C-Audience Decoding

B2 Audience decoding

Media products are deconstructed as audiences ‘read’ media material and determine their associated messages.

• Types of reading – preferred, negotiated, oppositional, aberrant.

• Open and closed texts – polysemy.

• Intertextuality.

• Decoding.

• Passive and active viewing – ‘hypodermic’ and ‘uses and gratifications’ models.

Types of reading

Preferred Reading

Is not just about 'liking' a text - you must understand what the purpose of a text is and agree with its ideologies and the messages it carries.

Oppositional Reading

Is not just 'disliking' a text - there are many reasons why someone may take an oppositional reading - but whatever these reasons are, the audience member must understand what the intentions of the text are, but reject them.

Negotiated Reading

Can be the case whereby an audience member agrees with some ideologies and not others, but it can also be the case where the audience doesn't fully understand the intentions of the text - or is confused about the purpose of the text.

Aberrant Reading

Aberrant reading, where a completely unintentional meaning is taken away by audiences

Open and closed texts-polysemy

In semiotic analysis (the studies of signs or symbols), an open text is a text that allows multiple or mediated interpretation by the readers. In contrast, a closed text leads the reader to one intended interpretation.

Think about the Audi advertisement and the Yorkie advertisement. How would you classify the adverts?

Create a poster to advertise a product of your choice. Create an open version and a closed version.

intertextuality

This is a term used to describe a reference being made to a text from another text. The reference can be made in a range of different ways including...

Style
Sound
Visual Ques
Storylines

Intertextuality happens when the conventions of one genre are alluded to in another, or when a specific cultural reference is made in a media text. Extras is a TV show that uses intertextuality through celebrity cameos and references to other films and TV shows.

Sherlock also features intertextuality; it is an adaptation of the original stories by Arthur Conan Doyle which were first published in 1887 - but they've been updated and set in contemporary London.

Film posters or DVD covers use intertextuality when they mention other movies made by the same director.

For example, when film director Christopher Nolan made his epic sci-fi movie Interstellar - the poster made sure to remind audiences that this new film was from "the director of The Dark Knight Trilogy and Inception".

decoding

The decoding of a message is how an audience member is able to understand, and interpret the message. It is a process of interpretation and translation of coded information into a comprehensible form.

Audiences are made up of a wide range of different people from different cultures, with different life experiences who will interpret the message in different ways.

passive and active viewing

What is a Passive Video Viewer?

A passive viewer is someone who’s not really engaged in watching. They’re just observing. They’re surfing the Internet, scrolling along until something catches their attention. Or maybe they’re lying on their couch watching TV, flipping through channels.

They’re easier to persuade because their mind isn’t as engaged. As a result, they are more likely to accept things at face value, meaning they often don’t challenge the messaging being presented.

They also have short attention spans and see things in the here and now. In other words, they don’t look at the big picture, because that takes more brainpower, and when you’re passive, brainpower is not something you’re using a lot of.

What is an Active Video Viewer?

An active viewer is someone who is watching with purpose. Maybe it’s a training video that they have to watch, or a tutorial with critical information to their job. When they’re actively watching, they’re engaged, paying attention, and emotionally responding.

As mentioned above, passive viewers don’t see the big picture. Heck, they’re lucky to see or hear the end of the next sentence. The mind of the active viewer opens up and, for lack of a better term, has more fun. I’ll get a little more into the fun aspect later in this article.

hypodermic needle theory

The Hypodermic needle theory is a linear communication theory that suggests that media messages are injected directly into the brains of passive audiences.

In this theory the media is seen as powerful and able to ‘inject’ ideas into an audience who are seen as weak and passive and could be influenced by a message. In Nazi Germany in the 1930’s and during World War 2 films were used to ‘inject’ propaganda ideas promoting the Nazi cause to the German audience. Today we still see party political broadcasts on television during elections.

The Hypodermic theory comes from a fear of the mass media, and gives the media much more power than it can ever have in a democracy. The concept ignores the idea that not everyone in an audience behaves in the same way. How can an audience be passive –there will be many times when you have disagreed with something you have seen on television or failed to laugh at a comedy show or just thought a TV programme was terrible.

uses and gratification models

The audience is seen as active, the audience uses the text to satisfy needs for

diversion

escapism

information

pleasure

comparing relationships and lifestyles

sexual pleasures.

The audience is in control and consumption of the media helps people with issues such as:

Learning

Emotional Satisfaction

Relaxation

helps personal identity

helps social identify

help with issues of aggression and violence

suggests the consumption of violent images can be helpful rather than harmful as audience acts out violence inpulses through their text

A theory by Blumler and Katz. Said that audiences were not passive.
That they actively sought experiences from different media products based on their desires
Disagrees with the notion that everyone gets the same thing from a media text
Acknowledges that different people can get different things from the same product

Personal Identity - Audience identifies or relates to a character or theme from the media text, that has some sort of connection or personal resonance with them

Personal Relationship - Audience forms relationships with others based around a media text, Interested in the social interaction that comes from participating in it.

Diversion - Also known as escapism, audience member uses the media text to switch off, relax or escape from their usual routine.

Surveillance - Also known as knowledge, audience member uses a media text to gain information, or to find something out.

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