Hartley and Fiske

Audience Theories

Hartley has established that there are 7 areas of an individual that must be considered when regarding socialising them. These are: 

• Self
• Gender
• Age Group
• Family
• Class
• Nation
• Ethnicity

We can use these groupings in order to establish why an individual or group of society would consume a text, in relation to which 7 areas they fit into and which audience would consume Homeland. However, Fiske then went on to develop these categories adding: 

• Religion
• Education
• Region
• Political Stance

This now gives us even more insight into which characteristics or groupings an individual would fit into. Without these 4 more categories, we would not be able to disect an individual in as greater detail. 

In applying these categories to an audience that would consume Homeland, I would say it would be mainly white married American men from upper lower class to middle class, in the age range 25 - 50. They would be Christian from an average education and tend to lean to the right of the political spectrum. I would suggest that they are not from the Southern states in America. 

The threat of terrorism dramatically affected American media in all forms and has furthered American protectionism, with 9/11 being the first external attack on the US in its history. This rocked American society, so they stereotypical American male is now even more adverse to terrorism and whatever forms it may come in, provoking this "macho" alpha male that America is so well known for producing. This is the primary audience I would suggest that watches Homeland, and to create a text that suggests that the honest, hard working American solider has been turned into a Al Queda insurgent, would provoke this audience. 

According to its genre, it is a political drama/thriller, while having action moments, it would again appeal to a male audience however with Carrie being the main character, trying to defend American soil from terrorists it may deter this audience slightly. There is also the added factor that Carries sexuality and appearance is instantly stripped away in the first episode, so the male audience would not view her an object of desire, removing another incentive for a male audience to watch. 

How far does Downtown Abbey meet the expectations of the genre?

Downtown Abbey meets the criteria and expectations in many ways. The use of historically correct costumes, settings and props all conform to the conventions of a Historical Drama, satisfying the audience's because if they weren't correct, the overall image would be changed, not making it a Historical Drama. The use of lighting also fits in with this genre, with the use of high key lighting making everything appear brighter and "better", and with it being set in a manor house, the lighting would show the expensive and beautiful belongings in the house.

 This appeals to the idea of escapism for the audience, as everything is made to look grand and exciting allowing the audience to become involved with the programme more. The sense of life being better in this era, with women wearing expensive clothes and being waited on hand and foot,  appeals to some women in society today and Downtown Abbey allows them to escape from everyday life, back to a time that they think is more attractive. 

The characters in Downtown Abbey again fit in with the Historical Drama genre, with representations of the class system. The programme shows a cross section of the house, with the servants below and the upper class, higher in the house. The plot tends to revolve around each social class conflicting within itself E.g conflict between new, disabled solider and bitter house maid compared to conflict between the sisters of the household. 

Other historical references are used, making the programme believable and genuine, with references to the Titanic sinking in 1912. This sets time period instantly and allows the audience to gain a grasp of social reactions to this event.

Represntation of Age: Skins

As Skins begins, we see a panning shot of the main character Tony, under his bed covers which has a naked man and woman as a design. From this the audience can tell that Tony is a sexualised character, this is then reinforced with the shot of him getting out of bed in his pants. The lack of clothes connotes he is sexual, or not concerned by the way he looks, in fact this may be the opposite, Tony finds himself attractive and likes the way he looks. From the mise en scene set inside the house, we can see that Tony is very organised, with his shirts folded away immaculately and even his bed covers are very flat and neat. Tony may be represented as almost having OCD, however after watching further into the programme, he is represented as a modern, metro sexual teenager. This then contrasts to his father who is the stereotypical man. He swears, he is big and hairy with a beer belly and loses his temper to show his dominance in the household, despite being undermined by his son. The mother is also a stereotype

Exam Practice Question 1

Both SAGA Magazine and GQ feature famous actors with Sir Michael Caine and Clint Eastwood respectively. Both men are ageing but are instantly recognisable with both British and American audiences. The fact that both men are similar in age would suggest that age has no bearing on their social status or ability to look "cool", hence why they are being featured in fashionable magazines.

On the cover of Saga, Michael Caine is dressed in a casual suit, with glasses and grey hair which contrasts greatly to the image of Clint Eastwood, dressed completely in denim. The way the men have been dressed connotates and gives the reader ideas of what these actors are like and perhaps the stereotypes that come with them. For instance, with Michael Caine being British and dressed in a suit, it automatically creates an idea that he is affluent, intellectual and suave. In real life, Michael Caine is all of these things, however the characters he normally acts are lower class, down to earth men. When this is compared to Clint Eastwood in GQ, both differences and similarities appear. Eastwood,being dressed in all denim, looks more casual but tough, sticking to the American stereotype of what a man should be. His sleeves are rolled up which could suggest a hardworking man, likes to get dirty and fix things himself. This overall image is similar to the characters Eastwood has played in the past. As mentioned before, both men are older but this does not detract from the overall image that they are "trendy and cool". Facially, the men differ, with Michael Caine having a dead pan facial expression which connotaes that he is calm and collected however with Clint Eastwood, his characteristic facial snarl suggest a fiery temper and aggressiveness.

