Hypodermic Needle Theory

The theory suggests that viewers of media content are a passive audience who are powerless to resist the impact of the messages in the media source. This is a lot like Action Theory, in the way that messages are portrayed and noted by the viewer. However, the thing that makes the Hypodermic Needle theory a theory in its own right is the fact that they may be subtle, and its not necessarily how an actor portrays an object, but how they are applied in the mise-en-scene, and not necessarily their relevance to the plot.

A good example of this is Nazi propaganda, which was one of the first notable cases in which this theory was applied. Action theory suggests that successful Nazi propaganda would be something like a poster of a Nazi soldier acting positively towards a situation. This was used a lot in English army recruitment posters where soldiers were shown doing 'the right thing'. Nazi propaganda differed in the way it followed the Hypodermic Needle Theory, as most of the posters showed a negative portrayal of the opposing army’s and Jews. For example Nazi children’s cartoons showed Jews as being 'the bad guys'.

I will take this into account when I make my movie trailer in the same way I will use Action theory. Both theories suggest that a subconscious note made by the audience can change peoples views and actions towards a certain media product or icon.