Theory and Theorists
Effects Theory
- The Frankfurt School: It is a school of critical philosophy and social theory to do with the Institute for Social Research, at Goeth University, Frankfurt, concerned with the impact of different media industries rising. This is the basis of the effects theory, where the audience are passive and therefore, manipulated by the ruling classes, who control the media (whether with opinions or false/true facts). This was the fear of capitalist freedom seeping into controlled Marxist ideology; the loss of control of the way the masses think and how they view different things.
- They Hypodermic Needle Model: The original model for explaining the effects theory which demonstrates and shows the effects of the mass media on their audiences, in particular film, ‘injecting’ the passive audiences with ideologies. The systematic brainwashing of audiences is a gradual and slow process where they are constantly, (mis)informed of a propaganda that they start to believe and agree with what they are ‘injected’.
- Cultivation Theory: This is a more refined version of the effects theory implying that while a single text does not have much effect, repeated exposure will make the audience less and less sensitive. An example of this would be billboard advertising; if you drive past once you have a limited understanding, but drive past the same advertisement every day and you start to ‘cultivate’ a greater understanding.
- Two-Step Flow: This is the final development of this theory which refines the basic idea further. It assumes a more active audience, who will discuss the media with each other. However, if they are interacting with a person of respect they become passive and accept their opinion. An example of this would be film reviews in
magazines and how influential they can be in our decisions about which films to watch.
Uses and gratifications theory
Opposing the Effects Theory, Uses and Gratifications theory assumes an active audience, which chooses the texts it consumes and where individuals have differing reasons for consuming those texts. Around the 1960s it became obvious that audiences made choices about how, when and why they consumed media texts. Blumler & Katz added onto this theory in 1974 suggesting the following reasons why audience members might consume a media text:
- Diversion: escape from everyday problems and routine
- Personal relationships: using the media for emotional and other interaction, e.g. substituting soap operas for their own family life
- Personal Identity: constructing their own identity from characters in media texts, and learning behavior and values, e.g. seeing value in a fictional characters way of dealing with life’s problems and following their lead.
- Surveillance: information gathering, e.g. educational programmes, weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains, celebrity gossip
Similar all media theories, as soon as one theory is published other theorists either work to disprove their ideas or extend them further. Denis McQuail chose to suggest a more detailed breakdown of audience motivation.
1. Information:
2. Learning:
3. Personal Identity:
4. Integration and Social Interaction:
1. Information:
- finding out about relevant events
- seeking advice
- satisfying curiosity and general interest
2. Learning:
- self-education
- confidence through gaining knowledge
3. Personal Identity:
- finding reinforcement for personal values
- finding models of behavior
- identifying with ‘celebrities
- gaining insight about oneself
4. Integration and Social Interaction:
- gaining insight into circumstances of others
- identifying with others – sense of belonging
- finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
- having a substitute for real-life companionship
Reception theory
In a way Reception theory is almost like an extension of the U&G theory, concentrating on the audience itself and how they responds to the text. It is based on the theory that no text has one single meaning. Instead, reception analysis suggests that the individual members of an audience themselves help to create the meaning of a text. They decode the texts that they encounter in personal ways – which may be a result of our upbringing, the mood we are in, the place that we are at the time, or any combination of these and all kinds of other factors. David Morley looked at our preconceptions of media texts and what we expect from a media text based on our prior consumption of similar texts. For example, many fans of superhero movies would have opted to watch the 2019 film The Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, based on their prior knowledge of the character from DC Comics, television series, cartoons, and previous Batman films. However, they may have been very disappointed that it was actually a
psychological thriller, rather than an action movie.
In 1980 Morley conducted an audience study, observing how many different social groups read the same media text:
psychological thriller, rather than an action movie.
In 1980 Morley conducted an audience study, observing how many different social groups read the same media text:
- Dominant Reading: The audience shares the text’s code (its meanings, system of values, attitudes, beliefs and assumption) and accepts the preferred reading.
- Negotiated Reading: The audience partly shares the text’s code but modifies it, or only selects parts of it, in a way which reflects their position and interests.
- Oppositional Reading: The audience does not share the text’s code and rejects the preferred reading, bringing to bear an alternative frame of interpretation.
Narrative theory
Vladimir Propp: studied folk tales and legends from many different countries and theorized that there are 32 basic categories of action, which he labelled
‘functions’ and, through this, identified 8 basic character functions, which tended to be types rather than individuals:
are completely villainous. Sometimes heroes are flawed, for example Batman has a ‘dark side’, hence the film title The Dark Knight. When considering these character types we also notice gender and racial stereotypes, particularly in the film industry(Hollywood) where women, until recently, were given weak, dependent roles and black
characters were often the false hero, mistaken or under-educated.
