from that it can be assessed how well it reaches its target audience. the purpose is what message the production communicates and what it is intended to give to its audience. The form is the genre and what style of viewing a product is. This shows what sort of length it will be and what platforms it can be watched on. The content of a production is what visual and audio elements contribute to it and what elements within the production help it to reach its target audience. The meaning of a production is what effect the content has on the viewers of the product.
P3 & P4
Target Audience
Gender
Doctor who has a fairly even number of male and female fans. Originally the show was intended to be more male orientated but has become largely popular with females too. The recent change that is the doctor becoming a female for the first time could be why more females are now interested in doctor who as this has reversed the pattern that doctor who has followed. Usually the doctor is a male who has a female companion or working by himself. However, now that the doctor is a female she travels with a male companion. The programme is also still very popular with families which give it a very gender split audience. Recently there has also been doctor who female fanbases set up ever since the recent boost in female characters.
Age
Doctor who has always been a series which is popular with families. It targets a very wide age range by incorporating elements of adult humour in the episodes and are able to also appeal to children through humour and the action in each episode. Recently there have been arguments whether doctor who is beginning to become more aimed t the younger generation which could be true but there are also many older adults who are fans. Another way that doctor who is able to attract its younger audience is by selling action figures and toys along with other merchandise which helps advertise the show. The BBC are also able to use social media to advertise their show to the teenagers and adults who enjoy watching and there are fan accounts set up by the fans to advertise Doctor Who.
Lifestyle
Many of the younger fans of Doctor Who are now into social media as that is where a lot of the Doctor Who fans post information and news about the show. Nowadays, online platforms are a good way to build a larger fanbase for the show. Many of the fans also read the regularly updated Doctor Who magazine which contains all recent news and competitions related to Doctor Who. Many adults who like Doctor Who are not necessarily 'super fans' but they enjoy the nostalgia of doctor who as it first started in 2005 so they have probably been familiar with the show ever since it first started.
Presentation
Description
My group for the presentation part of unit 1 consisted of me Jess Gould and Harry Dickens. In our presentation we talk about the target audience of our chosen media products that we researched. I chose to research Doctor Who which was a product of the BBC, Harry was researching Endgame which was a product of Disney and Jess chose Wall-e which was also a product of Disney. We also talked about the target gender age and lifestyle for the fans and put research into finding results about how the main product owners were able to advertise to attract their intended audience. We thought about what a typical fan of the product might look like and in one section of our presentation, we created a character who might fit to the lifestyle and appearance of the target audience. In class we were given time to research our products in detail so that we could produce the best presentation possible.
P5
The Hypodermic Needle model
The hypodermic needle model is a linear theory which arose in the 1920s which means that the media messages are 'injected' into the heads of a passive audience which are all the same. This theory is no longer accepted however, it is sometimes often thought about nowadays particularly in the way that parents and teachers thinking that television and social media affects the behaviour of children. In a way this theory looks about the manipulation of the media.
Cultural Effects Theory
The Cultural effects theory was created by Stuart hill investigates how the media may affect people different amounts depending on which culture they are from. The theory also involves how the reaction to the media may be different in different cultures and how stereotypes may be used to influence people more.
The Uses and Gratification Theory
The uses and gratification theory investigates the fact that the media influences people but that people choose which media to be influenced by. It looks at how the audience reacts to the media. It also looks at the 5 different reasons that people view the media and what they would get out of it:
- Information and education
-Entertainment
-Personal identity
-Integration and social interaction
-Escapism
The uses and gratification theory investigates the fact that the media influences people but that people choose which media to be influenced by. It looks at how the audience reacts to the media. It also looks at the 5 different reasons that people view the media and what they would get out of it:
- Information and education
-Entertainment
-Personal identity
-Integration and social interaction
-Escapism
Reception Theory
The Reception Theory investigates how the producer of a media product is able to use things in the media to send messages to the audience and is then able to get a reading of the message weather the viewer oppose the reading, agree with it or are somewhat in between. It also looks into the factors which may affect the audience reading including:
-Age
-Beliefs
-Culture
-Gender
-Life experience
-Mood at the time of viewing
Which best suits my chosen television series?
