3. Passive Consumption
• Detailed Definition
• Passive consumption is when the audience doesn’t interact with the media
message but accepts it. They do not influence the production. This is what media
outlets want to achieve when making a film as they want the audience to
passively accept what they have made and believe it. To get the audience into
this state the story has to be believable, it doesn’t have to be super realistic as
that would be boring, just enough to make the audience passively accept it.
4. Hypodermic Needle Model
• Definition
• The hypodermic needle model also known as the hypodermic-syringe model is when the audience is given a
message about something that could be true or false but they still end up believing or accepting this
message which can result in fake information being spread around or find a quick information source to find
out specific things.
• Strengths
• Media companies can use the hypodermic needle model to manipulate specific audiences knowing that
their audience wouldn’t go out of their way to check the media companies information, this is done a lot in
news papers and online mobile apps.
• Weaknesses
• This model is used online on multiple news sites and mobile apps, it can be used in bad ways to miss
interpret people and to create fake news which can cause damage to people or places.
• Example
• In 1938 a War Of the Worlds radio broadcast made people think earth was being invaded by aliens when it
was actually an American radio drama anthology which was playing a distress signal at the time, people
would tune in when the signal was being played thinking it was real.
5. Active Consumption
• Detailed Definition
• Active consumption is when the audience will engage and discuss media
messages that comes across to them and sometimes questions the media
messages through life experiences. Other may interpenetrate the message in a
different way or questions it, by doing this the audience won’t be as suggestible
to tell them what to think. Different TV shows like to get politicians and
journalists on the show to discuss world wide issues and domestic issues, the
audience who ask the questions are more active due to the deep discussions they
have with the panel than people sitting at home. However people at home can
interact with Twitter with the panellists and create debates, so home viewers
become less suggestible and more active as they can get involved in debates.
6. Uses and Gratifications Theory
• Definition
• Uses and Gratifications Theory is a popular approach to understanding mass communication. The
theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself by
asking “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people”. It assumes that
members of the audience are not passive but take an active role in interpreting and integrating
media into their own lives. The theory also holds that audiences are responsible for choosing
media to meet their needs.
• Strengths: This model allows us to identify the needs in our lives and fulfil in many different ways.
• Weaknesses: I don’t think there are any weaknesses to this model
• Example: The Internet allows us to identify more products and people, due to search engines like
Google we can search for anything which enables the audience to come closer to their favourite
artists or role models. Music has benefited because of websites like YouTube enabling us to watch
any music video we choose. YouTube, ITunes, 4oD etc. are just a few of the numerous websites
that give us an opportunity to be entertained whenever we please.
7. Reception Theory
• Detailed Definition
• Reception Theory is how the audience receive and interpret messages
and values from producers. Encoding is when the producer of the
media product fill that product with a message that they want to get
out to the people which is then decoded, meaning the consumer of
the media (audience) decodes the message from the media producer.
Different audience members will receive and interpret these
messages in different ways which can be altered from what the media
contains for example, the message could be controversial and some
audience members may disagree with what is being decoded by the
majority so they will reject the preferred reading and create their own
meaning (Oppositional reading).
8. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph
etc) and provide:
• A potential encoded message
• The producers message is that the poster shows horror and that the man
is going to kill the women and that she is going to defend herself using the
weapon. From the mouth and facial expressions, the man looks like a
psychopath and the women is terrified.
• A potential decoded message
• The poster creates a horror feel just from the facial expressions, the
weapon in the bottom right brings a feel of death and that the man in the
picture is going to kill the women.
9. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph etc)
and provide:
• Preferred reading
• This poster claims the film is “The Greatest Horror Movie
Ever Made”, back in the 1980 before watching the film, since
there weren’t many horror movies back then many people
would have accepted the fact that it claimed it was the best
horror movie ever made. In 2018 it’s considered one of the
most iconic horror movies ever made.
• Negotiated reading
• This reading relates back to 1980s the most as some people
might have partly accepted this message but many will have
rejected before watching the film.
• Oppositional reading
• After watching this film many audience members will reject this film
if they disagrees with how Stanley cubic makes his films.
