Unit 1 - Media representations - 23/1/19

Unit 1 – Media Representations. 23/1/19

Will be an onscreen examination, done in the media room under supervised conditions. 

The marks for the paper is out of 80. 

Will need headphones so you can hear video/audio clips in the exam.

They’ll give us a selection of resources. Eg: clips from TV shows, games, DVD cover, extracts 

from newspapers, etcetera. 

Theory based exam. Must be prepared to take notes, memorize theoretical concepts, and practice applying them over a range of media texts. 

Command words: analyze, compare, evaluate, explain, identify, to what extent. 

4 assessment outcomes: A01 – demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media terminology, semiotics, theories, concepts and messages. A02 – apply knowledge and understanding of media concepts, semiotics (signs), theories and formal techniques to constructed representations. A03 – analyze media texts to deconstruct representations and decode messages and evaluate their effectiveness and impact. A04 – make connections between polysemic (more than one) messages underpinning media representations and their related values and effects on wider society. 

Representation is the construction of aspect of identity and reality in the media. Audiences make assumptions on these based on the representations they see. 

The media chooses how to represent certain things in order to suggest to an audience how they should view them (and in turn how they should respond to them)

(My take on representation) How something/someone is represented (portrayed) in a form of media. Representation is created through people’s opinions/prejudices, for example older people may be prejudice against younger people as we’ve been portrayed to be scary/violent thugs by the media because of a few bad apples. 

Reality -> Mediated: Social media -> Representation -> Audience 

The areas of representation I may be asked on are: gender, age, social groups, ethnicity and places.

When analyzing media representations, ask yourself:

What is being represented? How is it being represented? What is it suggesting or implying? Who is it speaking to and why? Who produced it? Is it typical or unnatural? How do we 

respond to it?

Gender representations: male dominated. Females need a man/a man is always the love interest/savior/kidnapper. Males are supposedly the ‘hero’ whereas a woman is a ‘victim.’ Women have been often subject to sexualisation.  

Age: normally older men still get big roles whereas older women probably wouldn’t. Young people are stereotyped to be thugs, violent and out of control. Old people are seen as helpless, unable to look after themselves. Children are perceived as innocent, despite that sometimes not being the case, when a child goes missing it's seen as a bigger deal whereas if a older person goes missing. 

Social groups: upper class people are usually perceived to be snobby, distant from reality and they look down on people who are lower than them in terms of class. The upper class are portrayed to be the ones with power in society. Lower classes are often used as sources of amusement and portrayed to be in poverty and are perceived to be lazy people who don't do anything to change their situation.

Ethnicity: stereotypes. If you've experienced something you're going to take it more personally, if you've experienced racism you'll be more affected by any stories about racial abuse. Non-white people will be more stereotyped and have a negative portrayal in the media.

Places: in places there may exist regional stereotypes. With people in the South probably having a prejudiced opinion of people in the North and vice-versa.