The Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratification theory (Blumer and Katz) suggests that audiences actively seek out particular genres of film/text in order for personal gratification/to meet their needs. The theory assumes that audiences are not passive in the media text they consume, but instead play an active role into what they consume, as well as how they interpret the information. There are 4 basic needs according to the theory:

Diversion - Audience use media to escape from everyday life and problems to relax Personal Relationships - Use media to fulfil their need for companionship and form relationships with others Personal Identity - Use media to find out about themselves, some characters may reflect us Surveillance - Use media to find out information and what is going on around us, e.g. by watching the news

Our piece will invite the audience to divert away from their everyday life and stresses; therefore we aim for our audience to watch our film for diversion. This is because we aim to entertain with the humorous and light-hearted nature of our short film, which is purely for entertainment, and should help therefore, help the audience to relax. Our film does not fit into any other criterion, as it will not help the audience to fulfil their need for companionship, find out more about themselves, or find out what is going around them.