Gogglebox

GoggleBox is a British Documentary, currently consisting of four seasons. It features recurring families and friends who sit in their living rooms and react to and give their opinions on Britain’s most popular and well-known television shows including: the news, the X Factor and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. I have watched many episodes of GoggleBox and I really enjoy the show because it is very entertaining and it is interesting to see how different people react to television shows based on their personal opinions.

GoggleBox represents an active audience as appose to a passive audience because the people shown watching the television shows are getting involved by talking about what they are seeing and in some cases, how what they are watching is affecting them. They are not a passive audience because they did not believe everything they saw and they were not sitting in silence for the whole duration of each episode. An audience theory known as the ‘uses and gratifications model’ can be used to describe the families on GoggleBox because they appear to be watching the shows for surveillance and entertainment. Surveillance is our need to know what is happening in the world and the families are shown watching the news in order to keep up to date with events that are happening resulting in them feeling a sense of security which is one of our needs stated by Maslow’s theory. The television shows that the families are watching are providing them with entertainment because they are able to relax and they are given distractions from their everyday life.

Representation: The families shown were all of different ages, races, ethnicities and genders which means that due to each family being different, there is a wider audience because more people are able to relate to them. We are given a representation of their lifestyles, for example, the two best friends, Sandy and Sandra appear to be very laid-back and are often shown eating junk food. However, the couple, Steph and Dom are represented as very posh and are often shown drinking wine as they hold hands on the sofa.

Audience: GoggleBox is aimed at a post-watershed audience who are above the age of fifteen due to frequent swearing which may be inappropriate for people who are below this age. It is also aimed at those who watch everyday television such as the shows that are featured on GoggleBox because they can then relate to what the families are watching to a greater extent and at times, may share the same opinions and reactions as them. The show has been proved very popular because it has 2.7 million viewers meaning the audience must be very wide as a large amount of people are clearly finding GoggleBox extremely entertaining.

Message: The message within GoggleBox is that your age, race, ethnicity and gender does not affect your opinion on a television show or what shows you choose to watch and your reactions are more or less based upon your personal opinions as appose to these factors. The families display similar reactions to the television shows but also have their own interpretations on what they see but this is based on their perception, not their age, race, ethnicity or gender. These points link in with an audience theory known as the ‘reception theory’ which is about personal opinions and how an audience perceives things based on their social and daily experiences. Reception theory is split into three parts which determine how an audience may view an aspect of media, which in this case is a television show: the dominant viewing (audience fully accepts the code within the show), the negotiated viewing (audience partly accepts the code, but will change the meaning slightly) and the oppositional viewing (audience does not share the code so constructs an alternative meaning). I believe that the families demonstrate each of these viewings depending on the television show that they are watching.

Production values: There are two main shots used throughout GoggleBox which are a wide shot and a close up. The wide shots are used to show the whole family sitting in their living room which informs the audience on the environment they are in and it also enables us to see all their reactions at once. The editors of GoggleBox may have zoomed in on these wide shots in order to give the audience close ups. These close-ups are used to show a person’s emotions and reaction in more detail and we are given a greater insight into how a television show will affect the individual. Despite GoggleBox filming people in their own homes, where the families will feel most comfortable and act more natural, the show is still constructed because the environments they are in almost seem ‘too perfect’ as they are completely tidy and very well framed. The families are well aware that they are being filmed so over-exaggerate their reactions and at times, clearly do not act natural because they are trying to make themselves appear more interesting and entertaining for the audience. 

Development Of My Production

The poster

I have decided to change my idea for my poster design slightly because it will be quite difficult to find an abandoned hotel to photograph for the main image on my poster. Instead, I am going to have a photograph of one of the protagonists as my main image because it will be much easier to go about doing and I can edit the photo to help it fit in with the genres of horror and supernatural by adding small details such as blood. The photograph could be a silhouette to convey emotions such as mystery and the protagonist would be behind a window to show that they are trapped. An additional idea for a poster is to have four hands against a window which also symbolises that the characters are trapped and immediately informs the audience that there are numerous characters in my series. I am still including the title of my TV series along with one of the slogans on the poster and using the same font as I stated in my proposal as I believe it is very effective and will still work with the image of a protagonist. This is an initial idea for a poster layout but I will continue to develop it as currently, it looks too simple so could be more effective.

The t-shirt

Instead of having a simple black or white t-shirt to choose from, I would like to have more interesting and fashionable designs that members of my audience are very likely to wear. I am also considering having a logo on the top right hand corner of the t-shirts because a slogan by itself its too simple and does not look as creative as it would with a logo. Here are some examples below:

The mug

I have made some slight changes to how I would like my mug design to be. I am still keeping the colour themes of black and red/white and red and still putting a different photograph of a protagonist on each of the mugs so the audience have various options to choose. However, instead of having the title of the TV show on the handle, I am going to have a slogan on the mug itself because I believe it would be more effective and noticeable. Here is an example below:

New Ideas 

I have decided to create a jumper which features the title of my TV series (possessed) because my other products feature slogans. It also includes a silhouette of four of the protagonist's on the front as I believe it looks very effective and on the back, there is an image of a devil to represent how some of my characters become possessed during the series as a result of their nightmares. I have also added blood splats at the back because it links in with the theme of my mug as I would like my merchandise to have similar colours and styles to them.

I have also decided to create a collection of pin badges because they are original and the people within my audience are likely to buy them as they are collectables which are small and cheap. I have also made my badges have a similar theme to the rest of my merchandise and I have also insured that they are quite detailed and very effective so they will attract my audience's attention, meaning they are more likely to buy the product. Here are some examples below:

Tyrannosaur And Further Development Of Pre-Production

In class, we watched a film called 'Tyrannosaur' which inspired me to develop my pre-production even further by answering the questions below. Tyrannosaur focuses on strong character development and issues and dilemmas that make the characters who they are.



