Mass Audience Research.

The "Magic Bullet" or "Hypodermic Needle Theory" of direct influence effects was not as widely accepted by scholars as many books on mass communication indicate. People were assumed to be "uniformly controlled by their biologically based 'instincts' and that they react more or less uniformly to whatever 'stimuli' came along". The "Magic Bullet" theory graphically assumes that the media's message is a bullet fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head". Similarly, the "Hypodermic Needle Model" uses the same idea of the "shooting" paradigm. It suggests that the media injects its messages straight into the passive audience. This passive audience is immediately affected by these messages. The public essentially cannot escape from the media's influence, and is therefore considered a "sitting duck".

Preliminary Task

For the preliminary task in the film option I have chosen, I am going to record a man dressed in a smart shirt and tie interrogating a man sat in a chair in a quiet room. It is a police interrogation. I am hoping to be able to get some decent props and also a decent quiet room. the room must be fairly bland looking and must resemble a place that an interrogation would take place.

The TV shows that i am modelling my idea from are british crime dramas like 'The Bill' and 'Whitechapel'. I have chosen these british dramas because they are much more realistic and gritty than american dramas. They focus more on character development and scene setting whereas american crime dramas are very high octane and focus on extravagance.

For my Media choice this year i have chosen film. It appeals to me mostly because i haven't actually handled film making equipment and editing programs before and i think it would be a good learning experience. Many students take the safe path and choose print, but i believe that film, being the most challenging option for me, is the best choice.

I am to produce a professional continuity task for my main assignment involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The task i hope will demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. < extract from ''AS/A2 Media Studies Student's Guide''

All my audio material etc. should be personally produced and original with the exception of music or audio from copyright-free sources.

- Nathan Kennedy.