Audience Theories

Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies.
Whether you are constructing a text or analysing one, you will need to consider the destination of that text, for example its target audience and how that audience will respond to that text.

Within audience theories, there are plenty of other theories which I will be explaining about. There is The Hypodermic Needle Model, which was first revealed and created in the 1920’s; this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media. This particular theory, as it is known to be so powerful, also creates a lot of moral panics within the society.

The Two-Step-Flow audience theory, firstly created by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet who had many doubts about The Hypodermic Needle Model, as they thought it was gradually beginning to get too clumsy for media researchers, a therefore not so reliable towards the audience.

Along these 2 effective audience theories, there is also, Uses & Gratifications, and ideas for this audience theory were built around the 1960’s, and now obviously since then, the list of Uses and Gratifications has been extended, particularly as new media forms have come along, for example video games and the internet.

There is also The Reception Theory, which emphasises the reader’s reception of a literacy text. Extending the concept of an active audience still further, in the 1980s and 1990s a lot of work was done on the way of making the audience properly understand a text, and how their individual circumstances affected their reading.

Critical Investigation & Linked Production

Critical Investigation
The different representation of young teenagers in London.

Linked Production
A new film trailer based on the genre of action/gangster, with direct links to the representations of teenagers in London.


Representation –
Our significant thought about something or someone, judging what they do, who they are etc. Representation provides models of how we see gender, social groups, individuals and aspect of the world we all live in. Representation is also a key concept in media, and will therefore be a key concept within my Critical Investigation.
Frequently, I will be talking about the representations of teenagers in London, and the representations different kind of people have on teenagers. For example, the elderly people, male adults, female adults, and people from different backgrounds and cultures.



Research –
The process of being able to pick up and find different sort of data about the topic you are searching for. Our news research facilities are now computers, newspapers, television, books and many more. In order for me to find out as much reliable information about teenagers in London, I will have to carry out a lot of research and apply it to my Critical Investigation and Linked Production.
This will also require the ability of my research skills, but by applying them, I should hopefully be able to improve them. Also, in order for me to produce an effectively attractive film trailer, I will have to do extra research and try to build my ideas together on how to produce the best film trailer based on teenagers.



Deep Focus --
A camera technique that allows both near and far objects from the camera to be in focus at the same time. This is of corse a very classy technique to be performing and therefore requires a lot of skill. I have mainly picked this because it will be required in my Linked Prodcution very much in order to make the best possible film trailer on teenagers in London. Deep focus will also be a concept that I will be disscussing about in my Critical Investigation.



Connotation --
A meaning representing features of something or someone, suggestions of what something is or means, but mainly what something COULD mean. A more detailed analysis on objects, people etc.
Within my critical investigation, I will have to cover points that relate to the connotations of a teenagers behaviour, why they behave the way they behave.



Edit—
The changing selection and construction of various elements that form a completed media text. This could be a production of a video, a production of a track or even a production of a piece of writing that may eventually be needed to edit, in order for the best possible result.
Throughout doing my Critical Investigation and Linked Production, I will have to deeply consider the amount of time I will be spending on the editing. Clearly, I will mainly be focusing on the time spent on the editing of my Linked Production, but also the time spent on editing my Critical Investigation, in order to make it as good as possible.