Methods for Analysing Media Representations

While students may have an intuitive sense of how the media represents certain phenomena, they need to learn some particular research techniques for how to analyze these representations. It is often useful to model these different techniques, demonstrating how you use them in analysis of a particular example.

The following are some steps involved in conducting studies, following by specific aspects associated with analysing representations:

• Select a specific group, topic, issue, or phenomenon, and then discuss different representations of this topic/phenomenon in your texts.

• Note patterns in these representations in terms of similarities in portrayals/images instances of stereotyping or normalising categories.

• Note value assumptions in terms of who has power, who solves problems, how problems are solved.

Define the intended audiences for these representations:

• What messages are conveyed to what audiences?

• Whose beliefs or values are being reinforced or validated?

• How are certain products linked to certain representations for certain audiences?

Define what’s missing or left out of the representation:

• What complexities or differences are not discussed?

• What is included and what is excluded?

Find alternative or counter-examples (this way you construct an argument)

Consider the potential consequences of stereotyped representations of gender, class, race, or age on people and the way they behave

List descriptions of others or oneself and note instances of stereotyping (how have values been altered)

Note how consumer practices reflect the need to live up to representations (aspirations)

In analysing representations, students can focus on the following aspects:

Images. The images employed that reflect certain positive versus negative value orientations based on cultural codes and archetypal meanings, for example, uses of dark or black colors to portray an urban area as dangerous or threatening (Lacey, 1998). In this semiotic analysis of representation, students are examining how the meaning of images as signifiers (wearing jeans vs. suits) creates certain signified or implied meanings (casualness/formality/dress for success).  (Cullin-Swan, B., & Manning, P. K., “Codes, Chronotypes, and Everyday Objects” )

These codes are culturally constituted. Stuart Hall (1997) cites the example of the meaning of traffic lights—the fact that the signified meanings of red and green are culturally determined based on a code system that indicates that in certain cultures, red means “stop” and green means “go.” The difference between red and green is what signifies the meaning based on the cultural code. To determine how images are representing a social or cultural world, you need to determine the code system underlying the media texts.

Sound/music. Media texts represent social worlds through the uses of sound or music. They may represent certain regions of the world by using music associated with those worlds, for example, Samba or Calypso music to represent South American worlds. These uses of sound or music are often based on audience’s prior knowledge of certain types of music as associated with certain types of experiences or worlds.

Intertextuality. Media representations also depend on audiences’ knowledge of intertextual links between the current texts and other previous texts using the same images, language, sounds, or logos. For example, understanding the Energizer Bunny battery ads, in which the Energizer Bunny suddenly appears at the end of an ad, requires a prior understanding of previous Energizer Bunny ads. Audiences understand the meaning of certain representations because they have knowledge of these intertextual lnks. They enjoy fact that they are “in the know” about the intertextual references being made. In analyzing media representations, you therefore need to determine the intertextual links being employed to previous texts, and how these links are being used to represent a world in a certain manner.

Dan Chandler’s discussion of intertextuality

Gunhild Agger, Aalborg University, Intertextuality Revisited: Dialogues and Negotiations in Media Studies

Language. In studying how language is used to represent experience, you are studying how language actually serves to create realities or worlds. The idealized language of advertising is used to create worlds in which flaws or problems are instantly dealt with or solved. The language of sports commentary is used to dramatize the significance of a game to keep viewers watching the game.

In defining these debates, you are also determining how audiences are being positioned to accept certain representations as “normal” or “common sense” constructions of reality. You may then describe how you are being positioned by these debates by asking the question: “What does this text want you to be or think?”

For more click here
 

'A' Grade Exam Response: Section A - Text (Film)

How typical are your three main texts of their genre?

The three texts chosen are a mixture of genres. Postmodern films in today's society are growing more prominent, two of the three films are hybrids of two or more genres, these two being 'Sin City' and 'District 9'. The third is 'Fish Tank', a purely social realist film.

'Sin City' is a hybrid of film noir, comic book and horror conventions which is not only postmodern but is also typical in its use of genre conventions. 'Sin City' uses classic film noir conventions such as a cynical protagonist in the form of two main characters Hartigan and Marv, rain-soaked streets, low-key lighting and a voice-over narrative. A good example of this cynical protagonist convention is Marv who states that "Hell is waking up every goddam day and not knowing why you're here" in a voice over. This shows how much he despises himself, it also shows a typical film noir genre convention in his character portrayal and the way his thoughts are conveyed. This stems from the theme of paranoia, an aspect of all film noir characters which originates from the 1940's view of society in the wake of World War II and the possibility of a new 'cold war'.

