Audiences Negotiate Meaning

We’re looking at a screen with a blue background, and in the center, there’s a white, stylized clock face with blue markings; its hand points straight up. As the scene shifts, the clock remains in place, and a large, stylized letter ‘M,’ with its geometric design in white and green, appears to the left. Blue text appears to the right of the ‘M,’ spelling out ‘edia Minute,’ forming the title. Below this, white text appears, stating, ‘Different PEOPLE will react DIFFERENTLY to different MEDIA constructions.’

The scene then transitions to a cartoon-style caveman standing on his own, next to a cave, then a leg of chicken, another caveman, and broken and unbroken hearts appear. The video then cuts to a variety of images of things, a guiter, a purse, a painting, etc, that different people might like. This then transitions to images that indicate different people’s gender, age, and interest.

Next, we see a title card, reading, ‘ART OF THE PENGUINS,’ hanging by a string. Beneath it, on opposite sides, a young girl looks quizzical and a boy cheers enthusiastically. Then, that card moves inside a television set and moves, along with a laptop and television to a green background with several different children smiling at the viewer. The scene shifts again to images of people watching television, dancing, and playing video games.

Finally, the scene returns to the clock and ‘Media Minute’ logo, with the words ‘Courtesy of Concerned Children’s Advertisers and MediaSmarts’ printed underneath. The last image reads, ‘your assignment,’ in both blue and green text. Below that text, in white, reads, ‘Think of an advertisement, website, or social networking message. Identify how different people might react to it.