RESEARCH: AUDIENCES

You are familiar with much of this material on audience models of behaviour, reception theory, audience segmentation and audience research. 

Start by making a blog post with text and images for each point (will become a slide / section) in the right order. Keep each section to the point. You are not writing a novel. You are proving that you have done the research.

When the writing is done, you will present it all crisply using an appropriate presentational tool (such as infographic, Emaze, Slideshare). The aim is to demonstrate to the moderator that you know about theoretical frameworks and about how producers target audiences. 

At the same time, the exercise will help you revise for the A2 exam Section A question 1b (audience).

CONTENT.  You should cover:

1 - AUDIENCE: A KEY CONCEPT
All media texts are produced with an audience in mind - that is to say a group of people who will receive the text and make some sort of sense out of it.
Understanding audience research will help me plan my own production.
So audience is part of the media equation – a product is produced and an audience receives it. Television producers need an audience for their programmes, so they can finance those programmes and make more programmes that the audience likes. Advertisers need an audience who will see or hear their advertisements and then buy the products.
A media text is planned with a particular audience in mind. A television producer has to explain to the broadcasting institution (e.g. BBC or ITV) who is the likely audience for this particular programme.
Are they under 25 years old or older, mainly male or mainly female, what are they interested in? The television audience varies throughout the day and night, and television and radio broadcast for 24 hours, seven days a week. How do we know who is watching or listening at any one time? This is where audience research becomes important. 
A media producer has to know who is the potential audience, and as much about them as possible.
My  next task is to create / devise / design an audience profile for my own production

2 - AUDIENCE PROFILING

TYPES OF AUDIENCE RESEARCH

Audience profiling such as socioeconomics,demographics, psychographics  

A common and traditional method of audience research is known as demographics. This defines the adult population largely by the work that they do. It breaks the population down into 6 groups, and labels them by using a letter code to describe the income and status of the members of each group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PSYCHOGRAPHICS (above) is a way of describing an audience by looking at the behaviour and personality traits of its members. Psychographics labels a particular type of person and makes an assessment about their viewing and spending habits.
The advertising agency Young and Rubican invented a successful psychographic profile known as their 4C’s Marketing Model http://www.4cs.yr.com The 4 Cs stand for Cross Cultural Consumer Characterisation. They put the audience into groups with labels that suggest their position in society

 

3 - AUDIENCES AS PASSIVE (4 items)

THE MEDIA EFFECTS MODEL

The media effects (hypodermic syringe) model

STUDIES USED TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTS MODEL 

Bobo doll (Albert Bandura, 1961); 

MORAL PANICS

What are moral panics? 

THE ROLE OF THE MEDIA IN MORAL PANICS

Read The Guardian article. What films have been implicated in producing copycat crime? 

 

4 - ADORNO AND THE CULTURE INDUSTRY

For Theodore Adorno,  advertising creates false needs. Adorno (1903-69) argued that capitalism fed people with the products of a 'culture industry' - the opposite of 'true' art - to keep them passively satisfied and politically apathetic.

Adorno suggested that culture industries churn out a debased mass of unsophisticated, sentimental products which have replaced the more 'difficult' and critical art forms which might lead people to actually question social life.

False needs are cultivated in people by the culture industries. These are needs which can be both created and satisfied by the capitalist system, and which replace people's 'true' needs - freedom, full expression of human potential and creativity, genuine creative happiness.

Products of the culture industry may be emotional or apparently moving, but Adorno sees this as cathartic - we might seek some comfort in a sad film or song, have a bit of a cry, and then feel restored again.

5 - AUDIENCES AS ACTIVE (3 items)

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

We learn about higher order needs using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Where does popular culture sit in this debate?

 

 

 

 

WHY AUDIENCES CONSUME TEXTS: THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS MODEL

We look at different models of audience behaviour. Mediaknowall will remind you of what we discussed.
The uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour (Blumler and Katz, 1974)

THE TWO-STEP FLOW MODEL

Katz and Lazarsfeld assumes a slightly more active audience. It suggests messages from the media move in two distinct ways.

