This post consists of a brief rundown of how to plan and start to answer representational comparison questions for the representation section of component one section A, if the advertising set texts crop up. This session was mainly a discussion about exam structure in general. However, this post gives you the tools to start answering these questions, and to submit your completed response to your teacher!
Component one rundown
- The first exam - 90 marks - 2 hours and 15 minutes - 135 minutes
- Two sections
- Section A - Representation and media language - 45 - 90 minutes - 2 minutes per mark! - UNSEEN - one print based, one video based - the video question always comes first
- Representation - 30 marks - comparison - comparing one of the case studies to something you have never seen before
- Media language - 15 marks - analysing something you have never seen before
- Section B - Industry and audience - 45 - 45 minutes - 1 minute per mark!
Example one - Kiss of the Vampire
REPRESENTATION
Compare how audiences may interpret the representations of gender in the theatrical trailer for Vampire Academy (2014) and the Kiss of the Vampire theatrical poster.
In your answer you must:
• consider the similarities and differences in how audiences may interpret gender representations
• make judgements and draw conclusions about how far audience interpretations of gender representations reflect historical contexts. (30)
Knee jerk reaction
In many ways, the representation of gender is very different, and in many ways, it is exactly the same
Plan
MES
Stereotype
High production values
Gender codes
Judith Butler - gender is a construction
Colour
Binary Oppositions
bell hooks
Genre conventions/codes
Ideology
Stuart Hall - representation
Gauntlet pick and mix theory identity
Liesbet van Zoonen - feminist theory
Cinematography
Audience positioning
Voyeurism
Hyperreality
Editing - fast paced
Horror
Hybrid genre
Anchorage
Encoding decoding/reception theory (Hall)
Introduction - DAC
Definition, argument, context
Representation refers to the re-presentation of a person, place, issue or event. Representations reflect the ideology of the producer, and are used to shape the perspective of the audience. Representations are a reflection of reality. Gender is a social construct, and refers to each individual’s presentation of what it means to be a man or a woman. In this essay, I shall argue that the representation of gender in these media is highly complicated yet also completely straightforward. To explore this idea, I shall use the examples of Kiss Of The Vampire, a 1963 British horror film produced by Hammer, and the trailer to Vampire Academy, a 2014 American horror/teen drama film.
Paragraphs - PEA
Point, evidence, argument
Examples of points
- Sexualisation of women
VA - voyeuristic positioning of audience in sex scene positions the audience as a heterosexual male, with the fetishistic anchorage of the black underwear reinforcing this
KOTV - the MES of the nightwear, with connotations of sexuality are reinforced through the binary between them and the fully clothed men, typical of representations of women in the 1960s
In both of these media, women are heavily sexualised for the gratification of the heterosexual male audience. This is a perfect example of the male gaze theory, where women’s bodies are used a spectacle for a perceived heterosexual male audience. In both cases, a heavily stereotypical and even fetishistic construction of women is presented in order to minimise risk, maximise profit, and ensure the maximum audience view these films.
- Vulnerable representation of men
- Women constructed as powerful
- The target audiences for both of these films are completely different, despite the heavy use of sexualisation both of them
- Changing genre conventions of time
- Women being threatened: typical of the horror genre
- Voyeurism and the male gaze
- Setting
Example two - Super.Human
Knee jerk reaction
Plan
Introduction - DAC
Representation refers to when something in a media product is presented again by the producer for the purpose of conveying their values and beliefs to the target audience. In this essay I shall argue that the representations and how they are constructed in these media are very different, although there are a few points of comparison. In order to explore this idea, I shall refer to Super.Human, a promotional campaign advert for the 2020 Paralympic games, and the theatrical trailer for Challengers, a 2024 sports film.
Paragraphs - PEA
Points
- Ethnic diversity
- Women as spectacle - sexualisation
- Representations of sport
- Complex representations
- Use of sound
- Use of editing
- Representations of disability