Addressing The Audience

Addressing The Audience

Addressing the audience means how a media product tries to connect with the people using it. It does this through things like voice, images, music, and language. For example, a horror film might use dark lighting, scary sounds, and fast editing to make the audience feel nervous or excited.

Point of View

Media products can address the audience by presenting their narratives from different viewpoints. For example:

• Narrator in a radio or TV documentary.
• Editorial or opinion piece in a newspaper or blog.
• First-person perspective in a computer game, where play is experienced as though you are the character.

TV Documentary Narration

Here is an example of a narrator addressing the audience on a BBC Documentary.

Modes of Address

Modes of address are ways in which a media text speaks to the audience to engage them. These include:

• Direct: speaking directly to the audience to create a bond with them. This is often used in adverts to persuade them of the benefits of a product. See Example
• Indirect: where the audience observes the narrative from the outside as it unfolds. See Example
• Omniscient: whereby media text provides the audience with information that the characters do not know, e.g. by means of narration or camerawork. See Example

Use of Language

Modes of address also rely on the use of different language styles and expression to appeal to an audience. These include:

• Formal: use of formal language in quality newspapers can give a serious and professional tone and can be used to create trust.
• Informal: a chattier style such as that used in some magazines to ‘connect’ with the audience and make them feel comfortable with a media product.
• Hyperbole: use of overexaggerated terms, often used in advertisements to persuade the audience that a product is AMAZING!

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