First, individuals who are opinion leaders, receive messages from the media and pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content.

The information does not flow directly from the text into the minds of its audience, but is filtered through the opinion leaders who then pass it on to a more passive audience.
The audience then mediate the information received directly from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by the opinion leaders, thus being influenced not by a direct process, but by a two step flow.
This theory appeared to reduce the power of the media, and some researchers concluded that social factors were also important in the way in which audiences interpret texts. This led to the idea of active audiences.

 

6 -RECEPTION THEORY 

STUART HALL AND CULTURAL STUDIES

RECEPTION THEORY focuses on the scope in textual analysis for 'negotiation' and 'opposition' on the part of the audience. This means that a text ( a book, film, advert, poster or other creative work) is not passively accepted by the audience but that the reader / viewer interprets the meanings of the texts based on their individual cultural background and life experiences.
Stuart Hall’s encoding decoding model; dominant, negotiated and oppositional readings; why Hall says he studies culture instead of media specifically, and media hegemony. Audiences are no longer considered passive recipients.

 

 

7 - EXIT POLLS 

The BFI carries out exit polls to assess audience response at film screenings. Here is one example (name, director, date).

 

8 - THE ROLE OF THE BBFC

We look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, dangerous and easily imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, and violence when making decisions. The theme of the work is also an important consideration. We also consider context, the tone and likely impact of a work on the potential audience.

 

 

G322 INTRODUCTION TO THE FILM INDUSTRY

Section B of your media exam for module B322 is on Institutions and Audiences.
This means Hollywood and national cinema (institutions) and the distribution of films.
It also means considering global, international, national and niche audiences, as well as you and your generation (audiences).

We look at Hollywood the Big Six and Dalecki's 4S megafranchise model: 

• The 'big 6' Hollywood studios chase mass mainstream audiences often with formulaic films that Dalecki called 'the 4S megafranchise model' (synergy, story, spectacle, sequalization). Hollywood is renowned for producing blockbusters with strong narratives, often part of a sequel, usually with larger than life characters, using exciting, complex sets often in exotic or extravagant locations
• Distributors target audiences via an interconnected web of companies which all promote the film as a package of products. This is synergy (Give as many details as possible from our Case study Avengers and from Disney's Frozen).

By contrast, we look at national cinema and how British films may lean towards social issues, with a focus on individuals, such as Ken Loach's I, Daniel Blake
Working Title Films such as The Theory of Everything

• You  offered examples of British film such as The Imitation Game 
• Working Title productions capitalize successfully on a particular vision of Britain that is readily marketable internationally, such as literary adaptations (Tinker Tailor), period drama/ history (Mary Queen Of Scots 2014) , romcom (About Time), humour (Jonny English and World's End), characters (Legend, Rush) . Bridget Jones's Baby (2014) illustrates how WT uses Hollywood model of sequels, unsurprising as its parent company is Universal.

Our aim is to cover all aspects of the OCR specification for G322 Section B:

Audiences essay 18.12.12
Media Ownership essay 23.04.13
Impact of ownership on range of products available 29.03.15
Impact of digital technology on film industry 07.12.12

G322 INTRODUCTION TO AUDIENCE THEORY

Why do audiences consume media texts? We look at different models of audience behaviour. Mediaknowall will remind you of what we discussed.

• The uses and gratifications model of audience behaviour (Blumler and Katz, 1974)
• The media effects (hypodermic syringe) model
• The two-step flow model

In your exam, you must refer to your own media consumption. You also must refer to trends. The two may well go together as young people are often early adopters of new technology.
The OCR specification requires you to mention:

In class, you offer examples of your own film consumption, such as Netflix and online viewing, as well as what draws you into cinemas. You will need to offer specific examples, such as 

• specific trailers drawing you in, 
• VFX in Hollywood blockbusters, 
• picking sequels such as The Hunger Games, LOTR, The Avengers, Bond,
• what you watch online.

REPRESENTATION and NARRATIVE VIEWPOINT

The Kanizsa triangle: what do you see?