How can you enrich your narrative?
I will enrich my narrative by giving the characters dilemmas that would cause a disruption to the equilibrium of the narrative meaning it is essential for them to repair the problems they are having to face. This means that throughout my TV series, there will not be a consistent equilibrium that keeps the narrative stable and instead, there will be numerous disruptions. This will make my TV series more interesting because the events that occur will be unpredictable and the audience will not know what to expect, therefore creating tension within the different episodes.

What elements can you add to bring your characters alive?
I will use the stories of their past as a main element in order to bring my characters alive because it will help the audience to understand why the characters are who they are and for some of them, how their past caused a disruption to their lifestyle. For example, Clare (the wife of Jack) could have numerous scars around her body but of course, due to being wiped of memory, she does not remember where they came from. After the dreams that enabled Clare and Jack to understand that they recently got married (which is the reason the characters are in the hotel), Clare will have dreams much later in the series which show that before her and Jack got married, she was domestically abused by him which is the reason for her scars. This will cause further conflict within the hotel and is a major disruption of the equilibrium. The idea of abuse came from 'Tyrannosaur' in which the female protagonist, Hannah, was abused and raped by her husband, James.

I also believe that conflict and romance are very important elements which can be used to bring my characters alive because at times, it will bring out their true personalities and it will also make the series more realistic because it is only normal for there to be conflicts and romance when both male and female characters are trapped in a hotel together. The first romance is between Clare and Tyler which occurs before Clare and Jacks's marriage is revealed. Sean will also fall in love with Holly however this is mainly due to her looks and their personalities clash which results in their relationship not working out immediately because Holly does not feel the same way about Sean. There will be a major conflict between Max and Jack because Jack always wants to take control and believes that his plan of escaping out of the hotel is the only 'correct' plan. However, Max strongly disagrees with him because he is extremely fascinated by science and the supernatural so thinks they should use a different method to escape. The other characters are torn between who's side to take which causes further conflict.

How will you actively seek to serve your chosen audience?
Due to my TV series being based around the genres of horror and supernatural, I will ensure that I include elements that are likely to make my audience feel emotions such as frightened and I will also use scenes that provide a great amount of suspense because my audience should enjoy TV shows and films that leave them at the edge of their seats. I am focusing on ghosts as my paranormal creature because they are quite realistic due to many people believing in them. This in turn should help my audience to engage more with the TV series because the events that occur will be more believable, especially for those that already believe in the supernatural.

Production Proposal

What I am planning on making:

• Poster design
• T-shirt design
• Mug design 

The poster: The poster would include: the title of the show; the slogan; the setting (the haunted hotel) and possibly the male and female protagonists of the show. I am doing a poster because I know it is something my audience (teenagers aged 15-19) would be interested in buying as it is not ‘immature’ and it will help to convey the overall tone of my show.

I would use a font that is similar to this because it is dramatic looking therefore immediately informs my audience that the TV show is based  upon the genres of horror and supernatural. Additionally, this font is very bold and eye-catching so would stand out on the poster. 

I would like to use a hotel that looks similar to this because the dark colours are very intense and they represent mystery and the unknown. 

Possible slogans I could use on my poster: 

• Don't dream it
• Only one way out
• Who will escape? 
• Don't close your eyes

The t-shirt: 

For my t-shirt, I would have a simple colour such as black or white for the background and in the centre of the shirt, I would have one of the slogans in the font used for the title on the poster. The colour of the slogan would be contrasting to the colour of the shirt, for example, if the shirt was black, the font would be white. I feel that due to its simplicity, more people within my audience are likely to buy it and I have chosen to use black and white because they are multi-sex colours that appeal to both the males and females within my audience.

The mug: The mug would be either black or white with a red inside and a red handle. The red colour symbolises blood and danger and it would also be dripping down the sides of the mug to put more emphasis on it. There would be various mug designs to choose from, each having an image of a different character from the TV show on it. This way, members of my audience can buy a mug which has their favourite character on it, rather than having limited options to choose from. The title will be written along the side of the handle so it is clear as to what TV show the mug is for and the same font will be used as the font for the poster and t-shirt.

Todorov's Narrative Theory

Todorov's narrative theory consists of five stages which define the common structure within a narrative.

1. Equilibrium (balance)
2. Disruption of equilibrium 
3. Recognition of disruption of equilibrium
4. Repair of disruption of equilibrium
5. Return of equilibrium. 

An example of a film that follows this narrative structure is: Step Brothers, directed by Adam Mckay.



1. Equilibrium: At the beginning of the film, Brennan lives with his mother Nancy and Dale lives with his father Robert. Both Brennan and Dale are very happy with their lifestyles because they are extremely reliant on their parents so barely do anything for themselves.

2. Disruption: When Nancy and Robert meet and make the decision to get married, Brennan and Dale become step brothers and are forced to live together and have to share Dale's room which neither of them are pleased about. The men do not get on at all and they are constantly having arguments especially regarding Dale's most prized possession, his drum set. Their life is now very unsettled therefore the equilibrium has been disrupted.

3. Recognition: About half way through the film, Brennan and Dale realise that they have a lot in common and they end up becoming best friends. They begin to understand that their previous arguments were not worthwhile so they put their conflicts aside.

4. Repair: The men attempt to repair the disruption of the equilibrium by each going their own ways and getting separate jobs after finding out Nancy and Robert split up. However, doing this breaks up the family to an even greater extent so Brennan organizes a sales party for the company he works at, in which Dale is also involved in, and invites both Nancy and Robert in the attempt to bring the family back together.

5. Return: At the end of the film, the equilibrium has been restored because Brennan and Dale form an entertainment company together which is very successful and Nancy and Robert get back together again. The four protagonists now live a more peaceful and happy live now the disruption of the equilibrium has been removed.

