Pharrel Williams - Happy
Textual Analysis


At the beginning of the video it shows Pharrel walking through a dark urban alley I believe this is trying to show his background he may have started life in an urban background but it could also be demonstrating sadness and loneliness to show a binary opposite of the happiness that is the main aim of the video.
Pharrels video does adhere to halls reception theory.
Halls reception theory is when producers or directors constructs a text encoded with hidden message or meaning that the producers or directors want to put across to the audience. If done correctly the audience will be able to pick up the meaning or message straight away, but the audience will need to be reminded of the message through out the film this could be done through characters or actions within the film.


Stuart Hall identified three types of audiences reading messages.
1) Dominant
2) Negotiated
3) Oppositional
Dominant is about what the audience wants to hear from people and agreeing, but with limited knowledge on the subject. One example is political speeches where politicians say what the public want to hear, like and improving public transport.


Negotiated is when the audience agrees, disagrees or questions a political speech or news broadcast due to previously held news, as many people in America question FOX news as it has been seen in the past as a biased news outlet who support the Republican party.


Oppositional is when the audience recognises the Dominant message but rejects it due to culture or political opinion, as people actively rejects any political speech from a party on any subject and acts as the opposition. When the audience is in this state you can’t get any message across to them, as they have already made up their mind on a person or subject.


Pharrels video includes a dominant reception theory as the underlying theme of the video is that everybody can be involved in music easily and everybody should seek happiness to its full extent through the medium of media and music videos. This is shown clearly throughout the video as Pharrel and the producers have made strong attempt to incorporate as many different individuals that are 'happy' throughout the video. This is done to not only spread happiness worldwide but also to get more people involved in the making of the video which will subsequently help with the overall promotion of the video.