bowling for columbine  

bowling for columbine is a documentary featuring Michael Moore focusing on the Columbine high school massacre four year's later and how it effected the community of columbine. The event set history in America as two student going to a bowling class in school massacred the schooling killing a total of 13 student's and teachers. The focus of the film is less on the actual event and more about how it effected the community and the law on guns portraying how it is stupid to have such low restricting's on buying guns in America.

In this essay I will be choosing three clips from the film and applying one segment of the reception theory to each clip, These are oppositional, dominate and negotiated. these are the three main reactions by the audience to the film and how it is portrayed

oppositional response

firstly I will be looking into an oppositional response. an oppositional response is questioning what is being said in the footage and completely opposing to what is being said it is having the opposite reaction to what the media want you to have which is why it is called oppositional.

an example of this would be the scene from bowling for columbine with the gun bank the section makes the gun law in America look stupid as if you set up an account with this select bank you get a gun on the spot as it is not only a bank but a licenced gun shop which they keep on site. This is portrayed as being extremely stupid as it is so easy to get guns in America and how it is idiotic to hand them out in a bank as they could just immediately as they are handed over.

But this is not the realty a oppositional response would talk about how manipulative the clip is. The clip is completely different from the realty. in realty it take six weeks for the guns to be delivered where they check out the person to make sure they are suitable to be give a gun this means that the clip is incorrect in the way it is portrayed and the American system does not just hand out guns willy nilly. This would be a response from a oppositional in this case they would be gun enthusiasts.

dominate response

secondly I will be looking at a dominate response. a dominate response is agreeing to what is being said by the media in this case Michael Moore and being passive it is related to the hypodermic needle theory as the viewer will believe every thing being said is true and not question it at all.

This clip features an interview with Michael Moore and a extreme gun enthusiast. The man who he interview's believe that everybody should own a gun as it is their wright to be able to protect them self's. but the point of the clip is to make the man that Michael Moore is interviewing look like a nut job  promoting guns this is shown through his reaction to wanting everybody to have guns and how has a criminal record.

This means the dominate response to this would not be agreeing with the man being interview but agreeing with Michael Moore. Michael Moore does not make his opinion apparent through saying it but the way he interview's and edited this clip he makes it very apparent that he does not agree with the man he interview's. meaning that a passive (dominate response) would go along with it and believe that Michael Moore is wright and they will not debate this or see the opposing side of view as they will believe the media is always wright.

negotiated response

finally I will be looking a negotiated response. A negotiated response is having a bit of both dominate and oppositional. This normally that they will agree with some parts of what is being said by the media but disagree with some parts of the clip. Sometimes It means that the viewer will not be sure whether they agree or disagree and understand both parts of the argument.

This clip is about the artist Marylyn Manson and how the community mainly blamed him for the columbine massacre, this is because the music he produces which is very raw and outgoing,  Marilyn  Manson's lyrics where believed to be very influential to the two boys involved in the shooting. This relates to a negotiated response because some viewers might relate saying It could of had a small influence on two boys as Marylyn  mason's lyrics are provocative but it was the two boys fault that they committed the crime not the singers as he only produces music  and was not the sole course. This response is seeing both angle's of the dominate and oppositional view point neither agreeing or disagreeing.

understand how media audiences respond to media products 6.3

hypodermic needle theory

hypodermic needle theory also known as the magic bullet, it is the belief that the audience are completely passive towards the media and they will believe and act on what ever the media tells them be it through TV, radio or newspapers.

the purpose is any media message is directly received by the audience and then totally acted upon by every body watching not just the target audience as their is none. This implies that the media has a huge impact on everybody watching. It was mainly relevant in the 40's to 50's this is because their was very few sources of media so you could not double check the information to find out weather it is truthful or not, meaning that the audience believed everything that the media said.

It is called the hypodermic needle theory because it is meant to be figuratively injecting viewer with message that they  believe so it goes strait in and the viewer replicates it.

Their are some huge disadvantage to this theory this is because it is massively out of date people have their own opinions and as shown in later theory's different people will have different reactions to different form's of the media.

A example for this would be the world war propaganda post to the left. The poster is calling Hitler the devil and saying to beat him you have to buy victory bonds. victory or war bonds was where the people would lend money to the government for 5 to 10 years and then be paid back with interest once the war was over. This is using the hypodermic needle theory as the person who designed this wants the viewer to believe exactly what is being said in the poster this is shown how the Hitler is portrayed as the devil. Which means the designer wants him to be portrayed as a bad man. And saying you can defiantly beat him buy getting victory bonds. This is incorrect as buying these bonds would of only aided the war to ensured its success which is what the designer is trying to portray. This means the government are relying on the hypodermic needle theory to get war bonds as if the theory was not true the audience would not believe what is being said in the poster.

reception theory.

