Audience response

Learning objectives:


Key words: Stuart Hall

The positioning of audiences by media texts suggests that the audiences shouls accept the messages contained within the text and decode the text in the way expected by the text's producers. However, audiences do not all respond to the texts in the same way.
They may accept or challenge the messages encoded within the text.
Stuart Hall accepted that audiences were active, not passive and suggested that there were three main ways in which audiences may respond to a media text.

There are a few important things to remember about the three different positions that we can take.

Preferred Reading

Is not just about 'liking' a text - you must understand what the purpose of a text is and agree with its ideologies and the messages it carries.

Oppositional Reading

Is not just 'disliking' a text - there are many reasons why someone may take an oppositional reading - but whatever these reasons are, the audience member must understand what the intentions of the text are, but reject them.

Negotiated Reading

Can be the case whereby an audience member agrees with some ideologies and not others, but it can also be the case where the audience doesn't fully understand the intentions of the text - or is confused about the purpose of the text.

Task 1:

Discuss reasons for the three different possible readings of the Trailer below.

* This can be a specific example for discussion in the exam

Learning objectives:


Key words: Stuart Hall

The positioning of audiences by media texts suggests that the audiences shouls accept the messages contained within the text and decode the text in the way expected by the text's producers. However, audiences do not all respond to the texts in the same way.
They may accept or challenge the messages encoded within the text.
Stuart Hall accepted that audiences were active, not passive and suggested that there were three main ways in which audiences may respond to a media text.

There are a few important things to remember about the three different positions that we can take.

Preferred Reading

Is not just about 'liking' a text - you must understand what the purpose of a text is and agree with its ideologies and the messages it carries.

Oppositional Reading

Is not just 'disliking' a text - there are many reasons why someone may take an oppositional reading - but whatever these reasons are, the audience member must understand what the intentions of the text are, but reject them.

Negotiated Reading

Can be the case whereby an audience member agrees with some ideologies and not others, but it can also be the case where the audience doesn't fully understand the intentions of the text - or is confused about the purpose of the text.

Task 1:

Discuss reasons for the three different possible readings of the trailer below.

Bullet points.
* This text can be one of your specific examples for the exam.

Candidates are expected to refer to three texts within each answer but it is not expected that the texts will be referred to equally.

Audiences - Positioning

Learning objectives:
To consider how audiences have been positioned in the trailer for the feature film American Sniper.


Key terms: 
Active audience. This describes an audience who responds to and interprets the media texts in different ways and who actively engages with the messages in the ways suggested here.
Passive audiences. This describes an audience that does not engage actively with the text. They are more likely to accept the preferred meaning of the text without challenge.  this also suggests that passive audiences are more likely to be directly affected by the messages contained within the text.

• Encode
• Decode

Audience positioning

Media texts are constructed in order to place audiences in a particular position in relation to that text. Audience positioning concerns the relationship between the text and responses an audience may have to that text.
The producers of the texts encode the text with signs and messages and the audiences decode these messages.
Different audiences will decode the same text in different ways and will therefore have a different response.

The Encoders are those who produce the texts - in the case of a magazine this would involve:

• Editors
• Journalists
• Photographers
• Designers

In question 2C or 3 of the MS1 exam you may be asked to discuss how media texts position audiences.
You must support your points with specific examples.

How do media texts position audiences?

Through the technical codes employed by the text. In a moving image text. the camera shots and angles used place the audience in a particular position.
For example, the use of a close up shot at an emotional time in the narrative may encourage the audience to be sympathetic to that character.
A point of view shot positions the audience as a character and allows them to experience events from that perspective.
This may enhance audience pleasure in the text. However, the positioning may be an uncomfortable one.

For example, the use of an extreme close up shot of a character's face during a tense moment in the narrative may make the audience feel uncomfortable. The camera may take the audience where they do not want to go, for example in a horror film.

Task 1: 
List how you think technical codes used in the trailer for the film American Sniper may position the audience.