Focus Dominant Alternative 1 Alternative 2Youth Delinquent

Ill manors (music video)Kidulthood (poster or trailer)Attack the Block (poster or trailer)

Fun/trouble (depending on reading)Skins Trailer (see notes)Baby Faced Brides (TV Documentary – also used for audience question)Some Girls – TV Comedy

RespectableYoung Apprentice (Tv)Radio 1 Teen Awards – (real life)The Guardian – (Print)

REVISION - AS Media Studies: Representation of Age

KEY TERMS and THEORY

• IDEOLOGY - Ideology is a system of ideas, values and beliefs promoted by dominant groups to reinforce their power (e.g. governments, state institutions, corporations). Karl Marx developed the concept in 1900s. He analysed the way those in power protected their interests by representing their privileged position as being natural. Consider how dominant ideologies are reinforced/challenged by media texts

During the process of mediation any media text can carry and convey ideological messages

Mediation is the process of taking something real (a person or an event) and changing its form to produce a media text.

Mediation is achieved through:

• Selection

• Organisation

• Focusing

Constructionist Approach to Representation

In life we make our own decisions about what is worth our attention. Through mediation, the media text tries to decide this for us. As a result our version of reality is altered

Representation is a mixture of:

• The person or group being represented

• The opinions of those encoding (making) the representation – through use of symbolic, visual, technical and written codes.

• The reaction of the target audience (decoders)

• The context of the society – how the representation fits in with certain dominant ideologies

Stereotypes: Stereotypes are representations, usually of a group of people, where a characteristic seen in a few people is applied to a whole group. Over time this stereotype becomes the dominant representation.

On the whole, the way that young people are represented in the media is largely negative.

Common stereotypes are yobbish and antisocial behaviour, gang culture, disrespect for elders, drink and drug abuse and teen

pregnancies.

The representation in a media text may have a different purpose. This may change according to the type of text it is, i.e. the context.

For example, young people are often represented very differently depending on the context.

• Skins – uses comedy to represent youth

Representation = fun or trouble? (depending on your reading: Skins seems ‘fun’ for a teen audience, but more like ‘trouble’ for an older audience).

THEORY

Stanley Cohen studied youth groups in the 1960s and developed the idea

of the ‘moral panic’: when society feels threatened by a group stigmatised as deviant. Stuart Hall (1978) argues that the negative representations of young men by the media, is

deliberate as it justifies social control by authority figures, such as the police and government.

Dick Hebdige (1979) explored the polarised (contradictory) media representations of teens as “fun” or “trouble”.

Michael Brake (1985) categorises the media representations of teens into:o Respectableo Delinquent (usually male)o Cultural rebelso Politically militant

Daren Garratt (1997) suggests that negative media representations of teens as trouble invite teens to be trouble. “Media coverage represents how they should behave, even if, largely, they haven’t been.”

Graeme Burton (1999) argues that teen subculture is in opposition to the dominant culture (of adults). He uses the term ‘problematisation’ to describe the idea of youths as problems.

Stuart Hall - Argues that the negative representations of young men by the media, is deliberate as it justifies social control by authority figures, such as the police and government. Hall identifies the media as having a key role in this ‘social production’ of news. Youths are often portrayed by new media as a social problem.

Moral Panics - Stanley Cohen (1972) A moral panic occurs when society sees itself threatened by the values and activities of a

group who are stigmatised as deviant and seen as threatening to mainstream society’s values, ideologies and /or way of life.

Mods & Rockers (1960s), football hooligans, hoodies, muggers, vandals, mobile-phone snatchers.

Moral Panics Today - Muslims, Immigrants, Youths

Questions to consider when deconstructing representations of age:

• What is the media (form and genre)?

• Who produced the representation?

• How has the representation been constructed (visual, technical and audio codes)?

• Are there any notable absences

• What reasons are there for the representation? Ideology?

• How might the representation affect audience?

• Context and Purpose: The representation in a media text may have a different purpose. This may change according to the type of text it is, i.e. the context. Skins – uses comedy to represent youth, Kidulthood - is trying to present ‘reality’

Youth – dominant representation (negative) = delinquent or trouble.

Deconstruct the film poster. How does it use visual and technical codes to represent teenagers?

What would cultivation theorists suggest about the effect of this film on an audience? What would an oppositional reading of this text be?

Youth – dominant representation (negative) = delinquent or trouble.

Ill Manors (Music Video Analysis): The song was written as a reaction to the 2011 riots in London, the music video shows events of the riots and several shots of the activities of the youths of today. The music video was directed by Yann Demange and it was shot on the 17th February 2012.

This case study could be used to discuss representations of gender, ethnicity and age. Could also be used for an audience response/appeal question.

How has the representations been constructed (visual, technical and audio codes)?

Context and purpose of the video?

Are there any noticeable absences from the text? What has been left out?

Who produced the representation?

How might the representation affect the audience? Think about oppositional readings of the text

Does it create a positive/negative/stereotypical representation of young people?

Youth – dominant representation (negative) = delinquent or trouble??

Attack the Block (2011) is a British hybrid film of science fiction, action comedy horror generic conventions and codes

Deconstruct the poster. How are youths represented through visual and technical codes?

Watch the film trailer: How are the youths represented through:

• Audio (diegetic and non diegetic)

• Visual (clothing, colour, body language etc.)

• Technical (camera shots, editing, lighting)

• Genre Conventions

3. What is the denotation and connotation of this image from the film?

How might an audience from Eastbourne react to this image? How might an audience from South London react? How might a pensioner react? What about a young man?

How is the older guy represented (denotation and connotation)?

What type of lighting is used? What is the effect?

Youth – dominant representation (negative) = delinquent or

trouble.

– Print (Newspapers) – See hand out

Youth - Alternative Representation – fun!

Some Girls is a British sitcom written by Bernadette Davis that airs on BBC Three. It débuted on 6 November 2012 and the first series ran for six episodes.

• What is the media (form and genre)?

• Who produced the representation?

• How has the representation been constructed (visual, technical and audio codes)?

• What reasons are there for the representation?

• How might the representation affect audience?

Youth - Alternative representation = positive

Context and purpose of the programme?

Are there any noticeable absences from the text? What has been left out?

Who produced the representation?

How might the representation affect the audience? Think about oppositional readings of the text

Does it create a positive/negative/stereotypical representation of young people?

Deconstruct…using all that you have learnt so far!

Think about the key areas you need to analyse when deconstructing the representation.

Representation of Age – Older People

Focus Dominant Alternative 1 Alternative 2ElderlyNo real theory here: just focus on stereotypes

Grumpy, senile, doddery and therefore laughable

Catharine Tate’s ‘Nan’Bruce Forsyth –newspaper articlesDerek – TV programmeShreddies Advert

Confident/independentSaga magazines – Helen Mirren

Amazing Greys.

PitiedNews articles about neglect in care homes

How has Catherine Tate represented ‘Nan’?

Is she stereotypical?

Why? Why not?

Look at her iconography. What genre of programme does she exist in?

How does this affect her representation?

Analyse the front cover of Saga Magazine, comment on :

Visual Codes

Layout and Design

Language and Mode of Address

Shreddies – ‘Knitted by Nanas’ advert 2014

Who is being represented?

What is the context and purpose of the advert?

Who produced the representation?

Provide a brief overview of the technical codes used in the text

How might the representation affect the audience? Think about oppositional readings of the text

Does it create a positive/negative/stereotypical representation of older people?