Blumer and Katz - Uses and Gratifications Theory

Blumer and Katz - Uses and Gratifications Theory:
Blumer and Katz theorised that audiences are active and that the audience uses the text instead of the text using the audience. The audience wants the text in order to seek pleasure such as audiences watching a comedy because they want to laugh. The audience may seek many different pleasures behind a media text such as:

- Escapism 

- Diversion 

- Information

- Counter cultural experience 

- Comparing 

- Sexual stimulation 

Why would an audience watch a short film?

Audiences may want to watch a particular type of film in order to feel a certain emotion, e.g. may want to feel scared so they will watch a horror. Therefore, the genre of the film dictates the pleasures and gratifications the audiences receives. Another example would be that the audience many want to experience escapism, therefore they may want to watch an action or thriller film.

Stuart Hall - Encoding and Decoding

Stuart Hall - Encoding and decoding
Stuart Hall's theory is based on the idea that texts are made and are encoded with a message by the institution. The audience are then provided with the text in which they then decode. The message can be decoded and interpreted in three different ways:

1. Dominant reading - The message is interpreted by the audience as the institution intended.
2. Negotiated reading - The audience may agree with some parts of the text and not others.
3. Oppositional reading - The audience find themselves in conflict with the text and disagree with the message.

This theory is used in a short film I have watched called 'Middle Passage'.

In this short film, dominant reading is a way in which the message is interpreted. The message given off to the audience is about how our lives are so much more fortunate than those who must leave their homes and loved ones to immigrant elsewhere due to their country being destroyed by wars. It also gives off the message that we should do more to help these immigrants to prevent them from losing anything else close to them.

Negotiated reading can be a way due to people agreeing with the idea that these innocent people looking for safety should be offered help. However, they may also disagree due to this action meaning they would be going against the law as the are helping immigrants into the country illegally.









People who interpret the message through oppositional reading would say that immigrants bring trouble into our country and are not welcome as they are bringing more crime into Britain, therefore making British citizens lives more difficult.

Textual Analysis on Representation - Inspire

Different representation theories are shown in this short film through the use of the four micro elements; camera angles and movement, sound, editing and miss-en-scene.

Dominant ideology is presented throughout the film. Dominant ideology denotes the attitudes and beliefs, messages and values projected and held by mainstream society. Most of the shots in the film seem to show many negative views. For example; The muslim man who people assumed to be a threat. Whilst focusing on the man, there is a voice over, in which a man directly addresses the audience by breaking the fourth wall and explaining that these views made by society are not always correct. The audience then see that the muslim man smiles and helps the lady with a baby to catch her train which breaks a traditional view. The voice over supports Gramsci's theory of Hegemony which states that representation is unequal. For example; Minority groups may be represented in society unfairly but dominant ideology is what is shown the most, therefore it is what most people are likely to believe is correct. Furthermore, this creates a Hegemonic society. This can affect the audience due to them being directly addressed and causes them to feel guilt and regret as they may have associated negative views with certain groups of people.

Tessa Perkin's theory highlights that 'stereotypes are assumptions we make based on groups of people' and this is supported through the use of mise-en-scene. This is shown through the iconography of the laptop that was opened on a daily mail article about recent terrorist attacks and suspects. Automatically, some people recognise that the suspects are of a certain ethnicity and/or religion, therefore associating these negative actions and representation with the rest of the people supporting the same religion or are of the same ethnicity. This supports the Perkin's theory due to the media being able to change an individuals perception of a group in society. This affects the audience through Stan Cohen's theory, 'Moral Panic'. Cultures are subject to moral panic when a group of people are identified as being a threat to society therefore, causing people to panic when in presence of a certain group of people. The theory which is also used in this shot is Richard Dyer's stereotype theory is that 'stereotypes are always about power; those with power stereotype those without power'. People who write the articles such as the daily mail are well known and many people read them. Therefore, if the story is displaying a negative view or message about a certain group of people, they have the power to cause others to believe it is true.
Another example that supports the Perkins theory is the costumes which conforms to the idea that stereotypes are not always false. A Sikh family are wearing turbans and shows that they are a part of a certain religious group which is not a negative or false reputation in society.

bell hooks representation theory states that 'skin colour is a code; lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into the Western ideology of beauty' and this presented though the use of editing. The editing used emphasises the idea that everyone is different and live very different lives. The use of fast pacing editing exemplifies the idea that life is very chaotic and goes very quick which could be caused by the difficultly of a representation they are involved in. The fast pacing shows many different ethnicities which can convey the idea that skin colour has an impact on social hierarchy.

The Bergers theory that follows the idea that 'men look, women appear' is shown in this short film through the use of camera angles and movement. An example of this presented in the short film is when a women is sitting down when a man comes and sits next to her whilst looking at her as an object. As he does so, the camera switches into deep focus, clearly showing the audience the manner in which he is looking at her. The demonstrates the idea that men only see women as being a sexual object and not an individual. This theory is also shown as being incorrect occasionally due to the camera angles not causing the women to be presented in a sexual, vulnerable way which supports patriarchy. This is due to there not being any high angled shots looking down on the women and not displaying the women in any revealing clothing.

