Media Studies:
Audiences
Why study audiences?
 When producers make films they must
have an extremely detailed
understanding of their target audience.
Why do you think this is?
 When the film is made, they must gauge
the audience’s reaction. Why? How?
 After release, they must analyse who
watched. Why?
Why study audiences?
 Media products (tv programmes, films,
magazines, etc.) are created for
particular audiences. Makers therefore
need to understand what this audience
wants and how to deliver it.
 After the product is made, makers need
to know who watches and assess their
reaction.
QUESTION:
 Can a film-maker ensure that
their film is a success?
 HOW?
Media Production Cycle
 Who will watch
our product?
Media Product
Created
Profit/loss
New Production starts
Who watched?
Reactions?
Where does this
information come from?
 In the film industry (real production), makers
speak directly to their audience through
research: analysis of previous films, focus
groups, surveys, questionnaires, advance
viewings, reviews, feedback, etc.
 The audience must be quantified before and
after: how many people will watch? How many
people did watch?
 Beyond this there is qualitative analysis: who
watched? Why did they watch? What was their
reaction?
Film Audiences
First of all, consider yourself!
 Who are you???????
 What do you watch?
 Why do you watch these
particular films?
 Where?
 When?
 How? (Alone or in a group?
Fully attentive or whilst doing
other things?)
Analysing the audience
 Every media product has a target
audience. This is the group that the
product is primarily aimed at.
 It could be yourselves…a teen audience.
Alternatively, it might be families,
couples, children, males or females. The
target group may also be defined by
interests or nationality.
Target Audience
Who are the target audience
for these films?
1. The Lord of the Rings
2. 300
3. Shrek the Third
4. Superbad
5. Fahrenheit 9/11
6. Bridget Jones’ Diary
Demographics
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As you can see, it is difficult to identify the target
audience with one simple category.
In media studies, audiences can be identified by
various factors:
Age
Gender
Nationality
Interests
Education
Social Class
Ethnicity
These categories are called demographics, and will
often determine how the audience responds to the
film.
The target audience will often be categorised by more
that one demographic, e.g. teenage males.
Expectations and
Reactions
 In order to satisfy the audience, makers
must know what the audience expects
from a movie.
 Think about a current movie that you
would like to see. What do you expect
from it?
 Where do these expectations come
from?
Movie Experience
Watching a romantic comedy
Going to see a summer
blockbuster at the cinema
(Indiana Jones, for example)
Watching a more serious film
(Crash, Blood Diamond)
A pirate copy of a horror movie
(Saw, for example)
A family film on DVD (e.g.
Shrek or The Incredibles)
An arthouse/foreign film (Pan’s
Labyrinth, Happy-Go-Lucky)
Expectations
Reactions
 Now consider a film that you saw recently.
What was your reaction to it?
 What were the positive aspects of your viewing
experience?
 Were there any negatives?
 Was there any of it that ‘didn’t work for you’?
 Would everyone have the same reaction to this
movie as you?
Task: Audience Reactions
 There are many different
reactions to film: they
cheer us up, they can be
sickening, they can
make us think about
issues.
 In pairs or groups,
compile an extensive list
of different possible
audience reactions to
films.
The ‘effects’ of the media
 Traditionally, media researchers have
considered film and TV to have a powerful
effect on their audience.
 Put very simply, the audience watches actions
and copies them, if those actions appear to be
beneficial. For example, we might see a
murder on TV and see the perpetrator escape
punishment and live happily ever after. In
theory, this would influence the audience to see
this as likely to happen if they did it.
 Question:
 Does the media have such a
powerful effect?
The “Bobo Doll”
Experiment
 The most famous experiment which was
thought to prove this theory was Bandura’s
‘Bobo Doll’ experiment (1961).
 Here, children were shown a film of ‘rewarded
aggression’, where adults hit a large, inflatable
doll and received no punishment. Another
group was shown no film at all.
 All the children were then left alone in a room
full of toys (including Bobo) and observed.
 The study found that the children who had
observed the video were more aggressive in
the room.
 Does this prove that film causes violence
amongst children?
 What problems can you identify in this
experiment?
Uses and Gratifications
 In order to develop the understanding of
audiences, many theorist have tried explain
why audiences watch films.
 Katz (1974) suggested that films (media
products) satisfy certain basic needs in the
audience.
 1. The need to be informed
 2. The need to be entertained
 3. The need for personal identity
 4. The need for social identity
1. The need to be
INFORMED
 Often, fictional films will give an insight
into other lifestyles and cultures through
their characters and settings.
 Films may also be historical or
biographical in nature, and therefore
serve this purpose.
 Documentaries, despite covering a range
of styles, always serve this need.
2. The need to be
ENTERTAINED
 Many people watch films as a means of
escapism: they serve as a leisure activity
where people can be excited, engaged,
amazed, etc.
 Most Hollywood blockbusters focus
solely on this need.
3. The need to understand
PERSONAL IDENTITY
 This idea is more complex, but in essence we learn
about ourselves by studying others and comparing our
situation with theirs.
 Often, we will be able to relate to characters and
understand their actions and decisions. Perhaps they
act as we would.
 Alternatively, we may question the rights and wrongs of
decisions and consider how we might have reacted.
 Even films which appear to be quite removed from our
own lives help to reinforce our understanding of who
we are and how we live: our CULTURAL IDENTITY.
4. The need to be involved
in SOCIAL DISCOURSES
 Again, this need is slightly more complex, but put
simply we live in a world where various issues are
discussed and debated: war, poverty, changing
lifestyles, democracy, freedom, religion, the
environment, scientific progress, exploitation, and so
on. We can also debate issues at a national and local
level too: crime, education, racism, etc.
 Having an understanding of these issues helps us to
feel in touch with our society, and with global events.
 Films often supply this need by exploring particular
issues.
Preferred Readings
 When producers make a film, they use various
techniques to ensure that the audience thinks
and feels what they are supposed to. For
example, the makers of Jaws wanted their
audience to be both excited and terrified. This
is the PREFERRED READING. If the audience
agrees then they agree with the DOMINANT
values in the film.
 The majority of the audience will read a film
this way.
 If the audience completely rejects this preferred
reading (i.e. they walk out of the cinema, they find it
funny, they don’t understand it, they totally disagree
with the message), this is called an OPPOSITIONAL
READING. This applies to a very small proportion of
the audience.
 Sometimes, the audience will accept some aspects of
the film and reject others. This is called a
NEGOTIATED READING. Again, this applies to only a
small part of the audience: perhaps people who have
seen it many times, or have studied it.
How does this affect you?
 In your Media Analysis, you must study
the text carefully and consider any other
information in order to make statements
about the target audience.
 In your Media Production, you must
analyse the audience before making the
film, and gauge their reaction after
completion.
Key terms
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Target audience
Audience research
Production cycle
Demographics
Expectations and reactions
Uses and gratifications
Preferred Reading