AQA Media Studies MEST3 Critical Perspectives Sec A BGT Exemplar

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You must read the information provided for Section A in great detail.
You will be given approximately 15 minutes to study and make notes on
the two texts. These notes will not be marked during the assessment
process. You must spend 45 minutes answering the three compulsory
questions in detail.
Clips:

The first clip is from Britains Got Talent, first broadcast on ITV1 in April
2014 and featuring impressionist Jon Clegg impersonating Jimmy Carr,
Homer and Marge from The Simpsons, Louis Walsh and Simon Cowell.
Britains Got Talent is made by Thames Productions, distributed by
Freemantle Media in association with Syco TV. The second clip is from the
American, entertainment industry news website The Showbiz 411,
created and edited by Roger Friedman. From February 2014, it focuses on
news of the birth of Simon Cowells son Eric on Valentines Day and is
entitled Baby Cowell.
How is media language used in the two clips to engage the
audience?
(8 Marks).
Extended response to question 1 to develop a full understanding of
textual analysis.

Both clips explore similar subject matter with The Showbiz 411 extract
exclusively focussing on the star marketing of Simon Cowell in the light of
the showbiz narrative about the birth of his newborn son, Eric. Both clips
use high key lighting, saturated primary colours and have an upbeat mode
of address to appeal to a primary audience of young, female fans of
celebrity culture.
At the opening of the BGT clip, along with a dynamic mode of address (a
typical convention of talent shows) an upbeat non-diegetic soundtrack
accompanies and anchors the visual images. Immediately the iconic brand
logo of Britains Got Talent fills the screen, foregrounding British national
identity as a talent show that is globally distributed. The A of talent is
modified to have connotations of star status appearing in an instantly
recognisable five pointed star format. The purpose of the audio-visuals is
to encode a form of fast paced dynamism that is frequently and commonly
associated with popular culture.
Camera movement is crucial to maintaining this rhythm and dynamism
with an initial high angle camera revealing a top shot of the audience in
BGT and the panellists and then titling and panning down from the gantry
to the stage. During this camera movement the panellist names are seen
up in lights above the stage further emphasising the star obsessed focus
of the show and the constructed nature of the narrative, based on the idea
of the construction of celebity. The mise-en-scene reveals modern,
tubular and metallic shiny dcor/surfaces along with the bright colours to
emphasise the studio/stage/performance environment in front of an
audience talent shows borrow from the mise-en-scene of the game show
genre but hybridise using soap opera conventions via audience
identification with character and BGT adopts this format.
Clear binary oppositions between the real celebrities and those aspiring
through performance are established, not just by the panellists status and
how they (the real celebrities) are constantly framed centrally in close up
but also using proximity and space as the table is lowered into what could
be traditionally seen an the orchestra pit in a theatre the panellists have
their own special place. The hyper real drama and theatre of the
occasion is anchored by shots from behind the performer in deep focus,
revealing the size and scale of the auditorium including banked up seats
in the stalls and circle but also the positioning of the judges.
The first close up inevitably is of Simon Cowell, the unique selling point of
the show in terms of his production company Syco and association with

BGT. As the camera cuts back to the performer in long shot, (a wide shot
selection is evident from multiple camera technology including CU and
MCU with the performer frequently in long shot) the rhythmic intercutting
between the panellists e.g. David Walliams and Amanda Holden, and also
audience members starts. It is crucial to show significant footage of the
performer but reaction shots from the celebrities are important in
encoding meaning for audiences while shots of the audience legitimise
the significant interactive element to the show. During the performance
Ant and Dec are shown backstage on a number of occasions their
purpose is to lead the audience into a preferred reading if they are
laughing then the audience may be seen to approve e.g. in the case of
reaction shots of them deliberately heard to say excellent during the
impersonation of Simon Cowell.
Self-referential homage is paid to Simon Cowell by Jon Clegg with the
rhetorical question: Can I call you daddy? during his routine
performers are often shot in low angle with the back stage projection
being of lit up, iconic London landmarks which traditionally would have
connotations of power, status and control but this is subverted to make
the performers seem aspirational and vulnerable and also reliant on the
judges and packed audience, whose full house evidence is frequently
shown by the swooping gantry camera.
The brief narrative builds to a climactic final impersonation of Simon
Cowell which is greeted by hushed, anxious tones constructed to ensure
the ultimate hierarchy of the show is maintained. Ant and Dec appear
almost as servants to the show during this impersonation while the
segment ends with a direct address to the audience, encouraging them to
subscribe to the YouTube channel. This would encourage further
interactivity via convergence and in terms of uses and gratifications allow
audience to develop personal relationships in regards to the show.
The Showbiz 411 also has a constantly moving camera and in reference to
this and the use of font, sound, colour palette and lighting makes clear
intertextual references to talent shows and the Reality TV genre. Neon
lighting greets the viewer as the brand name, The Showbiz 411 appears
in large lettering as the star itself. Rhythm builds with an upbeat nondiegetic soundtrack accompanied by a female, expository narrative voice
over that on one level pays homage to celebrity culture while on another
is tongue in cheek and critical through a knowing spoken word tone.
Simon Cowell is framed from the side in close up immediately as the

