Consider how Cuffs reflects everyday life in the same way you have analysed The Avengers. Think about the different groups and what may have influenced the programme.
Read through the revision notes above and watch these two trailers to give you an idea about the intertextuality used in the show. Audiences at the time would have known these films below well and made connections between them and how Little Bazeley is represented.
In October 1965, the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, officially opened London’s new Post Office Tower. A gleaming cylinder of metal and glass, the tower could hardly have been a more fitting symbol of the scientific optimism of a self-consciously ‘go-ahead’ decade. It was a monument not just to the white heat of the technological revolution, but to the sheer self-confidence of a society basking in unprecedented prosperity. From the new tower blocks springing up in cities across the country to the radios in teenagers’ bedrooms, from Beatles hits and Bond films to comprehensive schools and nuclear power stations, Sixties Britain seemed – superficially at least – to be a country reborn in the crucible of affluence.
In some ways, the cliches of the 1960s ring absolutely true. With the economy buoyant, unemployment almost non-existent and wages steadily rising, millions of families bought their first cars, washing machines, fridges and televisions. Millions of teenagers, too, were transfixed by the sound of Radio Caroline and the look of Mary Quant — although, then as now, Carnaby Street catered more for tourists and day-trippers than the tiny handful at the cutting edge of fashion. Television transformed the imaginative landscape of almost every household in the country, not merely through pictures of faraway places, but through satirical programmes such as That Was the Week That Was. Even the nation’s diet was changing, transformed not just by the arrival of foreign imports from chicken tikka masala to spaghetti bolognese, but by the relentless advance of the supermarket.
Beneath the glamorous veneer of swinging London, however, Britain under Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Harold Wilson remained a remarkably conservative, even anxious society. Intellectuals worried that affluence and mass communications were undermining traditional working-class culture; in the Pilkington Report, published in 1962, it was hard to miss the disdain for commercial television. Meanwhile, despite the much-discussed stereotype of the ‘permissive society’, popular attitudes to moral and sexual issues remained strikingly slow to change. For all the excitement surrounding the landmark Lady Chatterley’s Lover trial in 1960, or the liberalisation of the divorce, abortion and homosexuality laws later in the decade, most people held similar attitudes to their parents; in this respect, the generation gap was a media invention.
And although students marched on the US embassy in protest at the Vietnam War, or staged sit-ins at universities such as the London School of Economics, it is easy to forget that only one in ten young people became students. Polls showed that like their elders, most young people still supported the death penalty and were uneasy about large-scale Commonwealth immigration; by the end of the decade, it is probably no exaggeration to say that the Conservative maverick Enoch Powell, who was kicked off his party’s front bench after his notorious ‘rivers of blood’ speech, was the most popular politician in the country. Even Mary Whitehouse, a ferocious critic of televised obscenity, especially on the BBC, commanded the instinctive support of tens, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of people.
By the end of the 1960s, the contradictions at the heart of the affluent society were becoming increasingly apparent. Despite Harold Wilson’s promises of endless growth thanks to his National Plan, the economy was running into serious trouble. The Aberfan catastrophe in 1966, the devaluation of the pound a year later and the Ronan Point disaster a year after that all hinted at the political and social traumas that would blight the following decade. Perhaps most ominously, Wilson’s last stab at modernisation, the trade union reforms outlined in the White Paper In Place of Strife, fell apart completely in 1969. A year later, the public punished the Labour government for its perceived under-achievement. A new and much unhappier era was at hand.
Task: You need to look closely at how the era influenced The Avengers episode 'The Town of No Return'. Complete the questions in your book.
How did changing attitudes towards age in 1965 influence “The Town of No Return’?
There was a strong focus on youth in fashion, music and entertainment, which reflected changing social attitudes and values in the decade. Not everyone welcomed this, however; many members of the older generation put up strong resistance to the changing attitudes.
These different in attitudes and values became known as the ‘generation gap’. This generation gap is cleverly dealt with in “The Town of No Return’ through the use of the two protagonists. Steed represents the value of the older generations, having fought in the war, while Emma represents the values of ‘swinging London’. Rather than clashing, the two compliment each other, with Steed’s polite English gentleman working perfectly with Emma’s vibrant, ‘swinging sixties’ young woman.
