LO4: Understanding Target Audiance Research.

what is audience research?

audience research is where sa company will find out about key interests and characteristics about the audience the want to target their products at in order to create products which better appeal to these interests as well as assuring them a higher profit.

Who conducts audience research?

there are several different comans which conduct market research. These include:

• The NRS (National Readership Survey)

This company split the population into class bands ranging from A to E

People in the A band have the most disposable income while people in the E bad have practically none.

As well as this the NRS collect information on different types of people reading a product so that advertisements can be included into future products which will appeal to them.

• The BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board)

BARB collects data on the viewership of UK television

they cover 5 key questions

1. who is watching?
2. what are they watching?
3. when are they watching?
4. which screen are they watching on?
5. how did the content get to the screen?

At the time of me making my blog tese were the mst viewed prorammes on the BBC.

• The RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research)

RAJAR conduct reserch on rdio viewership scificly wo is listeig and when.

Primary VS secondary reaserch.

LO3: production techniques.and meaning

Mise en scene elements:

• Low/ High key lighting

• costumes
• acts and gestures
• props
• location
• iconography

When asked anything about narrative theory it is useful to remember about Levi Strauss theory on binary opposition. This theory would suggest that all stories can be condensed down to a Central conflict between two major elements.



Take three of these elements and apply the to the revinent.

Props:
The Revinents main characters often use weapons or equipment which is characteristic to their (Digetic) job roles within the time period in which the film is set.
for example at the beginning we see an ambush of native American warriors attacking the main cast of the film. verisimilitude is created by having the characers using bows and arrows and muskets as that these were the weapons hat would have Been used in a conflict of is type at the time.

Costumes:
The costume of Hugh Glass (The films protagonist) is used frequently to show how long he has been fighting for survival within the wideness. this is done by seeing the that the clothing in which he is wearing is becoming more and more ripped and worn which  gives the viewer an element of time.

Binary opposition
This theory is clear to see in The Revinent's narrative. for example here are examples of chisianity versus atheism(in Hugh Glass and John Fitzgerald), God versus evil(in the character of  Bridger) , Life versus death (in Hugh Glasses's desperate attempts to survive) and man versus nature in the bear attack scene)

production techniques create macro meanings and give the audience ideas about genre narrative and representation in the production



Use of tacking shots in The Revinent:

in the scene where Hugh Glass is on horse back fleeing from the native warriors thee is a tracking shot which connotes the speed at which the horse is travelling. This shot gives the audience a sense of the chaos of the situation as well as creating a scence of verissimillitude as that the shot utilises the camera shaking which would also reenforce codes and coventions of the revinents action gnra which relates to the viceral plesure aspect of Rick Altmans theory

Sound:
digeic sound comkes from the world of he film while non- digetic soud is added to create an emotive responce fom he audiance.

digetic:
Footsteps
dialogue


non-digetic:
narator
insidental music
motifs


The Revinent uses several ideas of digetic sounds such as different modes of address with the dialouge. one example of this would be the "God is a squirrel" Monologue from John Fitzgerald where the character gives a much harsher tone to the child who he is in the company of. This creates verisimilitude as that the character is supposed to be angry an tied at this point in the story.

LO4: Audiances.

Companies which collate data:

NRS: (National readership survey)

• The NRS collect data on people who read certain texts such as magazines.
• They organise this data and sell it to companies so that they can see what their main audience is and try to appeal to them more.

RAJAR:  (Radio Joint audience research.)

• RAJAR collects data on the listener ship of particular radio stations.
• they do this by giving people diary's and counting 5 minutes as somebody listening to the radio station.

BARB: (Broadcaster audiance research board)

• Barb find the amount of people who watch programes on telivision.

What must I  do for this section of the exam?

For this art of the exam i must analyse collated information that is provided within the paper

LO4: uses and gratifications theory.

Uses and gratifications theory:
(Denis Mcquail, 1972)
There are four reasons that people consume media products/ pleasure they gain from them.

    1)   Surveillance.

The discovery and understanding of information is one of the reasons that people may enjoy media products.

• NEWS media
• documentaries (Making A Murderer, Amanda Knox, Planet earth 2)

    2)   Escapism.

people may like to escape from their own issues into the fantasy of a narrative.

    3)  Building personal identity.

the use of media products in order to understand the activities of real life people and how to react and behave in the 'hollywood approved' way.

   

       4) Building personal relationships.

provides a topic for conversation.

• Facebook.

In Relation to the revenant.