The reader's response to a text or  their interpretation of what is being said. e.g. on reader could have a different reaction to a story (integration of) then another reader.

their are three main types of reaction

oppositional reading: it is literally opposing to what is being said in the media. (not agreeing and responding)

dominate reading: this is when a reader or watcher is passive to what is being said they will listen to what ever is being said and believe it is right and true.

negotiated reading: this is when a reader or a watcher will accept what is being said but have their own opinion on the matter it may be completely different or very similar.
an example of this could be the viewers reaction to Donald trump being elected as president of the united states. they will react in three main ways one would be dominate as I explained earlier they would be passive this means in this example they would be glad that Donald trump is president as they would believe it is the right thing that happened and argue to people with apposing views about it. Then their are negotiated readers who would argue for and against this would/

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1bM5AmMD_baJeeV637YBNGcFhrgXVy6L3-DoL9o1fBIY/edit?usp=sharing

uses and gratifications theory

uses and gratifications is sort of opposite to the hypodermic needle theory. This is because it is the idea that the audience is in control and they seek to find what they desire to see in the media. To explain more an example would be if a viewer wanted to learn about world war to in a comic fashion they would seek at documentary or TV show which would educate them in this (entertain) such as black adder.

uses and gratifications theory being applied means that the viewer is completely in control of every part of the media that they watch. The theory is used practically in the media to find out how and why people actively seek out certain section's of the media to find out what goes through the viewers head so the media can promote their media more appropriately. An example of this would be a action film company trying to find out why a viewer went to see their film whether it was to see big explosions. or they wanted a thrill. Some reasons are more specific it is about "what people do with the media" instead of "what the media does to people" this suggests their are certain reason's why people seek different parts of the media

passive and active audience consumption

The passive and active audience consumption theory is very similar to the hypodermic needle theory

and the uses and gratification theory the idea is that the audience fall under two segments they are ether passive or active. passive means that they will absorb the information being said by the media and not question it just like the hypodermic needle theory but less direct.

active means that they will question what is being said by the media and discuss it. an example of this in the present day would be the news telling the country about how the UK are leaving the EU. This relates to the theory because some people would have not cared or agreed and just sat and absorbed this information just so they where up to date with politics (this is being passive). But an active response would be hearing the information and doing something about it. this could be just have a debate with their friends about it or going on a posting frenzy on social media talking about it online and trying to do something to change the decision such as set up a vote on the .gov website.

In this easy i will be looking at the codes and conventions of newspapers. firstly what are codes? codes are signs on a newspaper to create a form of  meaning to the print it is also normally repeated on every issue giving each issue of a paper a unique feel even if it follows the style of every other previous issue. to continue i will be explaining what the majority of the codes are within a cover of a news paper.

One of these codes is called a splash. A splash is the main story it will generally have a main image and a headline accompanying it so the viewer understands what is happening in the image . the image will generally cover the majority of the news paper front cover. this is because it will draw in the audience by visually showing what the paper is going to be about. an example of this would be on the cover on the Wednesday the 7th 2012 issue of the sun there is a large image of Barack Obama to accompany the headline.

a master head is the the title or/ the main title in the case of the sun issue to the left the master head is the large text saying "THE SUN" the head master is put on newspaper so the viewer know what the paper in this case it is an issue of the sun and the master head will tell the viewer this. the masthead is designed to draw attention to it this is so the viewer will instantly be drawn to it as it is the papers brand.

A pug is the promotional or special offer featured in the paper it is almost always in the top right hand side of the paper it may feature a deal, unique price or something featuring in the newspaper or magazine. an example of this would be in the issue of the sun to the left their is a "ripper cops Savile quiz" This is featured to try and sell the news paper and make it unique to other issues.

A strap line is another headline but it is smaller then the head line it is designed to give more information about the main story, an example of this would be the copy of the Daily Express to your right has a strap line of "Massive boost as Labour won't stand in the way" This gives more information to the head line explaining it more and interesting the viewer even more (the head line draws the viewer in and the strap line keeps the reader reading.)

 A head line 

The photograph is the main image being shown on the front cover normally it relates to the head but sometimes it will relates to a smaller caption and be completely irrelevant in the case of the news paper on the right the main photograph is the image of the woman. This helps portray the story (headline) as it gets the attention of the reader visually.

The by line is the name of the reporter being put at the beginning of an article. This is generally done on more informative newspapers e.g. the independent and the times, unlike the times. This is because the readers of the first categories may want to know who wrote the article to find out other articles that are written by them. this differs to papers like the sun because they are normally not serious or not industrially related so anybody could have written them.

Captions are designed to go under a image to explain what is happening in the image. This is generally used for more complicated image's so the reader you can understand what is happening in the image (the story behind it) This again is generally used in papers like the independent because normally images in papers such as the sun are self-explanatory  as the image and the head line are generally directly related sot he head line is the byline.

