Angel Bird

Uses and Gratification Theory

The people who came up with this theory are Blumler and Katz. They theorize that
people who use media have an active role in choosing the types of media they use
to meet their needs. The theory relies on the fact that people know which media they
consume and deliberately do so for a specific purpose.
There are four main reasons that people use media:

Knowledge/information: People seek knowledge from the media they use (this
could be in a social context or just general information).

Relaxation/entertainment: People may want to relax, take a break from their lives
and be entertained by magazines or television.

Social Interactions: People seek information about their friends and social
interactions that will take place. For example social networking sites like Twitter or
Facebook may provide essential information for social gatherings.

Escapism: Another reason people may use media is to escape from their own lives.
This can take the form of many different types of media from reading a magazine to
sitting watching a television program.

Personal Identity: People may also want to relate to the desirable characteristics of
people in the media. They will then apply this to their real life to become a better
person.

Angel Bird

Uses and Gratification for our Horror Film

Information: Since films in the horror genre are usually set in a normal town or
village, the audience members may find security in knowing what to do in the unlikely
event of it happening to them. Or knowing what kind of thing the victims do and
make sure they do the opposite. Also people may become curious as to the plot of
our production from when they have seen posters and adverts for it, therefore
watching it will satisfy that curiosity.

Personal Identity: In horror films most of the characters are in danger for the
majority of the film. During these hard times, the characters generally show
characteristics such as bravery and intelligence to defeat the antagonist. The
audience members may want to copy these characteristics (such as bravery) in their
own lives to become better people. They may also judge whether the actions of the
characters are foolish and whether they would do the same thing in their situation.

Entertainment/Escapism: In the horror genre people may put themselves in the
position of the different characters to escape from their own lives for a little while. For
example they may put themselves in the position of the character of the potential
victims to speculate how differently the audience members would act in that
situation. Also they may put themselves in the position of the killer, as this isnt a
situation the audience members would ever find themselves in. Also it is entertaining
for the audience as it fills their time and may give them an emotional release. In
addition, just by watching our production, the audience are passing time, escaping
from their everyday lives and perhaps forgetting their problems which is escapism.

Social Interactions/Intergration: If audience members saw the film together this
may stimulate conversations about the film afterwards. Such as they may discuss
how good they thought the film was and if it had the typical conventions of a horror.
Audience members may also connect over the death of one of the characters and
share how they felt about it as during a horror film at least one person usually dies.