Representations of age: YOUTH

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 youth.

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.

What are the problems with these approaches?

1Reflexive Approach...

2Intentional Approach...

      In media studies we tend to reject both of these ideas. Instead we consider a third approach which is in between the two:

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:

1. The person or group being represented
2. The opinions of those encoding (making) the representation – through use of symbolic, visual, technical and written codes.
3. The reaction of the target audience
4. The context of the society – how the representation fits in with certain dominant ideologies

e.g. A charity advertisement that represents children as vulnerable.

The person being represented: The child in this advert has a sad expression, does not have any make up on and has wide eyes – all of which connote innocence and a certain helplessness.

The opinions of those encoding the representation: The photograph is framed as a big close up (BCU), the photographer has given us no choice but to look into the child’s eyes, the photo is also cropped signifying that the child is trapped and unable to escape from their situation. The photograph has a mute symbol placed on the lips of the child connoting that they are being controlled and silenced by someone else.

The reaction of the target audience: This advert is primarily aimed at a target audience of adults who could potentially help the children – probably parents that hold family values we could broadly describe them as Mainstreamers according to the 4Cs model. For this group the appeal of the advert is that it reaches out to their need to nurture and protect.

The context of our society and dominant ideologies: Our society values the protection of children, making sure that there are laws which stop them from engaging in potentially harmful activities until a certain age. Our society also demonises and severely punishes those who harm children or put them at risk in any way.

All of this adds up to why we would say that the advertisement represents children as vulnerable.

Now your turn to analyse:

Watch the following clip and work through the four parts of the Constructionist Approach to say how young people are represented.

1. The person/people being represented:

Hint: Analyse one or two of the young people in the clip based on what they do and how they look etc.

2. The opinions of those encoding the representation:

Hint: How has the news been filmed and edited to get their point across?

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 knife crime in Britain today, and what do we think of the news? Does this add anything to the representation of young people?

The representation of young people you have just analysed creates a stereotype of young people as violent and dangerous. But what do we mean when we use the word ‘stereotype’?

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:

1. They involve both a categorising and an evaluation of the group being stereotyped.
2. They usually emphasise some easily grasped feature(s) of the group, these are often based within:

·       Appearance – what they look like, wear, how they speak

·       Behaviour – the things they do and say

3. 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
4. Stereotypes often evaluate groups in a negative way – but this may depend on the reading of the audience

Bart Simpson is supposed to represent the typical ten year old boy. His character stereotypes young boys as naughty, fun-loving, immature and subversive.

Appearance: His shorts and bright tee shirt emphasise his childish and lively nature. Bart’s messy spiky hair, connote his chaotic and life without rules.

Behaviour: Bart’s gesture (mooning us!) signify his disregard for social norms and conventions. His cheeky grin emphasises his pleasure at challenging authority.

Now your turn to analyse:

Watch the following compilation of clips from Skins. Analyse how young people are stereotyped, by discussing how the stereotype is constructed:

Skins stereotypes young people as…

Appearance:

Behaviour:

  

How would different audiences react differently to a text like Skins?

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
• Organisation/Construction
• Focus

Here’s a closer look at all three…

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 magazine cover below represents teenage girls in some very specific ways that encourages us to believe certain things about what they look like and how they act – let’s take a closer look at how this has been through the mediation machine…

Selection

The two main elements that have gone through the selection process here are the choices regarding the model in the main image and the subject matter of the coverlines. The model is a young, healthy looking girl with feminine looks and a clear complexion. The specific image selected shows her as happy and dressed in a way that does not make her seem independent rather than provocative or too conservative. The coverlines have been selected to emphasise various aspects of a teenager’s life whilst ignoring others. These selection promote a positive view of teenage girls as healthy, happy and independent.

Construction/Organisation

The construction of this cover falls within it’s framing of the main image as well as the choice of words used in the coverlines and the overall layout of the magazine. The image is shot as a medium close- up which draws attention to the model’s smiling face and through composing the shot using the rule of thirds, encourages the audience to make eye contact with the model – making her seem friendly and approachable. The wording of some of the coverlines has a familiar and friendly tone, using shortened versions of celebrity names (Orlando) implies that every teen girl would be interested in actors like Orlando Bloom. The layout of the magazine uses many different fonts and virtually fills the cover, which represents teenage girls as having busy lives, which don’t necessarily require a strict routine or rules.

Focus

The clear focus of this magazine cover is an interest in fashion and clothes. Nearly all of the coverlines reference something that can be connected with advice on what to wear or how to look. This focus represents teenage girls as predominantly concerned with their appearance and how to look as stylish as possible.

Now your turn to analyse:

Watch this trailer for the show ‘Young, Dumb and Living off Mum’. Analyse how the representation of young people have been mediated by each stage of the process.

Selection:

Construction/Organisation:

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, this cell from a comic book shows a conversation between two young characters from the Spiderman comics.

Peter Parker (on the right) fits the teenage archetype of the ‘high school geek’. Dressed in an overly conservative manner for a student, including glasses, and fascinated by science. He is also shown as being teased and intimidated by another teenage archetype of ‘the jock’ or ‘high school bully’.

As aforementioned – archetypes are often harmless and are usually used to help a story move along quickly. However we must remember that this is still a representation, and contributes in some way to the perception we have of the real world.

Now your turn to analyse:

Watch this trailer for Percy Jackson: The Lightening Thief. Decide how you could describe Percy as an archetype and then analyse the things from the trailer which have led you to that conclusion.

Genre of film:

Description of Percy’s Archetype:

 Things from the trailer that make Percy this archetype:

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 following examples of Anchorage and Ideology concerning the same story in two different newspapers.

The Sun’s headline and strapline is anchorage to the image – it’s use of the words: ‘Baby-faced’ and emphasis of the number ‘13’ anchors meaning to the text.. It encourages the reader to see the story as shocking and inappropriate by adding further emphasis to just how young the boy is.

The Daily Mail deals with this story differently. It does not make it the headline of the paper and the copy anchors the image in a different way, a way that creates an ideological message that the situation has happened because of the failings of social services.

This ideology may be presented as straightforward or ‘common sense’ but if we investigate more, we will learn that the Daily Mail is newspaper which traditionally supports the Conservative party and will often use any excuse to attack the Labour government which was in power at the time.

However both of these examples, again, add to the representation of young people. Raising  questions over who should be protecting them and educating them.

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!