Gender in TV Drama

Stereotypes of Men-

One of the many stereotypes of men is that they should be strong and powerful, both mentally and physically. The men are normally the people who 'save the day' and are mainly shown to be the most powerful out of the two genders. They may be the one to look after the women and to protect them. 

• An example The Doctor who is the main character out of Doctor Who. In each episode, the doctor is faces with a problem and is able to get through it and save a lot of people. His character is strong and very powerful.
• A counter type of this is Ian Beale who is a character out of Eastenders. Ian is known for being a pushover and can easily be controlled by other characters. He is used to being bullied into things by characters that are stronger than him and have a lot more power than him.

Another stereotype of men is 'the joker'. This may be a popular character and they are the person who provides the humour. This is either through people laughing at them or with them. This gives the impression that all men should be funny and entertaining most or all of the time. It also means that people may think that men are not allowed to be down or serious.

• An example of this is Dennis who is a character out of Hollyoaks. He is happy and funny the majority of the time. He is always the one who tries to make everyone around him happy and doesn't like to see people sad. 
• A counter type is Patrick out of Hollyoaks. Patrick does not seem to have any sense of humour and never appears to be funny or at least laugh. He is very serious and does not like jokes or anyone to say anything about him even if it may not be serious.

A stereotype of men in TV dramas is that they should be independent and not rely on anybody for anything. They should be able to make their own choices and be fully independent. This gives the impression that all men should be like this and they shouldn't listen to anyone else when making decisions.

• An example is The Doctor from Doctor Who. The Doctor is very independent and makes his own decision on the choices that he has to make. He does not rely on anyone and travels alone a lot of the time. 
• A counter type is Alfie Moon from Eastenders. Alfie tries his best to be able to provide for his family and try to do the best for them. However, nothing really works out for him and he finds himself having to try and get loans and try and begging people for jobs. He is not a character that is known for saving the day but the one who needs saving.

A lot of men in TV dramas are attractive and are physically fit. This gives the image that all men should look like this and may put a lot of pressure on men to do this. This also may mean that women now look at the men on TV and think that the men that they see everyday should look this way and expect them too.

• A example of this stereotype is Dodger out of Hollyoaks. A lot of people are attracted to Danny Mac, the actor, however, the show makes sure that they dress Dodger in a way that will show of his muscles and will therefore make him more attractive to the audience.
• A counter type of this stereotype is Phil Mitchell. Phil Mitchell needs to be unattractive so that he can be seen as scary and intimidating. If he was attractive, he may not be able to play this role as well as people tend to think that attractive people are nicer than unattractive people.

Stereotypes of Women-

One of the stereotypes of women in TV drama is the 'dumb blonde'. This is the character that some actresses get which means they have to act a lot less clever than they actually are. The 'dumb blonde' does not have much common sense and normally can not do tasks that a lot of people can do. This gives the impression that a lot of women are like this and that all blondes are stupid.

• An example of this stereotype in Hollyoaks is Theresa McQueen. This character is the stereotypical dumb blonde. She is presented with no common sense and acts as though she is stupid. She also has the image of the typical dumb blonde who is of course blonde, very pretty and who wears a lot of makeup.
• A counter type is Piper Chapman who is the main character out of Orange Is The New Black. At first, you get the impression that Piper may fit into this category but as we watch as we see more of her character we realise that she is in fact the complete opposite. She is very intelligent and can solve problems that most people may not be able to solve.

Another stereotype of women is the housewife. These are the women who stay at home all day and look after the children whist the husband it out at work. The housewife makes sure that all of the housework is done and makes food for the whole family. This gives the impression that this is how family life should be and that the women should not work and not earn her own money.

• An example of this Maxine who is a character from Hollyoaks. Maxine is forced to stay at home all day and do the housework whilst her husband goes to his job all day. Patrick, her husband, does not allow Maxine to get a job or go outside therefore forcing her to stay in and be a housewife.
• A counter type is Grace Black from Hollyoaks. This is because Grace owns her own business and works to earn her own money. She is not reliant on anyone else and does never intend to be. She has a husband who works for her so is the complete opposite of the stereotypical housewife.

A lot of women in TV dramas also tend to be attractive and appealing towards the opposite sex. They are pretty and are also physically fit. This puts pressure on women because they believe that they should look like this. Similarly, it makes men think that women should look like the women on TV.

• An example of this is Rose out of Downton Abbey. Rose is very pretty and men in the programme as well as out are attracted to her. 
• A counter type of this stereotype is Heather who is a character out of Eastenders. She is purposely made not be attractive towards men. This is through the way that she looks and dresses.

