Influencing Audience Attitude
The presentational style adopted for the production can have a considerable influence on the audience’s attitude to it.
Program openings
Opening titles herald the intended character of the presentation. Rapid, brash animations invite the audience lightheartedly. Archaic script and earnest, regal music suggest historical occasions (real or fictional), to be taken seriously. The type face, its size, color, background, etc., create a foretaste of the program.
Staging complexity
Elaboration of decor, too, can influence how the viewer evaluates the production. Simplicity of presentation can appear clear-cut, direct, sophisticated – or sparse, frugal, uninteresting. Elaborate presentation can seem rich, interestingly complex, having great variety – or fussy, confusing, with individual features
Background associations
It is interesting to see how strongly the associations of a setting can influence the audience’s attitude towards the subject. Where action is staged in a classroom, study or museum, overtones of scholarship give the subject authority. But if the subject is shown in a junkyard, it becomes correspondingly devalued. A coin looks more imposing displayed on velvet than heaped with others in a rusty tin box!
Prevailing key
In high-key pictures, light tones predominate, with few dark tones. The effect (whether achieved by staging tones or lighting treatment) embues a light, fresh, brittle-atmosphere, Low-key pictures, on the other hand, have a sombre, serious dramatic connotation.
Subject importance
The subject can be made to appear important, trivial, large, small or dramatic, according to the way we shoot it. The camera height and viewpoint, speed of movement, transitions and cutting rate can all influence the audience’s attitude towards the subject.
Further factors
Being so close to the presentation ourselves, we can easily overlook the effect of various factors. Whether a presenter appears casual, reverent, indifferent or enthusiastic can create an ambience for the entire show. The complexity of terms and speed of delivery can affect how easily a viewer follows the argument. Even background sounds can directly modify audience attitude.
Titling style
The style of lettering should herald the style of the production. The type face proclaims: dignity, occasion, fun, ruggedness, period atmosphere, etc.
Subject presentation
The presentation can affect our attitude to the subject. The subject can be dominated, or given strength or instability.