PR7 Essay

1. Genre: Action and Adventure
Action and Adventure is a genre that is comprised with a protagonist and a antagonist,
a protagonist is a person who follows a moral code, uses skills and ingenuity to succeed
and also who stereotypically stops the bad guy. An antagonist has no moral code and
has the skills and ingenuity to hinder the process of the hero. The setting is always
changeable but never stagnant; it underlines the sense of danger and obstacles to over
come. The physical action of the film has the characters subjected to extreme
predicaments and situations, and this also creates the fast pace nature. Violence within
this genre can differ from large scale to small scale and its also graphically described
examples of this could be wars and battles etc.
Film 1: Guardians of the galaxy (2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel
Comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed
by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. James Gunn, who wrote the screenplay with
Nicole Perlman, directed the film. After stealing a mysterious orb in the far reaches of
outer space, Peter Quill from Earth, is now the main target of a manhunt led by the
villain known as Ronan the Accuser. To help fight Ronan and his team and save the
galaxy from his power, Quill creates a team of space heroes known as the "Guardians of
the Galaxy" to save the world. Guardians of the Galaxy premiered in Hollywood on July
21, 2014. It was released in theatres August 1, 2014 in the United States in
the 3D and IMAX 3D formats. The film became a critical and commercial success,
grossing $774.2 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing superhero filmof
2014, as well as the second highest-grossing filmin North America of 2014.
Film 2: The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015)
The Divergent Series: Insurgent (also known as Insurgent) is a 2015 science
fiction adventure film directed by Robert Schwentke, based on Insurgent, the second
book in the Divergent trilogy, written by Veronica Roth. It is the sequel to the 2014
film Divergent and the second instalment in The Divergent Series, produced by Lucy
Fisher, Pouya Shabazian and Douglas Wick, with a screenplay by Brian Duffield, Akiva
Goldsman, and Mark Bomback. Robert Schwentke took over from Neil Burger as
director, while Burger served as the executive producer of the film. As of March 24,
2015, Insurgent earned $59.2 million in North America, and $47 million in other
territories, for a worldwide total of $106.2 million, against a budget of $110 million.
One choice can transform you-or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences,
and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to
save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and
forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been
marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with
unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their

2. ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and
choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by
her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and
shifting relationships. Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know
what she may lose by doing so.
Film 3: Avatar (2009)
Avatar (marketed as James Cameron's Avatar) is a 2009 America epic science fiction
action adventure film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron.
The filmis set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are mining a room-temperature
superconductor called unobtanium on Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in
the Alpha Centauri star system. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the
continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora.
The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely
located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora. Avatar was officially
budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and
$310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion. The film made extensive
use of new motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional
viewing, 3D viewing. Avatar premiered in London on December 10, 2009, and was
internationally released on December 16 and in the United States and Canada
on December 18, to positive critical reviews, with critics highly praising its ground
breaking visual effects.
Part 2:
Guardians of the Galaxy
When looking at the type of genre and what makes me want to watch them would
definitely be the action within the film for example, there’s never a dull moment during
the film there is something always going on. When thinking of actions there are most
likely explosions which features in a lot of action films and I think this is what makes is
more exciting for me. Adventure as well as Action is another genre which to me is very
similar also attracts me to certain films which I have watch in the past, like I said before
with the adventure genre there will be always something happening like catches my
attention and keeps me in my seat. Looking at the films above and in the comparison to
the action and adventure genre, Sci-Fi also takes a role in the list of genre. Sci-fi is
another favourite genre and I picked these films because they had a bit of each genre
within them and as a whole it just simply makes me want to watch these films because
of the aspects. When looking at the first filmGuardians of the Galaxy straight away I
wanted to watch the film because of the basic sci-fi storyline that appealed to me a lot,
more so star theory takes a big part within the film because the cast has a lot of stars.