When approaching representation in Cuffs and The Avengers, you need to be able to identify how different events, issues, individuals and social groups are being shown to the audience. This is known as the context.
You already do this in English Literature. For example, you have studied An Inspector Calls where you need to understand about the perspective of the writer and audience as well as something about the history of 1912 (when the play is set) and 1945 (when the play was written).
Cuffs is a modern TV Crime Drama and as such it represents ideas about current events, modern issues and up-to-date social groups and individuals. It is relevant to a viewer who knows what it is like living in Britain in 2018.
The Avengers is an old fashioned TV Crime Drama representing the ideas in 1960s Britain, the issues and events that were happening at that time and the people and social groups who lived then.
Copy these definitions of different contexts on to a Word document.
Social Context – how media products reflect the society in which they are produced and that of their target audience.
Cultural Context – how media products reflect the arts and culture, including popular culture, of their time.
Historical Context – how media products reflect historical events and social changes.
Political Context – how media products reflect political viewpoints, messages, values and beliefs.
Task: With reference to episode 1 of Cuffs you need to make notes on all the following:
Events that take place in the episode (what are they?)
Issues that the episode deals with (first decide what they are)
How individuals are represented (first identify what individuals are represented)
How social groups are represented (again, first identify what social groups the episode identifies)
EXT Task: Answer this question, using your notes from today's lesson.
How do you think Cuffs represents Britain in 2018? Refer to the four different contexts you have looked at in today's lesson.
Today, you need to look at other TV Crime Drama broadcast on the BBC and on ITV. You will look at each show and consider how they fit the codes and conventions of a TV Crime Drama. You can find your own programmes if you would like to. These suggestions are there to help you. Task One: Watch each trailer and then answer the questions at the bottom of this blog post on a word document entitled TV Crime Drama Research Task. You must answer the questions for each programme you choose. You will need to print this out and tag into your book next lesson. BBC TV Crime Drama Suggestions
How is mise en scene used to make it clear to the audience that the programme is TV Crime Drama genre?
How do the main characters in the trailers clearly fit the crime drama genre?
How is sound used to convey the TV Crime Drama genre?
How is the programme branded as a BBC or ITV product?
What do you think makes the TV Crime Drama suitable for the target audience?
Extension Task: Once you have collected your evidence, you need to write your ideas up in your book (or on another Word document if you prefer). The title is Compare how commercial and public service broadcasters create TV Crime Drama for their audience.
You should think about the similarities and differences across the BBC and ITV programmes. Compare how the codes and conventions of the genre are used, explain why different stations might need different ways to engage mass prime time audiences or smaller niche audiences and explain how the two broadcasters have different demands on them (advertisers or BBC charter demands).
Cuffs is broadcast by the BBC, a Public Service Broadcaster. Find out more about what PSB means. Answer these questions in your book today.
What does Public Service Broadcasting mean?
What is the licence fee and who needs to pay for one?
What was the critical response for the Cuffs series? In particular, focus on episode 1 - find a number of reviews that express different opinions (if possible).
What is the mission statement and/ or ethos of the BBC?
What type of programmes are broadcast on BBC1? Why is this?
Watch the opening sequence of episode one of TV Crime Drama Cuffs. You should make notes on a textual analysis grid looking at:
Camera
Editing
Sound
Mise en scene
Next, pick three still images from the extract, print them out and stick them into your books.
Task: Answer this exam style question in your book. The question is worth 10 marks and so you will need to write just over a side in your book. Deal with each bullet point in turn and remember to use the media terminology from your moving image glossary to describe the examples from the extract in your answer.
Analyse how far the extract depicts the police's point of view rather than the criminal point of view. In your answer you must:
analyse aspects of the extract using examples to support your analysis
judge how far these aspects depict the police's point of view.
Conventions are things you expect to see. For example, in TV Crime drama you expect to see the police (a bit obvious). Think about TV Crime Drama (or even films) that you have seen and do the following: list as many conventions as possible.
