HIS DARK MATERIALS: AUDIENCE AND INDUSTRIES BLOG TASKS

 Audience

1) Read this audience rating guide for His Dark Materials. Based on the screening and this article, who do you think the target audience is for His Dark Materials and why? What about psychographic groups? You can revise Pyschographics here.

The target audience for His Dark Materials are Teens because they are the main characters. The psychographic groups that are targeted are audience who are interested in fantasy genre, supernatural (witch). It is targeted at explorers (journey through worlds), and diversion.

2) What audience pleasures are offered by His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity: 

• Teenage protagonists Lyra and Will (girl and boy)
• Loss/ isolation/ peril (danger)
• Friendship

Personal Relationships: 

• Will represents 'everyman' character (normal), unused to magic: children: need to protect
• Hero: Lyra + Pan (struggle)

Diversion (Escapism): 

• Supernatural
• Different + worlds
• Talking animals 

3) Thinking of the 3 Vs audience pleasures (Visceral, Vicarious and Voyeuristic pleasures), which of these can be applied to His Dark Materials? Refer to specific scenes or moments in the episode to explain your answer. 

• Visceral pleasures - torture of witch by Mrs Coulter (villain), graphic, witch comes to submarine - stabs cardinal.
• Vicarious pleasures - Will and Lyra discover new world, through their eyes.
• Voyeuristic pleasures - different, multiple narrative strands.

4) How did fans react to Season 2 of His Dark Materials? What about critic reviews? You can find some possible answers for this in this BBC website article on the critical reception for His Dark Materials and watch the fan reaction video above.

His Dark Materials is similar to Doctor Who in that there are fan communities online. Fan fiction, fan art and YouTube channels. The second series of His Dark Materials has been welcomed by critics, but many have said it is weaker than the first. The first of series two's seven seven episodes was awarded just two starts by the Telegraph's Anita Singh. The Guardian's Stuart Jeffries was much more enthusiastic, awarding the episode four stars. 

5) What might be some of the preferred and oppositional readings for His Dark Materials? Why did some fans love it? Why have other people criticised it? 

Some of the preferred readings for His Dark Materials is that, it's fantasy, showing the audience that they can use the series for their escapism. It also showed the audience how they can see other different worlds and their nature.

Some of the oppositional readings for His Dark Materials is that, it can be a little confusing because of all the different places. Some of the audience that are teens might think that rebelling is a good thing.

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

The companies that produced His Dark Materials are BBC and American television network HBO

2) What were the UK viewing figures for A City of Magpies? How did this compare to season 1 of His Dark Materials?

On season one the UK viewing figures of His Dark Materials had 7.2 million views. However. The City of Magpies received 4.4 million views.

3) What was American network HBO's role in making His Dark Materials and why is this important? Look at the notes above for more on this.

The American HBO's role in making His Dark Materials was to distribute on on a number of platforms. It is important because it was co-commissioned for an international audience.

4) What famous stars are in His Dark Materials and why do you think they were selected for the show? Watch the Comic Con panel video in the notes above to see the stars talking about the show.

The famous stars in His Dark Materials are Brits Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy and Lin Manuel. They were selected for the show to gain a mainstream audience.

5) Who are Bad Wolf and what do they produce?

Bad Wolf is an independent production company in the UK, was founded to create ambitious, imaginative, and relevant drama for the global TV market place.

Comparison: Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child and His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies

1) How are the technical conventions different between 1963 Doctor Who and 2020 His Dark Materials (e.g. camerawork, editing, sound and mise-en-scene)?
The technical conventions of Doctor Who are the quality of their film, their film was a little blurry, their editing was not as fascinating as technology wasn't familiar at that time, the mis-en-scene they used was more of an old tradition. On the other hand, the technical conventions of His Dark Materials are the quality of their film, it was more clearer and the quality was high. Their editing was more realistic and ore sci-fi. The mis-en-scene used was more modern.

2) What similarities and differences are there between Doctor Who and His Dark Materials in terms of genre and narrative?

The similarities of Doctor Who and His Dark Materials are when Lyra and Susan both wants to rebel and disobey their parents. They both had a different world, and both involves a enigmatic code. The differences of Doctor Who and His Dark Materials is that Doctor Who only have one scene they are focusing on, whereas His Dark Materials have a lot of settings they are focusing on.

3) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?

The representations of both films are similar when both Susan and Lyra wants to rebel and goes against what their parents want. In Doctor Who, the teachers wants to help Susan and find out is she's in danger, similarly to His Dark Materials Will wants to help Lyra and go with her in order to be safe.

The differences between both films is that Doctor Who only has a small group of people they are focusing on, there are only two aliens from another world that was sees on earth, whereas in His Dark Materials, they focus on groups of people from different settings, and from different perspectives. His Dark Materials showed different varieties of groups where they are enemies.