Audiences

As part of the 105MC module, we started to explore the idea of audiences and the relationship between the producer and the consumer. Communication between the two is key when understanding what the consumer wants from a product.

There are three different models used when trying to understand the media.

• The Hypodermic 'needle' Model
• The Uses and Gratification Model
• The Encoding-Decoding Model

When we look at any form of media, we are able to break it down and place it into one of the three categories. One film I analyzed was Taken 2; I was able to look at the models and start to unpick some of the conventions of the action/thriller film.

Taken 2 was shown on Film 4 at 9pm on the 5th of October. To start this means the audience is going to be of an older age. We can look further into the demographics when we explore the advertisements shown during the broadcast. Some of the adverts that were shown include; Budwiser, Vodaphone, Halo 5 and a popular gambling company. When I look at these companies, I instantly think they are aiming for a male populated audience. Therefore, I would say that this film was targeted at male audiences aged 18-40. However, when researched, it is shown that 46% of the audience profile for Taken 2 was female.(Maybe they should re-think some of their advertisements) This just shows that film genres still have the stereotypical views enforced; when producers think action, they think male audience.

There are other aspects that could draw people to a film like this. Including the fact that it is part of a franchise. Most people aren't going to watch this film if they haven't seen the first one. They wouldn't have a full understanding on what was happening. But they could be drawn in by either the genre of the film, or even popular actor; Liam Neeson. There are so many reasons as to why someone would choose to watch this film.

Relating to the three theories I mentioned before, I would say that this film does not fit into the category of the 'Hypodermic' theory. This is because this theory states that the audience would have been forced to take in this form of media. Whereas, the audience are able to chose whether they want to view the film, where they want to watch it and How. They have control on what media they consume and why. Therefore I would have to say that this fits into the final two models. This is because the audience have become passive, they are able to make their own decisions. They are able to form their own opinions on the film depending on the conventions of the film.