Give clear examples from a TV programme or film for each convention.
Add images to each one to illustrate.
Aim for at least 15 conventions.
You will be doing something similar after you have watched Cuffs and The Avengers. Extension task Cuffs research Find out the following:
What was the critical response for the series? In particular, focus on episode 1 - find a number of reviews that express different opinions (if possible).
What is the mission statement and/ or ethos of the BBC?
What type of programmes are broadcast on BBC1? Why is this?
The Lead – the introductory paragraph of an article. Usually written in bold or capitals.
Body copy - refers to the text of your written articles, which should be produced as a printed presentation to accepted industry standards, e.g. correct use of language, font size, word limits etc. Usually written in columns.
Serif font – fonts like Times New Roman, or Baskerville Old Face, which have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Sans serif font – fonts like Impact, or Agency FB, which do not have little bars (serifs) on the end of the letters.
Drop Capitals – Really big letter, which start off an article.
Cross Head – Small sub-heading used to split up a large block of text.
White Space – white parts of a page other than text or pictures.
Mode Of Address – How the magazine talks to the audience.
Sell Lines – Text on the cover that helps to sell the magazine to the audience. Kerrang!’s sell line is “life is loud”.
Banners – text, which stands out because its on a coloured background.
House Style – a magazines distinctive design that distinguishes it from its competitors.
Borders – the gaps at the edges of the page.
Gutters – the gaps between the columns of text.
Leading - the space between lines of text.
Kerning - the space between letters.
Strap Lines – a smaller headline, printed above the main headline.
By-lines - name of the person who wrote the article. Picture Credits - where did the photos come from, or who took them.
Anchorage – The way in which text helps to pin down the meaning of a picture and visa versa.
Evaluating your own work is an important part of media production work. You need to be able to work out whether your product will be successful enough to appeal to your target audience and therefore make any money. Task: 1. Save your photoshop file as a JPEG image. 2. Paste it onto a landscape Word document. 3. Find a professional magazine to compare it with. Ideally, this will be the double page spread you originally found to inspire you to plan your flat plan layout. 4. Label the conventions used by both your double page spread and the professional one. Conventions are the things all double page spreads will use such as: title, main Image, graphics, text boxes, columns, page numbers, branding, a quote taken from the text and fonts. 5. Explain how both pages appeal to their target audience. Compare the two products in terms of appeal. 6. Evaluate the success of your product. What improvements do you think you need to make. Need extra help with what to write in your evaluation in your exercise book today? Answer these questions in turn: a) Describe the target audience of your magazine and the professional magazine. Refer to demographics (age, gender, occupation, lifestyle, income, social groups). b) Explain how both magazines use colour to attract their target audience. Who do bright, colourful pages appeal to? c) Explain how both magazines use font to suggest the tone of their article. Comment on whether the font seems sophisticated or young and upbeat. For example, swirly traditional fonts may suggest tradition whereas bubble fonts suggest youthful fun. d) Explain how both magazines use their key image effectively. Who appears in the magazine reflects the aspirations (ambitions) of the audience. People like to read about people who inspire them. Comment on who appears on both magazines and why they will appeal to the readers of that magazine. e) Explain how both magazines have used language register to appeal to the target audience. What tone is created by their style of vocabulary and sentence structure? f) Explain how both magazines have used white space, page furniture, sub headings and graphics (including logos, boxes, quotes in bold larger fonts and page numbers) to help the audience navigate the article easily. g) Explain how both magazines have branded the magazine on the double page spread. What does the logo and font say about the style of magazine? h) What changes do you think you need to make on your first draft to improve your final double page spread?
For your GCSE coursework you will be given a brief to create a magazine targeted at a specific target audience. This is worth 30% of your GCSE grade and so you need to be ready to showcase your layout, photography and journalistic skills. At the end of Year 9, your teacher gave you a task designed to practise these essential Media Studies skills. You need to complete this task as your first piece for Year 10. You were asked to create your own original YouTube star. You now know how YouTubers appeal to their target audiences and are going to use this knowledge to create a magazine article about your own original YouTube star. The article needs to be an interview or feature about your imaginary star which would be read by their subscribers. Magazine companies are aware of the appeal of celebrity YouTubers and they would include these kinds of features for their readers. It would be a selling point of their magazine.
