The Simpsons

 

The Simpsons is a sitcom animated cartoon series that has been running for over 25 years. It was created by Matt Groening and has 24 seasons and over 525 episodes. Each episodes running time of an episode is roughly 21 – 24 minutes. Since 2008 each episode costs around $250,000 after the production company 20^th Century Fox demanded a budget cut as the episodes were costing $400,000 each to make. Back in 1989 when the first Simpsons episode was created and aired, it used to cost around $750,000 - $1,000,000. In the UK the only place you can watch The Simpsons is on channel 4 which is free to few and then sky 1 which you must pay for. Last Thursday the 4^th of April on channel 4 The Simpsons had over 1.3 million people watching.

Target Audience

Age: 16-40

The age of the target audience is 16 – 40 because of some of the language they use and they why they act with each other and the violence. Some people over 40 will watch it if their children watch it but I think it is up to 40 years old as after you have been watching it for so many years you will begin to get bored of the show.

 

Gender: Male

I think the target audience of The Simpsons is mainly men because of the violence, the language and some of the reference used in The Simpsons. However it sometimes appeals to a female audience because of the characters that are female like Marge and Lisa that people in real life and relate to.

 

Culture: All Cultures

The Simpsons is not a culturally specific show. It is an American show but on they show they make jokes about Americans, they also make jokes about every culture but that is the type of jokes that they use on the show. They also travel to different country’s all the time and you see their culture on the show but they are always making jokes about the country when they are there and taking the mick out of there accents and the way they act.

 

Social Class: C1, C2, D, E

You can tell the social class of The Simpsons is low and at the bottom of the social class scale as it is a family oriented show and people with a small or big family who don’t have a great amount of money. You can also tell this by looking at the advertisements in the middle of the episodes and see what people are trying to sell and they won’t be trying to sell really expensive things to people as they watch the programme.

 

Lifestyle: Family orientated

The Simpsons is a family oriented show I can tell this because they show is all about one family called The Simpsons. The Simpsons appeals to a lot of family because people can sometimes relate to them as The Simpsons are not a well off family as Homer is working all the time, Marge is always at home doing house work and taking care of the kids, Lisa is the smartest child that is the only hope for the families future, Bart is the troubled child who is constantly misbehaving and always getting in trouble and finally Maggie the baby, she is the one that need to be looked after all the time by the mother Marge.

 

Location: World Wide

The Simpsons was made in America but has been broadcast all over the world because it is a family show and families all over the world watch it almost every day. In the Simpsons it has lots of types of different cultures for each of the countries it broadcast in.

 

Sexual Orientation: All

The show is not aimed at any sexual orientation so weather your gay straight or bi- sexual. It will not be offensive to watch the Simpsons as it has gay and straight characters in it. 

 

Analysing the generic codes

Language used: The languages used in the Simpsons can sometime be quite rude. The show sometimes has swearing in it but this is rare in an episode. There has not been any strong swear words used as it is a family show, and families watch it with their children. Some parents don’t want their children to be hearing strong swear words but they don’t mind hearing a little bit of rude language. This is why they watch the Simpsons.

 

Narrative structure: The Simpsons is a mixture of linear and non-linear as sometimes the show has flash backs. The show does this in some specific episodes like special episodes or anniversary’s. Some episodes are in linear order and this is where everything in the episodes goes in order such as the introduction then the problem in the episodes then them sorting out the problem in the episodes.

 

Characters: All the characters in the Simpsons can relate to some people and families in real life.

For Example, Homer is the father that goes to work and brings the money in to the house for the family; Marge is the house wife that does all the cooking, cleaning and looking after the kids. Bart and Lisa are the children that always fight with each other, Lisa is also the really smart one of the family and Bart is the troubled child that gets in trouble all the time. Finally Maggie is the baby of the family that is always being looked after by Marge.

 

Style: The style of this TV show is a comedy sitcom as it is funny and you can watch it with your family. It is also an animation cartoon so this is why it appeals to kids. Sometimes it has rude humour that sometimes isn’t suitable for children and then also some of the language that is used isn’t suitable for children. The style of it also is like family, because people’s family are able to relate to the characters in some way.