Christmas, Consumerism And The Role Of The Media

Christmas advertisements are constructed, despite how cute, heart-warming and harmless they appear to be. The companies want to draw in the weak and easily influenced audiences and persuade them to buy the product that they are advertising. However, some companies are very smart and discretely advertise a product without the audience realising what they are doing, meaning they are being 'sucked in' therefore may end up unintentionally buying the product, resulting in audience consumption being very high. The majority of advertisements including ones based on the theme of Christmas follow an audience theory known as the hypodermic needle theory because the media assume that the audience are empty vessels who know nothing so are easily manipulated by the media itself. This theory is displayed in Christmas advertisements because the audience are tricked into believing that in order to have a ‘fulfilled’ Christmas, they must buy the product being advertised. Christmas advertisements such as John Lewis, Sainsbury’s and Boots follow many of the points I have brought across.

The John Lewis Christmas advertisement 2014:

John Lewis are very well known for their annual Christmas advertisements and this year was no exception. The 2014 advertisement is about a young boy who has a pet penguin named ‘Monty’. As the advert develops, we discover than Monty is lonely and is in need of a female penguin to keep him company which he predictably receives at the very end. John Lewis has purposely used a young boy and a baby penguin because they know the audience will find them exceptionally cute therefore will be drawn in to watch the rest of the advertisement. The themes of love, happiness and friendship are displayed throughout and these are themes that many people associate with Christmas, causing them to relate more with the advertisement. John Lewis, as usual, have used an emotional but catchy song in the background that they know will stick in peoples head therefore meaning that every time they hear or think about that particular song, they will remember the John Lewis advert and the product being advertised within it, which is this case is Monty the penguin.

The advertisement is over two minutes long which means that John Lewis must have spent a lot of money on producing it and they would not have done that unless they knew Monty the penguin was going to provide them with a high profit. It has been evidenced that John Lewis created the toy versions of Monty and Mabel before the advertisement which proves that they knew the penguins were going to be very popular with their audience and would sell out in stores quickly; a very smart and cunning move made by the company.

The Sainsbury’s Christmas advertisement 2014:

Personally, the Sainsbury’s Christmas advertisement is my favourite because it focuses on the First World War therefore is very emotional and genuine. It is about the soldiers on the front line during the first Christmas of WW1 (1914) and how both the British and German soldiers came together for that one day. Themes such as giving, remembrance and friendship are expressed in the advertisement because at the end, a British and German soldier exchange a chocolate bar for a shortbread biscuit which represents how Christmas is for giving and being kind to one another.

Sainsbury’s were very clever and brought out this advertisement soon after Remembrance Day and also because it has been one hundred years since the start of World War One. This means the advertisement relates to what is happening now resulting in more people watching it and feeling engaged with the themes and messages within it. However, the chocolate bar which is shown towards the end is being sold in Sainsbury’s stores meaning that although one of the main purposes of this advertisement is to raise awareness and remembrance for WW1, they still aim for members of their audience to buy the chocolate bar after watching the advertisement due to being influenced and emotionally affected by it.

The Boots Christmas advertisement 2014:

The Boots advertisement focuses on a Mother who could not be home for Christmas with her family due to her working hours. However on Boxing Day, her family all get up at around midnight to go to the Mothers house in order to surprise her when she arrives home from work. This narrative explores the themes of family, generosity, love, togetherness and the idea of the Mother completing the family. Boots chose a very realistic topic to work upon meaning the audience will find the advertisement relatable, especially if they have a family member who works demanding hours such as night shifts as a nurse resulting in them not being at home for Christmas. There was a good use of Mise-En-Scene throughout, for example, the snow was used because it is one of the many symbols of Christmas so really helps to set the scene.

Although products from boots are being advertised throughout, it is done in a more discrete manner and I personally do not feel persuaded to go and buy a product from boots that I saw in the advertisement because it mainly made me just think about the importance of family during Christmas Time.  

Further Development Of My Coursework Idea

Character development:

• Married couple are called Jack and Clare (they are the main protagonists). 
• Jack- aged 20. He is the smart character who likes to take control and he believes that he is always right.      He has serious anger problems and before the wedding, he used to abuse Clare which has left her with scars all over her body. Jack has anger issues due to his poor upbringing in which his step dad would abuse his mother in front of Jack; therefore he has been influenced by his awful behaviour. Jack's ethnicity is Irish and he is tall, muscular and pale skinned. He has dark, curly hair and dark, deep-set eyes with no sparkle to them at all. His beard has an un-trimmed look to it, making him appear ‘rough and rugged’. He has a tattoo of a skull on his right shoulder in order to show that he is violent and not easily frightened. When he wakes up in the hotel, he is only wearing a pair of shorts (the wedding suit has gone missing) and the only outfit he has taken with him is a pair of dark blue jeans and a white, three quarter length top.
  
  
• Clare- aged 19. She is a 'people pleaser' who wants to get on with everyone. However, she is easily freaked out and frightened despite how brave she attempts to be.   She is this way due to being bullied at school and being abused by Jack which has scarred her personality for life. She was brought up by both her English mother and father who were both very over-protective and were very strict on her until she fell in love with Jack meaning they had to let Clare gain her independence. She is reasonably short with long, straight, light blonde hair which gives her a look of innocence. She has large, blue eyes to portray vulnerability and her right eye has a very faded bruise circling it which was caused by Jack, she has numerous scars around her body and especially on her back. She wakes up wearing her nightwear and her wedding dress has also gone missing. The outfit she has taken with her to the hotel is a light blue pair of tight skinny jeans and a grey jumper with a white collar.  

• Holly- Clare's best friend, aged 18. She is the complete opposite of Clare and frequently gets into arguments with the other characters because she never wants to help out. Her parents were born in Essex and she was very spoilt when growing up, she would always get what she wanted and she never had to do anything for herself. She has a very stubborn personality and did not have many friends during her years at school as a result of this; she became best friends with Clare as they both struggled with making friends so ended up bonding very well. Holly wears a lot of make-up and straightens her jet black hair every day so her daily look is not ‘natural’. The outfit she brought to the hotel was a pair of black, skin-tight jeans, a black crop top and large, gold hoop earrings.
     
