MEDIA KEY CONCEPT RESEARCH

BY SOPHIA CHARALAMBOUS

•Media Forms• Institution•Genre

•Representation•Audience• Ideology•Narrative

AUDIENCE

• DEFINITION: The recipients of a media text, or the people who are intended to read or watch or play or listen to it. A great deal of media studies work is concerned with the effects a text may have on an audience.

• KEY IDEAS:• The Hypodermic Needle Theory• The Uses and Gratifications Theory• Two Step Flow• Reception Theory

THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY AND THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY

This was the first theory that was created to explain how audiences may react to the mass media.It is a very basic theory which suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience, without any thought and the intelligence and opinion of an individual is not considered.People are assumed to be “uniformly controlled by their biologically based instincts and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever stimuli came along”In other words the public cannot simply escape from the media’s influenceThis theory suggests that an audience may easily be manipulated by the creators and their behaviour and thinking may easily be altered.This theory is sometimes used to explain why certain groups in society should not be exposed to certain media texts, due to the fear they will watch or read sexual or violent content and then act upon those ideas and take in the fictional characteristics

In 1948 Lasswell suggested that media texts had several functions for individual and identified them as being• Surveillance • Correlation • Entertainment • Cultural Transmission Bulmer and Katz then expanded on this theory and created their own in 1974, which stated that individuals might choose to use a text for: • Diversion: escapism from everyday problems and

routine - Personal • Relationships: using the media for emotional and

other interaction, e.g.. Substituting soap opera for everyday family life

• Surveillance: information which could be useful for living, e.g.. Weather reports, financial news or holiday bargains.

THE TWO STEP FLOW AND THE RECEPTION THEORY

The Two step flow was introduced originally as the Hypodermic needle theory but became slightly difficult in interpreting the relationship between a media text and its audience.

The two step flow refers to the way in which information regarding media texts transfers to other people, for example between social groups at school or in the workplace. Hence why it is called the two step flow as it works as a pattern – the first person comes to know some information through the media which they pass on down to a second person and so on. Eventually a mass of people know and it in a sense goes ‘viral.’

It came about through the political work of Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in their 1940 presidential election, when they published the result in a newspaper. They found that information flows from the text to ‘opinion leaders’ which is then passed on to other people, who are now influenced by everyone else's views on the text. For example, one person may have seen a film and hated it and then told a friend this; influencing their actions of whether or not they should watch it.

Reception Theory: In the 1980s & 1990s, the reception theory was introduced the analyse and interpret how a text is received even further, also affecting their age, gender, ethnicity and class.

The reception theory is based on Stuart Hill’s work of encoding and decoding – where the text is encoded (put together) by the producer and decoded (taken apart) by the reader. However, the readers way of decoding the text is not passive yet interpret its meanings based on their own cultural background and experiences. This means that the meaning of the text is created through the relationship between the text and reader, rather than being within the text itself. It is a process of ‘negotiation’ and ‘opposition’ from the audience.

INSTITUTIONS• DEFINITION: An organisation or company, public or privately owned

that produces and/or distributes media products’ • KEY IDEAS: The concept of institutions• Media institutions are responsible for: Making the media (production) • Targeting the audience (knowing what appeals to them) • Marketing the media (audience awareness) • Reaching the audience (distribution)• Presenting the media (broadcasting, scheduling, publishing,

exhibiting)

Some examples are the media companies who own: Film Studios, TV Stations, Record Labels, Magazines, Newspapers, Books, Internet platforms Some examples of the institutions who produce gameshows are: the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV etc.

• DEFINITION: Representation is the construction of ideas of reality which is presented in media. These ideas could be stereotypes. For example, cultural identities, race, gender and class. The media rely on the audience being able to depict a representation.

• It is not possible for the Media to present the world as it is because the media constructs meanings about the world they can change, mediate or manipulate whats really there.

• WHEN STUDYING REPRESENTATION MEDIA STUDENTS TYPICALLY WOULD ANALYSE:Who or what is being represented? Who is the preferred audience for this representation? What are they doing? Is their activity presented as typical, or atypical? Are they conforming to genre expectations or other conventions? Why are they present? What purpose do they serve? What are they communicating by their presence? What's the preferred reading? Where are they? How are they framed? Are they represented as natural or artificial?What surrounds them? What is in the foreground and what’s in the background?

REPRESENTATION

THEORIES:• FEMENIST THEORY• PSYCHOANALYSIS• TRADITIONALIST VS POST

TRADITIONALIST VIEWS OF SOCIETY

Age - Gender - Race/Ethnicity - Financial Status - Job - Culture/nationality – Signs and symbols are shorthand to understand.To represent these characteristics and important attributes to their characters. We are always quick to jump to these assumptions about who the character is (usually by comparing them to similar characters we have encountered before), and this allows us to put them in a category and "read" them in context.

THE FEMINIST THEORY, PSYCHOGRAPHICS AND THE TRADITIONALIST VS POST TRADITIONALIST THEORY

• THE FEMINIST THEORY – Laura Mulvey• She believes that the apparatus of the

Hollywood cinema puts the audience in a masculine dominated position with the woman on the screen seen as an object of desire, like a ‘prize’ of some sort. Film and cinematography are structures upon ideas. The protagonists are generally men. People who criticise her ideas say that she is ignoring the fact that all genders – male and female want to feel dominated and overwhelmed by the cinema experience. Also, she ignores the fact that men are capable of ‘metaphoric transvestism’ whereby they are able to view the film from the perspective of a woman.

