- The Hypodermic Needle Theory:
This theory is about how the media has power over the mass population and is influencing them by injecting information into their heads for them to believe so they can get the desired response they want. The audience is seen as passive and powerless and that the message of the media text is powerful.
“Audience are passive” means that the audience just absorbs the information given by the media. The media manipulates the mass audience and they become “addicted” to that form of media text because that’s all they (the audience) know and understand and cannot withstand the effect of the information given. The audience would then start to believe it as different platforms of media are giving the same information.
The group of people this theory is aimed at it usually the most vulnerable (women, the less well-educated, the unemployed & children & teenagers).
- Uses & Gratifications Theory:
This theory is quite different to the the Hypodermic Needle theory as the media see the audience as normal people and let the audience make their own decisions on the media and interpret it how they like. The audience choose what media meets their needs, what they do with it and how they use with in their lives. This means that the audience will construct their own meaning of the media.
The Uses & Gratifications Theory comes with 5 sections, which are needs fulfilled by the audience. These sections are:
- Identity - Be able to compare their life and experiences with the character's and situations with the media text. Also to help form certain behaviours and values to you. one
- Surveillance - Gathering information on the world that would be suitable and relevant to living for example weather or finance.
- Education - Being able to receive information, have knowledge and understand the information in order to self educate.
- Entertainment/Diversion - The media should be able to entertain so you enjoy it and you should be able to escape the worries of life for a short amount of time.
- Social Interaction/Integration - The audience discuss the media text with other people in order to find information about other people’s lives and therefore create communication and friendships.
The internet lets us do all of these things. It allows us to be entertained via youtube because the audience are able to chose what they want to watch. This applies to films because the audience can chose whether they want to watch the trailer to a film. They are not forced to watch it. It helps the audience escape their worries of reality for a period of time.
The Reception Theory: (Reading Texts)
Reception Theory concentrates on how the media texts are being consumed and interpreted. Media texts are encoded by the created/producer and decoded by the audience. The media text may have a message to get across to the audience. They then interpret it in different ways. The audience are and it is understood that they can react in different ways. This may be related to their gender, culture & ethnic background.
- Preferred/Dominant - A preferred/dominant reader has intended reaction that the media wanted. Audience believe and agree with the media. Similar to the hypodermic theory.
- Negotiated - A negotiated reader is when the reader questions the information received, but gives it a chance. They may accept the views of the media text however they could disagree with action being taken place.
- Oppositional - An oppositional reader acknowledges the media text however they oppose or disagree with the information.
- Aberrant - An aberrant reader is where someone uses the media text in a complete opposite way which has nothing to do with the media text itself.
This comes into the film industry when there is a trailer for a film or the film itself. The audience are given choices as to whether or not they like it. This also comes into film because the audience are given the chance to have their own opinions on films. They could either be Dominant and react to the film how the media want them to, Negotiated and give the film a chance, oppositional and be totally against the film or aberrant and use it in a completely different way.
For example:
For the trailer for "Unfriended", it is likely that the preferred reading is for the audience to be frightened. However, the negotiated reading may acknowledge the fact that it is supposed to be scary yet consider it somewhat comical.
The oppositional reading would read that the trailer is cliche and therefore not frightening.
No comments:
Post a Comment