UNIT 1 - introduction to media representations

UNIT 1 introduction

Defining representation...
Example: Representation is the construction of aspects of identity and reality in the media, such as gender, social groups, ethnicity, places and age. Audiences make assumptions about these aspects based on the representations they see.
Example: Representation is the way that the media portrays various, specific groups within society. This can be things from age groups to ethnicity etc.
Example: Representation in media is the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective.

What is media studies (video notes)...
Within the media, different social media platforms of media products will choose to represent products of events in various ways that appeal to their specific audience or style of work. Unlike films  and television, newspapers can input aspects such as bold text, bright colours, strong, leading headlines and images with clear connotations etc to gain attention from their audience/readers. Another key point is how you represent yourself online to others. For example, using specific profile pictures, what you write in the description, who you choose to follow, and what you choose to like.

My explanation...
The key concept of representation is the way that the media as a whole chooses to portray specific groups of people or events. For example: age, gender, and political events.

BBC bitesize...
Key terms in representation:
Construction - in a film/tv series this could be ways they chose to edit and compose their compose pieces. however, when it comes to newspapers, the approach is done differently. newspapers focus more on layout and writing with a choice of images, colour schemes and fonts.
Meditation - this describes the way/s in which the work is processed before reaching the target audience. It can be a film script being written/re-written before production or, on the other hand, it can be how photographs are cropped and captioned within newspapers and magazines. One last example could be how life events are put across to the public.
Selection - Includes the sections that have been selected to be published in the media. This is most important in newsletters/papers as a slight change in what is selected can change the whole angle of the article.
Anchorage - A way of specifically giving a meaning to an image. For example, using captions, headlines in newspapers and tagline in adverts or on a film poster.
Stereotypes - A summary of description and characteristics of people, groups, or places. They are usually exaggerated to emphasise them. This enables the audience to recognise the characters quickly. However, this can lead to a generalisation that isn't always correct.
Ideology - These are the beliefs and ideas, held by media producers, which are often represented in their media texts. In a newspaper, the ideology of the owner or senior editors could influence the way certain stories are presented, such as favouring a specific political party. However, in a documentary, the ideology can be influenced by the filmmaker or producer.

GCSE media studies introduction to representation...
signs and symbols are used as a kind of visual shortcut to represent certain attributes such as: age, gender, race, ethnicity, financial status, job, culture and nationality. for example, in tv if we see a character with a cane we usually associate that with being elderly. These characteristics may not fit everyone of that kind but it's a general assumption that we think of. when it comes to analysing representation, there are a few key questions to think about. this includes things like: who/what is being represented? who is the target audience? what are they doing? why are they present?  where are they? how are they framed? the list continues.

Teaching guide: representation...
the repetition of representations over a period of time has the effect of making those specific representations somewhat 'normalised'. producers use media language to encode their ideas and messages through the construction of the representations used in that product and audience will decode the messages accordingly. some audiences will take a preferred reading, encoding it exactly as the producer intended. however, some may take the negotiated reading route. this is when the audience mostly agrees with the message but they may be some elements that they reject. some audiences may disagree with the message of the product completely and therefore take a different reading of the product. when it comes to self-representation, it's updated on a regular basis. people can control this version of themselves that they present to others. the media provides users the ability to control how they put themselves across to the world, whether this is by what they post or how they capture their personas in things like a person's bio on their profile. the representation of women has shifted a lot as time has gone on. primarily women are judged by their appearance. however, when it comes to men, they are usually stereotyped less. recently the media is suggesting that masculinity is in crisis and roles are changing and creating the 'new man'. when it comes to representing ethnicity, often ethnic groups are stereotyped and defined by their racial characteristics. a lot of the time they are mis-represented or under-represented.