Representations & the Media Studies Exam
As you know your media studies exam will be made up of three questions.
The first will always be a textual analysis of either an AV (audio visual) clip, or two print based media texts.
Question two will be a stepped question with two or three parts, with each part progressing in the marks available.
Question three will be a longer essay style question.
Two important facts about questions 2 & 3:
One of the questions will always be about Audience theory, the other will always be about Representations.
The last part of question 2 and all of question 3 will require you to provide: ‘Your own specific examples’
At the beginning of the year you were asked to keep a media diary to help you keep a note of all the different media you encountered and to help you revise the theories we had studied in class by applying it to the media you watch and read in your everyday life.
This booklet aims to help you improve and expand your media diary by researching different types of media with a specific focus on representations of Britain & the British.
It is also a guide to help you answer the representations question as fully and theoretically as possible.
Let’s start with the basics:
What is representation and why do we study it?
The easiest way to describe the word is to break it in two: re-presentation. If we were to present something we would show it to the world as it actually is. By re-presenting we can infer that some it has gone through some kind of change or filter or manipulation before it reaches us.
Because we experience people and groups through the media, whether that’s the screens in our living rooms, colleges, bedrooms or pockets, the paper we read in the morning or the magazine we read on the bus, we know that those groups are not being presented to us in person, but re-presented to us through the lens of the camera and the words written by others.
The exam will expect you to know and understand various theories and ideas surrounding the subject of representation and be able to apply these ideas to your own experience of the media.
Here are some questions we can always consider about representations in media texts, and which we will attempt to explore in this booklet:
Key Questions:
- Who or what is being represented?
- Is it a positive or negative representation?
- How is it being established (visually, aurally, juxtaposition against mise-en-scene, use of camera)?
- How does this representation relate to the target audience?
- Is it a stereotypical representation?
- Is it a fair and/or accurate representation?
- Are the representations conventional or subversive?
- Are there representations you expect to see which you would have expected to see which are not in the text?
3 theories of representation
1. Reflexive approach – that what we see is a straightforward reflection of the real world
e.g. All teenagers are yobs, as we see in the newspapers. All children are mischievous, as we see in comic books.
2. Intentional approach – where our understanding of reality is created by representations
e.g. We believe teenagers are yobs because of the way newspapers portray them. We believe children are mischievous because of how comic books portray them.
3. Constructionist approach – where representations create, or construct meaning, but this is based on a material reality.
In other words any representation is a mixture of:
- The…
- The…
- The…
- The…
e.g. A magazine all about British regions and tourist spots.
The person/thing being represented: The cathedral’s size and grandeur signify that Britain is an important place that is steeped with history, tradition and authority. The surrounding spacious grassy area and tress connote that Britain is a rural country, free from pollution, a peaceful haven.
The opinions of those encoding the representation: The photograph is framed as a wide shot to ensure that both the cathedral and it’s surroundings are captured. The use of the rule of thirds draws the audience’s eye to the main coverline: “Heavenly Spires” which acts as anchorage to the main image and reinforces the idea that Britain has important traditions and a long history. The use of the Union Jack as part of the logo for ‘Visit Britain’ sends a patriotic message that Britain is something to be proud of. The other coverlines use phrases which imply that Britain is an environmentally friendly place almost untouched by the threat of growing population and urban sprawl. Both: ‘Enjoy Britain’s glorious gardens’ and; ‘Great bicycle rides’ connote an eco-friendly habitat.
The reaction of the target audience: The magazine’s target audience are ‘would be’ tourists exploring Britain. They may be foreign but are probably British and the main image of the cathedral anchored by the word historic suggests that the audience may fall within the Traditionalist lifestyle category. This group would accept the preferred reading of the text that Britain is a country of heritage, beautiful countryside and charm reinforced by the assertion that there are: “Unique places to stay”.
The context of our society and dominant ideologies: Whilst the dominant ideology in society see heritage as something to be preserved and history something which can be learned from – some of the codes on the front cover may seem a little dated and this represents Britain as a little old fashioned. Religion does not have the same dominance over people’s lives in Britain today as it once did, the prominence of the cathedral and the absence of other elements that may signify more modern living may imply that Britain is a place that is somewhat stuck in the past. With environmental protection issues becoming an increasingly dominant ideology, this text represents Britain as still being a ‘haven’ from the pollution of urban life.
These four elements contribute to the representation of Britain as a country of pride and tradition. A unique and interesting place which is possibly filled with unique and interesting people that value their heritage.
Now your turn to analyse:
Watch the following clip and work through the four parts of the Constructionist Approach to say how Britain is represented...
