Audience Theory Work

1. Emma Sutton
Audience Theory
For thistask I will be talkingaboutthe different3differentaudience responsetheories.Iwill alsobe
talkingaboutFightClub;what it’sabout,whyit wasbannedwhenitfirstcame out,a negative
response itgotform a filmcritic,andusingresultsfroma survey,the audience responsestothe film
today.
HypodermicModel
Datedfrom the 1920s this theorysuggeststhatthe audience manipulatedbycreatorsof mediatexts
and that theyall respondtothe textthe same way withouttryingtochallenge the data.
An example of thisis the Marketingof Technology.Todaypeople are buyinganew IPhone asthey
are popularandtheylookgooddespite the factthat theyhave the same featuresastheirpast
IPhones.People feel like theyneedtohave the latestIPhone.
Encodingand Decoding(ReceptionTheory)
The creator of thistheoryStuartHall arguedagainstthe HypodermicModel sayingthatthe audience
readsthe meaningif the mediatextdifferentlydependingontheirindividualcultural backgrounds
and life experiences.
How itworksis:
The Producerencodesthe meaningintothe mediatext.
The audience decode itdependingontheirbackground.
Thisincludesthingssuchas:
 Age
 Gender
 Social Background
 Cultural Background
 Political Views
 Circumstance of Exhibition
The audience canthenstate theiropinionanditincludesthese three answers:

2. Emma Sutton
Preferred-Whenthe audienceagreeswiththe mediatext
Negotiated-Doesn’tagree butalsodoesn’tdisagree
Oppositional- doesn’tagree withthe mediatext
Uses and Gratification
CreatedbyBlumlerandKatz in1974 thistheorystatesthat individualschoosetouse the textsfor
differentpurposes,orusesand gratificattions.
Diversion- escapefromproblemsanddailyroutines
Personal Relationships-usingmediaforinteraction
Personal Identity- findingoneselfinthe mediatextandlearningvaluesandbehavioursfromthe text
Surveillance- Useful informationforliving.Example- weatherreports,holiday bargains.
Fight Club
FightClubreleasedon12th
November1999 is a filmaboutabouta depressed
insomniac(EdwardNorton) whomeetsastrange soapsalesman calledTyler
Durden(BradPitt),he thenlivesinarun-downabandonedhouse withhim
afterhisperfectapartmentisblownup.Theythencreate a strictlyruledclub
that isn’tto be talkedaboutwhere menwhoare boredof theirmundane
livesgoto fighteachother. The filmwasdirectedbyDavidFincherandhad a
budgetof 63 millionUSD.
AlexanderWalkerisawell-knownfilmcriticwhowenttosee the filmatthe
Venice FilmFestival.He hadan oppositional readingof the filmcomparing
the filmtoHitlerand the Jewsinthe deathcamps. The theorythat can be
usedforthisis the HypodermicModel.He saysthat anyone whowatches
thisfilmwill become violentthemselves.
The BBFC have more of a negotiatedreadingof the film.Due tothe time FightClubcame outthe
level of violence didn’tworktotheirguidelinesandtheythencouldn’tgivethe filmacertificate
unlesstheymade majorcuts.The BBFC thengot a new directorand new guidelinesthe filmcould
thengot a certificate of 18 whichit askedforuponrelease.Italsomentionsinthe case studythat
‘adultsshouldbe free tochoose theirownentertainment.Thissuggeststhe theoryUsesof
Gratificationasitssayingthat theycan use the filmhowevertheywantandif theywantto watchit
theycan.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/case-studies/fight-club-BBFCCase study

3. Emma Sutton
Survey Results
I createda surveyafterwatchingFightClubaskingthe audience whattheirviewsof the filmwere,
whetherthey enjoyedthe filmornot.I thenappliedaudience response theoriestothe results.
The resultsof thisquestionare theymostly
youngerpeople.Thiscouldpossiblymean
there isa more preferred/negotiatedreading
(Hall) of the film. There isone olderpersonso
thiscouldmeanthat theyhave a different
readingof the filmthisisbecause viewsof
violence are differenttoyoungerpeoplethan
older.
Althoughmostof the respondentsare
youngtheyare alsomostlyfemale so
thiscouldmeanthat theyare more
oppositionalreading (Hall) due tothe
filmbeingviolentandmore male
dominated.

4. Emma Sutton
I askedthisquestionIwantedtoknow how they
foundoutabout the filmasit couldinfluencetheir
readingtheiropinions.Withthese resultsthis could
determine whatthe audience thinkastheymight
have readopinionsof the filmbefore theywatched
it sotheycouldsway theiropinionscause if they
were givenanegative opinionof the filmfroma
friendthentheymightthinknegativelyof the film as
theyhave beeninfluencedtothinklike that. The
theorythat appliestothisisStuartHall’sReception
theory.
For thisquestionIaskedtosee if people have
heardabout the filmbefore theyhadtostudyit
inclass.From the resultsonly1 personhadn’t
heardabout itbefore thismeansthatmostthe
restof the respondentshave heardof the film.
From this questionthe ratingsare different.Fromthe
resultsmostof the respondentswere positive by
givingthe filman8 -10 but howeversome gave ita
lowerrating,the lowestbeingafour.Fromthese
resultsthose thatgave it a highratinghave a
preferredreadingandthose thatgave ita lowerrating
are more oppositionalornegotiatedreading (Hall).

5. Emma Sutton
Because FightClubwasbannedandhad
to make lotsof cuts of the violence back
whenitfirstcame outas the viewsof
violence weredifferenttowhatthey are
theynow.So thisisto see what
audience’sviewsof the violence are
today.From the resultsthe majority
thoughtthat the violence wasrightfor
the subjectandonlyone personthough
that the violence istoomuch.The person
whothoughtthe violence wastoomuch
probablyhasoppositional reading (Hall)
withfilmbeingpredominantlyviolent.
For thisquestionIlikedtosee whatthe
audience likedanddislikedaboutthe
film.This appliestoHall’s Reception
theorybecause noteveryone likedthe
same part of the film.
Eventhoughthe most of the respondentsare
female theystillhada preferredreadingof the
filmsothisprobablymeansthatthe younger
female audience are likingmore violentfilms.
ThisquestionappliestoHall’sReceptiontheory
because theyare statingan opinionandthey
have differentreadingsof the film.

6. Emma Sutton
Althoughthe resultsfromthisquestion
are mostlynotheywere still diverted
by the filmbecause theyenjoyedit. The
one that feltdivertedbythe filmis
probablyolderastheyhave a better
understandingof the views. The
respondentmentionedthe political
subtextwhichisrelatedtoHalls
Receptiontheoryasthe respondent
likedthe political side.
For thisquestionIlikedtosee what
the audience tookfromthe filmand
the majoritylikedthe music.The
theoryforthisquestionisUse and
Gratification (BlumlerandKatz) asit
isseeinghow theyuse the film.One
respondentusedthe filmto
introduce themtoothermediatexts
fromthe screenwriter.