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Representation of Class

Learning Objective:
You will research a text that deals with the representation of class, Our Friends in the North, and comment on how class has been represented in the media.

Representation of social class 

Watch this clip and comment on the representation of class.

Using the questions indicated in previous sessions as a guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLB4IJk5ZFI


Consider this video when constructing your answer.

Mediation. Wealth.

Representation- The role of selection, construction and anchorage in creating representations.

You will provide anchorage for given newspaper images within different texts.

Key words: Formal, direct, colloquial, hyperbole, imperative.

You will need to be familiar with the following media studies terms:

Selection: 

The idea that producers and audiences are both selective, eg: editors select the news from that day's events and audiences select what to watch and remember.

Construction: 

The idea that a media text is not a window on the world but is  a product of individuals in organisations making decisions over the selection of content. In other words; we see what they want us to see.

Anchorage: 

A way of ‘tying down meaning’, without anchorage meaning could be polysemic – open to various interpretations, eg a caption anchors meaning to a photo, music anchors mood in a media text.

The Construction and Mediation of Representations

A news photograph for example may appear to be presenting us with a factual image but before it goes to print it has been through a process of construction: 

• The photographer has selected his/her position, lens, angle, exposure and framing before taking the picture.

• The picture editor will decide if the image needs to be cropped, enhanced or in any way altered before inclusion into the paper.

• An editor will choose which, of the many available photographs of the image, will be the one chosen for inclusion in the newspaper and, importantly at this stage, the images which do not meet the needs of the text will be rejected.

Even then, further mediation takes place: 

• Will the photograph be large or small?  
• Will the photograph be on the front page or, less visible, on page 8?

Placement choices like this, along with cropping and framing, act to focus the attention of the reader in a certain way. 

• What headline and text will be used to accompany the photograph?

• Will the photograph have a caption? 

• Will it be positioned close to another photograph?

Anchorage is basically used in media to attach meaning to something through either the matching of words to images or the juxtaposition of two images which construct a meaning.

For example in advertising, an image alone is polysemic open to a range of interpretations. To clarify what the image means and so to make the image relevant to the purpose of the advert, text can be added. Thus the image serves as the 'hook' while the text anchors meaning. This can be said also for photographs attached to newspaper articles. The same photograph takes on different connotations with different accompanying texts.

Media Bias

Omitting information

  700 women said this product made their skin softer!

-but didn’t tell you 20,000 tried it!

___________________________________________________________

                                        Media Bias

Word Choice

Idiot pulls traffic stunt. 

______________________________________________________

Daredevil halts traffic

Both headlines are about the story of a man abseiling down the Forth Road Bridge

___________________________________________

Task 1: 
Open this image in Photoshop and using anchorage, give two captions that would represent the picture in different ways. Consider two different audiences the editor might target.
You will need to create a new layer and use the text tool to type with.

Selection

Whatever ends up on the screen or in the newspaper, much more will have been left out. Any news story has been selected from hundreds of others which the producers have decided were less interesting for you, any picture has been chosen from an enormous number of alternatives.

Omission is knowing about something but just refusing to focus on it or bring light to the facts. 

In 2005, the New York Times knew about the Bush Administration using Telecom companies (Verizon, AT&T, etc.) to spy on Americans. The story was held back for over a year as the Times received pressure from Bush White House to kill the story. The Times didn't kill the story completely but they did wait until after the November 2006 elections before they actually reported on Bush Administration breaking the law

Mediation

Every time we encounter a media text, we are not seeing reality, but someone’s version of it. This may seem like an obvious point, but it is something that is easily forgotten when we get caught up in consuming a text. 
If you see a picture of a celebrity kissing her boyfriend, you may find it unsurprising that the picture has been altered and does not show the reality of the situation, but in fact we should bear this in mind whatever we encounter in the media. 
Media producers place us at one remove from reality: they take something that is real, a person or an event and they change its form to produce whatever text we end up with. 
This is called mediation. You should be looking for this with any media text.

What the BBC classified as ‘riots’ in London become ‘protests’ in Beitounya

_____________________________________________________________

The persistence of class and its visibility or invisibility

It used to be easy to signify through physical appearance that a figure stood for wealth or poverty. C19th charity pioneers like Dr Barnado used images of thin, ragged street urchins to appeal to the conscience of the wealthier.

One of the images Dr Barnado used in his ads

Third world charities still do this and until recently, cartoonists have often used large body size and decorative dress as an indicator of wealth. The fat capitalist or the greedy lord.

It is a kind of code.

Changes to this code help us glimpse the complex ways in which class divisions are now shown - or not shown.

It is more likely now that a well toned, slim or even thin body is the result of a careful diet and affluence (enough disposable income to shop for healthy food and a gym membership) rather than food shortage.  

However, aspirations to this appearance can lead to anorexia or bulimia. Of course poverty can still lead to rickets and thin bodies.

It is also possible that expensive looking clothes, jewelry, even cars may conceal people with huge levels of debt. Sometimes people want to conceal their economic position. This makes things complicated for the media studies student who is looking for clues to social class. Unlike researching for clues to gender or ethnicity.

