1960s News Case Studies

news and technology

cuffs exam practise

Why was the pre-watershed scheduling of 8pm significant in terms of the representations they could offer? (3 marks)

It was significant as it meant that they could use themes such as homosexuality, racism, and sexism. These reasons mean that parents may not want their children watching an episode with these themes. For example, parents might not want their kids to be seeing a same sex relationship, such as the one with Jake Vickers and the enemy lawyer. As wrong as it is doing this, they might do this to deter their kids from being gay.





How were the following areas represented in the episode:

• Ethnicity 
• Gender
• Sexuality 

(10 marks)          

Cuffs was written and distributed in 2015 and therefore provides a snapshot of the cultural, politcal and social issues of the UK population at this point in history. 

In this episode, ethnicity is presented in a positive way through the main character, PC Ryan Draper. With him being an alpha male and a caring parent, it shows how much times have changed and show's people that black people aren't the stereotypical 'gangster/thug' as they would've been represented through film a couple years ago. We also see a female, PC Misha Baig, attempting to break up a fight. With her being a female, it is showing women represented in a positive way. This shows how far the UK has come since the 1920s when women were allowed to vote, and are now being presented as equal to men. She also represents ethnicity in a positive way. Since the terrorist attacks, muslims have been portrayed in the media negatively. Baig shows the audience that muslims are not stereotypically the 'villain'.

Main Characters: Jake Vickers (homosexuality), DS Jo Maffat, Ryan Drapers, Chief Super Robert Vickers, DC Carl Hawkins, DI Felix Kane, PC Donna Prager, PC Lino Moretti

Storylines: From what we watched, it was about this new police officer joining the police force, only being the chief constable's son. PC Draper gave the rookie a hard time. The mental health patient was brought into a 'safe' environment only later on them returning to his body, hung just below the pier. Draper gets a tough wording from Chief Vickers. there are a couple other incidents within that 45 minute period as well but dont think its relevant to say.

Setting: It is based on the coast of Brighton. (nudist beach is where it starts, then in mental guys house, then main street and then in the police station)

Overall tone / appeal: I think the overall message in that 45 minute period was to say how police officers aren't trained enough to do the required tasks within the job and to try and make them focus more on what they are doing.

2015 key events
charlie hebdo attack in paris
german wings plane crash
deaths by police officers
amtrak train crash

1960s

THE AVENGERS & THE 1960'S

The Swinging 1960's

• What do you know about the 1960's
• Lots of music
• Protest

• Where do your impressions come from?
• Films and newspapers (media)

• What had been happening in the UK during the 40's and 50's?
• World War 2

Research Task:

Most Famous Bands:

• The Beatles
• The Rolling Stones
• Led Zeppelin
• The Who
• Pink Floyd

Famous Sports People:

• Muhammad Ali
• Willie Mays
• Wilt Chamberlain
• Johnny Unitas
• Jim Brown

Political Leaders:

• John Fitzgerald Kennedy
• Robert F. Kennedy
• Martin Luther King
• Richard Milhous Nixon
• J Edgar Hoover

Main Three Youth Group Fashions:

• Mods
• Hippies 
• Youth Culture

Science/Technology Developments:

• The First Video Game Console
• The First Computer Mouse
• LED's (light emitting diodes)
• Dynamic Random Access Memory (RAM)
• UNIX

Info:

• Rock was the main genre in the 1960's
• In 1965, the Labour party was in power and the PM was Harold Wilson
• The moon landing happened in 1960's
• The Vietnam war was happening in the 1960's (1955-1975)
• People were protesting about nuclear development and spies from other states
• In the 1960's, 89% of women who were in their early 30's had their children living with them.

The Avengers:

The ITV created The Avengers. The target audience were adults (15 and over). It was mainly aimed at the working class. The first airing program of the avengers was 7th January 1961. The UK finale was 30 December 1961. There were 6 seasons made. the last aired episode was the 21st April 1969. They paid $2 million for series 4. 

Extended Questions

• With the extra $2 million from the American company would increase the quality of the content. This would make the production values, editing, camerawork and locations available better than what they were previously.
• In series 4, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee, an english-american film and television actor, and Mrs Emma Peel was played by Diana Rigg, an english actor.
• As the ITV was seen as a working class channel, the show, the Avengers, catered mainly to the working class but also to the upper class individuals too. The show also catered to both males and females as primarily, it was a spy drama so it would appeal to males but also the fact it included a female as a main star, taking on the roles of a male in television at that time (fighting and spy-work). This would also attract females to the show as they would be able to relate to the female in question while they watched it.

The Extended Budget

When a film company receives more money (in this case $2 million), production quality can go down hill (as seen in the walking dead) or it can improve, like in the Avengers case. Improvements included:

• Better cameras and quality
• Better locations (not just filming in studios)
• Better props and vehicles (helicopters and cars)
• Better music (having sounds and music tailor made to the show)
• Editing quality also improved through better access to editing facilities and hiring better people

media ownership

itv:
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