Weatherman Walking (Series 10 Episode 1, 13Th January , 2017) GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Factsheet Weatherman Walking (Series 10 Episode 1, 13Th January , 2017)
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GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Factsheet Weatherman Walking (Series 10 Episode 1, 13th January , 2017) GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Factsheet Weatherman Walking (Series 10 Episode 1, 13th January , 2017) Unit 2: Understanding Television and casual and he embraced native customs. Film Also introduced in the late 80s was the travelogue Section A: Wales on Television targeted at a younger demographic. One of the more popular of these was the ‘Rough Guide’ Subject Content: Media language presented by Magenta Devine. The convention Focus area: Representation, of the male presenter was challenged at last. Media Industries, Audiences In the last thirty years of television the conventions PRODUCT CONTEXT of the travelogue have been consistently challenged • Weatherman Walking is a Factual, Travel to appeal to changing audiences. A degree of programme created by BBC Cymru Wales. hybridity has been introduced, for example, the • This episode was broadcasted on BBC One celebrity travelogue (Steve Coogan’s The Trip), Wales, Friday 13th January 2017 at 7.30 p.m. the traveling Chef (A Cook Abroad), and even the game show (Coach Trip). This change has ensured • The programme was first broadcasted on 27th that the genre has maintained its popularity. January 2011. It moved to television from BBC Radio Wales where it was launched in 2009. Consider how media language creates • It is presented by Derek Brockway, a and communicates meaning: Welsh meteorologist who has presented the • Weatherman Walking subverts the travelogue weather on BBC One Wales since 1997. genre to a degree. Rather than introduce • The executive producer is Christine Macaulay audiences to foreign and distant lands it explores while the series is produced Steve Freer. different aspects of the landscape of Wales. • The convention of the male presenter is upheld. Derek Brockway could be considered a Welsh PART 1: STARTING POINTS – Media language celebrity so he brings his star persona to Social and Cultural Context the text (Dyer). He gained popularity with The travel documentary has been a popular media audiences due to his high profile Charity genre since the birth of cinema. During a typical work and his patriotic love of Wales, its programme, the feature length film was often language and culture. His presenting style is interjected with newsreels or short features. Often, known to be informal and light-hearted. this feature was a travel programme. Prior to this, • The meaning that audiences can decode from travel writers delivered lectures to audiences using the text is anchored by the non diegetic voice photographs and artefacts to illustrate their accounts. over by Derek Brockway. Additionally, the presenter uses a direct mode of address through One of the earliest examples of the travelogue talk to camera and the direct address ‘you’. on British Television was the popular show, The active audience is further encouraged Whicker’s World, which ran from 1958-1994. The through the link to the website that encourages presenter, Alan Whicker, fitted the stereotypical audiences to engage further with the narrative image of an English gentleman with his sharp by experiencing the walk themselves. suits and moustache. Indeed, the show had a • The camerawork is varied. Dialogue between the degree of colonial ideology as Whicker viewed characters is filmed through the mid and long foreign culture with a subtle air of distrust. shot. However, Brockway’s journey is depicted The 1980s introduced a new form of travelogue through extreme wide shots and the use of presenter. Monty Python star, ‘Michael Palin’ the drone camera. This allows the audience brought a relaxed and informal style of presenting to have a spectacle view of the landscape. to the genre. Palin’s dress code was always • Graphics intercut the narrative to highlight 1 GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Factsheet important points to the audience. The use of could be made of the different texts. the map gives an overview of the journey. • There is hybridity with the nature programme genre. Bird’s eye and worm’s eye shots are PART 2: STARTING POINTS – Representation used to create a sense of awe in the audience. Historical and Political Context The camera also plays with the depth of Broadcasting in Wales began on 13th February 1923 focus to enhance the beauty of the scenery. when the BBC opened its Cardiff radio station. • The opening shots make intertextual reference When television became the dominant media after to the popular British TV programme, ‘The the Second World War, many groups in Wales voiced Prisoner’ which was filmed on location. their concerns about how this would affect culture. This would appeal to older audiences who The youth organisation Urdd Gobaith Cymru stated: recognise the reference to the sinister ‘Rover’, ‘It is surely obvious that the one and only solution a giant orb that captured