Obesity in some cultures is prized as evidence of having plenty to eat. In the developed world it can have connotations of cultural and material deprivation or addictions. 

Genetics or a refusal to be a slave to fashion can be the reason.

The attitude to bodies is complicated and greed is often said to be the cause of being overweight.

Ideology shifts the blame away from the very addictions which which often result from the marketing practices of many junk food brands.

The 1980's saw celebrations of extreme wealth and justifications of corporate greed - at the time it was called growth and seen as virtuous. The word Yuppie was used to describe these young urban professionals.

This kind of wealth is hardly ever represented as directly related to the labour of those who mostly produce the wealth on display - working people.

In 2005 two moral panics surfaced which clearly involved class differences. Young people known as Chavs and Hoodies were accused in the media of anti social behaviour. Much of the media attack was conducted through a fascination with dress and other codes of appearance.

The website Popbitch.com circulates many of these abusive terms.

Task 2: 

Look at media images of stars, royalty and other outwardly wealthy people. Describe how huge wealth is signified visually in terms of body size and dress. Compare the representations to the large stomached, top hatted characters of the C19th.

200 words - orange books.

Task 3 Homework:

Moving on to ideological points, how often is extreme wealth discussed in relation to inequalty? View this article and then identify and discuss three media texts which can be said to illustrate the growing class divide.

200 words - orange books or blogs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-29641109

Marxism understands class as the antagonistic social formations created and perpetuated in the process of production, between owners of and workers within industry.

Mulvey and Ferguson theory

Learning objective:

To analyse magazine images and produce a list describing the modes of address.

Key words: Marjorie Ferguson - Chocolate box. Invitational. Smiler. Romantic.
Scopophilia; from Greek "love of looking", is deriving pleasure from looking. As an expression of sexuality, it refers to sexual pleasure derived from looking at erotic objects: erotic photographs, pornography, naked bodies, etc.

Categorizing facial expressions

Marjorie Ferguson 1980

 Identified four types of facial expression in the cover of women’s magazines:

Chocolate Box: half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, like a warm bath, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

Invitational: emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.

Super-smiler: full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown. Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.

Romantic or Sexual: a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.

Task 1: Ferguson undertook this work over 15 years ago. Does it still apply?

a) Look at a range of magazines and try to categorise them according to Ferguson. 

b) Pick two covers of women’s magazines, and explore what they suggest that women are like, what they are interested in, and what they are NOT like and NOT interested in. 

Look at the main photo and any other images, the cover lines (the language 

they use as well as their content) and draw up a list of the following:

• What do women look like, according to the covers?

• What DON’T they look like?

• What are women interested in, according to the covers?

• What things are they NOT interested in (ie things that the cover lines don’t, er, cover)?

• Describe women’s personalities according to the covers.

Do this exercise in your orange books call it Marjorie Ferguson modes of address. HT-4

Trevor Millum

In a study of advertisements in women’s magazines, Trevor Millum offers these categories of female expressions:

• Soft/introverted: eyes often shut or half-closed, the mouth slightly open/pouting, rarely smiling; an inward-looking trance-like reverie, removed from earthly things.
• Cool/level: indifferent, self-sufficient, arrogant, slightly insolent, haughty, aloof, confident, reserved; wide eyes, full lips straight or slightly parted, and obtrusive hair, often blonde. The eyes usually look the reader in the eye, as perhaps the woman regards herself in the mirror.
• Seductive: similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.
• Narcissistic: similarities to the cool/level and soft/introverted looks, rather closer to the latter: a satisfied smile, closed or half-closed eyes, self-enclosed, oblivious, content - ‘activity directed inward’.
• Carefree: nymphlike, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.
• Kittenlike: coy, naïve (perhaps in a deliberate, studied way), a friendlier and more girlish version of the cool/level look, sometimes almost twee.
• Maternal: motherly, matronly, mature, wise, experienced and kind, carrying a sort of authority; shorter hair, slight smile and gentle eyes - mouth may sometimes be stern, but eyes twinkle.
• Practical: concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.

• Comic: deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.

Task 2: Watch the clip below from Disney's 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' (1989) with consideration given to Mulvey's Male Gaze...What kind of character have the film makers created?

Task 3: Find two articles which are both about using body products, one from a men’s magazine and the other from a women’s. Read through each article and underline/highlight any elements which you 

think show a difference in how the articles address men and women. Consider the following

o use of language (slang, metaphors etc)

o underlying assumptions and attitudes about using body products

o definitions of “natural”

o appeals to “experts”

Narrative theory - Barthes

Texts- Narrative theory Barthes

Learning objective:

You will watch and deconstruct a music video (Ed Sheeran) and apply Barthes’ codes.

·         Key Terms: Unravelled. Open. Closed texts. 5 Codes.

Roland Barthes has argued that every narrative has multiple codes. Typical features are used in narrative but can have several different meanings and interpretations depending on the viewer's own experiences and these meanings are suggested by Barthes codes.

Barthes argues that every narrative is interwoven with multiple codes. 

Any text is, in fact, marked by the multiple meanings suggested by the five codes.