10. Spectatorship
• Detailed Definition
Spectatorship is the act of watching something without taking part. There are different reasons for spectatorship. Social self, this is
when you make similar conclusions to others about a certain thing you are watching. Cultural self, this is when you focus on particular
inner-textual references and relate them to other films. Private self, this is when you as a person makes a personal connection to films
through memories for example, as a kid I grew up watching Harry Potter with my brother, we always referred back to specific scenes
in the films relating them to memories or real life experiences, this involves a feel of escapism from reality. Lastly desiring self, this is
when you are consciously and unconsciously going to see films through sexual desire (you might even get some form of pleasure out
of it).
• Example
Fifty shades of grey is a good example of desiring self, people go to see the film because of it’s contents and might have even read the
book before knowing what will happen. They may do this to fill their sexual desire or through consciously/unconsciously watching it
for pleasure.
Popular box office films like the Avengers franchise fall mostly under the Social self. This is because the film creates a huge discussion
between social groups which come together to give their opinions and believes on what the film is showing and how things will turn
out if certain things happen.
The shining is a film that provides a large amount of inner-textual references other films and TV shows like to use. Because it’s such
an iconic film and is said to be a master piece, other films like to implement references to the film in scenes which allow the audience
to recognize what they’re referencing. For example in one of the “Spaced” episodes it references to the scene in the shining when
Jack freezes outside in the snow and pulls a creepy face. This is also done in “Spaced” when both the main characters are sitting
outside their house in the freezing cold. You can spot this as the faces pulled and techniques used in both scenes are very similar.
11. Framework for Interpretation
• List 2 very different frameworks for interpretation;
1
• Age: 18
• Gender: Male
• Social status/Class: Lower Class
• Ethnicity: White
• Sexuality: Straight
• Education: Has GCSE’s
2
• Age: 58
• Gender: Female
• Social status/Class: Upper Class
• Ethnicity: White
• Sexuality: Straight
• Education: Has O’levels
12. Framework for Interpretation
• Discuss how each may react to a film of your choice based on their framework
• STATE THE FILM HERE “The Revenant”
1 2
Framework 1 will have a very
different life style too 2. The reaction
too “The Revenant” will be far
different than most peoples. They
may watch this film and see it as any
other movie or they will be drawn in
by it’s spectacular cinematography
and breath taking acting. They might
be inspired by the film to take a
similar path the actors or directors
have been or want to visit places
similar to shown in the film.
Framework 2 is an upper class elderly adult
the reaction to the film will be different as
this person has lived longer and may have
travelled to locations like where the film was
shot. I think the women will react in a very
understanding way, and will look deeper
into the history of the film and what events
took place at the time. They will generally
compare the movie to others they have
scene to decide whether it’s good or not.
14. Case Study
• Select a genre (or film franchise) that you like and provide some
contextual background information.
• What is the genre/franchise, what are the key films, who are the key
directors/actors/studios/etc, how successful/unsuccessful was it, how
was it critically received, when were the films made, etc.
• Go over as many slides as necessary
15. Harry Potter (Case Study)
• Harry potter is a, fantasy fiction, drama, young adult fiction, mystery thriller and bildungsroman (a
genre that focuses on psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth adulthood, in
which character change is extremely important). There are 2 Key films in the franchise which bring up
the main events which setup the next films. The first film “Harry Potter and the philosophers stone”
is the beginning of the franchise and begins the whole journey for the 3 main characters. The second
key film is the last film “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” which is where everything the
audience have been waiting for happens. The key directors are Chris Columbus and David Yates, this
is because they both created the key films of the franchise but also the most films as both Mike
Newell and Alfonso Cuaron only created one film each. 1492 Pictures an American film production
company and Heyday Films a British film studio are the only production companies used to create the
whole franchise. The films were distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The whole franchise itself is
based on “Harry Potter” the books wrote by J. K. Rowling. The films were all made in the 20th century,
2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. All of the “Harry Potter” films budgets
combined costs a total of £1.2 billion with a total box office of £7.7 billion.
17. Your Interaction with Media
• Talk about why you like that film/genre and your relationship with it and
how audiences have responded to it, you cover the following:
• How audience engagement relates to the key theories you have outlined in section 1
• Outline and investigate all the different ways in which you and the wider audience
might respond and interact with the film (we’ve covered this at length with the
screenings for Star Wars related material).
1. Active spectatorship, fandom and preferred readings (how do audiences make
active responses to your genre)
2. Frameworks of interpretation, intertextuality and media literacy (consider the
effects of the film on other films/tv/etc and the way this is done, i.e. parody,
pastiche, homage, etc.)
