Reception Theory!

The media theory I want to integrate into my film opening is Stuart Hall's Reception Theory. This theory says that audiences are not passive instead they interpret media based on their own life experiences or beliefs, because of this, a single media piece can be interpreted in different ways.

Stuart Hall proposes three ways an audience can perceive different media:

A dominant reading: where audiences accept the creators actual intended meaning

An oppositional reading: audiences reject the creators intended meaning

A negotiated reading: the audiences partially accept the creators meaning

In my film opening, the narrator (main character) introduces his family members and briefly explains what crimes they've committed. Using this theory, I understand that audiences can view/react differently to these characters. Some viewers may accept the narrator's calm tone and see the characters as powerful and loyal to each other, or some viewers may reject the narrators' words and see the characters as immoral or dangerous. As well as a negotiated reading may occur where audiences can see where the narrator is going but still rejects the actions of the characters. 

By integrating Reception Theory, I can allow my opening to have different interpretations to each viewer either that be negative, neutral, or positive, rather than forcing a single message. This can create realism and engage with the audience, and it aligns with the crime genre because these types of media always shift between right and wrong, and some people might think its justifiable whilst others may think it's immoral/bad.

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Stuart Hall (cultural theorist). In Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Hall_(cultural_theorist)

Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Reception theory. In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 5, 2026, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reception_theory