 

Camera Angles: Because The Simpsons is an animated cartoon so it doesn’t really have any camera angles but the way they animate the characters the angles of that are always in a long show so that you can see the whole family because they are normally sat in the front room and always talking so there is a long shot of the whole family sat on the sofa normally. Sometimes on special episodes if they are making it in the style of a movie and the movie is all close up shots they will make the characters face fill up the whole screen.

 

Music: The only music that is on every episode of The Simpsons is the opening title which has a theme tune that has been written especially for The Simpsons. It was written back when the show started about 20 years ago and has never been changed because it is very distinctive to the show and everyone knows the tune. The only other music that is in The Simpsons is only when they have special episodes where there are famous singers singing in the show and the family is singing because it is a musical episode.

 

Mis en Scene: The show is very bright as the animator uses bright colours for the houses, also the characters and their clothes. The clothes on the characters never change all the characters always have the same cloths on unless they have to wear a suit or they have to act as something else. Its set all in one town called Springfield which is a real place but this is not where it is set so this is a made up town where everything is held. It is mainly set in The Simpsons house and around there neighbourhood.

 

I enjoy the show because I have been watching it since I was young and I like the humour in the show. All the characters are different and I like some of the storys behind the characters and I also just find most of the characters really funny and this is why I like the show. I think the animation of the show is very well done by all of the animators, especially Matt Groening who actually created The Simpsons and Futurama.

 

Matthew Cooper

M1201595

Skills Required To Work In The Industry

Skills Required To Work In The Industry

 

·        Communication

You need good communication skills to be able to communicate with your boss and work colleagues, in a meeting or thinking of different ideas to create a new product with your work colleagues. You also need good communication skills to talk on the phone and to know how to order off the phone, arrange meetings and to sell.

·        Organisation

You have to have good organisation skills to make sure all of your work is organised so you know where everything is. You should do this so you don’t lose any of your work and have to do it in work.

·        Trust Worthy

You have to be trust worthy in the work place so that people trust you, not just honest they have to trust you to be there on time and if you having a meeting, to be honest in the meeting. If someone has organised something and you had to be there to film something people have to trust you to turn up.

·        Reliable

You have to be reliable so that people trust you. If you were the camera man for a video shoot people would have to rely on you to be there with the camera and equipment, and also to turn up.

·        Punctual

To be punctual you have to make sure you’re at work and in meetings on time. If you are late and are continually late, your work place will just fire you because you are not reliable to turn up on time to start works and people will always be waiting for you if you are working in a team.

·        Time Management

You must have good time management so that you get to work on time and also meet deadlines for work. Make sure you have all of your work done early so you will have more time to do your next assignment or task. This will show your work place that you are a good worker and they will keep you on and maybe even give you a raise.

·        Creative

It is good if you are creative so you will have more ideas if you are working in a team. You will be smart with your work, say if you are doing a video shoot you could be creative with how you use a camera so that you impress your work place so they think highly of you and think that you are a good employee 

·        Work in team

It is good to work in a team because it will show you have co-operational skills and been able to work with different people and get on with different people in the work place without starting arguments or conflicts with other members of staff. If you work well in teams the work you do with other members of staff, you could create some great ideas for your work.

·        Co-operative

If you have good co-operational skills it will be like working in a team, you will be able to get on with other members of staff and think of good ideas together. Not have any conflict with others and you will be able to work faster if you get on with the people in your work place.

·        Initiative

If you use your initiative you will be able to work independently and be able to get on with your work quicker and have it done faster. If you listen and know what to do you won’t have to keep asking for help off other staff or your boss who has set you the task.

·        Independent

Working independently will show that you have good listening skills and pay attention because you won’t have to keep asking for help you will have understood the task the first time and will not have to do it again. If you work independently it will help you do your work faster and it will be done quicker.

