Targeting
Who is the target audience for the production? (age, race, gender, social class)
Why will the production appeal to this target audience?
What uses and gratifications will the target audience get from the production?
An active audience is one that actively
engages with the text.
They do not simply accept every media message.
They question what they see and develop their own
interpretation of a media product based on their
life experiences, education, family and cultural influences. Theories
such as “Uses
& Gratification” and “Postmodernist theory”
assume that audiences are active.
A passive audience does not actively engage with a
media text. A passive audience is one that does not question the message that
the media is sending and simply accepts the message in the way the media outlet
intended. ‘Top down’ theories of media influence tend to assume that
audiences are passive. Theories such as “Hypodermic” assume that audiences are
passive.
The Big Bang Theory
TBBT deals with the issue of geeks and their role or acceptance in society.
Write about what the word geek means, what are the positive and negative aspects of representation of geeks within BTTB. Give examples. Use the episode we have looked at.
The Walking Dead
Zombies. Shamblers, moaners, walkers, undead, the risen, biters, crawlers, uglies.
Mindless masses of once living humans craving human flesh.
How does this relate to messages that are given through the show?
Talk about moral panic here, do the young people imitate the comics. Do zombie fans expect or even want gore? Remember the complaints about too much sitting around the farm?
Compare to other texts, Shaun of the Dead (comedic but includes violence) and Romero’s Night of the Living Dead where the violence was understated.
Compare to other texts, Shaun of the Dead (comedic but includes violence) and Romero’s Night of the Living Dead where the violence was understated.
Life on Mars
Post Modernism and Passive and active audiences
Positioning
The Big Bang Theory
Positive and negative representation is relevant here:
The general conception of nerds is that they are not good socially, especially around females, but the character Leonard from the hit comedy has no such problems. Leonard wears superhero shirts, wears glasses and possesses a comb over haircut, but he still manages to attract a girl who is deemed to be extremely attractive by himself and other people. It shows that people can look like nerds or/and like nerdy things such as computer games and comic books and still excel socially.
Nerds are known to lack physicality and be the victims of bullying.
'Words like Nerd and Geek have been reclaimed in recent years. It used to be an insult, now it just means you're into your stuff. That you're proud of what you love, it's about being enthusiastic. It's a liberation.' Simon Pegg
Positive and negative representation is relevant here:
The general conception of nerds is that they are not good socially, especially around females, but the character Leonard from the hit comedy has no such problems. Leonard wears superhero shirts, wears glasses and possesses a comb over haircut, but he still manages to attract a girl who is deemed to be extremely attractive by himself and other people. It shows that people can look like nerds or/and like nerdy things such as computer games and comic books and still excel socially.
Nerds are known to lack physicality and be the victims of bullying.
'Words like Nerd and Geek have been reclaimed in recent years. It used to be an insult, now it just means you're into your stuff. That you're proud of what you love, it's about being enthusiastic. It's a liberation.' Simon Pegg
Life on Mars
Preferred, negotiated and oppositional reading with regards to Gene Hunt. (Stuart Hall)
Intertextual references. Historical context.
Preferred, negotiated and oppositional reading with regards to Gene Hunt. (Stuart Hall)
Intertextual references. Historical context.
Debates
The Walking Dead
- Deviance (as referred to in Stanley Cohen 1972 - Moral Panic), actions or behaviors that violate social norms;• media plays a part in defining and shaping social problems and perceptions of threat.• This media representation and subsequent societal reaction may INCREASE the deviance and threat. “An initial act of deviance, or normative diversity (for example, in dress) is defined as being worthy of attention and is responded to punitively.
- Do zombie fans expect or even want gore? Or, should zombie stories be homogenised (made uniform or similar) to fit a larger audience? Consider society's attitude to deviance.
Life on Mars
Consider the issues of Sam Tyler’s identity and his political correctness from 2006 and how this clashes in particular with Gene Hunt. Consider also how Sam's ethics and police methods clash with Gene Hunt's: a scientific approach verses instinct.Teachers blame LOM for homophobic bullying
Responses
Consider:
Encoding/Decoding
Reception Theory. (Prefered, oppositional, negotiated reading. Stuart Hall)
Uses and Gratification theory. Blulmer and Katz
The Big Bang Theory
A humorous show with some intelligence.
Math-with-pictures, physics, fans might have a special appreciation of some visually nuanced humor attempts.
A humorous show with some intelligence.
Math-with-pictures, physics, fans might have a special appreciation of some visually nuanced humor attempts.
The Walking Dead
How has TWD has been encoded to gratify both passive and active audiences.
How has TWD has been encoded to gratify both passive and active audiences.
Life on Mars
How does the programme consciously show politically incorrect behaviour and attitudes for audiences to judge them in our time:
How does the programme consciously show politically incorrect behaviour and attitudes for audiences to judge them in our time:
Important words about audience
demographic, profiling, uses and gratifications, target audience, preferred reading,
dominant reading, viewing figures, fragmentation, niche audience, star image, watershed.
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