Natalia's blog

  The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a vital part of our media landscape. It is a  public service broadcaster  which means  we  own it. It doesn't make a profit and exists to produce high-quality media for the British public. It's paid for by the  TV licence  and produces a huge amount of content for the whole of Britain - TV, radio, BBC website, iPlayer and more. The BBC still follows its original mission statement from 1927: Inform, Educate and Entertain The licence fee is currently  £174.50  a year and must be paid by any household that wants to watch live broadcast TV or iPlayer. You don't need a TV licence to watch Netflix or other international streaming services.  BBC: Industry notes The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is a public service organisation and the oldest national broadcaster and the biggest in terms of employees [over 20,000]. It is different from other TV broadcasters in that funding comes from us al...

  His Dark Materials is an example of contemporary family/fantasy TV drama. The series is based on the trilogy of books of the same name by Philip Pullman. The second series is based on the book The Subtle Knife. Industries The CSP episode is the opening episode of Season 2, The City of Magpies, and was first broadcast in the UK on Sunday 8 November 2020 on BBC1 at 8.10pm. It was made available on iPlayer on the same day, and on DVD from 28 December 2020. It is significant because it was co-commissioned for an international audience by the BBC and the American television network HBO , and was always intended to be distributed on a number of platforms: as a scheduled, broadcast programme (BBC1), on cable (HBO), as well as on demand (iPlayer) and on DVD. It was created for these platforms by an independent company, Bad Wolf. The first episode of the first series of His Dark Materials series was watched by audiences of  7.2 million  in the UK and 423,000 on HBO. The first br...

  The CSP episode is Season 2, Episode 1 but don't worry if you haven't seen the first series - there are plenty of clips online to learn the background to the storyline.  Remember, TV is an  in-depth study  which means we need to analyse the products in terms of media language, industries, audience and representation. Television will be examined in Paper 2 with a short clip to analyse - either from Doctor Who - An Unearthly Child or His Dark Materials.  Notes from the lessons: His Dark Materials Language Reminder - TV drama conventions:  Dramatic narrative, usually linear (with continuity across episodes.) This is called narrative arc. Ensemble cast (a range of characters with own storylines). Sometimes an episode will focus more on one character than another. Specific technical codes e.g. realistic lighting and editing for dramas set in the present day to keep it gritty. Use of stereotypical characters to get messages across quickly. Common use of flashba...