Codes and Conventions

A factual programme is somethings that is based on facts. The programme presents these facts to the audience so that they can either agree or disagree with them.There are many types of factual programes such as;

• News
• Quiz show/ Game Show
• Documentary/ Mockumentary
• Live Sports/ Sports show
• Discussion Shows
• Reality Shows
• Lifestyle
• Cooking Shows
• Educational

Different types of Factual Programming:

• Television News Item
• Radio News Item
• Newspaper Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper
• Website Article
• Television Documentary
• Film Documentary
• Radio Documentary
• Video Diary
• Fact-based Website
• Blog
• Wiki
• Podcast
• Tweet

Codes:

TV News Show
Structure of a news report:
C/A I/V C/A PTC C/A with the odd Vox Pop(voice of the people)
C/A- Cut Away I/V- Interviews PTC- Piece To Camera
What the reporters/presenters on a news show do?

• conduct in depth research to develop news stories that have an interest to people.
• edit copy from agencies or other reporters.
• write news bulletins, links and assist with the production of scripts.
• research and conduct interviews in the studio or on location.

Television News Programme:
News TV shows e.g. ITV News has a set time to broadcast. The news will come on at about 6pm and after they have told the main storys they will show the weather at about 10 minutes later. In the sudios they have a multi camera set up so they can get a lot of different angles. They also have a studio set up; this is how the studio is set up and where everything is placed such as the desk and the lights. Next is the report structue this is how the story is sturctured out and which storys are told first and how they are told. Back ground mucic is the music they play in the back ground while the presenter is talking. When the presenter is sitting at the desk this gives the presenter and sence of importants and to the public the presenter is an important such as the person in charge because they are the people that inform you about the news. Next is the news that is about the world, national and local. The world news tells you the most important things that are happening around the world. The national news tells you the main subjects that is most important in the country. Finally the local news is just all the main news that is happening around the local area or region of where you live. Feild Reporters are the people that report the story to the public but in the place that it is happening in, they also interview experts and also eye witnesses. There is a lot of video and photo images throughout a TV news report they usually show clips or images that are related to the report headlines this way the audience know what to expect. The captions/ titles they use are to tell you the location or town they're reporting from and also informs you of the name who's speaking. 

Documentaries
Documentaries have a narrative voice over this leads the audience into a preferred reading. Hand held cameras are used for realism and truth following their day to day activities depending on what the documentary is about. Natural sound and lighting is used when filming because the sun is the best light source, it is extremely bright the clouds can be used as a light softener so it defuses the light. It is also free and end up with better results.
Vox Pops and Interviews are held with experts and someone that is taking part in the documentary to get their views and opinions. Text is used to label items or locations and dates that are used or filmed  in the documentary. They use archive footage so that they can support filmed scenes. The use of real footage of the surroundings are used in Super-size Me and other documentaries like Frozen Planet. This is so that the audience is aware of the real surroundings as this could link in with the documentary of what its about. e.g. Like when they filmed how many fast food restaurants were around this one spot and also inside MacDonald to show where they were. Reconstructions are used when they want to recreate a scene where somethings happened for example; crime watch reconstruct the crimes that are committed to make the audience aware.

Newspapers
The masthead is the title block that contains the name of the newspaper, this is on the front-page of every newspaper. There's always a dramatic headline in each paper this usually is used with the splash; the splash is the main story on the front of every newspaper. The purpose of the images that are used in the newspapers are so that the readers don't get bored from reading and also it grabs their attention, or to go with the stories and headlines. The price of the newspaper is usually located in the pugs, these are the areas at the top left and top right hand side of the pages, these grab the readers eyesight and are used to show the date and price.
The difference between a local newspaper and a national newspapers is that in the local newspapers include local advertisements of items that are for sale or wanted, local schools details, jobs within the area, local company advertisements, classified adverts and local stores in the area, house sections showing the local houses that are up for sale also they base their stories locally. Newspapers come in two sizes Broadsheet and Tabloids. Broadsheets have a more in depth coverage of the news stories. Broadsheets are mainly about Business and news in the politics e.g, The Independent  The Times and The Guardian and are read by more authoritative people. Tabloids are smaller with shorter articles and are more about celebrities and local new stories such like The Sun, Evening Gazette and the Daily mirror.

