Audience Analysis

Newspaper - The Sun

The target audience for The Sun is mostly people from the C2-E bracket. This is because on this front cover, the serious story  a pilot who killed 149 people in an air crash is dominated by an article about the split of the famous boy band One Direction. This would suggests that the viewers are interested less in cultural news, and more in contemporary news. It also suggests that the target audience is mostly younger consumers between 18-25 as they are interested more in pop culture. 

The uses and gratifications that appeal to the target audience are information as the audience would be interested in the band and would want to know what has happened. Also, for social integration, as the topic has been all over social media sites and so people would read this article in order to fit in with their friendship groups who already know about the event. 

The preferred reading here is fans of One Direction, who are between the ages of 18-25 and in the C2-E socio-economic scale. The negotiated reading would be taken by One direction fans between the ages of 12-17, as these people would be interested in the band rather than the actual newspaper, and would buy it in order to see the story about the band. 

The oppositional reading would be taken by older people between the ages of 30-50 who are male and of a higher socio economic grouping as they are likely to be more interested in the more serious world news that is less focused on by The Sun.

TV Programme - The Only Way Is Essex

The target audience for TOWIE is people from the C2-E bracket and who are aged 16-25. This is because the cast are young and so a similar age to those watching. Also, the show deals with situations such as friendship, relationship and drama between these things, which would appeal to the younger generation rather than the older who are more concerned with jobs and serious relationships. 

The uses and gratifications that would appeal to the audience of TOWIE would be entertainment, as the audience can find humour in some situations, they may also experience attraction to some of the attractive cast members. They may also watch for personal identification, as they feel that they can relate to some of the characters. Also for social integration as the show is very popular among young people, and people may watch to connect with their social groups. 

The preferred audience of TOWIE would be the C2-E, 16-25 year olds who are most likely to be women. This is because the relationships and drama would appeal, as explained before. 

The negotiated reading would be taken by men aged 16-25 in the same bracket as before. This is because the attractive women in the show would provide attraction and entertainment for this audience.

The oppositional reading would be taken by older men of a higher bracket as the themes like relationships would not appeal to this generation as they have more important issues and things to be dealing with in later life.

Advertising Poster - The Avengers

The target audience of this film is 16-25 year old males in the C2-E scale. This is because the cover includes weapons such as a bow and arrow, futuristic lasers, guns and also super heroes. This, stereotypically appeals more to males than women.

The uses and gratifications would include entertainments, as the story is fictional and so people would watch to relax and as it is a blockbuster that includes high profile actors. Also, they would watch for social integration as the film is a blockbuster and so many people are likely to know what the film is in order to fit into friendship groups. Men may also watch for attraction as the film contains Scarlet Johansen, a very attractive actress.

The preferred audience is the 16-25 year old males in in the C2-E bracket as explained above. The negotiated reading would be taken by 16-25 year old girls who are fans of action and super hero films, and also by fans of any of the actors included in the film. 

The oppositional reading wold be taken by older women who perhaps are not interested in action movies or superhero films, as the themes such as violence and fantasy may not appeal to an older generation like this. 

Audience Case Studies and Theories

Pick and Mix

This theory suggests that as consumers we actively pick and mix our media choices. These choices allow us to form our own personal identities, for example reading a magazine to confirm whether our choices of clothing are okay.

A pick and mix reader suggests that texts do not just influence us, we make a conscious decision towards them. It means that gender specific statements are not harmful as the audience chooses to identify with these ideas and are valued by the producers more because of this. 

VALS

Values, attitudes and lifestyles. Depending on personality, we costume media that relates to our grouping and hierarchy, for example an innovator who earns lots of money and values image would be likely to purchase expensive clothing and watches. This applies to both marketing and media.

Paper Towns trailer

Target audience: 15-25 year old girls between C1 and E, fans of John Green and The Fault In Our Stars and fans of Cara Delevigne.
Appeal/attract: Cara Delevigne is featured, who is iconic for girls and sexualised for boys. It is also a well know book by a famous author who wrote The Fault In Our Stars, which suggests those who enjoyed the film and John Green's books would be attracted. The romance and narrative of tehe story may also appeal to the audience.
Position: Told from Q's point of view, use of non diegetic sound with Q's voice over. We are positioned using camera angles that are point of view shots where Margo look directly at the camera so that we see her from Quentin's point of view.
Response: The preferred audience (target) would be entertained (i.e. the fact that it would be relaxing) They may also find persona identification, through the fact that the characters are teenagers experiencing young love. They could also be viewing for social integration as the film is an adaptation of a book by a popular writer and also the fact that the film ism are b the same people that produced The Fault In Our Stars
. The negotiated audience may be males within the same age group who would find Cara Delevigne attractive. Finally the oppositional audience would be older men who are in a higher socio-economic grouping as they would not be able to relate to the characters or situation.

Pickpockets and Proud - Race representation

1. Pickpocketing and Proud

In the Channel 5 show, Pickpockets and Proud, the Romanian ethnicity is given a negative representation. This is constructed using miss en scene, for example when the three Romanian men are seen in their home drinking and smoking, and dressed in very cheap branded clothing. The dialogue here also says that they pickpocket up to £300 a week from people on the streets. The commentators says 'Eastern Europeans are the Kings of pickpocketing', and that they make money 'out of the UK'. This represents Romanians as criminals and people who take the UK for granted, and abuse it, creating a negative representation of the Romanian ethnicity.

There is also a section included where two young, black men are shown to be pickpockets. The lighting in one section is low key, and so connotes shadiness and seediness, which adds to the overall representation of young black men. The non diegetic sound of the voice over also says that they are addicted to heroin, and the men also go on to say that they 'don't care' about stealing a man's phone. This represents young, black men as dangerous criminals who are addicted to drugs and don't care about other people.

This program positions Romanians and young black men as criminals, and the 'bad guys', which means that the audience sides with the police, who fight this type of crime. This therefore reinforces the negative stereotype of these people.


2. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

In The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the representation of Indian people is positive. This is constructed using the mise en scene and camera angles. During one short sequence, an establishing shot is used to display the beautiful setting of Delhi. There are also shots of very happy, young Indian men and women, which is an overall positive portrayal. Also, the dialogue of one of the young, Indian men says 'I have a dream to create a home for the elderly so wonderful...', which displays him as ambitious and kind towards those who are elderly, portraying Indian people as ambitious, hardworking and kind.