Task: Create a magazine feature article about a fictional YouTuber. Your article will be for a double page spread in a magazine targetted at a 14-18-year-old audience.
Write a 400 word article
Draw a flat plan (fold an A4 paper in half and design the layout)
Create the double page spread including your own copy and a suitable image.
You will need to include the following conventions (see the example image above for inspiration):
Here is a student's flat plan. It is a good example of how to create your initial plans for a magazine because it includes explanations of the design choices. Labelling your decisions on your flat plan and explaining why you have made them is a good idea. This student's use of colour and font design is also useful and helped to create a convince final product that was awarded top marks. Here is another example, which includes even more explanation. You do not need to include this much information, but it is a good example of how valuable planning is. This student also gained top marks because they had a clear idea about their product and how it would appeal to the target audience to follow.
Task: Create your own flat plan on A3 paper. Remember to leave a border around your drawn mock-up of your product so you have room to explain your ideas in full.
By the end of this half term, you will have made your magazine front cover and double page spread. It is important that you keep on track with the tasks you must complete. Here is a list of the work to do ahead of the deadline Friday July 6th. It is organised on a week-by-week basis, so make sure you know what you need to get done each week in lessons and at home.
Here is a list of the tasks to complete:
Research:
Magazine research. What magazines are on sale in the UK currently? How many people buy magazines and why? What kind of magazines are available?
Media Audience - Target Audience appeal. Look at how magazines appeal to their readers using lifestyle ideology and representation to create appeal.
Genre - music magazines. Make a list of the music magazines you have found during your research.
Media Language - conventions. You need to deconstruct a front cover and double page spread of a music magazine of your choice.
Planning:
Create a questionnaire for your audience to answer using the Survey Monkey website. Ask questions that will help you make design decisions about your own product.
Flat Plans - draw out your magazine front cover and double page spread, thinking about fonts, layout, branding, colour and graphics. Label your flat plans to explain some of your decisions.
Write your Statement Of Intent (300 words) - outline your plans for your magazine product, discussing what the pages will look like and the reasons behind your creative decisions, how people and topics will the represented and how your target audience will be attracted to the product.
Photoshoot planning - plan your mise-en-scene (costume and lighting) ahead of your photoshoot. Organise your models, camera and lighting equipment. Pick your location(s) for your photoshoot (you can choose two different locations such as the school AV Studio - which is a white room - and another setting).
Production:
Take your original images and create a digital contact sheet where you can select the FIVE best shots for your magazine.
Create your magazine front cover.
Write your magazine article (300 words)
Create your double page spread.
Post-production:
Evaluate your work
Schedule of work:
May 8th:
Complete research of current magazines on the market.
Deconstruct a Front Cover and Double Page Spread.
May 13th
Research Magazine Target Audiences.
Look at how audiences are targeted by magazine companies (representation and ideology for appeal).
May 21st
Continue research, looking closely at music magazines.
Create questionnaires for potential readers and collect data.
Begin initial planning of original magazine idea.
June 4th
Planning for Target Audience based on Target Audience Research data.
Draft - draw up flat plan of front cover.
June 11th
Write your Statement of Intent.
Analyse your questionnaire data.
June 18th
Planning - draw flat plans of front cover and double page spread ideas.
Planning photo shoots and casting models.
Create mood boards for styling models to fit with music concept.
Take original images.
June 25th
Taking original images during planned photo shoots.
Writing copy for double page spread article.
Creating first draft magazine elements - front page and double page spread.
July 2nd
Production of first draft magazine elements.
OR Respond to feedback and create final draft magazine elements.
July 9th
Complete first draft magazine elements.
OR Respond to feedback and create final draft magazine elements.
Task: Create a Making Media Blog. You need to create your own blog. This will give you a place to present all of your work and show how you worked through the production tasks to achieve your final production.
You will need a Google account to set up your own blog using Blogger. You can find Blogger from the Google homepage.
Your address needs to have these exact details in it, so follow these instructions carefully.