3. For example the main cast for this film are Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Dave
Bautista and Bradley Cooper; some other cast members include Lee Pace, Karen Gillan
Michael Rooker and Benicio del Toro. As you can see the filmfeatures a huge cast of
well-known people through Hollywood and other places around the world, Chris Pratt is
a well-known comedian and is known for his humour that is why people might go and
see this film because of the aspects of him himself. This is something called star theory
where a well-known actor or actress is casted in a filmso that it almost widens its
audiences and also allows to expand d for a bigger target audience also by doing this it
obviously creates more of an appeal to the audience if the actor/actress is someone
they are a fan of. Special effects took a big role when it came to this film, for me when it
comes to this kind of genre the effects most definitely must be up to date and look at
least real so it gives me that want to watch feel. Nobody likes to watch a filmwith
rubbish graphics because it just isn’t appealing in this day and age, a perfect example
would be Jaws that is a classicfilmbut the special effects were awful and doesn’t do it
must justice in 2015. As well as the star theory and special effects the story line also
comes into play with Guardians and the Galaxy because in my film history there isn’t a
similar film that has been done. When looking at how to analyse a genre we can use
Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements that allows us to look at certain key elements with a film
trailer for example and this will let us determine the genre. Now looking at the
Guardians of the galaxy trailer one of the first elements is to look at the settings in
where the movie is set; the first scene shows a shot of what looks like a dark temple and
a figure in the background this meaning and giving off a somewhat mysterious and
almost on your seat moment and this has somewhat an adventure aspect to it. Within
the trailer there’s many different settings on different planets, some with the futuristic
aspect along with many shots in space to me when watching this trailer I also got a very
sci-fi / action as well as the adventure. Now moving onto the characters within the
trailer, Starlord (Peter Quill) who is the good guy or protagonist within the filmstole a
mysterious orb and is on the manhunt by bounty hunters, his character is very comedic
and I think this is because of his humour in other roles he has been in. Gamora who is
the antagonist at the beginning of the filmbefriends Starlord and becomes a part of his
team to stop her boss from taking the mysterious orb. When looking at Gamora as a
character she is quite a stereotypically attractive alien and is some what a love
interested for peter quill and this is what its like in most films. Then we have Rocket
who is a scientifically modified racoon who has a bit of a attitude and a is a loud mouth,
he also has a trusty side kick called Groot with the vocabulary of about 3 words. All
these characters have many different types that can represent a lot of the viewer
watching and I think this make the film more watchable. The narrative element had a
conventional linear narrative and now moving onto narrative events, there is many
scenes during the trailer that makes you want to know more leaving the person on edge.
This is called narrative enigma for example there is a mysterious orb which many people
are after within the filmand this makes you wonder what it is and why so many people
want it. Another scene shows Rocket and Groot with a gun fighting lots of aliens and
people this is quite thrilling and interesting wanting you to know more therefore you
will go and see the film. I think iconography plays a big part when it comes to the genre

4. of the films for example this film is an sci-fi/action-adventure and within the trailer this
included on the more sci-fi side lasers, spaceships and aliens etc. and from seeing this
you just knew it would be under the sci-fi genre. For the action-adventure there were a
lot of explosions and I think some o the sci-fi genre elements also come under this as
well. When it comes to how us as the audience find out about films there are many
ways this can be done for example there are many social network apps which can
advertise the film on banners or can be trending on certain websites like twitter. The
most popular one is when it comes to cinema is the adverts before an actual film these
last about 20 minutes showing similar films of the same genre which are coming out
within the next few months. Advertisements can be used anywhere really featuring
from buses to billboards and much more these are mostly located in busy areas such as
towns or shopping centre this allowing them to get as much attention as possible. Now
moving onto Reception Theory this means how people react to films based on their age,
gender, ethnicity and social class. Age is a common one when it comes to a reaction for
the film for example I think the younger generation of people would watch his for the
sci-fi and most of the iconography and as for the older generation I think they would go
more for the sense of humour in which some of the characters portray within the film. I
think when it comes to gender both will be just as much interested in the film as each
other because they are some strong both male and female leads and I think this works
really well because it opens the audience to a much wider scale.
The Divergent Series: Insurgent
Like I mentioned above in action/adventure films there is always something happening
in any moment of the films, always something gripping you onto your seat and this film
does just that. Iconic aspects such as gun and explosions determine the genre of the film
because of the aspects I will now talk about more of the filmin detail. First starting with
star theory, star theory is the idea that institutions for financial gain manufacture icons
and celebrities. He believes that stars are constructed to represent 'real people'
experiencing real emotions. When it comes to films star theory can attract more of a
wider audience because of who the actor is and their background in Hollywood and
films for example, in Insurgent Shailene Woodley who plays Tris the lead role has been
in many other films and she will have fans and the audience that could possibly follow
her to this movie franchise as well. To make the explanation very brief star theory can
be used to gain lots of money when it comes to releasing a filmbecause if they’re four
or five well known actors in a filmthey will have their own fans and audiences which will
come and see the current filmthey are in therefore gaining money for that movie. Like I
just mentioned Shailene Woodley, she has been in many popular movies such as the
fault in our stars, the descendants and also the secret life of an American teenager. Just
from them films and TV shows Shailene already have a fan base and audience that
possibly might see the filmshe is stared in. The co star Theo James also have been in
quite a few popular filmand have some reputation in Hollywood therefore making this
film worth a lot more money because of who he is and what audience he can bring to
the film. Another well known actor who is in the film is Kate Winslet, she has a very well

