Audience Classifications

The NRS social grades are a system of demographic classification used in the United Kingdom. They were originally developed by the National Readership Survey in order to classify readers, but are now used by many other organisations for wider applications and have become a standard for market research. Their definition is now maintained by the Market Research Society.

The grades

The classifications are based on the occupation of the head of the household.

Grade	Social class	Chief income earner's occupation
A	upper middle class	Higher managerial, administrative or professional
B	middle class	Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional
C1	lower middle class	Supervisory or clerical and junior managerial, administrative or professional
C2	skilled working class	Skilled manual workers
D	working class	Semi and unskilled manual workers
E	Those at the lowest levels of subsistence	Casual or lowest grade workers, pensioners and others who depend on the welfare state for their income

The grades are often grouped into ABC1 and C2DE and these are taken to equate to middle class and working class respectively. Only around 2% of the UK population identifies as upper class, and this group is not included in the classification scheme.

Youth tribe - http://www.uktribes.com/

ACORN (acronym for A Classification Of Residential Neighbourhoods) is a geo-demographic information system categorising all United Kingdom post codes into various types based upon census data and other information such as lifestyle surveys. It was developed by Richard Webber of CACI Limited, who also developed the competing MOSAIC system, and is sold to businesses, health and local authorities typically for marketing and planning purposes.

Audience Profiling

Audience demographics are ways different audiences can be grouped by class, race, gender, age, tastes or preferences.

Audience theories are how different audience behave and why they read or understand texts differently. Mostly concerned with whether media controls or influences us, the affects the media have on groups such as young people and children.

Media audiences are the audience of music, film, Tv and consumers of newspapers magazines and the web. It could be the 14 million watching an episode of Eastenders, the many radio listeners of the same station, or the 200 watching the same film in the cinema.

Socio-demographic groupings can be harsh and out dated as they group large numbers of people from the same class regardless of whether they have the same interests and preferences. However newspaper, magazine and radio stations often use them, when selling space to advertisers.

Psychographics or audience profiling is the study of the lifestyles, habits, opinions, values and attitudes of consumers. Manufactures use this process to understand which adverts people will respond to and which media products will be successful.  For example the Four C’s category, put under varied category names and are based on Abraham Manslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Cultural Consumer Characteristics (the Four C’s)

Mainstreamers	The largest group and are concerned witch security, will choose comfortable brands such as Kellogg’s and will consume mainstream media texts such as My Family.
Aspirers	These are groups of consumers trying to improve themselves, consuming high end brands names such as, Gucci Channel and Prada.  They believe that their status is secured by this conspicuous consumption.
Succeeders	Believe they are powerful in control and secure, though they may not be.  Buying brands such as Audi to reinforce this feeling.
Reformers	You will find buying brands such as Innocent, Fair Trade, Ecover all associated with ‘caring and responsible’. They will consume the eco-friendly brands and live sustainable healthy lives.
The individual	An addition to the four basic groups, highly media literate, buys the product image, not the product and expects high-end advertising.

As our film is aimed at teenagers aged fifteen and above, I have devised a short questionnaire, using demographic profiling to give out to a group of candidates from my target audience.  As I am conducting this survey in a school, i have specified that it is optional to give all information, but no information will be distributed.

Audience profiling

For your own comfort is optional to give any personal information away, however any information that you do give will be confidential and will not be distributed.

Name?

Age?

Gender?

Place of residence?

Previous place of evidence (if applicable)?

Occupation

Are you in GCSE, A level, Vocational or Higher Education?

If so what subjects are you studying?

Are you employed? Part-time or full- time?

What is your job?

How much do you earn?

Interests

Do you have any Hobbies or interests?

What are your likes and dislikes, within these categories, music, fashion, magazines, food?

Films

Name your worst and favourite film?

What, where and when was the last film you watched?

Audience Theories

Hypodermic Needle Model

This theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to the mass media. Started in the 1920s, the Hypodermic Needle Model suggests that audiences passively receive information from the media and get manipulated into believing what they see is true without being given a chance to question. This theory is largely rejected, however younger and also more venerable people are supposed to be more susceptible to this.

Two Step Flow

Individuals, who pay close attention to the mass media and their messages, then pass on their own interpretations as well as the actual media content.

Reception Theory

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. The Film ‘Hurt Locker’ will be more controversial towards servicemen, women and families, where on the other hand ‘United 93’ and’ 9/11’ will be more difficult for those who experienced the terrorist attack on the twin towers.