The Revenant offers viewers surveillance as that the narrative is set in a time of American colonialism and a large part of the time the film goes on for is focused on making concepts of this time making sense. the film also teaches audiences a large amount survival in a native environment.

The film also offers viewers escapism as that it is very immersing and serves to give that audience something to think about.

LO3 Narrative Theory.

What is the diffeence between narative and story?

Story makes up the plot  (it is the actual sequance of events) and narrative is the way that the plot is put together.

What are narative theories?

Key theory one: Tim o sullivan et al. (1998)
all media texts must have some form of story

Key theory two: Pam Cook (1985)
the standard hollywood should have a puzzle(enigma resolution), should end at the end of the film and should have a high level of veisimillitude and have spaial and emporal coherence.

Key Theory Three: Tzetan Todorov (1977)
the film should start with equilibrium, that should be disturbed, the main characters will fight to restore equilibrium, at the end of the film a new equilibrium should have been created.

Key Theory Four: Levi Strauss (1958)
Binary opposition eg. Good vs evil.


Key Theory Five: Vladimir Propp (1928)
all narratives feature stock characters
Villain/ antagonist
Hero/ Protaganist
Helper/ Supporter (sidekick);
Pinceess  (prize)

Key Theoy Six: Roland Barthes (1977)
Narrative codes:
Enigma codes work to keep up setting up problems or puzzles for the audiance.
Action Codes Work to inorm the audiance in terms of what is happening in the next shot or scene.









The Revenant plot

The Revenant is based on the real life story of Hugh Glass (a trader in colonial North America). Together with his team he is forced to flee from his basecamp after being attacked by one of the native tribes of the area. The team decides to take the animal pelts that they have collected already and go back to the fort that they left from to find the basecamp but Glass is attacked by a bear and is close to death. Another member of the eam decides to kill him to stop him from slowing down the group and kills his son However Hugh Glass survived the encounter and vows to find and kill the man who killed the most important person in his life.



The Revenant wider ideas

The main character in this film is portrayed as essentially being "reborn" to avenge his son’s death. this makes the wider meaning seem to be that of family being more important than anything else in life and that people will do anything to make sure that people responsible for hurting them or people that they care about are brought to justice this can be sen in the quote "i ain't afraid to die. i alredy done it once."



(relaing to Key Theory two) What does the film present.

• What enigma is resolved in the revinant?

At the point in the film where Glass has been left on his own the audiance must speculate whether o not he will survive the ordeal that he is going though and et revenge on Fitzgerald (his sons murderer)

Close to the end of he movie Glass finds is way back and kills Fitzgerald resolving the films main conflict.

(relating to key theory three) Show the four stages in relation to the revinent.

1. The film  starts with the main character and his son hunting
2. They are atacked and hugh glass is crippled by a bear
3. The main character fights to find the man who killed his son
4. The main antagonist is killed

(Relating to Key Theory 4) what binary opposition is shown in the revenant?
The Protaganist in the film is a bible beliving Christian while the antagonist is an Athest.

(Relating to Key Theory Five) what character types are presant in the film?

Villain/ antagonist- John Fitzgerald
Hero/ Protaganist- Hugh Glass
Helper/ Supporter (sidekick);- Hikuc
Pinceess  (prize) - Revenge on the muderer of his son.
 Characters can chage over time.


(relating to Key Theory Six) Find three codes of enigma and three of action in your film.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uTDp3IOdCA - Fitzgerald has a un aumed at his head and the audiance is lef to dicide if he is hurt or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3DP7ggjxkI - 1:49 - The audiance is left to decide weather his wife is alive or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaYV1I33-b4 - 2:49 - there is no clear sin that te main character is alive.



learning objectives:
to be able to undersand how narrative stuctures are followed throughout your media product. (P)
T be able to apply narrative theorys to your chosen film product (M)

audiance effect.

Audiance Effect.

The article featured is from the perspective of the journalist who researched Iain Duncan Smith’s opinion on the dark themes of the dark knight and how in turn he feels that the film should have a 15 age certificate opposed to the 12A which the British Board of film Certification (BBFC) awarded it.

Personally I don’t not agree with Duncan Smith as that the film itself, while having the appearance of being grounded in reality, is very surreal. The “Batman” character in itself could never and has never existed in real life. As well as this the 12A certificate would only allow children of under 15 (and over 12) to see the film if they were admitted with an adult. This, of course, means that if the adult present felt that the “dark themes” or “Psychopathic” characters in the film were too extreme for the child which they had brought with them they could leave bringing the child with them.

