Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective. Rather than examining media representations as simply reflecting or mirroring “reality,” we will be examining how media representations serve to “re-present” or to actually create a new reality.
Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective. The groups and communities portrayed in the media can include gender, age, race, sexuality, and social class. In our production, both genders are represented, with both male and female characters this worked in our favour as it broadened our viewer demographics. It is normal that male characters are more often associated with the public sphere of work, rather than the private sphere of the home, yet we chose to pursuit the issues and problems related to personal issues as we believed it was a change from the monotonous issues of work life, therefore making our production a niche market. Luke is portrayed as the ‘Strong Silent Type’ as he regains power acting decisively, yet he also subverts the stereotypes of this genre as he fails to contain emotion displayed through the numerous close ups within our music video displaying Luke’s dismay. This stereotype should reinforce the assumption that men should always be in control, and expressing one’s feelings is a sign of weakness yet we use the emotions of Luke to our advantage subverting the genre. Laura Mulvey suggests the theory of the male gaze yet we subvert this idea as my research shows that 44%–81% of music videos contain sexual imagery. Women are far more likely than men to be presented in provocative or revealing clothing and sexually objectified, however we subvert the convention as Alice is fully clothed and unsexualised within our music video as we would prefer our audience to understand our narrative rather fixate on Alice . Furthermore women are frequently portrayed as decorative objects that dance and pose such as Emily Ratajkowski in “Blurred Lines,” they do not play any instruments. Our music video adheres to this stereotype as Alice is objectified and is portrayed as a lusty character as she cheats on Luke.
Our age range is predominantly between 17-18, we tried to adhere to our target market as the viewers were able to relate themselves to the situation playing on the media theory ‘two step flow’ as our audience witness the breakup of Luke and Alice and are able to decode the narrative as a story of hope to whichever situation they have experienced in their own lives. Our cast are all of white British origin as we have an all-white cast, heterosexuality with heterosexual relationships portrayed, and we portray the upper class, as the young characters live in a stately house people their age can rarely afford. Our video adheres to Marx and Gramsci’s idea of hegemony involving the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class, who manipulate the culture of that society, as we feature white characters in a society where other races are still minorities, this was not on purpose as we live in an area lacking racial diversity, however we believe that as the rest of the band is of White British origin, they can help Luke to overcome his problems.
Media representations are the ways in which the media portrays particular groups, communities, experiences, ideas, or topics from a particular ideological or value perspective. The groups and communities portrayed in the media can include gender, age, race, sexuality, and social class. In our production, both genders are represented, with both male and female characters this worked in our favour as it broadened our viewer demographics. It is normal that male characters are more often associated with the public sphere of work, rather than the private sphere of the home, yet we chose to pursuit the issues and problems related to personal issues as we believed it was a change from the monotonous issues of work life, therefore making our production a niche market. Luke is portrayed as the ‘Strong Silent Type’ as he regains power acting decisively, yet he also subverts the stereotypes of this genre as he fails to contain emotion displayed through the numerous close ups within our music video displaying Luke’s dismay. This stereotype should reinforce the assumption that men should always be in control, and expressing one’s feelings is a sign of weakness yet we use the emotions of Luke to our advantage subverting the genre. Laura Mulvey suggests the theory of the male gaze yet we subvert this idea as my research shows that 44%–81% of music videos contain sexual imagery. Women are far more likely than men to be presented in provocative or revealing clothing and sexually objectified, however we subvert the convention as Alice is fully clothed and unsexualised within our music video as we would prefer our audience to understand our narrative rather fixate on Alice . Furthermore women are frequently portrayed as decorative objects that dance and pose such as Emily Ratajkowski in “Blurred Lines,” they do not play any instruments. Our music video adheres to this stereotype as Alice is objectified and is portrayed as a lusty character as she cheats on Luke.
Our age range is predominantly between 17-18, we tried to adhere to our target market as the viewers were able to relate themselves to the situation playing on the media theory ‘two step flow’ as our audience witness the breakup of Luke and Alice and are able to decode the narrative as a story of hope to whichever situation they have experienced in their own lives. Our cast are all of white British origin as we have an all-white cast, heterosexuality with heterosexual relationships portrayed, and we portray the upper class, as the young characters live in a stately house people their age can rarely afford. Our video adheres to Marx and Gramsci’s idea of hegemony involving the domination of a culturally diverse society by the ruling class, who manipulate the culture of that society, as we feature white characters in a society where other races are still minorities, this was not on purpose as we live in an area lacking racial diversity, however we believe that as the rest of the band is of White British origin, they can help Luke to overcome his problems.
Saussure developed the idea of signs and semiotics. In semiotics, a sign, something that can be interpreted as having a meaning, which is something other than its literal self, and which is therefore able to communicate information to the one interpreting or decoding the sign. In our production, we use examples of semiotics. We used light as a signifier, depicting the idea of hope and a new way of life after Luke’s breakup. Our music videos lighting is key as after he breaks up with his girlfriend the background is always dark, yet in the later stages of our video the lighting and contrast increases displaying Luke overcoming the depressing shadow which covered him previously.
Our production boasts a strong, positive message to our audience, about relationship breakdowns and friendship helping with recovery. By showing this breakup and how the heartbroken character fights to recover his broken heart, it empowers those that may have struggled with the same situation themselves, (two step flow) moreover it sends a positive message to the youthful population: they can recover from broken heart, there is always a way out of problems with the help of their friends. We don’t see a resolution within the music video, but it is obvious that Luke will overcome the depression he immediately feels, the fluctuation of emotions another representation of the pop genre.
Our production boasts a strong, positive message to our audience, about relationship breakdowns and friendship helping with recovery. By showing this breakup and how the heartbroken character fights to recover his broken heart, it empowers those that may have struggled with the same situation themselves, (two step flow) moreover it sends a positive message to the youthful population: they can recover from broken heart, there is always a way out of problems with the help of their friends. We don’t see a resolution within the music video, but it is obvious that Luke will overcome the depression he immediately feels, the fluctuation of emotions another representation of the pop genre.
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