Audience Essay

My first theory is Reception Theory, created by Stuart Hall, and this theory is that a text is coded by the producer, and decoded by the audience. There are three different types of reception, these being dominant, negotiated, and oppositonal. In terms of my trailer, I believe that it could be negotiated, as the audience may accepts, rejects/refines parts of my trailer, in light of their previously held views. My trailer may be seen as this, because the message that I was trying to get across was that every teenager suffers with some sort of emotion that they are trying to suppress, and brings about the issue that the teenage mental illness rate is rising. I have shown this in my trailer by having the girl try and 'fight herself' to stay sane, and keep the undesired part of herself hidden to the world. Coming back to the theory, I believe that it may be negotiated, because the audience may not find it easy to decode what I have displayed to them.

My second theory is Hypodermic theory, and it is the theory that there is always a hidden message behind a text that is being injected into the viewers minds, subconsciously. In order to do this, the viewer has to be highly passive in their actions, meaning the audience takes in what the media gives us, and acts on it. The hidden message behind my trailer is that teenagers all have some sort of 'mental disease' hidden within them, that is trying to get out. This is shown by the character talking to herself, and talking to the dolls, and proceeding to stabbing/burning them. If the audience is passive, they may take my trailer in and believe that all teenagers are secretly going through some sort of mental illness, that could come to light at any second.

My third theory is the Copycat theory, and this theory states that audiences will see a media text, and feel inspired to copy what they have seen. This is quite a passive action, as the viewer isn't thinking about the repercussions of their actions. However, in terms of my trailer, I do not believe that it will inspire anyone to go out and copy what they have seen, as there is not much in my trailer to be copied, as there is only one character, and she's only in one location, interacting with nobody but herself. To improve on this issue, I need to include more characters into my trailer.

My fourth theory is the Desensitisation theory, meaning that the more people are exposed to violence in the media, the less empathetic/sympathetic they become to it. It can be argued that this could be active OR passive, as it can be seen as a decision to not be affected by what you see in the media, but it could also be done subconsciously. In terms of my trailer, there isn't anything that the audience would need to be desensitised to in order to cope through my trailer, which is a negative thing, because horror is supposed to consist of something that the audience sees as 'horrible', and my trailer does not have that one thing. Perhaps to improve on this, I will have to include more characters, and include more visceral techniques.

My final theory is the Suspension of Disbelief, and it is the theory that the audience puts aside their disbelief in order to accept the premise as real. In terms of my trailer, I believe that it will be very easy to see this as being real, because most psychological horrors play on the REAL fears that people have, and psychological is all about the mind, so it is not completely unbelievable that my trailer could happen in real life, as it plays on the fact that deep down inside, we all have some sort of emotional battle with ourselves, that we fight to keep hidden from the rest of the world, so that we aren't perceived as 'insane' to society. In my trailer, I have portrayed this battle by making the main character the antagonist, and the protagonist.