The difference between audience research and audience theory

Theory: is different ways of thinking about audience

Research: produce evidence about the relationships between the media and audiences

Audience research is always linked closely to a certain audience theory:

E.G.  if your researching if shows like the walking dead encourage violence in teenagers, you are working with the idea that the media strongly influences teenage audiences


Their is the idea that audience research does not always produce facts about the audience, it's influenced by strong assumptions about the audience which it tries to prove. When a research question is formed their are always some assumptions that form it

E.G. if you do some sort of investigation after your family watch an episode of Downton Abbey, you must assume that different members will act in different ways to the programme, this makes use of the'uses and gratifications' approach to the audience.


 DIFFERENT TYPES OF AUDIENCE THEORY:

The Hypodemic model :

Suggest?- that the media 'injects' the message they want to put accross directly into the audiences minds (not literally), this infers that the media could be as addictive as drugs
Strengths?- this idea draws our attention to the power that the media produces, it also stresses the importance of the different typed of media (e.g. TV, radio ) that audiences have access to
Weaknesses- however this idea is often seen as powerless and passive because it is mostly applied to wh?en women and childeren are the subject of reaserch, also the actual way people use the media is often unnacounted for

The Cultivation theory :

Suggest?- its main idea is that if the audience consume more and more media they could develop some views of the world that are often false
Strengths?- this idea is good as it draws our attention to the fact that the audience gain alot of knowlege form the media therefore it becomes an important part of their lives
Weaknesses?- however this theory is hard to prove

The Desensitisation theory:  

Suggest?- its main idea it that if we are exposed to too much violence/sexuality in the media that we will become less sensitive to violent and sexual behaiviours
Strengths?- it draws peoples attention to how violence/sex is strongly represented in the media and the volume of it.
Weaknesses?- the problem is that it cannot be easily proved because it has different effects on different groups e.g. class/gender/location

The Copycat theory:

Suggest?- that people immitate what they see in the media
Weaknesses?- it feeds off the types of concerns that many parents have about their childs high exposure to media and their use
Problems?- for example different people have different levels of risk to different media due to their lifestyle and upbringing. Also it's really hard to measure the long term effects

Uses and Gratifications approach:

Suggest?- this theory studies what the audience does with the media and how they relate to it, this approach takes account of peoples personality and needs
Strengths?- this idea views the audience as an acitve/intelligent group of people and it states that life experience is way more important than media experience.
Weaknesses?- this view is too optimistic of the audience and it overlooks the power that some media texts have on us

Reception analysis and Ethnography:

Suggest?- that audiences are reffered to as active producers of the meaning of media rather than just mere consumers
Strengths?- it values the very specific, detailed responses of individuals and groups, it strongly suggests that life experiences are more important than media exdperiences an it helps them to make active and positive life choices
Weaknesses?- however more emphasis is given to the responses of the audience than the institutional aspects of the media therefore some researchers end up analysing audiences lifestyles meaning the actual media reception is often neglected for a vers socialogical approach.

Camera Types

Not all types of shots are done with the same camera as specific types of camera are needed.


TRACK

A track camera is a camera on a cart which is placed on a track, so it can move along with a subject hence it is parallel to the action . They are used for capturing motion scenes such as a character running away from someone and they keep at the same pace as the character. For example they are used in action scenes or sporting events like the 100 meters to show the audience every detail.

DOLLY

A dolly is a camera on a cart which can move towards or away from a subject, it keeps the zoom the same but the camera itself moves so their is no distortion of the image.

 

CRANE  

 

A crane is a dolly shot in the air, it can move left, right, up or down and can also be tilted, it is used for high/low angle shots.

 

 STEADICAM

A steadicam is a stabilisation system to keep the shot steady as the camera moves, it used counterweights which in turn keep the picture smooth and constant.

 

HANDHELD  

 Handheld cameras are used by a person holding it in their hand (well obviously) but it can also be mounted on a tripod for extra stability. The cameraman is in complete control of the camera and it provides a rough picture which is not steady,however a shaky image can be changed in post production. It is often used for home videos or vlogging. The handheld enables you to feel and connect with the cameraman's movement, they also allow greater freedom of movement due to being conveniently sized. Films such as Clover field and Paranormal activity have significantly adopted the use of a handheld camera which acts like the character is the cameraman, this can have a scary effect as the audience can connect with the fear that character is feeling.

 

 

Camera angles

Camera angles are very important for portraying what the director wants the audience to feel or see.

EYE LEVEL

This angle is the most common view because it is the real life angle that humans are all used to. The desired effect is to show the subject how we would see them in real life so it is a fairly neutral shot, the shot could be used to look right into a characters eye hence we can see more emotions.

HIGH ANGLE

A high angle shot shows the subject from above so the camera is angled down, the desired effect of this angle is to often diminish the subject so they look smaller, insignificant or submissive. In this image the high angle is coupled with an over the shoulder shot to make Remy the rat from the film Ratatouille look insignificant to his father; like he is in trouble.

LOW ANGLE

A low angle shot shows the subject from below, so the camera is tilted upwards to look at the subject. It is often used to make the subject look bigger or taller so they seem more dominant, important, intimidating or in control. This image is from the same scene as above from the film Ratatouille where Remy is looking up at his father, this gives his father greater presence in the scene hence He is important.

CANTED/TILTED

This angle is also known as a Dutch Tilt (used a lot in German films of the 1930/40s), where the camera angle is deliberately slanted to one side, this is used for dramatic effect to show unease, desperate action or madness. It can be combined with panning or zooming for an interesting effect on the audience. 

 

TILT

 

moving the camera lens up or down while keeping its horizontal axis constant, tilting is less common than panning as humans look horizontally more than vertically. It could be used to create suspense.

