Representation theories.

Gender 

Laura Mulvey (1975) argued women in the media are used as; ‘Erotic objects of desire for males on screen and in the audience,’ (Mulvey, 1975).

Gauntlett (2002) argues males in the media still follow traditional stereotypes as they are shown as, ‘Alpha males who control the action with violence,’ (Gauntlett, 2002).

Mackillon argues something slightly difference, ‘Males are now shown as sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image,’ (Mackillon, 2002).

Race/Ethnicity

S.Hall said in 1981, blacks are stereotyped as; "The social problem," (Hall, 1981) and this is a stereotype that has been embraced by Hip-Hop culture. 

Theorist Sarita Malik points out the obvious 1998); “The word ‘race’ in the cultural and political terrain has almost universally been aligned with Black and Asian people, as though they are the only racial groups that ‘own’ an ethnicity… Whiteness has been naturalized, as though it is an invisible ‘norm.’ When it is of course an ethnic group like any other. 

Malik argues: “Many feel that Black and Asian audiences are still not sufficiently catered for and that insensitivity towards issues of race and ethnicity still exist. The reality of a lived multiculturalism is not represented in the British media." 

Youth

Stanley Hall (1904):

 “ Adolescence is inherently a time of storm & stress when all young people go through some degree of emotional and behavioural upheaval, before establishing a more stable equilibrium at adulthood." Hall also argued that:
1. The common mood of teenagers is a state of depression.
2. Criminal activity increases between the ages of 12 & 24.
3. Young people are extreme and need excitement; “Youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in; sex, drink or drugs.”

 Dick Hebdige (1988) argued youths are stereotyped as mixed metaphors of; “Youth as fun,” and “Youth as trouble maker.”

OLD AGE/DISABILITY

EVANS (1998), drawing on the works of Freud and other psychoanalysis, states:

“Disable people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling – a threat to rigid ego boundaries.

Class

Richard Butsch (1992) who says working class males in the media are presented as; "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed, some more than others..

Keith Gandal's, in 2007 he said that target audiences are drawn in by the; "Sentimental rags-to-riches story,"

Regional/National Identity

Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes; “Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalized inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space – this can be a particular nation or region.”

On classic example in British Music Magazines of connoting it is a magazine for British readers is using the Union Jack flag and colours. 

Unseen Cover Exam Practice

The masthead here for Billboard Magazine is very iconic for fans, showing the blue and green but hiding the red and yellow behind Bruno's head. It's large and bold and represents the target audience (16 year old - 26 year old C1 - D) with the bright colours of the masthead. This represents the argument of Dick Hebdige (1988) that "Youth is fun", the connotations with bright colours is joy and happiness and so this represents the youths from the target audience.

The colour pallet of the magazine is mainly white, yellow and blue, the bright colours represent Hebdige's argument that "Youth is fun" due to the connotations to joy and fun from bright colours. The youths may also be represented by the dark blue background as the connotations of darker colours is depression and negative emotions. Stanley Hall (1904) argued that "the common mood of teenagers is a state of depression", therefore the background represents youth. The bright colours on the dark background stand out and attract people scrolling past it.

The mise-en-scene on the magazine is simplistic, a simple short sleeved shirt and some jewellery and glasses on Bruno Mars is the main image. The short shirt and Jewellery mixed with Bruno's right arm being in the position it is, showing his bicep represents Mackillon's theory that "males are now shown as sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image". This represents the females in the target audience as Bruno is dressed like that to attract them. The upper class is also represented by the way he dresses as he appears to be quite rich when wearing jewellery.

The typography in the cover is quite simple and bold, the font isn't fancy, it's easy to read and doesn't specifically represent any particular genre of music as Billboard Magazine focusses on a wide range of genres. The main story is shown just next to Bruno Mars, it's big and bold and easily seen, there are also other stories seen on the magazine cover in smaller text of varying thickness and colours of white and yellow.

revision tools.

MOJO cover.







































Camera shots and angles:
Extreme longshot.
longshot.
medium longshot.
medium shot.
medium close up.
close up.
extreme close up.

Bird's eye view.
high angle.
eye level.
over the shoulder.
low angle.
Worm's eye view.
CAMERA MOVEMENTS.
Zoom: when a camera stays still but the image is zoomed on.
Pan: when a camera stays still but turns left and right.
Tilt: When a camer stays still but tilts up and down.
Dolly: when the position of the camera is moved forwards or backwards.
Trucking:when the entire camera is moved left or right.
Pedestal: when the entire camera is moved up and down.

music video mise-en-scene

The camera work and Mise-En-Scene represents the target audience (15-30 year old, straight, African-American/Caucasian C1 - E men) in Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars' song "Uptown Funk". The stereotype of women being "erotic objects of desire to represent males in the narrative and audience" (Mulvey 1975) numerous times in the song, for example at the start of the song, there is a low close up shot of a woman's legs and then pedestal up to their face. A few shots later the males in the song are checking out the woman as they walk by, this is an example of the stereotype and attracts the males in the audience due to the sexuality of the males. 

