Friday 12 March 2010

Dissertation Update - Introduction page progress...

Okay, this is what I've done so far. It may not seem like much, as I am only publishing what I feel is ready to be seen. I have a zillion of quotes selected from several books that I am trying to think of comments for... it's way harder then expected. But hopefully now you all can fully understand the nature of this dissertation and what to expect from it:

“Investigating the ethnography of fan culture in particular reference to the contemporary cult television series ‘LOST’”.

The first series of ‘LOST’ was first distributed to TV in September 2004, and is still an ongoing, popular TV series, arriving at its final 6th series in February 2010. In its own rights, it has become a cult show globally in terms of its fan culture.

‘LOST’ is set in a diegetic world, a tropical island described to be positioned not far from Fiji, in which a plane crashes, and a significant group of survivors from the plane crash embark on a series of atypical adventures, including polar bears, secret hatches belonging to a mysterious scientific group and eccentric island inhabitants.

Since its broadcasting, the fan culture surrounding the TV series has become as big as other cult TV series such as Star Trek, Doctor Who, Buffy and many more. The fan culture includes audience viewers’ part taking in fan related activities such as fan art, fiction, forums, videos, etc.

Looking at the most popular ‘LOST’ fan forums, I am going to investigate through a series of questionnaires in relation to the fan culture. These forums include Sky Forums, Michael Emerson Fan Board, The Fuselage, Lost Video Island, The Tail Section and DarkUFO.

There is a strong active relationship with the audience and cult TV show ‘LOST’. The majority of this activity is found on the internet, found on many social forums as well as networks ‘facebook’, ‘myspace’, ‘bebo’ and ‘twitter’.

On first assumptions with ‘LOST’ and its audience, it can be identified that ‘LOST’ attracts a mass audience due to the age range and demographics involved. Both male and female audiences are dedicated to following the show. Not only that, the audience range is worldwide, with the show being aired in at least six countries, including the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand. The series is also accessible on the internet, whether legal or illegal, via downloads or streaming that is available to other countries. The range in other foreign country access is most evident in the activities on fan forums, particularly European.

Upon audience research, the age range is confirmed by young audiences under the age of 18 and that to the age of at least 60 watch the show. Due to the genre being vastly varied that the show could do with a new brand of genre name, it is difficult to pin-point a particular genre attraction, unless looking specifically from series four onwards, where the genre trends to more of a sci-fi field.

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