Audience Theories

Theories that apply to my title sequence

The Hypodermic syringe theory

This theory, also known as the Effects Theory suggests that audiences are passive, and the media is similar to a syringe injecting different and sometimes extreme beliefs, ideas and attitudes into the audiences head. It states that if you watch a violent act in a film or any other form of media you will inevitably go out and do something violent to someone in the real world. The theory assumes that the audience are a powerless mass of mindless zombies that have little choice as to whether they are influenced or not. Since the theory was brought about in the 1920's it is expected to have some outdated aspects such as a man expecting a woman to do the washing up without question, but obviously these aspects do not apply in the world we live in today. The effects theory was used in a case surrounding James Bulgers death in 1933 involving Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who had recently watched Child's play 3. The 3 year old boy was tortured and killed in a similar way to that of one of Chucky's (the antagonist)  victims in the film. However, this like a few other cases concerning criminal acts of violence related to different types of media, could not be proven and was dismissed. Although this example, alone doesn't do justice to the theory, there are results from a scientific experiment conducted in the 1960's that does.

The support for this theory comes from the "Bobo Doll Experiment". In this experiment a group of children were put in the middle of a room on a chair, with an abundance of toys and dolls surrounding them, but they were not allowed to touch or play with any of them. After sitting in this room for a set period of time, the children were released and made to watch a film of adults reacting violently towards a clown doll named Bobo. Once they had concluded watching the film they were lead into another room with Bobo sat on a chair and told they could do whatever they want with the doll, the results were surprising to say the least. It was recorded that 80% of the children followed suit and repeated the action of the adult and 20% didn't do anything. The scientists called the test subjects back in eight moths and ran the same tests again but this time only 40% of children re enacted what they witnessed in the film, the scientists also learned from feedback from the the parents that this 40% acted violently towards their own toys and other children at school or the park.
In order to counteract this possible behaviour due to the influence films can have, we are going to add a warning message/disclaimer at the beginning of our opening sequence, to warn the viewers of the risks when watching our film.

Use and Gratification of Media

The theory was developed by Katz and Blumler and it suggests the audience have psychological and social needs to for fill and they use the media to satisfy said needs and gain gratification. This theory views the audience as active by making motivated choices. This means they use means they use the media for their own personal needs and are not used by the media. The needs are categorised into four sections: Information; Personal Identity; Entertainment and Social Interaction. The categories previously stated are derived from Maslow's hierarchy of  needs, which suggests people are motivated by unsatisfied needs.

Information

This is when someone enjoys learning about new relevant events and conditions in their immediate surroundings, the rest of society and the world. The person using the piece of media may just be doing it because they have a general interest in the topic covered by the media or simply to satisfy their curiosity. They may also be seeking advice on everyday matters and looking for opinions on life choices. This need is mainly filled in by magazines such as the Cosmopolitan, containing beauty tips for women as well as any self help info 'scientifically' proven to make you live a happier more for filling life.

Personal Identity

People may use media as a reinforcement for their personal values and beliefs in a debate to prove that other people feels the same way as they do and that their point is credible. The media may also be used by people to identify their values with other people in the media like celebrities or to find models of behaviour that they would like to replicate. For instance, if a person sees someone helping the elderly or less fortunate people, they will want to help people too. This is why on live events such as Children in Need they enlist the help of popular, liked celebrities to go to less developed countries and help people by giving them basic necessities that we have but they don't. When the audience view this and they really respect the actor or comedian doing it, it entices them to donate money to charity. Due to the examples I have just given, this is going to be the most unlikely reason why people will watch our film.

Entertainment

The audience is watching to either relax or escape from their real life problems, by watching a film, flicking through a magazine or reading an interesting novel. People may use media for intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment. For example, when someone watches a horror film they feel fear inside themselves and get a release of adrenaline giving them a rush. This is why the ability to entertain is extremely important to the horror genre, which is why it more than other genres has kept developing over time. Some people watch to live out their extremely dark fantasy's. This will be the most likely reason for people to watch out title sequence, as the events that take place in horror films can be pretty outlandish and in reality it is rare for it to happen to the general public.

Social interaction

It gives the people using the media an insight into the lives and circumstances of others, creating empathy that they may try to share with friends in their social group, it also help them identify with other people making them feel as though they belong, as they can see similarities with the individuals in the media and themselves. It can help less sociable people form a basis of conversation and social interaction, enabling them to connect with another person whether it be a member of their family or a new friend. For the people with extreme social anxiety the media can become a substitute for real-life companionship, making life a lot easier and more copable.

The Desensitisation theory

I have previously talked about this theory in my slideshow in detail. The theory suggests that the more people are exposed to a certain type of content the less it will shock or surprise them. For example,What frightened people 63 years ago in the "Thing" isn't going to scare people now. To avert our audience from anticipating what is going to happen we will not over use horror film clichés and always keep the audience on their feet.