Year 2: Viewers make meaning.

I have been reading a relatively small section of this paper in order to understand it. The overall theme of the text is about how people create meanings from images such as paintings and film that are sometimes completely different from what the creator or producer of the image originally intended.

In the text the author suggests that images are not just placed waiting for the viewer to find them, that there is in fact other factors to bring into account. The author describes ‘complex negotiations’ and describes the codes and conventions that structure the image, how viewers understand it and the context in which the image is shown. Therefore the producer has to understand political, social, cultural and economic influences of the viewer. Also understand how the viewers will react to the image and in what context they receive the image. The author refers to the viewer as an individual rather than as part of an audience. He aims to engage and cause a reaction from the viewers’, rather than mould a collective audience.

The author introduces the concept of interpellation, I understand this to mean, engaging the viewer and allowing them to respond and question. In order for the viewers to understand the meaning of an image the producer has to understand the codes and conventions of the social group he is addressing. In advertising producers seek to interpellate viewers/consumers by implying they are within the advert, allowing viewers to associate with the message portrayed by the image. Some viewers may not relate to the advert directly, but may associate with it in an indirect manner, for example I may not wish to buy the perfume, however, my sister would really like it.   

Producers can evoke feelings within their audience, to engage or interpellate, this can be achieved in the style of the photograph or image. An image may have close-ups, blurred perspective or use of warm colours to portray a nostalgic, traditional view of childhood, as seen in Wethers Originals. Alternatively, emotions of disgust or sorrow can create a personal response to charitable advertising for donations. Therefore by knowing the codes and conventions the producer can reach targeted individuals within their intended audience.

Producers Intended Meanings

A producer can be an individual, organisation or a collective of artists. The theorist Roland Barthes in ‘the death of an Author’ (1967) suggests that when a piece of art is published it no longer belongs to the original creator, but to the public domain. Barthes suggests that the producer does not have authority, it is the critical, analytical reader who interprets the work from a perspective relevant to time and situation in which it was read. An example of this would be Tolkein’s ‘Lord of the rings’ which originally was not received well by critics, later, after the cultural changes of the sixties, the book became more relevant. Barthes’ idea that the viewer observed art and produced the meanings, caused the death of the author, is less relevant today thanks to photoshop and other editing software.

Michel Foucault in 1979 raised the question who is the author, when organisations produce an advert the author is sometimes not even recognised but the brand is. Organisations may intend to give a direct message, however, it all depends on the context that the viewer perceives the image and this cannot be predicted by the producer/organisation. Sometimes the meaning is received in a way that the original creators never intended. In the case of the movie, Titanic, viewers enjoyed the film for diverse reasons; the history, social history or its romantic themes, this was the intended message. However, for middle aged Chinese viewers the subtext was that of regret in regards to the loss of socialism and their youthful dreams.