Representation of Disability

- the term ‘’disabled’’ generally gives a negative feeling, meaning that people often behave negatively towards the disabled without meaning to.

- the term ‘’disability’’ is a too broader term to use. Producers need to be careful when producing a media text, to make it clear that they are not intentionally insulting the ‘’disabled group’’.

Goffman’s theory of stigma

- stigma – an ascribed status

- it is a perceived fault (often a disability)

- it is impossible to remove the stigma from oneself

- if you are born with a disability, it is described as congenital. It is not your fault you have the disability

- there are different levels of blame and pity for people with congenital disability and those who are viewed to have the disability as a result of their own activity


There are two types of stigma:

Discredited stigma - it is obvious that someone has a stigma

- there is often tension when an able-bodied person meets a disabled person for the first time

- there is a gap between the ideal situation and the actual situation

- disavowal - a tactic used by able-bodied people to ease the awkwardness when with a disabled person. They pretend the stigma is not there and talk politely as they would to an able-bodied person. The disability is not mentioned.

Discreditable stigma – where the difference between the ideal and the real is difficult to spot

Disability is often used in the media to represent three main feelings / situations:

- disability used for humour
- disability used to represent the ‘’baddies’’
- disability used to cause pity towards a character

Media Effects Models - Encoding and Decoding Model

• Production
• Content – typology genre
• Reception – impact on audience

Encoder – anyone who produces a media text
Decoder – the target audience, the person who uncovers the meaning of the text

Stuart Hall arrived at the conclusion that we can decode texts in 3 ways:

Hegemonic / Preferred / Dominant
The decoder takes the meaning from the text and does not question it at all

Negotiated
The decoder understands the meaning but has an issue with certain aspects

Oppositional
The decoder understands the text but does not accept the message

* Aberrant – the decoder does not understand the text at all

Anchorage, Gender and Typology

- Anchorage – anchoring the meaning of an image (telling the viewer what is is/means)

- If something is well anchored, it is described as didactic – the meaning is explained obviously to the viewer/reader

- Sex – what you are born as (male or female)

- Gender – a constructed concept. Men’s masculinity and women’s femininity. The way you behave and compose yourself.

- Intertextuality – making references to previous texts

- ALL representations are intertextually linked

- Some representations are common, while others are rare

- Typology – labelling a group of people by what they are expected to act like e.g. how women are represented in music videos:

· Decorative
· Patronising
· Victims
· Independent

E.g. black people:
Native – simple
Slave – happy to serve
Entertaining

Investigating Representation of Gender

Symbolic annilation – women’s roles in the media are limited compared to the roles of men

Meehan (1984)

• Woman who led research into primetime TV
• Categorised women’s roles in the media into 9 major groups

1. Imp – ‘’tomboy’’. Behaviour/dress sense is slightly masculine


2. Good wife – likely to have children and stay at home to care for them


3. Bitch – nasty, likes to cause trouble / always ready for an argument


4. Decoy – plays a minor role, limited character, has minimum impact on storyline


5. Siren – alluring woman, incredibly beautiful, often ends up ‘’using’’ men


6. Victim – experiences upset/heartbreak


7. Harpy/courtesan – prostitute


8. Matriarch – powerful woman, often found in a soap opera


9. Witch

What is an Imaginary Entity?

An imaginary entity is the ideal consumer for a media product e.g. magazine. During the design process of the media product, the encoder must make assumptions about the ideal consumet, in order to ensure that the product meets all the needs of it's target audience. Assumptions that may have to be made about an ideal consumer include annual income, type of car they'd own, holiday destinations and hobbies and interests.

One way of coming up with a lifestyle profile for the imaginary entity is by putting together a questionnaire that will find out information which will collect informtion that will be useful to the encoder when putting together the media product. The encoder will then be more likely to choose suitable signs and representations that provde both denotations and connotations for the decoder to read. The results of the questionnaire are crucial for the encoder to refer to during the mediation process.

I will be creating a questionnaire to come up with a solid lifestyle profile for the ideal consumer of my music magazine. I will then create a preliminary front cover and test it out on a focus group to see if any adjustments need to be made. Feedback from the focus group will enable me to make changes that will make my magazine more suitable for my preferred target audience.

Mise en Scene, Setting and Sound

- Mise en Scene – everything we see on TV
- Location – where it’s actually filmed
- Setting – where it’s set

Important aspects while shooting a TV programme/film:
· Actors
· Location/setting
· Props
· Lighting
· Sound
· Cinematography (camera shots/angles)

PARADIGMATIC – constructing an overall idea

Montage (edit) – how we put things together. Used to manage a time frame during a TV programme/film

Syntagmatic connotation – changing the overall meaning of something by changing an image or the order of imagery

Sound

- Diegetic sound – sound that comes from within the scene e.g. a phone ringing in the scene

- Non-diegetic sound – sound that is not meant to be in the scene


- Synchronous sound – has to be recorded in the scene

- Non-synchronous sound – sound that is not recorded at the same time as the image

Understanding Representations

- An image of an object is a representation of it
- No representation can be completely true
- All representations are a selection – they have been chosen
- All representations go through the process of mediation (the process of change)

- An event or ‘’thing’’ goes through the process of mediation and becomes a representation

- Budget and technology are factors that impact a representation
- Genre of the media text will also affect the mediation process
- Time frame – the length of the programme. Also the time from production to the release date – the time available for the mediation process
- The perception of the producer also affects how the overall media text is produced – different producers will see things differently and therefore create their texts to signify different meanings

- Most media producers are male. This would make their view of the world different to that of a female media producer

- It is important that the media text meets the expectations of the target audience it is aimed at

- Censorship – controlling the amount of e.g. violence, sex in order to be suitable for the specific target audience
- You can question a representation if you have a situated reality (experience of the situation)
- Mediated reality – watching whilst having no experience of the situation
- Hyper-reality – more real than the real. The representation is more important and more recognised than the real thing e.g. famous people

- How are women represented in the media?
· Housewife
· Professional, working
· Motherly type
· Sex object

Stereotyping

· Discrimination – an act
· Prejudice – a thought

- Stereotyping is most often referred to when talking about race, social class and gender

Semiotics Diagram

Semiotics

· Semiotics – the study of signs
· Metalanguage – a language about a language
· Sign – anything that conveys an image

- a sign can be split into two parts – the signifier and the signified
- the signifier is the physical form of the sign
- the signified is the meaning that is taken from the physical form
- the signified can also be split into two parts – the connotation and denotation
- the denotation is the first order of meaning (the obvious)
- the connotation is the deeper meaning of the sign. This is not ‘’fixed’’.

· the target audience must understand what the text/production is about, through what the signs convey

There are 3 types of signs:

· Icon – the direct, ‘’what it is’’
· Index – the relationship between the sign and the meaning
· Symbol – what it represents, often culturally specific