Your blog address must have your full name (first and surname in full) plus 1819lcmedia.blogspot.com
Be clear that you understand what you are being asked to create. Here is the official brief for your production, so you can start planning your ideas.
Pre-production planning is an important stage and today you are going to be thinking about tailoring your product to the correct 14-18-year-old target audience. You are going to ask your prospective readers directly what it is they want from a music magazine.
Task: Create a questionnaire, using Survey Monkey, to define what your target audience needs are. Ask them questions that will help you make creative decisions about anything from artists to cover price. It will mean you can justify your decisions ahead of making your magazine.
You will need to use the data from your survey in your research and planning work, so this is an essential part of your NEA portfolio.
Look at these contents pages which analyse layout conventions accurately. To make this even better, the student could have commented on the ideology of the magazine and how it appeals to the target audience. Pick your own contents page and look at the subject matter of the articles listed, the language register and the mise-en-scene in the images. How is representation being used to sell to the audience? Task: Write your own analysis to include in your research and planning section of your magazine coursework. Using a music magazine would be a good idea, as this will help inform your own planning for your magazine production work.
In this double page spread it is possible to work out the target audience by analysing the conventions and how they are used to create meaning. Look closely at colour, language register and representation. How does it represent the group of people who may be reading the magazine?
Here is a media student's analysis work of three different double page spreads. She has labelled the conventions and then explained how each element on the page is used to create meaning or appeal for the target audience. Have a look at how she has used media terminology in her analysis.
In the 1970s, researcher Abraham Maslow, suggested that human behaviour is focused on satisfying basic human needs. You could use some ideas from this theory to explore how magazines appeal to certain audiences. How do magazines satisfy the basic needs Marlow defined in his research?
Maslow's Needs
Need to survive: used by advertisements for food, drink, housing for example.
Need to feel safe: advertisements for insurance, loans and banks promise security and freedom from threats.
Need for affiliation or friendship: advertisements that focus on lifestyle choices like diet and fashion use people's desire to be popular. They may also threaten them with the failure to be liked or to fit in.
Need to nurture or care for something: advertising which shows cute animals and small children brings this out in the viewer.
Need to achieve: advertisements that are linked with winning, often promoted by sports personalities, tap into the need to succeed at difficult tasks.
Need for attention: advertisements for beauty products often play on the need to be noticed and admired.
Need for prominence: advertisements for expensive furniture and jewellery may use people's needs to be respected and to have high social status.
Need to dominate: advertisements for products like fast cars offer the possibility of being in control through the product.
Need to find meaning in life: advertisements for travel or music may appeal to people's need for fulfilment.
Lifestyle Categories
As consumers have become more sophisticated, advertisers have continued to develop the ways of trying to 'pigeon hole' audiences. Look at these categories below which are sometimes used to define the 16-34 age audience's outlook on life.
Cowboys: People who want to make money quickly and easily.
Cynics: People who always have something to complain about.
Drifters: People who aren't at all sure what they want.
Drop-outs: People who do not want to get committed in any way.
Egotists: People who are mainly concerned to get the most pleasure for themselves out of life.
Groupies: People who want to be accepted by those around them.
Innovators: People who want to make their mark on the world.
Puritans: People who want to feel they have done their duty.
Rebels: People who want the world to fit in with their idea of how it should be.
Traditionalists: People who want everything to remain the same.
Trendies: People who are desperate to have the admiration of their peer group.
Utopians: People who want to make the world a better place.
Some of these categories seem outdated in comparison to the UK Tribes you have looked at in class, but you can see how lifestyle is important to media industries who are trying to appeal to certain groups of people.
Task: How could Maslow's theory apply to how magazines are being sold directly to target audiences? How could lifestyle categories by useful for magazine publishers?
You need to look at the following two texts and write a paragraph explaining how each one is designed to appeal to their target audience, using some of the terms above in your analysis paragraph.
Challenge Question: Both are for young girls, but it is clear that the target audiences are different. Can you compare the audiences for both?
Finished? Find yourself a different text that would appeal to a completely different target audience and analyse it in the same way.