Another example of women in TV drama is that they are quite mentally weak and are unable to make their own decisions and choices. They normally rely on men to make the choices for them as they do not want to make them for themselves. They also tend to be quite emotional and weak willed. 

• An example of this is Maxine out of Hollyoaks. Maxine has been made to be mentally weak by her husband, Patrick, and has to make sure he is OK with her choices before she does anything. She is able to be controlled by Patrick and does not want to do anything that will not be alright with him. She always seeks his approval and he always tells her what to do.
• A counter type is Red who is a character out of Orange Is The New Black. Red is a prisoner but works as a chef inside of the prison. She likes this job as it gives her power over the other inmates. She runs the kitchen therefore being able to control the inmates that work inside the kitchen alongside Red. Red also has power as she is able to choose the meals and therefore control what the whole of the prison will eat.

How Gender Is Represented Through The 4 Areas of Textual Analysis-

(Game of Thrones)

Camera Shots

Close Up:

The first shot that we see is a close up of the first character. Here we are given a clear opportunity to get a true look at what the character looks like. However, he has his head bowed a little and his hair is covering his face. This means that we are unable to see his face clearly and we are unable to see what he looks like. This is adding mystery to the character as he is hiding behind his hair. We automatically get the feeling that this man is not as powerful as the other men that we see in the rest of the clip. This turns out to be because he is being questioned for a murder. By him initially hiding behind his hair, this may be a way of telling the audience that he has something to hide.

Low angle:We are then presented with a low angle shot of two different characters. Showing them in a low angle shot is automatically showing that these men have the power. This is because we are below them and have to look up to see them. They are therefore looking down on everybody else which is giving them more authority and respect. As we can see, both of these characters with the power are men. This may show that only men had the power when this drama was set. We get this feeling because we do not see women that are asking the questions and controlling the situation.
Establishing Shot:
There is an establishing shot that shows the whole of the scene with clearly shows all of the characters that are shown in this scene. Here we see mostly men, the men are the judges, the person who is being prosecuted is a man and it looks like the audience consists of primarly men. This shows that this time era is male dominated and these where the people that where seen as the most important. We can only see a few women that may be seen as important, however, these women are hardly seen and are hided behind objects meaning that even though they are shown to be higher than the public, they are still not that important. Also, here we can clearly see that the man who is being questioned is little has to stand on a step ladder to be able to see over where he has to stand.
Mid Shot:
This is the first shot where we properly see a women, and we see two. By presenting them this late into the clip, it may be representing the thought of women not being as important to men. However, as she is sat on a chair and the camera is a little low, we get the feeling that she may be an important female, more important than the crowd of people that are sat further down in the room. This shot has been used to show her facial expressions to what the man who is being prosecuted is saying, which looks like disgust and confusion.


Editing
Conversation:
When there is a conversation between Tyrion and the man that is in charge, there is cross cutting. This is where the camera is going from one shot to another, in this case the two men. This is clearly showing them talking to each other but in  a way that allows us to see their facial expressions whilst they are talking. Even though both of these men are not equal because one of them are being prosecuted, the camera angles are kept the same between the two to show that they are both dominant and will not back down.



Sound
Crowd:
When the shot changes to the establishing shot to show the crowd, there is also a lot of noise where the crowd are all angry with what the man who is being prosecuted is saying. This is the first piece of loud noise that we hear because before it was silent with just the one man talking. Here, we hear a mix of both men and women which is shocking because we can mostly only see men. This may be trying to show that women are louder than men and can make a lot of noise if it is for something that they strongly disagree with.
Quiet:
The crowd of people stop talking as soon as the man, who looks like he may be the one that is in charge of this case, starts talking. This is showing the true power that this man has over everybody if he can make everyone start talking as soon as he starts. This may also show that everybody wants to hear what he has to say and therefore respects him and they would not have stopped talking otherwise.
Music:
There is haunting music played after Tyrion says ' I demand a trial by combat'. Whilst this music is playing, it showing the faces of all of the characters that are not in the crown. They all looks worried and concerned. Over this music you can also hear the crowd making noise. The music is used to show that no good is going to come out of his decision. This is showing the true power behind this man because he is deciding what he wants for himself showing that even men that would have been seen as low, are still more powerful than the rest of the people that are in the room. The music comes to a sudden stop as soon as the scene has ended.



