This document provides an overview of audience reception theories and concepts related to analyzing how audiences interpret media texts. It discusses encoding/decoding theory, which proposes that producers encode meaning into texts and audiences can accept, partially accept, or reject these encodings. It also covers preferred, negotiated, and oppositional readings. As an example, it analyzes audience readings of the film Get Out. Other concepts covered include representation, signs and symbolism, and applying semiotic analysis to film clips. Students are assigned tasks analyzing scenes based on these theoretical frameworks.

1. Contextual Studies: Audience Theories
9 Nov 2017

2. Recap
So far for Contextual Studies we have looked at;
• Investigating the Creative Media Sector
• Ownership
• Controls & regulations BBFC/Ofcom
• Marketing & Distribution
• New and emerging industries – Transmedia, cross-platform marketing
We now need to look at audience reception theories

3. WHAT IS AUDIENCE RECEPTION?
•Audiences receive and respond to texts very differently. The different effects
generate varied responses.
•It is a way to characterise and group together different audience (consumer)
interpretations.
•Audience reception = the way we react

4. FILM CLIP: GET OUT DIR. JORDAN PEELE 2016 US
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
• Addresses todays climate and issues with race
• Symbols of Slavery – Actors, acting, locations and costumes
• The Deer – Omen link to protagonist
• The teacup – hypnotising - suppression
FILM CLIP
INTERVIEW WITH JORDAN PEELE

5. ENCODING DECODING THEORY
Stuart Hall, 1973
• Producers encode meaning/ideology into texts, which audiences decode
• Audiences are active in their interpretations and can accept/reject the
producers message.
• ENCODE : meaning, ideology
• DECODE : ???

6. ENCODING DECODING THEORY
Preferred Reading – audiences agree and accept what the producers are
encoding
• Negotiated Reading – audiences partially agree with the encoded messages
• Oppositional Reading – audiences reject/disagree or decode the text
differently
Age, Gender, Cultural Experiences
David Morley

7. AUDIENCE READINGS –
GET OUT
Preferred Reading
• Intended to encourage audiences to consider race relations issues in the US
Refers back to classics of the horror genre like The Stepford Wives and
Rosemary’s baby
Negotiated Reading
• Audiences who enjoy thrillers and horror films will be able to enjoy the film
whilst possibly engaging with some of the deeper issues of the film .

8. ENCODING & DECODING MODEL

9. DECONSTRUCTING A FILM
• Narrative
• Cinematography
• Mise-en-scene
• Genre
• Editing
• Theoretical
approaches
(Semiotics, Auteur,
Representation)

10. NARRATIVE
• All scripts contain stories that have been carefully structured
• These stories have a Narrative Form that is specific to film
• Part of this form is defined through the constraints of running length
(90-120mins)
• A narrative therefore is an account of a series of events that occur in
time and space
• It is the role of the creators of the work to plan how those series of
events will be presented coherently and artistically through sound
and image.

11. Field, Syd The Screenwriters Workbook 2006 Delta Publishing
Narrative: Structure

12. Narrative Film Structure
Example: The Martian Dir Ridley Scott 2015, USA
Film Trailer
Set up: Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is happily working alongside his
teammates on Mars.
Plot Point 1: A dangerous storm rolls in and the team prepares for an
emergency departure, but as they head into the storm, Mark is hit with debris
and he’s thrown away from the crew. They try to locate him, but the storm is
too fierce. Mark’s vital signs flat-line and the captain makes the decision to
save the rest of the crew and leave the planet for home. Mark However is
still alive.

13. Confrontation: After a harrowing journey back to base, he realizes the
storm has destroyed many things, including what he needs to contact
NASA. Watney must use his training and ingenuity to survive alone on
Mars.
Plot Point 2: Watney is doing fine and has successfully built a
greenhouse where he grows the potatoes that will save his life.
Things are really looking up for him until he accidentally blows a hole in
his flourishing nursery. It destroys his crops and all the equipment he
used, cutting his food supply in half. NASA must go on an active rescue
mission in order for Mark to survive.

14. Resolution: Mark builds a rover to survive the long journey to a landing
site where he’ll be able to launch into space and rendezvous with his
former crewmembers. It seems like everything to succeed is in place: his
former crewmembers have resupplied and returned to Mars, while NASA
has been supporting them from earth. After many difficulties, Watney
reunites with his teammates and escapes the planet.

