Language and close-textual analysis

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

It fits the conventions of the  fantasy tv genre as it includes supernatural elements, its background music is an orchestral which is commonly seen in fantasy tv, and is set within medieval era which is highly used.

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

Lyra fits into the role of the hero.

Mrs courtler fits into the role of a villain.

Will parry fits into the role od an assistant helping 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-en-scene etc.)

Within the series they use a range of diegetic and non-diegitic sound, for example they use non- diegetic sound with the narrator to apply context to the audience who do not know the story tale in depth or find it hard to indudlge everything that is going on.

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. 
They use todorov as they leave the episode on a cliffhanger meaning next episode the equilibrum would come.

Representations

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

Stereotypes are subverted as we can see women are represnented more as leaders and have 'assistants' Lyra is the one that orders Will around aswell as Ms coutler being the main villian.

2) How are men and masculinity represented in His Dark Materials? Think about Will and Lee Scoresby here.

Men are represneted as submissive in comparison to the women and are not seen as very masculine.

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.

Teenagers are represented as more caring and seen as 

4) How is race and ethnicity represented in His Dark Materials? Are stereotypes reinforced or subverted?

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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? 

Industries

1) Which companies produced this His Dark Materials series?

2) What were the UK viewing figures for A City of Magpies? How did this compare to season 1 of His Dark Materials?

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.

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.

5) Who are Bad Wolf and what do they produce?

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)?

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

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