Sociologists utilise media theories to investigate how the media impacts society. They are crucial to understanding because emerging technologies are transforming the way mass media functions and influencing people’s attitudes, convictions, and actions continually.
WHAT IS DIASPORA?
Diasporic cinema emerges as a creative expression from individuals who have experienced displacement from their native lands and resettled in different regions of the globe. Moreover, this film genre mirrors the authentic experiences, cultural identities, perspectives, and intricate ties to both home and host countries within diaspora communities.
Diaspora literature involves literary works crafted by authors residing beyond their original homeland. The principal elements defining diasporic writings include the exploration of identity, experiences of displacement and resettlement, a sense of nostalgia, and a persistent feeling of guilt.
Diaspora is a common theme that is shown in my work as I am talking about my experience in residing in different countries other than my own and creating my story in different ways using media.
RECEPTION THEORY
Stuart Hall suggested that media texts contain a variety of messages that are encoded by producers and then decoded by audiences.
Hall identified three possible ways in which messages and meanings can be decoded:
- The Preferred Reading: This is where the audience comprehends and embraces the ideology put forth by the producer.
- The Negotiated Reading: The audience generally agrees with the ideological implications of the producer’s message. However, they engage in a negotiation process, possibly disagreeing with specific aspects of the message.
- The Oppositional Reading: The audience comprehends the producer’s message, but they disagree with the ideological perspective in every aspect.
In my media outputs, the common message throughout all is that the place does not define you, the people around you do and although moving is difficult it provides you with experiences that are unique and make you grow as a person. The audience can understand my message and embrace it or disagree with me.
REPRESENTATION THEORY
Stuart Hall’s theory of representation includes three components. The initial component emphasizes the Media’s frequent utilization of stereotypes. Stereotypes are oversimplifications of individuals and groups, shaped by preconceived notions derived from factors such as culture, religion, race, sexual orientation, age, gender, and appearance.
The common representation of international students is that they are used to the uncertain lifestyle of having to pick up all of their belongings and move to a completely new place that they may have never even heard of before. I am representing this by showing the active life of an international student in my creative writing and short film.
GENRE THEORY
Producers rely on the audience’s desire to see both repetition and difference in genre conventions. This can mean looking for something familiar, while also looking for something new, interesting, and different. Genres can change or even merge with others to create new genres.
My short film can instantly show repetitive codes of a sad film from the genre conventions such as low-key lighting, sad tone and mood, and a voiceover that conveys a low and upset-sounding voice. This relates to genre theory as it uses preconceived notions about the sad genre and takes inspiration from this to create my own film.