Representation overview & structure

Definition: Re – presentation

The presentation of a form of reality in a media text.
—Representation is always a re-presentation, in which elements of reality are selected, organized and narrated.
—By nature, media ‘mediates’ reality – it selects it and shows us only what the producer wants.

Media producers have no choice but to be selective in their choice of material, however naturalistic their approach
so….
texts will always represent individuals, groups and issues, whatever the intentions of the producer.

What is being visually represented in a music video?
-A form of hyper-reality?
-The lyrics of the song?
-The music?
-The artist?
-A theme within the narrative?
-A movement – feminism?

Stereotypes - why have they proved popular/identify with:
—With audiences?
—With institutions (marketing and creative)?

How could stereotypical representations be seen as ideological:
Positive or Negative
Challenging or Re-enforcing Dominant Ideas about a group?

David Gauntlett - constructing identity : Audiences and representation, Gauntlett says that we reconfirm or challenge our identity through watching media texts.

—We use texts as toolbox to check own identity

Gauntlett described the Social construction of identity: how can you work out who you are through what you see in a media text? Your identity is not fixed: you will be shaped by what you watch.
--Identity as project – audience chooses the tools
-Conflicting media messages about identity
So.. When we watch a text we compare ourselves to the stereotypes presented within it.
Look at the use of stereotypes in your music video. How far could you say your music video encourages audiences to reconfirm or challenge who they are when watching your video?

Laura Mulvey - the male gaze
One theory in media studies is the idea of the ‘male gaze’. This explores the idea that the camera ‘sees’ images through male eyes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViwtNLUqkMY
“The message though was always the same: buy the product, get the girl; or buy the product to get to be like the girl so you can get your man” in other words, “‘Buy’ the image, ‘get’ the woman”
—What could this mean?
—Why might it be the case?
—How might this be evident in your music video?

Judith Butler - gender performance
—Butler argues that gender is a performance.
—It is what you do at particular times, rather than about who you are.
Apply this to your work….
Do the male characters behave typically masculine?
Do the female characters behave typically feminine?

Feminism / Post feminism
—Feminism = a movement (c. 1960s) promoting the rights of women to be equal to men and arguing that women should no longer dress and behave as men wish them to.

—Post-feminism = movement arguing that women have now achieved equality and should be free to dress and behave as they wish without doing so for the benefit of men. Use of Irony and reclaiming sexuality - not exploitation
Example: Girls Aloud.
Post-feminist icons?
Objects of male gaze?
Exploited or powerful?
Role models for women?

Postmodernism: Hyper-Reality - Baudrillard
—Representation of reality or simulacra



Stuart Hall - encoding and decoding texts
—Particular representations become established through repetition in the media e.g. villain characters / antagonists
-they develop a ‘common sense’ status through their ‘per formative nature’
-Hall focuses on issues of race and culture but his theory can be applied to any representation

How to construct your answer:

Introduction: Definition. Which product will you use to discuss? What is being represented within your music video? A form of reality? The lyrics of the song? The music? The artist? A theme within the narrative? A movement – feminism?

Paragraph 1: Stereotypes
What stereotypes have you represented? How have you done this (tie in with media language) What are the risks/benefits for audiences/institutions? Are there any stereotypes that are under represented/ misrepresented?
Gauntlett’s theory of reconfirming or challenging our identity through watching media texts. Using texts as toolbox. How does this relate your own work?

Paragraph 2: Ideology
How does your coursework re-enforce or challenge stereotypes, are they hegemonic representations? 

Paragraph 3: Stuart Hall - Preferred Readings and encoding/decoding texts
How might different audience ‘readings’ of texts affect how the representation of the text is formed. Stuart Hall’s theory of representations becoming established through ‘repetition’ and a ‘common sense status’ through the ‘performative nature’ of texts (we know what a car chase feels like because we have seen in within a media text).

Paragraph 4: Gender representation
Judith Butler Gender as a performance – masculine or feminine?
Laura Mulvey The Male Gaze

Post Feminist

Paragraph 5: Postmodernism
Baudrillard Hyper-reality & simulacra, how can we apply this to your music videos, how are they focusing on media constructions of representations, to what extent have you used intertextuality to represent reality?

Conclusion
How have you made use of the issue of representation in your text? What are the advantages of representation within a media text for audiences? What limitations are there?