This theory was developed by Stuart Hall. The idea is that the producer encodes messages into the media piece, then it is down to the audience to decode to work out what the producer is trying to portray. The way in which an audience can decode a piece of media can come in a variety of ways. They may not be what the producer intended.
There are three ways in which the audience may have decoded the piece of media.
One way is Dominant or Preferred Reading. This is how the producer would want the audience to interpret the media piece. This should occur if the message is clear, the audience is of the same age or culture, if the narrative is easy to follow or if the themes are relevant to the audience.
Then there is Oppositional Reading. This is where the audience ignores the preferred reading and creates their own interpretation. This can occur if the media piece contains controversial themes that the audience may not agree with, it could be that the piece has a complex narrative, for example, the theme may not be to do with modernised society. Then another reason that this may be the case is if the audience members have different beliefs, age or potentially a different culture.
The third way is Negotiated reading. This is a compromised way between both Dominant and Oppositional. This is where the audience may only agree with parts of the producers work, whilst also having their own opinion. This can occur if a mixture of the above is applied, so, audience members like the particular media, they are of a similar age, culture, have similar beliefs, they understand a majority of the messages and whilst the narrative may be complex this still allows full understanding.
There are many factors that could affect whether an audience interprets the media piece as Preferred, Oppositional or Negotiated reading, this includes:
There are three ways in which the audience may have decoded the piece of media.
One way is Dominant or Preferred Reading. This is how the producer would want the audience to interpret the media piece. This should occur if the message is clear, the audience is of the same age or culture, if the narrative is easy to follow or if the themes are relevant to the audience.
Then there is Oppositional Reading. This is where the audience ignores the preferred reading and creates their own interpretation. This can occur if the media piece contains controversial themes that the audience may not agree with, it could be that the piece has a complex narrative, for example, the theme may not be to do with modernised society. Then another reason that this may be the case is if the audience members have different beliefs, age or potentially a different culture.
The third way is Negotiated reading. This is a compromised way between both Dominant and Oppositional. This is where the audience may only agree with parts of the producers work, whilst also having their own opinion. This can occur if a mixture of the above is applied, so, audience members like the particular media, they are of a similar age, culture, have similar beliefs, they understand a majority of the messages and whilst the narrative may be complex this still allows full understanding.
There are many factors that could affect whether an audience interprets the media piece as Preferred, Oppositional or Negotiated reading, this includes:
- Age
- Belief
- Culture
- Gender
- Life Experiences
- Mood at the time the piece was viewed
The factors that will affect how the audience view our music video will most probably be age, gender, culture and possibly the mood of the audience member at the time.
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