Discuss ways in which Jackson reaches and

engages the audience

To whom is the text addressed and what is the target

audience?• Women and couples - romance between Jack

Driscoll and Ann Darrow and Kong and Ann (beauty and the beast scenario)

• Teenagers and men - action scenes where Kong fights the three T-Rex and the end sequence

• Younger teenagers - fantasy (Kong and the other large creatures)

• Jackson fans – long tracking shots of Skull island (trademark Jackson)

General information…(audience statistics)

62.1% of the audience was male and 37.9% were female - appeals to all members of the audience (although slightly more males watched the film, it cannot be said that it is a male orientated film due to romantic elements

clip 1 & 2... Comparison of romance which appeals to women (scene where Ann cannot act because she spots Driscoll) and action which appeals to men (fight scene between Kong and the three T-Rex)

• The majority of the audience were aged 16 to 25 - action and fantasy genres appeal more to a younger audience

What assumptions about the audiences’ characteristics are

implicit within the text?

• Jackson assumes that the audience are familiar with the story (don’t actually mention where they are going)

What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the

texts scheduling or position?

• Release of ‘King Kong’ was Dec 2005

Releasing the film at this time was probably due to the fact that it is a holiday season and although it is a certified 15 film, it would have been intended to be for all members of the family

NB. Christmas season - prime film viewing time

What effect does the size of the audience have on the text?• Jackson already had a large following due to

previous films such as the trilogy ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Heavenly Creatures’

• The film would also have a following of ‘King Kong’ fans

allows for a large budget (estimated at $207million although the gross profit was $549,216,896).

In turn allows for good use of CGI etc, appealing to the audience as the best type of fantasy is one that is believable

Clip 3…When we first meet Kong

• The film would also have been shown in all cinemas world wide

This means that the long tracking shots of the landscape can be fully appreciated in cinematic widescreen with surround sound. This allows the audience to feel more involved in the plot line. Once again making the fantasy of it all feel more believable.

Clip 4…tracking shot of Skull Island

Size of the audience continued…

What are the possible and probable audience readings of

the text? • Stuart Hall’s audience theory - readings of

text

• 1. Preferred - the text is read and the audience totally agrees

• 2. Negotiated - the text is read and believed, although there are some areas of conflict

• 3. Oppositional - none of the text is agreed with

How do you as an audience member, read and evaluate the

text? • A typical audience member would read the

text and give a preferred reading whereas us as media students give a negotiated reading of it

• This is because we know every text is mediated no matter how hard the director tries to portray the truth (always has a little of their bias in the reading)

• the extent at which the reading of the text is influenced

How can audience theories be used to explain its appeal?

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Audience theories continued…

• Physiological and safety needs: Ann’s need to survive on the island

• Belongingness and love needs: Kong's love and need for Ann

• Esteem needs: Denham’s desperation for fame and his big break as a film producer

• Self actualisation needs: Ann realises she cares for Kong, Driscoll realises his love for Ann

• Therefore Maslow allows the director to fulfil the basic needs of the audience. Once all these have been adhered to the film would appeal to the audience because they would feel more involved and emotionally engaged with the characters.

Audience theories continued…

• Propp’s narrative theory backs up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory to an extent because it forms the basis of the fairytale story

For example: there is a hero (Driscoll), a princess (Ann) and a villain (Denham)

it also follows the actions or events as described (see narrative handed out by JN) where the events are as follows: preparation, complication, transference, struggle, return, recognition