AUDIENCE essay

AUDIENCE: (MUSIC VIDEO)

Before producing the music video, finding the right target audience was fundamental. In order to find this audience, I had to look at the different categories and stereotypes of the type of audience the concept of my music video would fit in to. For example, the for the representation of the artist I created had a 'role model' figure who would be looked up to by those in their 'teen ages' such as 15+, however, due to her appeal of being attractive and of her own age, young adults would also relate to the artist. Another area we looked at for our target audience were 'gender', what particular gender would it appeals to? Well from research and personal opinion I found that from both male and female would be interested for different and similar reasons. For example, The 'Gaze' which is argued by Laura Mulvey as the female body is displayed for the male gaze in order to provide erotic pleasure for the male (voyeurism). Women are seen as more of an object; therefore men are likely to be more interested in the video and artist because of this. In order for this to be achieved, the artist was objectified by the camera lens for the audience to view the artist in a masculine point of view. Women and girls would be more interested because of the 'role model' fact, and also through the sense of identity and relation between the artist and their experiences.

According to uses and gratification theory as an audience we all have different uses for media and we make choices over what we want to watch. For two of the reasons that McQuail has identified that relate to the uses and gratifications that target the audience of my production are ‘personal identity’ which is regarding the fact that we use may watch something for models for our behaviour (identifying with characters or artists). For example, the background narrative to our artists life may be similar to an ordinary member of society therefore through watching our music video that member may feel that they can relate also through the use of lyrics. This is where the audience can build up emotion and identify themselves. The second is for ‘entertainment’ where the audience watch for enjoyment, relaxation or to fill the time. In particular the music video would be very appealing for the audience because of the choice of music/song along with the visuals and lyrics. The effect which these both have on the audience is the way in which we interpret the media and how we act upon it. From a personal view seen as the target audience was from my age range of eighteen, I was able to understand and relate to how the music video would make me feel and what I would particularly enjoy from the video. This was also done through Hartley’s idea of institutions and the consumers being able to understand what the audience want by looking at existing trends, style and preferences. Also I wanted to create the idea of escapism and making the music video more visually appealing with the use of locations and ‘hyperreal’ effect becoming absorbed with the media text and its way of escaping reality.

There is a such thing as the ‘Two step flow’ theory that suggests we are more likely to be affected by the media if we discuss it with others, our opinions are affected by the way our friends etc have viewed the media (known as ‘opinion leaders’ and the influence media has on our behaviour (whether it controls and changes us).

As a whole an active audience will adopt one of three readings whether it be a preferred reading (understanding and accepting the ideology offered), negotiated reading (understanding ideology offered, accepts some aspects but rejects other aspects) or the oppositional (audience interpret the ideology offered in an opposite way than it intended). Hall’s theory is based on how a producer will encode a text for the audience to decode it.  Their reading is affected by many contextual and personal factors such as age, social status, gender, current mood and personal experiences. To achieve this, I used a female artist who was young independent, attractive women who is represented as powerful; she was seen is in many locations of London at night with the lights and energy. This would suggest to the female audience that women are powerful and can be independent.

From Ang’s view, being able to select a specific target audience is getting harder because of the diverse categories in which audiences is segregated and differentiated from others. So when it came to distinguishes the target audience of my production I had to partake in thorough research on age, gender, social class and the possible stereotypes.

Lastly, in the idea of Frankfurt and the Hypodermic needle theory ideas, attitudes and beliefs are injected into audience’s minds. This theory shows that the audience are completely passive and powerless to resist. This idea was used to control audiences equalling to benefitting capitalism and the government. In my production, I aimed to achieve the effect of power and a method promoting the artist through exciting visual content and the hyper real state in which the artist is presented in the video.

As a whole I believe I successfully achieved the right target audience through approaching the theorists and applying them to my work.