Year 12 cover work: Representation

MM50

1. The female gaze article is about research that suggests advertising campaigns are dominated by heterosexual Caucasian size 0 to 2 models. It also states that representations of women in advertising is too white and exclusively under size 6. Western women on average are size 14 or above therefore the term 'plus model' has become popular since advertisers want to embrace what people actually look like. 

2. The film which has sparked the debate on female body image and female representation is called 'A Perfect 14.' 

3.The 'female gaze' differs from the 'male gaze' as Mulvey suggests the 'male gaze' is when women are portrayed for the benefit of men therefore women are presented for men to look at as sex objects whereas the 'female gaze' is more about females looking at other females and consuming the ideal body shape etc. 

4. I personally think the media should invest more time in advertising average sized women rather than size 0 models who cause a negative impact, especially on younger girls who go to extreme extents to pursue the 'ideal' body shape not realising the health problems that can cause. 

5. 'A Perfect 14' is trying to get across the message that you should feel comfortable in your own body and not feel as though you should achieve an impossible body image. The main character of the documentary is diagnosed with cancer, it also shows the journey of three 'plus size' models and the struggles they experienced. The whole film positively shows plus size models.

MM51

1. 

• Introduction

This section talks about how a person, places, objects or ideas being represented in a media text have been mediated by the act of representation. It continues to state how representations are filtered through someone's point of view- they're ideological. 

• Representations and the mass media

This section suggests that representations process through certain people, e.g. the photographer, picture editor and news editor. They can give images multiple meanings depending on their own ideologies.

• The how, who and why of representation

We must always consider who is creating the image and for what purpose. The producer considers 4 things: 

-the expectations and needs of the target audience

-the limitations provided by genre codes 

-the type of narrative they wish to create 

-their institutional remit. 

Roland Barthes talks about the idea of 'naturalisation' and how the media have chosen certain things and used certain things purposely, however the audience believe it is natural and normal. 

• Another approach to ideology - the work of Stuart Hall

Stuart Halls critique is known as the 'Encoding/Decoding Model.' Hall believes that the audience do not passively accept the ideology of texts but instead social and cultural experiences effect their interpretations. There is a relationship between the reader/viewer and the text. 

• Representations and new media

Audience members can now construct and share their own media products, and inwebsites, video-sharing platforms and social media there are more opportunities for people to represent themselves than ever before. Individuals can now engage in the act of self-representation, often on a daily basis, through the creation of social media.

• An example - representing national identity in old and new media

Old media also constructs a view to their audience. The example is during the 2014 World Cup, The Sun sent a free newspaper to millions of homes, representing it's own concept of England. The whole paper was about 'English Identity' and was a positive approach to the monarchy. The new media, social media, was able to highlight peoples voices and their rejection towards the tabloid. The new media offered people to voice their views and opinions about the traditional old media. 

I am quite active on social media, I regularly post pictures on Instagram and check up on what is going on. When I do post, I do go through that construction process in my head, I have to think about whether or not I like the picture, whether I want to present myself in this particular way or not and then the caption underneath. To be honest, it doesn't take too much thought, I don't really spend hours thinking about it, if I want to post something online I usually just do it. 

I believe it is both, e.g. BBC is funded by the public and therefore the BBC should listen to the audience and give them what they want to see. If the BBC went against what their audience wants they would not have many viewers and the organisation would close down as they wouldn't get funds.

12D Cover Work - Thurs. 25/11, p6

Graham Norton, BBC1 – Schwarzenegger 

In this clip men are presented in a variety of ways, e.g. Graham Norton, is more feminine whilst Arnold Schwarzenegger is a very stereotypical man, who is seen as a body building icon. He is the dominant representation of men, whilst Norton is an alternative representation of males. The woman, Miranda, although she doesn't speak her physical appearance is an alternative representation of females due to her short her and broad structure. This subverts the stereotype and opposes Perkin's theory. 

London 2012 – Bond/Queen 

London is presented as an expensive area and wealthy and posh partly due to the grandeur appearance. The soldiers are presented stereotypically and the black cab is a stereotypical London vehicle. The representation of the tourists is also dominant as they are usually from other countries and are usually interested in the royal family. Tourists are also seen to be on holiday and learning new things about different cultures. This is the dominant representation of the place which therefore links to Dyer's theory and also Perkin's as the representation is predominantly positive.  

