Start Hall is responsible for creating Hall's reception theory as well as the representation theory. Hall's reception theory states that producers will encode specific meanings or themes and audiences can decode them in several different ways. These three ways consist of, oppositional reading, preferred reading, and negotiated reading. Oppositional reading is when a viewer ignores the encoded message and creates one of their own based on their own personal experiences. Preferred reading is when a viewer interprets a piece of media the way a producer encoded it. Negotiated reading is when an audience member partially accepts the encoded meaning, but still adds their own ideas based off of their personal experiences. There are many factors that play into these three different types of readings such as one's social class, gender, and culture. For reference, the Barbie movie was extremely controversial due to audiences decoding it in many diverse ways. Women decoded this movie as empowering whilst some men decoded it as degrading. This goes to show how gender can affect the way someone decodes any form of media.
Halls representation theory states that there is no fixed meaning to any object or character. The representation theory in film takes on things such as gender, age, and ethnics. For example, the movie Hoop Dreams tackles the idea of poverty. This movie uses Halls representation theory by showing two young black basketball players from the inner city. The movie challenges typical stereotypes of African Americans who play sports in the inner city. Stuart Halls theories have made me think more critically about my decisions as a creator. In my opening scene, the main character, Alyssa, is encoded to seem scared. However, some may decode her as a skeptical teen due to their own personal experiences. Due to my understanding on Hall's theories i have made smarter decisions for my opening sequence.
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