Audience Theory

Uses and Gratification Theory 

Blumler and Katz (1959) 

"what people do with media" rather than what "media does to people" Katz 1959

• Entertainment and Diversion - Escapism, a feeling to be able to forget your worries momentarily - what you are watching you should be enjoying
• Personal Companion - Media is a friend, caring about the cast or pop star - also creates a topic of discussion between viewers
• Personal Identity - How do I fit in? Who am I? Seeing role models that have similar values to yourself
• Surveillance - Finding out what is happening in the world, what is influencing the wider world

Cultivation Theory

Gerbner and Gross (1975)

Examines the long term effects of TV

• Audiences consume media and gradually develop views about the world, some of which are false
• People who watch TV regularly are 'cultivated' to believe that the world created by the media is real and the only true depiction of what's going on in the world.
• Impacts on the audience understanding of representation - genders, sexuality, young people and ethnic groups
• Theorists break down the effects of cultivation into two levels. The first - general belief about the world and the second level - specific beliefs, strong feelings towards politics, law and justice etc
• In conclusion. the more media consumed the more influenced that person is.

Reception Analysis

Hall (1980)

• Audiences make sense of media texts according to their social position (gender, age, class, ethnic background)
• Essay 'Encoding/Decoding' revealed that audiences interepret media instead of just reading or watching they make their decisions about what they're seeing means.
• Depending on the persons socail background and hos wealthy they are in cultural capital depends how they interpret media. For example, someone from a ruling class background is more likely to have a large amount of cultural capital and will therefore have more of a connection when interpreting art in galleries and artifacts in museums. Whereas someone from a working class backgound won't have had an enriched education so they have less cultural capital and maybe reject even bothering to interpret art. Each persons background will mean each persons view of a media text will differ.

Copycat or Modelling Theory

Coleman (2004)

• Audiences are influenced by the media texts that they consume - Wikipedia suggests the very popular TV programme Breaking Bad has influenced a number of crime with the example of a 55-year old man in Alabama calling himself 'Walter White' like the mai character of the programme and dealing drugs.
• However this theory could be seen as more of an assumption used by journalist to explain an individuals negative behaviour. Some media outlets such as the Daily Mail like to use minority groups as scapegoats.

Long Tail Theory

Anderson (2006)

• This theory describes how the internet has influenced audience consumption
• Since broadband was introduced, these impacts have been most prominent

• The Head is ONE shop that has 50 customers and The Long Tail is 50 websites that each have 1 customer
• Niche audiences are no longer economically viable

Codes and Conventions of Pop Genre

Examples of Pop Music Videos:

Ariana Grande - Side To Side ft. Nicki Minaj (2016)

Fifth Harmony - That's My Girl (2016)

The codes and conventions these videos follow:

• There's a performance section of the video
• Due to the artists being female there's an opening for the 'male gaze' and therefore the artists are seen in revealing clothes and suggestive dance moves are used 
• In the fifth harmony video there's a specific narrative structure of the girls being saviors to the people in need and poverty around them

Codes and Conventions of Music Videos

LIIAR Analysis

• L - Language - Media Language; Shots: depending on the genre shots can be used to express the speed of the song as well as close up on performers or specific mise-en-scene features in the video. Sounds: the music that accompanies the video is being either being performed live in the video so is therefore diegetic, if not then it will be non-diegetic either way the original soundtrack will be dubbed over the top of the video in post-production. Graphics: the use of green screens and cgi are less likely in country/classical music and more likely in pop and dance/electronic music.
• I - Institution - Music Video Production companies include: Sony Music, Litewave Media, Lighthouse Films, Partizan, Video Ink, TribeSound, London Alley and many, many more. These companies can promote new bands and continue to advertise current music artists, reaching a variety of audiences. This helps agencies to market their artists to gain new and old listeners, bringing in money and raising the amount of merchandise, CD and concert tickets sold.
• I - Ideology - Emotions can be presented through the actors face and colours, if the song is sad then there will be darker colours and the actor would be straight-faced and slow actions but if it was a happy song there would be brighter colours and the actor would be smiling and more movement.
• A - Audience - Depending on genre and who the video is aimed at the majority of music video watchers are between the ages of 12 and 25 years old. Depending on type of genre there's a difference in gender, the majority of pop music video watchers are female whereas male viewers are more likely to watch other genres such as R&B etc.
• R - Representation - Female music videos revolve around the male gaze so the females portrayed are usually for the male perspective. Representation is closely linked with Audience as the artist has to make sure their appearance and music are what their mass audience wants, rather than just appealing to a niche audience. 

Media Language and Semiotics

Every medium has its own 'Language' - or combination of languages, that is used to communicate moaning, They're generally understood as they use familiar codes and conventions.

• E.g - TV uses verbal and written languages as well as the languages of moving images and sound. (Scary music - horror - anticipating a scary moment)

Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something.

