Escapism, Surveillance, Identity and Relationships

 Bulmer and Katz 'Uses and Gratification' theory (1974) is a popular approach to understanding the mass media consumer. This theory says that there are 4 reasons people consume different pieces of media.

One reason viewers consume media outlined is 'Escapism/Diversion', where the viewer seeks pure entertainment;escapism thrills, sexual excitement, action etc. Out of the three music videos I analysed I think this factor is most prevalent in the 'Find A Way' video. This is because theres a lot of fast past action going on and many interesting features such as the editing. As there are frequent changes in location and happy feeling scenes throughout the video I feel it could provide an escape/diversion from a slow and dull reality, especially seeing as the video is targetted more towards younger generations who are very aspirational but may be struggling to achieve their dreams. Furthermore I think the video may also be relatable to a lot of viewers as it's also an escape for the group and shows their success from a hard origin. 

Another reason people consume media is for the purpose of surveillance, gaining an insight into how others live and educating yourself. One example of this from the 3 videos analysed is 'By Your Side' by Sade. Whilst this video is entertaining and could be used as a means for escapism I feel that it tries to convey a stronger message and educate the viewer on a different way of living. This could also form what feels like a personal relationship between the artist and viewer. In the Sade video we see a stripped back and minimalistic view of life with less materialistic values which people watching could try and utilise in their own life (also falling into identity.) As the typical viewer tends to be a bit older for this video I think the imagery and message in this video appeal to them well as they were possibly brought up with these values more instilled and therefore can relate and also learn that other people still acknowledge this.

One big reason as to why people consume media is to try identify with the producer and aspects within a piece of media as well as to help form and develop their own personal identity. A great example of this is notable in the 'Charcoal Baby' music video where the audience follows the artist through two days in the same location, seeing his peers and a place where he feels comfortable. The artists seems happy and very confident around the people in the family centre when he's dancing with them and performing his song. It is easy for the audience to identify with 'Blood Orange' as it reminds us of family and fun times. Viewers can take from this video and use it to develop their own identity,being more outgoing and accepting. This also appeals to the target audience (younger) as it's reasonably fast paced and has lots of intriguing imagery. 

The final reason people view different forms of media relates to personal relationships. There are two strands involved, one is for the purpose of seeing how people in media form and maintain their own personal relationships then comparing to our own, and the other is so that we can form our own relationships with other viewers (being able to talk to someone about a piece of media.) As opposed to choosing from one of my 3 analysed music video I searched for recent and popular music videos on YouTube. One video which seems to be popular at the moment is 'Hit Different' by SZA where the artist dances and performs throughout the majority of the video, accompanied by back-up dancers and set in a car wreckage site. As this is a trending music video(aimed at the younger viewer 15-25,) I thought it may be a talking point between viewers and therefore would form personal relationships. Although their isn't much insight into the people in the video's relationships we see people being confident and expressive around each other in groups(dancing.)