ZOOM

 A ZOOM is the change of the focal lens to make the subject/object 
 look closer, it is a smooth movement from long shot to close up. This could be used to put emphasis on something like a facial expression.

REVERSE ZOOM

This is the opposite of zoom where the focal lens goes from a close up to a long shot, this could be used to make a character seem less important or most commonly to portray a character In relation to its surroundings.  

 

PANNING

 

Panning is where the camera horizontally sweeps across the scene it could be used to show motion, as a panoramic effect or to build suspense. It can often be combined with a zoom or reverse zoom so put emphasis on a subject. I always remember panning from this image of the BBC1 comedy MIRANDA where the episode in question was called 'it was panning'.

 



General media terminology- Camera Shots

If you're studying media I really hope you find this helpful.
Camera shots play a really important part in the production and recieval of a film or tv programme, they can emphasise a certain moment, make the characters emotions more prominent and add action to a scene.
so here you go ....

ESTABLISHING SHOT

The first shot of a new scene, to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is often an extreme wide shot, for example in this shot from Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King, the new scene is where Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith ( the white building to normal people)

MASTER SHOT

 

is a long take of an entire dramatized scene from start to finish
For example in Taylor Swift's video of We are never getting back together, the enitre video was shot in one take o make it flow.

CLOSE UP

the subject framed by the camera fills the screen, the background is not clear but the audience can see the details of the subject. This angle could create intimacy, stress the importance of the character/event or create suspense, if the shot is of a persons face it is usually at eye level which can be either intimidating or emotional. For example in this shot of the joker from The Dark Night the close up is used to create a focus on that character so we can see direct emotion so the audience can make judgements on that characters personality, here the close up makes the character look intimidating and scary.

MID SHOT

This shot frames a character from the waist/hips/knees up or down, you can see the majority of the characters facial and bodily details yet it is sufficiently distanced to see surroundings. In this example shrek is walking away after causing terror at a village, the mid shot allows us to see that he has a smug look on his face but also the citizens running away from him, therefore the audience can get a universal picture of the scene.



LONG SHOT

Here the camera is shot from a long distance so we can see the full object/human and its entire surroundings. In this example from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 we can see the characters in relation to their surroundings however we cannot see the direct facial emotions, this shot allows the audience to understand whats going on the bigger picture due to more background details being seen, in this case you can see more rubble and dead bodies than you would with a close up.

TWO SHOT

 

 

This shot is the view of two people/subjects but do not have to be next to each other, it establishes the relationship between two characters, they often occupy an equal amount of status in the frame hence they have the same status. In this case the two shot is of the two main characters of Spock and Captain Kirk from STAR TREK having a discussion, it shows that they have equal input and the audience can focus on both of them.

AERIAL SHOT  

This is a high up shot of a subject, sometimes the shot is used to display a vast number of characters to emphasise a universal effect, or it could be used to put a character in the minority. This shot is often used as the point of view of an aeroplane or helicopter, the camera is sometimes strapped to a helicopter or put on a camera crane for this particular shot. For example in this shot from World War Z you can see all the action of this scene from medium angle aerial shot, the subjects are the zombies and as their are lots of them the shot needs to be aerial to capture the vast numbers, this makes the shot intimidating and adds fear.

POINT OF VIEW SHOT  

A point of view shot is shot from the subjects perspective, so we can see what he/she is seeing, this makes the audience feel a personal connection with the subject and they can directly see what the subject is seeing. For example this shot from Silence of the Lambs shows the point of view of Doctor Hannibal Lector looking out of his cell at Clarice Starling, the blurred bars also signify that this is a POV shot.

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT

It is framed behind the person looking at the subject, the subject often takes up 2/3 of the frame. It can be used to put direct focus on a subject from another persons perspective. This shot is from the film Alice in Wonderland and it is used to make the queen of hearts look intimidating as she fills a lot of the frame and is looking down at the person (well, frog)
looking at her
 

Test screenings

 



Sorry to say but this isn't anything to do with magazines,

TEST SCREENINGS

-Is a preview of a movie or TV show before its release in order to achieve an audience reaction, the audience is selected from a cross section of the population
-They are usually asked to complete a questionnaire , questions often include what they most liked/least, when the got confused, if their were any areas of concern such as score/narrative/characters, these could be in the form of multiple choice or an answer space

This affects the media ....

because feedback may be used to alter the movie before it's release, this could be
-title change
-small scene change
-an entirely different ending
-a change to the score

For example....

changes were made to the film TITANIC

 

 

The length of TITANIC was shortened due to a fight scene being to long for the audience, it's hard to believe that Titanic could have possibly been longer !!!!

 

 

Also the 1989 bond movie LICENCE TO KILL was changed

 

The title was changed from LICENCE REVOKED, as the audience thought it sounded like a drivers licence term

 

Learning camera angles

Hey,

in media studies (study of media, what ever takes your fancy), camera angles are really important as they convey the directors ideas and information about the setting or character to the audience, hence it creates drama through visual conventions (ooooh how very technical), camera angles are a key talking point for your exam and should not be ignored, you can really go to town with describing a certain camera angle and how it portrays the character, links to the narrative and affects the audience.

There are about 13 main camera angles you need to remember, so to help me remember I have created a 'Media Bible', it will almost act as my bible throughout the course, I have only just started making it, so it's not completely perfected. Basically I write key terms and definitions inside it (the notebook I mean, nothing fancy like the matrix or something), I have started with camera angles as they are not only important but I want to learn them off by heart (this is beginning to sound like something I would do for a language exam revision, but hopefully not as painful). To help me remember the angles I have stuck images of angles from some of my favourite films; such as Harry Potter, The Dark Night and Star Trek, next to the definitions. Here are some of them (can I just say, my handwriting is awful so I apologise)