3. Passive Consumption
• Passive consumption within the film industry is where the audience does not
question or engage the message the film company is trying to put forth. Instead
the audience just accepts it. To get the audience in this mind state, the storyline
of the film has to be believable. Film makers aspire to have this effect on their
audience as they want to view to expect not question.
• An example of passive consumption within film is how people share stories and
articles on social media such as Facebook or Twitter without questioning the
statement or researching it to find out if it is actually true.
4. Hypodermic Needle Model
• Definition – The Hypodermic needle model is where the audience passively believe what the
media tells them. This suggests that the audience will just accept what they are told by the media
without any further research or questioning.
• Strengths – A strength is that this theory allows us to reflect upon the influence that the media
has on the consumer. Especially to the extent where the media forms a collective belief of
opinion.
• Weaknesses – This theory presumes that the consumer is passive and will be influenced by the
media easily with no research using other media platforms. However it is hard to find collective
belief with the access to such a wide range of media platforms.
• Example – A fake news source makes a story on a webpage that looks realistic and shares this
story to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram etc. Social media users read the story and believe it with
no further research or questioning.
5. Active Consumption
• Active consumption is where the audience engages with the media content
rather than passively viewing it with very little thought to it. The viewer will
interact with the product, creating content and influencing production. An
example of active consumption is is where somebody is consuming a product on
multiple screens at once. This could be watching a TV show the viewer is able to
vote on by using an app on their phone.
6. Uses and Gratifications Theory
• Definition – This theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific
media to satisfy their needs which the media full fills through certain ways. These have been identified by
Bulmer and Katz as information, personal identity, integration and social interaction, entertainment.
• Strengths – The audience is guaranteed to have their needs met by the media through at least one function
of the model if not more.
• Strength – The producers are guaranteed an audience that actively seeks out media to gratify one or more
of the functions.
• Weaknesses – The audience does not always actively seek out a need to be met through the media
therefore the media cannot be guaranteed their target audience.
• Weakness – There are expectations within each function that possibly could not be met to please every
audience member.
• Example
• Examples for the media providing information are things such as newspapers or radio. Personal Identity can
be found within soap operas as the audience can relate to a character and their storyline. Integration and
Social Interaction can be found in online forums. Entertainment is given through platforms such as Netflix as
it consists of several different genres and film/ TV shows that audiences seek out for escapism, relaxation
and enjoyment.
7. Reception Theory
• Reception theory is based on Stuart Hall’s model of encoding and decoding media
products and the way the audience interprets and interacts with them. Hall
stated that media producers created the product and encoded messages within
them, to then be decoded by the consumer. The message may be decoded
differently by each consumer. This is based on a number of different factors
including age, gender social status and ethnicity etc.
8. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph etc) and
provide:
• A potential encoded message:
A relevant saying for this image would be “don’t judge a
book by its cover”. In this image we see several different
types of teenager. Just because somebody looks and
speaks a certain way and that they may not be
acceptable by societies standards does not mean they
are bad people. Also it can infer what a persons
background or social status can do to their appearance.
• A potential decoded message:
The characters are thugs that have no respect for
members of the community and they create fear in their
society. However their good hearted actions in the film
do not make up for their previous mistakes and they are
reinforcing a stereotype about how teenagers behave.
9. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph etc) and provide:
• Preferred reading:
Joe Cornish wanted to change the way that society
viewed the youth of this generation. He pin pointed the
‘rebels’ showing that they are often not bad people deep
down.
• Negotiated reading
The youth of this generation, and every generation, do
bad things but many of them have a reason to. This is
something to be considered. The stereotype of the
teenager is used in order to prove a point to the
audience that young people can be misunderstood.
• Oppositional reading
The youth in this film are rebels and will result in growing
to do bad things. However this is a negative
representation of teenagers and gives a specific group of
people a bad image.
10. Spectatorship
• Spectatorship is an important aspect of film theory. Traditional models of
audience response to tend to treat viewers, readers or listeners as groups. In film
the study of spectatorship suggests that film builds a specific relationship with
every individual who experiences it.
• An example spectatorship within film is a emotional response. The first ever film
made was a short clip of a train approaching a station. This film sprouted a huge
emotion from the audience, fear. The audience thought the train was going to
come through the screen and into the theatre, because nobody had seen a film
before, which made them get up and run away from the screen and out of the
theatre.
11. Framework for Interpretation
• List 2 very different frameworks for interpretation;
1
• Age: 49
• Gender: Female
• Social status/Class: ABC1
• Ethnicity: White, British
• Sexuality: Heterosexual
• Education: Degree Level
2
• Age: 18
• Gender: Male
• Social status/Class: C2DE
• Ethnicity: Black, British
• Sexuality: Homosexual
• Education: A Level/ BTEC
12. Framework for Interpretation
• Discuss how each may react to a film of your choice based on their framework
• STATE THE FILM HERE
1
The first person may enjoy the film as a
fun, sci fi and action film, this is if they
enjoy those kind of films and if they are
able to connect with Joe Cornish’s
encoded messaged within the film. The
first person may may struggle to relate to
the gang, as they are older and have most
probably not had to appear male bravado
to impress friends and appear tough.
2
Person two may resonate more to the film
as the protagonist is a dark skin, teenage,
male from a working class background.
They may or may not identify with the
situations of youth in the film. However
they most likely have encountered with
similar people of a similar nature over the
course of their education and social status
and social life.