unique selling point of this piece with a long take accompanying the voice
over, guiding the audience into a preferred reading about the birth of
Baby Eric.
He (Cowell) is spoken about at the same time as other iconic celebrities
like Beyonce who had her baby in the same New York hospital. Cowell is
then framed in a montage of different shots, including during interview
but the channel chooses in the large part to mute his words. This suggests
a two-step flow, opinion based approach to reporting celebrity news to its
audience. Interactive links to Twitter appear on screen as the show
acknowledges the importance of convergence and web 2.0 to its own fan
base. As with BGT, the global distribution of the show/channel is
referenced by the mention of the key cites of New York and London (it is
stated that Cowell had to miss the London auditions to fly back to New
York for the birth) ensuring audience identification with the high profile of
the show (or at least its subjects). The Showbiz 411 is more subtly critical
of Cowell (which BGT would struggle to be because he is the originator
and owns the rights to BGT) during the end of the piece where the
narrative voice over makes the point that he still has not given up
smoking after the birth of the baby this homage, juxtaposed with a mild
critical approach is a genre convention and a common approach to
representations of celebrity culture.
How do the two clips convey Britains celebrity culture?
(12 Marks)
To fully develop a response to the question, I will explore the idea of
Britains celebrity culture and then cross-reference with the clips of BGT
and The Showbiz 411 (an American entertainment news website with a
significant British demographic). The Showbiz 411 reflects a historically
embedded tradition of British audiences passively consuming glamourous,
aspirational American culture represented at one end of the spectrum by
the Hollywood film industry and at the other by the infamous
`Kardashians.
BGT represents a British celebrity obsession with the Talent and Reality TV
show genre, seen in other shows like X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing,
Im a Celebrity get me Out of Here and Big Brother. Popular culture,
mainstream programming offers audiences a voyeuristic opportunity to
delve into the life of, as theorist John Ellis described performers who are
both ordinary and extraordinary. Using the uses and gratifications
framework as a platform to help understand notions of celebrity culture,

audiences develop a personal identity with specific performers and

diversion (escapism) is crucial in understanding the interface of this
culture. Many celebrities are ordinary people but with extraordinary
talents/abilities that work to ensure audiences often aspire to that
celebrity representation.
Personal identity with specific celebrities is evident across a range of
platforms as well as television with British tabloid news media using
celebrity culture as a way to exploit this obsession by continually
running/publishing stories on popular celebrities or stars and online
entertainment news media (like The Showbiz 411) offering the opportunity
of convergent links to a range of rich media (that printed media cannot
achieve). Viral marketing is wholly relevant in maintaining this celebrity
culture through social networking and web 2.0 again, using the uses and
gratifications model personal relationships are developed with other fans
or interested parties of the celebrity through Facebook, Twitter etc. BGT is
available on a range of different platforms and the clip itself evidences
this by marketing to audiences to subscribe to their YouTube channel to
gain added value, and buy into the myth of getting an inside track into
celebrity culture this interactivity enables the concept of celebrity to be
exploited on a range of patforms.
Simon Cowell on BGT represents the ultimate, patriarchal music industry
mogul someone who is aspirational but also influential in his ability to
make or break careers. Jon Cleggs routine epitomises audiences
identification with notions of celebrity by systematically choosing a range
of well known presenters to impersonate, to the delight of the audience.
The clip almost suggested a form of postmodern self referentially as a
wannabe star impersonates stars and is judged by existing, established
stars everything is a copy of a copy. In the same way, Noel Fieldings
The Mighty Boosh had celebrity culture as a key narrative theme with
protagonists desperate to become famous and at the same time, satirising
Britains celebrity culture. This is the interface of programmes like BGT in
that it has created the idea that perhaps it is more possible and more
attainable than used to be the case for working class performers to
achieve fame in a classic rags to riches narrative (working class culture
tends to be stereotypically associated with celebrity culture e.g. through
low production value gossip magazine and tabloid newspapers).
Synergy is very important for The Showbiz 411 and for BGT with the
celebrities selling the show and the show maintaining the status of the