• Tyler- Jack's best friend, aged 19. He is the sporty one who puts a lot of time and effort into his appearance. Him and Clare eventually fall for one another before she realises that she is actually married to Jack. When Clare does realise this, it causes conflict. Tyler had a very normal upbringing and his parents were rich so he went to a private school and college that specialised in sport. His Father is Nigerian and his Mother is English. He knows he is good looking and at times, can be very full of himself however; he has a caring personality so gets on quite well with the other characters. He is very tanned and muscular with sparkling brown eyes and a quiff that has been dyed blonde which he clearly spends a long time styling each morning. The outfit he brought to the hotel was a pair of blue, skinny jeans and a white vest top which clearly ‘shows off’ his muscles.

• The twin brothers are called Patrick and Sean- their ethnicity is Welsh
• Patrick- aged 17. He is the shy one and is extremely smart but is afraid to speak out (wasted talent). The reason for this is because when growing up, Sean would constantly get all of the attention from their parents so Patrick was always left by himself. This meant he spent the majority of time alone in his room where he would constantly study which is why he is extremely smart. He is very well dressed and wears smart, black jeans with a red polo top and polished brown shoes. He has dark hair which is combed back and he has glistening green eyes which are hidden by his large, wide framed glasses.
  
  
• Sean-aged 17. He is the 'dumb' one however is very chatty so gets on well with the other characters.  Due to him being less academic, he would always be centre of attention with his parents as they wanted to help him as much as possible. The same applied to when he was at school as he would get a lot of attention from the teachers and he was also very popular with the other students because he has a friendly personality. He does not care about his appearance and he wears a full grey tracksuit with scruffy trainers. Like Patrick, he has glistening green eyes however, he does not wear glasses and his dark hair is extremely long and messy and looks as if he never brushes it.
  
  
• Kate- aged 19. She is a single Mother born in Croydon who has a baby daughter named Amelia. Kate is often very stressed and worried and her main priority is her daughter. Her boyfriend left her as soon as he found out she was pregnant so she was left to raise Amelia completely by herself. She does not have a job so struggles to live a healthy lifestyle and before she was pregnant, she lived off her boyfriend’s high earnings because he ran his own business. She has mousy, brown hair up to her shoulders, a large amount of freckles and dull, hazel eyes. She wears a tartan print skirt with black tights, a white t-shirt and a black cardigan. They are all poor quality clothes to represent how she has a low quality of life.

• Amelia- aged 5 months. She is the daughter of Kate and is the first character to become possessed in the series. . Due to her very young age, she does not yet have a distinctive personality but she tends to cry more than would be expected of a baby her age. When Amelia does become possessed, the characters notice strange things such as her floating above her cot and her eyes turning a bright, evil red colour. 

• Jake- aged 15. He is the geek who is obsessed with comic books and computer games and he forms a very close bond with Sean as they are both talkative. He comes from a Jamaican background and he grew up without a mother, as she died in a car crash when Jake was very young, so has a close relationship with his father who is a comic book illustrator. After he has the dreams which enable him to remember his Father, Jake becomes very homesick as he is one of the younger characters and he begins to miss his Father an awful lot. The dreams also enable him to remember his Mother which he is emotionally affected by because he knows that it is only within his dreams that he is given the opportunity to see his Mother. Jake wears a pair of black jeans with a blue, marvels top which expresses his passion for comic books. He has jet black hair which is plated into short dreadlocks and small, chocolate coloured eyes which hold warmth and kindness.
  
  
• Max-aged 16. He is passionate about science so is extremely fascinated by the supernatural forces within the hotel and is eager to discover more about them.  He has always believed in ghosts and claims to have had visions of them ever since he was young. Both of his parents are scientists so they encouraged him to focus on subjects such as biology, chemistry and physics at school so he could go on to study them at college. He often had a great amount of pressure on him to achieve perfect grades and would get shouted at and punished if he did not achieve the grades his parents expected of him. He was brought up in an Indian background and has dark, silky hair with mysterious brown eyes which hold curiosity. He is very tall and wears dark grey jeans and a baseball top in the colours black and white.
  
  

Patrick, Sean, Kate, Jake and Max are all close friends of Jack and Clare. 

The setting: The hotel itself is in an isolated, eerie area and it is surrounded by a creepy graveyard and an extremely old church which is rarely used. This is the same church Jack and Clare got married in at the very beginning of the first episode. The weather is generally dark and gloomy, there is barely any sunlight to represent how the characters are in a mysterious area. The inside of the hotel has long, empty corridors and the windows are boarded up.   The food and drink in order for the characters to survive is stored in the basement. 

Music: I would make use of dramatic, suspensive music that will build up during intense scenes in order to leave my audience at the edge of their seats. When the characters are creeping around the hotel, I would use quiet, piano music because it creates a sense of mystery.

The escape out of the hotel: The first ‘challenge’ the characters will come across is a mysterious, old, black, rusty door which has a numbered code they have to work out in order to unlock the door. The code is all their ages added together however, it takes a very long time for them to figure it out and Jake is the character who eventually realises what they have to do. Once they unlock this door, a long corridor which appears to be never-ending is revealed to which most of the characters are terrified by so only a few decide to venture through in order to find out what lies at the end of the corridor. A new challenge will not be found and instead they appear to be back in the original setting of the hotel so the characters have to search for the new challenge. This is so the dreams and nightmares can still occur and this process will continue until the end of the series with additional obstacles such as ghosts that will always attempt to prevent the protagonist’s from reaching their goals. The other challenges would include: crosswords which require the characters to know a great amount about their past; mazes and intense games which require skill, memory and patience. 

