What is real?

The media and reality

Which is the real Kylie?

KCC Year 10 Media Studies
Representations

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 What is Representation?

Representation are words, images,

sounds or stories that stand for
something else, such as ideas, people,
groups, places, emotions or things.
Representation say something about
their subject beyond the literal
meaning of words, images or sounds.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 What is Representation?

What ideas can this rose

represent?

A red rose, for example, may be just a

flower – but it can also represent
objects, ideas or emotions including
love, passion, class, celebration,
gardening or gratitude, depending on
KCC Year 10 Media Studies
the situation in which an audience
 What is Representation?

Media use representations as a

shorthand way of denoting and
constructing meaning symbolically.
Representations are especially useful
for conveying complex thoughts,
concepts and emotions.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 What is Representation?

Representations are constructed from:

§ The subject of the representation
§ The opinions and values of the people creating
the representation
§ The purpose of the representation
§ The opinions and values of the audience
reading the representation
§ The reaction of the audience to the
representation
§ The context of the society in which
representation is constructed and/ or read.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 The process of representation

The Media represents or re-presents –

places, people, things, ideas and
situations through a process of
selection and construction.
Because it is not possible to depict the
world in its complex entirety e.g. in a
10 secs’ ad, in 40cm x 40cm print
space.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 The process of representation

Selects those essential elements it

requires to convey a message.
Ignores or omits those elements it
considers unnecessary and
Constructs representations for a
particular audience and purpose.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 activity 1.1
Write a paragraph about a family,
beginning with: ‘A family is...’
With a partner, describe ‘what is
teenager about?’, in 30 secs.
In small group, describe a typical
school to your class.
Draw an image of love.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 activity 1.1
Describe 4 words about Mr. Mah.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 Selection and omission

Representations are constructed

through the selection of key parts or
elements of the subject to be
represented, and the omission of those
elements that conflict with the
message, are unimportant, or distract
the audience from it.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 Construction

Representations are constructed to suit

the audience and purpose of a media
product.
Imagine a TV crew is recording your
class today, they only plan to use two
minutes of footage.
What will they select and edit,
depends on the purpose and audience
of the program.

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 activity 1.2

KCC Year 10 Media Studies

 activity 1.3

KCC Year 10 Media Studies