Hypodermic Syringe theory – Media has a negative impact as that audiences will believe all information they see within media periods.

This theory does not hold much positivity for the audience as that it implies a completely unintelligent audience. The theory is commonly used by politicians and advertisers.

The theory is explained in “Hidden persuaders”

The mass media often demonises certain groups that they believe to be threats to society. this process is known as a “moral panic” (Stanley Cohen 1972)   

The groups in questions are referred to as “folk devils”

Violence in the media:

Anderson (2007) argued that high exposure to fast paced violent video games can lead to changes in brain function when processing violent imagery, including dampening emotional responses to violence. One of the high risk factors?

This is known as desensitisation.

Ferguson (2012) showed no long term link over three years. (May be a short term effect)

Examples:

Marilyn Manson – This “shock rock” band is often blamed for violent amongst adolescence in America due to the violent imagery included in their lyrics. This criticism began with the columbine shootings (as well as those within Colorado and Littleton) which were conducted by two teenage students who were known to be fans of the band.

Several quotes about this from rolling stone and others magazine include.

“When it comes down to who's to blame for the high school murders in Littleton, Colorado, throw a rock and you'll hit someone who's guilty. We're the people who sit back and tolerate children owning guns, and we're the ones who tune in and watch the up-to-the-minute details of what they do with them”

The earliest reports about the Columbine High School shooting linked Manson to the tragedy after students reported that Klebold and Harris were fans of Manson, though that was later proven to be false. Many also pointed out that the boys were dressed in trench coats, which they believed to be similar to Manson's typical attire. Some early headlines read, "Killers Worshiped Rock Freak Manson" and "Devil-Worshiping Maniac Told Kids to Kill."

Grand Theft Auto- Another product often blamed for real life violence the game is also blamed for the shaming of certain female body types and pressuring young women and girls to strive to possess a body type which is present in the game and yet non obtainable in real life. This causes many mental health issues and in some cases even suicides.

There are three lead characters that players can control in the game: all male. The women characters are often leered at or cast as nags. One of the player characters’ daughters has “skank” tattooed across her back, one mission has you chaperoning a paparazzo as he tries to photograph an aging actress’s “low-hanging muff.”

 Representation

Stereotypes and counter types

Objectification of Women.

Representations of men in terms of pathological control and violent.

  Gay people (Butler, 1993)

Alvarado (1987), Hall (1995) – ‘exotic, dangerous, humours, pitied.   

Turton (2014) – hooligans, trouble causers. Black and Asian boys

Lloyd (1995)- Girls as “double deviant” a that they are troublemakers but shouldn’t be.  

The Revenant.

This film could very easily be applied to the Anderson desensitisation theory as that it as many scenes of graphic violence/ rape and even brutal murder.

As well as this the fact that there are only two female characters in the film and one of them is essentially a ghost while the other we only know about because she is rescued by the main character.

Active audience theory:

Other school of thought- we are able to adapt and filter the content within the media (Gauntlett, 1955)- backwards.

we all have uses and gratifications (Mcquail 1972) theory

• Surveillance
• escapism
• building personal relationships
• building personal identity.

Hall (1980) encoding / decoding model.
preferred reading - by audience depending on their background but accepts the dominant viewpoint/ story.
Negotiated reading - Partially agrees with meaning
oppositional reading - meaning understood but don't agree and think opposite.
Aberrant - Meaning completely misunderstood.

NEXT LESSON.

1) The two main schools of thought when speaking about media texts are that of a passive audience (or hypodermic syringe theory) where audiences are not able to filter media texts to distinguish between good and bad messages and that of an active audience which uses media for its intended purpose (that being to entertain) while not being overwhelmingly affected by the messages of the narrative in which they are witnessed. (encoding and decoding model audience background and individual experience plays a part n how they read a text, and Uses and gratifications theory.)

2) One example of a media text which has caused a moral panic would be the music of renowned rock music icon "Marilyn Manson" as that the violent imagery depicted in his lyrics has been linked to two mass shootings in the United States Of America.

Regulation:

BBFC
British board of film certification

Protect the public from violent and other inappropriate content by providing an age rating for every film that is released.
The BBFC used to be know as the British board of film cencors however they changed their name in 1984 when being forced to adapt into rating videos (VHS.)
in 1984 the video recordig act was passed which saught to certify all films that were avalible to the public.

