Zoella audience

 Zoella's audience spans across a wide age demographic from young teens to adults and most of her audience are passive consuming the content and have a barrier between the audience and Zoella through the internet however being able to comment on Zoella's posts, videos etc. and having these comments allows her audiences to become more active and to be able to share their opinions on her content and helping her shape her future content based on her audiences feedback. This allows her audience to not only be able to consume the content which she creates but to be able to create content which helps the fan base grow and stay as large as it has. Relating to Shirky's theory on the 'End of Audience' which details how audiences are able to speak 'back to the media' through the internet allowing them to respond to  content allowing the consumers to become producers. 

Zoella creates fairly wide variety of representations somewhat more traditional is the representation of women in her content being female focused as it focuses on make up and health/ beauty products whereas men although less represented within her content we see through collaborations that men are in no way traditionally represented as they take part in make up and other conventionally feminine 

     

Zoella

 Through Zoella's Blog we can see that she represents herself as a feminine focused mature blogger through her recent blogs containing themes of  'revenge porn' but also self care products having a wide demographic of subjects to appeal to her original audience but also new audiences. Through the use of colours such as pinks help reinforce the dominant femininity within Zoella's Brand which she has branched away from keeping Zoella as her brand which is shown from the multiple appearances of 'Team Zoella' connoting to multiple members instead of Zoella as an individual this is further reinforced by the links to her Zoella Instagram account and her personal account. 

However at the beginning of her you tube channel we can see that she initially presented herself as the typical female young adult and with less focus of her brand at this time creates a personal bond with her audience as they can easily relate to her thus helping her grow her audience and also attract an audience with a similar personality and by having this natural ordinary young woman this helped her grow such a large audience     

exam question

 How do your key text episodes of Life on Mars and The Bridge follow or subvert genre conventions  and stereotypical representations , and use narrative structure and enigmas,  to produce a response in their audiences  ?  You should make some reference to theory in your answer. (30)

Life on Mars and The Bridge always follows Barthes enigma code being the integral part of the narrative in both shows as in The Bridge the main enigma is who committed the crime as the beginning of the episode shows a highly staged murder giving a motive to the audience with the first gender neutral school opening up however the shows writers have led their audience down blind alleys hiding the true motive until more information is given to the audience , However Life on Mars has multiple enigmas which we are introduced to instantly as this not only has a crime which needs to be solved the audience is left wondering if anything we see through our protagonists prospective is just  him in a coma or has he travelled back in time and this is constantly questioned throughout the episode one example in the first episode when he wakes up and the television is speaking to him and we the audience and the protagonist are questioning whether it was just his imagination or if it really happened. 

conventionally the crime enigma is solved by the end of the episode which is shown in Life on Mars as the protagonist is able to solve a similar crime in the past creating a snowball effect as the criminal from the present had a close relationship with the murderer from the past connoting to the young child being raised to continue his murders. whereas the Bridge creates one mystery which stretches out throughout the season fleshing out the narrative and adding side narratives to keep the main storyline fresh for example the character Aleksandr who was released from prison and is looking for money which was hidden before going to an ex friend to find it only for it to be gone leaving this sub plot very open with the introduction of his suspicious ex friend but not knowing anything about him creates an enigma which may be fleshed out during the series giving multiple leads on the motive of the murder.

The Bridge subverts stereotypical representations of women ,gender and sexuality in media as they are seen as the main characters as the protagonist and her partner are female and we see more females in places of power for example Lillian who is in charge of the Danish CID and also including a gender neutral school within the plot being more progressive and also having the LGBTQ+ be a major part of the narrative  as they include same sex relationships for example Helle Anker was killed for getting married to the same sex and the priest who conducted the marriage was also a victim of the murder portraying the prejudice in which they face in the real world and also giving this community some true representation within the media instead of being an exaggerated stereotype which is common for the LGBTQ+ in media.

 Whereas conventionally women are objectified and are seen as weaker than male characters which is shown in Life on Mars as when we are in the past traditional values and sexism towards women for example the separation of men and women which is shown through the scenes of Annie interacting with the other police officers being sexualised and presented as less intelligent by these police officers and also the police is male dominated which is present in the past as the police women are given a separate section instead of being integrated into the entirety of the police, showing the audience the binary oppositions between the past and the present society. This is further reinforced through Van Noonen's theory on representation as according to her men and women are represented differently within media as women are typically sexualised because of the western cultures patriarchy which is shown though the way women are presented in the past being portrayed as 'distractions' for the male police officers.   