3. Social networking, conditions of reception and pre- and post- viewing experience
(how the audience interacts and responds as part of a community)
• Go over as many slides as necessary
18. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Whilst watching this film passive consumption takes place as the audience are always passively
accepting all the messages given off by the film. This is due to the previous films building up a fan base
that doesn’t question which ways the directors decides to take the films. They also believe that the
next films will be just as good through the pattern of this being true from previous.
• Uses and Gratification theory and spectatorship are a big aspect when it comes to watching Harry
Potter films in general. Spectatorship in “Half-Blood Prince” is very common with the following of
“Draco Malfoy” throughout the franchise, in this particular film the audience feel emotionally attached
to him as he’s forced to suffer in different ways. This is somewhat desiring as many people don’t
experience these feelings in reality and find that watching films similar to this fulfil that feeling. Uses
and Gratification theory comes into play at the end of the film when the audience get a huge thriller of
emotions and feelings. This is very entertaining to watch and can be replayed as many times as you
want if you own a copy. This is similar to a large majority of films.
• This point doesn’t related to one specific film but the franchise itself. After watching each film and
finishing all of the books the audience is sort of left with this feeling of wanting more but know that it
can’t carry on with the way the films and books end. Because of this desire for Harry Potter content,
audience and fans have taken it into their own hands to create more content from short films posted
on YouTube to full sized documentaries and theories on what happened to specific characters, before
and after the franchises finishes.
19. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Audience
Profiling
• After looking at the YouGov.uk Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince profile you can clearly
see that the films audience is mainly the younger generation, ages 18-24. As a younger child in
2001 when the first Harry Potter film was released, the franchise gave you something to grow
up with. As you age between 2001 and 2011 you grow up watching the films and have a
different relationship with them than elders and the new generations. This I believe is why the
age range is between 18-24.
• The locations shows the areas that have the highest population of fans for the show. London is
shown as the main area for this which isn’t surprising as Harry Potter was partly filmed in
London. The Warner Bros Studio Tour is also based in London which allows fans and followers
to walk around the set where the films were filmed to get a feel for what it was like or
experience part of the fantasy themselves.
• Yorkshire is also another location shown on the YouGov profile. Yorkshire was mainly used in
the film for natural locations for example, Malham Cove in the Yorkshire Dales. This scene was
used for the 7th film. There is also a Harry Potter store in the centre of York which is also seen
as a tourist attraction as they sell all sorts of souvenirs.
• For the politics side of things the screenshot shows that the audience is more left than right
wing. This is normal as the left wing side of politics is designed to help the younger generation
for example Labour which wants the best for the younger generation. It’s not very far left wing
though as the majority of the younger generation don’t get involved in the political side of
society until later on in life when they believe it will actually effect their life.
• I have decided to compare two film from the franchise using the YouGov research platform.
The top screenshot is for the film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the one below is
for the final film of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow part 2. As shown in both
screenshots all of the results are the basically the same except for locations, showing us that
the audience hasn’t changed and that the results are accurate. The locations and politics are
the only results that have changed which might relate to each other as being from a different
part of the UK has different benefits when it comes to the political side of the discussion.
20. Parody and pastiche for the franchise
• The Harry Potter franchise uses a large amount of special effects in
all of their films. The effects created when using the characters
wands are especially eye catching as they look cool and creatable.
This was figured out to be true as throughout the franchise and
their progression through film making fans began to create their
own short films with similar special effects using wands. In the
Drew Casson video it shows 7 character having an all out war
against each other in a school hall. They have used a huge amount
of special effects when the wands are used more than the actual
Harry Potter films themselves. This is something a large number of
fans were looking for at the time as there wasn’t much wand use
in the series itself so creating this short film got a lot of attention
back in 2010.
• In the first film Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, at the
beginning of the film, Hagrid (the big guy with the huge beard)
tells Harry (the main character) that he is a wizard, Harry replies
with “I’m a what?!”, these two sentences were used in the later on
2012 “meme” “You’re a Wizard Harry”. This was a video between
two characters going back and forth. After the first two lines were
used from the original film it starts to get out of hand and is seen
as the perfect Harry Potter skit made by fans. This video has also
grown on popularity over their because of it’s Harsh but funny
jokes.
ragingfilms. (2012). You're a Wizard Harry. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKNhPpUR0Pg. Last
accessed 14th June 2018.
Drew Casson. (2010). VT:Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows
Inspired Battle Part #1. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luhfstCz5DI. Last accessed
14th June 2018.
