2. What is Representation?
the constructed and mediated presentation of
people, things, ideas, places etc
the process by which the media present the ‘real
world’ (Rayner)
The idea of representation is an important one in
understanding meaning in media texts. In other words,
everything in the media is a representation – everything
we see is being represented.
Individuals – Rylan Clark in X Factor 2012
Groups – Teenagers
Places - New York
Nations – Iran
Ideas – Religion/the family
Regions/Locations - the North of England
3. Questions to ask when analysing
Representation:
WHO or WHAT is being
represented?
HOW is the representation created?
WHO has created the
representation?
WHY is the representation created
in that way? What is the intention?
WHAT is the effect of the
representation?
4. The media re-presents people, ideas and
events. What we see in the media is in
some way a ‘second-hand’ version – it is
clearly not the thing itself. The
representation has been created or
constructed by the selection of specific
media language elements. In addition,
everything we see in a media text has gone
through some process to get to us – this is
called mediation.
Representations are re-
presentations
5. This is not a happy family – it is a
re-presentation of a happy
family
This is a professionally-taken and posed picture. Whilst there is no way
to know if the people in the picture are related, it is most
probable they are not, but are professional models.
The facial expressions connote happiness and the framing
Shows unity and physical closeness. The ‘mother’ acts as a
nurturer as she has her arms around two of the children and the
‘father’, carrying the child, depicts a caring, masculine
strength.
The framing of the picture and the angle of the shot focuses
our attention on their faces showing that their happiness is the
most important aspect of this group and other visual clues
provide an understanding of a range of ideals about family and
gender roles: the female child is sweet and sensitive; the small
male child is boisterous and a bit of a handful (although
controlled by a strong yet gentle father); both parents are
patient, kind and conservatively dressed – not the kind of family
you’ll see on Supernanny (C4).
6. A news photograph for example may appear to be presenting us with a factual
image but it has been through a process of construction:
• the photographer has selected his/her position, lens, angle, exposure
and framing before taking the picture
• the picture editor will decide if the image needs to be cropped,
enhanced or in any way altered before inclusion into the paper
• an editor will choose which, of the many available photographs of the
image, will be the one chosen for inclusion in the newspaper and,
importantly at this stage, the images which do not meet the needs of the
text will be rejected
Even then, further mediation takes place:
• Will the photograph be large or small?
• Will the photograph be on the front page or, less visible, on page 8?
Placement choices like this, along with cropping and framing, act to focus the
attention of the reader in a certain way.
• What headline and text will be used to accompany the photograph?
• Will the photograph have a caption?
• Will it be positioned close to another photograph?
The Construction and Mediation of
Representations
7. Each of these choices will have an impact on the idea that the
audience takes from the image:
• a large photograph connotes importance as does placing it
on the front page of the newspaper,
• text can add either a negative or positive connotation to an
image,
• by placing pictures next to each other the audience can be
guided into making connections between them.
So, even in the most apparently factual representations, choices are
made which means that the image is not simply a recording of an
actual event or a person. These images have been selected
depending on the ideas that need to be communicated by the text.
Every decision that is made about the person/place/object
represented is made for a reason and this selection process can add
to, take away from and alter meaning at each stage of the process.
A representation is the final product after all of the decisions
have been made. Meaning is made in the construction of the
representation and the combination of all the choices come together
in order for the audience to ‘read’ and interpret the information
provided.
8. To summarise, the selection
process is:
•The decision over what is chosen to be represented and what is
rejected;
• The choices made when organising the representation:
• The options taken to focus the audience in a certain way.
All media texts are constructed in this way:
factual programming on TV is shot and edited before being broadcast;
every aspect of the mise-en-scene of a film text is carefully chosen in
order that it creates the right impression on the audience;
the words selected in newspaper and magazine articles are part of the
construction of the final representations.
A theorist called White spoke of the ‘gatekeepers’ - that is the people
who are part of the decision making process in the construction of
media texts. Magazine editors, journalists, writers, photographers,
directors etc. all play a part in the creation of representations and act as
gatekeepers selecting what information will be passed on and how it will
be communicated. They select what will (and will not) be represented
and how.
9. A). Representations as Reflections (the reflective approach)
Sometimes representations are assumed by an audience to simply replicate
the real world. Some audience members may perceive the News,
Documentaries and Reality TV for example as portraying a straightforward
reality. News broadcasts present information as fact and great care is taken
to attempt to create an aura of authority and trust. Even with fictional
programming, the audience can often perceive what is presented as ‘real’.
Soap Operas concentrate on making media language choices which give the
appearance of reality as it is an expectation of the genre. Newspapers and
magazines discuss fictional characters and events as if they were real and,
often, dramatic story-lines are discussed and debated as if they are
happening to people we know. This is not to say that the audience
necessarily believes there is an Albert Square or an area in Manchester
called Weatherfield but they need to believe that these places are in some
way reflecting the world as it is. For the British soap opera, this idea is
crucial – it is one of the genre expectations the audience will have and it
needs fulfilling. Soaps need to generate an idea of identification within the
audience. The characters, places and events must be such that the audience
can relate them to their own lives and experiences of the world. This is a
genre convention and an important aspect of the success of soap operas.
