Representations

1) Why is representation an important concept in Media Studies?

Combination of media language choices construct a representation. Understanding representations is essential to understanding media. When we see something or someone, it is mediated by the act of representation.
2) How does the example of Kate Middleton show the way different meanings can be created in the media?

There is a picture of Kate drinking wine and it portrays her in a way that makes people assume she has a drinking problem. Pictures can be be cropped, resized and photoshopped to portray people in different ways. 

3) Summarise the section 'The how, who and why of media representation'.

It is important to question who is creating representations when analysing them. All media products have an aim which have an effect on the representations they create. Things that need to be taken into consideration:  . Needs of the target audience 

                             . Limitations provided by genre codes

                             . Type of narrative

                             . Institutional remit

The representation itself is the combination of selections and rejections. Even a simple element will help to create ideological meaning.

4) How does Stuart Hall's theory of preferred and oppositional readings fit with representation?

Hall thought that audiences do not necessarily accept the ideology of texts, but instead draw on their own cultural experiences to create their own interpretations. Some audiences completely reject the preferred reading. They are called oppositional.

5) How has new technology changed the way representations are created in the media?

With technology evolving, the audience can share their own media and there are many opportunities to express themselves on social media.

6) What example is provided of how national identity is represented in Britain - and how some audiences use social media to challenge this?

The Sun sent a free newspaper to people which represented its own concepts of "Englishness".

7) Write a paragraph analysing the dominant and alternative representations you can find in the clip from Luther.

The dominant representation is that being moral is seen in people that work in the public sector. The alternative representation is that the woman is actually seemed to be superior to the man. This is alternative because stereotypically women are seen as less than men. 

8) Write a paragraph applying a selection of our representation theories to the clip from Luther. Our summary of each theory may help you here:

There is some credibility to Dyer's theory of stereotyping and influence, but it is fundamentally incorrect. For example, in Luther, the man is black and a woman accompanies him, and the audience would have perceptions of both characters, of course, but not because they have 'less control.' The white man in the car and lots of other characters would be stereotyped, since stereotyping is shorthand, as Medhurst implies, for recognition.The theory of the male gaze by Mulvey is not so much reflected here as the woman is not treated as a sexual objects seen for male pleasure, but as an autonomous woman who is viewed by her colleagues professionally. Berger (1972) claimed that 'men conduct and women appear,' which is simply not the case in the clip because the woman is clearly a figure of authority and has her own mind.