Representation/Audience..

How people or places are shown in the media is chosen and decided on by the producer and director. They use different media language aspects in order to build an ideological viewpoint.

• Codes are used to communicate ideas to the audience, they give meaning.
• Conventions are what we expect to see from something e.g. genre.

Hypodermic needle theory - implies that media texts have a direct, powerful effect on the audience (like a drug), used to trigger a desired response. This model suggests that media texts are 'injected' straight into the passive receptor which is immediately influenced by the message. This effects peoples opinions, attitudes and values.

The effects debate - Does it actually make an audience act in certain ways?

Preferred reading - What the producer wants the audience to understand

Negociated reading - Audience agree with the elements but not all of the text

Oppositional reading - The audience disagrees with the ideology  of the text or de-code it in a manner that was not intended

Uses and gratifications - In this theory the audience have an active role in chosing which texts to engage with and what aspects of these texts
For example, using this theory the target audience may chose to read my text in a means of discovering fashion, music etc.