Study Uses and Gratifications theory and question, which gratifications audiences would gain from each of your studied texts.

Peaky Blinders
                         
Information - Learning; self-education gaining a sense of security through knowledge.

The audience gains gratifications throughout learning throughout about the social, political and historical context from the 1919s, post World War I. A prime example of this is in the scene where Tommy and C.I. Chester Cambell meet up in a tea room. In this scene Tommy talks about the significant happenings during this time, an example being that he threatens to sell the machine guns to the IRA, who were seen as a major threat due to the risks of civil war. Also he refers to the communists, who were also seen as an upcoming threat, revolving against the capitalist society in the 1919s. Also in a scene between Tommy and Grace, when Tommy is riding his white horse throughout we hear the digetic sound of the industrial machinery and work, also giving insight to the idea that the industrial revolution has already happened and taken affect. This gratification will appeal to an active audience, who would appreciate the content of the text, and decode it notice the information given.

How does Peaky Blinders attract its audience?

Steven Knight's, Peaky Blinders is a BBC2 crime drama, set in 1919. It follows the soldiers who have returned home from World War I and created a an illegitimate business as well as forming a criminal gang. 

One way in which Peaky Blinders attracts it audience is through retrophilia which is 'is a term used to describe aspects of modern culture which are consciously derivative or imitative of those trends, modes, fashions, or attitudes of the recent past which have or had come to be seen as unfashionable.' This complies with the Uses and Gratifications theory, as the audience gains information from the 1919s from this text, whilst enjoying the text as well as learning from it at the same time. Peaky Blinders provides the audience with culturally and historical knowledge throughout the narrative, and an example of this is through the character of Aunt Polly, who has experienced power through men being away at war, and know they are back she wants to restore that power and remain a dominant figure within the shelby family. In the second episode after Tommy has gained a larger turnover after fixing a race, Aunt Polly confronts him on fixing the race without gaining permission from Billy Kimber. 

Explore the different ways in which audiences and/or users respond to you chosen texts.

Explore the different ways in which audiences and/or users respond to you chosen texts.

- Provides Inspiration for other shows: 

Is Breathless just another Mad Men clone? The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/oct/10/breathless-mad-men-clone-jack-davenport

In this regard, Matthew Weiner's Mad Men now seems established as the iPhone of small-screen writing. Breathless is the latest UK wannabe, and begins tonight (ITV, 9pm), in a week when another of the US impersonators started screening here: Masters of Sex (9pm, Tuesdays, Channel 4).

Both shows carefully follow the template set by Mad Men, of recreating a period from the middle of the 20th century with loving attention to the sorts of clothes, cars and conversations people would have had then, but with a knowing modern acknowledgement that such levels of sexism and smoking should probably not be attempted today. 

The sexist profession being dramatised is gynaecology rather than advertising, but the central character – saturnine surgeon Mr Otto Powell, played by Jack Davenport– is very recognisably a transatlantic half-brother of Jon Hamm's Don Draper, even down to the suggestion – from the episode-one revelation that he keeps a gun in a drawer – that he has a secret and possibly even a secret life. Isn't Otto, after all, an uncommon name for an English smoothie?

This series (developed by Michelle Ashford for Showtime) has less room than its inspiration to make the central character mysterious – Dr William Masters, played by Michael Sheen, was a historical figure – although, like Don Draper, he did to some extent reinvent himself, being a stuffy medic who turned into a pioneer of sex therapy.

-Issues of Narrative 

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/a-final-appraisal-of-the-black-presence-on-mad-men-season-6

It’s a valid question, since the show takes place during the days of the height of the Civil Rights movement in America, a time when people of color were fighting more than ever before for equality and representation. The defense of some fans is that the series is set in a world where the presence of black characters at a Madison Avenue ad agency simply wouldn’t fit, a world where most blacks were the stock archetypes of elevator operators, nannies, and maids.

The defense of showrunner Matthew Weiner is slightly more nuanced. During Season 5 of the show, in an interview on Charlie Rose, Weiner addressed complaints about the lack of diversity on Mad Men by saying that his aim was not to tell “a wish fulfillment story of the real interaction of white America and black America.” For Weiner, historical accuracy was important -  it seemed disingenuous to include more developed black characters on the show too early, during a time when most (white) people were still experiencing the civil rights movement not firsthand but through the images they saw on TV. Weiner added: “Hopefully when we get to the part of the ’60s [where race is more clearly addressed on the show], you won’t have trivialized the contribution of someone like Martin Luther King.”

How Typical is your chosen text to its genre?

Fish tank is typical to its genre of, social realism, and conforms to this through the different elements used within scenes, for example the sex scene. 

Within this scene when Mia is looking at Connor, we see this in a shot of her point of view. As we see her eyeline in a camera shot of her, which its then edited and cut to a shot of Connor, showing what she is looking at is him. This is typical of the social realism genre because by showing it in her point of view, allowing the audience to feel empathy towards Mia. Another technical convention which adheres mid-shot of Mia resting on Connor's shoulder, this shot is held for longer than what may be seen as necessary, to the point where the audience feels uncomfortable watching. This conforms to the genre as it is a classic technical convention of slow pace, which put the audience in uncomfortable positions which other genres would not. 

A narrative theme convention that conforms to social realism is showing issues within society that are not usually shown, in concern to the under class, as well as society not accepting these issues. An example of this, within this sex scene, is the issue of under age sex, as Mia is 15, as well as pedophilia. As in this scene Connor is seen, once again, to be grooming Mia, by complementing her, and showing affection to her, which takes advantage of Mia's naivety. 

The mise on scene also conforms to the genre. With the typical unpolished setting of a messy lounge, as well as Connor being shown drinking vodka from the bottle. The setting and props used here are typical to social realism, at it shows part of the problems the under class face, such as drinking problems, as well a unhygienic, small housing leading to poor quality of living. However within this film this is treated as normal, as Mia doesn't hesitate to question Connor drinking vodka straight from the bottle, which may be seen as abnormal and not socially acceptable.   

The Hunger Games contains typical and re-occuring conventions from the Sci-Fi genre. The genre conventions could be categorised as narrative themes, character roles, iconography/mise en scene and technical conventions. The narrative is typical of the genre in many ways.

The narrative theme of a hegemonic society, where these is a distinct class difference, between the ruling class and under class, is present in The Hunger Games. The scene this is evident in is when Katniss and Peeta are taken onto a glamorous train, to reach the capital. The has pristine decor, including diamond channellers, extravagant food, as well as Effie wearing over the top clothing, including a large wig, purple lipstick, pink eyelashes, pale skin, modernised Elizabethan clothing etc...