How to gain employment

Contracts

Full-time permanent -
This Contract means you work on a full-time basis. normally around 39 hours a week. Also because it is a permanent contract you are made to be a member of staff who is entitled to all the companys benefits.

Pentions

Sick Pay

Maternity Leave

Holiday Pay 

Part-time permanent - 
This Contract means you only work part time with around 18 hours a week. You will also be entitled to the benefits you get on full time.

Pentions

Sick Pay

Maternity Leave

Holiday Pay

Fixed Term -
Fixed term contracts are normally for a set amount of months and at the end of the month they contract will either end or you will get it renewed and will go on for another set amount of time. A advantage of this would be you know you are going to have a job for that amount of time. A disadvantage of this would be that you are not always promised a job after the set amount of months you work.

Free Lance -
Freelance or a freelancer is where you are self-employed and not employed to an employer. They choose your own holidays and time of work. An advantage of this would be getting to choose when you want time off for holidays. A disadvantages of this would be your not always garentied to get work all of the time.

Shift Work-
Shift work is where someone works for a set period of time in a day for a certain amount of days. A advantage of this is that sometimes you can choose the days and the amount of hours you can work on that days, if you work 2 or 3 full days you will get the rest of the week as free time. A disadvantage of this would be, you wont always be aloud to do this and sometimes will have to work short hours almost every day.

Office Hours-
Office hours are time such things like shops and 'offices' are open till. 9am - 5pm Monday till Friday. A advantage of this is that you will have the weekend free. A disadvantage of this is that Your only free time are 2 days out of the 7 in the week.

Irregular and anti-social hours pay -
Irregular Hours would be like working 10 hours one week and then 3 hours the next week. A disadvantage of this would be not getting enough pay from only doing very few hours.
Anti-social hours are hours that people dont normally work like from 10PM - 6AM. A disadvantage of this is this is that it will mess up your sleeping pattern and you will have to sleep during the day and work again later on the night.

Salaried -
A salarie is a set amount of pay per year devided by 12 for each month. A advantage of this is that you will always get the same amount of pay even if you are off sick for a day. A disadvantages of this is that you will not have any money till the next month so the money you have made the previous month you have to make it last.

On Completion-
You will get payed for the work you have done once it is completed. A disadvantage of this would be not having enough time to complete the work or not being able to complete it by the deadline also not being payed because you took to long or not being payed as much as you were expected. An advantage of this would be being able to do it in your own time or spare time if you have a long period of time to complete the work also another advantage would maybe being payed more if you complete the work early.

Publishing

 

Copy Editor                                                                                                                                                It is the Copy Editors job to make sure that the text is good enough and suitable for the public so it ready for publication. They work on all kinds of publishing. E.g. books, journals, newspapers and magazines. Copy editors can earn from £16,000 to around £35,000 a year. Salaries for in-house copy editors vary widely depending on the size and location of the employer.

·         a good command of English

·         excellent levels of concentration, accuracy and attention to detail

·         the ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines

·         tact and diplomacy for working with authors

·         a methodical and well-organized approach

·         good computer skills

·         A high level of self-motivation.

Magazine Journalist
it is the Magazine Journalists job to write news article and all types of publication. These range from consumer magazine to specialist trade journals. Starting salaries can be between £18,000 and around £25,000 a year. With experience earnings can be up to £35,000 or more a year.

·         excellent writing skills

·         good listening and questioning skills

·         an enquiring mind and a lively interest in people, places and events

·         research skills

·         an interest in the subject of the magazine

·         self-confidence, and the ability to make people feel relaxed

·         the ability to absorb information quickly and write about it in a style that is interesting and easy to understand

·         determination and persistence

·         Keyboard and IT skills.

Newspaper Journalist
Journalists seek out news and report it to the public as quickly as possible. They aim to present stories in a clear style. This is so the public can easily understand it. Trainees earn around £15,000 a year on local newspapers. Experienced journalists can earn from £15,000 a year to over £40,000. The highest paid journalists and national newspaper editors can earn up to £100,000.