Episodes: The first episode would be called 'the discovery' and the audience will mainly be introduced to the different characters and will get to know more about them regarding their personalities. Within this episode, the characters will realise that they are trapped in the haunted hotel and they are yet to discover the way out. The first characters the audience are introduced to are Jack and Clare, followed by Kate and Amelia. The majority of the episode will consist of Jack, Clare and Kate finding and questioning the other characters and all of them are discovered in their individual hotel rooms apart from Holly. However, no-one realises that there is still another person to be found meaning their new focus is to try and remember their past, their main goal being what their name is; to which none of them succeed. Towards the end of the episode, the characters will hear the sound of a girl screaming which is coming from one of the hotel rooms which they did not spot in the first place. Jack immediately takes charge and leads a few members of the group (Clare, Kate who is still clutching Amelia and Max) to the room and as they get very close, Holly charges out. She is still screaming hysterically and when she notices Amelia, she frantically points at her shouting: “It was you! They’re after you, it was you, it was you!” This is the first ‘foreshadowing nightmare’ of the series which informs Holly that Amelia is going to be taken over by the supernatural forces of the hotel. However, the other characters and audience do not know this yet because the episode will end here as a lot of suspense has been built up meaning the audience will be left wondering what is going to happen next resulting in them wanting to watch the next episode.

The rest of the episodes will vary between certain main topics. Some episodes will focus purely on character development and looking into the characters dreams to discover more about their past and for some, their involvement with the supernatural. Some will focus on the nightmares which foreshadow deaths and possessions that happen within the hotel and the characters attempts to prevent themselves from dreaming them in order to stop the events from occurring. Some episodes will be about the characters escape from the hotel and the various stages within the hotel they have to complete in order to get closer to finding a way out. Of course, many of the episodes will contain a mixture of these main topics. As the episodes develop, new characters will be discovered but this will not be until later in the series in order to give the audience a chance of getting to know the original characters very well so they feel a connection with them.

Development Of My Coursework Idea

What TV shows or films are similar to my idea?

Lost- it uses flashbacks to show the characters past and in my TV show, dreams are used to show the characters past. The characters in lost are trapped on an island and the characters in my TV show are trapped in a haunted hotel.
American Horror Story- the first season, called murder house, is set in a haunted mansion which has several ghosts within it- this is a similar setting to my TV show.
The Shining- It is based in a haunted hotel, in which the male protagonist Johnny becomes possessed due to the supernatural forces within the hotel. As my TV series develops, certain characters will become possessed which has been foreshadowed in people's nightmares.

       

      Were these films/TV shows successful and if so, why?                                                               I have watched both Lost and The Shining and they were both extremely successful due to having well-known actors, outstanding character development and gripping narratives. Lost consisted of six seasons and each one allowed the narrative to develop to an even greater extent, with not one episode being ‘dull’ or ‘boring’. The shining attracted many viewers who are interested in thrillers/horrors that feature paranormal creatures and the film was truly petrifying at times. I discovered American Horror Story when looking through a list of horror TV series on IMDb and after researching further into it on IMDb, I realised that it was a very successful show that is still running which so far consists of four seasons, the first season being set in a haunted mansion.

      
      Who is my audience?

My audience is teenagers ranging from the ages 15-19 because the TV series is post-watershed so certain parts may be un-suitable for people below the age of fifteen. My audience should have previously enjoyed thrillers and horrors, such as the ones listed above, in order for them to enjoy this TV series and I have purposely made the characters young adults in order for the audience to relate and engage with them more. Additionally, my audience consists of both males and females because there is not gender dominance within my characters and the narrative is not aimed at one particular gender. 

What themes are in my TV series?

The themes in my TV series are: entrapment, escape, friendship, love, conflict, teamwork, determination, control and desperation. Entrapment is shown through the characters being trapped within the hotel and their goal is to escape by using teamwork however, love and conflict are major obstacles that at times, prevent the characters from achieving their goal. As the series develops, the characters become desperate to escape out of the hotel but determination is not all they need in order to help them succeed; they need to learn how to control their nightmares in order for deaths and possessions not to happen. Lost, American Horror Story and The Shining share themes that are very similar to these. 

What happens in the opening scene?

The opening scene will start at the wedding where Jack and Clare are saying their wedding vows as they stare lovingly into one another's eyes. After the elderly and quite creepy looking vicar says, “You may kiss the bride” the rest of the wedding will fast forward up until one of the characters wakes up in the hotel. The fast forward scenes will show the wedding reception and the ten friends walking into the mysterious hotel to stay there overnight as the other wedding guests drive home. The audience will firstly be introduced to the married couple, Jack and Clare who suddenly wake up lying next to each other, they do not know they are married due to being wiped of memory therefore are very shocked and disorientated and these emotions are shown by their facial expressions. The first line would be Jack who aggressively says: “who the hell are you, and where am I? Clare would then reply with: “how am I supposed to know, I’m as clueless as you are”.  They would then leap out of bed, apart from each other and slowly begin to investigate around the dark room, full of cobwebs and creaky floorboards and when Jack opens the door and stares down the long, gloomy corridor, they come to the realisation that they are in a hotel as they notice numerous doors with numbers on them. Before they explore any further, Jack and Clare acknowledge that they do not know each other’s names and Clare asks Jack: “So what is your name anyway?” to which Jack responds in an extremely panicked tone: “Damn! I’ve forgotten what my name is! What is up with this hotel, I can’t seem to remember anything”. Clare would then say: “we should probably get out of here right now before strange stuff starts happening”.

Jack and Clare would then slowly creep through the eerie hotel, in order to stay un-noticed, with Jack leading the way until they come across an exit which appears to be jammed shut, not thinking anything of it; they find their way to another exit which is also completely locked. At this point, they begin to panic, especially Clare who immediately begins to expect the worst,  be as they come to the terms that they may be trapped inside the hotel. Their next thought is to attempt to escape through a window so they cautiously walk into a hotel room, which to their dismay has no windows and is lit by a single lamp, to find Kate and Amelia (the single Mother and her baby daughter) sound asleep. Kate is very pale looking due to a rough night and when Clare notices her fully, she screams in terror which causes them both to wake up. Clare continues to scream which results in Kate screaming and Amelia begins to cry hysterically; this only lasts for a short amount of time because Jack shouts at the top of his lungs in a very angry tone: “just be quiet, all of you!” which almost immediately leads to silence. Jack fires questions at Kate, asking what her name is, how she got in the hotel and who Amelia is to which Kate knows none of the answers. Clare and Jack begin to understand that Kate has also lost all of her memory and she is also advised by Clare to: “look after the baby, there is no harm in doing so and we cannot leave her alone in this room”. Jack then suddenly realises that there may be other people who were staying in the hotel the previous night and is very eager to go and search for them in case they know a way out. When he suggests this to Clare and Kate, they are both very apprehensive and argue against Jack’s idea until he pressurises them, in a very forceful manor, to go along with him. He does this by firstly shouting at them, then by threatening them as he shakes his fist; Clare and Kate are frightened by what Jack is doing so reluctantly agree with his idea.The three of them slowly walk out of the room in single file, Kate is holding Amelia as close to her as possible; quiet music plays which is building up as Jack softly calls: “hellooo, is anyone there, hello?”...

