Unit 6 Assignment 1 prezi notes script

Coming of Age: (X)

Slide 1: The episode I am going to be reviewing is a television show called 'Coming of Age'

Slide 2: This is the episode

Slide 3: The Audience of 'Coming of Age' would typically be 16+. I think this because there is a a lot of swearing in it and a lot of talk about sex. You can see that this is aimed at that age group because 16+ year olds are usually associated with swearing/sex/drugs/drinking etc.

Gender: I would say that it isn't really aimed at a specific gender. There are lots of different elements in it for boys and girls. The main focus of this episode is relationships and sex. This appeals to teenagers as a whole regardless of Gender. Though there definitely are sections of it aimed at guys. For example the bit at 5:30 could be seen more aimed at men to make them laugh. Because of the fact that it's a guy doing it to a girl instead of the other way around. They would find that funny.

Psychographics: I'd say that the psychographics for this episode are Aspirers. I would say this because a certain storyline in the plot is all about virginity and it's seen as something that you have. They are extremely materialistic over it treating it like an object that is of worth to have and that it's a big deal losing it. They see it as valuable. And younger people are usually very materialistic.

Oppositional reading?: Older people (25+) could see this show as very very offensive. There isn't much censoring in it. A wide range of people could be offend because of the sexual harassment jokes that are being made in it. For example when DK (puppet guy) sticks his puppet up girls skirts. There is constant mentioning of doing inappropriate things to women and some people could find this offensive because of the way that they are being treated in the show.

Slide 4: What is the tone - The tone of this show is definitely risky comedy. I know this because of the many rude inappropriate jokes that are made throughout the show. The use of a school setting and the light coloured walls show me that it's not going to be sad or dark. The facial expressions on the characters aren't always happy and lighthearted but usually this is for the benefit of the audience for a comical reason.

The audience are suppose to have a positive reaction to this episode. For example during the episode we know they are suppose to laugh a lot due to the laughing track in the background. Laughing tracks usually give the audience a helping hand on what they are meant to be feeling.

It makes me feel happy and puts me in a laughy type mood.

Slide 5: The genre of this Television show is Comedy, I know this because of the Generic conventions that you see throughout. You would usually expect to see someone getting hurt to make them laugh. In this show Ollie falls on a nail and then references to his arse are made throughout the show. There is a laughing track or a live studio audience who laughs along with the show so you can definitely see that it is a comedy show. Most comedic shows have canned laughter in them. The use of the board with the word 'virgin' wrote on is funny because of Matt being made to wear it. Having a fool made out of him.

Slide 6: The narrative is a multi strand narrative. It shows the 3 different story lines going on in the show. DK and the principle with the puppet. The Ollie and Jas with the needles. Then Chloe and her Matt with the virginity crisis.

Slide 7: The representation is that all young people care about is sex. You can see this throughout the show. For example one whole story line solely focuses on sex. This is also shown by the many many many sexual jokes made throughout the show. Also in the way that the characters act with each other. 4 of the main actors are in relationships and are constantly making sexual references to each other or to people around them. Then the one main person who isn't in a relationship seems to be obsessed with sex.

Another representation that can be found is that young people are stupid. For example the way that everyone in this show acts. The fact that one of the characters fell onto a board and it got stuck in his arse and he didn't go to the Hospital for ages because he was afraid of needles makes teenagers out to be some sort of idiots who think that they can survive a nail up the bum. Also the Matthew character is definitely made out to be an idiot. He's shown to be what some people think of as a 'typical male' only thinking with his genitals. You can see this quite clearly in the episode in that when they are trying to have conversations he turns it into something sexual.

An appearance stereotype of this is a chav. You can see this by the clothes that DK wears. He is seen wearing a tracksuit and he has a close shave haircut. He acts like how a lot of people would assume a 'chav' acts.

This is all very stereotypical and represents teenagers in a bad way. A lot of people could have an oppositional reading to this.


IMPROVEMENTS

1) The genre of this Television show is Comedy, I know this because of the Generic conventions that you see throughout. You would usually expect to see someone getting hurt to make them laugh. In this show Ollie falls on a nail and then references to his arse are made throughout the show. There is a laughing track or a live studio audience who laughs along with the show so you can definitely see that it is a comedy show. Most comedic shows have canned laughter in them. The use of the board with the word 'virgin' wrote on is funny because of Matt being made to wear it. Having a fool made out of him.

2) The narrative is a multi strand narrative. I know this because it shows the 3 different story lines going on in the show. DK and the principle with the puppet. The Ollie and Jas with the needles. Then Chloe and her Matt with the virginity crisis. It is very easy to tell that it's multi-strand narrative because the stories don't ever collide. Only now and again do the other characters tell each other about the situation, but even then it's only for a brief moment and they don't get involved in each others storyline. They stick to their own.

3) The representation is that all young people care about is sex. You can see this throughout the show. For example one whole story line solely focuses on sex. This is also shown by the many many many sexual jokes made throughout the show. Also in the way that the characters act with each other. 4 of the main actors are in relationships and are constantly making sexual references to each other or to people around them. Then the one main person who isn't in a relationship seems to be obsessed with sex.

Another representation that can be found is that young people are stupid. For example the way that everyone in this show acts. The fact that one of the characters fell onto a board and it got stuck in his arse and he didn't go to the Hospital for ages because he was afraid of needles makes teenagers out to be some sort of idiots who think that they can survive a nail up the bum. Also the Matthew character is definitely made out to be an idiot. He's shown to be what some people think of as a 'typical male' only thinking with his genitals. You can see this quite clearly in the episode in that when they are trying to have conversations he turns it into something sexual.

An appearance stereotype of this is a chav. You can see this by the costume that DK wears. He is seen wearing a tracksuit and he has a close shave haircut. He acts like how a lot of people would assume a 'chav' acts.

This is all very stereotypical and represents teenagers in a bad way. A lot of people could have an oppositional reading to this.

These representations don't appeal to me because they are negative representations. But you could say that they do also kind of appeal to me in the type that I want to watch it because it would make me laugh and think about how I am not like that at all. Which would tie in with the whole Comedy genre of the show and it's main target in making you laugh.

4) This product appeals to the audience because of the fact that it's very similar to most of the risky comedy shows out there. It's easy Television to watch and it doesn't really challenge viewers. They don't have to think when watching it.

This is all very stereotypical and represents teenagers in a bad way. A lot of people could have an
oppositional reading to this.

For example (Reviews on Coming of Age):

It's important to let the audience know what genre the show you're watching is because a lot of people don't really like being challenged when they're watching TV. They want to know what they are watching and easily understand the show.

Coforming to generic conventions is good because you're almost guaranteed a successful show with viewings. 

Sometimes it's good to challenge the generic conventions because you could create a show that has a really good response and a lot of people like it. But it's risky.