Blackpool - Textual Anaylsis (Van der sandan)

Blackpool – Textual Analysis

What techniques does the opening sequence use to appeal to a weekday mainstream audience?

To begin with the terms weekday mainstream explores the daily routine for people of 9-5 and their lifestyle; involving fashion, trends, clothing etc.  The opening sequence uses many techniques to appeal to the main stream audience. One prime example would be the setting. The scene is set in a home, this is where the daily routine begins and ends (when people come back home after a tiring day).  This could reflect the life style of most people in the society as they leave home in the morning for work and come back to where they left from. Another example we could discuss is the representation of men in the opening sequence. Men are seen dominant as everything runs according to them. People can relate this to their personal life as we live in a patriarchal society – the audience believe that the show is targeted towards them as there are similarities in lifestyles however the only difference is that women have a glamorous side to their life which a ordinary women doesn’t.

How does the extract follow the code and convections of an opening sequence?

Code and convections are the things we as an audience expect to see in the film. This extract follows the same patterns any other media source would. For example:

Institution

The institution of this extract is BBC. They are owned by the government which suggests that the aim of these programmes is to entertain, inform and educated the audience.  Overall the appearance of “BBC” helps us recognise the institutions which build the public understanding of different media organisations.

Names

The director of the extract chooses to present names of the characters as they appear on screen. This allows the audience to recognise the actor in role. The purpose to mention names of the producers and directors is to familiarise the audience with pervious success and so on.

Title

The title is used to signify the narrative. In this case the title “Blackpool” informs the audience that this extract is based upon Blackpool. Furthermore it can help attract audience as Blackpool may be close to home for certain people. We would assume that the main target audience is the British.

Theme Tune

The extract has its own theme tune. This will engage the audience to respond to the film as they are constantly being entertained.  The theme tune also helps suggests the genre which can attract people who are interested Elvis Presley. It’s also as a source to remind people an out the film.

What does this text tell us about Media Institutions?

This text is based upon changing the negative views of Blackpool into more positive assumptions. We all are aware that Blackpool is a dangerous area to be in- the public focuses on the negative side of Blackpool. However BBC wants the public to focus on the brighter side which is basically the night life, casinos and wealth. They transform the name of Blackpool into “los Vegas”. The purpose of that is to attract people into the area as well as sending out a positive image of Blackpool. Overall the media institutions are portraying a positive image of society rather than negative. This could also harm individuals to a certain extent as the truth isn’t fully relieved and views are usually biased.