15. ONE MIN FILM
Late Dir. Edith Chong Yuen Ping
Task: In Groups write out the story structure/plot of the film
Split into beginning (Act I,middle (Act II) and end (Act III)

16. CINEMATOGRAPHY
• Lighting
• Film stock
• Colour
• Choice of
camera/lense
s
• Movement
• Shot framing
(Distance and
angle)

17. SHOT ANALYSIS
The Dark Night Dir. Christopher Nolan
Task: Watch the clip and write down the shot types you see as you
watch it.

18. MISE-EN-SCENE (PUTTING ON STAGE)
• Setting
• Scenery
• Lighting
• Costume
• Props
• Acting/actions

19. SCENE FROM AMELIE DIR JEAN-PIERRE JEUNET
2001, FRANCE

20. GENRE
• Horror
• Sci-fi
• Drama
• Romance
• War
• Western
• Thriller
• Musical
• Genre conventions (rules)
• Mixed-genre

21. WHAT GENRE ARE THESE FILMS ?

22. SEMIOTICS
(THE STUDY OF SIGNS & WHAT THEY SIGNIFY)

23. OBJECTIVE: UNDERSTAND THE NOTION OF
SEMIOTICS AS AN APPROACH TO ANALYSING
AND UNDERSTANDING MEDIA PRODUCTS

24. One minute
TASK: WRITE DOWN ALL THE WORDS, PHRASES AND IDEAS YOU ASSOCIATE WITH
THE ABOVE IMAGE

25. LOVE
COURAGE
BLOOD
HEART
RELATIONSHIP
ROMANCE
HEART
SACRED
JOY
FEELINGS
The heart sign has come to symbolise multiple meanings all of which we are
able to consider when we see the image.

26. HEART – THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, EVERYDAY USAGE

27. IN SEMIOTICS WE CAN DEFINE THESE TWO DIFFERENT MEANINGS WITH THE ABOVE
WORDS
DENOTATION CONNOTATION

28. HEART
KEY TER:
SEMIOTICS
Denotations Connotations
e.g. muscle
Pump
Blood
Organ
Body
e.g. love
Valentines
Feelings
Romance
Sweet

29. THEORISTS: FERDINAND DE SAUSURRE (1857 -
1913)
KEY TERM:
SEMIOTICS
SWISS LINGUIST & FOUNDER OF SEMIOTICS
Saussure said the sign is the basic unit of meaning and he thought signs
were made up of two parts
TREE
SIGNIFIED – The concept or object that is represented
SIGNIFIER – The form of a sign such as words on a page or an image

30. THEORISTS: CHARLES S PEIRCE 1839-1914)
KEY TERM:
SEMIOTICS
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER & FOUNDER OF SEMIOTICS
Peirce said the form a sign takes, its signifier, can be classified as one of
three types an icon, an index, or a symbol.
ICON – AN ICON IS A SIGN WHICH IS LINKED TO ITS OBJECT
E.G A MAP OR A PHOTOGRAPH
INDEX – AN INDEX SUGGESTS ITS OBJECT BY BEING PHYSICALLY
LINKED TO IT, OR AFFECTED BY IT. E.G SMOKE IS AN INDEX OF FIRE
SYMBOL – A SYMBOL HAS NO QUALATATIVE OR PHYSICAL LINK TO
ITS OBJECT E.G. MOST WORDS ARE SYMBOLS

32. MISE-EN-SCENE (pronounced mee-zon sen)
• In films signs can take many forms. They can be words, sounds, images,
objects, colours etc.
• Considering all the elements of a film can help us look for the signs more
easily.
• MISE-EN-SCENE Means ‘placing on stage or in the scene’
• The idea that every element in a film has been put there for a reason
KEY TERM:
Mise-en-
scene

33. MISE-EN-SCENE (pronounced mee-zon sen)
Includes a consideration of:
• Sets
• Props
• Acting
• Costume
• Lighting
• Composition
KEY TERM:
Mise-en-
scene

34. Dir: Ridley Scott 1982
BLADE RUNNER
Task: Write down the symbolic elements you see in the clip that form part of the mise-en-
scene

35. SUMMING UP
Further Reading
• Roland Barthes Elements of Semiology London: Jonathan Cape 1967
• David Chandler Semiotics the Basics Routledge 2002
• Charles S Pierce The Philosophical writings of Pierce 1982
The use of semiotic theory can be a powerful tool to help you analyse
and consider the deeper meaning of films
Key vocabulary to remember:
• Denotation
• Icon
• Index
• Symbol
• Mise-en-scene
• Sign
• Signifier
• Signification
• Connotation

