Component 2 - Section A: Life on Mars Flashcards
What is Jenkins’ audience theory?
- Where fans respond to a text that is not officially created by the media text, they can create their own versions of the text, and respond to it by creating communities.
Who is Life on Mars for?
Give at least three examples.
At least three from: Younger audiences - for them, it is ironic and they can almost laugh at it. - Crime genre fans - Fans of the actors - People who lived through the 70s. - Sci-fi fans - Older audience - shown at 9pm which allows for explicit content to be shown. - Mainstream audiences - shown on BBC1.
How can the DVD cover be analysed?
Complete the following sentence:
The _____ posture of Sam and Gene Hunt connotes _____.
- Straight
- Authority
How can the DVD cover be analysed?
Complete the following sentence:
The _____ and clothes are _____ for people who lived through the 1970s.
- Car
- Clothes
What is the following an example of, and what does it do?
‘the most original cop show since the 70s’ - Radio Times.
- Opinion leader - encourages the audience to watch and buy the product.
What type of code is the colour palette, and what does it suggest?
- Semantic code - for the idea of planets and the idea of Mars.
What main genre is Life on Mars?
Crime genre.
What evidence is there to suggest that the show may also be part of other subgenres?
Give at least two examples.
At least two from:
- The romantic relationship between Sam and Maya and the foreshadowed potential for a relationship between Sam and Annie. This shows that the set episode may also encompass elements of the romance genre.
- This could also be part of the action sub-genre due to the action packed plot. For example, that the audience is taken from a 2006 police investigation and then very quickly is taken away from the detective investigation and to the scene of Sam’s accident, before being taken on a time travel back to Sam’s life as a police detective in 1973.
- This series arguably also includes elements of the mystery genre, due to the enigmas that are created around what happened to Sam and where he went, and also finding the clues for the detective investigation, and finding the killer himself after it is discovered that the suspect is allegedly not Colin Raimes.
How does Life on Mars fit the following aspect of the BBC remit?
‘BBC One’s remit is to be the BBC’s most popular mixed-genre television service across the UK, offering a wide range of high quality programmes.’
Give at least one example.
At least one from:
- This element of the BBCs remit is evident in Life on Mars because of the way that the remit makes it clear that the BBC wants to be popular, and the BBC is making sure that it is doing this by including various genre strands to target and attract audiences who may be interested in one of the other subgenres e.g. romance.
How does Life on Mars fit the following aspect of the BBC remit?
‘It should be the BBC’s primary outlet for major UK and international events and it should reflect the whole of the UK in its output. A very high proportion of its programmes should be original productions.’
Give at least one example.
At least one from:
- This series is an original BBC production. This would support the BBCs remit because this is something that the BBC is aiming to do – have a high proportion of original productions.
- The BBC also reflects the UK in the programmes within its output, because of the intertextual references used to other programmes that a UK audience are likely to be familiar with, such as the references to the Open University.
How does Life on Mars fit the following aspect of the BBC remit?
‘BBC One programmes should exhibit some or all of the following characteristics: high
quality, original, challenging, innovative and engaging, and it should nurture UK talent.’
Give at least two examples.
At least two from:
- The fact that the main protagonist (Detective Sam) is played by John Simm who is a British actor, demonstrates that this set product is nurturing UK talent like the BBC remit wants to.
- Particularly engaging after Sam has his accident, and then the following scene is of the greenery with the voices talking. This would be engaging for the audience because it is not what people would expect to happen after someone has had an accident and sirens can be heard – they would expect the next scene to be at the hospital where medical treatment is being received.
- It targets a range of audiences. For example older audiences are targeted and attracted by the set episode because of the references made to other cop shows such as The Sweeney and Dixon of Dock Green and the nostalgia which is created by the 1970s lifestyle, clothing and cars.
- Innovative in the way it subverts gender stereotypes e.g. Annie saves Sam at the end - ensures that it for-fills the remit.
How does Life on Mars fit the following aspect of the BBC remit?
‘BBC One should deliver its remit through high quality programmes with wide appeal across all genres. These should be commissioned from a wide pool of suppliers, demonstrate high production values, and feature the best talent – on and off screen.’
- Different narrative strands are included.
How does Life on Mars fit the following aspect of the BBC remit?
‘BBC One should regularly broadcast programmes of large scale and ambition and should
encourage innovation delivered in a way that appeals to a broad audience, taking creative
risks and regularly experimenting with new talent and ideas.’
Give at least one example.
At least one from:
- Life on Mars takes risks through the challenged gender roles between Sam and Annie in the 1970’s in which women would be typically represented as a vulnerable, weak and a Damsel in Distress. Risks are taken by the episode as it is clear at the end of the episode when Annie saves Sam from jumping from the rooftop, that this woman is not weak or a Damsel in Distress, and is instead the stronger person out of Sam and Annie.
- The fact that the programme incorporates many different genre strands even though the programme is predominately that of the crime genre, shows ambition in the way that the directors and people involved with the program are ambitious and willing enough to be experimental with genres. This would conform to Neale’s genre theory, because he argues that genre needs to be recognisable to an extent, but also needs to have some ‘difference’ in order for audiences to be engaged by the programme, and the fact that gender roles are reversed in the programme between Annie and Sam, is successful in doing this.
What is postmodernism?
- Where people can take fragments of society and bring them into their own life with diversity and choice about how they live their life.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
What is irony?
- When the opposite happens to what you think will happen in the situation in the media text.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
Where is irony seen in Life on Mars?
- When Sam has his accident you would expect the next scene to be in hospital, but instead, the plot goes back in time.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
What is parody/homage?
- When media producers use elements of other media products out of respect for the specific media product that the element comes from.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
What is bricolage?
Taking other media products and putting them in with your own media products. Sampling and using media products in your own work.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
What is an intertextual reference?
- Where the producer makes a direct or subtle link to another media product.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
What is a fragmented narrative?
- Where the narrative is broken, moved around and re-arranged. For example, you may start at the ‘end’ then go to the ‘middle’ and then the ‘beginning’ before going back to the end.
FEATURES OF A POSTMODERN MEDIA PRODUCT:
What is self reflexivity?
- Where a character in the media product are aware that they are in a media product.
For example, in Online Media, Zoella knows that the audience is there and speaks to them.
