Lesson Write Up - 14th October

Audience Theory

• intended message:
• to show that smoke can have the same effect on children as if being suffocated
• encouraging people to not smoke around children
• maybe children would find it confusing as they may not understand the dangers of smoke so they might not understand why the children are distressed in the advert
• enables non-smokers to demonize the smokers
• gives a negative label
• people can understand why the advert is shown like it is

 

• intended message:
• the perfume will make you feel dominant and more powerful
• if you wear the perfume you will be idolised
• feminists may think this is not a good representation of women - Laura Mulvey - however could be empowering - Richard Dyer - star theory - seen as how the audience wants them to be seen

Reception Theory - Stuart Hall

 

3 ways an audience can view a text -

1. media texts are encoded by the producer meaning whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages
2. text is then decoded by spectators
3. Different spectators with decode the text in different ways and not always in the way intended.

 

Dominant -

• audience view the text in the way the producer intended
• agree with ideology and message behind the text

Negotiated -

• compromise between dominant and oppositional, accepts what the text is saying but has their own understanding of the text
• don't agree or disagree, but can see the point being made

Oppositional -

• audience rejects the preferred reading, creates their own reading
• reject the meaning fully they do not agree with the message being created

How May An Audience Have A Dominant Understanding:

• clear messages
• audience is same age so relates to the product
• from the same culture
• easy to understand narrative, can relate to narrative in some way
• relevant to society
• audience are choosing to consume the product so must have a reason to like it in the first place

How May An Audience Have A Negotiated Understanding:

• audience might not have had the same life experiences
• may not understand the narrative in relation so therefore cannot relate in the intended way
• age may vary the reading and understanding
• do not understand all of the messages making it unclear what the dominant meaning is supposed to be

How May An Audience Have A Oppositional Understanding:

• product might have controversial themes
• disagree with the messages in the video
• dislike the genre
• no understanding/cannot relate to the narrative structure
• not reflective of society
• different cultures have different understandings