I think that the Uses and gratification theory best suits doctor who because a lot of people have mixed opinions on it and there is a wide range of ages and genders which the product targets. The media has many different messages which are sent out about doctor and there are many ways in which doctor who is being promoted. People choose what they think about doctor who on how they react to what ideas are given to them by the media about this series. The media may also show doctor who to be different genres such as documentary, science fiction and horror.
Which doesn't suit my chosen film?
I do not think that the Cultural effects theory applies to Doctor Who because the series is not particularly advertised or appealing to a culture or race. Doctor Who is a family television series which has no specific target audience but is always advertised to everyone through visual and digital adverts. Stereotypes are not used to promote the series either the promotion is done visually by being clear and eye catching and digitally by making the viewer want to see more.
The study of representation
Representation is how media texts deal with and present gender, age, ethnicity, national and regional identity, social issues and events. This helps shape an audiences understanding on these topics and by doing this the media are able to influence audiences.
Two kinds of representation that can be studied
Construction-
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The way that a media text is put together. This includes the way it is written, the camera angles used, how a newspaper or magazine photograph is cropped and captioned, or how real life events are portrayed in a news report.
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Anchorage-
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The text which accompanies an image or video to add context. This could include captions and headlines in newspapers or taglines in adverts or on film posters.
The three stages of representations
How are representations in the media constructed?
Representations in the media are constructed to do with aspects of reality such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts. Representations may be in speech or writing as well as still or moving pictures.
What are stereotypes and how are they used in the media?
Stereotypes are the simplified representation of groups of people or places. These are representations of basic characteristics which are often exaggerated. Stereotypes are used to describe characters quickly relying on what the audience already know about the stereotype. However they can also be dangerous because it may lead an audience to generalise about people or places.
One notable positive representation in my film
In Doctor who, the particular focus in representation is in the cast as in the past there has been very few black characters and no LGBTQ characters. Doctor Who has always been a largely sexless series and until series 10 with River Song there has been no acknowledgements of homosexual or heterosexual love. The series does very well to represent people of different races and sexualities in a good light as they are the companions.
One notable negative representation in my television series
Doctor who has had very few disabled cast members in the past and there has never been a companion of the doctor who is disabled. The lack of disabled people shown in the series could be seen as a negative representation of disabled people. In the past when people with disabilities have been showed they have often been evil which also suggests negativity towards people who are disabled.
Stereotypes used in my television series
There have been no intentional stereotypes in doctor who but recently there have been arguments about the older series's have had characters which are showed in a negative stereotype. an example of this was in series 9 when there was a black character called Micky who was showed as a coward which at the time that the episode was released, was seen as stereotyping.
The difference between legal and ethical considerations in film production
In television and film, the Ethical considerations looks into whether any element of the media product could be seen as offensive in any way. It takes into consideration the discrimination, stereotypes which could be seen as offensive and privacy. The legal considerations in film production looks into issues to do with the production such as copyright and intellectual property rights. This is done to insure that the production is not using anyone else work in your production without their permission or breaching the law in any way in the making of the production.
Key legal considerations all filmmakers
must consider when producing and distributing film
The copyright act in filmmaking protects your work and the work of other people which means that nobody else can use my work as their own legally. It means that nobody can take any footage from anyone else unconsentually and edit it as their own or claim that it was their original idea. The copyright act also means that in a production someone else work cannot be used without their permission and that it what is considered in this stage of the production.
Some of the key ethical considerations facing filmmakers
today
Some key ethical which filmmakers face today are how groups of people are being showed in a production through stereotypes and discrimination. Filmmakers also need to be aware of how women are being showed in a production as one of the current main issues is the equality between genders.
The consequence for filmmakers who fail to ensure their film is
legal and/or ethical
Filmmakers who fail to ensure that their production is legal or ethical could lose their jobs in the filming industry or in some cases be taken to court or go to jail. this is because it is breaking the law to commit a legal/ethical crime and release the production. If able to continue working in the industry it would also make it very hard to find more work as people would not trust you.
