Audience

The Target Audience Our Production Is Aimed At Are For Our Film We Are Aiming It At A 15-25 Age Range, As Our Film Will Be Rated A 15 Certificate We Would Be Aiming It Towards This Segment. Our Film Will Interest More Males Than Females, As The Opening Scene Is A Torture Scene, Which Would Captivate A Male Rather Than A Female Audience. It Would Not Really Appeal To A Race Because they Are Both Of The Same Ethnicity So There Is No Interracial Torturing.

Our Production Will Appeal To Our Target Audience Because We Have Researched What Genres They Prefer And Have Catered To The Needs Of The Audience

Vance Packard (1957) the Hidden Persuaders
“Media Can Directly Inject Messages”

Uses & Gratifications
• Blumler & McQuail (1968) Suggests That People Get What They Want From The Media
• Young People Watch MTV For The ‘Music’ – Middle Aged Men Do It For The Semi-Naked Pop Stars
• They Are Active Interpreters And Choice Makers

Reception Analysis
People Interpret Media texts Differently According To Class, Ethnicity, Age, Etc.

Morley(1980) – Messages Often Have Many Meanings (Polysemy)
Audience Has Three Responses
• Dominant Response
• Oppositional Response
• Negotiated Response


An empirical study in the U & G tradition might typically involve audience members completing a questionnaire about why they watch a TV programme.
Denis McQuail offers (McQuail 1987: 73) the following typology of common reasons for media use:

Information
finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
satisfying curiosity and general interest
learning; self-education
gaining a sense of security through knowledge


Personal Identity
finding reinforcement for personal values
finding models of behaviour
identifying with valued other (in the media)
gaining insight into one's self

Integration and Social Interaction
gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy
identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
having a substitute for real-life companionship
helping to carry out social roles
enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Entertainment
escaping, or being diverted, from problems
relaxing
getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
filling time
emotional release
sexual arousal

(reference http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/usegrat.html)