Audience Theory Questions

1) Do you agree with Stewart's point regarding self-determination of audiences? Consider your own media consumption habits and the research you conducted regarding UK cinema audiences using the BFI Statistical Yearbook.
 I agree with Stewart's point regarding self-determination of audiences. With the wide number of television channels available, the amount of genres of films on offer and the vast number of social media outlets available to share and consume these, as shown in the diagram to the side.
With film especially, people choose their films very freely. Although it is true that certain people may choose films based on their age, gender and social class, this is not true of all people and there is definitely choice available when it comes to watching films.

2) Hall's ideas about audience positioning identifies three ways that audiences can respond to texts. Using your three case studies, identify a preferred, negotiated and resistant reading and explain your reasons for each case study.
A preferred reading is one where the audience interprets the text as closely to the way in which the producer intended it to. In terms of my own case studies, it is likely that audiences will see the film Les Miserables in a similar fashion to the one that the producer intended; for instance it is clear that the producers intended for the film to be inspirational and show viewers how to stand up for what it is right. An audience will generally agree with this.
A negotiated reading is one whereby the audience has to go through a period of negotiation with themselves in order to accept the way that the film has been presented. For instance in Monsters University, it seems that the two main characters have some kind of rivalry caused by their academic and physical differences. This may be hard for some viewers to watch and some parents may not want their children to view something like that.
A resistant reading is one where the user of the text finds themselves in conflict with the way that a text has been presented to them, because of their beliefs and experiences. For instance in Hitchcock, the film seems to be sympathetic towards the way that Alma seeks solace with another man. However, a viewer with values that are in conflict with this may find the text difficult to view.

3) Audiences can respond to texts in a variety of ways. Gender, situated culture and cultural experiences can all affect how we consume a text. Think about your case studies and your own personal media consumption habits.
a) How can your gender affect how you respond to a text? - It seems that women tend to prefer soap operas and narrative shows, and ones that have strong female characters, whereas men tend to prefer shows with more factual content, such as those concerned with current affairs and news based.
However, this can be disputed. Some men enjoy soap operas and many women do not watch narrative television shows. In terms of literary text, women are often seen to look down on "lads mags" such as Nuts and Zoo due to the sexualisation and objectification of women; yet, women often send in photos of themselves and of course some pose for them. Some men may look disapprovingly towards magazines such as Cosmopolitan, which tend to talk about men in a way which makes them all seem similar and all driven by the same motives.
b) Why would you choose to go to the cinema (situated culture) as opposed to watching a film at home? - Situated culture talks about where we watch films and who we watch them with. People may watch certain films at home due to their nature. Personally, I believe that blockbuster films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and Batman ought to be watched in a cinematic capacity, whereas romantic comedies such as This is 40 would be better to be viewed at home. Blockbusters are obviously much more high octane and have a lot of sound effects and a lot going on on the screen at any one time, which means that the all-encompassing surround sound and large screen does a lot more justice to the film; whereas, a romantic comedy is better suited to being curled up on a sofa with lots of snacks and friends to have a laugh with throughout the film.
c) Can you think of a text where you gained "cultural knowledge" which shaped your expectations? Was that part of the reason you chose and enjoyed that text?
A text where I gained some cultural knowledge would be the TV show Dexter. It has given me knowledge on the homicide departments in the United States, and whilst the forensic side of the show may be slightly unrealistic, it shows the prejudice in that sort of professional environment towards women and some men, due to their age for example.

4) How do converged websites apply to Gauntlett's idea of a "pick and mix" audience?
This idea suggests that users of texts select some aspects of the text and ignores others, in order to select one that suit them at that time. There is constant flexibility in the "menu" in the "pick and mix" audience, where for instance a relationship breaking down may bear more significance to a person at one time than another.
The idea of converged websites applies because people will use different aspects of the website depending on what they will get the most out of at the time. For instance, they may choose to look at recipes on a website like that for The Silver Linings Playbook one time, if they feel like cooking, but ignore them the next time.

5) To what extent do you believe in the effects model and the uses and gratifications model?

6) McQuail believes audiences use texts for four different reasons. Can you identify these features in the marketing materials from our case studies?

• Entertainment and diversion - as a form of escape from the pressures of everyday life.
• Personal relationships - identification with characters and being able to discuss media texts with others.
• Personal identity - the ability to compare your life with that of characters and situations presented in media texts.
• Information/education - to find out and learn about what is going on in the world.

In my case studies, I can see opportunity for entertainment and diversion; especially in Monsters University, as the species of the main characters means that there is a fair amount of escapism. Also, the period nature of Les Miserables and Hitchcock means that it is possible for them to provide diversion from everyday life for  a large contingent of the audience.

It is probably possible for some women to identify with the character of Alma in Hitchcock, and the nature of it being a biopic about the creation of the film Psycho means that people can discuss that film too. They may be able to talk about how effective the adaptation from musical to film is.

In terms of personal identity, there is probably something in all three films that people can identify with. In Monsters University, an audience may be able to identify with going to university; in Les Miserables, an audience may identify with the struggle against a higher power, and in Hitchcock, an audience may identify with either Alma looking for comfort elsewhere, or with Hitchcock as he meets constant negativity towards something he really wants to do.

I doubt that there will be much information and education, mainly because none of the films are situated in the 21st century. It may, however, share some information about the film making industry in the 1950's (Hitchcock)

7) What is audience fragmentation? How has it changed the composition of audiences and the texts that are available to them? Has the internet influenced this in any way?

Audience fragmentation is a phrase used to describe the different ways that people engage with different media. It shows how the idea of an audience has changed in the digital era. The ways in which convergence, user-created content and social networking have changed the ideology of an audience are often thought of in terms of audience fragmentation.

This suggests that the audience has been "broken up" through things such as live entertainment news, internet gossip sites and the various ways that films can be downloaded. These different things mean that there is a much more varied potential audience for any particular film. 

Essentially, people can be shown adverts in lots of different places; on the side of Facebook, on Google searches and on YouTube videos. This means that people who may not usually be interested in a certain type of film and hence not seek out a certain genre may see an advert or maybe a promotional video for the film and choose to view it.

8) What is "push" and "pull" media? How has the internet shaped audience behaviour in relation to "pull" media?

• Push media - where producers push films at us and we receive and consume them passively.
• Pull media - whereby we decide what we want to do with the media and access it in ways that suit us

The internet means that we often end up seeing push media a lot - we cannot directly control the adverts that get shown to us, even in public - for instance, on a bus or on a billboard. 

We can access pull media a lot easier now as a result of the internet. It allows us to edit it through the multitudes of software available and share it on social networking sites, for example.