Media studies theories - The social action theory

The social action theory developed by Anderson and Meyer, suggested that media has hidden messages that influence their audience. Using this theory a director can portray the actors in any which way they wish; this allows the director of the video to interpret anything that they want in any way to the audience, this theory suggests that the actor is seen as an independent object by the viewer. The subject at hand is totally controlled by the actor, and their actions aren't controlled by any cultural or social order. This theory is similar to the hypodermic needle theory; in the way it suggests actions are noted as acceptable by the passive audience without the need to accept them. Rather than the objects and events surrounding the actor being the thing that interprets the meaning of the scene, it's the actor that gives importance to the events and objects in the film, taking things into any context the producer wishes to portray.

Examples of this are the impact that more violent media has on its audience. There's evidence showing a link between the aggressive behaviour of a child (a typically much more passive viewer than an older person) and the amount of time spent viewing violent media, this allows for anything the actor wants to interpret the objects and events as, the viewer subconsciously makes note of the objects use in the environment, and not the moral, social and cultural structure of what the actor is actually doing (this is the action theory).

I could use this theory in my film teaser trailer by deciding what I want to interpret the actors as being, and using their actions to describe that. For instance I may choose a very dark moody setting. But the actors may be acting positively towards it, and this may make the dark setting appear more normal despite this setting.