Audience Task

20/09/2013




1)

The intended audience for the television show 'Don't Tell The Bride' is women aged (20 - 30), as people tend to get married between these ages and therefore, they can more easily relate to the women in the show. The Uses and Gratifications that the programme meets include gaining insight into circumstances of others, filling time, seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices and finding models of behaviour. Women may watch it in order to gain ideas for a wedding of their own, to fill in any free time they may have or simply because they find it entertaining to watch. The show represents the brides in quite a negative way, making them appear ungrateful and dramatic as often as possible. The producers filmed hours of footage and picked clips that are the  most entertaining (mostly clips of the grooms doing something embarrassing or wrong, or the brides getting angry or upset about something), in order to keep the audience watching.

 

2)

The audience that the programme 'Suburgatory' is intended for is mainly teenage girls, because the main character, Tessa is a teenage girl and therefore, the audience can relate to her and the story lines easily. People find it easier to identify with people who are like them and so, people may feel a connection with the characters. The Uses and Gratifications that this programme meets include finding models of behaviour, identifying with others, filling time and emotional release. Viewers may watch the programme because they want to be like the characters in it, they can relate to story lines and characters, they have nothing else to do or because they find the show particularly entertaining. The programme is constructed in a way to make it appear that the main characters life is a lot more interesting than the average teenagers, whilst also making it so that the average teenager can relate to it. Hours and hours of scenes are filmed and the most funny, interesting or entertaining scenes are chosen to make the programme as appealing to the target audience as possible.

Representation Task

Class - The Daily Mail has represented Prince William in a very positive way. They focus on how he has hired his childhood nanny to look after his child and said that she was his 'childhood rock' which gives the impression that he is very sentimental. It also gives the reader the impression that he is a good father, as he wants someone he can trust to take care of his child. It is obviously expected of him to be represented as being a good person, as he is a respected figure in the public eye and this article clearly reflects this.

 

Gender - In 'Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model', women are represented as being very thin and tall, wearing lots of makeup and being quite photogenic, which obviously isn't the way that every woman is. Women today feel that TV shows such as 'Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model' are putting pressure on them to look and be this way and for this reason, it is quite a negative representation. However, the women in the show themselves are, generally, quite friendly and supportive of eachother, which is a positive representation. I believe that the producer of this TV Show wanted to show the women in both a positive and negative light; it shows them being very friendly and supportive to eachother but also makes other women feel very self-conscious.

 Race - In 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air', the majority of the characters are black-American. The main character is shown as being 'stereotypically black'; he came from a rough background, plays a lot of basketball and gets into trouble a lot. This is, generally, a negative representation, as not all black people are like this. However, he moves in with his aunt and uncle, who are very different to the typical stereotype. They are very rich, well-spoken and live in a very wealthy area in America. This is a much more positive representation.

 

Age - The movie 'Attack The Block' is about a gang of teenagers in London defending the place that they live in from an alien invasion. The film represents teenagers in a very negative way, by showing them robbing people, vandalising property, swearing and getting into a lot of trouble with the police. The producer clearly wanted to show young people in an amusing, yet negative way.

                          

Sexuality - In this sketch in the TV show 'Little Britain', the producer is painting a rather negative picture of homosexual people, as it makes fun of them, making out that they all enjoy watching musicals and drink 'feminine drinks'. The show also makes out that they all wear tight clothing and have a high-pitched voice, which is not necessarily true.