Another example of 'cold war' paranoia can be seen through Bruce Willis's character Hartigan. One scene reflects this mood when Hartigan is shot in the back by his cop 'buddy' Bob, again this displays the typical noir convention of corruption and anxiety present in such classic films as 'Double Indemnity' and 'The Maltese Falcon'. Hartigan's heroic actions are demonstrated in his desire to save the innocent girl Nancy from the corrupt Senator's son, he clearly wishes to stop evil which is dominating the powerful leaders in the city. He cannot depend upon friends and is impelled by his conscience to oppose 'sin' as a moralistic cause which leads to his demise as females tend to do in typical noir narratives.

In terms of mise-en-scene the trench coat Hartigan wears is typical of the noir genre but it also resembles the typical comic-book convention of a 'caped super-hero', making the film somewhat of a hybrid. Applying Propp's character roles within the comic-book genre in 'Sin City' we can see how the cape has been used to represent a superhero, constantly blowing in the wind. However when Marv goes to kill or hurt somebody he removes his trench coat showing he is carrying out a good deed, his character is more complex, more of an anti-hero another typical noir convention.

Noir films typically also contain a femme-fatale and 'Sin City' contains many. Each male character has contact with a female character who could, in some way, be said to resemble this common character; for Hartigan it's Nancy, for Marv it's Wendy and for Dwight it's Shelley & Gail. Wheras Wendy and Shelley are typical femme-fatales, Nancy is also seen as an innocent young girl, displaying how the genre can be made different for a postmodern audience.

'District 9' is also a hybrid genre, mixing typical Sci-Fi conventions with documentary stylistics and narrative structure. Typical Sci-Fi conventions can be seen with the use of advanced technology, aliens, robotics and spaceships. These conventions are mixed though with a documentary style approach to the narrative structure creating a feeling that the events are 'real'. The use of 'faux' stock footage of news reports and interviews with experts and civilians makes the events seem more truthful or realistic. The use of hand-held camera also reinforces this reading as this is a typical cinematic technique of a documentary.

In the opening scenes of 'District 9' we see interviews with various 'expert' witnesses giving us clear exposition to the events which have led up to the alien landings. This is important in developing a realistic documentary approach to the narrative, something that may be seen as new to the typical Sci-Fi conventions of other films such as 'The Fly' or 'Invasion Of The Bodysnatchers'. The interaction between the main character Wikus and the cameraman, when he is unable to remove his microphone from his clothing, is playful in its approach to mixing the realistic and the fictional elements of the film. This is something not typical of the Sci-Fi genre but shows how genres repeat conventions and also make them different by mixing styles.

'Fish Tank' however is not a hybrid, it follows the codes and conventions of the social realist genre very closely. Its kitchen sink style relates to well established generic techniques and themes. It revolves around topical social issues (family dysfunction & underage sex), makes use of hand-held camera and can be viewed as gritty and realistic in terms of its representation of British social life. The mise-en-scene of a working class council estate can be seen in the opening sequence and is typical of the genre. In this scene we can instinctively conclude that this is of the social realist genre as Mia shouts "Tell your old man that I think he's a c*nt". This alone clearly shows her working class upbringing; but the use of long takes, hand-held camera and use of only diegetic urban sounds as she quickly walks through the estate can be seen as typical stylistic conventions of the social realist genre. Her brisk walking continues throughout the film and suggests a character who is going nowhere fast. Original social realist films of the 1960's such as 'Saturday Night and Sunday Morning' and 'A Taste of Honey' dealt with similar social issues and also contained similar techniques, but they tended to include non-diegetic music to support the action and emotional context to appeal to a mainstream audience. This shows how the genre has developed over time, as all genres do, but 'Fish Tank' has pushed the genre to new depths of realism by attempting to create more realistic representations of social situations. 

The narrative issue of 15 year old Mia's desire for a sexual relationship with Connor, her mother's boyfriend, could also be seen as a controversial topic in today's society to spark debate, a regular consequence of the generic conventions of social realism. 