Barthes theory on Media-Codes is important to us in structural terms as well as helping us to consider the positioning of audiences.

The Hermeneutic Code (or Enigma code)This refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and which creates questions that need to be answered. The purpose is typically to keep the audience guessing until the part of the text when all is revealed, loose ends are tied off and the questions are answered.

 Most stories hold back details in order to increase the effect of the final revelation.

The Proairetic Code (Action code) This builds tension; any action or event that suggests something else is about to happen. An action that prompts the reader to predict what will happen next and will result in increased interest and excitement.

For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. We wait to see if he kills his opponent or is wounded himself. Suspense is thus created by action rather than by a reader's or a viewer's wish to have mysteries explained.

Barthes is basically saying is that a text is like a tangled ball of threads which needs unravelling so we can separate out the colours. Once we start to unravel a text, we encounter a lot more potential meanings.

We can start by looking at a narrative in one way, from one viewpoint, and create one meaning for that text. We can continue by unravelling the narrative from a different angle, by pulling a different thread if you like, and create an entirely different meaning.

And so on. An infinite number of times. If you wanted to.

All you need to say, very basically, is that texts may be ´open´ (ie unravelled in a lot of different ways) or ´closed´, there is only one obvious thread to pull on, one meaning.

To recap:

Enigma codes; a theory that suggests a text (whether that be television, film, a poster etc) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in, pose questions and, as such, become intrigued in the piece. 
For instance, a murder mystery will often not reveal the identity of the murderer until the end of the story, which poses the question "Who is the murderer?" "Will they be brought to justice?"

Action codes: what will happen next?


Task 1: Watch the Ed Sheeran music video and consider Barthes' codes.
Write down examples of action and enigma codes that you can find and why they fall into these categories.

Exploring Narrative Construction

Learning objective: To be able to apply the narrative theories of Propp and Todorov to texts

Key words: Narrative, Todorov, Equilibrium, Propp, Characters

You will Learn about Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and Propp's character functions and identify how the theory has been used in a short animation.

Narrative

A narrative (or play) is any account of connected events, presented to a reader or listener in a sequence of written or spoken words, or in a sequence of (moving) pictures.
The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to tell".

Telling stories is that thing that makes us human. Stories ignite our imagination, and let us leap over cultural walls and cross the barriers of time. They bring us to other worlds and let us explore other lives and yet, at the same time, give us a better understanding of our own time, place and emotions.

Narrative theories suggest that stories (in whatever media) share certain features. They suggest that there are underlying structures to stories.

Narrative Theory 1: Todorov

Todorov saw underlying structures to narratives.
He argued that stories all begin in “equilibrium” when all forces are in balance.
This is disrupted by a problem to cause “disequilibrium”. 
Then more events take place before a“new equilibrium” is established.

1. Equilibrium
2. Disruption of equilibrium
3. Recognition of disruption
4. Attempt to repair disruption
5. New equilibrium. Often with a lesson learned.

Starter task: Apply Todorov's theory to the print based ad below.

Many film makers today don’t bother setting up the normal world in order to disrupt it with a problem (a killer shark, etc.) and go straight for the problem and disequilibrium. However, there will always be a sense in the film of what life was like before the problem came along and therefore what the characters can return to if they can only sort the problem out.

Narrative Theories and Examples 

                                                             Narrative Theory 2: Propp

• Vladimir Propp: “Characters have a narrative function,they provide a structure for the text”

Propp looked at folk tales and saw some structures they shared in common. He found 8 character roles and 31 functions that move the story along.

The 8 character roles can also be types of action because they are not the sort of roles which appear in the cast list. One character in the film or play can occupy several of his character roles or types of action. They are:

1. The villain
2. The hero (not always good but always carries the story along, the central character and not always male)
3. The donor (who provides an object with some special property)
4. The helper (who helps the hero)
5. The princess (the reward for the hero and object of the villain’s schemes)
6. Her father (who rewards the hero)
7. The dispatcher (who sends the hero on his way)
8. The false hero

The 31 functions include events such as:

The hero is prohibited from doing something

The villain learns something about the victim

The villain is punished, etc.

Propp’s theory can be applied to all kinds of narrative

For example, in TV news, the audience are exposed to what the broadcaster wants us to believe to be “heroes” and “villains” – Osama Bin Laden (villain) or Princess Diana (hero)

The theories can also be applied to promotional posters, computer games and advertisements. 

Task 1: 
Clearly write down Propp's 8 Character functions in your orange books.

Clearly write down Todorov's theory on narrative structure in your orange books.

Task 2:  Apply Propp's theory to the characters in this Indiana Jones film.

There is a link to IMDB with the storyline on the image below to help you:

Task 3: 
Consider the hierarchy that is apparent then apply Propp's character theory to the poster below. 
Say why you have made the connections. Consider visual codes.

Task 4: 

Watch the short animation 'The Wrong Trousers' by Aardman.

Indicate the Proppian characters where you can and apply Todorov's states.

Task 5: Homework

Apply the theories of Propp and Todorov to a feature film of your choice.
Suggestions:

 The Matrix

Shrek

Titanic..