Audience Theory by Rosie Higgins

THEORIES

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 14:53:00 UTC

1. The Hypodermic needle model
2. Uses and Gratification theory
3. Reception Theory
4. Passive & active consumption

The Hypodermic Needle Model:

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 15:04:45 UTC

The hypodermic needle model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model, transmission-belt model, or magic bullet theory) is a model of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. The model was originally rooted in 1930s behaviorism and largely considered obsolete for a long time, but big data analytics-based mass customization has led to a modern revival of the basic idea.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypodermic_needle_model)

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 16:00:19 UTC

Task

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 17:41:10 UTC

- Watch an episode of E4's Skins.
- Who is the target audience?
- Count the number of violent acts shown.
- Count the number of sexual acts shown.
- Do you think it is appropriate for the target audience?
- Do you think it could have a negative affect on it's viewers?
Discuss

It's not just TV - here are some examples of other media products and their criticisms

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1. The Hypodermic Needle Model

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Newspapers:

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- Explicit photography and detailed descriptions of sex and violence are believed by some to have a negative influence on readers.

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Teen Magazines

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- Have been attacked for promoting sexual promiscuity by publishing material on contraception and physical relationships.

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Celeb, Music and fashion Magazines:

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- Have been slated for their glorification of the bad behaviour of celebrities and stars

Discuss:

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 18:31:07 UTC

Do teenage magazines encourage their readers to think about sex?

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The National Lottery:

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 18:44:38 UTC

- Has been accused of encouraging people to gamble by leading them to believe that money and happiness are the same thing

Advertising - Brainwashing Buyers

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 18:50:48 UTC

- Has provoked perhaps the most repeated attacks on the media's effect on audiences.
- It is the major way that media producers make money.
- Manufacturers pay the media to promote images of their products.
- On TV, adverts appear on average four times an hour.
- Even the BBC advertise it's own merchandise. (Videos, websites, books)

Children's Adverts:

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 18:57:49 UTC

- Shown during and around children's TV programs.
- Advertisers hope that children will beg their parents for the toys advertised.

Not just kids ads:

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 19:02:08 UTC

- Success with the opposite sex
- Luxurious lifestyles
- ultimate happiness
- Freedom from worry

Task:

charliechap84 — 2017-10-23 19:07:33 UTC

Design a poster advertisement for a product that offers the opposite of what adverts usually offer - a product that would make you unhappy or unpopular with the opposite sex, e.g. Bad Breath Mints.

2. Uses and Gratification Theory

charliechap84 — 2017-11-12 20:57:18 UTC

Uses and Gratification Theory:

charliechap84 — 2017-11-12 20:58:54 UTC

Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. UGT is an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication.^[1] Diverging from other media effect theories that question "what does media do to people?", UGT focuses on "what do people do with media?"^[2]^{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_gratifications_theory}

charliechap84 — 2017-11-12 21:03:05 UTC

Task

charliechap84 — 2017-11-12 21:12:11 UTC

- Watch an episode of Channel 4's The Island With Bear Grylls
- How can it be seen as informative and educational?
- Does it also Entertain? How?
- Can you as viewers relate to or identify with the cast in any way?
- Do you think it could be a topic of conversation among viewers?
- Could it be viewed as form of escapism?

can this theory be applied other TV media forms?

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Do these television media products integrate all five elements of the uses and gratification theory?

Or, do they incorporate just some of the elements?

E.G. would you concider Eastenders to be educational in any way? What about The Jeremy Kyle Show?

How does the News dramatise stories in order to make them entertaining?

Can anyone identify with Kevin the Carrot?

Could viewing The Moorside be conciderred escapism?

Do you think Loose Women could be the topic of conversaion?

And how about other media products

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Social Media

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Gaming

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Magazines

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3. Passive or Active Consumption

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Active Audience Theory

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 17:45:24 UTC

Active audience theory argues that media audiences do not just receive information passively but are actively involved, often unconsciously, in making sense of the message within their personal and social contexts.^[1] Decoding of a media message may therefore be influenced by such things as family background, beliefs, values, culture, interests, education and experiences.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_audience_theory

Passive Viewing Audience:

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 18:01:26 UTC

A passive audience does not actively engage with a media text. A passive audience is one that does not question the message that the media is sending and simply accepts the message in the way the media outlet intended.

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 18:03:14 UTC

GAME: Spot the subliminal message!

