AUDIENCE THEORY
When looking at audience within the research stage of our production it is important to recognise and remember audience theories. Below are some key audience theories which could be a possible help influence on our final products.
"All the world's a stage and the mean and the women are merely players." As the audience we can be manipulated and can be persuaded to buy products or follow corrupt leaders through propaganda. The question is whether or not this brings us together. On one hand when we listen to CDs and go to the cinema we become part of a mass audience. However at the same time we are very different because we are separated by space and sometimes time.
THE HYPODERMIC SYRINGE
The media is like a syringe which injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience who as a powerless mass, have little choice but to accept. For example a person might watch something violent and then may do something violent. If you are a woman who's watching a woman washing up on television, you will feel a subconscious need to go and do it yourself. If you are a man watches a woman doing the washing up on television then you will expect the woman to do the washing up.
On the other hand there are theories which oppose this view.
THE CULMINATION THEORY
One media text does not have too much of an effect and influence but years and years of watching violence will make you less sensitive to violence.
TWO STEP FLOW
Another argument suggests that the masses will experience the media individuality but then they will discuss what they have watched with others and it is the discussion which can then influence people's opinions and behaviour.
USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY
We make the choices about what we watch, we also have certain expectations, we expect to be gratified by what we have watched. The types are as followed...
Information
Entertainment
Personal identity
Social empathy/social personal interest
Escapism
This may be more relevant to a short film project, however in our music video there will still be a strong element of narrative and despite the fact we are using song, we have chosen a song which tells a very clear story from start to finish.
GENRE
A key part of our project is the focus on genre of our music video. What will be the main factor of our project is the study of the codes and conventions of existing media products from the same genre that we have chosen. What we have been asked to do is not only consider these codes and conventions but to challenge them as well.
There are several theories relating to genre which we can apply within this pre-production stage of our music video. Rick Altman explained that genre is a set type and group which any medium can be classified within, when applying this to music examples of this are reggae, jazz, drum 'n' bass etc. In each case the acknowledgement of genre depends on the acceptance of the generic conventions. Genre can change and develop over time it's completely open to historical change. Altman also stated that viewers pre-read media texts, that they become passive viewers which ultimately restricts genre.
Richard Maltby claimed that the success of Hollywood is reliant on the combination of predictable elements with variation. This suggests that as producers we should follow the codes and conventions of our chosen genre but also add some variation within our work so that the audience does not become bored and the media text is not predictable. This will be a theory to keep in mind and apply to when planning the narrative part of our music video.
Jon Fiske said that any one type of media will bear the main characteristics of it's genre, but is likely to include some from others. Categorizing it in one genre would mean deciding which characteristics are most important. This theory specifically applies to our project, pop is the genre of our artist, song and music video but as pop music is such a wide spread genre there are several characteristics from R&B and hip hop. Therefore when looking at existing music videos and promotional packages we will have to keep our research focused on very similar artists who are primarily pop singers but incorporate other genres of music within their work.
