Attracting Audiences and Audience Theories

Film openings must make the tone and key themes of the film obvious to the audience. This allows the audience to be clear on what they are about to see and fall into the correct mood for the film. They should given enough information, in order to know how the film is starting and often give information about main characters, but only a little information so that the audience is desperate to find out more and continue watching. 

Different audiences theories allow us to understand the different ways in which a film can be received and interpreted. Those theories are:

The Hypodermic Needle Theory

This suggests that audiences can be affected and manipulated by what they are shown in films. They take the film exactly as it is. This can be good for certain films, as they can be made very simple and still be received well, as the audience are viewing it purely for entertainment. It therefore does not require any complex plots, which have to be figured out. However, it can also be bad for certain films, because it suggests that certain beliefs and attitudes, in films, are 'injected' into the audience. These can then be very damaging, as can lead to audience members recreating certain parts of films (especially children, which a clear example of would be the James Bulger murder).

e.g War of The Worlds

This film is just simply entertainment for some, but it has been known to be taken as truth by some people, who went on to believe the world would be invaded by martians.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory

This theory says that audiences participation in film is more active. It too suggests that audiences do watch the films to be entertained, but it then goes a bit further. It suggests that audiences also engage with the films stories, such as relationships, and can identify with them. Audiences go to watch certain films because they can relate to them and/or want to to compare the situations to their own lives. Films may also be watched to gain information and be educated.

e.g. Mean Girls

This film successfully appeals to it's target audience of teenagers and young people because it is about high school and the different types of people and experiences that go on there. This is very relatable for almost every young person, particularly females, so they are likely to go and watch it, because they can relate it to their own lives.

The Reception Theory

This theory also suggests that audiences participation goes further than just entertainment. It says that media is encoded by the producers. They put lots of different pieces of information in, throughout a film and the audience's job is to decode all that information in order to understand it fully. This leads to there being more than one way to receive the same film. It is how each audience member, individually, decodes and receives the information, which determines how each person experiences the film.



These theories will help me when I come to try and target an audience for my film opening. It will make me and my group aware of exactly what we put in the opening, because we want it to achieve a desired effect, in order to attract and interest our audience.