Audience Theory

Audiences of not only short films, but feature films as well, are defined by what they consume and the size of the audience is established between two types, 'Mass' audience and a 'Niche' audience. Audience classifications can be defined through grouping such as; religion, race, gender and ethnicity. Within society today, there is no longer the belief that all audiences interpret the short film all the same way. In fact there are many new found explications describing the different ways in which audiences can elucidate the short films they watch. One theorist being Stuart Hall.

Stuart Hall- Decoding and Encoding

Texts are made with a message encoded within them, by the institution. The text is then sent out to the audience, received, and then decoded. The message given can be interpreted in three different ways;

-Dominant Reading : This is where the reader fully accepts the text and reads it as the author intended.

-Negotiated Reading : This is where the audience may agree with some parts of the text and disagree with others.

-Oppositional Reading :This s where the audience may feel in conflict with the text and disagree with the message.


Blumer and Katz- Uses and Gratification

The audience are active and they use the text in their own way, rather than the text using the audience. The audience seek out pleasure from the text, so they choose to consume it. 
Pleasures and gratifications include;

- Escapism                               - Counter cultural experience

- Diversion                              - Comparing

- Information                           

- Sexual stimulation