Research

Dexter:

Dexter Morgan is the protagonist, who is a constituent of the Miami Police department and an undercover serial killer.  The first shot of the opening scene to Dexter is a spider being squashed, while blood splatters on Dexter’s arm. The show title ‘Dexter’ then appears in red writing with drops of blood next to it. The audience then witness Dexter doing his daily routine which consists of shaving, slicing open meat and cooking it on the pan, eating it, drying and eating eggs, grinding coffee, cutting and squeezing an orange, tying his shoe lace and flossing his teeth. However, all of these shots are edited in a way to make his activities look gruesome which give away the killer/thriller genre. The camera captures various lightings, for example when he cuts the orange there is low lighting as we want to see the juice being squirted out, giving it a killer like effect. The non-diegetic music being played in the background is not linked to the genre. I think this is purposely done as the video does not obviously show its genre. However, there are moments in the music where the pace quickens and the music goes louder, making it dramatic. The setting is in Dexter’s home which gives the very casual feeling to the scene keeps the audience on edge as all his activities have some sort of blood or killing relation, infact making us feel quite uncomfortable. At the end of the scene he puts on his t-shirt and leaves his house, walking past the camera smiling. This makes him look quite creepy and the audience can immediately tell just by watching the opening scene that there is something not right with this character. Dexter targets an audience from the age 16-35 due to its innovative, chilling and stimulating format. The show consists of a range of codes and conventions associated with the thriller genre.

Whitechapel:

Whitechapel is a British television drama where detectives in London’s Whitechapel deal with murders that replicate historical (copycat) crimes. The opening scene to Whitechapel begins by revealing the shows name in white, typewriter like text. It then reveals a series of flashing images, some quite consistent; bloody cut up body. It also shows a man looking guilty of something as he places his hand on his head and looks down, looking quite distressed. There is also a package shown, perhaps consisting some evidence of this murdered body. There is also a flash close up of eyes opened quite widely, adding to the mystery. In addition, the main characters are introduced through the shots and credits. The characters are mainly older males, who are dressed in suits and hats, making the show appealing to a more middle class audience. There is a shot where the camera shows a knife being wiped with a cloth quite quickly, immediately giving away the thriller genre, linked with forensics and murders. The scene has been edited to have quite fast pace, snappy shots which in my opinion keep the audience on edge. The lighting is low light, keeping the shots more mysterious. The music is quite upbeat and modern, appealing to the 16-35 age range. Whitechapel also appeals to this audience as it consists of fast pace action and combining historic crimes into a way to appear as modern day crimes.

Luther:

Luther opens with a title sequence introducing the main character, Idris Elba straight away. The colour scheme throughout is red and black, giving the mystery/crime drama feel. We then see a close up shot of a fingerprint, again making it obvious to the audience that it is some sort of crime/detective drama. Luther’s face is not revealed during the title sequence; however we see black silhouettes of him. The shots and camerawork are edited in a way to make the sequence look more like a blurry painting all the way through. There is also a police do not cross sign shown, revealing the crime drama. The buildings shown are quite cartoon like, as are the drawings. The lighting used is low key to enforce the mysterious atmosphere. The non-diegetic sound used is quite calm, opposite to the genre. I think this is done as it goes with the actual shots shown, quite artistic and focus on buildings, reinforcing city life.  The fact that the opening scene shows city life, possible enforces the target audience of a 16-35 middle class audience. However, as it is broadcasted on BBC, it is a funded programme, so instead of making a profit it provides entertainment and education, possible then targeting a working class audience also. The crime drama theme and city life is quite modern, so appeals to this specific age range.

The Killing:

The Killing is an American crime drama. The Killing opening scene begins with four red dots each corner of the screen, the common colour used to connote blood and murder. It then uses a split screen of four all the way throughout the opening sequence. This shows a close up of a steering wheel driving slowly and a blurry, wet setting in which fast cars are going by. There is also a police cross line showed, where the audience recognise it is a crime drama genre. After these shots, the killing text appears and so does a man next to it in an establishing shot. The feel of this sequence makes the audience feel as though the older female driving, in whom we see the perspective of everything from is not in a right state of mind as everything looks quite fast and unclear. The non-diegetic music almost makes the atmosphere peaceful for the woman driving, however the diegetic sound reveals cars passing, horns beeping, adding to the fast pace action. The setting is outside, although is unknown as the audience cannot clearly see where the woman is. At the start however we see a broken bridge and assume she is just driving on her nearby roads where the police investigation is taking place. This particular show appeals to an audience over the age of 20. The show consists of an older cast which appeals more to an older audience. The content includes various investigations following a series of murders by homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.