Some Girls – BBC3 trailer

The portrayal of the 4 girls is alternative as they are all part of a football team which is more of a masculine sport also this subverts the stereotype of girls being inactive. However within the 4, the characters conform to different ideologies and also challenge others; there's the 'dumb blonde,' who isn't aware of what she's doing.This links back to Mulvey as the dominant view in the media is masculine and created for the benefit of men. Women are presented for men to look at, hence the ‘male gaze’. This links to the idea of ‘sex sells’ and women being represented as sex objects.

Representation: Collages 

Stereotype 

Reality

Representation 

                                                 12 Years A slave

                                                

Black Males: They are racially discriminated against as they are presented as slaves. This movie reinforces the stereotype that white people are superior in comparison to blacks. This is a realistic portrayal of slavery times.However, the main protagonist was originally a New York State-born free African-American man violinist with a family and well established life/career which goes against the stereotype of black males but as expected he is soon sold into slavery and deceived by the white males. 

White Males: They are dominant and the black males are submissive- racial discrimination. It is dominant portrayal of white males as they are seen as powerful characters. 

Women: There is a dominant portrayal of women as they are seen simply as the lover/wife who take care of the children while the men work- mainly white females in this movie or on the other hand the black females are seen as sex objects who are abused and raped by the white males. 

Location: The movie is set in 1835, the places shown look like country sides where slaves would work. 

Representation- (Theories applied) 

12 Years A Slave portrays young African Americans as slaves and highlights the historical context of black people however the protagonist of the film challenges the stereotype because he has a good job and provides for his family and also ommjunicates and lives amongst white people. This reinforces Perkins theory as the stereotype is able to change. Furthermore, the protagonist reinforces Fanons 'Black Skin, White Masks' theory due to the way he carries himself through the film alongside the white community, almost trying make himself fit in their society. Additionally, Medhurst’s theory of shorthand value judgements can also be applied because the representation of the minority group of black people is very negative and the stereotype of black people has been reinforced in a short amount of time.

On the other hand, the white people presented are seen as dominant and overpowering therefore reinforcing an accurate description of the historical context. This links to Dyer's theory as those with the power, stereotype those with less power and generalise them all as one, racially discriminating them. However this also supports Perkins theory as the white Americans were in power during the 1600s, which reveals the truth about the situation rather than the stereotype. The white middle-class group are presented in the highest status and show the dominant portrayal of their class. Through their clothing (mise-en-scene), in comparison to the Africans, who are wearing barely nothing, we can infer immediately from his skin and his clothes that he is a dominant character.

Similarly, women are presented as the typical ‘house wives’. This reinforces Mulvey’s theory about ‘male gaze’ since the wife is the main protagonist is simply there as his wife or the mother of his kids. Although she’s not portrayed as a sex object she is still in some sense his object who takes care of him and his family while he goes out and works which also links to Dyer’s theory as its reinforcing the stereotype of the man being the ‘bread winner’. 

Furthermore, there are several binary oppositions presented in this trailer, one of them would be 'dark vs white' this is also a dominant ideology as people assume that white people are superior is comparison to black people. Additionally, there is also the opposition of 'good vs evil' in this trailer, the good people are the blacks whereas the bad are the whites. This contradicts the idea of white people being superior because even though they dominate the black people they are still viewed as the 'bad guys'.

Dependency Theory

I primarily use the internet for interacting with friends and family via social networking sites, the ones I use on a everyday basis are, whatsapp, instagram and snapchat. However, I always tend to find out news through social media rather than on a news channel or online newspaper because everyone tends to post about any major news, particularly celebrity based gossip. Furthermore, I also use the internet to help me with my coursework, e.g. research, definitions, thesaurus. On the other hand, I also use the internet to do online shopping frequently. In addition to that, I tend to watch movies online or catch up on TV shows I've missed. I also watch YouTube videos which are beauty related, e.g. makeup tutorials.

We are dependent on the media to a very large extent. I believe this because majority of the people use social media for interactions and we also are socially aware of what our friends and families are doing which makes us in a way more addicted to our phones as we constantly want to be up to date. This also links to news, we turn to social media to find out any major news and then turn to the net to read more or get to the depths of a story. 

We have become more dependant on the media because as I said previously we tend to use our phones to communicate with others, not by calling them but sending them a quick message on social media. Additionally, technology has become more advanced drastically over the past 10 years making it so simple to tend to the media when wanting to socialise, find out something, news etc. Its become very easily accessible and we have become a media saturated society.

