Denis McQuail's Audience Pleasures [Something That's A Bit Like Uses and Gratifications But It's Not]

     

'I am not in this lesson, it's a photoshop.'

Entertainment/Escapism: People use media products to get away from reality – for straightforward enjoyment.

Information/Surveillance: People use media products to find out information, to learn things. This might be through factual media products, but it can also include insights gained through fiction entertainment.

Personal relationships: People use media products as talking points

Personal identity: People use media products as a means of shaping their own ‘subcultural identities’.

Important note: Mr Higgs does not like Glee.

Examples:

Entertainment/Escapism - Travis' favourite show F*R*I*E*N*D*S, Peep Show, games.

Information/Surveillance - The News, Documentaries, Prime Minister's Questions, Google.

Personal Relationships - Reality shows, talent contest shows, soaps, dramas, social media.

Personal Identity - Video games maybe if they have customisation, music genres and artists.

We shall now return to the GLOW clip from a few weeks back.

To what extent and in what ways does it provide these pleasures?

Entertainment/Escapism - GLOW, as a fictional narrative-based story (I assume [it is, and a drama, confirmed]) provides entertainment. People might like the action or novelty (because it's set in the 80s) of women's wrestling. That 80s factor may be nostalgia appeal. Also the combination of humour and drama. Although maybe someone with back pain wanted to take their mind off it by watching some TV only to be met with this although I can't imagine that happening often.

Information/Surveillance - Awareness of back pain and how not to treat it. Some insight into the 80s (The Glorious Ladies of Wrestling was a real show, around which this fictionalised show has been created). Women in society (exploitation, misogyny, sexism, etc.)

Personal Relationships - People talking about their back pain? People could use it as an example to talk to each other about their struggles with back pain. Watercooler drama - sparking conversation between family, friends, fans, etc. Could prompt conversations about any number of the issues featured in the drama, which to name a few could be those covered in the last section and those I will mention in the final section because for some reason we did that one before this.

Personal Identity - Character's experience of pain, and the self-medication of painkillers and alcohol whilst struggling to work. More broadly speaking, female wrestlers perhaps, people struggling with the sexism and misogyny we mentioned before, either in the past or to this day.

Another important note: Mr Higg does not like the Transformers films.

Another important note: Mr Higgs does not like the 1980s.

The Archers:

What kind of crossover between the GCSE Media Universe and the A Level Media Universe is this?

(Ironically I made this using Photoshop.)

 

 
Another important note: Mr Higgs does like the Bee Gees.

 

Website Features:

Entertainment/Escapism - An article discussing various fictional characters and their ideas for survival in a fictional apocalypse.

(https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2HJvJB0vm8bm0yKPGJFvLp1/ambridge-zombie-survival-guide)

 

Information/Surveillance - An article talking about real-world facts of an illness that recently led to the death of a character in the show.

(https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4GLsKHCCPKX9zBJk0MFWpNY/nic-grundy-s-death-what-is-sepsis-and-why-did-no-one-spot-it)

 

Personal Identity - An article talking about listeners' favourite catchphrases from Archers characters.

(https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2lSr1ntRKkjvDhL5f56YWfY/we-asked-if-you-had-any-archers-catchphrases-and-your-answers-gave-us-a-quirky-and-lovely-snapshot-of-ambridge)

 

Personal Relationships - An article discussing what listeners' think the character of Brian looks like. This has evidently caused a lot of discussion between fans.

(https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3gTRCXSLzcZK32dxfQrsNwB/all-sex-and-saddle-soap-what-does-brian-look-like)

 

Hold on what's going on here?

 

 

 

 

AHHHHHHHHH

So somehow, despite already having possibly the simplest corporate logo out there, they've managed to follow the trend of oversimplifying corporate logos.

 

Right we're back again just like a long-lost friend all the songs I loved so well:

That was a weird reference but anyway. I find it amusing that the table in this PowerPoint says 'Uses and Gratifications'. Even this knows that to be the superior version.
Anyways, have some more examples:

Escapism:

Example:

Relationship to the audience:

Peep Show is primarily watched for the entertainment value, as while it is very much grounded in reality, it doesn't tackle significant real-world events in any way so as to be informative, and deliberately avoids portraying any kind of moral or message, as this fits the tone of the comedy in the show. The camerawork is a significant microfeature, as the entire show - barring a few weird shots like the flashbacks and the sentient TVs, mirrors and hills which occasionally make appearances - is recorded in a POV style, an unusual, interesting and entertaining deviation from what viewers may have come to expect from shows of this format.

Surveillance:

Example:

Relationship to the audience:

While this video does provide some entertainment value, Mr Higgs' primary aim here is to sell potential students on the benefits studying English and Media. He does so by informing the viewers of various aspects of the courses and their many positives. The microfeatures of audio and editing work well together here, with many J and L cuts between the bright, cheerful piece-to-camera footage of Mr Higgs superimposed in front of the artfully blurred school and the B-roll footage of various students hard at work on and enjoying their studies. This helps to reinforce everything he is saying. The fact this was put into the same video as MFL is criminal.

Personal Relationships:

Example:

 

Relationship to the audience:

While being primarily for entertainment and hype-building purposes, it is undeniable that this trailer was intended to and has been proven to have caused countless discussions between fans about all different aspects of the film. The editing, for example, provides the viewer with many snippets of information and teases for characters and events in the film, and in turn giving them lots to talk about in person with their friends and online.

Personal Identity:

Example:

Relationship to the audience:

Aspiring teachers may find personal identity in this man's sheer passion, excitement and namely 'buzz' for what he does. They might look up to him and hope that they, too, can one day be as excited about coming into work and inspiring the next generation to tolerate maths as he is. The camerawork is a significant microfeature here, as many of the shots in the video are very much close-ups, allowing us to see in very high definition just how much buzz this person possesses.