Sherlock:

The opening sequence to Sherlock is quite fast paced and full of several events. It starts off by showing and establishing shot of the city, revealing the lights, buildings and cars. It then shows the title Sherlock and the pace picks up. Several things including guns, a person’s cheek, buildings, an eye and writing are all shown but are blurry. Also a picture of Sherlock himself is shown in a photo frame, revealing the protagonist. The sequence then focuses on one shot of a water drop which shakes and falls into a dark reddish/brown patch almost looking like an eye. The camera then zooms into this shot and we see several follicles floating around and the scene ends. The sound is non-diegetic and goes well with the fast pace shots. It is thrilling and quick which makes it an effective opening scene. The lighting is quite high key, even though the images in the shots are not always clear. The fact that the city life is shown could mean that Sherlock appeals to a middle class target audience. Sherlock appeals to a similar age range of 16-35. It is full of innovative and modern investigations, which keep any age audience interested and on edge.

E4:

E4 is a British digital television channel. It was launched as a pay-TV companion to Channel 4 on 18th January in 2001. The "E" stands for entertainment, and the channel is mainly aimed at a 15–35 year age group.

The types of shows E4 focus on are: comedy, documentaries, drama, entertainment, food and science, nature and the environment. The most popular genre however is entertainment and comedies, by viewers although documentaries have the highest amount of range (336).

Some of their most popular US programmes are: The Cleveland Show, Smallville, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, One Tree Hill, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Rules of Engagement, The Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls and Friends. Popular British shows include: Misfits, The Ricky Gervais Show, Shameless, Hollyoaks, Skins, The Inbetweeners and Made in Chelsea.

In September 2012, E4 drew a share of 16-34s than in any previous month. Across the month E4 pulled in a 5.75% share of 16-34s, beating the previous high of 5.35% which was over ten years ago in June 2002. E4 also achieved its fourth-biggest monthly individuals share of 2.10% across the month, a six year high (June 2006) and in week 38 (17th-23rd Sept) the weekly share of 16-34s was 6.14%, exceeding 6% for the first time in the channel's history.

E4 is watched by 9.6 million people a month and its audience share of 1.8% places it well ahead of Sky1 and the better-funded BBC3 – although the BSkyB general entertainment channel is available in fewer homes, and the corporation's service only broadcasts 12 hours a day – and has grown every year without fail.

E4’s most successful broadcast to date was on 11 October 2010 when an episode of The Inbetweeners pulled in over 3.7 million viewers.

BBC3:

BBC Three is a television channel from the BBC broadcasting. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16–34 year old age group, and focuses on programming new talent and new technologies. In 2001, the BBC decided to reposition and rebrand their two digital channels, so that they could be more closely linked to the well-established BBC One and BBC Two. The BBC3 channel was eventually given the go ahead, eleven months after the original launch date, and launched on 9th February 2003.

BBC3 focus on several categories including: factual, sport, drama, religion & ethics, entertainment, music, comedy, learning and news. The most popular genre is entertainment and documentaries and the top viewed programmes are: Sherlock, Russell Howards’ good news, Backchat with Jack Whitehall, Him & Her and Kevin Bridges-the story continues.

All in all, BBC3 is not the most successful or popular choice for BBC viewers. BBC3’s repeat of EastEnders at 11pm last Christmas achieved 905k/3% after recording, just behind the average for that week of 950k. BBC3’s Don’t Tell The Bride: Christmas Revenge on Tuesday achieved 1.2m/5% live with another 100k after recording. Unlike its commercial rivals, 90% of BBC Three's output is from the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. 

Target audience for my production:

The target audience for my production will be from ages 15-34. Using the Socio Economic groups I have identified my show will target a C1, C2, D, and E audience. Using Young and Rubicam's Psychographics, my show ill target the groups: resigned, stugglers, mainstreamers and aspirers. It will also be suitable for pre-watershed broadcasting using the OFCOM Broadcasting code which states that there cannot be any inappropriate: drug and alcohol use, violence and dangerous behaviour, offensive language, sexual material and nudity.  My group aim to use codes and conventions from existing crime drama's such as Dexter with an undercover serial killer narrative. However we want to bring new and creative ideas that are modern and innovative, therefore appealing to my specific audience. 

Focus group write-up:

Our focus group involved us speaking about what our narrative idea is, along with the key ideas, who our target audience is and when we would broadcast the show and on what channel. We spoke to Mr Halsey and our class peers on our ideas and how they think we can improve them.

