Audience theory essay

In audience theory, there are two different viewpoints. These are mass audience theory, which is passive, and active audience theory. Mass audience theorists say that everyone reacts to texts in the same way. On the other hand, active audience theorists say that individuals can interpret media texts in different ways, and that they respond differently to the same texts.

The effects model suggests that the consumption of media texts has an effect or influence upon the audience. This effect is usually negative. Audiences are passive and powerless to prevent this influence. The power lies with the message of the text. However, the hypodermic model says the opposite. It states that the messages in texts are injected into the audience by powerful syringe-like media. The audience is powerless to resist this, therefore, the media works like a drug and the audience become drugged by this powerful message.

One theory within audience is the reception theory, created by Stuart Hall. He said that the text is coded by the producer and decoded by the audience. One reading he came up with was dominant/preferred. This was when the audience decodes the message as the producer wants them to and agrees with it. Another of his readings was negotiated, which is when the audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of a text in light of previously held views. The final reading is oppositional. This is when the message is recognised by the audience, but is rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons.

Another theory is the cultivation theory, created by George Gerbner. He talked about how media affects people's attitudes rather than their actions. He also said that overexposure to films and television shows can blur audiences sense of the real world. He found that heavy media users have an attitudinal misconception called mean world syndrome. He said that the more exposure to TV overtime, TV will eventually cultivate viewers perceptions of reality.

The final theory I will talk about is the copycat theory. This theory was introduced by Mary Cover Jones. She believed that the audience will copy what they see in a media text.  It refers to how the media can influence and affect the audiences behaviour and how they think. A strength of this theory is that parents are able to monitor the media that their children use. A weakness however of this theory is that the preconception of danger varies from person to person. An example of this theory is the Jamie Bulger murder case.

Camerawork Prep

Depth of field:

• Distance between the nearest and furthest objects that are in focus.
• Subject in focus and the background is blurred - directs attention of viewer.
• Deep focus works better for wide shots when you want to keep everything in focus.
• To control depth of field, adjust the aperture - f-stop value - low f-stop value means a wider aperture and a shallower depth of field, high f-stop value means a smaller aperture and a deeper depth of field.

Composition & Framing:

• Composition = how elements are arranged on screen.
• Framing of your shot and filling the frame within that shot to make it visually interesting.
• Simplicity - don't make shots too busy and complex.
• Balance - be aware of weight of each frame.

Rule of thirds:

• Composition rule of thirds:

Focus on:

• Foreground
• Background
• Spacing
• Symmetry
• Can emphasise mood

• Subjects placed on vertical lines.
• Background placed on horizontal lines.
• Appealing look to the shot, point of interest easy to follow, and balances shot.

Head Room & Lead Room:

• Head Room = distance between top of your frame and top of your subjects head.
• Lead Room = camera following a moving subject - panning.

180 degree rule:

• Where you position the camera on set.
• Establish where characters are on the screen.
• Invisible line drawn between these two characters.
• Angle reverse-angle sequence - camera staying at one side of the two characters - characters facing each other and looking at each other's eye line.
• If we cross the line and place the camera at the other side of the characters, they end up facing in the same direction.

Exposure & Focus:

• To control exposure, change ISO setting.
• Picture may be overexposed in bright daylight at the lowest ISO when the aperture is wide open - reduce aperture to maintain proper exposure.

Representation essay

How does the concept of representation apply to your trailer?

The first representation theorist I looked at was Laura Mulvey. Her theory was ‘The Male Gaze’. She researched the representation of women in film, where she found that women were controlled by a ‘masculine’ audience through ‘The Male Gaze’. The theory is concerned with a woman’s body being on screen, and the male viewer experiencing erotic pleasure from seeing her. This makes the woman an ‘object’ of gaze. We as the audience watch the film through the gaze of a heterosexual male. In my trailer, I did not include shots that show ‘The Male Gaze’. Furthermore, my trailer didn’t have many shots of females at all.

Another theorist I looked at was Carol J. Clover. This representation theory concerned ‘The Final Girl’. ‘The Final Girl’ is seen in a slasher horror film. They are the last protagonist left to confront the killer. They are typically virgins, and they avoid drugs as well. They usually have a unisex name, and sometimes have a shared history with the killer. Throughout the film, ‘The Final Girl’ becomes more and more masculinised, and by the end of the film, when she confronts the killer, she has become a ‘man’. This is also why she has a unisex name, to make the transition into a ‘man’ more believable for the audience. I didn’t have a ‘Final Girl’ in my trailer. Although there were some females in it, they were not the last surviving protagonists. Instead, all of the protagonists died at the same time.

Finally, I looked at Charles Derry, whose theory was to do with ‘The Human Monster’. He believed that in every human, they had an inner evil, and that there was some monster in them. Also, in some horror films, the antagonist portrays society and the problems that lie within it. In my trailer, I did include aspects of ‘The Human Monster’. This is shown by the antagonist, who is a killer and is murdering teens. The antagonist is not visibly a monster, and from what we can see, he is a human. However, he has an inner evil, and he has a monster in him, which is what is causing him to become a killer.

Overall, I believe that in my trailer, I did not really follow the representation theories. The only one that I did include is ‘The Human Monster’, which is one that is typically seen in slasher horror films. However, I feel that I should have included more of these theories, and in particular either ‘The Male Gaze’ theory or ‘The Final Girl’ theory. Including one of these in my horror teaser trailer means that it would have been more conventional and it would have followed these representation theorists more.

4 Audience theories

Reception theory:

• Stuart Hall
• Text coded by producer, decoded by audience.
• Dominant/preferred = when audience decodes message as producer wants them to and agrees with it.
• Negotiated = when audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of text in light of previously held views.
• Oppositional = when message recognised, but rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons.

Cultivation theory:

• George Gerbner
• How media affects people's attitudes rather than actions. Overexposure to films/television shows can blur audiences sense of real world.
• Heavy media users has attudinal misconception called mean world syndrome.
• The more exposure to TV, will cultivate viewers perception of reality.

Desensitisation:

• Mary Cover Jones
• The more violence viewers are exposed to in the media, the less sensitive we become to it. The violence no longer bothers them.
• Behavioural state.
• Viewer can become immune to general shock of these actions.

Copycat theory:

• Mary Cover Jones
• Audience will copy what they see in media text. Can influence and affects audiences behaviour and how they think.
• Parents monitor media children use.
• Preconception of danger varies.
• Jamie Bulger murder case.