media theories!!!!!!!

 Everybody's favorite time is here...media theoriessss

I'll be honest, at first, I did NOT like researching media theories only because I didn't understand how they were different and couldn't see the uniqueness of each. Now, I can actually appreciate how they help in processing and analyzing media. So, with that being said, let's look at some theories I can incorporate for my final!

1. Enigma Codes

Enigma code are central to genres like psychological horror because confusion and suspense are key genre characteristics. These types of films often withhold information from the audience, leading to unanswered questions about what is real or not and who can be trusted. They even lead to questions open whether certain events even happened. These codes force audiences to feel involved and immersed, as they try to connect these fragmented pieces and figure out the clues themselves. The partial revealing of information builds more tension and reflects the protagonist's confusion as well. By not feeling completely informed, the audience remains in a state of unease, which is the purpose of psychological horror. 

example of an enigma code: Unkrich, L., & Molina, A. (Directors). (2017). Coco [Film still]. Pixar Animation Studios.

2. Hall’s Reception Theory

Similarly to enigma codes, Hall's Reception Theory encourages fan immersion, which could stem into different interpretations of a plot as well. Different viewers may find different meanings behind elements of a film, for example, a protagonist to some can be seen as an antagonist to others. Open endings and unreliable narration like that can lead to debates among audiences. This reflects another goal of psychological horror which is to leave an audience unsettled and questioning what they've seen. 

Hall's Reception Theory explained: Hall, S. (n.d.). Encoding/decoding model of communication [Diagram]. Media Studies. https://media-studies.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/hall-diagram-602x320.jpg

These 2 theories would be super interesting to develop and would definitely show Cambridge that our group has a great understanding to genre characteristics and conventions, which could mean our opening scoring high??? Only time will tell, though.

I'll talk to you guys next time when we start figuring out actual character development and mise-en-scene!!

KBlog, byeeeee!!!!!

Resources: 

Media Studies. (n.d.). Action & enigma codes. https://media-studies.com/action-enigma-codes/

Media Studies. (n.d.). Stuart Hall: Encoding and decoding. https://media-studies.com/action-enigma-codes/