The telegraph theory does support the dependency theory as four out of five people under the age of 25 feel 'lost' without their phone. By contrast, just three out of five people over the age of 25 said that they would feel 'lost' without the internet and one in three adults surveyed would choose the internet over television which again further implies how dependent we have become on media and technology.

Audience Theory

The hypodermic needle model

This is a crude theory from the 1920s that suggests the media injects information into the audience like a hypodermic needle and therefore can have a dangerous effect on us.

The two-step flow model

The two-step flow model was developed in the 1940s because the hypodermic needle theory was considered too simplistic, assuming the audience consumed media without thinking.

The two-step flow model instead suggests the audience are influenced by ‘opinion leaders’ in the media who mediate how the audience react to media texts. The theory suggests the media is not all-powerful and that social factors are important.

Media --> Opinion leaders --> Audience 

Audience Theory: Blog Tasks 

The hypodermic needle model-

1) The article about 'Effects of video-games' links to the hypodermic needle model because studies have suggested that playing violent video-games such as "Call Of Duty" for 3 consecutive days can lead to an increase in aggressive behaviour and short-term aggression whereas playing non violent video-games such as racing games have no negative effects. Furthermore, Prof Bushman stated theories such as, 'After playing a violent video game, we found that people expect others to behave aggressively and that that expectation may make them more defensive and more likely to respond with aggression themselves, as we saw in this study and in other studies we have conducted.' This article supports the hypodermic needle model as it further suggests that playing violent video-games influences people to act a certain way and injects information into their heads making them act a certain way, in this case it makes them defensive and aggressive. 

2) The coverage of 'Talk Talk' also links to the hypodermic needle model because it shows how video-games have made this child into a "violent game addict" however people criticised this because Daily Mail didn't talk mention other factors such as upbringing which made the article appear biased.

The two-step flow model

1) Yes, I think the two-step flow model is still relevant today, an example would be,  many young people tend to look up to celebrities and make their opinions similar to them. Also, since its easier now to give your point of view via social media, sometimes people tend to get influenced and support one idea.  

2) TotalBiscuit is a gaming commentator and critic on YouTube therefore he influences many people via his opinions and critics. Additionally, the fact that he has a large number of subscribers suggests that many people do agree with his point of view and value his opinions as well as support what he says which links to the two-step flow model as it makes him a 'opinion leader'

3) Since Jamal Edwards was a amateur who became a millionaire, thousands of people will look up to him and appreciate his opinions as they would aspire to gain the success he has. Therefore, this makes him an opinion leader because people will get influenced by his views/values/opinions. 

Blumler & Katz: Uses and Gratifications theory

Researchers Blumler and Katz reignited audience theory in 1974 by stating that media audiences are active and make conscious choices about the way they consume media.

They suggested there are four main uses or gratifications (pleasures) that audiences get from the media.

The Vampire Diaries

Diversion: 

escape from everyday problems and routine - entertainment.

Instagram

Personal Relationships:

 using the media for emotional and other interaction (e.g. developing affection for characters in TV)

Geordie Shore

Personal Identity: 

finding ourselves reflected in texts or learning behaviour and values from the media. Reality TV or documentary (Educating Yorkshire) are good examples.

BBC News

Surveillance:

 Information useful for living (e.g. Weather, traffic news, holiday bargains etc.)

Media Awards 

Second Level South:

Firstly, I liked Second Level South because of the narrative, it followed a funny storyline and had me engaged throughout. Furthermore, I liked the way the shots were placed, e.g. the over-the-shoulder shot of the character talking to his friend then straight cut to a wide shot of him where his facial expressions are visible. This shot then jump cuts to the character he called and this is a good example of editing. Additionally, the use of the wipe cut during the conversation helped engage the audience and explain what was going on.

The Experiment:
I liked The Experiment due to the narrative as it was unique. Similarly, the use of jump cuts to different parts of the story and memories helped create drama and tension and mad the audience engaged. On the other hand, the use of the non-diegetic sound, voice over, made the audience understand the thought process going through the protagonist, who we have not yet until towards the end. However, the fact that we have heard her voice, shows her importance and also makes us focus on everything that is happening and follow the narrative.

Psychographic Presentation Feedback

WWW:

• good description 
• well prepared slides with pictures

EBI:

• too much text 
• education was missing
• no specific titles 
• original research 

Young & Rubicam's Psychographic Test

Result: Reformer

I agree with this result, although initially I thought I was an explorer I do see some signs of me also being a reformer.