We decided to base our idea on a serial killer crime drama, taking Dexter as inspiration. This will consist of a one main male upper class serial killer (Vinesh) who commits a series of murders (around 3). We could dress him in a smart suit and tie and have Central London as our location. Fast shots and clips of the murders will be shown in the production and one may include a bath tub drowning scene. However, we need to fit it all in 2 minutes and as it is pre-watershed, we cannot reveal too much violence. The reason for his crimes will be a physiological disorder, which may have affected him from a young age. This could perhaps be shown as a flashback which provokes his mood as we need to ensure our main character is likeable otherwise.

Our show will be broadcasted on E4 on a Sunday evening from 8:30pm-9pm. The target audience will be ages 15-35.

During our focus group discussion, our class feedback gave us some points to consider:

• Title sequence could show what’s coming up in tiny snippets
• Sunday is family day, some would not feel serial killer is a family friendly programme
• Multiple murders in starting-Texas chainsaw can be used as inspiration but not so violent
• Will something that worked in America work here? E.g. Dexter
• Dexter has a very playful feel, will our production add moments of comedy to it?
• Show why the serial killer commits murders
• Title sequence, range of scenes-inspiration from Dexter cutting meat and cutting a tomato, splatters and play with your mind
• With the meat and tomatoes, start with extreme close up then cut to another angle
• Slender- involved a smart dressed murderer who had a motive for killing people
• Have to make the killer likeable, create reasonably light hearted mood-clips of serial killer killing people, juxtapose shots with him being nice, helping someone, arms around friends, in a relationship, loving, bunch of flowers. A lovely guy with dark secret makes audience want to watch more
• Title could be the serial killers name-Vinesh

From the discussion I learned how to construct the production in a more effective and interesting way, taking into consideration we only have 2 minutes. This is by showing the upcoming events (murders), but shown as separate episodes rather than one. Also, I now have Texas chainsaw and Slender to look at for inspiration, which I did not know about before. My killer has to be likeable, so we will include shots of his good personality as well as the evil. Finally, the name of the production could just be the killer’s name, giving it a Dexter like feel.

The target audience for our production will be males and females, 15-35 year olds, middle-class and a C1-C2 audience.

Representations of Men

The left side of the image shows the Dominant representation of men, portraying masculinity. However, the right side shows Alternative representations of men, which exist in society but are stereotypically viewed as in-masculine.

Theories

Hypodermic needle model:

The Daily Mail article explains how playing violet video games for just 20 minutes a day can encourage aggressive behavior. This was tested on university students who played Call of Duty for over three days and were then set several tests to record their behavior and reactions to the outside world. This study found that those who played the game were more likely to assume the world was hostile and react aggressively. Therefore, this links to the hypodermic needle model as it shows violet video games which have proven to have an affect on its players. The theory proves to easily manipulate people, making them powerless to resist.  

Two-step flow model:

The BBC article shows Jamal Edwards who has transformed from a teenager living on a council estate in West London to a self-made multimillionaire. At 23 years old, Jamal is worth more than £8 million, as he has turned into a film-maker and is the owner of SBTV-a music making broadcasting company. This article links to the two-step flow model as it shows Jamal has been influenced by leaders in the music industry, determining his success.

Uses and Gratifications theory:
Blumler and Katz' uses and gratifications theory suggests that media sources are used to fulfill media users needs. The four basic needs are: diversion: the need to escape from everyday life, personal relationships: people use the media to fulfill their need for companionship and to form relationships with others (social group), personal identity: use the media to find out about ourselves, people presented in the media reflect us and surveillance: using the media to find out what is going on around us (informative). 

Diversion:
'Hello' magazine gives people the opportunity to escape from everyday life, by peering into others (celebrities and gossip). 

Personal relationships:
Facebook and Twitter are social networking sites on the internet which allow people to interact and form relationships with others.

Personal identity:
Soap opera's such as Eastenders showed on TV and online allows people to relate the drama with their own lives and reflect them. It also helps people find out about themselves.

Surveillance:
BBC News allows people to find out what is going on around us worldwide and is extremely informative. The different ways this can be accessed is by TV, radio, internet and mobile phone apps. 

Dependency theory:
Rokeach and Defleur took the uses and gratifications theory one step further in 1976, suggesting that people have become dependent on the media.

1) I use the media mainly for information; internet and books for general news and school work. I also use the media for entertainment; YouTube and social networking sites. 

2) I feel that I am very dependent on the media, I use it to watch films and TV programmes by TV and internet. I also use the media heavily when doing my school work and reading/watching the news.

3) In my opinion I believe the dependence on the media has increased over the past 10 years. Nowadays most people access the media easily and quickly through their smart phones for social and informative uses. People also rely on the media (internet) for research, rather than traditional books.