Television: His Dark Materials - Audience and Industry

 Audience

1) What audience do you think His Dark Materials is aimed at and why? Think about demographic and psychographic groups. You can revise Pyschographics here.
Demographics- The target audience towards His Dark Materials is around the ages of 16-25, as the series supplies complex philosophical questions that appeal to an older range of audience. The use of education represented is quite high and complex, which makes an older range of audience more intrigued and appreciative and literary allusions. Gender is appealed to both men and women as his dark materials provide a series of a fantasy.

Psychographics- The audience that appeals to His Dark Materials are people who enjoy fantasy, sci-fi and adventure. The appeal for the audience are the people who have an interest in philosophy and social issues, as it brings interest to those audiences who have an interest on those topics. Most open-minded and adventurous people would be attracted to this as the topics of His Dark Materials is included in this series.

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: The identities of both Will and Lyra make their characters relatable, as they are both adolescents navigating a new, dangerous world, which makes them feel overwhelmed. The understanding of good vs evil juxtaposes the character of Mrs Coulter and how she is empowering. Viewers can reflect there moral actions on how they leave with consequences

Personal Relationships: The relationship between Will and Lyra is presented as positive. Despite their differences, they don't argue or let their past stop them from getting to know each other. This is shown when they were navigating each other in an abandoned city, building the foundation of partnership and resilience.

Diversion (Escapism): The episode features tension and adventure when Lyra confronts the 2 girls she sees on the island. This sequence provides tension and excitement to the audience, to wanting to know what happens next. This scene shows Lyras' characteristics being rebellious and dominant.

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. 

The visceral pleasure that is featured is gut-level, physiological responses evoked by media. These are often linked to suspense, fear, excitement, or disgust. This is shown when Will encounters Lyras's daemon and is shocked that her animal can talk. Another example is when Lyra hides in Will's house and the expression of Lyra being defensive brings the audience to shock.

Vicarious pleasures are shown when Will pays money to the stand, showing his responsibility of becoming an adult while being a teenager. This shows his determination towards living adulthood.

Voyeuristic Pleasures are shown when the teenagers live on the island without any responsibility of adult supervision. The details of their lives show they sustain themselves. This shows the audience how the can observe from distnace without any guidance.

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.
The fan reaction to his Dark Materials is quite shocking and enthusiastic. This is because the fan reviews are presented within scenes from the trailers, which are intense and shocking as the scenes are put on the spot.This gives the reviews on His Dark Materials  a positive outcome as their representation is good.
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? 

The preferred reading towards his Dark Materials is that it's an adventurous and intense series which shows its fantasy genre. Some fans would love it as it brings interest to those who do higher education or just have an interest in education in general, as it appeals to them. However, oppositional reading is that His Dark Materials may not appeal well towards very religious people. This is because their representation of the show shows how Mrs Coulter tortures her victims, which is seen as a sin due to her character being evil, as it associates her towards the devil.

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

Bad Wolf and Line Productions

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

The viewing for a city of magpies reached its peak at 7.063 million views in the uk at season one but declined views by season 2 to only 4.923 million average

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.

Because they done a partnership with the bad wolf line on to produce his Dark Materials with a sustainable budget. Its reported that the production for his Dark Materials is quite expensive in BBC history. This is because they put visual effects to add realism which went over there budget.

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.

James McAvoy- A highly known Scottish actor who played in X-Men and Shameless

Ruth Wilson- A Golden Globe English actress, famous for the movie Luther

I think these people were used for his Dark Materials as promotion of the show to gain recognition and for their brand image to be recognised.

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

Bad Wolf is a high-end TV-based company that produced his dark materials and was founded in 2015 in the BBC.

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 camerawork presented in his Dark Materials is more advanced and smooth as it's a modern-based tv show unlike in Doctor Who, the camera work was quite slow and choppy due to the lack of technology they could use to produce Doctor Who during that time. 
2) What similarities and differences are there between Doctor Who and His Dark Materials in terms of genre and narrative?

The genres of fantasy and sci-fi blend well together as both tv programs revolve around the story of the paranormal world. This is because the doctor who has sci-fi twists and mythic elements, and his dark materials have daemons which both show the paranormal world 

3) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?
The representation for both His Dark Materials and Doctor Who are different. This is because His Dark Materials subverts stereotypes whilst Doctor Who reinforces them. This is shown by the characters being portrayed as masculine than feminine eg the character of Lyra which subverts the stereotypes of being feminine Unlike Susan she reinforces stereotypes by being quite vulnerable.