5. known reputation around Hollywood starring in films such as the popular film Titanic,
revolutionary road and finding neverland. Again because of her popular acting she will
bring more attraction and a wider audience to the film that will give it more popularity,
which means more money for the company. Now moving onto special effects, when it
comes to special effects with the film genre of action/adventure (sci-fi) they is always
sometime of realistic expectation because when you are watching a film like this one
you want it to be real as possible so if feels like you are not watching the filmbut are
there in the moment in the action for example. The filmis set in a dystopian future
where the technology is far greater than what we have today this involves things such as
floating buildings, holograms, weaponry and much more. This would of all been done
through the power of CGI allowing the guys behind the special effects to edit and make
anything they want through this process, because of this and the work that has to go
ahead to make all this special effects happen this is mostly done in action and adventure
films because this genre can allow you to be creative and spontaneous as you can be
and this is how the special effects can make that happen.
I will now analyse the trailer and talk about Lacey’s repertoire of elements and how it
can determine the genre of the film. First of all we have the setting shots in the trailer
and this shows panning shots of the city Chicago after a nuclear world war, this sets
where the film is going to be taken place and also links up with the dystopian future. It
also shows a lot of what happens in the building also showing the futuristic technology
that gives you an idea of when the story is set again relating to the dystopian future. The
mise en scene shows us what is in frame everything that is in the shot allowing us to
capture and get an idea of what is going on. Now moving onto the representations of
the characters, first we have Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior who is the main protagonist who
throughout the film she is divergent and is on the run from the dauntless army who are
trying to kill her because of that reason. In the film she isn’t your stereotypical girly girl,
she is a strong and powerful minded teenager who amazing combat skills with the mind
set to take down the evil leader of erudite Jeanine. Then we have Tobias ‘Four’ Eaton
who is Tris’s lover throughout the film, he is very similar to Tris although they have a few
different traits and different aspects of each fraction. He is a protagonist and also a
divergent like Tris, fits the stereotype of the insecure protective boyfriend really well.
Now moving onto the main antagonist of the film the leader of erudite Jeanine
Matthews, she is the stereotypically bitchy women leader who think she has the power
to take over the world, destroying and killing everyone or everything in her path. Her
body language when observing her in the trailer she looks quite stiff with good posture
and I personally think this shows that she has a lot of strength and gives off that she is
very powerful. Now moving onto narrative events, there were many scenes during the
trailer which makes you want to know more leaving the viewer watching be on edge.
This is called narrative enigma for example in the trailer Four is trying to out run a train
to get away from the dauntless army, the use of suspenseful music and fast editing
makes it very entertaining and keeps you on your seat wanting to know what will
happen. Another scene is when Tris sees her dead mother in a building on fire and it
starts to move away floating in mid air; she then runs after it jumping off a building and