Pierce (1931) 

"Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign"

Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1974)

He offered a 'dyadic' or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of:

• a 'signifier' (significant) - the form which the sign takes
• and the 'signified' (signifie) - the concept it represents

Charles Sanders Pierce (1931) - 3 Types of Sign

1. Icon/Iconic: A mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or irritating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing some of its qualities. E.g - A portrait, cartoon, scale model, onomatopoeia, metaphors, 'realistic' sound in 'programme music', sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack and imitative gestures.
2. Index/Indexical: A mode in which the signifier isn't arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or casually) to the signified - this link can be observed or inferred. E.g - 'natural signs' (smoke, thunder, footprints, echoes, non-synthetic odours and flavours) medical symptoms (pain, a rash, pulse-rate) measuring instruments (weathercock, thermometer, clock, spirit-level). 
3. Symbol/Symbolic: A mode in which the signifier doesn't resemble he signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt. E.g - Language in general.

Roland Barthes (1967) 

Roland noted, Saussure's model of the sign focused on denotation at the expense of connotation and it was left to subsequent theorists (notably Barthes himself) to offer an account of his important dimension of meaning. Barthes (1977) argued photography connotation can be (analytically) distinguished from denotation.

• Myth - Barthes (1977)

For Barthes myths were the dominant ideologies of our time. The first and second orders of signification called denotation and connotation combine to produce ideology - which has been described as a third order of signification by Fiske and Hartley (1982).

As John Fiske (1982) puts it 'denotation is what is photographed, connotation is how it's photographed'. (Links to Barthes' editing at stage of production)

• Encoding - messages and values producers put into a media text.
• Decode - the audiences perception of the text.

Representaion - Feminist Theory and Stereotype Theory

The Male Gaze

The objectification of womens bodies in the media has been a constant theme.

Laura Mulvey (1975) - argues that the dominant point of view is masculine. The female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure for the male gaze (voyeurism).

Women are objectified by the camera lens and whatever gender the spectator/audience is positioned to accept the masculine point of view.

Examples of Male Gaze:

• Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (2013)

• Katy Perry - California Gurls (2010)

• "Where Have You Been" - Rihanna 

Examples of Female Gaze:

• Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe (2012)

• "Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5 (2011)

John Berger 'Ways of Seeing'(1972)
"Men act and women appear"
"Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at"
"Women are aware of being seen by a male spectator"

Stereotypes

• O'Sullivan et al (1998) details that a stereotype is a label that involves a process of categorisation and evaluation.
• We can call stereotypes shorthand to narratives because such simplistic representations define our understanding of media text e.g we know who is good and who is evil.

Representation - Carlsson

Sven E Carlsson (1999)
Media Theorist, says artists represent themselves as;

1. Commercial Exhibitionist

Presenting themselves as a brand selling their appearance as well as their musical talent. Their face, clothing style and lifestyle.

• "Jenny from the Block" Jennifer Lopez (2002) 

• "Drunk in Love" Beyonce (2013)

• "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" - Coldplay (2011)

2. Televised Bard

Represent themselves as part of a story or as a story teller.

• "Seven Years" Lukas Graham (2016)

• "Mama Said" - Lukas Graham (2015)

3. Electronic Shaman 

Generally big budget productions where the artist has immortal powers or adopts the alter ego of another iconic character, personality or superhero.

• "Scream" Michael Jackson (1995)

• "Roar" Katy Perry (2013)

• "Sledgehammer" - Rihanna (2016)

Representation - Kristeva

Intertextuality 

Text alludes to or references to another text. Julia Kristeva (1969), Literary critic and sociologist "the shaping of texts meaning by another text".

"The use of an intertextual reference in any text in any text is the absorption and transformation of another".

Some referencing is iconic and the audience can easily remember and recognise the style. Referencing can reinforce nostalgia and familiarity. 

"Telephone" Lady Gaga (ft. Beyonce) (2010)

Intertextual References:

Beyonce's hairstyle - Bettie Page (1950's) Glamour model and pin-up

Divine - US actor and drag queen - Pink Flamingos (1972)

Pierre & Gilles - French Fashion and Art Photographers

Jackie Brown - Quentin Tarentino - Blacksploitation films

Russ Meyer - US Director, Sexploitation films that featured camp humour (1960's)

Roy Lichenstein - US Pop Artist (1960's) - Lady Gaga's hair - bright yellow hair - vivid pink lips

Thelma & Louise - (1991) Feminist Road Movie

Original Batman - US TV Series 1960's camp style, upbeat theme music and relatively simplistic youth-aimed moral lessons - zip pans - iconic IS comic heroes - Marvel and DC comics

"Love Story" Taylor Swift (2009)

Romeo & Juliet - Based on the classic love story of Romeo and Juliet in the modern day

16/17th Century fashion - Similar to the fashion produced by Jacqueline Durran for Pride and Prejudice although a couple centuries later.

Romantic Climax - Slow motion invented in the early 20th Century 
Renaissance Dance - Classic dance and stereotypical style from the Romeo and Juliet era

Brief Specification

A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with a cover for its release as part of a digipak and a magazine advertisement for the digipak (CD/DVD package).

Our Music Video

Twenty One Pilots - Migraine - Our Remake

Original Music Video

Twenty One Pilots - Migraine