THEORIES

Overview

An overview of the research I have done into various media ideas/theories. I wanted to look into the background around media and what people have had to say about how we respond to it. I felt this was really important in understanding what my audience is looking for and how they react to media. I thought the uses and gratification theories were really useful to this and I could identity that I wanted my audience to function as entertainment and cultural transmission by Lasswell (1948) theory and by Blumler and Katz's theory for personal identity and diversification. Also I can now identify my production as an open text (Barthes) and full of codes for a dominant reading (Stuart Hall).

Uses and Gratification

1948 Lasswell suggested media texts had the following functions for individuals and society:

surveillance
correlation
entertainment
cultural transmission

1974 Blumler and Katz expanded on this:

diversification-escape from everyday problems and routine
personal relationships-using the media for emotional and other interaction
personal identity-finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts
surveillance-(information for living) weather reports, news, etc…

Richard Kilborn (1992) said media was a launchpad for social and personal interaction

Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model suggests the text is encoded by the producer and decoded by the reader, meaning there could be differences in the readings of the same code (an idea agreed with by David Morley 1980). Using recognised codes and conventions the producers can position the audience and create certain amounts of agreement of what the code means, know as a preferred reading. The producer was dominant (hegemonic) reading, which means the reader shares the encoded meanings of the text, meaning they are not negotiated readings or oppositional (counter-hegemonic) readings.

Barthes-Texts need to be unravelled, you can look at them from many viewpoints, texts are either open (unravelled in lots of different ways) or closed (one obvious way).

Tvzetan Todorov- Narrative theory: equilibrium, disequilibrium, (resolution) new equilibrium

Claude Levi Strauss-Binary Opposition

Effects Theories-People are powerless and passive to mass media messages (1963), propaganda, violent media making children violent (Bobo doll experiment), Ivan Pavlov’s dogs experiment (triggers though association)

The Male Gaze- Laura Mulvey ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ view characters form the perspective of a heterosexual male

The Bechdel Test-Are there at least two women in the production? Do they talk about each other? Do they talk about something besides a man?

The Kuleshov Effect-Two things edited together means the audience link them in meaning

The Russo Test-Does it contain an identifiably gay, lesbian bisexual or transgender character? Are they not defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity? Is the character tied to the plot in such a way their removal would have a significant effect?

Smurfette Principle-Common trope that there is only one female in an all male ensemble

Theory Applied to Adolescence

Adolescence mainly functions as entertainment for individuals in society. It is a film that is meant to thrill and keep you on the edge of your seat, transporting you from mundane daily life and working as a method of escapism. It can also act as cultural transmission as it works around cultural morals and values that would be recognised and therefore transferred. Using Blumler and Katz model it acts as diversification, as it is escapism but also personal identity as it is a coming of age film and seeks to reassure peoples who are in the same position

If Adolescence became very famous and was talked about socially this would apply greatly

As Adolescence is an experimental short film it is encoded with many dominant (hegemonic) reading. It uses many metaphors or imagery that can be decoded to mean different things or is ambiguous. This means it is more interesting and relates to different people as everyone can take something different from it

Adolescence will follow Todorovs narrative theory in parts, with the overall narrative ending in a resolution and new equilibrium

Binary Opposition is seen in the girls struggle against right and wrong, good and bad

This will affect the target audience of our film, which according to this theory could be influenced by sexual scenes and drug use, so not good for children

In the POV shots at the party we wll use shots in this perspective to critically highlight the derogatory way men objectify women

There is only one female character in the film that is fully seen so it technically fails the test, however there are no men who are fully seen either.

There is one hetrosexual relatioship, however, this is due to the lack of characters and not ignorance of representation

This is used especially in the party scenes where the shots of alcohol imply her drunk

This is not applicable but an interesting principle none the less

The benefits of this research...

Not ony was this research enjoyable and informative, it also meant I was well informed before I began to plan my production. Many of the things that I researched would not have a direct impact on my work, such as the Russo test and the Smurfette Principle. However, I could remember the importance of the Kuleshov effect in our editing if I wanted our audience to understand the connection between two things, which could be useful to enhance our narrative. I also could utilise the Male Gaze to create the impression a shot was from a male perspective and objectifying the woman. Altogether, I believe it was Barthes theory of open and closes texts that influenced me the most. It made me realise that my production did not have to be completely clear and follow and easy to interpret narrative. I could create a product that could be responded to in many different ways no matter how I the creator intended it. This enabled me to create a more confident experimental style if I wished to.