Life On Mars follows Todorov's narrative theory as we see the protagonist's equilibrium at the beginning as he arrests a criminal and already giving the audience binary oppositions between criminal vs police through the costume mainly. The disruption occurs when the protagonist is hit by a car and wakes up in the 70s and this is shown to the audience through costume changes and his car changing subverting the crime genre as typically the disruption would be a heinous crime being committed like in The Bridge however this creates new enigmas for the audience. And when we meet Gene Hunt who is in charge we see a drastic opposition to our protagonist as Gene is initially presented as more aggressive unprofessional police officer unlike our protagonists who is by the book which is shown through the constant clashing of these two characters throughout the episode.

The Bridge subverts stereotypes within the main character Saga as main characters within Crime drama as they are typically coded to be male and the genre itself is quite male dominated and also subverting the portrayal of women and gender roles in media as she is portrayed as blunt towards her co workers and being hard to work with which is reinforced by Hanne wanting to be taken off the case with Saga because of the clashing between them as crime dramas typically have a helper for the protagonist in the investigation whereas in The Bridge Hanne doesn't want to work with Saga as soon as she finds out that she was put on the case further subverting the characters within the show as protagonists are typically more outgoing and assertive whereas Saga is quieter as she prefers working alone and how alone she is in the characters personal life also it is implied that Saga is on the spectrum for autism pushing away these tightly followed conventions within crime drama. According to Butler's theory gender roles are repeated in media as gender is only a social construct which The Bridge subverts as Saga is not portrayed as a traditional woman as she is given the lead role and is not sexualised through the Male Gaze which dominates media.   

Whereas in Life on Mars the Protagonist is generally coded to be the typical crime drama protagonist by being a competent and procedurally correct officer who hates corruption and violence, with a strong moral centre and sense of justice and this is shown through the beginning of the first episode as we see him chase a criminal alone to convey to the audience that he is an active protagonist further reinforcing this demeanour which is common in protagonists and is even further reinforced through the relationship between Gene Hunt as his style of policing is very different to Sam as Gene is presented to be politically incorrect and policing in a more aggressive and less professional way for example the interview in which he is in charge of quickly turns into more of an aggressive interrogation. According Judith Butler's representation theory stating that gender is just a social construct which is created through repetition which is shown through the two protagonists as they are both professional detectives and Saga is not labelled as a women through traditional methods of sexualisation rather being shown as having no social skills yet still being a professional detective.   

          

The Bridge

 Investigator: Saga Noren is the lead homicide detective in Malmö working constantly not knowing when to have a break which is obvious in the scene after her partner had her leg blown off  

Sidekick: Hanne Thosen is the lead homicide detective in Copenhagen and is partnered with Saga in the first episode however askes to be taken off the case due to Saga.

Boss: Hans Petterson is the police commissioner in Malmö and this archetype is reinforced as he is the only one to get Saga to go home after the explosion scene.

Villain:

Nordic Noir: A genre of crime fiction written in the perspective of the police set in Nordic countries 

Key Elements- Within this genre Dark narratives are commonly present, typically having a flawed protagonist and social realism which are heavily prevalent in The Bridge as the narrative follows our Protagonist which is a detective how is not very approachable and running away from her problems by working, investigating the murder of a woman who was fighting societies norms by opening gender neutral schools and attempting to abolish 'The Nuclear Family' 

The Bridge has many enigmas the obvious one is at the beginning where we are shown the crime scene however unlike traditional crime dramas the enigma is not solved at the ending but leaving the ending on a cliff-hanger signalling that this enigma is going to span and grow more deeply 

In this episode of The Bridge the conventions of women in the crime drama genre are subverted greatly as a lot of strong independent women are prevalent throughout the episode for example the protagonist Saga is the lead detective being strong and confident like the other women in the episode like Hanne. An example which reinforces this is the scene where Hanne has her leg blown off and saga quickly acts saving Hanne.

A good use of technical codes is the explosion scene as we get closer and closer to the explosion we as the audience begin to feel on edge due to specific sounds being audible and the performance of Saga looking suspiciously around as the camera continuously changes from the door to a wide shot giving the door importance and giving the audience a que to the next major plot sequence         

 

Life on Mars : genre and narrative

 Within the beginning of the episode modern crime genre conventions are presented as the main character Sam and officers raid a suspected murders house instantly creating a mystery as they are nowhere to be seen until a chase scene and questioning of the suspect professionally until Sam is in the past as they question another suspect which turns into more of an interrogation as DCI Gene and the other police in the past are presented as politically incorrect also Sam already having an idea about the suspect from the evidence from the present subverting modern crime conventions but still sticking to other conventions like the mystery and solving it by the end of the episode which links to Steve Neale's Genre Theory as the genre changes through time and having sci-fi conventions like the idea of him being in a coma. 