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 Franchise
Harry Potter is a fantasy genre series is set in modern time. In many ways the series uses elements of a typical
school story, a genre of fiction that was hugely popular from around the mid-1700s through until the late
1800s, especially in Britain. During this time period there were thousands of boarding school stories written,
one of the most famous of these stories was Thomas Hughes “Tom Brown’s School Days” (1857). As a setting
boarding schools provided an arena in which children and young adults were away from parents therefore had
to establish their own friendships and pecking orders on their own. Specific features of boarding school stories
that appear in the Harry Potter series such as team sports, inner and between competing schools and loyalty to
one’s school, house and friends. The students at Hogwarts are divided into four houses. These houses are
Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Within your house you are supposed to make friends, Harry
meets Ron on his first day of school. Heroes in typical boarding school stories usually make a best friend/
friends early on. Ron and Hermione are prime examples of this.
16. Film Breakdown
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was released in 2001 and the Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released in 2011. This franchise has been spread out over ten years.
Overall there have been 8 films. This franchise has consisted of the same actors throughout
(disregarding the change in actor for Albus Dumbledore due to original actor Richard Harris
passing away in 2002) therefore the films have allowed the audience to watch the characters
grow and watch the children grow up. This has caused the audience to grow a strong emotional
attachment to the characters as they’ve been watching them for so many years.
• The other films were released in 2002 (Chamber of Secrets), 2004 (Prisoner of Askaban), 2005
(Goblet of Fire), 2007 (Order of the Phoenix), 2009 (Half Blood Prince), 2010 (Deathly Hallows
Part 1).
17. Directors and Actors
There have been several different directors throughout the Harry Potter series. These directors are
Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and David Yates. These four directors have al brought
something different to each film. Chris Columbus created an innocence to the first two films which
made you feel warm. However when Alfonso directed Prisoner of Azkaban he put forth a dark and
sinister feel to it which links to the growing up with this characters. This change in era to the film
slightly changes the audience as it makes it not as appealing to children as they could find it scary.
Mike Newell took what Cuaron did all the way and created a dark and some what evil film. With the
return of Voldemort Newell made Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire terrifying and sinister. Finally
David Yates, who directed from the Order of the Phoenix, created four films that attracted the
biggest audience and were the most popular of the franchise therefore he was kept to direct the
rest of the films.
18. How successful? How received?
The Harry Potter franchise has been one of the most popular and successful franchises of all time.
Overall the franchise has made over $7 billion, and the books have made just as much. Overall the
brand if work $25 billion! This includes all of the films and books, action figures, games and fancy
dress costumes etc. It is never ending. The first Harry Potter film was received extremely well. It
made almost ten times the amount it cost to make. The budget was $130 million, yet the film made
$974.8 million in the box office! However the first Harry Potter book did not get this instant
appreciation. The book was read and turned away by 12 different publishers before Bloomsbury
picked it up for just £1,500. After this the series sold more than 450 million copies worldwide.
20. 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
21. Genre and Fandom
The fantasy genre is films that consist of fantasy themes and conventions, usually magic,
supernatural events, mythology, folklore or exotic fantasy worlds. This genre is considered a form of
speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, although these genres do
overlap. Apart from Harry Potter, some other iconic fantasy genre films are The Lord of the Rings,
Avatar, Pans Labyrinth, Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz etc.
The Harry Potter fandom refers to the community of fans of the Harry Potter books and movies who
participate in entertainment activities that revolve around the franchise. An event that is hugely
appreciated by the Harry Potter fandom is Pottercon. Pottercon is an event held that is inspired by
Comicon. Pottercon started in New York City in 2013 as an adult oriented fan convention where
Potterheads could mix and mingle while engaging in cosplay and inbibing Harry Potter themed
alcoholic drinks. Last year in 2017 it was held in 14 cities including Boston, Chicago and Las Vegas.
22. Fan Art
The Harry Potter fandom has taken it upon itself to improve and change J.K. Rowling’s original work
since the beginning. This is called fan art. It is not unusual that the fandom is just as obsessed with
changing things to their liking as they are about the importance of canon. Harry Potter fans have
been reimagining Potter characters, especially the “Golden Trio”. The “Golden Trio” includes the
characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Most of the characters in the Harry
Potter ‘books’ are not assigned specific races, this is as Rowling does not delve into the subject.
Therefore fans have made large varieties of fan art that creates the characters as different races,
sexualities, religions, ethnicities and genders. It just adds to the imagination of the fandom.
23. Social Media
Social media is a huge part of how Harry Potter audience members interact with both the product
itself and amongst themselves as fans. One of the biggest forms of consumption of a brand is social
media. Social media is a way of liking and commenting on posts and sharing pages that other people
with similar interests can attract to their news feeds. The Harry Potter franchise has fan pages on all
social media sites such a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Social media consists of fan pages, fan art
pages fan fiction pages, fake trailers, cast interviews and behind the scenes footage etc.
YouTube videos are a very popular site for creating and posting Harry Potter fan videos. A YouTube
channel called potterpuppetpals post short episodes of Harry Potter hand puppets that have small
storylines and comedy sketches that make a joke of the franchise, but all in positive mind.
Something slightly different is the YouTube channel called TRYANGLE FILMS created a one hour long
Harry Potter fan film about the origins of Voldemort. This is something much more serious that the
fans can watch. This film on this channel are very like the original movies so this is something to
carry on the legacy after the franchise same to an end.
