Grade Booster!

REPRESENTATION & PHOTOGRAPHY

One of the questions in the evaluation asks you:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

So, it’s worth exploring this point now, specifically, in relation to the images that you’re going to use in your magazine.

Let’s first start with a definition of representation:

How specific social types, groups, events or places are depicted / portrayed within the media.

You need to consider how you are going to represent different groups etc.

Firstly outline the different groups of people, events and places that will feature in your

magazine e.g.:

·         Gender

·         Social Class / Income / Education

·         Age

·         Events / places (gigs)

·         Fans of a particular music genre.

Then, think about how you are going to represent them and more importantly why are you going to represent them in this way.

At a very simplistic level this means are you going to represent them in a stereotypical way? Or, are you going to challenge the stereotype?

To answer these questions you need to look back at your research and identify how different groups etc have been represented in your music genre. Use the following points to help you

frame your analysis:

1.      Stereotypical or not?

2.      How has the representation been constructed? (Media language: shot type, camera angle,

framing, mise-en-scene).

3.      Why have they been represented in this way? This gets a bit complicated – try to make links back to institution and audience.

E.g. stereotypical = mainstream institution & mass audience / more challenging alternative = independent institution & niche audience.

Representations have ideas embed in them. Ideology is the study of these ideas.

In media studies, we often use Raymond William’s definitions of ideology.  He argues that there are three types of ideology…

• Dominant Ideology: Stereotypical representations.

• Emergent Ideology: More positive representations.

• Residual Ideology: Representations from the past.

You need to consider the following questions in relation to your images:

1.      Which social groups have you represented e.g. teenagers?  Rock music fans? 

2.      How have you constructed the representations? Be really technical and explain choice of: shot type, angle, framing, mise-en-scene.

3.      Have you represented them in a stereotypical way which maintains a dominant ideology of that group? Or, have you tried to produce challenging, alternative representations which reflects more of an emergent ideology.  

4.      Why have you represented them in this way? Here make links back to institution and audience.

E.g. stereotypical = mainstream institution & mass audience / more challenging alternative = independent institution & niche audience.