Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Translating a media message to an audience in a film series


by Preslava Petrova


The “Harry Potter” series is one of the most popular film series of all time. Thanks to the magical effects and intriguing story the eight parts have managed to find place in every spectator’s mind. But the truth is that in addition to that there are three main sets that contribute to the creation of this effect. The filmmakers used them in order to translate the media message of the film.


Firstly, I would start with the emotional state. Media producers attract viewers to their products by using the audience’s emotions. The story of an orphan, who is chosen to save the world from its biggest enemy, is so touching that would move even the most unwavering ones. The filmmakers take advantage of this and try to use it as a tool, which will keep the audience concerned. Such an implement is also presented in the series - the love stories between the characters, which are an incredible background of the main set. Besides the feelings that conquer the audience’s minds, the emotions of the entrancing romances that happen just fortify the above mentioned effect.

Following this further, the other state that the film pursues is the so called mood state. At this stage, the filmmakers’ aim is to affect the mood of the audience. Thus, they will make the spectators’ fancy the final product. Therefore, they will become keen on the series and will impatiently wait for the next part to come out. In my opinion, the creators of “Harry Potter” successfully accomplished this. From a personal experience, I would say that everyone that watched the series, including me, was so thrilled and agitated that could not wait for the subsequent films to be shot. Another thing that plays an inevitable role in affecting the mood is the music. We all know that melody in the beginning of each part of the series. Every time we hear it, magic wands and brooms pop into our consciousnesses and automatically transfer us into the dimension of magic.

The last state is known as the pleasure state, where it all comes to enjoyment and imagination. We are allowed to run away from the reality and to put ourselves in the place of various characters. “Harry Potter” is a great example of escaping the reality – the action takes place in a different magical world, which is partly related to ours, but it is not the same. This, for a while, allows the spectators to get their own freedom in our busy world. Apart from that the viewers often identify themselves with certain characters in different productions. In this case it is mostly Harry - the one that saves the world. The majority of us had this dream at a younger age, because of the stories about superheroes that we loved listening to back then.

The “Harry Potter” series has gained billions of fans all over the world. To conclude I would say that this is thanks not only to the skillful acting and unbelievable script, but also to the filmmakers who managed to translate the film’s message to the audience in a marvelous way.

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