1. The person/place being represented:
Hint: Analyse one or two of the settings in the clip based on where they are set and when they are set.
2. The opinions of those encoding the representation:
Hint: What have the directors/editors done to represent Britain – what point are the making?
3. The reaction of the target audience:
Hint: Who are the target audience and what will the preferred reading of this article be?
4. The context of our society & dominant ideologies:
Hint: What is the general consensus about Britain today, and how does this representation relate to it?
RESEARCH POINT: Find five more examples where Britain is represented as; old fashioned, traditional and ‘twee’. Look for examples in film, TV, advertising and magazines.
Stereotypes
Stereotypes are widely circulated ideas or assumptions about particular groups. They are often negative and derogatory but can be sometimes be positive.
They have the following characteristics:
- They involve both a categorising and an evaluation of the group being stereotyped.
- They usually emphasise some easily grasped feature(s) of the group, these are often based within:
___________________ – what they look like, wear, how they speak
___________________ – the things they do and say
- Stereotypes often try to insist on absolute differences and boundaries where the reality is that groups of people have a spectrum or variety of differences
- Stereotypes often evaluate groups in a negative way – but this may depend on the reading of the audience
In film, Hugh Grant is often supposed to represent the typical English gent. His character stereotypes Brits as posh, awkward and at odds with his emotions.
Appearance: His floppy hair and open necked shirt gives him the look of a privately educated toff, someone who is not so interested in his appearance or has little idea of style. His smile emphasises his downward eyes, which imply a self deprecation to his humour.
Behaviour: Hugh Grant’s characters are often bumbling fools, that fall in love but don’t know how to express their true feelings. He is well spoken and as an unmarried bachelor – Grant’s real life often echoes that of the characters he portrays.
RESEARCH POINT: Find five more examples where Brits are represented as; bumbling, clumsy, out of touch with their emotions or posh.
Click on the image below to watch the music video for the Blur song ‘Parklife’ analyse how different aspects of Britsh life are stereotyped – there are loads!
Parklife stereotypes Britain as...
Appearance:
Behaviour:
How would different audiences react differently to a text like Parklife?
Mediation
By now you will have realised that the ‘reality’ we see on our television screens and read in newspapers is constructed. Every time we watch or read a media text we are not seeing ‘reality’ but someone else’s version of it. We rely upon receiving our information about a range of events from different sources as we cannot actually be there to witness what is happening first hand.
However what we finally experience has gone through a process of mediation.
Think of mediation as like a machine. Real events and real groups of people get put in at one end and their representation in the media is what comes out the other end. The machine puts them through a process of:
Selection
Whatever ends up on the screen or in print, a lot more will have been left out. Someone will have made the decision about what will be included and what to omit. Think about how this might affect how the audience feels about what it sees.
Organisation/Construction
The elements that go to make up the final text will have been constructed in a way that real life is not. When we witness an accident in real life we do not see it from three different camera angles and in slow motion, this is often the way we view an event in a hospital drama. In ‘real life’ arguments, we do not have the use of close ups to show emotion – these are regularly used in films and on television to heighten the experience for the audience. What we see when we watch Big Brother is a construction of the hours of filming which have been edited often to show a particular viewpoint about a storyline or character.
Focus
Mediation encourages the audience to focus upon a particular text to push us towards making assumptions and to draw conclusions. In a drama the camera may focus upon a particular character. Similarly, our eyes are drawn to the headlines and coverlines in newspapers and magazines.
The newspaper front page below represents England some very specific ways that encourages us to believe certain things about what Britain stands for and what it is preoccupied with – let’s take a closer look at how this has been through the mediation machine…
SelectionThe choices made for this front cover is what news story should be on the front page of the paper. As Britain’s biggest selling newspaper – any story appearing will represent Britian. The Sun have chosen England’s world cup draw and used it to fill the entire front page. This obviously representes Britain as a football obsessed nation. The selection of images are all England players celebrating which connotes victory and pride in the nation. The comparison with the group ‘The Beatles’ represents a pride in past achievements, albeit in a completely different field – but again reinforces the general sense of national pride.
Construction/Organisation
The headline has been constructed as an acrostic with the names of the countries written down to spell the word ‘EASY’ this joke may be seen by some as representing Britain as arrogant or over confident, although others may see the joke as ironic and even part of a British tradition of self-deprecating humour as the word ‘Phew’ in the top left of the page implies an uncertainty of our abilities. More revealing is the use of the word ‘Yanks’ which is a slang word for Americans, this implies a superiority over America – and a playful disrespect of their team.
