Joseph Russo

The audience for a murder mystery film depends on

these factors:

• Age/Gender/Ethnicity

• Nationality/Homework

• Class/Status/Income

• Employment

• Marital Status

• Hobbies/Interests

• Other media used

Audience for Murder Mystery

Barthes’ Enigma Code is used when the text, in this

case a murder mystery film, asks a question and theaudience continue to watch to find out the answer.

It can be applied to the Murder Mystery genrebecause many of the conventions associated with thegenre can ask questions to the audience. Forexample, when there is a murder, the audience canattempt to work out who committed the murderwhen questions are asked, such as why there is aspecific clue linked to the murder.

Barthes’ Enigma Code

Hall’s Reception Theory is used so the audience can decode the

messages in Media texts differently. This theory states that themedia texts are encoded by the producer and include valuesand messages. Some audiences will decode the text in differentways and sometimes not in the way the producer intended.

The three ways that the audience decodes the media texts are:

• Dominant or Preferred Reading – how the producer wants film to be seen

• Oppositional Reading – when the audience creates their own meaning forthe text.

• Negotiated Reading – when the audience accepts part of the producersviews but has their own view on parts as well.

Hall’s Reception Theory

Stuart Hall’s theory is represented in murder

mystery films because depending on the audience,they would react in different ways. One example isin the film ‘Prisoners. For example, if a parent waswatching the film they would feel differently to aperson with no children. This is because a parentknows what it is like to have children and care fortheir safety. However if an adult with no childrenwatched it they would not watch it in the same wayas a parent would. This shows that Hall’s receptiontheory relates to the Murder Mystery genre.

Hall’s Reception Theory in Murder Mystery

I created a questionnaire to find out what kind of people

watch murder mystery films the most by asking variousquestions about themselves and what aspects of murdermystery films they like. I asked questions such as:

• Gender• Age• Marital status• Whether they are employed• What they like to see in a murder mystery film• Whether like to see who the murderer is at the start of the film

or the end of the film• What they look for in the protagonist and antagonist• How often they watch murder mystery films

Questionnaire

Age

From my questionnaire, Ifound out that a lot ofpeople who watch murdermystery films are olderteenagers and youngadults. This could bebecause they have morefree time to watch filmsand would be moreinterested in it.

11-15 3 12%

16-20 10 40%

21-25 5 20%

26-30 2 8%

31+ 5 20%

From my results I found

out that more half of thepeople who answered arenot married. This couldmaybe show that ayounger audience watchmurder mystery filmsbecause from the agequestion I found out thatmost people are 16-20.

Marital Status

Married 8 32%

Not married

17 68%

I found out that it was

almost equal about thequestion on employment.Just over half of the peopleare employed that answeredthe questionnaire.

Employment

Yes 15 60%

No 10 40%

I found that most people

like to see both a murderand kidnapping inmurder mystery films.Nobody who answeredmy questionnaire saidthey like neither a murderor a kidnapping.

What people like in a murder mystery

Murder 8 32%

Kidnapping 4 16%

Both 13 52%

None of the above

0 0%

People like a range of

aspects in the protagonistbut the mental aspects(charismatic, intelligent,ambitious) stand out themost. A lot of typicalprotagonists in murdermystery films are typicallymentally strong.

What people like to see in the protagonist

I can clearly see from the

results that a violentantagonist appeals themost to the audience. Thiscould be because violencecreates action and actionmakes the film moreinteresting and appealingto the audience.

What people like to see in the antagonist

A lot of people only watch

murder mystery filmssometimes and few peoplewatch them regularly.Some people don’t watchthem at all but this couldbe because of a busylifestyle, such as work andfamily.

How often people watch murder mystery films