The theory explains that the audience is 'injected' with ideas, attitudes and beliefs through media text, the audience are without resistance and are overall powerless so have no choice but to be influenced by it. So when you see something you may go and do it yourself or something similar. The hypodermic needle suggests that we are manipulated by the media text we are also powerless to refuse this theory/idea which in turn makes it easier for our thoughts to be changed by the media makers.
that is why films like 'The Exorcist' and 'Clockwork Orange' were banned at fist because it was believe that they may influence people to carry out similar crimes that are shown in them.
However no one has claimed that everyone will be affected by the media texts in the same way, and because of this reason many people see this theory as simplistic due to the fact that it doesn't speak for everyone individually. But it is so popular because people are looking for explanations as to why people act in violent ways and so this seems to be the best theory to try and explain that.
The Cultivation Theory
This theory is a more refined version of the hypodermic needle effect. It has also been referred to as the drip drip drip effect, explaining how rather than being injected with information the audience are on a slow drip feed, it suggests that if a message is repeated over a long period of time then the audience will be effected by it, it suggests that if you watch violence for years and years it will make people less sensitive towards it and one media text does not have that much affect. This process is referred to as desensitisation. But still this theory is very difficult to actually prove. Most people have a general sense that the media has an affect on there behaviour but it is extremely difficult to actually prove how much a piece of media text can affect its audience. So even though this theory can not be proved it does not mean there is not truth in it.
Two Step flow Theory
Mass media has become an essential part of life within society everywhere and did not reduce populations to a mass of unthinking drones and new and more sophisticated explanation was invented. Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet analysed the voters decision making processes in 1940 during the presidential election campaign, they then published there findings in the newspaper "The Peoples Choice'. Their results showed that information does not flow directly form the text in to the audeinces' minds unmediated instead it is filtered through 'opinion leaders' who have a major influence on the final reading, they then mediate this information from the media with the ideas and thoughts that have been expressed by the opinion leaders. This means that the audience do not gain there own opinion instead they gain the information and are influenced by the media. So they are not being influenced by a direct process but instead by a two step flow.
This means that that social factors play a part in the way an audience interpret a media text. which is sometimes referred to as 'The Limited Effects Paradigm'.
Uses and Gratification
this theory is probably the mot important one of them all. This theory explains how everyone has different uses for media text and the individual makes choice on what they want to watch. What this means this that when we watch a media text we expect to gain something for it:some kind of gratification not just mindless entertainment.
The uses and gratification model shows how an individual has the power to select the media text that suits them best and what she will be able to gain from it. The psychological part of this model is the Hierarchy of Needs by Maslow.
1. Information-this is where we want to find out about society in the world and therefore satisfy our curiosity. This can be done through the new and documentaries which both help us learn about the world we live in.
2. Personal identity- We may sometimes watch the television to look for models for our own behaviours. So we may identify with certain characters we see in soaps, they then help us to decide whether or not we agree with their actions and what we feel about ourselves, and also when they succeed in something we feel better about ourselves.
3.Integration and Social Interaction- The media is a source for us to find out more about other peoples lives and circumstances. We are able to empathise and sympathise wit the lives of others in watching show which in turn could get us thinking about the characters in the show as friends, and could therefore help us get on better with out real friends.
4. Entertainment-Sometimes we watch media text simply for the entertainment, relaxation or just to pass the time.
Out of all of these descriptions i believe that the one that applies to my trailer is 'entertainment' This is because when people watch my sort of trailer they watch it for entertainment and are seeking for something interested to watch. My genre appeals to and is watched most by people who want to be scared or have an adrenaline rush while watching the movie. Also my type of genre evokes peer influence, what i mean by this is that some people have a need to prove themselves to their friends/peers by going to watch a scary movie. This is particularly evident in men as if they have seen a particular horror movie it could suggest to them that they are 'fearless'
Films such as Paranormal Activity from 2011/12 show that the horror genre has a realistic essence to it, this has been influenced by films such as the Blare Witch project in 1999. Many psychological horrors as now set in houses and/or filmed with handheld cameras this makes the entire experience more realistic due to the shots, settings and characters. Audiences nowadays tend to watch horror and need psychological horror as a form of gratification.
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