• PSYCHOGRAPHICS –”The Mirror” , Lacan

• Lacan’s theory of “the mirror” is the idea circling identity. He considers the point at which a person develops a sense of self and conscious identity. He also considers the point at which a child recognises their own reflection and begin to consider how others perceive them, modifying their appearance to satisfy their perceptions of how others see them. Lacan stretches this idea when she writes about “the silver screen” which she suggests operates like a metaphorical mirror; reflecting back to the female viewer representations of female identity, but these representations are not generic reflections of the viewer but rather male perceptions of idealised femininity.

• TRADITIONALIST VS POST TRADITIONALIST THEORY - Anthony Giddens

• Media representations of society can be seen as traditional or post traditionalist. An example of traditional societies are ones in which individual choice was limited by its generic customs and traditions. On the other hand post traditionalist societies are one where the ideas set by previous generations are not as important than those of individuals. Post traditional societies no longer feel so dependent and limited to time and place. Anthony says, we are living in a post traditional society where we have become much less concerned with precedents set by previous generations and that our options are only limited by what the law and public opinion allows. We have replaced seen/discreet systems with remote ‘expert’ systems, institutions and corporations.

GAMESHOW REPRESENTATIONS

• The type of host chosen to host a gameshow is very important for quiz shows. The host is small link between shows, and the person the audience most closely identifies with and recognises. The contestants change from week-to-week but the host usually stays the same. Hosts are often chosen because they are already very well known by the target audience. Each host will should present certain ideas to the audience and attract a certain group of people to watch the show.

MEDIA LANGUAGE

• DEFINITION: This is how the media communicates to theaudience. There are different types of media languages which include written, verbal, non-verbal, visual and aural.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS

• CONVENTIONS: are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.

• CODE: A system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning. In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:

• CODES AND CONVENTIONS are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre. For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense, an integral part/ key ingredient of any horror movie. The conventions of Game Shows are: Host/presenter, audience, set design, prizes, rounds, contestants, teams, buzzers, table, theme music, assistant and scheduling.

CODES

• -Technical Codes - all to do with the way a text is technically constructed - camera angles, framing, typography.

• -Verbal Codes - everything to do with language -either written or spoken. • -Symbolic Codes - codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational level

- all the things which draw upon our experience and understanding of other media texts, our cultural frame of reference.

PROPPS THEORY• The Russian theorist came up with a theory concerning 8 main characters.

The dispatcher The Character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.

The (Magical) helper Helps the hero in the quest.

The Princess or “prize” The hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero’s journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.

Her Father Gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished.

False Hero Takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess

The Villain The unfair evil, who struggles against the hero.

The Donor Prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.

The Hero/or victi/seeker hero Reacts to the donor, weds the princess

PROPPS THEORY CRITICISM

• Propp’s theory of narrative comes across as based in a male orientated environment (due to his theory actually reflecting early folk tales) and as such critics often dismiss the theory with regard a film. However, it may still be applied because the function (rather than the gender) of characters is the basis of the theory. E.g. the hero could be a woman; the reward could be a man.

• Critics argue that Propp’s strict order of characters and events is restrictive. We should rather apply the functions and events randomly as we meet new narratives. E.g. the hero may kill the villain earlier than Propp expects. Changing the traditional format will change the whole way the text is received. Some critics claim there are many more character types than Propp suggests and we should feel free to identify them.

NARATIVE THEORY TODOROV

• This theory most basically states that most stories or plot lines follow the same pattern or path

• This pattern has 5 steps

• THE EQUILIBRIUM

• The first part of the story will display an upbeat start, where the majority of the characters are content and everything is ‘perfect’

• THE DISRUPTION

• The second part of the story will feature a problem or something will disrupt the happiness

• THE REALISATION

• This s the part of of the plot where everyone realises the problem and havoc is reeked.

• ORDER IS RESTORED

• This part of the plot is when the characters attempt to repair the damage and restore the problem.

• EQUILIBRIUM AGAIN

• This is the final part of the plot where the problem is resolved and normality can resume again.

SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS

• Semiotics or semiology is the study of signs.• Semiotic Analysis is to consider the meaning of these signs.• Signs give us information about what is all around us. Obvious signs we may

consider are road or street signs which tell us where to go or how to drive. • On the other hand, in media we would consider subtle signs. If someone was

wearing a suit we could consider that a sign that they’re a business person , that they have wealth or that they’re professional whereas if someone had a scar we would see that as a sign that they’ve been in a fight or involved in violence

DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

An example is the colour red- connotation- a bright colour denotation- danger, love, passion and romance. Or a dove- connotation- A lightly coloured bird, denotation- peace and freedom. Signs which have many different meanings are called Polysemic.

CONNOTATION: LITERAL MEANINGDENOTATION: AN INTERPRETED MEANING

BINARY OPPOSTITION

• The contrast between two mutually exclusive concepts or things that creates conflict and drives a narrative until, some sort of balance or resolution is achieved. e.g. good/evil, day/night, male/female, presence/absence, old/young.