The background of the Saga magazine is white which contrasts with Caines suit, highlighting him as the main focus of the cover, but this is not the case for the GQ magazine, with the denim Eastwood is wearing seeming to blend with the darker background. This could connotate a dark side of Eastwood or a negative aspect of him. As for the colour scheme ont the Saga cover, it could link to dark and light, or could even link to the famous James Bond opening credits with the black and white circles being used which would link in with the stereotypical idea that British men in a suit must be undercover agents.


The layout and design for the two magazine covers are similar with both men being in the centre of the cover, this would suggest that they are the most important article or feature in the magazines. Both magazines keep to a colour scheme with Saga incorporating red, white and black and GQ also using a similar colour scheme of red, white and blue/black. The two covers are also similar with the fact that there are 2 pieces of text relating to the actors, with Saga using a text box about what Michael Caine will be talking about in the article and a quote from him. The quote is in black font colour which relates to his suit which backs up that he is saying it, it has come from him. The GQ magazine however features no quotes just simple, short text boxes which relate to Eastwood. The text surrounding the magazine covers feature famous individuals that are important to both British and American life, however GQ again uses simple text boxes, with the individuals names compared to Saga's text boxes which use small amounts of text to add extra information underneath the titles. The font of these text boxes are smaller, suggesting that they are not as important as th main feature but both layouts of the magazines allow the articles to seem inticing and interesting.


The language used for these covers are quite different, perhaps due to the origin of the magazines. Saga's language is more developed, however it does incorporate some British terms like "top brass" which non- british readers may not understand at a first glance. GQ's language is less formal and typically American, using terms like "BADASS OF THE YEAR" which is not a negative thing as it is used to describe Clint Eastwood, who is normally associated with being tough and hardy, the archetypal American male. Also texts boxes such as "THE BEST STUFF '09, CARS CLOTHES FOOD MUSIC GADGETS AND MORE" suggest that the demographic for this magazine would be 20-30, males. This contrasts to Saga's which would be 30 year olds, mainly male.

Representations of Events: Six Nations

The Six Nations is represented in different ways in the media. In newspapers, the covgerage of the Six Nations varies from paper to paper. I will look at The Sun and The Telegraph, looking at how the Six Nations is covered and how the two differ. From first glance, The Sun has little or no coverage of the Six Nations, with the homepage of the website being dominated by football and other sports, despite the fact that the Six Nations is the biggest European rugby competition. However when looking further into the Rugby Union section of the paper, rugby is represented as positive with focus on matches more than individual players.

The Telegraph
TO be continued

Explore representastions of issues in "Breaking Bad"

The Tv programme "Breaking Bad" covers a range of issues in modern day life, ranging from drugs in society to how morality is challenged by an individuals mortality. "Breaking Bad"has a varied demographic, with audiences ranging from teenagers up to adults in their 50's. The preffered reader would be a male audience, aged in their 20's to 30's, from a lower to middle class. They would work in manual work or bureaucratic office work, as the programme's plot and genre would appeal to this demographic.

"Breaking Bad" uses an unusual Protagonist with Walter White played by Bryan Cranston. Walter White is a middle aged man, teaching Chemistry at the local secondary school while also having to work at a car wash in order to make ends meet. He is then told he has cancer of the lungs, which is operable. This now brings the idea of morality into play. In order to provide for his disabled son and pregnant wife, White turns to making Methamphetamine with an old student. White is not the archetypal protagonist the audience would expect. There are scenes with White dressing in nothing but his pants, showing an average body, with no rippling muscles to be seen at all. He wears glasses, checked shirts and trouers with a high waist line. He represented as the stereotypical nerd, however when faced with danger and adversity, we see what White is capable of. This also coupled with his cancer and his frequent coughing again shows how vunerable he is, which contrasts to the stereotypical action hero we would expect, with no limits or physical ailments. Even when White is confronted by the antagonists, he is constantly shown as less physically impressive, with no experience of firearms or violence. However, using intellect over violence, White escapes alive with the antagonists suffering at the hands of the "nerd".

This ideology of what humans are capable of if put in certain circumstances is apparent in "Breaking Bad". The scene in which White cripples a thug bullying his son using his knowledge of the body shows what he is capable of when confronted.

