Tuesday 18 March 2014

Television - Audience Homework

1a. Identify the main targeted audience of Mad Men
Mad Men targets a niche and mainly active audience

1b. Idenfity one way the text has been encoded to appeal to that type of audience

One way in which Mad Men does this is with it's complex female characters

1c. Justify how that point would gratify your previously identified type of audience
The female character Peggie in Mad Men goes against the typical female role, Peggie is independent and gains power through her intelligence, an active audience would notice this and appreciate how Weiner has challenged the typical female stereotype

1d. Describe a narrative sequence where this point is present
This is present during the scene where Peggie confronts Don Draper in his office and tells her she is leaving, this shows independence and dominance, this is emphasised with the usage of a low camera angle when focussing on Peggie, to show she is the current power holder

2. Does lost target a passive audience? Justify your answer
Yes, Lost uses many mainstream conventions which attract a passive audience, for example the use of a score, during scenes such as the final scene in episode 2, the score became more intense and dramatic as Charlie said 'guys, where are we?', a passive audience would simply read this as the JJ. Abrams intended, where as an active audience may find this patronising

3. Identify how Lost is encoded to gratify a passive audience?
Lost gratifies a passive audience with the usage of the dialogue, characters spell things out for the audience, enabling a passive audience to simply watch and enjoy the film, an example of this is when Soya says to Jack 'you're the hero', this is a character role within the Propp theory, if Lost was encoded to gratify a more active audience, then we would be left to figure it out for ourselves, however because Lost targets a more passive audience, it's spelled out for us

4. Justify one point that would force Mad Mens audience to decode the text actively in order to gain gratifications
The lack of a score forces the audience of Mad Men to decode the text actively as the score isn't backing up how certain characters are feeling or how you should feel during the scene, you are left to work things out for yourself and decode the narrative in which ever way you can

5. Explain and justify how Peaky Blinders has been encoded to gratify both a passive and active audience
Peaky Blinders is considered a high brow text in which attracts an active audience, it's usage of good quality cinematography within the first two minutes of episode 2 of a fight between The Peaky Blinders and The Lea Family are certain things an active audience would enjoy watching and would appreciate, however, a passive audience enjoys things such as the usage of a very obvious soundtrack, during exciting scenes, music by The White Stripes is used, during sad scenes the soundtrack becomes much more slow paced and sad, this enables a passive audience to simply watch and enjoy the text and decode it as Steven Knight encoded it

6. Justify the statement 'Lost is encoded to be inclusive'
Lost is encoded to be inclusive with the usage of mainstream character roles such as the character Shannon, she is the typical dumb blonde, we see this during the scene where the polar bear charges to attack and whilst everyone else has ran away, Shannon is still stood there screaming, this typical characters role is very mainstream and attracts a passive audience as it's what they're used to seeing

7. Why does the use of a score appeal to a more passive audience?
The score appeals to a passive audience as it tells them how to feel, during a sad scene a non-diegetic soundtrack/score would start to play, you wouldn't even need to understand the narrative to realise this was a sad moment within the scene, which gratifies a passive audience.

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