His Dark Materials - Audience and Industry

1) Read this audience rating guide for His Dark Materials. Based on the screening and this article, who do you think the target audience is for His Dark Materials and why? What about psychographic groups? You can revise Pyschographics here. 

-I believe his dark materials is based for teenage children and/ or young adults due to the fantasy genre.

2) What audience pleasures are offered by His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratific

-Personal Relationships: Mrs Coulter and her daughter

-Diversion (Escapism): The entertainment helps divert audience from real life events.

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. 

-Visceral pleasure can be felt when someone was getting torched and u can actually hear it.

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 Independent's Ed Cumming said, external: "It looks great, it's robustly made, and there are great actors everywhere, occupying well-built universes.

-"But it doesn't inspire as much wonder as it ought to."

-This shows us that it was a strong story line however it doesn't inspire anyone so its very independent.

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? 

-Some people loved it due to the amazing CGI and story line however some people didn't enjoy it as it isn't inspirational and is quite repetitive.

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

-bad wolf and new 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?

-4.4 million which compares to 7 million

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.

-HBO is a American TV company known for making some of the best TV shows. along with bbc His Dark Materials had 2 major companies behind it.

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.

-Ruth Wilson and Miranda. They were chosen due to HDM wanting to be international which would e made easier with popular faces.

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

-Bad Wolf is a TV production company made in 2015 based in UK Cardiff and Wales

-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)?

-HDM has more advanced camera work and editing as its more recent and had a higher budget/ technology.

2) What similarities and differences are there between Doctor Who and His Dark Materials in terms of genre and narrative?

-I believe the Sci Fi genre are similar due to both being able to travel space/time

3) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?

-HDM has more famous actors showing a better representation also being backed up with world wide companies however doctor who was created from a new company.