Monday 31 October 2011
Sunday 30 October 2011
Hegemony video (lesson recap)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAYbwhHr7hc&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLB2D366F08D880447
links for tv drama clips - lots all areas of representation
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFB92252769CEE92F
representation example technical areas - camera, sound & editing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N1ls_HVfrM
how does this represent (re-enforce or challenge) national stereotypes?
Who are the important characters
Stereotypical behaviour?
Collect the evidence
how does this represent (re-enforce or challenge) national stereotypes?
Who are the important characters
Stereotypical behaviour?
Collect the evidence
Representation: A definition
Representation in the Media
By definition, all media texts are re-presentations of reality. This means that they are intentionally composed, lit, written, framed, cropped, captioned, branded, targeted and censored by their producers, and that they are entirely artificial versions of the reality we perceive around us. When studying the media it is vital to remember this - every media form, from a home video to a glossy magazine, is a representation of someone's concept of existence, codified into a series of signs and symbols which can be read by an audience. However, it is important to note that without the media, our perception of reality would be very limited, and that we, as an audience, need these artificial texts to mediate our view of the world, in other words we need the media to make sense of reality. Therefore representation is a fluid, two-way process: producers position a text somewhere in relation to reality and audiences assess a text on its relationship to reality.
Truth or Lies?
Media representations - and the extent to which we accept them - are a very political issue, as the influence the media exerts has a major impact on the way we view the world. By viewing media representations our prejudices can be reinforced or shattered.
Generally, audiences accept that media texts are fictional to one extent or another. However, as we base our perception of reality on what we see in the media, it is dangerous to suppose that we don't see elements of truth in media texts either.
The study of representation is about decoding the different layers of truth/fiction/whatever. In order to fully appreciate the part representation plays in a media text you must consider:
Who produced it (what culture/point of view)?
Who for (Action films for Men, Romance for Women)?
What/who is represented in the text?
How is the representation constructed (MES, Camera, Edit, Sound)?
Who for (Action films for Men, Romance for Women)?
What/who is represented in the text?
How is the representation constructed (MES, Camera, Edit, Sound)?
Here are some key quotes to help you understand what it means.
David Buckingham, ‘The media do not just offer us a transparent ‘window on the world’ but a mediated version of the world. They don’t just present reality, they re-present it.’
Stuart Hall, "TV provides images and representations of ‘the lives, meanings, practices and values’ of social groups unfamiliar to us. TV ‘fills in’ our picture of the world through its representations"
Julie D’Acci: ‘It is through representational...systems such as...film and television that the categories that seem so natural to us and the differences that organise our thinking (like masculinity and femininity, male and female) actually get determined’
Michel Foucault: Rather than audiences or viewers coming to the television screen with already-formed identities, television….actually help to inform the identity in question.
Alison Griffiths: stereoptypes as rigid, simplistic, overdetermined and inherently false…they misrepresented people’s ‘lived idenitities’ by falling back upon narrowly conceived preconceptions of racial, cultural and gendered difference, thus perpetuating myths about social, cultural and racial groups.
Richard Dyer: ‘The ideological work of stereotyping involves closing down the range of possible meanings...’
Media Representation
Representation refers to the construction of aspects of ‘reality’ such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other abstract concepts.
The term refers to the processes involved - that is how they are CONSTRUCTED
A key in the study of representation concern is with the way in which representations are made to seem ‘natural’.
What does 'representation' mean?
The easiest way to understand the concept of representation is to remember that watching a TV programme is not the same as watching something happen in real life.
All media products re-present the real world to us; they show us one version of reality, not reality itself.
So, the theory of representation in Media Studies means thinking about how a particular person or group of people are being presented to the audience.
Audience Identification
In a film, the director wants the audience to be on the side of the protagonist and hope that the antagonist will fail.
This means that the audience has to identify with the protagonist – they have to have a reason to be ‘on his/her side’.
But directors only have a couple of hours to make you identify with the protagonist – so, they have to use a kind of ‘shorthand’. This is known as typing – instead of each character being a complex individual, who would take many hours to understand, we are presented with a ‘typical’ character who we recognise quickly and feel we understand.
Character Typing
1. An archetype - a stereotype exemplified, the "greatest" such example eg Alpha Male, The Sex Object
2. A stereotype - oversimplified and recognisable behaviour traits used in TV drama to quickly establish character. They can also be used ‘negatively’ in the Media – such as ‘asylum seekers,’ or ‘hoodies’.
The easiest way to understand the concept of representation is to remember that watching a TV programme is not the same as watching something happen in real life.
All media products re-present the real world to us; they show us one version of reality, not reality itself.
So, the theory of representation in Media Studies means thinking about how a particular person or group of people are being presented to the audience.
Audience Identification
In a film, the director wants the audience to be on the side of the protagonist and hope that the antagonist will fail.
This means that the audience has to identify with the protagonist – they have to have a reason to be ‘on his/her side’.
But directors only have a couple of hours to make you identify with the protagonist – so, they have to use a kind of ‘shorthand’. This is known as typing – instead of each character being a complex individual, who would take many hours to understand, we are presented with a ‘typical’ character who we recognise quickly and feel we understand.
Character Typing
1. An archetype - a stereotype exemplified, the "greatest" such example eg Alpha Male, The Sex Object
2. A stereotype - oversimplified and recognisable behaviour traits used in TV drama to quickly establish character. They can also be used ‘negatively’ in the Media – such as ‘asylum seekers,’ or ‘hoodies’.
see Ideology & Hegemony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDxmzCVFLu8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDxmzCVFLu8
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