The Guardian newspaper advertisement (here) shows the power of the Kanizsa triangle effect on storytelling by demonstrating how we automatically create stories based on the limited information we have available.

A very clever piece of advertising aimed at making the viewer look at the wider picture.
Played out in black and white, a skinhead turns on a street corner and runs at speed towards a man with a briefcase.

Look at the next example of ingenious treatment of narrative  which takes a children's story The Three Little Pigs and treats it as live news delivered with a vast range of new technology.

PRELIM

Your work today is filming and for PREP editing your prelim, then posting the account plus the final cut.

PRACTICAL PHOTOGRAPHY

You familiarize yourselves with the Canon cameras, Manfrotto tripods and the dolly. You take still shots and video.

G322 TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF TV DRAMA

Exam paper taken from January 2010. Extract from Hotel Babylon HERE

Question:

1   Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs representations of ethnicity using the following:

  • Camera shots, angles, movement and composition

  • Editing

  • Sound 

 • Mise-en-scene [50]

The way to gain full marks is by doing 3 steps (identify technical term, give example, analyse / explain / argue).
Here is an example:
1. First, identify the technical term (close-up, tracking shot, dialogue, zoom, rapid straight cuts....)
2. Then, give the example in detail ('The close- up of Paul's concerned face shows his emotions: he is seriously worried about hyperglycemia as his medical training alerts him to the seriousness of his condition.')
3. Finally, bring in the focus of the question ('This shows the audience that despite working as a hotel cleaner, he is much better qualified than he seems, as he is a doctor, but is forced to work in a low-paid, insecure job because of his precarious status as an illegal immigrant from the African subcontinent').



PREP Complete the exam answer by next Tuesday's class. 
Print off / hand in on paper (please do any printing before the lesson).
Hand in earlier if you wish. 

MEDIA LANGUAGE

For film language discussing textual analysis, look at the Specification here (page 18)

There are many other websites that have glossaries as well as books that have indexes, such as the OCR textbook
For example, http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/medstudhglossary_tcm4-168240.pdf
 http://www.mediacollege.com/glossary/
http://media.edusites.co.uk/ 
http://brianair.wordpress.com/film-theory/glossary-of-media-terminology/
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/subjects/media-studies
/glossary/

HOW OPENING SEQUENCES FUNCTION

We complete the analysis of the title sequence of Nowhere Boy (dir. Sam Taylor-Wood 2011). You do this research and present it to prove that you're properly prepared to make your own film opening.
Return to your work and check that you have noted:

• how location and genre are indicated in the establishing shot, 
• the institutional information about producers and funding, 
• the use of the soundtrack - the rock n'roll era and the lyrics 'you're a real wild child'
• the director's name. 
• You also note how theme is introduced ( Lennon as defiant, rule-breaking innovator; Lennon as rising to the insult that he will 'go nowhere'). When are the top billing actors named?
• The overall style is significant and carefully crafted to complement the genre and theme. For example, typography, lighting, colour palette, imagery, cinematography, editing. (Nowhere Boy is a biopic so the lighting is naturalistic.)
• Note how the audience's interest is engaged and the main narrative launched.

MediaEdu is a useful online resource to which I subscribe:

Functions of the Title Sequence

The functions of the title sequence in a film may seem to be fairly obvious. They are designed to tell the audience the names of the people and organisations involved with the making of the film and in this respect they do the job well.
Irrespective of the genre, there is a conventional way of presenting this information in the credit sequence. This information and the order in which it is presented follows a standard format. Later in this study we will be looking more closely at the title sequence in a James Bond film but by way of introduction, we will look at the conventional way of presenting information as shown in the title sequence to the 1978 film Superman.