Gauntlet's theory is that 'media is a resource in which individuals use to think through their sense of self and modes of expression' is shown within this short film, Inspire. This is evident in the re- occurring example of the mother with her baby and a muslim man at the train station as the woman makes the assumption that the man was a threat. However, she was wrong and the mans intentions were only kindness. Therefore, causing audience to feel guilt for the judgements they made. This then causes the audience to stop making and assumptions towards a group of individuals and prevent negative stereotypes being made.

Intro to representation theories

Dominant ideology - the views, messages, values projected and held by mainstream society

Representation theories:

1) Gramsci's Hegemony 
     - Representations are unequal
     - Dominant ideology is represented the most and therefore thats what people are likely to believe.

2) Stan Cohen - Moral Panic                                                                                                                      
     - Cultures are subject to moral panic when a group of person has become defined as a threat to            
        societal values or interests.

3) Gary Giddens
     - Claims that mediated experiences make us reflect upon and rethink our own self narrative in
        reflection to others

4) Gauntlett
     - Media messages are diverse, diffuse and contradictory rather than being zapped straight into
       peoples brains, ideas about lifestyle and identify that appear in the media are resources which
       individuals use to think through their sense of self and modes of expression.
     - People use media resources to build their own identify

5) Berger
     - 'Men look, women appear'
     - Women are there solely for the objectification of men
     - Similar to the male gaze theory

6) bell hooks
     - Skin colour is a code; lighter skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into
       western ideology of beauty.
     - E.g. Black women are objectified and sexualised in hip hop reflected the colonialist view of
       black women

7) Richard Dyer - Star power
     - Institutions using stars to attract larger audience

8) Tessa Perkins
      - 'Stereotypes are assumptions we make on groups of people'
            - Not always negative
            - Not always about minority groups
            - Can be held about own group
            - Can change
            - Not always false

9) Dyer
     - Stereotypes always about power, those with power stereotype those with less

Textual Analysis on Narrative - Tick Tock

Editing

Todorov's theory of equilibrium was not evident in the short film 'Tick Tock' as it didn't follow a conventional, linear story etc. Instead, a reverse chronological narrative was established through the use of editing. The editing highlights what type of narrative is being used. For example, the credits came first before the film to symbolise the use of reverse chronology. Another significant editing technique used to highlight the film being in reverse is through the use of credits which are shown at the beginning. The whole short film is filmed using a single long shot which implies that the male protagonist does not have any time to think anything through as we find out at the end that this is because he is going to die and therefore, stimulates the narrative. Slow motion is used in the film as well as some clips being sped up. This conveys the feeling of adrenaline as we find out that he is expecting a very soon death. As well as this, titles are presented on the screen which are negative characteristics such as greed. The audience are then able to imply that the male is possibly wishing he could go back in time to right his wrongs which drives the narrative. 

Camera angles and Movement

The camera used to film the short film is being hand held throughout. This can symbolise a sense of discomfort which can highlight the narrative as being disequilibrium which means that the peak of the narrative is at the beginning where as it would normally be in the middle. A hand held shot is also used at the beginning, focusing on the clock on the wall with the hand ticking anti-clockwise. Again, this exaggerates that the narrative is in reverse chronological order.

Levi Strauss' Binary Oppositions is also n narrative theory as he says you need to have opposites to build a story. E.g good vs evil, right vs wrong, known vs unknown. These opposites can be shown through the use of camera angles. The opposites, right and wrong, are portrayed to the audience through the use of tracking shots with the addition of titles. This is shown as the man is doing a good deed such as giving his wallet to charity, but, at the same time he also has negative characteristics appearing on the screen such as greed. This makes the audience intrigued to find out why a good man who hand his wallet over to charity would have the characteristic of greed.

Sound

The short film has a closed narrative, as theorised by Barthes, as the meaning is clear and resolved at the end. Barthes also theorised that an enigma code is crucial in engaging an audience in a narrative which was created through the use of sound. In the short film, there is not dialogue, only synchronous, non-digetic music in the background which is fast paced at some point throughout. This emphasises the feeling the dying protagonist is feeling as he is going to die. Due to the absence of dialogue this meant that the audience are only able to visually follow the narrative due to the addition of subtitles. Additionally, there is also the sound of a heart beat acting as background sound. This symbolises the amount of adrenaline the male protagonist is feeling which can be transferred onto the audience who are watching.

Mise-en-scene

Bordwell and Thompson state that a narrative is the product of a cause and effect relationship, and this can be seen through the use of key props used in the mise-en-scene. The pills show the cause of the whole narrative and as Bordwell and Thompson theory states, there has to be an affect from the cause, which is Emit patching up his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and his parents.

The use of the clock also contributed to represent the use of reverse chronological order of the narrative as it can symbolise his wanting to start fresh. The small box used in the film contributes to the narrative as the male finds it after he takes the pills which gives him the desire to return it to his ex girlfriend in order to try and right any wrongs he may have committed before he dies.