1. Me And My Movies
Chloe Whittle

2. Reception Theory
Reception theory is the way the audience interprets a film and the message
its trying to give the audience. However different people can interpret films
very differently which is where reception theory kicks in. Directors and
producers tend to have hidden messages in films which sometimes the
audience realises and then other time the audience can disagree with the
message all together.
The reception theory was created by Stuart Hall who identified three different
types of messages the audience perceive a film in.
Dominant- When the audience agrees upon the message that the films trying
to give out and knowledge it with other people around them.
Negotiated- This is when the audience has different opinions about the
message of the film. Sometimes the agree, disagree or simply question the
political side of things from seeing things on the news.
Oppositional- This is where the audience completely disagrees with the
message the directors trying to give out. People tend to disagree due to
political or cultural reasons. This is based on age gender ethnicity and culture.

3. Me and My movies
My favourite type of movies are old Hollywood
movies because I like the originality of them. I
choose three films that I consider my favourites
and they are
Some Like it Hot
Breakfast At Tiffany's
The Hangover

4. Some Like It Hot
Director- Billy Wilder
Year Of Production- 1959
Brief Synopsis-When two Chicago musicians, Joe and Jerry, witness the St. Valentine's Day massacre,
they want to get out of town and get away from the gangster responsible, Spats Colombo. They're
desperate to get a gig out of town but the only job they know of is in an all-girl band heading to Florida.
They show up at the train station as Josephine and Daphne, the replacement saxophone and bass
players. They certainly enjoy being around the girls, especially Sugar Kane Kowalczyk who sings and
plays the ukulele. Joe in particular sets out to woo her while Jerry/Daphne is wooed by a millionaire,
Osgood Fielding III. Mayhem ensues as the two men try to keep their true identities hidden and Spats
Colombo and his crew show up for a meeting with several other crime lords
Using Stuart Halls perception theory I can now decode films that I enjoy. I choose some like it how as a
preferred because I like the humour in the film and the narrative also because Marilyn Monroe stars in
it. Marilyn Monroe was one of the main reasons why I watched the film in the first place and it turns out
I found it funny. I also think that Jack lemmon and Tony Curtis play a good part in the film by dressing up
as women. I think the film appeals to an older generation due to the fact its in black and white and quite
an old film. However Marilyn Monroe is a massive icon for teenage girls because of how she was
portrayed in the media.

5. Star Theory-Some Like it Hot
When I see films with certain stars in them I usually go and
see them. I think that films are more enjoyable to watch when
you like a particular star. Some Like it hot uses star theory by
making Marilyn Monroe one of the main stars. The company
knew that People would go and see the film due to Marilyn
starring in it. This is another way how film companies make
money. Due to the Marilyn’s believable acting in the film she
was nominated for many awards which made her career take
off once again. Even though Marilyn was used as a sex symbol
in most films including some like it hot she didn’t want to be
know for that. Marilyn wanted people to value her as an
actress and not as an object which is what a lot of these films
made her look like.

6. Frameworks of interpretation
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI_lUHOCcbc
• Here is a screen shot from a scene in Some Like It Hot which was
shown in the trailer. It shows Marilyn Monroe singing while Jack
Lemon and Tony Lee Curtis are in the background. As you can see
Marilyn Monroe is positioned in the centre of the screen
suggesting that she was one of the main selling points of the film.
This relates to star theory and why people would go and see the
film. We can also see that there are only women on the train
apart from jack and tony who are dressed as women. This could
suggest that the director Billy Wilder thinks men and women are
equal in ways and no ones better than the other.
• Also Marilyn Monroe is portrayed as a sex god in the film with
Tony lee Curtis and jack lemon both fighting for her attention.
This shows that the way women were represented in the film
industry haven't changed due to must women being sexualised in
films. On the second screen shot taken from when Marilyn
Monroe sings we can clearly see that her dress is very see through
and shows most of her chest off. This is one of the codes and
conventions of a comedy which is the use of women being over
sexulised.
• Another code and convention of a comedy film is shown through
Jack Lemmon and Tony Lee Curtis’s characters. When watching
the trailer we can see them both dressed up as women which is
funny too see two men walking in heels and trying to act lady like.
However Jack Lemmon's character is portrayed as the stupid
while Tony's character is shown to be quite clever and cunning.
This is a big convention of a comedy film.

