Audience Theories

Culmination/ Cultivation Theories 

There are two categories in the Cultivation theory; "heavy viewers" and "light viewers". "Heavy viewers" are people that watch television for 4 hours or more per day and "light viewers" are people who watch television for 4 hours or less per day. "Heavy viewers" can be affected by the Mean World Syndrome, this means that because they've watched so much television they are led to believe that the world is nastier than it actually is. For example, if a person watches too much violence on TV, they can be influenced by it and believe that that amount of violence is acceptable in the real world. 


The Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle theory (also known as the Hypodermic Syringe Theory) suggests that viewers absorb information from the media without attempting to process or give the information context and it has a immediate and powerful impact on them, without their consent or knowing it.




Uses and Gratification Theory

This theory states that each individual viewer will use media texts for different reasons. Here are some example reasons:

• Personal Identity- A person who uses the media as a way to identify with someone else or a character.
• Surveillance - Documentaries and News programmes are most common in this type of usage. Surveillance relates to the idea of using the media to receive information. 
• Diversion- This is the idea that a person will regularly use a media text to escape reality, most commonly through the use of soap operas as an audience can momentarily forget about their own issues and lose themselves in the characters' stresses. 
• Entertainment - This is the most widely used connection with media. Many people use media texts as a way of entertaining themselves whilst relaxing. This is the reason behind why shows such as: The X Factor, I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here and The Chase have such large viewing rates. 
• Personal Relationships - Using media texts for social interaction and to enjoy a specific area of the media with others. Many people enjoy to watch programs with others so they can discuss them with others. This is common with programs like Big Brother or The X Factor.

For our thriller opener we want most people to view it for Entertainment. We don not want people to be able to identify with the characters as we plan for the film to be very dark and the main protagonist has had a very traumatic life. 

Conventions of a Thriller

What is a Thriller?

A thriller usually consists of a conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist, where the protagonist has to stop the antagonist from doing something that would threaten the safety of others. the antagonist's motives are usually to ruin or disrupt the protagonist's intentions. In a typical thriller there is usually a happy ending where the protagonist conquers his enemy and everyone lives. 

 Some of the conventions used when creating a thriller film:

camera angles/shots 
lighting
black and white shots
non-diegetic music to create tension

It is common for the storyline of thrillers to be realistic, as if they could actually come true. This is because it hooks the audience and makes them want to watch it.

In regard to the characters within a thriller, stereotypically there is a male playing the role of the protagonist. He is very brave and courageous, it is his job to restore justice. The antagonist's identity is very usually anonymous until towards the end of the film. This draws the audience in and makes them want to watch more to see what happens. The antagonist is usually out to seek revenge on events that have happened in the past.

The camera shots in a thriller are very  stereotypical. They use a lot of close up and extreme close up shots to show the emotions of both the protagonist and the antagonist. Furthermore close up shots can also encourage the narrative of the story.  Shots of the antagonist are short, over the shoulder, or just a shadow. This is to protect their identity and provoke a sense of mystery. 

Having the right music is vital when creating a thriller, because it helps the audience understand the mood of a scene, it can build up the climax and also add suspense. 

Mise-en-scene is a very important aspect of a thriller film because it helps to set the scene and create a mood. It is vital to have the correct type of location so the audience can establish the genre, it uses dim lighting and the make-up and hair styles have to show what kind of people they are and their background. Thrillers are famous for using black and white or grainy effects for their movies and they also use costumes to distinguish between the protagonist and the antagonist characters.

Barthes Narrative Codes

Roland Barthes invented 5 narrative codes:

Action Code

The audience will recognise an action code in a media text as it is used to indicate what is the next logical step.  It advances the narrative e.g. the buckling of a gun belt in a western film signifies the start of a gun fight.

mystery code or enigma code:

This is where the audience is meant to think that if they carry on watching they will find out the answer to something. For example seeing a blood splattered suitcase being loaded into a car and then at the end finding out who was in it.

The semic code

Semic codes are signs and meanings in a text or program that are used to tell us about its narrative and characters. e.g. in a horror movie the supernatural would be signified by garlic or a cross.

The cultural code

This code is used in order for the narrative to make sense to a culturally and socially aware audience. it makes reference to elements from the real world that the audience will recognise.  e.g.  trainers and tracksuits in a soap opera.

code of opposites

This code refers to a narrative that relies on binary opposites e.g. black v white, hot v cold, male v female, nature v civilisation.


Our Preliminary Task

In our preliminary task we used Code of Opposite because I was wearing a pink blouse whereas Charlotte was wearing a dark blue jumper showing the contrast from bad to good.



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we also used Action Code when I walked up to the door showing she would be going through which in the next shot I did.



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Cultural code, the weather was cloudy showing the typical weather in England, we are white and spoke in a  British accent, showing our ethnicity.  We wore stereotypical western clothes, hinting we were English.




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Preliminary task Evaluation

Now my preliminary task has been completed I have written an evaluation.
 

As preliminary evaluation from RachaelMedia