Magazine Cover Analysis

  The two magazines use main images to attract the audiences attention. "Top Gear" uses a large picture of a Porsche 918, with the Ferrari GTO in the background. The picture is large and is the centre of the cover, with the other features being placed around the image. This is similar to "Elle" magazine with the large photo of Emma Watson, dominating the front cover, even covering some of the Masthead. The dennotations of these photos are, a Porsche and Emma Watson. The connotation of these photos suggest money, fame and being fashionable. For the Porsche, it connotates speed, masculinity, men would aspire to have this car. The photo of Emma Watson connotates her maturity while still remaining attractive, it implies she is no longer connected to the Harry Potter franchise. Out of the two photos, Emma Watson is more likely to have been photoshopped, allowing the audience to believe she is perfect, aspiring to be like her.

The demographic for these magazines would be differ, being aimed at the seperate sexes. Top Gear would be aimed at males, ranging from ages 6-50, with the stereotype that all boys like cars, no matter how old they are. The magazine would be aimed at lower to middle class men, using quite simple language, however specific vocabulary is used i.e "Quicker than a Carrera GT", implying that most men that read this would know what a Carrera GT is. For Elle, the demographic would be upper lower- middle class as it isn't using Human Interest stories, with more of a focus on fashion and clothing.

Both magazines use either a puff or a covermount to entice the reader

Walking Dead Character Analysis

Rick Grimes: Rick Grimes appears as a hardened, experienced police officer however, when we first see Rick Grimes, he is wandering around a suburban neighbourhood, in a hospital gown which is quite reminiscent of "28 Days Later". This is not normally how the audience would see the protagonist. The use of long, wide shots show Grimes, in a desolated areas. This shows Grimes's vunerability to his surroundings, which is not how the main character is normally decpicted, especially for a male. However, in contrast to this, once Grimes finds his police officers uniform and has strapped a pistol in his holster, the shot types change. They become a lot closer, focusing on his face either while driving, with his brow furrowed. This is how the audience would normally see the "action" man, and when he is in his comfort zone, when shooting the single zombies the shot types are normally from behind the zombie, looking to Grimes which shows his calm persona while shooting them. Although, throughout the programme there are moments where Grimes appears quite weak. When trapped under the tank, and the end seems lost, a close up shot of Grimes, shows him about to shoot himself in the head with a scared look on his face, a very vunerable moment.

Magazine Cover Analysis: Maxim and Fhm

These magazine covers show Nicole Scherzinger and Neha Dupia, attractive females which automatically attract the readers attention, which is then enhanced by the fact neither women are wearing much clothing. Both covers show clevage which implies the magazines are being directed towards a male audience. Although not revealing anything significant, there is enough body being shown to be provocaticve and appeal to a male audience. The look on the ladies faces are enticing, coy and suggestive, again appealing to the male demographic, as if the ladies were crying for example, the pictures would lose their sexual appeal. The colours used are predominantly white, with both women wearing white clothing connotating purity and an almost angelic quality despite the context that the women are in. Both backgrounds are darker, providing a contrast to the white clothing connotating light and dark or good and evil, naughty or nice. The colours of the text vary but are thematic, with the Maxim cover using a yellow and white font colour, while the FHM cover uses a yellow and white font but uses other colours such as red and in particular uses an organge, white and green colour scheme, relating to the fact that this particular copy is the Indian version. The typography is clear to read, proffesional looking but not boring to look and appears to look contemporary and stylish, as is the main theme of the magazine.

The language used isnt complex to read however it retains the appeal and interest for the reader. As it is aimed at a male demographic, it focuses on themes of relationships (mainly the sexual aspect) and thing that men would enjoy or be interested in. For example, on the FHM cover it reads "Dump Your Girlfriend Properly, Mess Free Relationship Termination". This advice is gold dust to men, and instantaneously gets the reader interested, despite the information provided being blunt. This shows it is aimed at a male audience, playing on the stereotype that men need to be spoken to slowly or with very little complexity. The shot types are close medium shots allowing the face, chest and legs to be seen appealing to a male audience, again focusing on sexual attraction as opposed to the content of the material.

Ethnicity in Sitcoms

3 Sitcoms that include people of different ethnicity:Scrubs, Fresh Prince of Bell Air, Big Bang Theory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH7_H05aeiY
In this clip of "scrubs", we see Turk getting proved wrong about rap by Elliott and Molly two white, blonde women. The two girls give an in depth, detailed lesson of rap lyrics and what the slang terms mean. Normally, we would associate the black person to know the most about rap, due to the stereotype that most black people listen to rap music.

In the beginning of the clip, this is what we see with Turk explaining what "ho-ho's" are in an articulated manner, followed up, "its a black thing Bru" This is what the audience would expect, a black person explaining a predominantly black genre of music to a white man. However, Turk is then proven wrong by the two girls, in the same manner that Turk explained the lyrics.