His Dark Materials - Blog Task
1) How does His Dark Materials fit the conventions of the fantasy TV genre?
Hero: Lyra
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-én-scene etc.)
Equilibrium: Lyra wakes up in a cave and eventually finds a abandoned city
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.
Mrs Coulter is represented as a strong key figure in the villains side and even takes leads
2) How are men and masculinity represented in His Dark Materials? Think about Will and Lee Scoresby here.
strong adventurous but also domestic
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.
children and teenagers are shown as powerful
4) How is race and ethnicity represented in His Dark Materials? Are stereotypes reinforced or subverted?
Audience
1) What audience do you think His Dark Materials is aimed at and why? Think about demographic and psychographic groups. You can revise Psychographics here.
Age: 10 - 16
Gender: Male & Female
Education: early high school
Social class: middle/working class
Race/Ethnicity: all
Job/profession/earnings: no job
home: city
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: young kids who see themselves in lyra's place wanting independencePersonal Relationships: relationships built with the character
Diversion (Escapism): the show itself as a fantasy world has lots of content creating interest
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.
Visceral: the excitement people will have seeing Lyra again at the start of s2
Vicarious: seeing Lee Scoresby on the hot air balloon
Voyeuristic: Daemons of the characters
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.
they all give positive feedback on it
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?
Some critics suggest that the film should try to get influenced more by the book as despite it being a lovely series for new fans who are of younger age the series isn't as enjoyable for people who have read the books
Industries
1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?
Bad wolf and new line productions
2) What were the UK viewing figures for A City of Magpies? How did this compare to season 1 of His Dark Materials?
weaker opinions as fans have had some problems with the series and the route it chooses to take in the story
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.
to advertise the series globally and gain a bigger fanbase abroad
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, Amir Wilson, Simon Kirby, Ruta Gedmintas, Jade Anouka, Ariyon Bakare
5) Who are Bad Wolf and what do they produce?
a tv drama productions company based in Cardiff Wales
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)?
For his Dark materials the cast could do as many takes as needed and also had more editing software such as CGI etc.
Meanwhile for Doctor who its set in a much older time and therefore taking many shots costed tons of cash and editing was sparse
2) What similarities and differences are there between Doctor Who and His Dark Materials in terms of genre and narrative?
Doctor who is a sci-fi series whilst his dark materials is a fantasy series
3) How are representations of people, places and groups similar or different in the two shows?
the characters in his dark materials is mostly focused on younger people and takes place in a fantasy world
mean whilst doctor who has an older set of characters mainly focused in the real world and different time periods
Grade 8/9 extension tasks
Read this Guardian review of His Dark Materials - The City of Magpies and also read some of the comments 'below the line' (BTL). Do you agree with the review? What about the comments?
Try this critical Irish Times review of His Dark Materials. Why does it think the show is disappointing?
Here's another review of our CSP episode of His Dark Materials. What does it say about the difference for fans of the book versus fans of the TV show?
This Slate feature on the cultural significance of American network HBO is a long read but gives you a brilliant history of the channel. It also shows how HBO has turned TV into possibly the most respected and culturally significant media entertainment form.
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