1. Audience theory Practice response
Hall -(encoding/decoding –
preferred/negotiated/oppositional)
McQuail -(uses/gratifications)
Altman -“genre offers audiences a set a
pleasures”
Effects OR reception theory
Hall
The first audience theorist is Hall whose theory is
“____________”. We could apply this to many
aspects of our music video and ancillaries. Firstly,
we could apply this to our OTS because….(talk
about whether it was
preferred/negotiated/oppositional) it would
have been a preferred meaning to our audience
because we wanted to make it explicit that our
villain (antagonist) is a conventional villain. We
did this by the mise-en-scene. More specifically,
2. he wore a mask, multiple weapons, an isolated
setting etc.
The first audience theorist is Hall whose theory is
“____________”. We could apply this to many
aspects of our music video and ancillaries. Firstly,
we could apply this to our music video
because….we encoded the idea that the main
character was upset and disturbed which would
be a preferred reading of the character. We used
this because we wanted it to be obvious to the
audience in how the main character felt and why
he felt that way. We did this by….
Firstly, we could apply this to our music video
because….we encoded our lead singer to look
cool and ‘macho’ by making him wear a black
leather jacket and dark clothing. This is a
preferred reading as during our audience
feedback as they clearly decoded that he was
represented as ‘cool and mysterious’ through his
3. dark clothing. Furthermore, this could be applied
to one of my ancillaries (magazine advert)
because….we encoded our magazine advert to
have a connection between the other 2 products.
We did this by….using the same powder paint
that was used in all 3 products and also the
bowtie worn by the singer. This was a preferred
reading because….it is very clear and these
aspects are recognisable for the audience. This is
imperative to have recognition to have a clear
BRAND.
Firstly, we could apply this to our music video
because….throughout our video we incorporated
a preferred reading so the audience understood
and anticipate the attack on the victim at the
start. This is linked to Barthes’ narrative codes
theory where we use an action code to anticipate
the attack. We then purposely used oppositional
reading at the end to create a plot twist where
the audience thought the bully was going for a
second attack but instead, offers a sign of peace.
4. McQuail
The second audience theorist is McQuail, whose
theory is ‘……………….(list the 4 strands)’. We
could apply this to our music videos. Firstly, we
could incorporate the sub-strand of ‘personal
identity’ to the narrative to our music video.
Specifically, our main character because of his
emotions and events that are taking place in the
music video which can be seen through our use
of camera shots (close up’s on his face to show
sad facial expressions) and in editing (slow pace
editing to keep a calm mood). This would
therefore allow audience to gain an insight into
one’s self as some of the events taking place are
relatable to the audience because most
audiences can relate to having basic struggles in
a teenage life such as relationship problems and
trouble at school.
5. The second audience theorist is McQuail, whose
theory is ‘uses and gratifications whereby there
are 4 sub-strands: entertainment, personal
identity, social integration/interaction and
information’. We could apply this theory to our
OTS. Firstly, we could apply the social
integration/interaction because the enigmas
could get the audience interacting (ie. Who is the
killer? Why is he killing the victim? Etc) Secondly,
we would apply the entertainment sub-strand
because the OTS has high entertainment value
such as crescendos, sound effects, visual effects
such as contrast/colours,violence etc. This is
enjoyable to an audience who are thrill seekers.
Altman
The next theorist I will be discussing is Altman,
whose theory is ‘genre offers audiences a set of
pleasures’. We could apply this to our music
video. Firstly, the audience gets a sense of
pleasure from the song itself as the song has a
6. slow catchy beat that parallels with the pace of
the video. The audience also would get a sense
of pleasure from the artist because his age is
relatable to the audience (as target audience is
similar age). Audiences would get a pleasure
from the ‘indie rock’ genre because often they
have an emotive narrative which they can relate
to. This could link to McQuail’s theory (personal
identity sub-strand) because the audience could
gain insight to their own personal values.
In addition, the audience could gain further
pleasure from the performance aspect of the
music video because it is very entertaining to
watch such as …..”……………..” (give specific
example from your music video of how it’s
entertaining) ie: “using a variety of colours in the
lighting to make it visually appealing or a wide
variety of locations …..