An example where a film was postponed due to legal issues
An example of this is ITV's Hatton gate which pas postponed twice. The first time was because one of the actors who played in it was found guilty of legal charges. The second time was because one of the actors passed away before the airing date and this meant that it would be insensitive to release the television drama so close after his death.
An example where a film was postponed due to ethical issues
There were no examples online of a television series or film that was postponed because of an ethical issue.
Three examples of legal considerations applicable to my television series
For doctor who, one example of a legal issue that needed to be considered would be the intellectual property rights law which is which shows that an idea for the storyline of an episode is not being taken from anywhere else. Another example of a legal issue which would need to be considered is the copyright law which would be checking that in the making of the episode of doctor who, no music or footage was being taken from anywhere else unconsentually to make the episode. A final example of a legal issue which would need to be considered would be that the episode was not exploiting any information about anyone or suggesting that the product was better than anything else which could also be a hate crime.
Any relevant ethical issues including stereotypes, offensive
language, excessive violence and if any complaints were made about my television series
There have been no issues relating to offensive language or excessive violence. However there was a complaint that black people in Doctor Who were been showed in a bad light. since then the series has acted on this and there is a more racial diversity in the heroic characters.
Who are the BBFC, what does BBFC stand for and what is their role in
the film industry?
The BBFC is a trusted guide to media content. Working as an independent, self-financing and not-for-profit media content regulator, the BBFC operates transparent, consistent and trusted co-regulatory and self-regulatory classification and labelling systems in the UK.
What are some of the key issues that the BBFC look at when rating a
film?
-Whether the material is in conflict with the law.
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-Where the material may cause mental harm to the viewer or affect behavour.
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-Whether the availability of the material, at the age group concerned, is clearly unacceptable to broad public opinion.
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-The context in which an issue is presented is central to the question of its acceptability.
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-The overall tone of a work.
Describe some cases where the BBFC have changed the rating of a film and why?
These are some factors which may cause the BBFC to change the rating for a film:
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-material which may promote illegal activity
-material which is obscene or otherwise illegal
-material created by means of the commission of a criminal offence
-portrayals of children in a sexualised or abusive context
-sexual violence or sexualised violence which endorses or eroticises the behaviour
-sadistic violence or torture which invites the viewer to identify with the perpetrator in a way which raises a risk of harm
-graphic images of real injury,violence or death presented in a salacious or sensationalist manner which risks harm by encouraging callous or sadistic attitudes
-sex works which contain material listed as unacceptable at ‘R18’.
What are some of the BBFC’s mission statements?
-protect the public, and especially children, from content which might raise harm risks
-empower the public, especially parents, to make informed viewing choices
-recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law
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-respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research
-provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit
-work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advice which support emerging media delivery systems
-provide an effective service to enforcement agencies
What age rating did my television series receive and why?
My television series received a PG rating because it is a family film watched by younger children when their parents accompany them. Some episodes have a mild horror element but not enough to psychologically terrify them. There is also lots of children humour in each episode with no sexual or violent acts which may be unsuitable.
Why do you feel it did not receive a lower rating?
I think that my television series did not receive a lower rating because occasionally in the episodes there can be a larger focus on the horror element which may scare younger children. Adult accompaniment is appropriate for Doctor Who.
Why do you feel it did not receive a higher rating?
I think that it did not get a higher rating because generally doctor who has always been a series intended for families which means there is no inappropriate horror elements for younger children to watch with their parents. There is also lots of children humour in each episode.
What may have forced the BBFC to give my television series a higher/lower age rating?
Hypothetically the only thing that could make the BBFC give Doctor Who a higher or lower rating would be the publics reaction to it. This is because the series was made to be a family programme but if the public thought it was too unsuitable for their children then the BBFC would have taken this into account and given it a higher rating.
Why is it important for filmmakers to consider the BBFC’s regulations
when producing their film?
Filmmakers would need to consider the BBFC's regulations when making their film because to reach their intended target audience the film/television series must meet the age rating which suits the audience. This is key for targeting a specific audience in the genre of the product.
What aspects of your television series may have been influenced by the BBFC’s
guidelines?
I think that the comedy element of Doctor Who may have been influenced by the BBFC's guidelines because that is how the series were able to target the younger people while still having the appealing action and nostalgia to the adults.