His Dark Materials-CSP

 Language and close-textual analysis

1) How does His Dark Materials fit the conventions of the fantasy TV genre?

The dark materials fits the convention of the fantasy TV genre as based on the novel series of the same name by Phillip  Pullman it is produced by bad wolf and new life productions for BBC one and HBO

2) Applying Propp's character theory, what character roles do some of the main characters in His Dark Materials fit into? 

The hero-lyra who goes on a quest to save her friend 

The Villan-the Religous empire

The dispatcher-her father-who sets her off this journey 

3) What enigma and action codes (Barthes) can you find in His Dark Materials? Make specific, detailed reference to the text using media terminology (e.g. media language - camera shots, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, mise-en-scene etc.) His Dark Materials uses media language such as low key lighting and non diegtic sound to show enigma codes around dust while rapid editing and diegetic ticking

4) What examples of binary opposition (Levi-Strauss) can you find in His Dark Materials? How do these create narrative or drama for the audience? You can find reminder notes on all these narrative theories here - just scroll down to narrative. 

Representations

1) How are women represented in His Dark Materials? Are gender stereotypes reinforced or subverted? Think about Lyra and Mrs Coulter here.

women in hdm completely flip normal gender stereotypes because the female characters hold all the real power like lyra is a messy tomboy who tricks adults and saves herself instead of being a pretty princess who needs help and mrs coulter looks like a glamorous lady but is actually a terrifying genius running army groups and making her own choices without any men telling her what to do

2) How are men and masculinity represented in His Dark Materials? Think about Will and Lee Scoresby here. hdm swaps out tough guy tropes because the guys are nice and helpful instead of just flexing muscles like will is strong because he takes care of his sick mum and protects his friends while lee looks like a cool cowboy but is actually just a big softie who acts like a dad to lyra and dies to save her

3) How is age (e.g. teenagers; adults) represented in His Dark Materials? Does the show reinforce or challenge stereotypes about young people? Think about Lyra and Will plus the abandoned children they meet. Also think about Mrs Coulter and other adults.hdm flips how age works because kids are the smart heroes while adults are the bad guys messing up everything and teenagers like lyra and will have to grow up fast and make big choices because they are brave while the grown ups are selfish and cruel like mrs coulter who hurts kids just to get more power plus even the kids left behind in the empty city show that the adults just abandoned them which challenges the idea that kids are weak since they do a better job than the older people

4) How is race and ethnicity represented in His Dark Materials? Are stereotypes reinforced or subverted?hdm flips old race ideas by using a mix of different actors to play the best heroes and smartest leaders instead of bad guys plus it shows people of color as big bosses like the witch queen or school scholars which proves anyone can be a leader in this world

5) What representations of the world can you find in the episode - is it like real life? A fantasy world? Something from the past or future? Give examples from the episode.hdm shows a mix of worlds that look like the past and real life at the same time and will comes from a normal modern city with cars and houses like our world today while lyra comes from an old world with stone buildings and no phones that looks like the past plus they also visit a total fantasy city with sunny streets and no adults that has creepy smoke monsters that eat people souls

Audience

1) What audience do you think His Dark Materials is aimed at and why? Think about demographic and psychographic groups. You can revise Pyschographics here.It is aimed at teensagers and young aduts around15-25

but also for older fnatsy fans 

2) What audience pleasures are offered by His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies? Apply Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory to the episode. Make sure you provide specific examples from the episode to support your ideas.

Personal Identity: 

Personal Relationships: 

Diversion (Escapism): 

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. 

hdm definitely hits all 3 vs for visceral thrills you get the creepy spectres gliding through cittàgazze sucking out souls or the high tension when will cuts through actual air with the subtle knife and the vicarious side is huge when lyra and will are exploring that empty city with zero adults around like living out the ultimate free kid fantasy then for voyeuristic pleasures it feels like you are peeking at secrets you shouldn't see like watching asriel secretly film the dust in the sky or looking through a hidden rip in a bush into a whole other universe

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. it was welcomed  by the critics and fans for its high end -usual and strong performance 

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? it is a celebrated fantasy series that often createds conversation between fans 

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

Bad Wolf asnd amercican studio new line cinema 

2) What were the UK viewing figures for A City of Magpies? How did this compare to season 1 of His Dark Materials? The city og magpies had 4.4million uk viewvers and hdm had  7.2 million vievwers in 2019

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.They co-produced and co-funded the show alongside with bbc  theur massive budget paid for the miove quality CGI

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.

-Dafne Keen

, Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda

) Who are Bad Wolf and what do they produce?

They are a uk based independent telvision production company known for creating high end imaginitive dramafor a global audience 

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)? The main thing is the gap in the television and technology and the budgtes

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

doctor who is a fun sci-fi show about an alien who travels in time and saves people from monsters each week

his dark materials is a dark fantasy story about a girl growing up and going to different worlds to fight bad leaders

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

both shows use regular british kids to fight giant evil forces, but doctor who sends them to alien planets to stop killer robots, while his dark materials sends them to alternate earths to fight a corrupt church.