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 18:28:21 UTC

Look at these advertisements. Do you notice anything unusual about them?

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An Active Audience

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 18:47:59 UTC

By spotting these messages you have played the part of an active audience, rather than simply seeing the advertisement, which would make you a passive viewer.

How do we actively view other media forms?

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 18:51:53 UTC

Entertainment Shows

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 18:53:06 UTC

In programs such as The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, The Voice etc, the audience play an active role by voting for their winner. Also the whole process of this involves actively viewing the program in the sense that the viewer makes their own opinion on the contestants, will talk about it in social environments and may even participate in competitions.

News/informational programs

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 19:02:45 UTC

When it comes to the news we may or may not realise th activity we take however, we always make opinions and views on what we are being told. Often programs or documentaries will be bias towards a certain political view or ethical issue for example. This can cause us to actively or disagree with such bias

Film

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 19:08:14 UTC

Although we might choose to sit and watch a movie to switch off and unwind there is still an active role played by us as viewers. We will make decisions on what we want to watch and we will form opinions on new films. We usually pick up on the underlying message of the film and in genres such as psychological thriller, it is usually the reason for watching it. Even when watching a rom-com we will usually be aware of the moral to the story.

Soap Operas

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 19:18:36 UTC

Britain's soap operas make it their duty to highlight current issues in modern society. They will often tackle controversial issues causing national conversation, such as the story involving Ronnie Mitchel's baby or the Whitney and Tony situation. Bringing back old cast members is another way of ensuring an active audience, especially if that character was a loved character that was supposed to have died i.e. Cathy Mitchel, Warren Fox, even Harold from Neighbours came back as a postman with amnesia in the nineties which actively pleased it's massive audience.

Some media products do not function properly without an active audience

charliechap84 — 2017-11-26 19:44:25 UTC

Twin Peaks, David Lynch (1990 - 1992) (2017)
This murder mystery series is impossible to follow without taking an active role by trying to decode signs and symbols within the program and understanding it on an extreme psychological level, making it what I would call a "Marmite" series. If you don't have a lot of patience and commitment, you will probably find it 'Weird and boring' as many viewers feel. On the other hand if you have the intelligence to

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 11:42:06 UTC

Mr Robot, Sam Esmail, (2015 - )
This series follows a computer programmer in an attempt to reset world dept, however, by half way through the first season we are beginning to pick up on something extra going on. It relys on clues and "easter eggs" giving the audience clues as to what is going on.

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 13:33:31 UTC

Heroes, Tim Kring (2006 - 2010)
Even in the very first season of Heroes we rely on the painter's clues to the future to understand how the story is going to pan out. The painter Isaac Mendes is able to paint the future provided he is high on heroin, this forces us to take an active role by noting what he has painted, allowing us to take guesses as to what will happen next

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 14:12:56 UTC

Some products are specifically made for an active audience:

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 14:13:25 UTC

ABC's LOST, Damon Lindelof & JJ Abrams, This program rely's heavily on an active audience even creating an Alternative Reality Game to acompany the show and help promote season 3. Wikipedia also designated a page to LOST fans entitled LOSTpedia, which provided an excelent platform for fans to read up on theories, respond to them and even add their own. It has been claimed that the creators of LOST were open to hear fan's opinions on how the show should move forward, although this is just a rumor. The show has thick layers of cultural theories and deep mystery relating to real life occurences e.g. one main character's name is John Lock, if you google this name you will discover that John Lock was an English philosopher in the 1600's. This is not a coincidence

Activity

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 14:40:10 UTC

Watch an episode of ABC's LOST. How many times do you see any of these numbers appear?

4 8 15 16 23 42

Is there anything that seems out of place, E.G. people, objects, animals, plants, sounds?

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 14:47:29 UTC

Being an active audience relates to the Uses and Gratification theory

charliechap84 — 2017-11-27 14:52:25 UTC

By choosing what we want to watch for a specific reason links with the idea that the audience has an active role in consuming the media, whereas the hypodermic needle theory contadicts this by suggesting we are just fed information and simply just take it in, passively.

4. Reception Theory

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Reception theory as developed by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended.
https://revisionworld.com/a2-level-level-revision/media-studies-level-revision/reception-theory

Dominant, or Preferred Reading -

charliechap84 — 2020-04-01 15:59:33 UTC

how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. Audience members will take this position if the messages are clear and if the audience member is the same age and culture; if it has an easy to follow narrative and if it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience.