In conclusion, all three texts are very typical of their genres, using many classic conventions from each different genre. In some cases these may be mixed with other genres to develop a wider audience and create difference for modern audiences.      

Research investigations - Miss representation quotes

The following quotations come from the documentary entitled “Miss representation” (this can now be viewed on Netflix) and deal with issues of false and bias female representations in the Media, which help contribute to a patriarchal society.  Some are statistics the documentary presents via on screen graphics where others are specific quotations from contributors.

1. ·      Teenagers on average, spend 10 hours 45 minutes a day consuming Media
2. ·      Girls learn from a very early age, the most important thing is how they look
3. ·      53% of 13 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies, by 17 the statistic is 78%
4. ·      Rates of depression among girls and woman have doubled between 2000 and 2010
5. ·      The ideal image of beauty is becoming more extreme and impossible than ever before – Jean Kilbourne
6. ·      Girls measure themselves against an impossible standard and end up feeling left wanting
7. ·      The non content form of the media has to be backed up and supported by the content
8. ·      A lot of advertising is based on making people feel anxious and insecure – Jean Kilbourne
9. ·      Girls learn to see themselves as objects– Jean Kilbourne
10. ·      American woman spend between 12-15 thousand dollars a year on beauty products
11. ·      The number of cosmetic surgery procedures performed on youth under 19 more than tripled from 1997 to 2007
12. ·      At 7 years old little girls and little boys want to be president of the United States in equal number, 30%, ask the same question at 15 and a huge gap has occurred – Caroline Heldman
13. ·      In areas where females have challenged male power, males have responded by representing them in a way that assists in taking their power away – Jackson Katz
14. ·      Congress has the fewest amount of woman in 30 years
15. ·      Females own 5.8% of all TV and 6% of radio
16. ·      97% of publishing companies are owned by Males
17. ·      Woman comprise only 16% of all writers, directors, producers, cinematographers and editors
18. ·      10% of writers of film are female
19. ·      People tend to employ reflections of themselves – Lindy Dekoven
20. ·      We replicate the world we grow up in – Film Director
21. ·      The representation of females in film has become much more narrow and cartoon like than in the 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s
22. ·      In the 1990’s studies found a steady increase in explicitly sexual images in advertising
23. ·      The exploitation of female bodies sell products
24. ·      Males are taught to not express emotion
25. ·      Females are represented as young
26. ·      You  cant be what you cant see
27. ·      Females are not represent in the Media for doing something, they are represented for how they look
28. ·      Many woman are empowered, but not represented in the Media
29. ·      The majority of females on TV are between 20-30, 71%
30. ·      39% of woman in the world are under 30
31. ·      Woman are represented as natural enemies of woman
32. ·      The Male Media represents females in power trivially, often concentrating on appearance, which influences audience’s opinions of females in power
33. ·      Females are represented as emotional and irrational
34. ·      Only 16% of protagonists in film are female
35. ·      In between 1937 and 2005, there was only 13 protagonists in animated movies who were female. All apart from one of them had the aspiration to find romance – Greena Davis
36. ·      As a culture woman are brought up to be fundamentally insecure
37. ·      Were socializing boys to believe being a man is being in charge and dominate – Jackson Katz
38. ·      More than 20% of teens have sex before the age of 14

Extract: Postmillennial Cinema and the Avenging Fatale in 'Sin City'

A New Kind of Tart (With a Heart)

Sin City is based on a combination of graphic novels written and illustrated by Frank Miller. It is a place where most of the authority figures are corrupt, turning a blind eye to vile serial killers with a penchant for human flesh or torturing children; allowing them to run rampant because of their connections to the “right” people. The femme fatales of Sin City are gun-toting, action-heroine–style prostitutes. They have a fragile truce with the police, who allow them to control a section of the city called “Old Town” in return for a share of the profits and free entertainment at parties. Although they are potentially lethal, these fatale figures stand out in that they lack the essential trait of dishonesty that has traditionally formed the basic construct of the deadly woman. Uncharacteristically, they are not intent on underhandedly stripping men of their wealth and dignity; rather, they are more closely aligned to sex worker Bree Daniels (Jane Fonda) in the 1971 thriller Klute, who has a very business-like attitude towards the men with whom she has relations. As Dwight (Clive Owen), an on-and-off lover of one of the prostitutes, explains: “If you’ve got the cash and play by the rules they’ll make all your dreams come true.” It is only if you cross them that “you’re a corpse.” Not only are they straightforward in their dealings with men, for some, the women are true heroines. In Marv’s (Mickey Rourke) opinion, Goldie (Jamie King) is an “angel of mercy” as well as a friend and more when he needed one, showing him kindness that he had never experienced before. For Dwight (Clive Owen), Gail (Rosario Dawson) is his warrior woman and his Valkyrie. And although Miho (Devon Aoki) is a lethal ninja killer, she has a compassionate side, rescuing Dwight from certain death as he drowns in a tar pit. As he thankfully gushes: “Miho, you’re an angel, a saint, you’re mother Teresa, you’re Elvis, you’re God.”

