Les Revenants: Released 26th November 2012 on Canal+ in France 9th June 2013 on Channel 4 in the UK 2 series, 8 episodes each Based on the French film 'They Come Back' (Les Revenants) (dir. Robin Campillo 2004) Created by Fabrice Gobert Genre Hybridity: Horror Supernatural Drama Avant-garde (unconventional/atypical) Zombie (could be a subgenre of horror) Could be a 'French' genre because it relatable to French audiences and French industries are stereotypically quite experimental and atypical with what they create. Cult TV A cult is a small group of fans who are extremely passionate about the text. Cult fanbases are usually emotionally attached fans identifying themselves as members of a community. Less mainstream but has a small but dedicated fanbase. - Links to Henry Jenkins theory of Fandoms 'Les Revenants' is a Cult TV program which is not that popular but the small audience that it does reach is very passionate. Steve Ne
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The Returned - Les Revenants Sci-fi/ horror genre (genre paradigms) - intertextual references to horror films (poster of the Exorcist). sci-fi because of the music. The sci-fi genre provides a metaphor for our actual lives. Target Older people/parents - they would be effected emotionally because of the topics of loosing children etc. Representation of teenagers (quite stereotypically). Largely white representation - middle class. Hermeneutic Codes - creates questions for the audience. most of the story is withheld from the audience to draw you in.
Real Humans: Swedish Original In the Swedish original it seems that the robots harm humans a lot more, additionally, it is a lot easier to tell humans apart from the robots in the original. Less representation of ethnicity, Swedish people stereotypically have blond hair and blue eyes making the Korean robot Anita stand out much more. Revealed what happens when a robot 'dies'. We as British people relate more with the British version. Robots are more aggressors in the Swedish version - there is also the 'real humans' party.
The Specialised Television Industry: Television has changed considerably since the advent of digital technology in terms of its production, distribution and consumption. It has become increasingly global, rather than a national industry and has become increasingly commercial, with public service broadcasting forced to adapt its structure, role and function. International co-production is growing and broadcasters such as HBO have achieved global success. Broadcasters are now 'narrowcasters', with multiple channels targeting different (sometimes niche) audiences. Audiences consume television texts in a variety of ways as the industry has increased portability via new platforms (tablet, mobile phone) and patterns of consumption have changed alongside this (the box-set and binge watching, on demand and catch up, Netflix, Amazon etc). Interactive social media channels such as youtube have increased accessibility for the 'prosumer' audience, and social media and viral
Humans/Channel 4 Fact file Ideological Perspectives Funding Associated Channels Scheduling Notable Releases Ownership Ideological Perspectives Channel 4 was set up with a unique model as a ‘publisher-broadcaster’, meaning that we do not have any in-house production, but instead commission content from production companies throughout the UK. We are a self-sufficient business that reinvests all profits back into programmes, at zero cost to the taxpayer. A ‘Robin Hood’ model of cross-funding means programmes that make money pay for others that are key to delivering our remit but that are loss-making e.g. News and Current Affairs. Our twin goals as a content provider and business are to fulfil our remit and to be commercially self-sufficient. "The public service remit for Channel 4 is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular: demonstrates innovation, experiment and creativity in the form and content of programm
Postmodernism Hyperreality is the idea that the simulation is much more real to us than reality. An example of this would be Instagram - stuff we see on there seems real to us but isn't. Humans and Simulacra? The synths themselves may be seen as simulacra - copies of "perfect humans" which do not really exist. The parallel world to our own is a hyperreality - it is the present or near future re-presented from a mediated perspective. Consider how this is constructed. It may be argued that the series itself is a comment on the attractions of the hyperreal over the real -e.g Joe's sexual attraction to Anita. Hyperreality: In postmodern culture the boundaries between the 'real' world and the world of the media have collapsed and that it is no longer possible to distinguish between what is reality and what is simulation. In fact, it really doesn't matter which is which. Therefore, in this postmodern age of simulacra, audiences are constantly bombarde
Judith Butler: Theories of gender Performativity: Identity is a performance, and it is constructed through a series of acts and expressions that we perform every day. While there are biological differences dictated by sex, our gender is defined by this series of acts. These may include the way we walk, talk, dress and so on. Therefore, there is no gender identity behind these expressions of gender. Gender performativity is not a singular act, but a repetition and a ritual. It is outlined and reinforced through dominant and patriarchal ideologies. This can be applied to Humans because we can see that the female and male synths have learn't their respective roles. Male synths have labour intensive jobs, women are maternal, sexualised etc. Bell Hooks Feminist Theory in Humans: Patriarchal oppression in Humans. Anita was initially brought essentially to replace his wife - domestically, maternally and hints to replacement sexually. Salesman is a male selling a fem
Feminist Theory's Fact File
Judith Butler: Butler argues that feminism made a mistake in trying to make "women" a discrete, ahistorical group with common characteristics. Butler writes that this approach reinforces the binary view of gender relations. Butler believes that feminists should not try to define "women" and she also believes that feminists should "focus on providing an account of how power functions and shapes our understandings of womanhood not only in the society at large but also within the feminist movement." Finally, Butler aims to break the supposed links between sex and gender so that gender and desire can be "flexible, free floating and not caused by other stable factors". The idea of identity as free and flexible and gender as a performance, not an essence, is one of the foundations of queer theory . Bell Hooks: Feminism is the struggle to end patriarchal hegemony and the domination of women and feminism is not a lifestyle choice, it's
Representation structure: What is representation? Representation is a re-presentation. By who? For what purpose? For what function? For what ideal? Who does this impact upon? Both the target audience and the group being represented Most female roles throughout the first episode are where the female is the giver/server. For example, there are roles of the mother, caregiver, prostitute, made, butler, friend, slave, rebel. This means that there are quite narrow representations of women. Madonna/Whore complex - Sigmund Freud Freud developed a theory to explain men's anxiety towards women's sexuality, suggesting that men define women into on of two categories: the Madonna (Women he admires and respects) and the whore (women he is attracted to and therefore disrespects). The Madonna is typically virtuous, nurturing, saintly and sexually repressed. The whore is sensual, sexualised and desirable without purity. This can be used in Humans - the mother is clearly the Mad
Humans: Key Scene (First 2 Episodes of the Episode (buying Anita)
Humans: Key Scene (First 2 Episodes of the Episode (buying Anita) Genre Codes and Conventions: Genre Theory Genre Fluidity: Camera work (framing, composition, shot types, angle, position and movement): Lighting/colour: Editing: Narrative construction: Sound: Mise-en-scnene: Identifiable Sci-fi music News readings edited in Establishing shot of the area they live in. Shows the opening of her to help signify the sci-fi genre. The slow pan up to the extreme close up of her face reinforces that she is pretty. Sound as you turn them on - ,showing that she is a machine. Lab settings in the opening sequence. Eye iconography - you can tell the machines from the humans by their eye colour - green for robots. Eyes for humans is ow you can determine emotion. Referencing previous sci-fi texts such as blade runner with the eye iconography. Shot of the robots in the factory all lined up together shows they are not treated as humans. Low angle pf the moon from the factory - sci-
Key Theory 14 - The cultural Industries - David Hesmondhalgh
Horizontal integration: Where a company buys other companies in the same stage to reduce the competition for audiences. Vertical integration: Owns multiple companies across different stages of the film industry.