An Idiot Abroad - Season 1
The title of the DVD cover seems to be calming blue, with a comical font, premeditating a some comical value of the T.V. series before looking any further. The quotes below the title are the best cuttings of reviews that the maker of the DVD feels should be added to the cover to reiterate the genre of the programme, which seems to be a comedy series. "The funniest thing ive seen in 2010 - HEAT", are one of the quotes on the title page which reinforce this conception.
This is obviously aimed at an audience with family values, as it has elements of comedy, education and basic entertainment. Placed centrally in the cover page are the three characters within the show that have the most importance. we know this by looking at costume and written text on the page. for example, the line at the top of the cover says " Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchent send..." concluding to the title of the piece, "An Idiot Abroad" as they are clearly releasing laughter and amusement in the photograph, you feel inclined to join them. The 'idiot', they are referring to is Karl Pilkington, who is in between 'Ricky and Stephen' on the cover, wearing what seems to be basic primary clothing, contrasting with the black uniform that the other two characters are wearing, making him stand out as the obvious main character in this series.
There is virtually no background image, suggesting that all we need to know about the programme to buy the DVD, is within the characters on the cover.Ricky Gervais is a renowned critically acclaimed comedian known for his razor sharp wit and satirical material, crossed with Stephen Merchant who is a famous actor and writer, giving the series some credibility and anticipation before watching it.
The spine of the cover, reinforces what is on the the front of the DVD. there is a small picture of Karl Pilkington at the top of the spine where usually you would find the industrial logo, enhancing the comedy effect of the series. below it is the dominant part of the text, the title, and the format in which the DVD is available for, for example, "blu-ray".
on the back cover, there seems to be a background shot of the 'Idiot - Karl', relaxing with a model of the globe, with an expression of somewhat despair at the idea that he has to travel the world in search for comedy value. this enhances that element of stereotypes, as we see a labelled 'idiot', not being able to comprehend a model of the globe, so this has to be funny, right?
below it are group shots of the amazing 7 wonders of the world, with a stance by Karl suggesting he is not infactuated with the wonders themselves, but the cultures around it. this shows that the T.V. show is entertaining yet informative about other adjacent cultures in the world, letting the audience get a collaborative and familiar insight to the outside world.
it later goes on to list the episodes, this i feel is a good device to use as it lets the audience or DVD buyers know what a particular episode is based on, and i feel i will be undertaking the same technique when it comes to making my own.
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