Focus
The clear focus of this magazine cover is an interest in fashion football and the forthcoming World Cup. With only room for one other small article at the top of the page, the paper represents Britain as die hard football fans, suggesting that any other news just isn’t as important.
Now your turn to analyse:
Watch this advert about Brits Abroad made for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. Analyse how the representation of Britain has been mediated by each stage of the process.
Selection:
Construction/Organisation:
Focus:
RESEARCH POINT: Find three examples of where Britain or Britishness has been represented in the media where you can summarise representation and the elements of Selection, Construction & Focus.
Archetypes
These are similar to stereotypes but are usually derogatory or negative. Rather than trying to create an ideology about a group of people they are used as a shortcut to help an audience quickly understand what their role in the text is.
They are used in fictional texts such as TV, film or Video Games to represent a specific type of character within a specific genre. Certain groups in society often fulfil certain archetypes in media texts.
For example, Frank Gallagher from TV Comedy Drama ‘Shameless’ is an archetypal British slob.
Frank is represented as the father of a large dysfunctional family. He lives on an urban council estate which is full of crime and anti-social behaviour. The Chatsworth estate and Frank’s representation of Britain is negative in many aspects. Frank is a lazy drunk who exploits his own children to get the money to buy more drink and drugs. Whenever he attempts to make the right choice by his family it is often met by failure. He has a thick regional accent that makes him unmistakably British, and often rants about British historical events and figures as great, bemoaning the state of the country today. Ironically unaware that he is a part of the problem he is criticising.
Now your turn to analyse:
Watch this sketch from the comedy sketch show: ‘The Armstrong & Miller Show’. The humour in the sketch is derived from each actor portraying characters that represent two different British archetypes.
What are the two archetypes of Britishness being mocked in this sketch?
What things from the sketch are typical of these archetypes?
RESEARCH POINT: Find three different archetypes of Britishness from the following genres of TV & Film. Give a description of the archetype and the character’s name.
Anchorage & Ideology
Anchorage
Images without words are open texts – the connotations of the image are left to the audience and the associations it might make. At this point, the texts can be said to be polysemic as they can be interpreted in more than one way.
Once there are words in the form of a caption, a headline or a description, then the text becomes ‘closed’ and the audience is told the meaning. Because the decision has been made for the audience they are less likely to challenge what they see. The anchorage affects the representation and how audiences respond to it.
Ideology
Whose point of view is presented through the text? This follows on from mediation and considers the idea that those who are in positions of power use that position to communicate their opinions and beliefs. These are usually termed as ‘opinion leaders’. They present, repeat and reiterate a particular viewpoint that then appears to become the norm for some elements of the audience.
Look at the cover for the Sex Pistols’ famous record: ‘God Save the Queen’
The main image is an iconic picture of the Queen – a picture used on stamps, coins and banknotes and an image that is synonymous with Britain. The Queen is often considered to be representative of the history, culture, tradition and heritage of the country – however this message is completely juxtaposed by the use of copy which anchors the image (and actually distorts it).
The title: ‘God Save the Queen’ is obviously supposed to be ironic. The collage effect of the letters makes the copy haphazard and covers her eyes and mouth suggesting that she is blind to a modern Britain and that as an institution the royal family does not speak for the younger generations who wish to disassociate themselves from this outdated representation of Britain.
The cover has a clear ideology of ‘out with the old and in with the new’ and even an ideology of ‘youth rebellion’, it represents Britain as irreverent, diverse and as challenging authority and traditions that are taken for granted.
Now your turn:
Watch the trailer for the recent film: ‘Harry Brown’. The film represents an ideology of ‘Broken Britain’. A place where crime is prolific and that the police are inefficient.
Analyse the ways in which this ideology has been represented.
RESEARCH POINT: Find two examples from newspapers where the ideology of ‘broken Britain’ has been represented. Discuss how copy has been used to anchor the meaning of images.
And finally, the big question!
The most you will have to write about representation is if it comes up as Question 3.
Before we look at the question, let’s remind ourselves of the theories of representation we have looked at:
· Constructionist Approach
· Stereotyping
· Mediation
· Archetypes
· Anchorage
· Ideology
Here is what the question will look like:
Now – using the research you’ve done in this booklet and any texts that relate to this topic you have in your media diary. Answer the question covering all of the theories we have looked at. Here are some points of guidance to maximise your marks:
· Write at least 500 words
· Use at least 3 examples (use many more than this and you won’t be writing in enough detail – less than this won’t allow you to provide enough variety).
· Make sure you use examples from different types of media. (Film, Magazines, Newspapers, Video Games, Advertising, Music Videos, Internet, Video Games)
Off you go!