Mise-en-Scene
Lighting:
The lighting of the set are candles, and these are the only things that are keeping the room lit up. This automatically shows the time scale and how old this setting is meant to be. The scene is therefore dark as they are inside and candles are not that powerful.
Costumes:
All of the clothing in the clip is old fashioned and traditional because of the time era this clip is from. However, you are able to clearly make out the difference in clothing between the men and the women. The men are all wearing traditional smart clothing that consist of trousers and then a top or a coat. However, all of the women that are shown are wearing traditional dresses. This shows that all men and women would dress in a certain way and were probably expected to wear dresses if you were a woman and trousers if you were a man.

How Gender Links To The Other 6 Areas Of Representation-

Age

Genders are shown in all ages. This is from babies up to old age. However, how they are shown may be different. The way that the characters may be portrayed may differ in their age group because of their gender. For example, for the representation of teenagers, male characters may be funnier, braver, get drunk more, etc. where as female characters may be represented in a way to show that they hang out with friends, talk about boys, obsess about make-up, and so on.

Ethnicity

Both genders are shown as being all different kinds of ethnicity. This is so the show is able to be diverse and not to exclude anyone. If the show presented only one ethnicity then the show would not be a true representation of the modern world and would therefore not be realistic.

Sexuality

Gender is now not an issue in sexuality. It is now shown that both sexes are able to be attracted to either gender. Gender obviously plays a role in sexuality but is not an issue. Women can be attracted to both men and women the same way in which men can be attracted to men and women also. TV Dramas are sure to include all sexuality's in the programmes to ensure that all types of people are included and nobody is excluded.

Class and Status

Men are likely to be shown as to have a higher class and status. This is because they are stereotypically known to be the gender that is better and more powerful of the two. They are seen to be more successful and would therefore have a higher class and status.

In poor families on TV, there is normally a single mother with her children. She struggles to provide for her children and has to work long days. It is rarely shown that a single dad is poor and struggles to provide for his children. This shows that women are shown to have a lower class and status than men. 

Physical Ability/Disability

Men are normally shown to be the more able of the two genders. This means that the women are most likely to be the characters to be shown as having a disability. There is sometimes a mix and men will have disabilities, however, stereotypically, the men are the gender that are more physically able. This may even been through simple tasks that men can do and not women.

Regional Identity

Men are normally shown to have a stronger, distinctive accent and women are more likely to speak in received pronunciation. This because women are more likely to be judged on the way that they talk, whereas men are not as likely to be and they will speak how it comes to them naturally.

Why Did Dredd Flop at the Box Office

Beyoncé Analysis

Camera Shot

Close up- At the beginning of the video and throughout there is a close up of Beyoncé with a black background. This shows her in a way that makes her look sweaty which is trying to be used to make her sexual and attractive to men. The close up makes the viewers attention go straight to Beyoncé and make the audiences focus on her and what she looks like. She is also moving slowly which is meant to be used to be seductive towards men. As her hair is coving the straps of her dress, we get the impression that she is naked as we cannot see any items of clothing on her. This is yet again another way to try and make men attract to her and to draw the audiences attention onto her.

Mid-Shot- There is a mid-shot that shows Beyoncé with a black background. This shows the top of her dress to the top of her head, the dress that she is wearing is gold. The colour of the dress has connotations of luxury, indulgence and winning a prize. This makes the audience then think of Beyoncé as some of the things associated with the colour gold. It may give the impression to the audience that she is the top prize that you can win. The black background also makes the audience completely focus on Beyoncé as you are unable to see anything else. She is also looking straight into the camera which is making her connect with the audience.

Extreme Close Up- There is an extreme close up of her lips which is used to be seductive towards men.  Her lips are open which represents the sexual nature of the video.

Long Shot- There is a long shot that shows Beyoncé's whole body. She also is holding a sheet that is being moved in show motion. This may be to try and represent bed sheets which would then link to her being sexual. The lighting is dark in the shot which means that you are unable to see her completely. She is wearing little clothing which is objectifying her and using the male gaze.

Editing

Fade in- At the beginning of the video there is a fade in from black to a close up of Beyoncé. This is used to show a slow and smooth transition at the start of the video. This is another way to pull the audiences attention to Beyoncé as it goes from darkness to only being able to see her. A slow fade in is used because the music video is slow and relaxed so it is used to give a beginning judgement of the film.

Fade out- At the end of the video there is a close up of Beyoncé that fades out to darkness. This makes the music video end in a way that creates a full circle. This is because the beginning is darkness that fades in to a close up of Beyoncé.