Cultivation Theory

The Cultivation theory says that the overuse of television is creating a homogeneous and fearful populace.  Those who watch four or more hours a day are labelled heavy television viewers and those who view less than four hours per day, are light viewers.  Heavy viewers are exposed to media showing us the same views over long periods of time, which leads t stereotyped opinions within society. Always watching the same broadcasts or reading the same newspapers may lead to these stereotyped views. The film ‘This is England’ is often labelled as being a huge exaggeration of stereotypes today, and as re-enforcing people’s opinions of groups within society.

http://www.damaris.org/content/content.php?type=5&id=539

Copycat theory

This refers to the publicity about violent murders or suicides shown in the media which could result in imitation.  However it has been shown that most of the persons who do mimic crimes seen in the media have in most cases prior criminal records, prior severe mental health problems or histories of violence. Re-enacting scenes, from films as well as costumes can also be a problem amongst groups and peers, for example after the release of  ‘Clockwork Orange’, there was huge controversy after a rise in copycat crimes.
http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0012.html

Desensitisation Theory
This theory argues that the more we watch shocking and violent images and information, the less sensitive we become to it in real life.


Uses and gratifications theory
Uses and gratification theory suggests that media users play an active role in choosing and using the media.  That we seek out a media source that best fulfils their needs, the viewer is not a sitting target, but we interpret things as what we want to see. Uses and gratifications assume that the user has alternate choices to satisfy their need.  In reaction to the Film ‘Crash’ some local authorities banned viewing, for example Westminster London, however Camden, only a few miles away showings continued. This demonstrates the public making its own choices about how to respond to controversial films.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/crash-faces-ban-from-west-end-1351586.html#


Media studies 2.0
Is the theory that the internet is used as a parallel universe housing online communities, social networking sites, blogging, and other interactive uses of information technology are changing the way people communicate and understand their world, social media is changing society, for example ’Facebook’, ‘Twitter’, other social networking sites, and any other films and programmes available over the internet, and not going through regulations.

Mise en Scene

Mise en scene (French for ‘put in the picture/scene’): the arrangement by a filmmaker of everything that is to be included in a shot or frame. Mise-en-scene is everything in the shot, it includes; setting, props, decor, lighting, actors, characters, positioning, and other technical elements. It helps establish the setting, class, and genre and can tell us a lot about the characters in the scene. For example, if we are shown a shot of a character in their bedroom, we can tell form the colour palette, if they are ‘girly’, ‘sophisticated’ or ‘emo’. And from posters, magazines, photos and clothes around the room we can tell what their hobbies and interests maybe.

Costume

The main characters are identified as late teens in the exposition and development shots, they are wearing casual clothes, both boys with stereotypical low slung trousers and ‘hoodies’, one is also wearing a cap referred to as a ‘flat peak’. The female character in our trailer is wearing long black boots and a leather jacket, each outfit is intended to give off a trendy but in no way innocent look, which relates to the concept of them intending to go to an illegal rave. As you can see in these photographs the characters clothes are not suitable for their surroundings which adds to their vulnerability in the situation.




Lighting

Within the trailer the use of lighting is key in order to create atmosphere, the setting throughout the is outside, which coincides with our use of natural lighting, throughout the trailer parallel to the build of tension, the light will fade. And immediately cuts to create a cliffhanger on a back shot of two characters trapped, after a door suddenly slams on them.
We also used a torch and candles to create atmosphere. Unfortunetly the camera as we tried to film darker scene the picture on the camera became less focused, if we had more professional lighting and a equipment we would be able to overcome this in the future.

Actors

Throughout the trailer you only see three teen actors, however the protagonist is insinuated through hand held camera shots from his point of view.

Make up

As we do not have any harsh un-natural lighting in our trailer, the use of Make up is limited to natural colours worn by the one female character, we have left it like this to keep a realistic style.

Props

As are main setting is very simple we have used props, and lighting and sound largely to create the tension and horror within our trailer.  We have used candles to create an eerie atmosphere, as well as shots of an axe to put a sense of fear and horror in the minds of our viewers.

Setting

Generally, are trailer is set in an eerie dark forest to create atmosphere and tension, the facts that the character are lost in the middle of nowhere enforces their venerability, the sitting is basic but gives us a lot to work on with camera angles and props whilst not ending up with a shots that looks crammed and confusing. However our opening acquisition shot is of a basic culder sack road familiar to the characters and relatable for the viewers it introduces the trailer with a calm sense of equilibrium.