Audience Theory

MUSIC VIDEO

1. Who is your target audience? How did you choose this audience?
Teenagers aged 13-16. The genre of music will appeal mostly to them along with the video concept.

2. (a) What expectations (gratifications) might they have of your text?
-LINEAR MODELS
-HYPODERMIC SYRINGE THEORY (might not be relevant - more active audiences now instead of passive)
-TWO STEP FLOW
From the start the audience would expect the video to produce a fun / playful mood and a story involving the camper van that matches the lyrics in the song.
(b) How have you tried to meet these expectations?
I tried to meet these expectations by creating a journey for the toy camper van which is the story, matching music / lyrics to visuals and introducing a concept for the fun / playful mood.
(c) What is their motivation for accessing texts like yours? (uses)
A different approach to creating a music video produced something original and new for an audience with the same elements that would be expected to be seen.
-USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY (also out dated - more than four uses now)
DIVERSION - the fun feel of the video allows an audience to forget about everyday life and just enjoy watching something care-free. Because of the location is a familiar setting (inside a house) the audience can relate to this and feel involved in the video by perhaps imagining the toy camper van in their own home.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS - The target audience would be the people watching the video therefore they can talk about it amongst each other.
-MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
SOCIAL - linking to personal relationships in Uses and Gratifications the target audience is able to talk about the video among each other and friends. By talking about this other members of the target audience will be accepted.

3. Under Stuart Hall's theory what type of 'reading' might your target audience give to your text?
-STUART HALL 'PREFERRED READINGS'
Dominant
Negotiated
Oppositional
Aberrant
My target audience would probably give my text a negotiated 'reading'. This would be due to it not being a typical music video in the sense that it involves a concept and no actual performance. Although it was my intention to not include a band performance, my target audience still might expect to see one which could be where they disagree. However, they should enjoy the story, concept and song which is the part they hopefully will agree with.