Codes and Conventions

• The producer’s name will generally be the first to appear followed by the word ‘presents.’ This is because the producer is the person who takes overall responsibility for the planning and the production of all aspects of the film; it is in fact, the producer’s film to offer to us.
• It is usual for the next screen to show the name of the director who is responsible for the artistic and creative elements of the film. In the case of Superman, the next names to appear are those of two of the actors. This is because they receive top billing; they are being used to attract an audience. Generally, only people who have the ability to attract an audience, such as the well known “A List” actors will find their names featuring so prominently on either the credits or the film posters.
•  Interestingly, neither of these two actors play the title role as the actor who did, Christopher Reeve, was nowhere near as well known as either of these two actors who by comparison had much smaller roles.
• In this example, we next see the director’s name followed by the title.
• We then move on to the other actors in the film, starting in this case with Christopher Reeve, the actor who plays the title role. The film then lists a further 11 supporting actors alphabetically before switching to the actors with smaller parts who are paired and move off the screen much more quickly. In all, 17 actors’ names appear in the opening sequence.
• After this, significant members of the crew receive their billing.
• The final name to appear before the film commences is always the director’s.
• However, once this conventional approach has been established, there is nothing to stop alternative approaches which challenge these conventions. In some films such as the 2006 film Poseidon, the opening credits are shown over action from the film, thus the credit sequence serves also as an establishing sequence in which we are introduced to the setting of the film and some of the characters.

PRELIMINARY

PLANNING A TITLE SEQUENCE

Opening and closing Titles (Title Sequences: Function With Form) (Motion Graphic Titling) 

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When you are starting to work on your opening titles, you might want to organize the credit information you receive from the client and begin a rough sketch of how the titles will unfold over time (also called animatics). The following terminology and concepts will help you organize your work and facilitate the communication between you and your client. When we talk about a title card, we refer to a screen that displays the credit information of the cast and/or crew. Titles and title cards can be distinguished as follows: •    A single title card contains one name credit. A single title card is typically used in opening titles to display the name of the lead actors and the creative people involved in the movie (director, producers, writer, cinematographer, composer). These are generally referred to as the above-the-line credits.
•    A double title card contains two name credits. A double title card typically is used to display the names of supporting actors and additional creative people involved in the movie.
•    A triple title card contains three name credits. A triple title card is typically used to display the names of additional supporting actors.
•    A multiple title card contains more than three name credits. A multiple title card is typically used to name additional supporting actors or extras.

•    A main title card displays the main title of the movie.
•    Scrolling titles are titles that move sequentially in and out of frame, generally used as end titles. End scrolling titles usually repeat the credits of the opening titles (the talent credits of the opening titles are reorganized either in order of appearance or alphabetically) and then display the below-the-line full crew and cast credits: the special effects, props, soundtrack, equipment and location rentals, film stock, and so on. A title designer can create the design and layout of the text blocks, but if digital scrolling titles are needed (as opposed to a film-out), some companies in Hollywood specialize in digital scrolling titles that avoid flickering type and look nice and smooth.
•    A lower third is a title placed on the lower-third of the screen (although there might be other screen placements you could consider), generally used to display the information—name and title—of a person being interviewed or a location.
•    Subtitles are titles placed on the lower-third part of the screen (or sometimes on the top of the screen to avoid covering relevant information on-screen or previously existing lower thirds). These are generally used to translate dialogue in another language.
•    Intertitles are title cards that display the time, place, prologue, or quotes. In silent films, an intertitle is often used to convey minimal dialogue or information that can’t be deduced from the talent’s body language or the scene’s settings.

Figure 1.3 Title card examples.
Depending on the type of movie you are working with (home movie, independent flick, Hollywood movie, or something else), the order in which the credits in opening and closing titles appear on-screen and their font size, especially in large-budget productions, are greatly determined by the talent’s contracts, union contracts, and industry conventions. The designer will have very little (if any) say in that. For example, a clause in a talent’s contract might dictate that his credit shouldn’t be in a smaller font size than the one of the main title card. A different clause in another talent’s contract might dictate that her title card be the first one, regardless of who else acts in the film.
Also, depending on the film’s domestic and international distribution, you might have to composite different studio logos at the head of your title sequence. Or you might even have to deliver a version of your title sequence without any text so that English titles can be replaced by titles in another language.
As you’re approaching designing a title sequence, you should obtain any pertinent information about the talent or distribution contracts that might affect the title cards’ order or text size.