6. catching a cable in mid air. This again creates that enigma which is keeping the viewers
attention and this can work really well when it comes to using this in trailers. Now onto
iconography one of the main and obviously iconic props which is the use of guns, when
looking at this and with the fighting scenes in the trailer this clearly shows that there will
be action involved in the filmbecause these aspects think up to what you would
normally find in a action /adventure film. Explosions is another common one when it
comes to iconography because of how much it is used in action films such as this one.
The term technical and audio codes come to find when I think about fast edited and the
use of the camera the short shots and not too long that they get boring, this works very
well and definitely supports the genre action and adventure.
When it comes to the marketing of films they are advertised where their target
audience will be mostly situated at also where they would be most likely using a certain
website or watching a certain TV show for example. Social media site such as
YouTube/Twitter and Facebook are a good platform for advertising when it comes to
marketing for your certain target audience. The cinema does a good part in advertising
this is because before the film is initially set to release the trailer is premiered in
cinemas all across the country allowing the film to get some attention before it is
actually released this would also be done before films which are similar to the filmand
which also are the same target audience for the film. Billboards and posters have the
same effect these are put around busy places like a city centre for example so may
people can see and possibly have an interest of the film. Now onto the Guttenberg
design principle, by understanding the reading patterns of the people who are viewer
or watching your work you are able to place the most important content in the areas
where they will be most effective. For example when we use this on the Insurgent
movie poster there are four key areas, the first one being the primary optical area this
is located in the higher left portion of the page and is the user’s primary focus, it’s
where the eyes will automatically focus regardless if the user is searching for
something, wanting to read or just doing a quick scan on the page. When analysing
this movie poster and looking in the primary optical area you can straight away tell
what they want you to see and this is the lead role Tris. From what it looks like she is
floating through mid air holding a gun with shattered glass behind her and this straight
away looks like a crazy scenario also that there will be action. There is also in this area
some of the stars which are playing roles in the film and this another main way to get
attention because they will recognise and react. Next we have the strong fallow area,
the second stage of the reading habit is moving to the higher right portion of the page,
you can think of it as a follow up from the left portion but less important. It’s not a
good idea to break the reader’s experience created from the starting point. Meaning
that if you have a call to action the user will stop at this point and act. In this area and
when looking at the poster and comparing to the optical area is it pretty much the
same just instead of Tris (Lead role) it is her boyfriend in the film Four, he is doing the
same in the sense and body language etc. and I only think he is in this area because he
is not as important as the main character Tris. Weak fallow area, the lower left portion
is the blind portion of the Gutenberg Diagram, and although readable the user will not

7. give much importance to content in this area of the page. In this area like I just
mentioned there isn’t much going on besides some of the writing like if the film is being
released in 3D for example. Now onto the terminal area this is located at the bottom
right and on the movie poster this area mainly has the release date and to me this in
another important bit of the poster which will need at least some attention when
viewing the poster. Axis of orientation is the area in the middle of the poster that
features the two main characters and because of this and their previous romance in the
last this attracts the audience a lot more knowing that they are still together and
fighting.
Reception theory provides a means of understanding media texts by understanding how
audiences read these texts. Theorists who analyse media through reception studies are
concerned with the experience of cinema and television viewing for spectators, and how
meaning is created through that experience. An important concept of reception theory
is that the media text—the individual movie or television program—has no inherent
meaning in and of itself. Instead, meaning is created in the interaction between
spectator and text; in other words, meaning is created as the viewer watches and
processes the film. Reception theory argues that contextual factors, more than textual
ones, influence the way the spectator views the film or television program. Contextual
factors include elements of the viewer's identity as well as circumstances of exhibition,
the spectator's preconceived notions concerning the film or television program's genre
and production, and even broad social, historical, and political issues. In short, reception
theory places the viewer in context, taking into account all of the various factors that
might influence how she or he will read and create meaning from the text. To give is a
simple explanation reception theory is to do with how we react to films based upon our
age, gender, ethnicity and social class. In the filmthere could be many scenarios or
situations in which different ages, genders etc react differently to the film. For example
stereotypically most action films have the strong tough male lead actor with the hot
attractive sidekick lover but with this film it is not the case, we have the opposite. Tris is
the strong tough will power main character and then we have her sidekick you could say
Four who is attractive yet still has a tough side but not as powerful as Tris. Now when
thinking about this, reception theory and age I think some people of the older
generation could disagree with this whole concept because in this day and age people
still look down on women as the weaker sex and this filmproves that isn’t the case
anymore. With their being a female lead, gender could take on toll on the reaction of
the audience females might like seeing a strong character playing the badass and males
might not. This is where it comes to the responses of the audience, there are three ways
in which they can respond first one being preferred being where the people watching
agree with the film and the directors choices. Negotiated is where the audience will
agree with some of the representations but not all of them and finally oppositional this
is where the audience completely disagree with the representations and themes. So
when looking at these aspects of the filmI would say that the filmis preferred in my
opinions I think the film having a strong female character is good for young girls and
think they can even look up to her as a role model. The character has good intentions

