Representation Essay

"Representation in media texts are often simplistic and reinforce dominant ideologies so that audiences can make sense of them."

When most audiences interact with media they have preconceptions of how they will be, based on genre and the mediums they are presented in. Therefore it is important for an audience to feel that their requirements are met in their consumption of media texts and so simple representations ultimately allow understanding of what is happening so an audience can truly engage and enjoy the media. 

In A2 we created a music video in the genre of country/pop. Our music video was created under the assumption that the audience is viewing, to be diverted from their own lives and receive enjoyment. We have also selected a target audience of primarily females aged 13-21. Therefore the video was presented with a casual mode of address to relate to our perceived audience’s style and established ideologies that music videos are laid back and light-hearted. We achieved this by not having the actors stare directly into the camera at all times, but sometimes divert their gaze and allow the audience to be onlookers on the action. We also tried to vary the type and positioning of shots to keep the video upbeat and reflect variation (e.g. long shots, close ups, mid-shots and over the shoulder shots,) so the video is seen as pleasurable to watch. A formal video would tend to be very static and simplistic, whereas the scene variation and frequent costume changes within our video connoted the informality. However this chosen casual representation was not so the video could necessarily be understood, as a formal version could still be within the intellectual capabilities of our audience. However they probably would not have recognised the video as being that of a mainstream music video.

One ideology associated with modern pop videos is that a female solo artist is likely to be provocative and objectified. However our video challenges this representation, as our artist is depicted as being feminine and innocent, with the use of pastel coloured floral clothes, minimal make up and pleasant surroundings. This portrayal connotes her childlike qualities and almost naive perspective. This stereotypical portrayal of a young female is positive in our video, as she evokes the desired response in our audience, which is empathy for her within the narrative and the target audience of primarily teenage females can also relate to her image and maybe find her style aspirational. Although this aspect of our video does, in some respects, challenges dominant expectations of a pop video, the representation is still simplistic and easy for an audience to grasp and relate to.

Also with our artist residing within the country genre category, we intended for the representation of our female to be more tasteful and demure, connoting a real woman. We still however intended for our artist to appear strong and confident, almost a feminist representation, with her not appearing inferior to our male actor in anyway. This was expressed in our video, where our artist pushes the male during their fighting.
Within our video we feature a narrative, and the intended reading of our video is that the audience can empathise with the artist in her break-up situation, and also find the upbeat music and pleasant mise en scene easy to watch. We therefore relied on the audience to make sense of the storyline and so for it to be simplistic. Our narrative is not intended to be accurate to life and follows a clique predictable story that almost forms an ideology for what many music videos also include (e.g. a boy and girl have relationship troubles.) It focuses on main events as there is not enough time to combine all the details and still allow for understanding. 

The mise en scene aids the understanding of representation and the narrative as it provides an instant concept of setting and time. The settings we used included a bedroom and lounge. These settings were modern and well furnished with pleasant warm lighting that provided a welcoming hue. The purpose of these features were to present an aspirational home and reflect the ideology that artists live in an aspirational world, making the audience interested in the setting.These settings were however realistic enough for the audience to relate to, and represented the typical environment for a young couple. This allowed for the audience to understand the initially intimacy and resulting turmoil of the pair, that wouldn't have been so clear or appropriate in an environment more public or cold.   

David Gauntlett said 'That identities are not given, but constructed.' I believe that this reflects the representation of the artist in our music video. Her personality and situation was gradually established and built through the video and allowed for the audience to gain a clear understanding of events. The nature of this gradual character and storyline formation is a feature of most music videos, as the use of camera angles, costumes, setting and editing, all contribute to a simplified depiction of an artist. Therefore I believe the representation of such dominant ideologies allow for the audience understanding.