Audience response - The Hunt (2015)

The DVD cover for The Hunt suggests many pleasures that are available to the audience

Broadly, there are two types of audience question that can come up in the MS4 exam. (Incidentally this analysis could also be applied as a case study to the audience question for the AS/MS1 exam).

1. How do producers target audiences, or
2. How do audiences respond to media texts.

The wording can be a little different, but this is roughly what will come up in the exam.

It's essential to have key scenes in your head before taking the exam, and to make explicit reference to visual codes, technical codes, audio codes, narrative and genre as appropriate. We're going to look at how to use a scene from The Hunt (episode one) as a key scene for an audience question.

Key scene - The Hunt (2005, episode one) - 'African hunting dogs hunt wildebeest' (about 12 minutes into episode one)

How does the producer position audiences in this scene?

• Initial bird's eye establishing shot of the African plains emphasises an exotic and even alien world the audience are likely to be completely unfamiliar with. However, straight away...

• Use of tracking shots follows dogs as they both hunt and play. Tracking shot is at eye level, allowing audience to identify with the animals, even connotating their equality. 

• Close ups of dogs 'smiling' faces, which constructs the animals as being happy, or even more human-like

• Use of mid-shot of dog pack, emphasising the fact they are a family, eliciting sympathy and identification from the audience 

• Use of language in the voice-over anchors the audience to feel sympathy for the dogs. "the mother decides" - Use of the word 'mother' allows audiences to identify with different character roles

• Use of language - Attenborough refers to the animals not as 'African hunting dogs' but simply "dogs", allowing audiences to easily identify with the dogs and even see them as being 'domestic'.

• Use of exciting narrative devices. Voiceover explains that a few dogs have been "split off" from the pack, suggesting a disruption of the equilibrium. Audience forced to care about the dogs.

• Voiceover suggests a binary opposition between the dogs and the wildebeest. "The wildebeest are big and strong, but the dogs have stamina". The binary emphasises how different these two 'characters' are, forcing use to root for the hunting dogs. 

• Dramatic non-diegetic soundtrack - anchors audience to the conclusion that this is a dramatic, life changing scene. Use of african drums in the sound mix emphasises the exoticsism of the situation. 

How can this scene appeal to the audience?

• Bird's eye establishing shot emphasises an exotic land. Audiences can use for escapism. 

• Text uses many of the conventions of the nature documentary. Use of voiceover, exotic setting, exotic animals and pretense of information. Audiences can take pleasure at identifying these similarities, and differences in genre conventions. Two key differences include the emphasis on both the 'hunter' and the 'hunted', and the extensive use of super slow motion photography. In these two ways, the clip may challenge audience expectation.

• Super slow motion photography, extremely high definition resolution accomplished through extremely high end equipment. The sheer quality of The Hunt is a major point of audience appeal!

• The synergy of the fast paced editing, cross-cutting between different packs, and the varied cinematography, creating montages of close-ups, mid-shots and long-shots, creates an exciting scene, arguably closer to the action genre than the nature documentary genre. This allows completely different audiences to take pleasure form the text. 

• Polysemic readings -  audiences can focus on the educational aspects of the scene, or instead can take pleasure from the drama created by the cinematography and narrative codes. An audience could even choose to mute the soundtrack and to have the footage on in the background. Remember: there is no limit to uses and gratifications!

• Celebrity - David Attenborough's voice is a major appeal for audiences. Older audiences will identify with his celebrity, remembering other programmes he has narrated and taking pleasure from trusting this well recognised voice. Younger audiences could take pleasure from the authority of an older voice, perhaps seeing him as a 'granddad' figure

This is just one scene, but we can see how we can address both producer positioning and audience appeal. Without key scenes, complete with visual and technical codes, you will be making life hard for yourself. Perhaps the best way to revise is to sit down, to pick out familiar key scenes, and to dissect them with a question in front of you.

Thanks to R block and S block A2 Media for your assistance in constructing this analysis!

Good luck!

To all those sitting the MS1 Media exam, both from Long Road and beyond, we wish you the best of luck.

Here are some last minute tips:

Try not to do too much on your final night
Go to bed at a reasonable time
Eat some breakfast
Get in early (aim to get in at 08:00. worst comes to the worst, you can revise in the library)
Avoid people you know are going to distract you or put you in a bad mood
Check to see what room you are in when you get in (you are spread across several rooms)

We will be stationed outside your exam rooms to provide encouragement. See you tomorrow!

