Friday, 10 May 2019

How Audiences Consume and Interpret Long Form Television Dramas

How Audiences Consume and Interpret Long Form Television Dramas

Frank Underwood and Claire represent the anti-hero their characters are complex, what makes us want to watch/empathise with these characters?
1. Revenge
2. Frank's monologue - how he narrates the story and we know her story
3. We know that they have had things taken away from them

How is camera work used to create a sense of realism?
Realism is created through the use of natural light along with the use of light-sensitive cameras to help create the look that the lighting is more dim and effective. The directors wanted to have less light so that the cameras could move around more freely and not pick up on extreme details - make it look more professional in the sense that they were in the Whitehouse and make it look more natural. When they have the actor check his phone for the message he has just received, the candlelight has helped show the blue light from the phone lighting up. 

Discuss how politicians are perceived by the wider public. Identify examples in contemporary politics which support your view.

  • Manipulative -- break promises and don't stick to them - Walker, Linda, Frank, Claire - Borris Johnson, Theresa May
  • Sexual Misdemeanours -- Trump (the way he talks about his daughter)
  • Liars and Dishonest -- Linda ( promising Frank a place in the parliament but turns him down last minute)


House of Cards - The Influence of Technological Change

House of Cards - The Influence of Technological Change

What I didn't know before this lesson about Tv Shows:

  • The cost of an Eastenders episode
  • Long-form TV is an American concept
  • Long-form TV dramas start with an intense beginning to grip their audience
Reduction in the cost of technology such as:
  • CGI allowing visual effects even within TV budgets
  • Drones allowing ariel photography (ref. the opening sequence of HOC and Washington) 
  • Developments in Streaming e.g. 5G (generation) fibre optic technology which has enabled digital streaming service providers such as Netflix and Amazon to provide TV viewing. 
Cultural contexts of technological change 
  • This means that the way we consume TV has radically changed as a result of high-speed broadband connections; Consumers can view programmes outside of a TV schedule, Programmes can be watched as a complete series (binge-watching), Programmes can be watched on phones and tablets
Digital Cameras 
  • House of Cards was shot entirely in digital using “Red Epic” cameras. 
  • Production, editing and distribution are lower for digital enabling high end outcomes at a lower price. 
  • The quality of output enables images to be created at a high resolution suited to large screen format HD and 4K televisions
Terrestial TV
  • Schedule content was fixed (reliant on analogue (radio wave technology as pre the internet) 
  • Viewing experience was communal (families watched the same/similar content) as content was transmitted via Radio waves. 
  • Dramas developed to encourage regular viewing 
  • Program content with high audience numbers secured revenue via advertising.
Digital (streaming)
  • In just a decade, Netflix has grown from a video service with seven million U.S. subscribers to one that reaches 93 million people worldwide. 
  • When Netflix first launched in the late 1990s, it distributed DVDs – mainly films – by mail.
  • During the early 2000s, advances in compression technology – coupled with more homes gaining access to high-speed internet services – allowed large video files to be easily streamed over the internet.
  • Video streaming services such as Netflix deliver programming “on demand” via the internet, viewers can choose what and when to watch instead of watching “what’s on.”
  • Subscription TV therefore offers significant benefits to terrestial TV.
  • Netflix has developed its global market with a presence in 190 countries.
  • Its popularity is achieved by providing high production content in several TV serial genres. This includes complicated serial dramas (“House of Cards”), action series (“Daredevil”), horror series (“Hemlock Grove”).
  • Netflix - In just a decade, Netflix has grown from a video service with seven million U.S. subscribers to one that reaches 93 million people worldwide. 
  • The company's now worth about $60 billion 
  • 2016, Netflix spent $5 billion on original programming. 
  • The income from subscribers has allowed them to commission highly rated long-form TV dramas such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. 
  • 2017 sales rose to $2.48 billion. With a global presence in 190 countries.

Media Industries and Audiences

Media Industries and Audiences

Total readership
Print sales
PC readership
Mobile readership
The sun
31,859
10,123
(31%)
2780
(9%)
18,956
(60%)
The Daily Mirror
27,910
5,731
(21%)
4,948
(18%)
17,231
(61%)
The Telegraph
26,348
3,848
(15%)
7,340
(28%)
15,160
(57%)
Print news: Historically newspaper production was expensive.
  • The production of the News was in the hands of newspaper journalists editors and printers
  • Distribution of the news occurred when newspapers sent their newspapers to Newsagents via organisations who had some control over which publications were published, but had no control over the content
  • Newsagents and retailers sold the newspapers to the public (circulation)
  • Producers control news content – this is an important issue as journalists and news editors are expected to adhere to professional standards.

On-line 
  • Distribution and circulation are combined via websites or social media
  • News shelf life’s with the onset of Online is now short. With news exclusives being used (in Print media) to sell the news. They are now less valuable as the news cycle has shortened with Online News, where an exclusive can be picked up by the competition and recycled instantly.
  • News Organisations now rely on formats such as gossip, lifestyle journalism and sports journalism to minimise risk.

Curran and Seaton’s theory relates to PROFIT and Power.
  • With the concentration of newspaper’s in fewer hands (oligarchies) enables Newspapers to increase profits through increased readership
  • With the narrowing of choice to few Newspaper groups, the owners of the Press groups the Press Barons (see below) or Elites have the opportunity to represent their political perspectives.
  • This applies to the narrow range of political opinions expressed by British Newspapers with a bias to Pro capitalism
  • The reason why Press barons own Newspapers is to achieve status and to wield political power.
Who are the Press Barons?
Almost 78 per cent of our press is owned by a handful of mostly foreign-based billionaires.
  • Over a quarter (27.3 per cent) of the press is owned by Lord Rothermere (Daily Mail) and 24.9 per cent by Rupert Murdoch (News International, The Sun, The Times) – between them, these two men have over 50 per cent of the printed press.
Print Media
  • Historically Print media had a strong editorial heritage with professional standards leading to serious journalism. 
  • This was funded through the cost of the newspaper. 

