Representation

• Representation in the media is how a person is branded to give them symbolic power.
• Everyone in the media is a representation of reality. How they are branded and created by producers is a technique used to sell an artist as a brand and appeal to a specific person in society.
• A way in which a celebrity is portrayed is through symbolism and signs which are read by the audience to portray a certain aspect of a person’s life.
• Representation is a two-way process: producers position a brand in relation to reality and audiences assess a text on its relationship to reality.
• The concept of representation began in the 1960s, new socialist movements were make such as feminist and civil rights movements. During this time the concept of a teenager was created.
• Many social groups were downgraded due to misrepresentation in the media and other institutes.
• Research by Busby: ‘Sex Role Research in the Media’ was feminist research and highlighted misrepresentation in the media.
• There was the question whether the media is fairly representing social groups in reality.
• The audience don’t have to follow the symbols the brand made, but may follow certain aspects of it.
• The Theory of Practice, Bourdieu. The relationship between knowing and doing, interpreting and using.

Representation follows the process of;

Selecting to Filtering to Encoding

The genre we are going to try and represent is the indie-rock music scene, which includes bands such as The Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand. The representation of indie much is of those who wish to be an individual - however this has become a style by itself. Most indie-band members are portrayed as your everyday person - who doesn't have to follow a specific representation due to the lack of producers involved.

By Rebecca Gatfield