Theory 'cheat sheet' - genre, narrative, representation

This 'cheat sheet' briefly covers some of the most important concepts for writing about genre, narrative and representation. This has been created in mind for the A2 Media/MS4 'text' question (Skyfall, The Selfish Giant and Brave), but this is still useful for the AS Media/MS1 questions on 'textual analysis' and 'representation'.

You might not have covered every theory/concept (especially if you are AS), but don't worry. It's not a definitive list, more a prompt for revision!

Click the image to see full size.

Thank you to Amanda for creating this resource! If you have any questions, please talk to your Media teacher.

How the MS1 (AS) exam is structured.

The golden rules

The structure to the MS1 exam is fairly straightforward, as long as you remember the following two things:

1. There are three separate questions; textual analysis, audience and representation
2. Question one is always textual analysis, but question two and three can swap round. However one will always be on audience, and one will always be on representation. 

So reading the question is essential!

Here's a quick run-down of what you have to do for each question:

Question one: the textual analysis one

This is the longest question and is worth 40 marks. This year (May 2016) you will be shown an audiovisual extract. You will watch this extract three times, and will be allowed to make notes as you watch it. Don't worry about this part too much: there are very detailed instructions on the screen.

You will be given an open and question that will ask you to comment on specific textual aspects. For example

Analyse the [news reports] commenting on:

• visual codes
• technical and audio codes
• genre conventions

You will be expected to address all of the aspects given to you. It is very likely, given it's an audiovisual text you will be watching, that visual codes and technical codes will come up, but depending on the text genre, narrative, language, graphics etc can also be mentioned. Just make sure you are totally familiar with the toolkit for textual analysis. Make sure you are using specific terminology in every paragraph.

This is the longest question and is worth the most marks. You do not need to bring your own case studies in to this question, as you will be analysing the one text that has been given to you (though you might like to make brief reference to similar texts).

In order to secure a C grade, you will need to evidence a point of view about the meaning of the text.

In order to push towards higher marks, (for example an A grade), you will need to identify the ideology of the text, why the producer has made the text,  polysemic (multiple) audience interpretations and why this important.

Top tip - The examiner wants to see you refer to everything that is mentioned in the question, eg visual codes, technical codes, audio codes... Use this as your essay plan, and write around two short paragraphs for each! Additionally, remember that it's an essay. Use PEA paragraph structure, exactly like you have been taught!

Question two: the bitty one

Question two will be presented in several pieces. The first couple of 'bits' will refer to the extract you just saw. You will need to look at the number of marks available for each question to know how much detail to put in. You will also need to pay close attention to the wording of the questions: it will either be about audience or representation!

Here's an example of what a question 2 can look like. However, please remember that the number of marks for each 'bit' can change:

2 a) Suggest two different audiences for the BBC News shown at 10.00 pm. Give brief reasons for your suggestions. [6]

2 b) How is the main audience for Newsround attracted to this programme? [9]

2 c) With reference to your own detailed examples, explore what influences how audiences or users respond to media texts. [15]


Looking at the marks, you can see you need to put more detail in to the higher mark questions. Let's take 2 a). It's six marks for you to identify two audiences and give brief reasons for your choice. So that's three marks per suggestion. This works out as

One mark for identifying an audience (for example for Newsround, male, middle class, 8 - 16 years old)
One mark for offering a simple reason for why this audience would watch it ("the mode of address uses simple language, appropriate to an 8 - 16 year old boy")
One mark for a slightly more detailed response (in addition to the above statement, "the selection of stories focuses on UK issues, and is delivered in a typically middle class accent, allowing British middle class audiences to identify with it"

For part b), in this instance it's nine marks. You will need to make specific reference to audience theory to push towards the higher marks. Here are some suggestions, quoted straight from the mark scheme. Note that if you choose the wrong main audience for Newsround, for example 'women aged 50 - 70', then you will not get many marks here!

• Main audience being young people
• The presenters – lively, cheerful, enthusiastic
• The way in which the events are presented – use of appropriate language etc
• The narrative focus of the report – security, stories about young people
• The images and anchorage
• Colours and overall style of the programme.

In this case, C) is worth 15 marks, and you will not be talking about Newsround. You will be making reference to examples from your Media lessons, and any examples you will have encountered in your wider reading. For this 'bit' you will need to make reference to no less than two and no more than three examples. You will be using PEA paragraph structure for this question.

Again, here are some suggestions of points you can make from the mark scheme,

• Social and cultural background
• Gender
• Age
• Experience
• Relevant contexts
• Construction of text and audience within the text
• Ways in which audiences/users are positioned

This is an addition to a range of theories debates, views and approaches.

