Critical Perspectives in MediaQuestion 1b

Revision of media theories around representation

Homework

• Create a practice answer for the question over the holidays.• If this is completed and posted on your blog at some point close to

the end of the holiday, it will be marked and fed back on.

The Question (Example)

• “Representations in media texts are often simplistic and reinforce dominant ideologies so audiences can make sense of them.” Evaluate the ways you have used or challenged simplistic representations in one of your media products.• Joining the dots. . . Is there a connection between the statement

above and the concepts of moral panics and representation of youth culture?

Applying theories - guidance

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What do you need to be able to do with theorists and theories?

• You do NOT need to:⁻ Learn a load of quotes⁻ Explain their theories in great depth⁻ Know them all

• You DO need to:⁻ Use a few⁻ Be able to apply them to your work⁻ Consider and explain how useful/not useful they are when discussing

your work⁻ Play them off against one another, if they are opposite viewpoints

How to use theorists. . .• Quote• Summarise• Comment

• Assume your reader knows about the theory/theorist• Don’t explain the theory; use it, apply it, evaluate it• Bring it in using sentence starters such as:

“A Todorovian analysis of the narrative would argue. . .”“Mulvey’s notion of the Male Gaze (1982) provides a useful way of

understanding my music video in that. . .”“An analysis using Dyer’s concept of Star Theory (1979) would suggest

that my artist is represented as. . .”

How representation is constructed in a text – write down an example of each one that you used in one of your constructions.How representation is constructed in a text – write an example for

each one as it relates to your own constructions.

• Camera angles, shots, framing, editing (technical codes)• Mise-en-scene, body language, performance (symbolic

codes)• Titles and captions (written codes)• Semiotics – signs of what we see (signifiers)• Denotation (a Norwegian pine tree covered in shredded

gold plastic and coloured glass balls)• Connotation (Christmas, family, peace , safety/security)• Paradigm – a set of codes that we see within a media text

Dominant ideologies

• These are accepted views constructed via the media, which according to Marxism are created by the ruling classes to ‘hypnotise’ the masses.

• Many other representation theories plus into this, such as Mulvey’s notion of the Male Gaze, which argues that women are sexualised in the media because it is male dominated and that is the ideology it wants the audience to accept.

• What dominant ideologies might be present in a music video? What about a thriller?

• Answering these successfully requires you to think in terms of stereotyping.

• You may explore the stereotypes that have influenced your decisions in your music videos or thrillers – have you conformed to them or challenged them?

The construction of the star text

Dyer specifically talks about the use of stereotypes in constructing artist image – in a process that typically involves four stages.

Whatever style of video you have chosen for your A2 project, you have represented the star in a way which either conforms to or challenges stereotypes.

Representation Rundown• Symbolism: what are the connotations of the media text? • Verisimilitude – appears to look real so it accepted as ‘common sense’ or ‘natural’, linking with the idea of myth

(Barthes, 1973).• Stereotypes (Dyer, 1977) are used to generalise and represent society. It is easier to group characteristics and

social positions together as it builds a stronger ideology of what they are like, without actually knowing them (assumption).

• Perkins (1979) argues that stereotypes are not simplistic, they contain complex understandings of roles in society, are not always negative and often contain truth.

• Hegemony – leadership by one smaller group over another larger group (e.g. media owners lead the consumers – Marxism; Gramsci).

• Dominant Ideology – a belief widely held by many members of society; Marxism version and the Hypodermic needle audience model suggest the media creates and controls it.

• Pluralism – the audience can choose whether to accept what they watch as real; the media simply mirrors the dominant ideologies society already holds.

• Baudrillard (1980) – the idea of hyperreality, where everything we watch is a reflection of the real world, but still needs to be deconstructed and challenged.

• Male Gaze (Mulvey, 1982) - the media positions the audience as male dominated (and is a male dominated industry), therefore the camera gazes at a female ‘object’ on the screen and frames the male ‘character’ watching her. Audience members, including women (see also Winship), identify as the male gazing at the female.