Audience decodes meaning/ meassage

Reception

- Given that the effects model and the uses and gratifications have their problems and limitations a different approach to audiences was developed by the academic Stuart Hall at Birmingham university in 1970s



- this considered how texts wew encoded with meaning by producers and then (understood) by audiences

-it suggests:

. when the producer constructs a text it is encoded with a meaning or message that the producer wishes to convey to the audiences


.in some instances audiences will correctly decode the message or meaning and understand what the producer was trying to say


.in some instances the audiences with either reject or fail to correctly understand the message


- Sturat Hall identified three types of audience readings (or decoding) of the text:

1) Dominant


2) Negotiated


3) Oppositional



Dominant

.where audience decodes the message as the producer of the texts wants them to do and broady agrees with it

.eg watching a political speech and agreeing with it




Negotiated

.audience accepts, rejects or refines elements of the text in light of previously held views

. eg niether agreeing or disagreeing with a political speech or being disinterested


Opposited

. the dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural political or ideological reasons

.eg total rejection of the political speech and active opposition

Gratifications model

- This model is the opposite to the effects model


- the audience is active


-the audience uses the text amd is Not used by it


-the audience uses the text for its own gratification or pleasure


- here power lies with the audience not the producers


-this theory emphasises what audience do with media texts, how and why they use them.


- far from being duped by the media the audience is free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they see fit


- audiences therefore use media texts to gratify needs for:



Diversion

escapism

information

pleasure

comparing relationships and lifesyles with ones own

sexual stimulation.


- the audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as :


Learning

emotional satisfaction

relaxation

help with issues of personal identity

help with issues of social identity

help with issues of aggression and violence


- Controversially the theory suggest the consumption of violent images can be helpful rather than harmful

-the theroy suggest that audiences act out their violent impulses through the consumption of media violence

- the audience inclination towards violent is therefore sublimimatedand they vare less likely to commit a violent act

childs play 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO8FHNgyOok

Audience theroy continued

- In some cases laws were changed films banned, and newspapers demanded the burning of films

-sunsequently in each case it was found that no case could be proven to demonstrate a link between the text and violent acts

- the effects model contributes to moral panics whereby:

.the media produce inactivity, make us into students who want to pass their exams or "couch potatoes" who make no effort to get a job

.the media produces violent "copycat" behaviour or mindless shopping in response to advertisements


- it is still unclear that there is any link between the consumption of violent media texts and violent imitative behaviour

- it is also clear the theory is flawed in that many people do watch violent text and appear not to be influence

- therefore a new theroy is necessary:

USE OF GRATIFICATIONS MODEL

Research- locations

Here are some locations which we thought that we m,ay use to film our music video
O

Hypodermic model- continued

- Key evidence for the effects model

. the Frankfurt school theorised in the 1920s and 30s that the mass media acted to restrict and control audiences to the benefit of corporate capitalismand government

took their ideas from the German Nazis, propaganda

. The bebo doll experiment. This is a very controversial piece of research that apparently proved that children copy violent behaviour, 1960s

Children are shown a video of a man hitting a doll. Taken to a room full of dolls and they start hitting the dolls

Conducted in 1961 by Albert Bandura- here is what he did

. watched a videa were a man violently attacked a clown toy called the bebo toy

. the children were taken to a room with attractive toys that they were not allowed to touch

. they were led to another room with bobo dolls

.88% of the children imitated the violent behaviour that they had earlier viewed. 8 months later 40% of the children reproduced the same violent behaviour

. conclusion reached was that children will imitate violent media content

- there are many problems with the experiment. What do you think are the flaws with the methodology? Does it indeed prove that children imitate violent media content?

- The effects model (backed up by the bobo doll experiment) is still the dominant theory used by politicians, some parts of the media and some religious organisations in attributing violence to the consumption of media texts

- Key example sited ascauseing or being contributory factors are:

. the film childs play 3 in the murder of James Bulger in 1993

. the game manhunt in the murder of Stefan Pakeerah in 2004 by his friend Warren Leblane

. the film a clockwork orange(1971) in a number of rapes and violent attacks

. the film severance(2006) in the murder if simon Everitt

. In each case there was a media and political outcry for the texts to be banned