On-line media
  • With the decline in Newspaper sales, there has been a decline in the quality of journalism where serious journalism such as international news and investigative reporting have been reduced for cost reasons 
  • Advertising revenue from print journalism has moved to Online media such as Google and Facebook 
  • There has been a rise in cheaper journalism in the form of opinion, celebrity reporting, lifestyle journalism and sport
Ways the newspaper companies get money
  • Advertising
  • Personal Ads
  • Sponsors
  • Sell at a low price, but get volume


Broadsheet newspapers The Guardian, Telegraph and Times newspapers have markedly upmarket audiences and more London based readers
Redtop tabloids Te Sun and the Mirror have markedly down-market audiences and the fewest London Based readers
Daily Mail Daily Mail has the most female and the oldest audience of all newspapers and the most evenly spread readership in terms of social class.
Daily Telegraph Has the oldest audience of the broadsheets.


Funding Structures
Physical papers range in cost from £0.40 to £2.70. The main reason for some of the newspapers selling at a low price is that the customers are more likely to buy them, then they are selling a large volume of newspapers in one go. However, online papers have a paywall, meaning that the customers have to pay to subscribe to read more, and by subscribing, the customers have to pay. Other ways that the newspapers get their money is through advertisements (so that they are getting their name out there) and sponsors (so that they are getting paid to post adverts about other products).

The Mail Stats
Age - 45% 65+ years
Gender - 52.5% Female

The Telegraph Stats
Age - 46% 65+ years

The Daily Mail looks like it is based for people who are family based and like the royalty. Just by looking at the image, there is a large picture of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. This was published approximately 2 months after the marriage of the two. The main demographic of readers is 65+, meaning that the daily mail would try to target their layout to suit the age, this being through the use of the thing that they are talking about; the royal family or the part where they are talking about families spending more than they earn for the first time since 1988, which they would have been around to witness. The gender demographic (female) is reached through the use of the talking about weddings and the baby picture in the top left corner. 

The Online Daily Mail focuses on the marriage and the pregnancy which is happening between Princ Harry and his wife Meghan. It also focuses on beauty, health and fashion; reflecting the target audience of females. The celebrity gossip in which is present on the website suggests that perhaps the online version of the daily mail is targeted to younger audiences
The Telegraph targets their age demographic of 65+ through the use of politics with a big picture of Jeremy Corbyn





Preferred - People will get scared into thinking that 1.5 million Turkish people are going to be coming to Britain 
Oppositional - 1.5 million Turkish immigrants are not coming to Britain
Negotiated - Immigrant is coming to Britain, but there probably won't be 1.5 million of them



























House of Cards - Characters

Claire Underwood is Frank Underwood's wife, who is in charge of an environmental nonprofit organization. Claire mirrors Frank when it comes to money and the way that she treats people; she isn't a shoulder to cry on, but she is the person who would make you cry (breaking the stereotype of women). However, she does follow the stereotypical way of acting when it comes to meeting Zoe and degrades Zoe for using her sexuality to create her career, she also often wears suits and is very assertive around Frank, her husband. Claire subverts to feminine qualities and is more masculine to Frank, breaking the patriarchy. Overall, Claire is ruthless, corrupt and is corruptive to those around her.

Frank Underwood is the wife to Claire Underwood and is running for Secretary, however, is disappointed and is told to stay in the Congress. In the beginning, Frank is shown killing off a dog so that it ends suffering, this immediately starts off the ruthless demeanour that he spreads. Throughout the first episode, Frank uses an extensive amount of blackmail in order to get what he wants and stereotypes the politics (for example relating to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson). Frank shows a lot of monologues, evoking a sense of individualism and breaks the fourth wall. He is the main protagonist. Frank is patriarchal, holding the power as a middle-class white man. Frank relates to the consumerism when he is at the ball and is narrating what he is thinking - judging everyone for what they are wearing and whereabouts in the economic scale they lie. Alike his wife, he is both corruptive to those around him and is corrupt himself.

Zoe Banks uses her sexuality to fraud a career, wearing low cut shirts to gain attention from men and exploit them - like the Van Zoonen theory of women being objectified - when she is in Frank's house during the first episode. Zoe tends to bite her nails when she is being confronted or talked to in the workplace, this could be a nervous tick which has developed due to her being in a position of weakness since the beginning of her career. However, she is an ambitious woman journalist, who wants to get on and break the bounds that tend to restrict her, with her work at the time being only about writing a small column - what her co-workers call gossip; a lot of the time being shut down from wanting to change what she is doing and make the workspace better. When Zoe turns up with all the "research" that she has taken from Frank, she is basically questioned whether she had to sleep with someone in order to get the article from Frank. Unlike the Underwoods, she is not corruptive to others, however, is still corrupt.

Peter Russo is a very irresponsible man who puts his personal life over his professional life. Franks is dirty and is completely addicted to drugs and alcohol. The addictions lead him to do illegal things although being part of the government. Russo acts like a child and thinks he can get away with anything, for example when he gets pulled over by the cops for drink driving, and tells them that he is a part of the government and should be let off the hook. Similar to Zoe, Russo is not corruptive to others like the Underwoods are, however, he is still corrupt.

How Audiences Consume and Interpret Long Form Television Dramas

How Audiences Consume and Interpret Long Form Television Dramas Frank Underwood and Claire represent the anti-hero their characters are co...