7. Breakfast At Tiffany's
Director- Blake Edwards
Year Of Production- 1961
Genre- Romance, comedy
Synopsis- Holly Golightly (AUDREY HEPBURN) lives in a brownstone on Manhattan's swank East Side. Totally madcap, she has a partially furnished
apartment, owns a cat with no name, gets rid of the "mean reds" by visiting Tiffany's jewelry store, and is forever misplacing her door key, much to the
dismay of her upstairs neighbor Mr. Yunioshi (MICKEY ROONEY), a Japanese photographer. Holly makes her living in two ways: she receive $50 from her
gentlemen escorts whenever she needs powder room money, and she is paid $100 for each weekly trip she makes to Sing Sing Prison, where she visits Sally
Tomato (ALAN REED), an ex-mobster. One day Paul Varjak (GEORGE PEPPARD), a young writer who is supported by an older woman nicknamed "2E"
(PATRICIA NEAL), comes into Holly's life. Following one of Holly's wild cocktail parties hosted by her Hollywood agent, O.J. Berman (MARTIN BALSAM), Paul
unexpectedly meets Doc Golightly (BUDDY EBSEN), a gentle Texan whom Holly married when she was only 15 years old. Holly explains to Paul that the
marriage was annulled long ago, and he helps her send the heartbroken Doc away. After a day on the town together, Paul realizes that he is in love with
Holly and proposes to her; but she is determined to marry José (VILALLONGA), a South American millionaire. However, when it is publicly revealed that
Holly has been innocently carrying narcotics ring information from Sally Tomato to his New York associates, the stuffy José abandons her. Furious at
everything and everyone, Holly kicks Cat out of her taxicab into the rain and decides to leave town for Brazil, but Paul lectures her and then goes out to find
Cat. Holly realizes how much she is giving up and races through the wet New York streets to a happy reunion with Paul and Cat
By using Stuart Halls perception theory I class this movie and a preferred film which means I agree with what the films message is and I understand it. I think
Breakfast a Tiffany's is such a meaningful film which makes it more enjoyable to watch. The fact that Holly believe she doesn’t deserved to be loved and
therefore runs from anyone begins to show her that they care shows how deep this films message is. Holly's personality is also shown through the cat in the
film. The fact that the cat doesn’t have a name and is just named Cat shows the Holly believes that she's incapable of loving so when she finally realises
what she's missing at the end makes it all that much more emotional.
I think the film also uses star theory to a great extent by using the famous classy actress Audrey Hepburn who fits the role perfectly. Breakfast At Tiffany's
became one of Audrey's biggest and more popular films and kicked off her acting career. Audrey had already appeared in movies before hand and had
therefore gained a fan base through them. Her fans then would go and watch breakfast at tiffany's due to her starring in it. However Marilyn Monroe was
first considered for the role however the company went for Audrey which was due to her personality and acting fit the character more. Also in the film
Audrey sings a song called Moon River which also became a massive success and gave the film star even more credit for her amazing performance in the
film.

8. Frameworks of interpretation
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
urQVzgEO_w8
• Throughout the film trailer we can
hear romantic music playing in the
background which tells the audience
it’s a romantic film. Its also one of
the many codes and conventions of
a roncom due to fact it makes it
more emotional too watch with
music playing in the background.
• Another code and convention of a
romantic film is a dramatic kiss at
the end when the couple finally get
together. This is shown in this screen
I took from the trailer which is one
of the most famous moments of the
film.

9. The Hangover
Director-Todd Phillips
Year Of Production-2009
Brief Synopsis- Two days before his wedding with the wealthy Tracy Garner, Doug Billings travels to his
bachelor party in Las Vegas with his best friends, the school teacher Phil Wenneck and the dentist Stu
Price, and Tracy's unconventional brother Alan Garner. Tracy's father lends his convertible Mercedez
Benz that is his pride and joy to Doug with many recommendations. The quartet rents the best suite in
the Caesar's Palace and they go to the roof to celebrate. Alan proposes a toast to Doug and they drink
his booze. On the next morning, Phil, Stu and Alan have a hangover and they do not recall what they did
last night; the room is upside down; Doug is missing; there is a baby in the wardrobe; a tiger in the
bedroom; a chicken in the room; Stu has a missing tooth; and Doug is missing. The trio tries to track
down last night to find what happened and sooner they discover that Stu married the stripper Jade
(heather Graham) and Alan has spiked their booze with "Good Morning, Cinderella" in the beginning of
their crazy night
Using Stuart Halls Perception theory once again Id rate this as a preferred movie due to the humour in
the film and how it makes very obvious jokes. I think the film looks at the funny side of getting drunk
and makes fun of it and also the way some men behave on a stag do. However some people could argue
that even though it’s a comedy it shouldn’t be making light out of a serious topic.
The movie also uses star theory to gain an audience by starring Bradley Cooper and Zach

10. Intertextuality
When watching a film I never
look for Intertextuality or
notice it unless its very
obvious in what film they are
trying to copy. One film I did
notice that does have
Intertextuality is the
Hangover. When I saw the
front cover on the DVD it
reminded me of the film
Three men and a baby due to
both films featuring three
men looking after a baby. As
you can see both promotional
posters are very similar to one
another which promotes both
films if the audience is
watching either one of them.

11. Frameworks of interpretation
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhFVZsk3XEs
• This is a trailer from the move The Hangover which
another one of my favourite comedy films. If we take a
look at the trailer we can see a lot of the codes and
conventions that comedy films include including the
characters personalities. For example all comedy films
contain a stupid, normal and clever character. At 0.10
we can tell that the character Alan on screen is the
stupid character by the way he's dressed and the way
he talks . Phil who's shown at 0.32 is portrayed as the
normal character and Stu who's the clever one 0.20.
You can tell the characters personalities by the way
they act and how they are dressed as I have mentioned
before.
• At 0.49 we can see that there is a tiger in the shot
which is also a code and convention of a comedy film.
Due to the fact that there's a tiger being used suggests
that something bad but funny's going to happen due to
tigers being dangerous creatures which are found in
the wild. It also a very unexpected creature to found in
a movie which is entitled the Hangover.

12. Media literacy- How I heard about
films
To see what films are up and coming I usually check
the popular film website IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/. I find this a very useful
website to find out about films.
I also tend to read the online newspaper Daily Mail
for updates for any movies that are being released.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
Social Networking is also another great source to
check for any movies. I tend to use twitter a lot
more over Facebook due to person preferences.

13. Active Spectatorship
Active Spectatorship is the relationship
between the audience and the film and
the reactions the films get out of people
and how they tend to vary. The directors
and producers know full well that their
films will receive different reactions out of
people. For example a cult following for
Star Wars would have a different reaction
to the film than an average person would
do. This is because some people get very
attached to films to the point where even
minor details become very important.
Therefore the message that the films
trying to give off can be perceived in many
different ways.