Much of the frankness surrounding the women in Sin City relates to the way the commodification of sex is presented. The fatale figure as prostitute is a motif that has been present since 1940s US cinema. Fritz Lang’s 1945 classic Scarlet Street is a notable example, although in such films the fatale’s occupation in seedy industries such as sex work serves to further cement the character as highly untrustworthy and criminal. This image of the prostitute is often at odds with other sex-worker representations in a broader range of cinematic styles and genres. As Tasker (1998: 93) argues, whilst the femme fatale and prostitute are both stereotypes that articulate gender identities in relation to constructions of independence, self-reliance, and sexuality, the prostitute is often depicted as selling her sexuality in a straightforward “down-to-earth” manner and is repeatedly invoked to signify a position of relative “honesty,” as a “tart with a heart”. 

However, while the women of “Old Town” lack the inherent deceptiveness often linked to classical Hollywood fatale incarnations, Sin City is also a place where all the women are whores (Bould, 2005: 110), as well as being literally reduced to bits of meat by cannibal Kevin (Elijah Wood). According to Diane Negra (2009: 86-87), contemporary postfeminist discourse is marked by a new respectability (and even at times idealization) of women who are employed in the sex industry: “What is certainly clear is that the female sex worker is becoming one of popular culture’s most regular archetypes of paid labour” (Negra, 2009: 100). Negra draws on the “teen romance” The Girl Next Door (2004), where an honors student falls in love with his glamorous porn-star neighbour, as one of many examples. By depicting the heroine in the role of sex- industry worker, the threat of the urban career woman is defused. Therefore, representations such as this undercut and repudiate feminism, ensuring the restabilization of gender order (Negra, 2009: 87; McRobbie, 2009: 18). As Coulthard argues, by situating women in Sin City as prostitutes, gender clarity is restored (2007: 169). This sits in contrast to fatale representations in 1990s thrillers, where gender equality is undermined (and male anxiety alleviated) by positioning the career woman as a greedy, isolated psychopath.

Extract from:
Scope: An Online Journal of Film and Television Studies Issue 26 October 2013
Postmillennial Cinema and the Avenging Fatale in Sin City, Hard Candy and Descent
by: Samantha Jane Lindop, University of Queensland

Mad Men: The Evolution of Peggy Olsen

Mock exam feedback

Mock exam response from christimothy12

District 9 - Genre/Representation

District 9, Genre and Representation

District 9, Genre and Representation v3 from christimothy12

The Bechdel Test

The Bechdel Test, if you’re not familiar with it, is a benchmark for movies developed by Alison Bechdel in 1985. For a movie to pass The Bechdel Test, it must contain just one thing - a scene in which two or more named female characters have a conversation (that is, back and forth dialogue) about anything at all besides men. Anything, even if it’s something stereotypically feminine, like shopping or shoes.

You may find it shocking to find out that out of 2,500 movies, only about half pass the test.

The Social Network

Why it fails the test:

None of the women in the movie ever talk to each other. In fact, they’re kinda just flat characters who the male characters ignore or have sex with. Aaron Sorkin, the film’s writer, actually commented on the lack of three-dimensional female characters in an interview with Stephen Colbert, saying that the women are “prizes”.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II

Why it fails the test:

None of the female characters in the film actually have a conversation. They trade quips a few times, like when Prof. McGonagall makes a comment about “always wanting to use that spell” to Mrs. Weasley when she brings the stone statues to life, or when Mrs. Weasley calls Bellatrix a bitch…but no one actually responds and converses. They might as well be talking to themselves.