Oppositional Reading -

charliechap84 — 2020-04-01 16:00:39 UTC

when the audience rejects the preferred reading, and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with. It can also arise when the media has a complex narrative structure perhaps not dealing with themes in modern society. Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different age or a different culture.

Negotiated Reading -

charliechap84 — 2020-04-01 16:01:54 UTC

a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer's views, but has their own views on parts as well. This can occur if there is a combination of some of the above e.g. audience member likes the media, is of the same age as you and understands some of the messages, but the narrative is complex and this inhibits full understanding.

Factors that might affect which reading the viewer takes

charliechap84 — 2020-04-01 16:02:36 UTC

Age
Beliefs
Culture
Gender
Life experience
Mood at the time of viewing

charliechap84 — 2020-04-01 16:04:26 UTC

Wolf of Wall Street: Jordans drug addiction - Gemma

gp207882 — 2020-04-23 10:36:33 UTC

Dominant: Jordan despite his drug taking, gambling and scamming tendencies is seen as successful and everybody's friend. The way he presents himself, and what he is taking comes across as almost acceptable because he still gets the job done. He flies the helicopter under the influence but it's 'ok' because it belongs to him.

Negotiated: We can enjoy and laugh at many of the scenes in this film and even in this clip, however we also appreciate that his way of life is actually unacceptable, and although the film is enjoyable, the things he did don't sit right within our moral compass.

Oppositional: With this particular film, it's based on a true story so many people could oppose the seemingly glorification Jordan receives from this. Although he is reprimanded in the end, over the course of the film the audience are a part of this journey, laughing along at some scenes which aren't remotely acceptable. Therefore, those against drugs, gambling etc or even people who were directly affected by these sorts of scams may not want to use their time watching this perspective whilst laughing along with actions they don't agree with.

Lauren

lg206565 — 2020-04-23 10:41:05 UTC

Pointless not only relies on contestants to try and score as few points as possible while racking their brains trying to come up with obscure answers no one else can think of for general-knowledge questions. But it also relies on people to answer the questions before the show. Audience participation is a key part of the game shows as viewers often stride to answer the questions before the contestants.

lg206565 — 2020-04-23 10:41:30 UTC

Puppet - Danganronpa Anime Trailer (TW violence)

2020-04-23 10:42:16 UTC

Dominant reading
That this is dark and twisted and full of violence, drama and gore showing all the main characters to have potential to be a murderer

Negetiated
we can enjoy and watch most these scenes because you start to appreciate and want to get to know each character but we understand that this type of thing would be horrifying in real life and is unacceptable.

oppositional...
With this kind of content you can see why people would appose it because of the high violence and fighting and it would normally set people off and think that this in entirety is not okay

2020-04-23 10:43:08 UTC

Blade :

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Blade's opening entrance scene (warning has a lot of blood...) Jodi until 1:00
Dominant Reading: blade arrives at the dance club with a very quite but dramatic impact, we straight away see him as the good guy with every intention to slice up some vampire baddies. we enjoy the action and disregard any moral implications this may have in the real world as we know this is just a beat em up movie and it's fun to watch.

Negotiated Reading: blade arrives at the dance club with a very quite but dramatic impact, we straight away see him as the protagonist as even though his dress code may suggest otherwise, we know he is relatable to on as substitute as he appears clean of blood sharp and frightens the other lesser vampires and does not harm the human. letting him crawl away perhaps we can enjoy this darker side of marvel because we like marvel movies or don't take it too seriously even if their are areas that we don't agree with. like the night clubs being a hostile place full of vampires. or the drama and or gore isn't really your cup of tea.

Op-positional: Normally from people who have no links with any of the movies or comics of blade and sometimes very hardcore fans that hate violence and gore or don't agree with the portrayal of blade in the movies as he might be different in the comics for hardcore fans. this reaction tends to always be an extreme which is similar to the effects the dominate reaction can give but in a opposite effect.

THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES

ae206303 — 2020-04-23 10:46:59 UTC

Dominant - The film uses cultural imagery from Medival Armenian Troubadours to tell the life story of the Armenian poet and musician, Sayat Nova, as perceived through his hypothesised thoughts and feelings.

Negotiated - The film does indeed make that claim in the opening but some of theses scenes are absurd and entirely illogical.

Opposed - This film is using that as an excuse to just barrage us with illogical imagery.