Slow Motion-There is a shot in the video that is in slow motion. This is where she is holding the sheet above her head. This is in slot motion to emphasis that moment and to make it look softer. It is to uses to make the short clip longer and to therefore make more people pay attention to it and focus on that minute for longer.

Sound

'Make love to me'- This is a line in the song that is repeated a lot throughout the music. This line makes it sound as though she is demanding someone to make love to her which could be seen as power. Although, it could also been seen as though she is desperate as she has to tell someone.
Soundtrack- Overall, the music and song in general is slow and soft. This is because the song is meant to be a love song to her partner meaning that having it slower and softer is more fitting. Having it slow, also means that you are able to hear and understand all of the words that are sang by Beyoncé. This gives us a deeper feeling for the song and can make us understand what the song is about. As the lyrics are of a sexual nature, this automatically makes the song sexual and can also make Beyoncé be seen as an object.

Mise-en-Scene 

Black Background- For a lot of the clips in the music video there is a black background behind Beyoncé. This is used to make all of the audience attention go to Beyoncé. This is so we can see her actions and the way she looks. It also means that people are more likely to focus the music rather than what is happening in the video. The darkness of the background also adds to the simplicity of the song and exaggerates the lyrics, meaning that the love she has is simple and special. 
Shiny- Beyonce is presented in a way throughout this video that makes her look wet and sweaty. This is being used to seduce the audience and to make the video more sexual. This is because how she looks, together with the music, is making us believe that she has just been doing things of a sexual nature. This may attract more men to watch the video and listen to the song because of this reason.
Water- There are parts within the video that contain water falling down glass with Beyoncé pushed up against it. Her hands are against the glass and all  you can see are some features on Beyoncé's face, such as eyes and mouth, making this an extreme close up. The water running down the glass makes us think that she is in a shower. This is therefore making the audience question what she is doing in the shower. Also, the eyes and the lips are considered to be the sexual features of the face, which are the features that are focused on in this part of the video. This is another way to sexualise Beyoncé and use the male gaze.
Colour- There is a lot of colour used without a scene in the video. This is when the man is holding Beyoncé. There are flashes of different colour that look a lot like soft and blurry fireworks. Fireworks are used to refer to the action of them 'making fireworks'. This is another way to sexualise Beyoncé and make her more attractive towards men. 
Costumes- All of the clothes that Beyoncé is wearing are skin coloured which gives the impression that she is naked. This objectifies Beyoncé as people then see her as an object rather than a person. The outfits are to further emphasis the lyrics that go with the video. This adds to the male gaze as the first impression that the audience gets is that she is naked which would therefore make men want to carry on watching. They are also quite sexual and revealing which would attract the opposite sex more, according to the idea of the male gaze.

Dredd

Producer (include green light)
Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich where the producers for Dredd. Alex Garland is also was part of the making for Never Let Me Go, 28 Days Later, Big Game and other popular films as well as different things throughout the media. Andrew Macdonald also produced Sunshine on Leith, The Sweeney, Sunshine and other popular films as well as also doing things throughout the media. Allon Reich is also known for Never Let Me Go and 28 Weeks Later as well as other films such as The Last King of Scotland.

Distributor

Dredd had a lot of distributors that distributed this film all over the world, some of these being, Alfa Films, Argentina, Broadmedia Studios, Japan, Entertainment Film Distributors, the UK, and Golden Village Pictures, Singapore.


Script writer

Alex Garland, who was also the Producer.

Budget

$50,000,000

Box office gross

$13,401,683

Director & Actors

Director- Pete Travis. He is also known for directing films such as Vantage Point, Omagh and Endgame.

Main Actors- Karl Urban, who plays Dredd, Lena Headly, who plays Ma-Ma and Olivia Thirlby, who plays Anderson.
Karl Urban is also known for Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Trek and The Bourne Supremacy.
Lena Headly is also known for 300, Game of Thrones and The Purge.
Olivia Thirlby is also known for Juno, No Strings Attached and The Darkest Hour.

Marketing (posters, trailers, adverts,websites)

There is a website that is made for people to feel as though they are part of the movie and living in the action that is shown onscreen. This is so people are able to follow on with the film even after it has finished. You are able to find out more about different parts of the film which then provides you with a deeper understanding of different scenes within the film. This is a good way to promote the film as everybody is able to access the website and find out about the film. This may attract more audiences as they may stumble upon the website and want to go and see the film even though they may have never heard of it before.
There is a trailer for Dredd to show a snippet of the action that is held within the film. This is made to allow people to get a feeling of the film and to convince them to go and watch it at the cinema. This is because a trailer contains the best and most exciting part of the film, without giving too much of it away. This is a good way to get people to know about the film because they are able to either see the trailer online or at the cinema, therfore allowing them to know about the film. Also, if people here about the film but want to see a part of the film because they go and see it, a trailer is a good way to do this.

