This document discusses various theories related to audiences and media consumption. It defines passive consumption as audiences simply accepting media messages without response. The hypodermic needle model suggests audiences will immediately believe anything in media. Active consumption is when audiences interact with and influence media. Uses and gratifications theory explains why audiences consume media for information, identity, social integration, and entertainment. Reception theory looks at how audiences interpret encoded media messages based on their own experiences and decoding. Spectatorship theory examines how audiences make meaning based on their social, cultural, private, and desiring selves. Different frameworks can lead to varied interpretations of the same media. The document uses these theories to analyze audiences' interactions with the Alien film franchise.

1. Audiences & Products
Jack Booth

2. Task 1

3. Passive Consumption
• Detailed Definition; Passive Consumption is when the audience of a
product doesn’t interact with the media, they don’t create any
content related to the product, and they don’t influence how the film
is produced. Essentially, they just accept whatever the media message
is without any actual response to the product. The audience doesn’t
interact, and simply accepts what they are shown.

4. Hypodermic Needle Model
• Definition; That the audience of a product will immediately believe
what is shown by the media, which directly influences their actions
and feelings in their real lives.
• Strengths; Allows us to reflect on how much influence the media has
on the general public, and how much power they can hold.
• Weaknesses; This theory suggests that whatever an audience is
shown, they will believe it with no struggle.
• Example; 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast, which caused
panic across the USA as the general public believed that the radio
broadcast was real, rather than realising it was a scenario for a film.

5. Active Consumption
• Detailed Definition; Audience will actually make an effort to interact
with the product, in various ways such as creating content and
influencing the production of a film, for example. This is the opposite
to Passive Consumption, as the audience will actively look to create a
sense of meaning from a product, which is based from their personal
influences and contexts, such as their culture or religion, family
background, or educational circumstances.

6. Uses and Gratifications Theory
• Definition; There are 4 main uses and gratifications which explain the
general reasons the audience will watch a media product. These are;
Information (To satisfy curiosity, for example) Personal Identity (e.g To reinforce personal values)
Social Integration (To identify with other people who consume the same media, and to use as a
topic for social interaction) Entertainment (For escapism, relaxation, and enjoyment)
• Strengths; The model allows us to identify the needs in our lives
which can be filled with media products.
• Weaknesses; Does not cover every single reason why the general
public could watch certain media products.
• Example; The general public may watch popular shows such as
Breaking Bad for escapism into a more action packed life, or for social
integration with other fans of the series.

7. Reception Theory
• Detailed Definition; Looks at how audiences receive and interpret any
media they are shown. The theory works in 2 separate parts;
Part 1; Encoding, when the producer of a media product fills it with a
message they want to be noticed to the public, which can be done
through costume, props, location, camera angles, editing, sound, etc.
Part 2; Decoding, when the consumer of a media product decodes the
message the producer had encoded into the product. This can leave
lots of room for interpretation, as it relies on the consumers personal
experiences over their lifetime.

8. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph
etc) and provide:
• A potential encoded message; The
designer of this poster has filled the poster with
American symbolism, such as the flag in the
background, the colour scheme of his uniform, and
the various little references to the US Army.
• A potential decoded message; The
poster would be positively received by the audience
in the USA, as the various patriotic references
would create feelings of positivity from the various
pieces of content encoded into the poster.

9. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph etc)
and provide:
• Preferred reading; The 2 protagonists of the
film are driving somewhere, in danger from an
unknown antagonist from the storyline.
• Negotiated reading; The 2 characters are
actually chasing the antagonist, before they realise
that they are in danger.
• Oppositional reading; The driver of the
vehicle is in fact the antagonist, who is trying to kidnap
the character in the back of the vehicle.

10. Spectatorship
• Detailed Definition; Can be applied to either, an audience who share
similar meanings, or an individual who uses personal experiences.
This theory applies to 4 specific parts of ourselves;
Social Self (Makes meaning in similar ways to others with a similar ideological formation)
Cultural Self (Makes particular inter-textual references based on the material possessed)
Private Self (Carries memories of their own experiences for personal significance)
Desiring Self (Who brings conscious and unconscious energies to the product which are below the
film’s ‘surface’ content)
• Example; A film based around certain social issues, such as race or gender,
means that anyone in the audience who has suffered from similar
circumstances would relate more to the film through their Private Self, e.g.
Get Out (2017) would be related to more by people of black descent rather
than white, as the film is about segregation between blacks and whites.

11. Framework for Interpretation
• List 2 very different frameworks for interpretation;
1
• Age; 18
• Gender; Male
• Social status/Class; Middle Class
• Ethnicity; Black
• Sexuality; Straight
• Education; Secondary School
2
• Age; 36
• Gender; Female
• Social status/Class; High Class
• Ethnicity; White
• Sexuality; Straight
• Education; University Degree

12. Framework for Interpretation
• Discuss how each may react to a film of your choice based on their framework
• Straight Outta Compton
1
The first demographic would enjoy the
film stated and may watch multiple times,
due to their Cultural and Desiring Self
relating to the film’s themes of race and
their place in society. They would also
relate to the protagonists due to their
similarities in age, class, and ethnicity,
which means they would positively react
to the film’s storyline and message.
2
The second demographic may have a
different reaction to the film, due to the film
featuring many characters who she would
struggle to relate to, which is mainly because
of the differences in almost every factor. The
majority of the film’s content is aimed at
younger audiences, which is apparent in
most of the messages encoded into the film
by the producers.

13. Task 2

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. Alien Franchise
The Alien series was a very popular franchise, which had its content featured across
many different film platforms. The films were all science fiction-horror films, and
were revolutionary in making the genre popular in modern culture. The original
franchise had 4 films, as well as crossovers being made such as Alien vs Predator,
and the modern prequel films which were made, Prometheus and Alien:
Covenant. The first Alien film, released in 1979, gained the biggest box office
revenue of the original films, with it generating an estimated $203,000,000
worldwide, which in today’s market would be around $680,000,000. It also had the
smallest budget of all the films in the series, with only $11,000,000. the film’s main
cast consisted of Sigourney Weaver, who was the only person featured in each film
of the original series, with many other characters only being used in the first 2
films, such as Tom Skerritt, and Veronica Cartwright. The director of the first Alien
film, who many see as the founder of the series, is Ridley Scott, who also directed
the most recent 2 prequel films in the series. Gordon Carroll produced 3 of the 4
original films, either alone or with other people. The original film generated a large
profit and was very successful, especially when the budget and other factors are
considered. The entire franchise was built on the success of the first film, and it
grew into a very well known series which has various spin offs, including video
games, toy ranges, and even cameo appearances and references in other films.

16. Task 3

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. The Alien franchise was extremely well received by the audiences at the time of its initial
release, and still to this day has a large fan-base, which has allowed the return of the franchise
in the modern Prometheus series.