I believe that this would be a very effective opening scene because firstly, it informs the audience on why the characters are in the hotel so gives them context, meaning they will be able to understand what is going on. Secondly, it effectively introduces the audience to the two main protagonists: Jack and Clare and they almost immediately get to learn more about their personalities, for example, Jack being aggressive and Clare being easily frightened. The audience are able to realise that the characters have been wiped of memory and are trapped in the hotel with no obvious escape, which in turn should keep them intrigued and wanting to find out more, resulting in them continuing to watch the episode and the rest of the series. Additionally, the setting of the hotel and the rooms within it are shown in the opening scene which gives the audience a clear idea on where the episodes are going to take place however also leaves them wondering if there are hidden places within the hotel as they are only given a small insight into the setting. 

Coursework- Initial Idea For A Teen Horror/ Supernatural Series

First thoughts:

Nightmare or paranormal nightmares: About a group of twenty completely different people who survived a shipwreck (the other people on the ship died) to find themselves washed up onto a haunted island. These people, little do they know, all have some involvement with the supernatural which is the reason for their unusual survival, however they do not know this and the only way they can discover their past is in their dreams. These first nightmares however are foreshadowing a death or possession that will happen to one of the characters and they are not aware of this until two have passed away. The only way for the nightmare not to come true is by not dreaming it, which is almost impossible and the characters have the immense challenge of trying to control their dreams to try and defeat the paranormal forces on the island. At the same time, they still need to discover about their past to understand why they survived the shipwreck and what they can do to help defeat these forces.

Development of this idea:

Instead of being on an island about twenty people surviving a shipwreck, the television series could be based in a haunted hotel. The reason they are in the hotel is because the night before, there was a wedding and the married couple and their closest friends all stayed in the same hotel that night (there were no other guests in the hotel). When they wake up the next morning, they are trapped in the hotel (all the doors are locked) and they have all been completely wiped of memory. The only way they can regain the stories of their past is within their dreams and as the series develops, they and the audience begin to understand that each of the characters have some involvement with the supernatural. However, there are times when a character has a nightmare which foreshadows something awful (e.g. a death or possession) that is going to happen to someone and when they realise this, the characters must find a way of controlling their dreams so the supernatural forces of the hotel do not overcome them completely. The main problem is that the only way for the nightmare not to come true is by not dreaming it but the characters still need to dream about their past to understand why certain things occur in the hotel. There are additional ‘obstacles’ within the hotel such as ghosts (which the characters at some point could be able to interact with) and as the people explore further into the hotel, they discover more and more secrets that lie within it.

In order to find an escape out of the hotel, the characters realise that there are challenges and quests that must be completed, for example, secret mazes and coded puzzles. During the completion of these challenges, characters are killed or they disappear but also new characters are discovered that have been trapped in the hotel ever since they last stayed there.

The title:

·         The title of my television series would be: possessed.

Genre:

·         Supernatural

·         Horror

·         Thriller

The characters:

·         10 characters at the beginning of the first season- all under the age of 25. I have decided that they should be of a young age so the teen audience can easily relate to them. One of the characters is a very young child or baby because people are emotionally affected by children. The receptionists that worked at the hotel have gone missing and later on in the series they are found to be dead or possessed.

·          New characters are found as the series develops, they are slightly older due to being trapped in the hotel for a longer amount of time. These new characters also help the original characters to control their nightmares.

·         Due to being wiped of memory, the couple do not remember getting married and they fall for different people. However, when they realise they got married when they dream about it, arguments begin to occur and there is a lot of drama between the characters.

·         There would be a mixture of both male and female characters- no dominance of one gender in order to make the characters relatable to a male and female audience.

·         We learn more about the characters through their dreams. The first episode will not begin with the wedding but with the characters waking up in the hotel, I am doing this so the audience can share their confusion and so they only know as much as the characters know, therefore helping the audience to engage with them to a greater extent.

Setting:

·         England, in a haunted hotel (called church’s yard hotel) which is surrounded by an old church and a graveyard. The lighting will be dark to create tension and suspense.

Music/sound:

·         During intense scenes, there would be quiet music that gradually builds up creating suspense and to make the audience feel more involved with what is happening. I would also use children’s nursery rhyme music because it is effective as teen audience would find it sinister.

·         I would make use of sound effects such as screaming to alarm the audience.

Technical aspects:

·         It would consist of two or three seasons, each containing 15 episodes.

·         Each episode would be 40 minutes long.

·         Post watershed (after 9:00). 

Grayson Perry: Who Are You

Grayson Perry: Who Are You is a three-part Channel 4 documentary which is distributed by All3Media International.

Who it was made by:

•   Music: Avshalom Caspi
•   Camera: Louis Caulfield, Marcus Plowright
•  Sound: Adam Scourfield
• Production Co-ordinator: David Brooke
• Production Manager: Caroline Turner
• Researcher: Molly Schneider
• Assistant Producer: Marvyn Benoit
• Producer: Juliet Riddell
• Editor: Jake Martin
• Executive Producer: Dinah Lord
• Series Producer: Joe Evans
• Director: Neil Crombie

The documentary that we watched in class is about an artist named Grayson Perry who gets to know four individuals who all struggle or have struggled with their identity. These individuals are Chris Huhne, Rylan Clark, Kayleigh and Jazz.  He discovers more about their personal lives and how they are more to what they appear to be on the outside because it is necessary that he understood who the subjects think they are. From this information, Perry creates a portrait of each of these people which reflects their stories and identity and at the end of the episode, they are able to see these portraits which have been put up in the National Portrait Gallery.