The main opposite present within the episode is the differences of the main character Sam and Gene as they battle throughout the episode on what to do about the mystery as Sam works like he did in the present which is drastically different from how Gene and the other officers work for example how Gene goes against the law for justice. Another major opposite being reality vs fantasy as its constantly questioned whether the past is actually real or just a figment of Sam's imagination these link to Levi-Strauss's theory as these opposites help continue the narrative as the confrontations between Sam and Gene usually end with more information in the case. 

An enigma is instantly created as we have a suspect in the murder case which is carried out throughout the episode but also more enigmas are created like Sam's condition after being hit by a car as some form of hallucinations throughout the episode connoting to him being in a coma however having reasonable explanations to just being hallucinations and Sam actually traveling back in time. These link to Barthes theory as Enigma codes are created throughout the series  

The narrative is restricted as we only know the same as Sam we as the audience have no further information on the narrative.      

Life On Mars: Textual analysis 1

The conventions of the crime genre are littered within the beginning as it starts with the police raiding a suspects house and the main character (Sam) chases down the suspect and catches him, they interview the suspect on a murder case having a lawyer and the detectives in the scene with him which is conventional of the crime genre however having a psychiatrist and social worker with the suspect making the scene unconventional and more realistic, also when Sam goes to the crime scene of his partners kidnapping having the area taped off and police surrounding the crime scene conventional to the crime genre however no connections to the sci-fi genre is shown until Sam is hit by a car and this begins the sci-fi elements as he is transported into the past and s the episode continues a psychological element is introduced as its implied that he is in a coma and everything he is seeing in the 70s is just his imagination. 

The enigmas created within the beginning align more with the crime genre as the suspect is let go after having an alibi and the murder case is still open ended and this enigma is reinforced when Sam's partner is following the suspect and is kidnapped, When Sam is hit by the car and wakes up in the 70s the enigma of wondering if he is in a coma and everything was fake or he really did travel back in time is created and spans along the entire series but also another enigma is created as the murders mirror each other in both the past and present  and this is solved at the end of the episode. 

Within the present the police are presented as more professional and gender is portrayed equally until we are put into the past as the police are shown as unprofessional messing up evidence and being sexist to female police officers.         

Section B Exam questions

 What is a media conglomerate? : A media institute which owns multiple other media companies  

How does ownership shape the content of  newspapers? : Ownership shapes the content within newspapers through the bias within the stories they report on like political bias for example The Times is a left wing newspaper thus having a bias towards the Conservative party and portraying them in a more positive light and The Mirror being more politically aligned to the Labour Party so the stories they report on and how they report their stories will attract the audience with the same political alignment

What has been the impact of recent technologies on all elements of the newspaper industry and how has it responded to these changes? : With the advancement of technology the news industry has grown exponentially but has needed to evolve as newspapers have moved onto the internet for example The Mirror online allows their audience to view on their website and on an app, and also doesn't have a paywall for their audience to see all of the news but having advertisements to earn their revenue which they would've got from selling newspapers which over time have been sold less and less.

The Times however has a paywall this digital descriptions has multiple variations increasing in price and as the price increases the more features audiences have like exclusive newsletters and rewards to give an incentive for their audiences to buy the more expensive subscriptions. As newspapers have moved to the internet this allows a wider range of audiences to view their content and have a much wider reach than what newspapers ever could do. 

What is the importance of fandom in media products? :  Fandoms allow media products to keep a following to a franchise and building support and helping market their product to a larger audience for example the Assassins Creed franchise has a massive fandom which discuss the game using wikis to have these discussions allowing fans to connect. 

How is the gaming industry regulated or what are the challenges in this particular industry? : In the UK video games are regulated by The Games Rating authority (GRA) using the PEGI system to rate the minimum age in which the game can be sold to using factors to help create these ratings like Fear and violence. The PEGI rating was created to stop younger audiences be exposed to mature content as games began to evolve to more mature audiences. 

How important is historical context? :  historical context is important as it can change the overall meaning of the product which contemporary audience would usually miss as their perspectives have changed for example the Tide print advertisement which was post WW2 and an economic boost and household appliances and products became highly desirable