Theorists

Researching further into my narrative I wanted to explore theorists that apply to it and my final music video. In the filming industry, reception and social media consumption are prominent aspects to producers and director, not only do they have to gain a positive feedback from their content, which would enable them to release their final footage online, but to also have the intended response regarding their content.

Blumer and Katz
The theorists Blumer and Katz use the 'Gratifications Theory' to explore how media has an effect over their audiences, because the audience has control over media consumption. This theory is relevant to my own work, because as a producer, I want my work to be received positively and to later be acted upon. My narrative follows a boy struggling with mental health, this is a topic that is scarcely addressed within the media, and through expressing a level of support and movement towards the lack of emotional awareness to men, I intend to bring this situation into the wider society of media and audience consumption. Media consumption is important for my style of media product, music videos become popular and can be distributed on Youtube, Facebook  and on the artists website. Music videos project a visual image which enables an audience to become more engaged and to remember the running message and themes of the video.

Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss is a theorist that believed that the only way we understand certain words is through understanding the difference between the word and its 'opposite' or, most commonly called 'a binary opposite'. The representation of opposition and contradicting the 'norm' is a theme I use within the narrative of my music video and the editing. I present the emotional side to a man, this representation o a man is not popularity addressed within media and films. Men are traditionally seen as both the hero and villain, where in both roles, they are not weak. The portrayal of emotions is expressed as a more 'feminine' act, I used the theory of binary opposites when presenting the power of genre within my music video. Opposing this theory, Jacques Derrida argued that binary opposites are never equal and audiences are positioned to favour one over another.

Stuart Hall
The theorist Stuart Hall focus his theory around Reception and Mediation. This is a process where all media products are read by an audience. Hall says that there are three ways the audience receives media: 

1. The audience fully accepts the preferred meaning, showing they agree with dominant values.
2. The audience takes a negotiated position, meaning that they only agree with some-not all of the preferred meaning.
3. The audience takes an oppositional position, whereby they understand the preferred meaning but decide to reject this and make their own interpretation
4. An extension of this is a fourth reading called the aberrant reading, where a completely unintentional meaning is taken away by audiences.

I believe that my music video fits into the second point made. Due to the topic I address is a controversial topic, the public response towards this would be both positive and negative. Studying the feedback I received from my final film, a lot of them felt that the theme of mental condition was addressed clearly and they began to feel sympathetic towards the character. Their awareness of the mental health conditions was clearly received which, if exported onto Facebook could have the potential of being shared to show the support that men are aloud to express their emotions without being put down for it.

Erik Erikson 
Relevant to the character within my music video, the theorist Erik Erikson created an eight stage theory based on identity and psychosocial development. Erikson's work was heavily influenced by the psychologist Sigmund Freud who explored three aspects of identity: ego identity (self), personal identity (the personal idiosyncrasies that distinguish a person from another) and social/cultural identity (the collection of social roles a person might play).
Within my music video my character is trapped within a repeated mental circle where everyday is the same and his mental health becomes to deteriorate. My music video has the underlying theme of identity and self expression, the character struggles to do this and expresses that by the repeated motions of cleaning and the shots taken in the kitchen. Manipulating time is also a factor in this, it disrupts the structure of the music video story line reinforcing the non-linear structure. When sharing this music video online it will address the social response and therefor the social identity and attitude towards the topic I am addressing.