escapees. is to treat Wales as an entity, to divorce her from other regions and to give her the respect a nation Consider how media language portrays deserves. This means a separate television service aspects of reality, constructs points of view adequately covering the entire country, providing and conveys messages and values: programmes of all kinds in both Welsh and English • Belonging to the factual genre, the audience at convenient viewing times’. Consensus of opinion are presented with a realistic view of Wales in Wales meant that BBC Cymru Wales was and its culture. However, the meaning launched in 1964 to provide a range of English and is constructed through the selection of Welsh language programmes for Welsh audiences. camera shots, lighting and the dialogue. • The camera shots position the audience The 1980s saw big changes to Welsh television. as a spectator. The use of high and low The launch of Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C) angle shots, extreme wide shots and the meant that all Welsh language programmes made cinematography created by the drone are by the BBC were broadcast on the new Welsh used to create visual pleasure of the Welsh language channel. From then on BBC Cymru landscape. The lighting of the mise-en-scène only broadcast English language programmes. is high key throughout which influences the audiences’ viewpoint of the scenery. Social and Cultural Context • Weatherman Walking promotes the Early representations of Wales on television were ideology that reinforces patriotism and love often influenced by clichés set by Hollywood in the for one’s country. It supports hegemonic 1940s by films like How‘ Green was my Valley’. ideas that audiences should enjoy the Traditional stereotypes of green mountainous beauty of nature and the environment. landscapes, small communities, kinship, strong • The episode celebrates Welsh culture by patriotism and an emotional connection with telling a visual story of historical legend. rugby dominated representations of Welsh culture on the small screen. These stereotypes Possible areas for further investigation: could be seen in Welsh language soap, ‘Pobol y • Narrative: The narrative of the show Cwm’ (launched in the 1970s and focused on the is linear. It is centred on two journeys small rural community of Cwmderi) and English undertaken by the presenter in 30 mins. language programmes such as the 1978 film, Additionally, historical narratives are ‘Grand Slam’ and ‘The District Nurse’ in 1984. told through use of: the dialogue between Brockway and the guide that accompanies It was devolution that created something of a him, historical images and the voice over. renaissance in Welsh media. Increased funding • Audiences: Uses and Gratifications: the and programming broadened representation travelogue gives audiences information of Wales. The media industry in Wales saw about areas in Wales, its narrative entertains significant growth and became home to hugely and it encourages social interaction popular mainstream shows such as ‘Torchwood’, through #weathermanwalking. ‘Casualty’ and ‘Sherlock’. From being considered • Convergence: The programme exists on several the ‘invisible nation’ Wales began producing platforms, online, book and radio. Comparison 2 GCSE Media Studies – Set Product Factsheet shows such as ‘Hinterland’ for an export market. • Brockway’s dress code is stereotypical of outdoor pursuits. He wears a waterproof, Consider the representation of walking boots and a rucksack. His informal Wales and its cultural identity: style supports the verisimilitude of the ‘walk’. • Weatherman Walking upholds many of the Despite being an English language programme traditional visual stereotypes of Wales. The incidental Welsh is used by the presenter drone sweeps over mountainous green landscape and the guides. This reinforces the positive and close knit rural villages. While Brockway viewpoint of Welsh language and culture and is guided past sheep farms and towards also strengthens Brockway’s star image. the traditional ‘pub’. However, the episode presents a viewpoint that Wales is enticing Possible areas for further investigation: and interesting: Chinese style gardens, exotic • Representations of age: The programme plants and Celtic myths are all part of the walk clearly targets an older demographic (35 – around Portmeirion, the birthplace of Festival 65), with an interest in walking, nature and No 6, headlined by international music artists. history. This group could be categorised • Furthermore, Wales is represented as a place in ABC1 group. The representations of with a colourful history. The Dolaucothi age in the episode could be analysed. walk introduces Wales’ link to the Roman • Reception Theory: Stuart Hall’s reception empire and the presence of gold in its theory could be considered. What is the mines. This reinforces the sense of Wales preferred reading of the texts? How might being a place of myth and legend. audiences respond to meaning in the texts? • The episode also acknowledges Wales’ industrial Does it alter the audiences’ view of Wales? heritage with Brockway exploring a gold mine wearing the stereotypical ‘hard hat’. 3.