3 Audience Theories

Hypodermic Theory

The Hypodermic 'needle' theory implies mass media have a direct and powerful influence over passive audiences. The word needle refers to how it 'injects' (like a drug) information that will affect the recipient. It is said that media text changes the behaviour of the consumer. The theory came about in the 1940/50's after the sudden expansion of radio and television industries (media industries) whereby societies were exposed to more advertisement and propaganda. Evidence of this theory being valid, would be the Nazi propaganda (masterminded by Goebells) which indoctrinated millions of people, causing people to support such an evil regime.  The population (with regard to this theory) is seen as a sitting duck.


Two Step Flow

This theory believes that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive and revise the information. They then pass on what they have learned to a more passive audience. They can be seen as a middle man between the mass media and audience.

Uses and Gratifications thoery

This is a widely accepted theory when understanding mass communication. It expresses the view that consumers are not passive, rather, they take an active role in interpreting text. Furthermore, the theory assumes that audiences use the media to fulfil specific gratifications and that people are responsible for choosing media to meet their needs. Critics claim that this is not the case; audiences cannot necessarily choose what they watch, read or hear as they are not in control of what is being produced.  

4 Narrative Theories

Propp's Theory

He argued that whatever the differences are between stories and fairy tales, they all share the same internal structure. Characters and actions should be grouped into:

- 8 roles (spheres of action)

- 31 functions

Levi Strauss' Theory

He believed that all narratives could be reduced down to binary opposites. He had little interest in looking at the order in which events were arranged, rather, he highlighted the importance of the deeper arrangements of themes. Here are some examples of binary opposites:

Good VS Evil

Modern Society VS Traditional Society

Weak VS Strong 

Domestic VS Savage

Joseph Campbell's Hero Quest 

Joseph Campbell believes that you should set your protagonist upon the hero's journey and create a justified narrative. He investigated many global religious texts and looked to see whether there were common attributes, whether there was a typical narrative structure. He then broke this down into 12 parts, 3 stages of 4 parts each:
The first stage was seting up he quest (call to adventue).
The second stage was the adventure itself .
The tird stage was the retern of the Hero. 

Todorov's Theory

Todorov came up with a theory that most narrative storylines include similar conventions, his theory argued that many storylines had 5 common conventions and that many story’s follow these conventions. These 5 conventions are:

The narrative is driven by attempts to restore an equilibrium. Although the equilibrium attained is never identical to the initial one. Moreover he believed that narrative must involve a transformation; the characters change and transform as the narrative develops and often, it is due to the disruption.

Dogme 95

Dogme 95 was a film making movement started in 1995 by 4 Danish directors; they set out some basic rules from which to follow:

1) Filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in.

2) The sounds must not be produced apart from the images vice-verca.

3) The camera must be handheld. However the camera must not be propped up on anything.

4) The film must be in colour. Any other artificial light is not allowed.

5) Optical work and filters are forbidden.

6) The film must not contain superficial action (eg a  murder.)

7) Temporal and geographical alienation is forbidden.

8) Genre movies are not allowed.

9) The film format must be Academy 35mm

10) The director must not be credited.

The movement started due to the high budget Hollywood movies being brought out at the time, the Dane's wanted to offer an effective but affordable alternative, which has certainly proven itself to be credible, and has stood the test of time (Dogme 95 films still being made today). These were rules to create filmmaking based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. So as a result, we see it as a prefect style with which to create our A-level films.

Exploring Creativity

In order to inspire ideas for my narrative I chose to do the '15 minute story' task, whereby I wrote a story off the top off my head within 15 minutes. I found it astonishing how I was able to come up with a story in such a short space of time.

Danny was just your average man living an average life. When it come to Saturday he was bursting with excitement at the prospect of a victory against Southend United. Danny and his fellow Millwall FC fans, made their way to the game, absorbed in the atmosphere, and of course the alcohol. Once they had entered the ground their was immediate sense of hostility between the two sets of fans. The game dragged on with the scores level at 0-0, up until the sixty sixth minute when Southend found the back of the net. Danny and his chums were extremely aggravated and began to pelt rocks at the Southend FC supporters. Suddenly, one of the oppositions fans pulled out a gun and, shot repeatedly in Danny's direction. The next few moments are a blur; Danny was a victim of this horrific act.