Life on Mars: Audience + Industry

Life on mars is a typical crime/sci-fi British television series which broadcasted in 2006. There was a poster and a trailer that helped to promote the tv shows and helps to attract an audience. The trailer began with an introduction to the main character, Sam Tyler who is played by Jon Simm, who was famous for appearing in various other BBC Dramas like State of plays and The Lakes. The trailer is a voiceover from Sam Tyler, who introduces himself as a character and explains his predicament to the audience. This allows the audience to be prepared for watching the main episode, they will go into, having a full understanding of the main plot of the episode, which is that Sam has travelled back in time. The Music used in the trailer is a 70s rock song called Immigrant Song, by Led Zeppelin. The music is from the era of the setting of the Tv shows which is the 70s. The editing pace matches the main tempo of the music, which appeals to a mainstream audience and attracts them to watch the tailer. The music helps to engage with audience, if the trailer didn't contain any music then it would be dull and boring and would attract less of an audience.

From the main trailer the audience can easily identify the main genres of the series, by conventions shown in the trailer.  We can connote that is a crime show, because of the blue police siren and the use of the phrase 'DCI'. Also we can identify that it a SCI-FI, show aw well, due to the transformation of the modern car to 70s style car. The poster contains the main character Sam Tyler and co- star Gene Hunt, which is the man in charge at the police office. It is full body of them both standing in-front, of a classic 70s car. Sam is dressed in 21st century style clothes, whereas Gene Hunt is dressed in 70s style clothing, which connotes what time periods they are both from. The poster also features a positive review from a trusted media company 'radio times'.

Post-Modernism in Life on Mars

Intertextuality- The title 'Life on Mars' is in reference to the David Bowie song 'Life on Mars', with the song and the main set of the tv show is from the 70s. The title coyotes a sci-fi genre theme. 

Parody- References to English 70s cop shows like The Sweeney 

Hyperreality- Sam is stuck in his own hyper reality, made up of his own thoughts and memories based on past TV shows that he is watched. 0 

Irony- The whole episode is based on irony created by facts that it deals with an unlikely event, that is based on mirroring hiss real life. It is also ironic because he is stetted about his ex-partner being dead or kidnapped, but he then puts his own life in danger by nearly crashing his car and then stepping into the road. 

Ambiguity- The idea behind the characters that he meets in his dreams, is so he can learn a lesson and realise his true feelings. It is ambitious as we don't know why he has ended up in 1973 and how he is going to get out. 

Reflexivity- 

Life On Mars

In the first episode of life in mars, they use many conventions of the crime and sci-fi drama. For example, the main convention of crime, is a police investigation, this is the first thing that we see. We see a traditional, cop asking for the criminal to open the door scene, and a classic chase scene, then we have a police interrogation, where the main suspect is interviewed. The female cop then chases down the criminal and harm comes to her, this a classic convention of crime, a damsel in distress, and the ongoing enigma , that the main character will have to solve.

The Bridge

The bridge is a Scandinavian-noir crime television series, set in Sweden/ Denmark. Every crime drama will have some of these character archetypes.

• the investigator- Saga- she is the main detective in the show, she is determined at solving the cases and likes to get the job done, she is good at what she does, but often struggles with forming relationships and attachments with her co-workers
• Sidekick- Saga doesn't really have a sidekick, she has a partner, who is made out to be her rival and they don't like each other, they are from different backgrounds and have different personalties.In season 1 and 2, she has a male sidekick, who is older, she forms a close friendship with him, but she grassed on him as he commuted murder, this shows that for her law trumps friendship. 
• Most crime drams have a boss, who follows the rules, and always have a soft spot for the main character, and tries to keep them out of trouble. This is the same in The bridge. The boss is an older make, who looks out for Saga, and is often concerned for her mental wellbeing. 
• In this particular episode of the bridge, there is no Main Villain outlined, but there our murder suspects, The victims son, has had run ins with Saga and her partner, and has annoyed Saga, as he caused the partner very serious injuries 

Nordic Noir is Scandinavian sub-genre of crime. It generally features dark topics and filmed in the night, it is used in The bridge.  Nordic noir tv shows, regularly include the following conventions, Stylised murder, which is used in The bridge, as the victim is placed in a dinner party scene accompanied with other dolls. The characters  usually the programme, for example they're being a lot of dialogue, and the characters have huge personalities, that dominate the episode. There are also often social issues are often explored, for example Saga is interpreted in being autistic, judged by her lack of emotions and feeling for other people, for example her taking her top off infront of male co-workers. 

Mirror Vs Times

A large business corporation that is comprised of a range of different parts or smaller businesses	Conglomerate
This is when a Media Company owns different businesses in the same chain of production and distribution.	Vertical Integration
This literally means ‘to work together’ and is where one form of media product ‘cross sells’ another form of media product to their mutual advantage of increasing sales/audiences.	Horizontal Integration
This means  that there is a diversity of viewpoints available and consumed across and within the media industries and prevents any one media owner or voice having too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda.
This is the process of how the media product gets to its audience after production	Distrubtion
This is when a sector of the media industry such as newspapers is dominated by one or a small number of large organisations.
This is where a media company tries to maximise its power and profit by combining elements of its business into a more concentrated and more effective model.
This is the process of a company expanding its media production in the same area of media. For example, one newspaper company buying another newspaper company. This can happen by internal expansion, merger or takeover and can lead to a monopoly.
This is where two or more companies, usually of similar size, combine to form a larger single company.
This is where a larger company buys a smaller company
This is the combination of different areas of the media coming together to maximise profit

Monopoly                                Plurality                                 

                         Vertical integration                Horizontal integration

Takeover                                 Merger                                    Synergy