8. throughout the film giving her a good representation. Now I will briefly talk about my
response to the filmand how it makes me think as teenager watching the film. Like I
mentioned above my response towards the film would be preferred because I like it
how the there is a strong female lead in the film and how even though she shows
weakness she also show will power and courage. I think the way Tris has been
represented throughout the film has been one really well and I completely agree with all
the representations and themes. Now onto the hypodermic model this theory suggests
that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly
by ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response.
People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot of media material ‘shot’ at them.
People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of
information. The view that is expressed is that the media is a dangerous means of
communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the
impact of the message. When looking at this film and applying this theory I couldn’t help
but think of how Tris is seen as different because she is divergent, when she finds out
she is scared and doesn’t want people to know she then finally accepts she is different
and is proud to be who she is. This could relate to people who are watching who know
they are different to come to terms with who they are and I think the film can have a
positive effect on people.
Avatar
Star theory like I mentioned above is the idea that institutions for financial gain
manufacture icons and celebrities. He believes that stars are constructed to represent
'real people' experiencing real emotions. When it comes to films star theory can attract
more of a wider audience because of who the actor is and their background in
Hollywood and films. In this filmAvatar the cast is quite varied when it comes to the
people of Hollywood for example we have Sam Worthington who plays Jake Sully has
been in popular films such as Clash of the titans, Wrath of the titans and Terminator
Salvation; because he is known for this his audience that watch him and like these films
might decide to watch this film because he is starred in it. This show that his fan base
would see the film especially because he is in it and this is where star theory comes in.
For example we have Zoe Saldana, she is a very known actor for doing films such as Star
Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness and even one of my chosen films above Guardians of the
Galaxy. Just right there you can see the films she is in are all similar with the genre being
action/adventure and sci-fi and the audience which likes seeing her in films will go and
watch Avatar because she is starred in it. Anther cast member who is starred in the film
is Sigourney Weaver who is a well known actress in Hollywood starring in films such as
Aliens 1, 2 and 3, these again are action/adventure films and have the same genre as
Avatar so her audience would easily go see her in this film because of the same aspects
of each film. Star theory works really well when it comes to wanting films to be popular
and gain a lot of money because all the well known stars attract the audience and that’s
where the profit is gained. Now moving onto the special effects of the film Avatar, it had
stunning visual effects and brought computer-generated animation to a new level.

9. Avatar was the first movie of its kind in that a majority of the visual effects used were
created just for the movie. New technology such as, stereoscopic cameras and virtual
cameras were developed to give the movie a 3D feel and allow for filmwatchers to have
an almost immersed sense of the planet Pandora. The other 40% of film was live-action
imagery, relying on more traditional Cameron-brand visual F/X. The live action
sequences were shot on location in New Zealand last Fall/Winter. The 3D film is nearly
60% computer generated and is rumoured to have cost £187m. So as you can tell a lot
of money and technology was put into the making of this film to grasp the idea of a
whole other world amongst the stars and to create real life aliens and creatures and this
was done amazingly and so realistically. I can’t see any other film genre other than
action/adventure and sci-fi to use this much special effect to create what they want and
for it to come out as good as this film did.
Now moving onto the part where I talk about how different elements within the film
identify the genre using Lacey’s repertoire of elements. First of all we have the setting,
at the beginning of the trailer there is a quick shot of the planet in which were the film is
set and this shows that it isn’t set on earth. Then there are some panning shots of trees,
jungles and nature this meaning that the planet is basically untouched and very clean as
you can tell. Just from them two point you can guess that this film would be under the
genre of action/adventure and sci-fi because of the whole idea of being in space and
also on other planet. Now moving to the characters first we have Jake Sully who is the
main protagonist in the film he is quite a tough character and this could be because he
used to be an ex marine before he became paralysed back on earth. When Jake Sully
finally meets one of the Navi aliens it shows the caring and compassionate side of him
because he realises that what the humans are doing is wrong and he will join the Navi to
stop them. Next we have Neytiri who is of the Navi people and saves Jake Sully’s life
while he is out alone in the deadly jungle, she is also a protagonist because she decides
to let Jake join the Navi along with her father the leader to join the tribe and help fight
the humans to save their home. Then we have the main antagonist Colonel Miles
Quaritch, the head of the mining operation's security detail. Fiercely loyal to his military
code, he has a profound disregard for Pandora's inhabitants that is evident in both his
actions and his language. Iconography is an important aspect of genre. We expect to see
certain objects on screen when we see a particular genre, for example, in a Western,
dusty lonely roads, saloon bars, cowboy hats and horses, jails, sheriffs badges, guns, etc.
Now I will talk about the iconography within the film, first we have the spaceships, gun
ships and much more throughout the film that gives the feel for action/adventure when
watching the film this also gives off the genre of sci-fi because of how advanced the
technology is and how it is nothing like today. Another link to this is the guns along with
the battles that they have with the Navi, the Navi use bow and arrows where as the
humans use guns and machinery. The setting is quite iconic because the film is set on
the planet Pandora and this clearly shows the adventure aspect of genre the idea of
being of another planet definitely sets this genre aspect.