celebrity in the mind of the public careers of judges like Amanda Holden
are indefinitely extended, just by their association with the show. On BGT,
the status of the programme in terms of ratings also ensures the
secondary personas of the judges are maintained and further developed
e.g. David Walliams has become significantly more famous as a judge on
the show while many audiences may struggle to remember what Amanda
Holden did for a living before she became a celebrity panellist. Magazines
like Heat, Now, Reveal and Take a Break regularly run covers with
stories about the Kardashians, Jordan and Peter Andre foregrounded
without the obsession with celebrity culture it would be hard to believe
how these magazines would still be published with synergy at the heart of
their funding model.
Celebrity media like BGT feeds off itself while The Showbiz 411 exploits
representation of celebrity culture to sell to an American but also a British
target audience. It is seen as a hegemonic construct by both shows that
we, the audience should be interested in the lives and lifestyle of
celebrities, in binary opposition to perhaps the normality and
mundaneness of our own lives.
Why is it important for programmes such as Britains Got Talent to employ
new Digital Technology effectively?
(12 Marks)
Convergence culture and interactive digital technology are commonly
linked to youth audiences and this is the primary demographic of Britains
Got Talent. Audiences expect their interest in a show, in terms of audience
pleasures to be developed and exploited further on different platforms
the very nature of interactivity and viral marketing is crucial in maintain
the status, success and talkability of the show. YouTube has only been
online since 2006 but has grown to become a multi billion-dollar business,
now owned by Google and itself making proposed 1bn dollar purchases
of live streaming video platforms like Twitch TV it is essential for BGT to
have a saturation of videos of the show, and all aspects of the show on
this platform.
To fully market the show, BGT needs to use above the line, more
traditional marketing but also realise the potential of e media like YouTube
with social networking in particular crucial to maintaining and developing
interest in the show, and other Talent and Reality TV programming.
Britains Got Talent Facebook page has 3.4 million likes and allows
audiences to enter into a broader discussion, on another platform about

the show. The concept of immediacy is important to Britains Got Talent

with Facebook interactivity through smart phones, tablets or online fans
of the show would see as important the need to discuss aspects of the
show during the performance (the broadcasting of the show) furthering
the cutting edge reputation of BGT as being at the forefront of utilising
the latest digital technology to reach out to audiences.
ITVs Britains Got Talents website ensures the brand, and identity of the
brand is marketed to its full potential logo, typeface and image encode
audience identification while the navigation bar allows for convergent
links to live shows, the auditions, how to apply and backstage information.
The format of the website is very simple, allowing for interactivity and use
once you start scrolling down the homepage presents a number of
embedded videos with simple sharing options at the bottom to Facebook,
Twitter, Pinterest and Google Mail, four ways of virally communicating
information about the show to a broader audience. Another ITV brand,
The Only Way is Essex uses exactly the same template on their website
for exactly the same reasons but also to ensure synergy with ITV and the
two respective programmes appeal to their sponsors.
Strictly Come Dancing, Britains Got Talent, X-Factor, Made in
Chelsea and Big Brother have a heavy reliance on YouTube to publicise
their shows but also to seed controversy and hype. Challenging the
original user generated content intention of YouTube, videos are regularly
uploaded on their YouTube channels with crucially the HTML element
allowing users to share links on any external page e.g. blogs, in MMS
messages and on social networking pages. This form of viral saturation
enables the show to build and create interest in a particular performer,
event or issue Michael Wesch would argue this reflects the cultural
phenomenon of YouTube in ensuring the success of popular culture,
mainstream, mass audience entertainment like BGT. In contrast to this,
the never-ending clips of the show, according to Andrew Keen serves
merely to create a world of amateurs where Gauntletts prosumer instead
of being empowered, is downgrading quality music entertainment.
Use of digital technology also breaks down any global barriers that may
prevent broader consumption with users sharing in the emotive,
voyeuristic appeals of the show without having to wait until the time of
broadcast they can have BGT on demand whenever they want. This
ability to stream, Sky Plus for example a show fits in with the busy lives of
the audience who may see the show and shows like it as an on the

surface, light hearted distraction from their own lives - immediacy without
full understanding or the need to understand narrative. Digital Technology
allows an audience to enjoy the surface thrills and spills of the show
without engaging in any depth. In the same way that a films theatrical
release allows for the exchange and consumption of the film on a range of
platforms, so does the broadcast time of a programme like BGT. The show
may itself generate high ratings in a multi channel environment but in
part, this is because of the creative digital marketing beforehand, creating
and generating hype by way of form a pre echo which then continues post
transmission using the same interactive media this arguably suggests a
never ending, open ended narrative about BGT.