Convergence                           Consolidation

The Daily Mirror is a Tabloid newspaper, They are normally left wing and try to appeal to a younger and a lower class audience. The Daily Mirror was hugley against the appointment of President Trump.  They Covered a 13 page spread all against Donald Trump. They use a heading of 'Are we heading for world war' which connotes that president trump will be the start of a world war. They included pictures and graphs to highlight their opinion. The Times are a right wing newspaper, so they appeal to a middle and upper class audience, therefore they have to be sophisticated with their language and images. The times are owned by Rupert Murdoch, therefor all the forms of media he owns will cover the Donald trump story, for example 

Newspapers

 Analysing Newspapers

This Daily Mirror front page story captivates us with the main image that is attracting the audience. The main image is a figure of 'the statute of Liberty' with her hands over her face, which connotes disappointment and regret. As soon as the audience see this iconic American landmark, the audience quickly think America. The image has the connotations of destruction and despair due to the background image of explosions and damage. From the image we can implies that the daily mirror are against and anti-bias to  Donald Trump. The headline 'It's President Trump....' finishes the ellipse which means that there will be follow up statement, it is followed by the disappointed statute and the rhetorical question, 'what have they done?' The paper exaggerates how bad Donald Trump is.  The pull quote gives us more information on what the full article will be about and what the writers really think. The newspaper persuades a particular group of people to read this paper and those people, are people who are anti- Trump. if the writer has the same opinions as a reader they are more likely to buy the paper. 

The front cover also have a plug which is about the Croydon tram crash that killed 7 people. It was a devastating event which resulted in death. So it was odd that Trump's story had more proximity and attention then the tram crash that resulted in death. Which shows that the paper think that politics is more important that people dying. America is the elite nation that is getting all the attention in this paper. 

The Daily Mirror is Tabloid Newspaper, which means it wants an all age audience. This Front cover has more image than text, which makes it captivating and intriguing for a younger audience. The daily Mirror is owned by 'reach plc' which is one of Britans biggest newspapers publishers.
The Daily Mirror have normally supported the labour party, in the worst they have encouraged they reader to vote for Labour in general elections. Daily Mirror is a left wing side newspaper. Which means they support freedom, equality, multiculturalism and are often liberal.  So often they will support these connotations.

The front cover persuades people to buy the newspaper so they can learn more about the trump fiasco, as the front cover doesn't include any substantial text or information about the matter.  Also the puff piece of the tram story will attract viewers to buy the paper so they can also find out information about the incident. However this could be ineffective, as most people will use the internet to find out information about the incident online instead of wasting money on the paper.

The times also covered the Trump election, but in the opposite way, they showed support and praise to the president. They gave him the whole front cover with no other blurbs or stories on the front cover. They gave him the background on the American flag, which shows country support and unity, and support tot he country, connoting that the county is going in the right direction , in contrast to the daily mail, saying that the county will go to shreds. This indicates that both newspapers have different opinions and are both politically biased on different sides. The Daily Mirror is a left wing paper, which evident by the opinion on trumps views. Famously The times are a right wing newspapers, who Amy have extreme political views.

B-  Ofcom are in charge and are responsible for creating all UK broadcasting channels and newspaper industries.  The regulate all the articles and papers and accept and answer peoples complaints.


Extension-

The Daily Express are a right wing newspaper, which means that they are more likely to side with Donald Trump, which is evident to this Headline 'Trump Boost for EU exit' which emphasises that they see Donald trump as an ally and it is an positive thing that he has being elected.  It also implies that they side for Brexit.

Daily Express is also a tabloid paper with the same sort of format. However we have a smaller less empowering image than the Mirror's image, which means it is less serious than the Daily Mirror. Both newspapers have similar approach to personalise the article to their reader. The Mirror say ' what it means to you' which is negative. The Express say that it will have a good effect on us.

Radio Industry

The radio and Tv industry has evolved throughout the years, there are more formats that they are broadcasted are shown. Radio can now be broadcasted live or downloaded through podcasts. Radio broadcasts are like BBC radio 1 and Smooth Radio. They are designed to entertain and help the public when they are out and about, for example in the car, or people may listen to them in their houses or at work. There are live radio stations that meet the BBC remit of Inform entertain and educate. There are BBC radio stations that appeal to everyone, There is BBC Radio 1 and 1 Extra for young adults and teenagers, there is Radio 3 that play classical music for the older generation, and CBeebies station for kids. Broadcasting is good because it is free to use and is available on any device and is Live so people can experience at the same time, and discuss their experiences. However because its Live people may miss the programme they wanted to watch, for example they miss woman hour in the morning due to working hours. Podcasts are available for people to download and have a better range for people to explore. Podcasts are mainly for mobile phones, therefore the older generation who don't have smart phones can't listen too them.

Commercial radio stations gain money by advertisements, they usually try to appeal to a younger audience, for example capital and XTRA. They often play music for all sort of people. BBC radio stations are examples of public service broadcasting. OFCOM require public broadcasters like BBC to provide shows that meet their remit, which is to show programmes that will educate, entertain and inform. This is because the BBC is funded by TV license, that is paid for by the public who own TV'S.

The BBC is a public broadcasting service that nationally broadcasts tv shows, films, online content and radio. It was founded in 1922, it started with one radio broadcasting service. In 1937 the first BBC television show opened. In 1946 the first woman based radio show 'woman hour'. In 1967 BBC expanded to two television programmes now there is more than a dozen television, radio and online BBC services.  Their mission to use creative communication and trusted media to help people have a voice.

The BBC also have international services like BBC Arabic and BBC America. They do this so everyone from the world can enjoy there services, for example Eastenders and Doctor Who.