10. Now onto the marketing and advertising of the film Avatar, When it comes to the
marketing of films they are advertised where their target audience will be mostly
situated at also where they would be most likely using a certain website or watching a
certain TV show for example. Social media site such as YouTube/Twitter and Facebook
are a good platform for advertising when it comes to marketing for your certain target
audience. YouTube is good when it comes to this sort of advertisement because before
each video there is a advert which relates to your current searches. Cinema also takes a
big part of advertisement and marketing because a few months before the filmis
released it is shown in the advertisements and trailers before a film has started.
Billboards are also used as a very good way of advertising they are mostly located in
busy areas and where traffic builds up this would be in places such a main cities and
towns, movie posters have the same effect these can be located at bus stops and many
places where the general public is at most of the time. The first photo of the filmwas
released on August 14, 2009, and Empire magazine released exclusive images from the
film in its October issue. Cameron, producer Jon Landau, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang,
and Sigourney Weaver appeared at a panel, moderated by Tom Rothman, at the
2009 San Diego Comic-Con on July 23. Like I mentioned above, panels are a good way t
advertise for a filmbecause it gets some of the actors together for the filmto talk about
them during the film and give information to the press and fans who are waiting for the
film to be released.
Now onto the Guttenberg design principle, The Gutenberg diagram describes a general
pattern the eyes move through when looking at evenly distributed, homogenous
information. First we have the primary optical area this area has the text from the
director of terminator 2 and titanic and this is basically saying that these two very
popular films are made by the same guy as this film so that people who like this
directors work would maybe possibly see this film because of that reason. Next we have
the strong fallow area this area features the main actors face and his avatar version of
himself this showing you a bit of what happens within the film keeping you interested
and wondering what this means and hopefully wanting you to find out about it and go
and see the film. Next we have the weak fallow area in this area we have the floating
islands, gunships and sunset and this suggest some elements within the filmsuch as
what we might expect for example the floating islands meaning its on a different planet
and the gunships meaning they’re will be action which can relate to the genre. Finally
we have the terminal area this features the directors name and the name of the film
and also that it will be released in IMAX 3D that is primary what the film’s built up to be.
Now onto reception theory and the responses in which some of the audience might
react, Reception theory provides a means of understanding media texts by
understanding how audiences read these texts. Theorists who analyse media through
reception studies are concerned with the experience of cinema and television viewing
for spectators, and how meaning is created through that experience. An important
concept of reception theory is that the media text—the individual movie or television
program—has no inherent meaning in and of itself. Instead, meaning is created in the
interaction between spectator and text; in other words, meaning is created as the

11. viewer watches and processes the film. Reception theory argues that contextual factors,
more than textual ones, influence the way the spectator views the film or television
program. Contextual factors include elements of the viewer's identity as well as
circumstances of exhibition, the spectator's preconceived notions concerning the film or
television program's genre and production, and even broad social, historical, and
political issues. In short, reception theory places the viewer in context, taking into
account all of the various factors that might influence how she or he will read and create
meaning from the text. Preferred Reading is when audiences respond to the product the
way media producers’ want/expect them to, negotiated Reading is when a member of
the audience partly agrees with part of the product. e.g. Film, documentary, TV
programme and finally oppositional Reading is when the audience are in complete
disagreement with the product’s message or setting. So when relating this to the film
Avatar and the situation with the invading of the home planet and the destruction of the
Navi’s home tree, different gender, ethnicity, age and social status can all have a
different opinion and response on the matter. For example when it comes to age the
older generation who are watching the film may think its okay for the humans to invade
the Navi because what these old people went through with war and also their older
ways of life, where as a young person might be more sympathetic because they didn’t
experience any war or even lived through it. Now onto the hypodermic theory model,
this theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people
directly and uniformly by ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger
a desired response. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot of media
material ‘shot’ at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no
other source of information. The view that is expressed is that the media is a dangerous
means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist
the impact of the message. This could also refer back to the situation about the humans
invading the Navi, realistically people might think this is okay to do and in the real world
obviously this wont be as science fictional as invading a planet but something smaller
and therefore thinking it is okay for because of this film.