Personally, I really enjoyed this documentary because I like the way it shows the journey of the individuals and how they have changed and developed throughout their life based on the important decisions they have made. I additionally like how Grayson Perry has taken these substantial factors and then embedded them within the portraits because it makes them extremely personal and also reflective on the people’s past and who they are now as an individual. Each portrait is completely different from the next because they are all made from dissimilar mediums and are of contrasting sizes which mirrors the people’s distinctive personalities; this in turn gives the portraits a very high significance because it shows how everyone has a unique identity and a different story.

I believe that this documentary is very clever because it focuses on those who are struggling with defining their identity and who they are or who they were as a person and then towards the end, they have the opportunity to see themselves through the eyes of Grayson Perry. This helps them to understand how they are seen by other people and they themselves can begin to acknowledge who they really are as a person, they are discovering their identity. 

Representation In The Media: Race

Representation In The Media: Gender

BFI London Film Festival- Testament Of Youth

Recently, I went with my AS Media class to the BFI London Film Festival to watch Testament of Youth. I really enjoyed the experience because at the end of the film, the director and producer did a ‘question and answer’ with the audience which gave me a deeper insight into the film and I gained more knowledge on how it was made. Testament of Youth is directed by James Kent and produced by David Heyman and Rosie Alison; it is a UK 2014 film with a running time of 129 minutes. It was filmed in London, Oxford and Yorkshire and the genre is a British drama because it is based on a true story. It is a film adaptation of the memoir ‘Testament of Youth’ written by Vera Brittain who was born in 1893 and it is about her tragic experiences during World War One. She began writing it in November 1929 and it was published in August 1933. It also covers the genres of romance and coming of age because the character of Vera in particular shows a development and change throughout the narrative and the powerful relationship between Vera and Roland is also emphasized. The main characters in the film are Vera Brittain, played by Alicia Vikander; her Brother, Edward Brittain played by Taron Egerton; her Brother’s friend who becomes Vera’s fiancé, Roland Leighton played by Kit Harington; her good friend Victor Richardson, played by Colin Morgan and Vera’s Mother and Father played by Emily Watson and Dominic West.

Testament of Youth is about a twenty year old Woman named Vera Brittain who defeats the parochial views of her parents by winning a scholarship to study at Oxford University after her brother Edward kindly persuaded their Father to let her sit the entrance exam. She falls in love with Edward’s close friend, Roland who got a place at Oxford along with Vera; however once Edward signs up to fight in the war, with the help of Vera informing Mr Brittain that it is the right move for him to make, Roland follows in his steps and also signs up, to which Vera then decides to postpone her studies at Oxford. She volunteers as a military nurse and experiences the devastating injuries and deaths of the brave British and German soldiers and from there on, her life changes completely as she gradually loses the most important Men in her life. Near the beginning of the film, it shows Vera swimming in a lake and she is soon joined by Edward and Roland, they are all laughing and having an enjoyable time together, creating memories of their friendship. At the end of the film, Vera is shown swimming in the same lake but she is alone. She is alone because both Edward and Roland passed away in the war, despite their struggle to stay safe and alive for Vera and their families. I believe this scene was used because that lake was the last memorable place that Vera had of spending time with Edward and Roland whilst they were all content and not involved in the war and she wanted to remember them in a positive way. She is shown to be swimming off into the distance, portraying her as hopeful for a brighter future, as if she is escaping and clearing her mind from all the disastrous events that have occurred in her life since World War One.

Testament of Youth follows a non-linear narrative because at the very beginning of the film, everyone is celebrating the end of WW1, shouting, cheering and proudly waving the British flag but this scene is also used towards the end of the film after the war has been shown and I think this was done for a reason. As the people are extremely enthusiastic that the war is over, Vera is struggling to make her way through the crowds and she seems to be upset and angry. At the beginning, the audience may wonder why this is and it is only nearer the end of the film that you realise she is so wistful due to the deaths of Edward, Roland and also Victor that she cannot feel happy about the end of the war and she feels that it would be wrong to celebrate.

There are many strong themes displayed in Testament of Youth, two important ones being hope and aspiration. Vera aspired to receive a place at Oxford University and to have a very successful career as a writer in the future. However, after Edward and Roland signed up, this changed because she became a nurse in the hope that she would save lives and be as close to the two men as possible. This was an extremely brave thing for Vera to do because she had to leave behind her dreams and what she had worked towards for such a long time. Her final hopes were that Edward, Roland and Victor would be safe, which is what made their deaths as heart-breaking as they were because the audience connected with the pain Vera experienced to lose her loved ones and her reactions to their deaths greatly emphasized the emotions that she was going through. Other major themes include passion and devotion because despite Vera only knowing Roland for a short amount of time; the love shown between the two of them is immensely powerful and they display a great amount of affection towards one another. Roland shows passion towards Vera when he proposes to her on the beach when he comes home on leave because they both wanted to take their relationship further and it highlights how much he cares for her. Roland also shows devotion towards the war because he wanted to represent Britain and make his country proud so he devoted himself to being a soldier rather than studying at Oxford University with Vera. Additionally, war and conflict are the more obvious themes displayed in the film as they are what the narrative is based upon. However, conflict is not just showed during the war, it is also shown between Vera and her Father at the beginning of the film when he buys her a piano rather than paying the fees for a place at Oxford because he believes it is pointless for a Woman like Vera who can easily get married.