Avatar

Why it fails the test:

Like Harry Potter, there are a few brief moments where female characters say a single line at each other, but they don’t actually hold a conversation…except in one scene, where Neytiri and her mother have a drawn out discussion. The only problem is that the conversation is about Jake, who, you probably noticed, is a man. You were so very close, James Cameron.

The Entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Why it fails the test:

Despite having three strong female characters in Arwen, Eowyn, and Galadriel, they’re all in completely different parts of Middle Earth and they never even meet, much less talk to each other. In the entire 10-hour trilogy, no two female characters ever actually speak to each other.

'The Gaze': Jacques Lacan

The Gaze is a psychoanalytical term brought into popular usage by Jacques Lacan. It describes the relationship of the subject with the desire to look and awareness that one can be viewed. The gaze can be motivated by the subject's desire to control the object it sees, and an object that can likewise capture and hold the subject's eye. The term 'gaze' is often defined as looking long and intently with affection at a subject. The gaze in this case is a relationship and not something that can be performed. A person who determines a sense of themselves as an individual element in the world makes up the idea of the gaze. The concept of the gaze is also a central part of theories looking within modernity. The gaze has affected historical, economical, and cultural environments.

In traditional psychoanalytic theory, the gaze is linked to fantasy and desire. The psychological effect, Lacan argues, is that the subject loses some sense of autonomy upon realizing that he or she is a visible object. This concept is bound with his theory of the mirror stage that concerns itself with the infantile psychological development. Children gaze at a mirror image of themselves (a twin sibling might function as the mirror-image), and use that image to co-ordinate their physical movements. He linked the concept of the gaze to the development of individual human agency.

Modern media utilises the Lacanian fascination with the image, showing us pictures into which we are invited to project ourselves.

For further notes visit: Notes on 'The Gaze' by Daniel Chandler

Or

lacanonline.com

Click image to access site

Laura Mulvey, The Male Gaze

Representation

'Miss Representation' (2011)

Miss Representation is a 2011 American documentary film written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. It explores how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in influential positions by circulating limited and often disparaging portrayals of women.

"American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths. MissRepresentation.org believes that all people should be equally represented in our media, that our voices should be heard and that we should all be valued for our talents, capacity as leaders, and ability to contribute to the world at large." -MissRepresentation.org

http://www.missrepresentation.org/blog/

Representation: 'Miss representation' in Hollywood Film

Representation (Revision): Key Concept MS4

What is representation?
A term used to describe how certain people/places/events/issues are presented to us by the media.
It is a constructed 're-presentation' of reality.
It is a way in which the media reflects and presents attitudes, behaviour and beliefs.
Representations vary over time due to changes in culture and society.

What is dominant ideology?

Dominant ideology, when applied to an analysis of representation in the media, is a set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society, framing how the majority think about that group of people. This is quite often in line with a stereotype or an often repeated idea or characterisation of a certain group of people. These views are not an accurate presentation of reality but they are frequently seen and perpetuated in films and other media forms.

How to analyse representation:

You will need to ask yourself a series of questions:

What is the overall representation of the person/group of people in general terms?
Is it strong or weak? Positive or negative? Does it conform to or challenge the dominant ideology attached to that group of people?

What makes you think this?

What other adjectives might you attribute to this person or group of people?

How is the character portrayed?

What do they look like?
Facial expression? Clothes? Hair? Jewellery? Stance and body language?

What do they sound like?
Tone of voice? Sound of voice? Volume? Soundtrack and music associated with them?

How do other characters see them?
What are the reactions of other characters to this person or people? Accepting? Positive? Negative?Violent? Angry? Lustful? Fearful?

Source

Mad Men: Very Useful Analysis (Audience Response)

Miss Representation: Full Documentary

Miss Representation is a 2011 American documentary film written, directed, and produced by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. It explores how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in influential positions by circulating limited and often disparaging portrayals of women.

The film interweaves stories from teenage girls with provocative interviews from the likes of Condoleezza Rice, Lisa Ling, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Rosario Dawson, Dr. Jackson Katz, Dr. Jean Kilbourne, and Gloria Steinem to give an inside look at the media and its message. The film’s motto, “You can't be what you can't see,” underscores an implicit message that young women need and want positive role models, and that the media has thus far neglected its unique opportunity to provide them. The film includes a social action campaign to address change in policy, education and call for socially responsible business.

A sexualised society