Hypordermic Needle Model

The Hypodermic Needle Model is a model of communications suggesting than an intended message is directly recieved and wholly accepted by the reciever. 

This essentially means that the mass media could inflence a group of people by 'injecting' them with messages designed to trigger a response, and posits that there is a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the reciever. Thus, it means that this theory only works when the audience - and they are then therefore instantaneously influenced by this message. The problem with this is that it means the audience is powerless in what they consume - the cannot resist the message. Yet, this somewhat explains why people watch films -. because this for of influence can be noted as being a form of escapsim, but there is also another problem with this - it can often impact where the audience draws the line between the message and what is real.

Perhaps the most notable example of this type of 'injection' is that of the radio broadcast of H.G Wells War of the Worlds (1938). It is laughable to consider that people believing it was ever real, but of the 12 million people in the US who heard about Martians invading Earth, 1 million of them truely believed it was happeningat the time. As a result, it sent New Jersey into a frenzy. This example demonstates the profound power that the media has on the public, and how what is feature in it can larely impact peoples rational thinking and their perception of events.

How will I use this?

As I am creating a psychological horror, I will be able to use this theory to directly influence what they think is a dream and what they think is relaity. It may also making them question whether the events in the film are possible in real life, because my film uses a hyper - reality style in imply that the audience are not so differnt from the character. Yet, I would hope that people will not think what they see is real, as in would then create an influx of people in the population who find themselves with a mental affliction.