I believe that the cinematography in Testament of Youth was very well thought out and it was to an extremely high quality. For example, when Vera is rushing through the crowds whilst the end of WW1 was being celebrated, handheld camera action was being used to emphasize how chaotic the atmosphere was and to make the audience feel as if they were there with her, making the scene more realistic. This method was used throughout the film such as when the nurses had to deal with a large mass of war victims all at the same time and the handheld, shaky camera showed the panic and urgency the nurses and soldiers must have been feeling. Many close ups were used to show the emotions of the characters. For example, when Vera receives the call informing her that Roland has passed away, a close up is used to show her immediate, shocked reaction and then the tears streaming down her face. Close ups are also used of the wounded soldiers so the audience can understand the immense pain they went through and the amount of courage they had. The contrast between life at university and life as a nurse in the war is shown through sound. Whilst Vera was at Oxford, there was little background noise and the environment she was in seemed very peaceful whereas when she was working as a nurse, there was often shouting or cries of pain in the background, highlighting the intensity of the job. I also noticed that there was a lot of dark lighting throughout Testament of Youth and this may have been because there were many traumatizing moments within the film therefore, the darkness helps the audience to understand the negativity that is surrounding the majority of the characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed Testament of Youth because I found the narrative easy to get into and I was able to connect strongly with a lot of the characters. I also found it very emotional due to the themes being extremely powerful and touching and every actor put on a realistic and believable performance. In the ending credits the message: ‘In loving memory of Edward Brittain, Roland Leighton and Victor Richardson’ was shown and this really helped the me to understand how all these events regarding the characters in the film have occurred in real life and how we should never forget all the courageous soldiers that served for their country in the war. 

1YA Magazine

Our task was to produce a magazine in groups and we were given a week to make it. The members of our group were Romilly, Fran, Caitlin, Jonnie, Kairo, Shafik and myself. These were our individual roles:

Editors: Romilly and I
Front cover: Romilly and Fran
Contents page: Fran
Advertisements: Fran
Film article: Caitlin
Sports article: Jonnie
Fashion article: Kairo
Technology/games article: Shafik
Health article: Myself

Before we designed our magazine, we looked through a variety of magazines such as Woman's Health to gain information on different layouts, article types and front covers. By doing this, we also felt more prepared and inspired.

The front cover was designed on Photoshop and I believe it was very successful due to the bright colours and unique style used which makes it eye-catching and visual. We decided to name the magazine '1YA' because that is part of the Coulsdon College postcode so it makes it more personal to us and it links in with our target audience which are people aged 16-19 and this is the age range of students studying at the College. All of the articles were made on  Microsoft Word and I feel that they were all very well written and we have covered a wide range of topics with our choice of articles.

My particular tasks were to write two articles based on the theme of health and to help with the editing of the magazine. I chose to write about sexual health for the first article and nutritious recipes for the second article because these are topics that interest our target audience and are what many 16-19 year old's look for in a health article. For the sexual health article, I used the NHS website as my source to insure that my facts were correct and to gain the numbers for different helplines that I could use. For the food article I mainly wrote the recipes from personal experience however I used some recipe books for information about ingredient amounts. I chose to use recipes that were very simple as well as healthy because it is aimed at students who are unlikely to have the time to make complex meals. Overall, I am very pleased with my health articles because they are informative, easy to read and relevant to our target audience. My role when it came to editing was to read over everyone's articles to make sure there were no spelling errors or general mistakes and also to insure they looked similar and did not have a completely different layout to one another.
                                                                                                   

Here, you can see that I have used colours that have connotations of 'sexual health' such as pink and red and I think this is important because it gives the audience a clearer idea on what the article is going to be about just by looking at the colours.

I have separated my article into columns to make it simple to read and each section is on a different topic. For example, the health and advice section is separate from the alcohol and sex section. By doing this, the reader can easily find what they are looking for within the article.

  

I believe that the header for this article is simple but effective because there is not too much writing and the image of the fruit adds vibrancy and lets the audience know that the topic is going to be food.

                                                                                                                     


I decided to do a recipe for breakfast, lunch and dinner because it provides more of a variety for the audience and it is quite unique because I had not seen this idea being used in any of the magazines I looked at. I insured that I included vegetarian options and also a picture of each meal so the reader gets a deeper insight into the recipe.                




The magazine evaluation:

What went well?
Each article fitted in well with one another and after editing them together, the layouts were similar which helped to create a theme within our magazine. Also, each article had images, making them appealing to look at and colourful which links in with our bright front page. The overall feel to our magazine was very professional and looking at other magazines before designing ours definitely helped us to achieve that. Everyone in my group worked well together as a team, meaning that everyone knew what tasks they had to do, resulting in us completing the magazine to a high quality.

What would I improve if we were to do it again?
If we were given longer than a week to make our magazine, I feel it could have been much better as there would be a greater amount of content and advertisements which in turn would make the magazine look more 'complete'. We would also have enough time to add more articles such as ones based on music or gossip which would make '1YA' appeal to a larger number of people within our target audience.

Presentation On Shot Sizes And Sequences

Love Does Grow On Trees

'Love does grow on trees' is a short film that I watched in class. It is both written and directed by Bevan Walsh.

It is about a boy named Danny who embarrassingly discovers pornographic magazine cut-outs and girls at the same time, so has to make a choice between the two of them. During the film, Danny discovers a large tree which appears to magically grow these images. Before he meets the girl who he really likes, he may have considered the images as 'love' because he did not know any better; therefore, he unrealistically believed that love does grow on trees. The title itself is a pun of the phrase "money doesn't grow on trees". This may have been done to represent how finding true love is not as easy as Danny thinks it is and in order to find true love, you have to get rid of the obstacles that are preventing you from reaching that goal.

This short film was set before sites on the internet were available for everyone, so for Danny to find these pornographic images was quite rare and he got over-excited possibly because he was still young. I think the genre of 'Love does grow on trees' is a romantic coming of age because Danny is growing up and discovering new things, so it is his transition from a young boy to a teenager.

Overall, I enjoyed this film because it was interesting to see the emotions Danny felt when choosing between a girl and adult magazines. Also I found that the clever use of sound was fascinating and effective. For example, when Danny enters the woods and finds the large tree, the music is very fantasy like to show that a situation like this is not realistic and that he feels as if he is dreaming.