Another stereotype which is represented in the visuals of the song is the stereotype of men being "sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image,"(Mackillon, 2002) in the shots where Bruno and Mark are in a hair salon, showing they care about their image and how they look. The clothing used for the characters in the video also represent and attract the target audience as the men are all wearing fashionable blazers and hats, Bruno wears a pink blazer, showing they care about how they look and supporting Mackillon's theory that men are stereotyped as "sexual objects of desire who are more concerned with image,". This represents and attracts men as they would be drawn to fashion and would most likely want to be wearing those outfits as they make whomever wears them look quite wealthy.

The outfits worn by women also represent the target audience as the women are seen as "erotic objects of desire  to represent males in the narrative and audience," (Mulvey 1975) and the outfits are a bit revealing this represents and attracts the target audience of heterosexual males as They're attracted to women and would be drawn to them as they're purposely being used as "erotic objects" for the purpose of attracting or satisfying the males in the target audience.

Dick Hebdige's Arguments of metaphors of "youth as fun" and "youth as trouble maker" is also shown in this music video as the young characters are constantly smiling and being happy but also in the shot after Bruno says "Julio get the stretch" there's a scene in which a car is slowly being driven down the street whilst the cast dances around it which would cause traffic and therefore supports the theory that "youth as trouble maker." (Hebdige 1979), not only that but as the scene progresses a young man is introduced and seen as dancing and smiling, supporting the argument that "youth as fun," (Hebdige 1979).

denotation- describing the  explicit.
connotation- describing the implicit.

In Beyoncé's "If I Were A Boy" Many stereotypes and theories are met such as the theory that black people are stereotyped as "the social problem" (S.Hall 1981) and this is shown in the scene as the only arrest made by the police in the video is of a black man, supporting the theory that blacks are the "social problem". However this could also be flipped as the main characters are black and aren't at all being a problem.

Another theory supported in the music video is the theory that women are stereotyped as "erotic objects of desire for the males on screen and in the audience" (mulvey 1975) and this is shown in multiple scenes such as the scene where Beyoncé's character is arresting a male and is leaning over a car. During this scene, the camera pedestals down to Beyoncé's legs and the camera tilts upwards to show a low medium close up shot at a low angle showing her and her partner as her partner stares at her seductively. This clearly represents males in the target audience as they're not only being drawn to the females in the video but also being targeted with the specific shot to represent those in the audience. Another shot which represents this theory and the males in the audience is  the where where Beyoncé is changing clothes and is only wearing a bra at one point which clearly represents this theory and the audience of males as this scene is only meant to stereotype men and attract the males in the target audience with Beyoncé being used as an erotic object.

Gauntlett has argued that males in the media still follow traditional stereotypes as they're shown as "alpha males who control the action with violence." and this is shown a little bit in the scene where Beyoncé and her partner are practicing using guns and she gets close to him to help him shoot, it may seem as though the woman is the one to control the violence as she is helping the male but in the song that is just theoretical and in reality she's just in the same place as her husband so in reality the male would be helping the female and therefore would be controlling the action with violence, this represents the males in the audience as the males would be drawn to action but it also represents the females as the female seems to be in charge in the video which women would agree with.

More Stereotypes

Youth Stereotypes.

In the media, youth have been stereotyped as 'uncontrollable', being more violent and extreme, needing excitement to satisfy themselves, "youth must have excitement and if this is not at hand in the form of moral intellectual enthusiasms it is more prone to be sought in: sex, drink or drugs." - Stanley Hall (1904). Evidence of this is rap and hip hop magazines which show rebellious behaviour such as drugs and half-naked women symbolising sex to appeal to youth.

Another stereotype of Youth is being in a constant mood of depression, examples of this in media is 'Emo' bands such as Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy which is popular with youth. The 'Emo' bands typically are Indie or Punk or Rock.

An example of depression in youth is Amy Winehouse who died at the age of 27 due to alcohol abuse.

Dick Hebdige (1986) argued youths are stereotyped as mixed metaphors of: "youth as fun" and "youth as trouble maker". For example Youths being too happy that it's unnatural like the Kidzbop Kids.

Old Age/Disability.

EVANS (1998) said “Disabled people are seen as childish, dependant and underdeveloped and are regarding as ‘other’ and are punished by being excluded from ordinary life. Thus popular images and rhetoric of disabled people abound which comfort us with people who are imperfect, helpless, disgusting, shitty, dribbling – a threat to rigid ego boundaries." meaning they're looked down upon in the media. Evidence for this is that there aren't really many disabled celebrities. This also goes for the older generation, seen as senile in the media, an example of this is Grandpa Simpson in the Simpsons.

Class.

Richard Butsch (1992) says working class males are stereotyped as "Incompetent and ineffectual, often a buffoon, well-intentioned but dumb. In almost all working-class series, the male is flawed, some more than others." an example of this is is Homer Simpson.

Keith Gandals (2007) stated that target audiences are drawn to the"Sentimental rags-to-riches story" such as Ed Sheeran's rise to fame from being a working class male to upper class. Target audiences are drawn to this because it's relatable and they think they have the chance to achieve fame just like him.

Regional/National Identity.

Theorist Andrew Higson (1998) writes; “Identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalized inhabitants of a particular political-geographic space – this can be a particular nation or region.” examples of this is magazines which have colours of the union Flag on their covers.