Top tip - A key debate surrounding audience can involve the hypodermic needle model. It's a flawed theory, but many newspapers and online news sources believe it to be true. Think about how many arguments there are about violent videogames influencing teenagers! You could counter this with the uses and gratifications theory. Audiences have the power to use or take pleasure from a text in any way that they want!

Question 3 - the long one

Question three is worth 30 marks. It's almost as long as the first question, and you will need to make reference to two or three examples again. Once more, it will either be representation or audience for this question. If you had audience for question two, it will be representation for question three, and vice versa.

For some examples of question for question three, take a look at this post.

Top tip - 2 c) and 3 have very similarly phrased questions. The main difference is 3 us a lot longer...

Top tip - The perfect amount of time to spend of each question, including planning, is sixty minutes on question one and 45 minutes each on questions two and three. Even if you do not usually wear a watch, it can be helpful to wear one, as sometimes you might not be able to see the clock in the exam room.

Representation of young people - key theory and examples

There are several theorists who you can refer to if you get a question on the representation of age, specifically to the representation of youth. Here's a quick recap:

Hebdige (1979)

• Youth subcultures – Challenge hegemony through expression
• Limited to either trouble or fun, no in-between
• Representation is NOT REALITY
• Producers believe it would be boring to show teenagers or youth hard working, fade into the background
• But this makes the adult audience believe that all youths are either trouble or fun…

Gerbner – Cultivation Theory

• Youth involved in crimes and always being the victim. Negative representation, constantly involving crime.
• Consistent negative representation indoctrinates the public to place blame on teens.
• Closely linked to what we see on television.
• Television ‘sows the seeds’ of negative representation… and after a while, audiences begin to accept as fact.

Giroux (1997)

• Who makes the media? It’s almost exclusively older people!
• Shows how youths are shown as an ‘empty category’ 
• Producers don’t understand what its like to be a teenager, so they use own ideas in the ‘empty space’ to represent youth. 
• Adults use teenagers as a scapegoat.
• Young characters end up being a ‘dumping ground’ for negative stereotypes.
• This confirms stereotypes and beliefs held by older audiences.

Suggested texts

So that's some great theory you can refer to, but you also need specific case studies. 

There are several UK films and TV shows that deal with the representation of young people, and how they interact with older people. Here are some suggestions:

• Kidulthood (2006)
• Harry Brown (2009)
• Skins (TV, 2007-2013)
• Eden Lake (2008)
• NEDS (2010)

(Just a quick note; some of these texts are pretty controversial. Eden Lake is particularly challenging, and Kidulthood features some very upsetting scenes)

As you watch these films, keep a notebook in front of you, and make notes under the following headings:

1.     The group, place or issue on which a media text is focusing.
2.     The technical devices the media text uses in order to present these groups or issues.
3.     The message about the group or issue being created within the text.
4.     The impact of this message on the target audience.

Analysing representation

When it comes to offering a detailed analysis of the representation, you must include not only how a group are represented in a certain way, with reference to visual and technical codes, but also why. So why could producers benefit from representing younger people in a negative way? Here are a few suggestions.

1. Stereotypes are an invaluable short cut for producers, saving time and effort. Richard Dyer argues that stereotypes are an ordering process. They help us to make sense of the world, but in using them as a short cut, we can make things too simple and jump to assumptions. 
2. Stereotypes are an invaluable short cut for audiences, and help to make sense of the world. Once again, the above points apply. 
3. All of the texts listed above tie in to real world moral panics, particularly those involving young NEETs in hoodies. The time in which these films were made was important, and in 2006, David Cameron famously made a speech, referring to Kidulthood, the problems it bought up, and the 'political' implications of hoodies.
4. From a Marxist perspective, consistently representing young people in a negative way reinforces their lack of power in day to day life. Since it tends to be older, middle class people who make Media texts, it can be argued that negative representations are just reinforcing the status quo. 

Positive representations

There are some examples which poke holes in Hebdige's 'fun or trouble' hypothesis. While many representations of younger people stick to stereotypes involving violence or 'lad' culture, in both TV talent shows and TV sports coverage, we often see inspiring, non-stereotypical representations of teenagers. Watch the following clip from The Voice (Cody Frost’s blind audition (S05E01, 2016). Now ask the following questions:

1. In what ways is the representation of youth constructed?
2. What technical devices are used?
3. What message is disseminated?
4. Who are the target audience of The Voice and what impact does this representation of young people potentially have on them?

Thanks to Lewis and Tanya for contributing material to this post!