Avoiding Typos

Typos are the one mistake you want to avoid while working on a title sequence. After you worked long and hard on a film or a TV show, would you want your name to be spelled wrong? I don’t think so. The following are a series of tips that will help you avoid a number of headaches and keep your clients happy.
•    Ask the client to give you a digital file containing the typed credits of the movie, with numbered title cards. For example:
1.    XYZ logo
2.    ABC logo
3.    DFG production presents
4.    A film by First Name Last Name
5.    With First Name Last Name
6.    And First Name Last Name … and so on.
•    Avoid typing anything else; use only the typed information with which you’ve been provided.
•    Copy and paste the names from the file the client provided you with into the software you’re using to create the title cards.

•    Check the titles often for accidental letters you might have inserted from using common keyboard shortcuts (for example, in Illustrator, watch out for extra f’s from using the Type tool or i/’s from using the Selection tool). When you are pasting your title card text in your software and then pressing a keyboard shortcut, it’s possible that instead of changing to a different tool you are actually typing an unwanted letter in the text box.
•    When you’re ready to show your title cards to your client, send the actual stills of your project file for review. Don’t send an early version or alternate versions; simply send the stills taken from the latest version of the actual project you are working on. There are a number of quick ways to accomplish this task. You could take a snapshot of the title cards directly from the software interface or from your rendered QuickTime file, or you could even export a digital still frame from your software and then email or fax it to your client for approval.

Next post: The Video and Film workflow (Title Sequences: Function With Form) (Motion Graphic Titling)

Previous post: Title Sequence Style, integration, and Transitions (Title Sequences: Function With Form) (Motion Graphic Titling) Part 3

THE PURPOSE OF AN OPENING SEQUENCE

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RESEARCH: TRELLO

Today you started using Trello which is an organizational tool that will help you keep track of what you need to do and what you have done. This is my example. 
We will create a new Trello post for Planning, then one for Construction, then one for Evaluation.

September: Research
October: Planning
November and December: Construction
January: Evaluation

RESEARCH: ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING OF NOWHERE BOY

In your end of year exam, Section A is the analysis of representation in television drama. An unseen clip will be screened four times.
You are expected to analyse and discuss the technical aspect of the language and conventions of moving image in the extract's representation of individuals, places, groups and events.

• camera shots, angles, movement, composition
• editing
• sound
• mise-en-scene

 You will be asked to discuss how these technical elements create specific representations of individuals, groups, events or places and help to articulate specific messages and values that have social significance. Particular areas of representation that may be chosen are:

•Gender

•Age

•Ethnicity

•Sexuality

•Class and status

•Physical ability/disability

We watch Nowhere Boy (directed by Sam Taylor Wood, 2009) and analyse the visual codes (camera angles, camera movement, shot types) and sound (dialogue and soundtrack).
We use technical codes (the language of moving image).

We note the exam mark scheme for a grade A response:

• use of terminology (8-10 marks)
• use of examples (16-20 marks)
• analysis, explanation, argument (16-20 marks)

We practise from the very start formulating responses that cover these three elements in the order given above. We note just how precise  and detailed our points must be: similar to PEE in your Englsh examination technique (point, evidence, explanation).

Posted by Media@Claremont at 12:32

RESEARCH: THE ART OF THE TITLE

We watch then analyse Sherlock Holmes opening sequence, drawing attention to the following:

• GENRE  how it is signalled
• TITLES  who is mentioned in the credits and how the credits are presented
• PRODUCTION COMPANY
• MISE-EN-SCENE period, colours, props
• EDITING sound and vision
• NARRATIVE and CHARACTERS how is the audience drawn in

PREP You are going to do textual analysis of an opening sequence. Use PowerPoint which we will take into SlideShare when it is ready.

You may find it easiest to use the 9 frames selected in The Art Of The Title and analyse each frame in a separate slide in PowerPoint.
Start with a screenshot of the nine frames together with the title of the film.
Then copy/paste the first frame into slide 2 and use one of the bullet points above to analyse it. 
The examiner is looking for 'critical awareness'. This means analysis not just description (why it is done like that).