Audience

Types of Audiences

• Mass or niche• You may have to consider the age, gender,

demographic profile and socioeconomic.• There are also different types of reactions: a

preferred reading (your intended interpretation), an oppositional reading (someone who didn’t like it) and a negotiated reading (someone who isn’t the target audience but might appreciate it for whatever reason).

Theories

• Cultivation theory – as audiences watch more and more film and TV, they gradually develop certain views about the world (some may be ‘false’).

• Desensitisation – If we, as an audience, are exposed to too much violence for example, we become less sensitive to this is in real life.

• Copycat/ modelling theory- people may imitate what they see in the media.

Theories Continued

• Uses and Gratifications – This is what the audience does with the media – e.g. To gain role models that reflect similar values to their own and to socialise with other people about the media. There are 4 uses and gratifications that the audience obtain – diversion, surveillance, personal relationships and personal identity.

• Reception Theory – The audience use their own personal experiences and cultural knowledge to interpret a text.

Analysis of Cheryl Cole-‘Fight for This Love’

• The typical audience for this video would be fans of the genre pop or Cheryl herself. Dancers and performers may also be a main part of the audience.

• In terms of the modelling theory, as Cheryl is a huge role model for females, they may want to copy and imitate her. This may include wanting to look the way she does by buying similar clothes. For example, her most popular and iconic outfit within the video is her soldier outfit which many people may copy in order to be like her. Others may also learn her dance routine as they may have enjoyed watching the dance in the music video.

• Cheryl’s appearance is an important factor within the video. Some may argue that she is dressed this way as part of ‘the male gaze’ in order to attract male audience members.

• As this was Cheryl’s first music video, it was very popular. This may have lead to people discussing the video, developing personal relationships with each other.

• The video also includes lyrics of the song written on the wall in certain scenes. This may cause the audience to develop a better understanding of the meaning behind the video. Therefore this may have been one of the ways the audience interprets the video.