Deutschland 83: case study blog tasks

​Deutschland 83: case study blog tasks

INTRODUCTION:

1.) One praise of the series was its vivid and detailed recreation of the Cold War, along with capturing a 1980’s society through fashion, music, etc. One criticism was its overly melodramatic fashion, making it seem more like a stylish thriller.

2.) Germany already had a “sticky” relationship over media with the rest of the west, this series also was premiered during the Berlin film festival which had “wounded their pride. They also did not enjoy the seemingly “ballsy” big production, some German viewers referring to it as ‘the flop of the year”.

3.) Audiences, in Germany believed that the series was underdeveloped and referred to it as the “flop of the year”. In countries abroad like in the UK, audiences seemed to enjoy the series much more than German audiences which is strange since the series is based in Germany about German history.

PROMOTIONAL INTERVIEW

1.) Jonas Nay quotes that growing up in a united Germany makes the series divided history seem like a fairy tail.

2.) Chanel 4’s English translations of the originally German broadcast presents how this series had a massive audience that expanded even outside of Germany.

3.) Matt Frei is asked about Germanys current political state, this could perhaps interest a channel 4 audience since it would give them a modern day visual of what Germany looks now after all of its conflict.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS: AUDIENCE PLEASURES AND REPRESENTATIONS 

1.) 

PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRY CONTEXT

1.) UFA Fiction is a company that produced different kinds of historical film media, they have produced “Deutschland 83” along with many other shows like “Disko 78”.

2.) Fremantle is a company that creates and distributes entertainment like drama, film and documentaries.

3.) Deutschland 83 reflects the international nature of television through its true historical context along with its massive international audience, proving that even a conflict that occurred specifically in one country (but had affected all) can be enjoyed and related to be a mass of international audiences. 

WALTER PRESENTS

1.) Channel 4 presents Walter as a master of global television.

2.) Channel 4 are trying to appeal to an international audience with the “Walter Present” series, since Walter is deemed a “master of global television”.

3.) “Walter Presents” presents the series as reflecting the changing nature of television in the digital age due to its dramatisation of the Berlin Wall, whilst it presents a historical context it does it in a dramatised dementor.

MARKETING AND PROMOTION

1.) One audience pleasure implied on within the trailer is surveillance, the real/true footage and nature of this conflict already brings interest to audiences. 

2.) The trailer uses enigma and action codes through a clip of the protagonist of within and action scene of a chase which created a thrill for audiences. The enigma code can be presented through the reasoning behind all this action "why is he doing this?".

3.) I think that the UK avoided German dialogue because a British audience would then assume that this show was limited to a German audience which would limit its globility.

PRESS PACK

1.) The historical context and real-life event creates a successful drama because it replicates the conflict whilst also recreating it for film, blending fiction to non which overall educated audiences on the matter with entertainment. 

2.) The soundtrack used may attracted audiences due to its overall popularity. Although its age may be dated, the chosen songs still remain extremely popular over the world. It would even perhaps attract an older audience due to a possible chance of nostalgia? 

PRESS RELEASE 

1.) This series was considered successful due to its 2.5 million viewers, being considered the most successful foreign drama due to its mass of audiences along with its historical links and recreations. 

2.) The press describes Deutschland 83 with immense positivity: "sensational... unmissable... obsession... coolest show of the year...".

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

1.) The UK DVD cover communicates the sub-genre of a spy action thriller (overall a drama) through its split screen. One side displaying a communist society with paintings of common dictators, a plain and traditionally dull cement wall. The other side symbolising the capitalist society in the west, being colourful and covered in graffiti of two people in an embrace, very colourful and playful. This duality emphasises on the spy aspect of the triller. 

2.) The font of the poster is very blocky and chunky with a thick shaded shadow behind the dirty yellow letters, this appeal of font reminding audiences of a 1980's society. Both the adverts use pops of bold and eccentric colours, another hint to its time period. 

3.) The distributors Freemantle International could have perhaps due to its differ of global audiences. Different audiences could perhaps be more likely to enjoy different things meaning that for an advertisement they would have to feed into those countries individual interests in order to promote the series.