Audience Research Task

Audience research is important as it sets a genre for audiences to follow. It also tells directors and producers what the audience want in the film so they can entertain their target audience. People that research audiences can tell what is popular at that time, and without the research, it would be hard to keep up with the modern times.

Directors stereotype audiences into categories for example they will look at romantic comedies and think that mostly women watch it, they will look at slapstick and think teenagers mostly watch it, so they will base what they produce on these assumptions. This is called demographics.

There are theories in media that are always put to test in the media world. One of these theories are the Hypodermic Needle Effect. This theory suggests the media is capable of mass manipulation to the public, for example if a story is written in the Sun news paper, the readers would believe it even though they don't know the person or anything about him. Also, if a person is in power like the prime minister, a lot of the public will believe whatever he says to be true.

Another theory is Uses & Gratifications theory. This theory suggests that the audience has a set of needs that are met by the media. The theory places more focus on the audience then the message instead of the actual message itself. They believe that the audience watch the films to get away from their own lives and put their selves within the film, this is a diversion from problems of their own. They form a personal relationship with the characters, and do not distinguish between the actor and characters in real life.

Reception analysis is another theory in which the media text is not passively accepted. Instead, they base what they are watching on their own life story which can be very bad for their own personal relationships. Women turn anorexic trying to get the bodies that they see on screen, they can look at mens bodies and relate it to their own, although through films they are airbrushed and photo shopped to look top quality.




Another theory

Why audience research is important?
How audiences are categorized?
Some key audience theories and which one you think best explains the medias relationship with the audience?
Bibliography?
Filmography?