‘functions’ and, through this, identified 8 basic character functions, which tended to be types rather than individuals:
- the hero, who is on a quest
- the villain, who opposes the hero
- the donor, who helps the hero by giving the hero tools or gadgets
- the dispatcher, who starts the quest
- the false hero, who tempts the hero away from his quest
- the helper, an assistant or sidekick
- the princess, who is the reward for the hero
- the father, who rewards the hero
are completely villainous. Sometimes heroes are flawed, for example Batman has a ‘dark side’, hence the film title The Dark Knight. When considering these character types we also notice gender and racial stereotypes, particularly in the film industry(Hollywood) where women, until recently, were given weak, dependent roles and black
characters were often the false hero, mistaken or under-educated.
- De levi-strauss: Claude Levi-Strauss was a philosopher and his interest was in how our world is described in terms of opposites. These can be related to media, or in particular film, when we consider:
- night v day
- good v bad
- light v dark
- Rolande Barthes: Barthes was interested in the negotiated meaning between the institution and the audience. He argued that the audience produces ‘new meaning’ when consuming a text. For example, when watching a docu-soap about an airline, individuals ‘meaning’ will depend as much on their individual experiences of airlines and docu-soaps as on the text itself. Mostly known for his work on semiotics his most relevant code for media studies is the Enigma Code. In it’s basic form it is the ‘hook’ or mystery to be resolved for an audience, the ‘tune in next time to find out what happened…..’ which is a basic technique for TV serials or film trailers.
- Tzvetan Todorov: Todorov suggested that there were usually 5 stages to a narrative, whether a fairy story of a blockbuster movie:
- equilibrium: a ‘normal’ day/situation
- a disruption of this equilibrium by an event
- a realisation that a disruption has occurred
- an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption
- a restoration of equilibrium – which may be a new equilibrium
- Gotham City is quiet and peaceful
- The JOKER has robbed a bank and is causing havoc/chaos
- The authorities know they have a major problem and contact Batman
- Batman battles with the Joker and eventually overcomes him (Good v Bad)
- Gotham City is peaceful once more
Audience Profiling
Demographic audience profiling is the basic form of audience identification. This method of grouping an audience defines them in terms of age, class, gender, geographical area, economic status and religion. This is a very simplistic way of defining an audience because it assumes that everyone in a very broad group has the same attitudes.
Psychographic audience profiling is a way to categorise audience is a more refined and streamlined fashion. In this way audiences can be targeted in terms of needs and motivation rather than simple demographics. This then considers the ‘type’ of person within an audience grouping, which is the categorization known as The Four C's (Cross-Cultural Consumer Characteristics) comes into play, looking at an audience’s aspirations:
Psychographic audience profiling is a way to categorise audience is a more refined and streamlined fashion. In this way audiences can be targeted in terms of needs and motivation rather than simple demographics. This then considers the ‘type’ of person within an audience grouping, which is the categorization known as The Four C's (Cross-Cultural Consumer Characteristics) comes into play, looking at an audience’s aspirations:
- Mainstreamers: the largest group concerned with stability and security, buying ‘safe’ goods and consuming mainstream texts
- Aspirers: seeking to improve themselves, tending to define themselves as high status, buying high status luxury goods.
- Succeeders: feel secure and in control, generally in positions of power, buying brands that reinforce that security
- Reformers: idealists who actively consume eco-friendly products, health conscious and generally caring and responsible
- Individuals: highly media literate, expects high production values buying into product image, not product
Producers and Audiences
- Audience Profiling: In order to be able to produce media for an audience, a producer must have a grasp of who that audience is, what they expect or demand, and how they consume their media. For example, a superhero movie producer’s research will tell him more males watch superhero movies than girls, That they expect fast action, stock characters (Propp), conflict (Levi-Strauss), and resolution (Todorov). They can age-group these males, more likely to be in the 18-35 range, and will have box office figures, download figures and PPV figures to inform their marketing strategy.
- Audience Targeting: once they have their audience profile they can start to target their main audience using signs/codes (Barthes) in their screenwriting and planning. CGI, special effects, star casting, costume design, set design, location scouting will all take into consideration the audience they expect to reach. They will, of course, add codes for secondary audiences: a romantic liaison and an attractive hero for the females, a complex narrative for the older generations who demand more that aesthetics, etc.
budget of $356 million, that’s over 700% profit.
- Audience Positioning: this deals with how an audience ‘feels’ or are ‘positioned’ by scenes in a film, reacting to the codes/signs used by the producer. It brings in Morley’s reception theory determining whether the audience have the dominant or preferred reading, a negotiated reading or the less successful oppositional reading. For example, an audience member may feel scared watching a horror scene, confused by an enigma or mystery, emotional watching a love scene, uncomfortable when viewing a racist scene or angry when confronted with something sexist. The position of the audience really determines the success of the producers targeting.
- Audience Response: this final stage is what the audience actually do with this feeling or positioning. A typical example is that they will discuss a film’s success or failures with their friends, either face to face, through messaging or social media or by other forms of discussion. They may write reviews, use them as examples in their studies, complain about certain aspects of the film, or just have a thought or opinion. A good response for the producer is that an audience will encourage others to go to the cinema or download the movie, watch the movie themselves again or promote the film using a social media platform.