The Revenant Age Classification
initally the revenant was given a 15 rating duie to the graphic violance, language and sexual content (which was infrequant and mild).
The violance in the film is highly graphic and as that the whole narrative is centered on the protaanist overcoming their injurys there is ,naturally, a lot o emphasis placed on it. One exampl of the violance in the revenent would be the fight scene between he potaganist and antagonit near the end where we see one of the anagonists fingers being cut off his hand in explicit detail.

Identify the potential impact of a media product you have studied on the audience.

Media product studied – Grand theft auto five (GTA 5)

Rock Star Studios are not new to the criticism which they received for their medium defining video game series Grand Theft Auto however the latest title in the series has seen arguably seen more criticism than any of the other titles yet to be released in the series so far.  

The Hypodermic Syringe theory states that Media has a negative impact as that audiences will believe all information they see within media products and it can easily be said that if this theory holds any credibility at all then it is clear that Grand Theft Auto 5 is a very dangerous product to be available to young people as that the main story of the game depicts acts of robbery, torture and murder. One particular sequence in the game (a mission called “By the Book”) features one of the games three protagonists Trevor Phillips using torture techniques including water boarding to extract information from a man named “Mr K”. This is very unsettling for a number of reasons. Firstly, if the Hypodermic Syringe Theory is to be believed then this scene would be likely to encourage the players of the game (mostly Boys and men aged 16-35) to use physical assault in order to achieved a desired outcome from an argument and secondly, if Andersons 2007 “Desensitisation Theory” is to be believed then the crude displays of violence could potentially make the people playing the games less able to distinguish the virtual displays of violence within the game from real, potentially life threatening incidents. This theory has been used in the past to link the use and enjoyment of video games to violent or even sadistic tendencies in the real world such as the 1999 Columbine high school shooting which claimed the lives of 13 people and the two killers were found to have created a map similar to their school within the game “Wolfenstein 3D.”

While the two theories I have stated in terms of violence paint the game of Grand Theft Auto five in a very negative light it would unfair to go forward without mentioning the opposing viewpoint to Hypodermic Syringe theory this being the theory that the audience is in fact active and not passive as the other would suggest. This would mean that the people playing the game would be able to view this over the top violence without internalising it and instead just seeing it as part of the games narrative. The active audience theory is supported by 2007s experiment (conducted by Ferguson) which found no empirical evidence to support the notion that simulated violence causes violent tendencies in people in the long term.

Another large controversy surrounding Grand theft Auto Five is its objectified representation of women which sees many of the female characters being portrayed by their sexual characteristics alone and as such making them into poorly developed characters. A prime example of this would be the games infamous strip clubs and prostitutes who players can choose to kill and assault if they want to if desensitisation theory is to be believed then the inclusion of this mechanic is very worrying as that it may stir up feelings of misogyny within the mostly young male target demographic and as such lead to an influx of sexually motivated violence towards women.

Overall I feel that the games graphic depictions of violence and sexual activity are at least in bad taste and at worst an encouragement for people who may be suppressing the urge to carry out such acts in real life to do so. This type of interactive media as well as the content in which it portrays should certainly be.

Regulation

BBFC
British board of film certification

Protect the public from violent and other inappropriate content by providing an age rating for every film that is released.
The BBFC used to be know as the British board of film censors however they changed their name in 1984 when being forced to adapt into rating videos (VHS.)
in 1984 the video recording act was passed which sought to certify all films that were available to the public.

The Revinent BBFC Classification

the revinent received its 15 certification due to its use of

• strong violence which is prolonged.  
• sexual content/ not prolonged or in great detail.
• strong language
• discriminatory behaviour/ not endorced.
• there a several instances of therating in this film.

The Revinent is rated 15 by the BBFC. A rating which I agree with as that i feel that the regulations that films are required to adhere to to to attain this certification are easy to apply to the dialogue and themes of the film.

Firstly the BBFC website states that 15 certified films can contain strong violence if they do not dwell to much on the cause of pain or injury. This i find very interesting as that the Revinent dwells for long periods of time on the bear attack which causes the main characters pain and injury (a centeral theme of the film) and how the protagonist attempts to heal his wounds such as cauterisation. these scenes are not sadistic however which means that the BBFC are willing to allow the film to be classified as a 15.

As well as this the film contains a scene with a srong non consensual sexual theme. However it is unlikely that the BBFC would take issue with this scene as that it is not in strong detail and the acts portrayed are codemned by the protaginist. There would also likely be very little issue with the strong implications that these antagonistic characters make regarding their victim as that the implicaton of sexual activity is allowed within a 15 rated film.