Below are some resources to help you see how journalists or reviewers write about a certain media product. This is the detail we are looking for in classwork or practice work / essays:

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THEORY OF HOW TO WRITE AN ANALYSIS

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1. Analyse how successful the product has been at meeting the needs of the audience by reviewing areas you mentioned in your report so far and more such as:.

   • What statistics (if any) exist that demonstrate the critical success (reviews, %, 5 stars, awards, etc.)

   • What financial (such as opening weekend, worldwide box office, DVD/download sales, syndication) data shows success of the product with audiences

   • What are your thoughts on why it has been successful?

2. Analyse potential or actual issues with the product been at not meeting the needs of the audience by looking at areas you mentioned in your report so far.

   • What statistics (if any) exist that demonstrate the lack of success (reviews, %, 1-2 stars, awards)

   • What financial (such as opening weekend, worldwide box office, DVD/download sales, syndication) data shows failure or weakness of the product with audiences

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What are your thoughts on why it has been not successful?

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EXAMPLE 1: ANALYSIS OF MEETING PURPOSE AND AUDINCE (MADE UP CAR CALLED THE BLAKE AVENGER)

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There has been success and potential issues in the manufacturers approach to make the Avenger fit for purpose and meet the needs of the audience.

 

The success can be seen by the fact that Blake have achieved in making this car the Number 1 best seller in the UK with sales of £1 billion in 2019 which is a market leader. It is clear that their understanding of the target audience with slick and targeted marketing to the low / middle income people aged between 18 to 35 years old who are mainly white and working class has worked. But no marketing campaigns can hide that they have a very fit for purpose product too with appeals to both men and women now. Compared to competitors the Avenger has out sold the Kia Max, Dachia Highlander and Hyundai Ace 3 to 1.

 

The potential issues for Blake with their Avenger product are twofold. Firstly with an aggressive marketing strategy from Blake, although currently successful, they are entering a very competitive market with the likes of Hyundai, Kia and Dachia being experts and a history with this target audience. Do Blake have the experience to deal with the big boys?

 

Secondly they must be wary of how these low to mid-range car manufacturers may respond by swamping the market with even cheaper cars and better deals than the Avenger, which could lead to Blake in 2021 having low sales and full of stock, red faced and losing money. Secondly, Blake had failures in the 1980’s with the Prea  with distribution and after sales service issues which could come to haunt them with the Avenger. The magazine “Car Weekly” said about the car “Great car but have Blake learnt from its mistakes with the Prea? Rumours of unhappy customers are surfacing from some dealers with the Avenger have issues in the gearbox and poor warranties”.(Source: Car Weekly Magazine June 2020 issue).

 

Overall Blake have created a tight relationship between a great product (the Avenger) by knowing what the audience want, giving it to them by getting the message out to the audiences successfully through expert advertising. But have they entered the lion’s den and in 2021 maybe more likely to get bitten by the competition? Will the after sales issues cause future issues?

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EXAMPLE 2: ANALYSIS OF NARRATIVE/GENRE/REPRESENTATION/PRODUCTION IN  MADE UP FILM "THROUGH THE SMOKE"

In summary the film Through The Smoke is a very powerful story that evokes strong emotions over the horror of Soviet Union concentration camps in the Second World War. Its 9.2 Rotten Tomatoes rating and 4 Oscars are deserved with audiences of 13+ on average seeing the film twice. How does the film deliver this meaning the audience and does it so well?

 

The audience are immediately engaged in the genre of the film era and feel part of a 1940’s Soviet Gulag camp with excellent mise-en scene through excellent world war two costumes, snowy locations, horrific sets of prisoner conditpions and no CGI. A huge budget of £3.25 million and film spanning nearly 3 hours has given the director time to take this linear storyline and film it properly through the use of extensive close up images of key characters and film editing which allows the audience time to disgust the unfolding horror.

 

The issues of war, prison and social class are dealt with brilliantly. War is brutal and although we don’t see scenes of excessive violence or injury the audience can come away knowing that war is both mentally but physically brutal. The shower and the workshop scene are very powerful in showing how war affects humans with the director taking time to show this. The issues of social class in the book give Director Martin Scirrof great opportunities to cast talented actors into 5 main roles that expose the Russian class system which is complex. Scripting and lighting help the audience understand these complex areas.

 

Overall the audience are engaged in this film from the start to the end. It was a highly successful film getting the narrative, production techniques and social issues spot on.