A level media task

1. AUDIENCE RESEARCH
Barthes’ theory And Hall’s theory

2. ROLAND BARTHES’ ENIGMA CODE
Barthes enigma code studies the principle of narrative hooks, which is to say
that when people begin watching things, questions are posed to keep people
interested, and watching the show.
When applied to film noir, this theory covers the fact that a film noir is often
based around a murder mystery, or criminal conviction. The lead character is
often from a questionable background, and is not sure of his own character.
Questions potentially posed include: Who perpetrated the crime? Will it all
work out in the end? What is the characters history?

3. STUART HALLS RECEPTION THEORY
Every viewer of a piece of media will have their own view and interpretation
of that media.
• Dominant reading- The reader fully accepts the message that the creator is
giving, (The preferred reading)
• Negotiated reading- The reader partially accepts the message that the
creator is sending, but modifies it to conform to their own beliefs.
• Oppositional reading- The reader does not accept the message of the
piece, they reject the piece.

4. FOCUS GROUP
I ran a focus group with randomly chosen participants to get information
about what an audience wants, and expects from the Film Noir/ Motorsport
genre.
They wanted themes that included:
Racing
Drugs
Corruption