Critical reception

Positive
The Hollywood Reporter- Stephen Dalton- 'Pitched at the right level to please original fans, but still slick and accessible enough to attract new ones, Dredd 3D feels like a smart and muscular addition to the sci-fi action genre.'
Entertainment Weekly- Darren Franich- 'Paul Leonard-Morgan's thumping techno soundtrack is thrilling. And Urban manages to give a credibly wry performance using little more than his gravelly, imitation-Eastwood voice - and his chin.'
Wall Street Journal- Joe Morgensturn- 'What's exceptional is the orchestration of color, form, light and dark (lots of dark), 3-D technology and digital effects into a look that amounts to a vision.'
Negetive:
New York Post- Kyle Smith-'All I wanted to do was escape from this aggressively ugly world and its equally unattractive characters. It's not that the movie is in bad taste or cheesy (though it is) but that all of its hyperviolence adds up to nothing: This thing is dedd.'
New York Daily News- Joe Neumaier- 'The drug that Ma-Ma trafficks in, Slo-Mo, slows its user's brain to 1% of its normal speed. Dredd unfortunately makes you feel as if you, too, have partaken.'
Chicago Tribune- Micheal Phillips- 'Calling Dredd 3D a movie is sort of a lie. It's a premise, and there are levels to reach, and always there's another grimy hallway to stalk, and then you turn right or left, and then kill some more.'


Reasons for lack of success

• The marketing- There was not enough money to be put into marketing meaning that not many people would have heard about it and therefore didn't go and see it or purchase it.
• The remake factor- The first Dredd movie didn't do very well and not a lot of people liked it. People were unable to know that this film is completely different to the first one so would have just presumed it was going to be bad.
• Lack of mainstream appeal- Only people who like comic books and characters really know about Judge Dredd and this is not a big enough audience to enable the film to make a lot of money.
• The '18' rating- the film is rated at a 18 meaning that nobody under 18 is able to watch the film as it is unsuitable for them. This means that by preventing under 18's going to the cinema, Dredd is already losing a lot of money as teenagers are known for being the group of people that tend to go to the cinema the most. These may also be the group of people that know about Judge Dredd and have read the comic books about him but they would also be unable to go the cinema to see the film. This means that Dredd, from the start, was already not going to make their highest possible amount of money. 

Awards

Dredd has been nominated for as well as winning some awards. The awards that Dredd has won are an Empire Award for best 3D, and a Golden Trailer awards which are for Best Action, Best Thriller, Best Graphics and Best Music.

Technology used (3D cameras, new technology)

The cameras that were used are Phantom Flex, Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses 

Red One MX, Zeiss Ultra Prime Lenses 
Silicon Imaging SI-2K

Tie-ins (soundtrack CD, toys, comics Etc)
There are comic books about Judge Dredd as he is originally a character that comes from comic books. He is well known for never revealing is whole face as he is wearing the helmet that covers his eyes and head. He is also famously known for his 'angry face'.

There have been toys made of Judge Dredd because of the popularity of his character. This is through the comic books and then the films that were made of him,

Personal opinion
My opinion of the film is that, even though it is a good film, I did not like it. This is mostly because it is not really the type of film that I enjoy watching. I think the idea is good and original and I think that the film is well made. However, personally, I feel as though there is too much death and injury in this film for me to like it. I did like it more than I thought I would at the beginning though as it does capture the audience and I do not believe there is a boring part within the film. I believe that this will be a good film for the audiences that enjoy to watch action mixed with sci-fi and especially for the people who like the character Judge Dredd. However, this is not a film that I would re-watch.

The gaze from Sarah Ghost

Paul Lazarsfeld limited effects theory from Sarah Ghost

Common Stereotypes

REPRESENTATIONS – COMMON STEREOTYPES

Representation Of Age Within The Media- Group Task

Common stereotypes age from bontoft

Audience and Institutions- The 7 Key Concept Areas Listed and Explained

Section B: Institutions and Audiences

Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production, distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In addition, candidates should be familiar with:

• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing;
• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange;
• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.

• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary (current) media practice

The depth and range of ownership across a range of media and the consequences of this ownership for audiences in terms of the genres and budgets for films. How for instance, can Channel4's Film4 survive in the British market place against the high concept, big-budget films made by Newcorp's FOX, Warner Bros, Disney, Universal, etc.? What kinds of niche audiences are left for Film4 to attract? Are mass audiences out of reach given the genres of films Film4 have the budgets to make? How successful have they been in reaching mass audiences with their films? How healthy is it that just a few mega media groups can own such a range of media and can decide what the public may see, and, perhaps, shape audience's tastes?

• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing

 Digital technology is enabling various media to converge in hubs, platforms and devices. For instance, mobiles phones do a lot more than act as hand held telephones: you can download and watch films and TV programmes, use them as alarm clocks, watches, play music on them, take photos and short films, text, go online, use GPS functions, a range of apps, and a whole lot more. New HD TVs, Playstations, X-Boxes, iPads, Notebooks, MacBooks, etc. are also examples of hubs which in which a variety of media technologies can converge for convenience for users. Media convergence is having an enormous impact on the film industry because of the ways in which institutions can produce and market for audiences/users on a widening range of platforms, capable of receiving their films.

Synergies can come out of an organisation's size; smaller media organisations such as Channel4 can-cross promote their films, etc. but the scale of cross-media promotion is nowhere near as great as that which can be gained by massive media organisations. Film4 is therefore unable to promote their lower budget films on a level playing field.

• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange

The audience's ability to interact with films by, for instance, using digital technology to put extracts on You Tube and overlay new sound tracks on them, etc. and make answering videos has been greatly enhanced by Web 2.0; Film studios can make films using CGI, greenscreen and other special effects that were impossible to make only a few years ago. The ways of filming and editing films have changed, too, with the introduction of digital film and film cameras, editing software, laptops, digital projectors, etc. Distributors market films using the latest software for designing high-concept film posters and trailers. They can use phone apps., online marketing, Twitter, etc. File-sharing and piracy are growing issues because the software exists to take the protective encryption of DVDs, etc and WEB 2.0 enables people to make and share copies of films easily. One way in which film companies are trying to get around this is by releasing films soon after theatrical release by selling them on video-on-demand, premium TV channels and downloads. US and UK cinemas chains are not happy about this, especially after all the investment some have made on digital equipment, projectors, etc. which unfortunately quickly goes very quickly out of date!

• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences

This means the increase of something: i.e. digital cameras, software, CGI, 3D films, film genres, etc. which are part of current trends; how significant is this for See Saw Films or Film4? Or are they still able to be successful without it by making films with genres that do not need the latest breakthroughs in digital technology? Research the film company's use of cameras, special effects, software, posters, digital distribution of films, etc.

• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences

This is a WEB 2.0 issue and how technology is coming together in hubs like laptops is one of the features of our age; the mobile phone in your pocket is a great example of technological convergence: it can do so much more than a simple phone call; think how this is affecting film making at the production, marketing and exhibition stages? The Internet is acting as a hub for many aspects of film: you will find film posters, YouTube videos on films, interviews, trailers, official film and blog websites, etc. on it.  Audiences can also remake their own films by creating extracts and running new scores over them and then posting them on YouTube. This often leads to answering videos, never mind the comments, etc. that people make  on such sites. The internet, film and videos games seems to be converging in so many ways. People can watch films in a range of ways, using an astonishing range of hardware and software. They can also find audiences of their own. This amounts to free publicity for film institutions for their films and "A Long Tail" sales into the future through endless exchange.

• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions

"Slumdog Millionaire" was originally aimed at Asian audiences living in various parts of the UK and also at Danny Boyle fans. The film's unexpected success at film festivals and being nominated for the Oscars led to another theatrical release and a crossover from the "indy" art-house into the mainstream. British film makers often make social realism films and aim them at local and regional audiences whereas this would never be enough for the major media players who tend to make high budget, high concept films. They have boutique offshoots who make and often distribute lower budget films, aimed at more high brow audiences. Disney's Mirimax and Fox's Fox Searchlight are examples of such boutique, art-house film distribution.

• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour
How you consume films whether it is as a social activity after visiting a shopping center or on an MP4 player or PlayStation, is what is at issue here. Visit Pearl and Dean to see how multiplex cinemas are adapting the experience of cinema-going to gain audiences. In an age of falling DVD sales, home cinema and an increase in downloading for both music and film audiences are changing in how they want to consume film. Identify trends and consider where the audience trends are going in the near future.