The Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle Theory

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" is a theory that imply's that mass media has a direct and powerful effect on its audiences. The media in the late 1940s and 1950s was shown as a powerful and clear influence on behaviour change. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence and control a very large group of people directly by 'injecting' them with messages and ideology's designed to trigger a certain response which is posed by the creator of the media text. To express this theory if you use the example of a bullet and a needle which both suggest a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender (The media) to the audience.  

It is suggest that the media is a dangerous way to share and put across idea's since the audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. The audience is seen as target and vulnerable since we have no idea if what we are being told is true since there is not other was to get the information we are being fed. The a popular example of this theory is the 1938 radio broadcast of Orson Wells 'War of the Worlds' in which over a million people throughout the United States genuinely believed that aliens were invading.The audience passively receives the information that is given to them through the media. They are manipulated into what they’re being told and seeing is true. I have applied this theory to my own by using the repetitive theme in which never to give up on a loved one or dream. The message we are trying to portray to the audience is that you are never to old to enjoy yourself and to chase the things you love and we use this through visuals but mostly lyrics. Our video will be always reminding the audience about the message being put across.

I have applied this to our own music video by trying to force the message across that we are only young once so make the most of it, The original idea of our video was a lot more complex and contained more narrative so it was easier to portray a message of 'you are only young once' but now its filled with more performances and setting the scene clips so it will be difficult to force a message across now. The hypodermic needle is not the best theory to link to our video since it's aim is not to force a message and ideology on people  but rather to make people aware of how quick time flies. 

The target audience for my music video is anyone between the ages of 16-35 as these are the ages that tend to listen to dance music, I do not really apply this theory to my work since I am not forcing any ideology on the audience. A better theory related to my work would be the reception theory or the users and gratification theory. The Hypodermic needle theory suggests the audience are passive meaning they do not question the media that they are receiving, my video is not intended to be used like this I want the audience to be active while watching my video.