Audience Perceptions of
Representations
10. British soaps try to maintain the illusion of reality. This occurs through the use of
specific media language choices in each of the five categories:
1. Lighting – selected to appear as if diegetic. Light appears to come from
natural sources – daylight, streetlights, lamps etc;
2. Music – rarely non-diegetic. Pub jukeboxes and radios are often seen to be the
source of music which is often carefully selected to parallel the dramatic action;
3. Editing - mainly straight cuts to create invisible editing;
4. Camera work – predominantly eye-level shots. Mid-shots and close ups are
the main choice as they depict the action from the audience’s eye-level as if they
are there observing the scene. Extreme close ups are also used when the director
wants to show the significance of a specific item or facial expression;
5. Mise–en-scene – soaps try to emulate a very ordinary setting. Extras are
used to populate public areas and houses are decorated to look ‘lived in’. Dialogue
is written to reflect real conversations and clothes chosen to reflect current
fashions.
The genre, therefore, emulates a recognisable world which appears as if real. Of
course, in doing so, what is also created are ideas about values and ideologies
– the attitudes, ideas about morality and acceptable behaviour are also portrayed
as real.
Representing the Real in British
Soap Operas
11. B) Representations as Deliberate Constructions (the
intentional approach)
Sometimes, representations are seen to be a deliberate
attempt to create associations and ideas for the audience.
Michael Moore can easily be seen to have a political agenda
with his documentary making. In Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004),
his representation of President Bush was carefully
constructed to create a specific idea of an idiotic and corrupt
man. He selected images and quotes carefully which would
support his perspective and rejected images and quotes that
may have challenged this idea of the US president. He
juxtaposed these images with news footage, interviews and
other images which would anchor his meaning and ensure
that throughout the film the idea of President Bush was
consolidated.
Audience Perceptions of
Representations
12. Representation in advertsising
Advertising can be seen in this way too as the linking
together of ideas and images to a product is used to
persuade the audience to act in a certain way.
Men’s shavers/razors are often represented alongside
images of cars and planes. The colours used in the
adverts are those with associations of masculinity:
silver, black and red dominate in the advertising.
Sporting celebrities such as David Beckham are used to
endorse the products and the culmination of these
elements in the representation are that razors are
associated with strength and an idea of machismo and
sophistication. However, there is nothing essentially
masculine about the razor. It is simply a tool that is
required for a specific purpose.
13. Women also purchase this tool but when it is
marketed to them pastel colours, curved shapes and
words with feminine association are used.
Whether you use a Mach 3 or a Venus, the effect
is the same, the removal of body hair.
However, the way the products are represented
creates very different associations, all linked to ideas
about gender identity and expectations. These associations
are part of the representations of the product and are a
calculated and deliberate appeal to the consumer group that
is targeted. Nothing forces the audience to accept the
representations as presented.
However, the producers can be seen to be attempting to, as
far as possible, create specific associations and ideas for the
audience.
14. C). The Constructionist Approach
A useful way of thinking about representation is that
the meanings are created by the relationship between
the producers, the text and the audience:
• The representation is constructed with a set of ideas
and values (producer’s intent/intended meaning)
• The context of the representation is part of the
representation (media language choices, anchorage,
media form, placement/ location, genre expectations
etc.)
• The audience reacts to this representation and this
depends on their own personal interpretational context:
age, gender, political/ religious beliefs, nationality etc.
(negotiated meaning)
Audience Perceptions of
Representations
15. In The Day After Tomorrow (2004, dir. R. Emmerich)
there is a representation of a group of British scientists
who assist the hero of the text (an American scientist)
by providing him with information on the impending
ecological changes that act as the main conflict for the
film. The representation shows the British as living in a
low-tech environment and this is in sharp contrast to
the technologically advanced laboratory used by the
Americans. The British are depicted in extreme peril
and the representation uses the stereotype of the ‘stiff
upper lip’ mentality as they are represented dealing
with danger calmly and pragmatically. They salute the
Queen and Manchester United and deal with the crisis
by opening a bottle of well matured whisky.
Representation in a film
16. This representation plays on a number of national
stereotypes that may not be as obvious to the target
audience of the film. (Even though Hollywood films are
marketed for a global audience the majority of their profits
will come from the domestic audience – that is other
Americans). As a British audience watching this film, we may
be struck by the limited view of the British. This
representation will be interpreted differently depending on
the perspective of the audience.
This is not to say that the director is ignorant about the
British or that he deliberately constructed the British to look
weaker than the Americans. He would have used past textual
examples to base his representations on and his own
experience of the British which would almost certainly not be
as detailed or accurate as the knowledge the British have
about themselves as a nation. Therefore, the representation’s
meaning is dependent on who is watching, reading and
interpreting the text.
17. Q. Look at a text which represents you (your age group, your gender,
your race, your religion). How accurate are these representations? Who
do you think is creating the representation? Is it someone like you?
As Media students it is important to recognise how what we see in
any media text is a constructed representation rather than a simple
reflection of reality. Once this is recognised it is important to
consider the meanings created by these representations and both
the reasons why they are created the way they are and the
effects the representations may have. It is also important to
consider that most representations are constructed by someone
outside the group that is being depicted.
Dyer said: ‘How we are seen determines how we are treated, how
we treat others is based on how we see them. How we see them
comes from representation.’ Given the volume of representations
we are exposed to whilst accessing the media, it is unsurprising that
they are seen to be influential in the way we the audience make
sense of the world.
Why do we need to consider
representations?
18. When discussing representations, you will need
to consider HOW they are constructed through
the media language choices made. However,
you should also consider WHY they are created
the way they are and impact of the
representations: the meaning they create and
the effect on the audience which will mean you
will need to relate representation to the other
media concepts such as audience, narrative,
genre, institution and ideology.
Exam Hint
