Uses and Gratifications

Uses and Gratification is a theory that applies to media and it explains why audiences consume the media in the way that they do. It is an entirely audience orientated approach to understanding mass communication. It assumes that audience members are not passive but actively take part in the interpretation and integration of media texts.The basic model of this theory suggests that four branches are present; Identify, Educate, Entertain and Social interaction. All of these have there own reasoning behind it.

• Identify - The audience like being able to identify the people and the products that are put before them in the media text format. These people outline those who are most like them and they also outline who is the evil and who is meant to be the role model. Given the context of my music video; the audience will be able to identify who the people are within the video. They will be able to see who the drummer is and who the guitarist/ vocalist is.
• Educate - People consume the media in the hope that they will learn something from it or gain an understanding of something that they did not previously. Although the main point of a music video is not to educate the audience; those who are musically minded will be able to see from the footage of the music being played; what chords/ beats are being played. 
• Entertain - Entertainment plays a big role in the media that we consume; what we watch has to be enjoyable and also provide some form of a escapism. Escapism is present so that people can just forget the worries that they have in the life they have and escape into the fictional world where other people are worse off than them. Music video's are conventionally constructed to advertise the song and to get it promoted but another aim of the music video is to entertain. I have aimed to make my video and entertaining spectacle; the music is quite upbeat and I have tried to match this with the visuals.
• Social interaction - When people watch a product of the media it allows them to talk to people about it and spread the opinions they have on it. In some cases this interaction happens outside of the friend zone that they have; a public conversation on the bus, for example. The vocalist is communicating to the audience as the video shows him directly speaking to the camer and therefore talking to the audience.