36. TASK: AUDIENCE
THEORY
FIND YOUR OWN FILM SCENE, SUMMARISE YOUR
THOUGHT ABOUT THE MISE-EN-SCENE AND USE OF
SYMBOLISM, SIGNS AND SIGNIFIERS
WRITE A DEFINITION OF SEMIOTICS
POST THIS ON YOUR BLOG UNDER CONTEXTUAL STUDIES

37. REPRESENTATION
How we 're-present' a person, place or thing
Do we show the subject in a positive or a negative
light?
Love Thy Neighbour 1970s sitcom

38. Modern Family is a commercially and critically successful
American sit com, told from the perspective of an unseen
documentary filmmaker.
The program proposes to present an honest perspective of family
life.
Watch the following clips and analysis of 'Modern Family'
Identify the stereotypes represented in the programme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh8WDVMqngM
What stereotypes did you identify?
REPRESENTATION: MODERN
FAMILY

39. REPRESENTATION
Sitcoms in particular aim for a broad audience. They perhaps feel they
have to appeal and reinforce perspectives and stereotypes that are
ingrained within audiences to become a hit show.
Modern Family was initially seen as a progressive show.
Do you still think it is? Can you name a more progressive show?
How do we break the cycle of negative or incorrect representation?
Interview from the
show:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKoRiwCCsQU

41. In small groups of 3 or 4: (YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES)
Appoint a writer in your group to write the group's thoughts...
You're directing a short film. The story synopsis goes something like this:
An elderly lady is pushed to the ground by a mugger and her handbag is stolen. In
the handbag was a large amount of money with which she was going to pay some
bills.
She is slightly injured in the incident and has to go to hospital, where her
minister visits her.
The local wealthy landowner, Lord Ambrose, hears about her plight. He comes to
visit her too and offers to pay her bills.
What does each of the characters look like in your film?
How does each one talk?
What are their values/personalities/characteristic traits?
How will each character be represented in your film?

42. How did you 're-present’ each character?
FEEDBACK…

43. KEY AREAS OF
REPRESENTATION
Age
Gender
Social Class
Ability/Disability
Ethnicity
Regional Identity
Sexuality

46. BBC Production Guidelines:
Look at the BBC editorial guidelines and guidance and see what
advice you can find about how people, places, things are
represented in BBC content
http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidelines
http://www.bbc.co.uk/editorialguidelines/guidance
1.2.5 Harm and Offence
‘We aim to reflect the world as it is, including all aspects of the human
experience and the realities of the natural world. But we balance our right
to broadcast innovative and challenging content with our responsibility to
protect the vulnerable from harm and avoid unjustifiable offence. We will
be sensitive to, and keep in touch with, generally accepted standards as
well as our audiences' expectations of our content, particularly in relation
to the protection of children’.

47. OTHER THEORIES TO EXPLORE
There are three theories of audience that we can apply to help us come to a
better understanding about the relationship between films and audience.
1. The Effects Model or the Hypodermic
Model
2. The Uses and Gratifications Model
3. Reception Theory

48. THE EFFECTS MODEL
• The consumption of media texts has an effect or influence upon the
audience
• It is normally considered that this effect is negative
• Audiences are passive and powerless to prevent the influence
• The power lies with the message of the text

49. THE HYPODERMIC MODEL
• Here, the messages in media texts are injected into the audience by the
powerful, syringe-like, Media
• The audience is powerless to resist
• Therefore, the media works like a drug and the audience is drugged,
addicted, doped or duped

50. ASSIGNMENT 1
Produce a 250 word rationale’ on a creative media product or products you
intend to research further for example a genre of film; television; books;
newspapers or other justifying relevant reception analysis approaches to
content and audience to explain and analyse the particular audiences your
product appeals to and why.
Think of this as an essay plan
(250words)
Due 21st November

51. HOW TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT
• Choose a Media Sector (Film, TV Documentary, Journalism etc)
• Choose a genre within that sector (Youth documentaries, social issue
films, Documentary series)
• Complete at least two case studies on relevant products from your genre
• Consider how products within that genre have been influenced by
• audiences/markets
• How are films within this genre distributed in consideration of their key
audiences
• You could consider certification as part of your process
• Choose an audience theory approach to research (semiotics, genre,
representation etc) and apply it to your case studies
• Research reviews of your media product/s
• Use valid reference resources (books, online journals, film websites)

52. FURTHER READING
Bennett, P., Hickman,A. and Wall, P. (2007) Film Studies: The Essential
Resource, Routledge, London and New York
Block, Bruce (2007) The Visual Story Focal Press
Bordwell, David and Thompson, Kristin (2012) Film Art: An
Introduction McGraw Hill
www.bfi.org.uk
www.imdb.com