·         excellent writing skills

·         good listening and questioning skills

·         an enquiring mind and a lively, inquisitive interest in people, places and events

·         an interest in current affairs at all levels

·         research skills

·         self-confidence and the ability to put people at ease

·         the ability to absorb information quickly and write it up in a style which is easy to understand

·         determination and persistence

·         the ability to achieve shorthand speeds of 100 words per minute

·         Keyboard and IT skills.

 

Proof-reader
A proof-reader performs a 'quality check' on publications, usually immediately before they are issued or go to print. They may work on books, magazines, newspapers and websites, as well as specialist publications such as academic or technical manuals. The minimum rate suggested by the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) from March 2012 is £20.75 an hour.

·         a good standard of English, especially grammar and spelling

·         a high level of concentration, accuracy and attention to detail

·         good IT skills

·         self-motivation

·         a methodical approach

·         the ability to cope with repetitive tasks

·         tact and diplomacy for working with writers.

Publishing Commissioning Editor
Publishing commissioning editors work for book publishing companies. It can be a senior position in the business. Their main role involves identifying the sort of books that people want to buy and attempting to ensure that their company can publish the right products to meet these demands. Commissioning editors can earn between £18,000 and £28,000 a year. At senior level earnings can be £40,000 or more.

·         excellent spoken and written communication skills

·         negotiating skills

·         planning and organizational skills

·         financial management skills

·         the ability to work to deadlines and within budget

·         project management skills

·         commercial flair

·         Administration and IT skills.

Publishing Editor
Publishing editors work in a number of publishing areas. These include newspaper and magazine publishing, book publishing and online publishing. A publishing editor's main responsibility is for the style and content of the publication. Copy editors can earn from £16,000 to around £35,000 a year. Salaries for in-house copy editors vary widely depending on the size and location of the employer.

·         a good command of English

·         excellent levels of concentration, accuracy and attention to detail

·         the ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines

·         tact and diplomacy for working with authors

·         a methodical and well-organized approach

·         good computer skills

·         a high level of self-motivation.

Art Editor
Art editors work in the design or art teams of magazines, both printed and digital, and are responsible for the way a magazine looks. Their main responsibility is to ensure that a consistent look and feel to the pages is conveyed across the publication. Starting salaries can be around £18,000 a year. With experience earnings can be from around £25,000 to over £32,000.

·         creativity

·         commercial awareness

·         confidence to present your ideas

·         the ability to work to tight deadlines and within budget

·         excellent IT skills, including the use of software such as Photoshop, QuarkXPress, Illustrator and InDesign

·         the ability to explain your ideas clearly to other staff

·         attention to detail

·         organizational and time management skills

·         the ability to work well in a team.

Technical Author
Technical authors produce technical information in the form of instructions to help users get to grips with all kinds of technology. The material they write is designed to allow their readers to use or operate a particular piece of equipment or understand a subject. Starting salaries can be around £20,000 a year. Experienced technical authors can earn over £40,000.

·         clear and concise writing skills

·         the ability to research complex technical information

·         the ability to absorb information quickly and structure it logically

·         an organized and methodical approach

·         accuracy and attention to detail

·         ability to meet deadlines

·         an awareness of graphic design and publishing processes

·         IT skills

·         the ability to work in a team.

Writer
Writers produce works of fiction and non-fiction. They may work on novels, short stories, poetry, scripts for radio, TV, film or theatre, non-fiction books, newspaper and magazine articles or website content. There pay for their work may vary as could earn anything from £10,000 to £50,000 depending on how the books they wright that year do in book shops. When they work in company writing articles for magazines they will get a fixed salary.

·         Writing Skills

·         Motivation

·         perseverance and determination

·         willingness to work alone for long periods

·         the ability to accept criticism

·         excellent research skills

·         the ability to meet deadlines

·         IT skills

·         The ability to market and promote your work.