Film Comparison Assignment - Neil

Unit 1 – media representations

Onscreen examination

2 hours – short and long answer questions

supervised exam conditions

selection of resources 

memorise theoretical concepts and practice applying them over a range of media texts

command words:

analyse, compare, evaluate, explain, identify, to what extent.

Assessment Outcomes

A01 demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media terminology, semiotics, theories, concepts and messages.

A02 Apply knowledge and understanding of media concepts, signs, theories and formal techniques to constructed representations.

A03 Analyse media texts and to deconstruct representations and decode messages and evaluate their effectiveness and impact.

A04 Make connections between polysemic (more than one) messages underpinning media representations and their related values and effects on wider society.

Representation is showing how much knowledge you have on something or what someone think about something therefore media representation will be knowledge on things or opinion.

Representation is the construction of aspects of identity and reality in the media. Audiences make assumptions on these based on the representations they see 

The media chooses how they represent certain things in order to suggest to an audience how they should view them ( and in turn how they should respond to them)

Reality

 

Mediated

 

                                                                 Social Media

Representation

 

Audience

Media Messages

Gender

Male dominated? Is always a question asked due to sport and the wage gap being major factors to many peoples answer to this question. Men are usually in higher up jobs especially in films as male directors are seemingly more common. Gender equality is always a discussion in the media. Women are usually not presented as the heroes in films but are rather presented as the victim who is saved by the heroic male which could be seen as outrageous as this is a common trend throughout films. Reality tv presents a fake mediated reality which could fool the audience and make then think that this is the norm. People associate blue for boy and pink for girls which causes some boys and girls to stay away from these colours as they dot want to come across as feminine or masculine.

Age

Men are usually still able to be in lead film roles at an older age whereas women are rarely seen in lead film roles at an old age. Younger actors are often perceived as a trouble maker in a film and are rarely given a good persona in a film.

Children are often shown off as innocent and precious characters as they are still having to be cared for at such a young age therefore they are more vulnerable and need to be looked after. This is used to cause a big scene in films usually as things are bound to go wrong and the common scenario is that the child is in danger.

The age of models or actors across media platforms often reflect that of a target audience.

Teenagers – thoughtless antisocial?

Age related sterotypes are common for both old and young ages

Elderly/children – vulnerable victims who elicit sympathy from the audience.

Social Groups

Stereoptypes of the upper class – snobby big headed

Class depictions often focus on power and hierarchy

The media often encourage the audience to aspire to a wealthy upper or middle class lifestyle, ignoring causes of poverty of inequality

Poverty or lower classes often demonized or used as a source of amusement

Social groups could also cover people with a common interest or situation (e.g. fathers, the unemployed and hobbyists) 

Ethnicity

Stereotypes of different cultures can be labelled as racist.  These are often displayed in tv shows or films as different lifestyles are presented based on different cultures. Under representation of non-white people.

Places