Media Studies

www.curriculum-press.co.uk

Number 004

Representing the world

This Factsheet provides an introduction to the study of media
representations.
1. What is representation?
2. The Construction and Mediation of Representations
3. Audiences perceptions of representations including i) the
reflective, ii) the intentional and iii) the constructionist
approaches
4. Why do we need to consider representations?

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 youll see on Supernanny (C4).

1. What is representation?
Representation is:
the constructed and mediated presentation of people, things,
ideas, places etc.
and
representation is:
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 Chantelle Houghton (Celebrity Big Brother: C4
2006)
Groups Teenagers
Places - New York
Nations Iran
Ideas Religion/the family
Regions/Locations - the North of England

2. The Construction and Mediation of Representations

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

Questions we would ask when analysing representations:

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?
When starting to consider this concept, it is worth considering the
word itself.

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?

Representations are re/presentations

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 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.

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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.

The Queen Victoria Part of the mise-en-scene of Eastenders (BBC).

The location has been created to look as realistic as possible.
(www.bbc.co.uk)

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.

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.

To summarise, the selection process is:

The decision over what is chosen to be represented and what is

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.

rejected;
The choices made when organising the representation:
The options taken to focus the audience in a certain way.
AQA/OCR/WJEC?
Each awarding body cites representation as one of its central concepts
and it is part of the assessment of all textual analyses papers. OCR
gives a number of specific representational topics that can be covered
as part of the textual analysis paper whereas WJEC details a range of
media forms that should be studied. AQA does not specify what groups
or forms could be examined in textual analysis but expects that an
analysis of representations in the text provided will be part of the exam
response.

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.

The concept is also central to the AS essay based exam topics set by
AQA and WJEC.
Representations will be developed further and examined at A2.

Representing the Real in British Soap Operas

All media texts are constructed in this way:

factual programming on TV is shot and edited before being
broadcast;

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 audiences 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. Miseen-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.

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.

3. Audience Perceptions of Representations

A). Representations as Reflections (the reflective approach)
Sometimes representations are assumed by an audience to simply
replicate the real world.

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.

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004 - Representing the world

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B) Representations as Deliberate Constructions (the intentional

approach)

However, the producers can be seen to be attempting to, as far as

possible, create specific associations and ideas for the audience.

Exam Hint
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.

Even though some media texts can be seen to be very deliberately

creating ideas and associations through representations, this way
of viewing the media can lead to an undermining of the audience.
There is an assumption here that these intentionalist methods are
always successful and the audience is victim to the ideas created
by the media. It assumes they are passive and unable to recognise
the techniques being used. Clearly this is a simplistic view of the
audience and does not take into account their ability to interpret
information for themselves. However, advertising does work.
Successful products and brands rely on it to alert the audience to
the existence of their product and to persuade them to choose it
over the alternatives that are available. They pay large amounts of
money for space on TV, in magazines, on billboards etc. specifically
for this purpose.

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.

Another approach to understanding the way the audience interpret

representations takes both these factors this into account and
considers how the audience is also active in the creation of meaning
in representations.

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
(producers 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)

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.
Mens 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.

Thinking about representation in this way takes into account the

personal interpretations made by individuals and accepts that one
representation may create different meanings for different audience
members. This is a useful way to consider media texts if the target
audience for the text is taken into account when thinking about
representations it can help with determining the different responses
that texts can create.
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.

Women also purchase this tool but when it is marketed to them

pastel colours, curved shapes and words with feminine association
are used.

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.

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.

Media Studies

004 - Representing the world

www.curriculum-press.co.uk

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 representations meaning is dependent on who is watching, reading and interpreting the text.

4. Why do we need to consider representations?

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.

Image Web references

www.ivillage.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk
www.amazon.com
www.pharmacy2u.co.uk

Acknowledgements: This Media Studies Factsheet was researched and written by Steph Hendry
Curriculum Press. Bank House, 105 King Street, Wellington, TF1 1NU. Sociology Factsheets may be copied free of charge by teaching
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retrieval system, or transmitted, in any other form or by any other means, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISSN 1351-5136