The cross head is a form of subheading which is above the article. it is designed to go into more detail then the heading explaining in more detail what is going to be in the article bellow. This is so the reader knows what the article is going to be about so they can decide whether it will interest them or not

codes are normally classified in two ways technical as in something factual. or a symbol for example in the sun the actual name is completely irrelevant to the articles in the newspapers and a newspaper, but it is a symbol of the paper because people relate the word to the paper.

semiotics is the studies of sign's an easy example of this would be road sign's this is because all road sign's have a meaning that road uses will understand. an example of this would be the sign to the left. the sign means no left turns you can tell this because it has an arrow turning left with a thick red line through. to road uses this will be a direct instruction without writing it down which means it absorbed quicker as the drivers will know what this means. This is because the arrow means left turns, and the red circle and line means no. The road users will instantly be able to tell that this means no left turns.

next I am looking at Greek semeiotikos this is the underlining of all forms of communications from facial to clothes and film. facial is one way that Greek semeiotikos are used throughout newspapers. This is used through the images shown on the front cover and in the content of the magazine. an example of this would be the image of the sun to the right. From the image you can se a facial expression of a man's face (eyes) from this you can see that he looks angry this makes the reader think that the article is going to be the angry man and why he is angry. the image connotes anger through his face giving the reader more information which is an underlying form of communication.

to continue my endeavour into understand semiotics I will be looking at dentations and connotations of images, text and captions in newspapers. connotations to put simply are the feelings that you get from an image or caption. an example of this not related to magazines so you get the jist would be a human heart. the connotations of a heart would be love, romance and lust but the denotations of a hear would be muscle, blood and organ. as you can see conations is what you would feel when you hear the word heart but the other is what its function is and what it literally is.

denotation and connation's are costly used in newspapers an example of this would be on the cover of the daily express it says "5p" in a read bubble this is a good example because the denotations of this is that the news's paper is 5p but the connation's of this is that the news paper is cheap and a bargain this is shown by the news paper making the price stand out by having it in a read bubble which will draw attention to it.

Another example of this is this news paper would be the photo of prince harry

underlines all forms of communications from facial to clothes and film.

denotations. is a list e.g. a heart musle pump blood

connotations feellsing e.g. heart love romance

an i con is a singifeir resembling something

index a factual or casual connection towards something such as smoke means their was fire.    

a symbol. a basic relationship that is learned from such a the word cat should represte a cat isnted of a tree. and a cross would be related to christainity (a symbol of it)

Codes and conventions

What are codes?
Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic.

Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment is used to tell the story in a media text, for example the camera work in a film.

Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling.

Some codes fit both categories – music for example, is both technical and symbolic.

What are conventions?
Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.

How codes and conventions apply in media studies
Codes and conventions are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.

For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense – an integral part of any horror movie.

In this easy i will be looking at the codes and conventions of newspapers. firstly what are codes? codes are signs on a newspaper to create a form of  meaning to the print it is also normally repeated on every issue giving each issue of a paper a unique feel even if it follows the style of every other previous issue. to continue i will be explaining what the majority of the codes are within a cover of a news paper.

One of these codes is called a splash. A splash is the main story it will generally have a main image and a headline accompanying it so the viewer understands what is happening in the image . the image will generally cover the majority of the news paper front cover. this is because it will draw in the audience by visually showing what the paper is going to be about. an example of this would be on the cover on the Wednesday the 7th 2012 issue of the sun there is a large image of Barack Obama to accompany the headline.

a master head is the the title or/ the main title in the case of the sun issue to the left the master head is the large text saying "THE SUN" the head master is put on newspaper so the viewer know what the paper in this case it is an issue of the sun and the master head will tell the viewer this. the masthead is designed to draw attention to it this is so the viewer will instantly be drawn to it as it is the papers brand.

A pug is the promotional or special offer featured in the paper it is almost always in the top right hand side of the paper it may feature a deal, unique price or something featuring in the newspaper or magazine. an example of this would be in the issue of the sun to the left their is a "ripper cops Savile quiz" This is featured to try and sell the news paper and make it unique to other issues.

A strap line is another headline but it is smaller then the head line it is designed to give more information about the main story, an example of this would be the copy of the Daily Express to your right has a strap line of "Massive boost as Labour won't stand in the way" This gives more information to the head line explaining it more and interesting the viewer even more (the head line draws the viewer in and the strap line keeps the reader reading.)

- head line
- photograph
= by line
= caption
= cross head
codes are normally classified in two ways technical as in something factual. or a symbol for example in the sun the actual name is completely irrelevant to the articles in the newspapers and a newspaper, but it is a symbol of the paper because people relate the word to the paper.

semiotics

the study of signs
example is road signs

greek semeiotikos

underlines all forms of communications from facial to clothes and film.

denotations. is a list e.g. a heart musle pump blood
connotations feellsing e.g. heart love romance

an i con is a singifeir resembling something

index a factual or casual connection towards something such as smoke means their was fire.    

a symbol. a basic relationship that is learned from such a the word cat should represte a cat isnted of a tree. and a cross would be related to christainity (a symbol of it)

Task 1 6.2

Task 1 6.2

• Define the Target Audience for each paper using appropriate subject terminology 

• Explain how and why the content has been selected and constructed, what codes and conventions and mode of address have been used to appeal to each target audience 

• Create digital moodboards (using examples of existing magazine front covers and content) and a digital mock-up of a front cover for each of the  proposed magazines based upon what you discovered about the specific Target Audience for each one

• Explain why News UK should use this style for their new magazines. 

• Suggest and explain at least TWO ways in which your client can test the appropriateness of their new publications through audience feedback

stats for the sun

news: circulation 1,696,685. readership: 4,316,000

pc: circulation: 2,905,750. readership: 159000