Examples of Representation Work

7/29/2019 Examples of Representation Work

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WHAT IS REPRESENTATION?

Representationrefers to the construction in

any medium (especially the mass media) ofaspects ofreality such as people, places,objects, events, cultural identities and other

abstract concepts. Such representations may

be in speech or writing as well as still ormoving pictures.


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This is the first example of the

voyeuristic treatment of the female

body. The woman is in a provocative

position and her face is barely shown,

showing that her body is the most

important part of her: This is portrayed alot in this hip-hop/rap genre.

The music video also includes

lots of cars and other vehicles,

this one looking particularly likean army vehicle to emphasise the

males power and authority.


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A Counter Example:Missy Elliott

Rejects conventional representations of

women free from objectification

Does not conform to stereotypical gender

representations

Missy is not passive; she narrates the

action lyrics are not self exploiting


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Here is another example of how women

are objectified in hip-hop/rap videos.

The woman is not facing the camera,

the audience can not even see her face,

highlighting that only her body is worth

looking at. This agrees with Goodwins

theory as he suggests one of the sixfeatures of a music video is voyeuristic

treatment of the female body

The lyrics:

The lyrics not only provide intertextual references to the

Tranformers franchise but also suggest that they can transform

a woman to be what they want her to be; another example of the

imbalanced treatment of women in music videos.

The reference to Transformers therefore amplifies the lyrics and

the relationship between the lyrics and visuals


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Similar Magazine: Teen Vogue.

Key signifier: Vanessa Hudgensfeatured on the front cover of teen

vogue. This appeals to the teen

audience because she featured in

the disney film High School

Musical which was a film set in a

high school therefore appealing to

a teenage audience.

.

Typography: Stressed out? The magazinecover suggests that it will include some

methods of dealing with stress. This links to

the audience gratification because people

might be reading the magazine for leisure a

break from work. At the age of the target

audience, the reader would be still in

education so currently completing exams and

coursework, so this would be common

ground for them and an additional reason for

them to read the magazine.This appeals tothe target audience because it tells them

about things they would be interested in, and

uses information that is specific to this age

range.

Colour scheme: The pink clothingthat Vanessa is wearing links with the

pink in the title of the magazine. This

represents the target audience being

prominently female because pink is

stereotyped to be a typically female

colour, rather than male. This

appeals to the target audience

because it is a colour they would

naturally be attracted to due to the

stereotype.

Representation: Vanessa isrepresented as sweet and still shows

some aspects of the innocence of a

young girl. We can see this through her

innocent smile and body position. Her

clothing is simple and the style of herdress gives an impression of a young

girl, with puffed sleeves and of a hot

pink colour. This would appeal to the

target audience because young girls

might see specific traits of themselves

in Vanessa.

Superimposion: The title of themagazine overlays the image of VanessaHudgens which suggests that she doesn t

overpower other features of the magazine.

This conforms to our stereotype of a

young girl because it illustrates themes of

innocence and lack of power. This would

appeal to the target audience because

young girls would generally rather

conform to stereotypical female traits

rather than male, so they might look up to

the portrayal of Vanessa Hudgens.


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Similar Magazine: ELLE girl

Colour scheme: Bright and vibrantcolours are used which link to a younger

female audience and would be eye-

catching on the shelf. Also, the model is

wearing pink which is a stereotypical

feminine colour and young girls might be

attracted to this.

Superimposition: Once again the title ofthe magazine is superimposed over the

image of the model which suggests the

innocence of a young girl. This is often

how young girls are portrayed in the

media so this magazine conforms to thisstereotype.

Composition: The composition ofthe text on this front page is

diagonal which makes it less

serious and formal, and more

interesting to read. The layout of

the text really conforms to the

stereotype because it differentiates

this magazine from the originalELLE copy. By doing this, the

young girl reading the magazine is

ensured that the contents will be of

interest and gives a quite enjoyable

and easy-going feel to the

magazine.Colour scheme: Once again, the colourscheme is relatively clear to the reader,

making a distinctive link between he

model on the front cover and the text

through the use of the bright pink and redthat she is wearing, and the colour of the

font. This suggests to the reader that the

young girl featured on the front cover

posses some of these traits that the

magazine will be addressing later on in

the contents. For example: GET GREAT

HAIR is in a similar colour to that of the

clothes that Julia Stiles is wearing, which

allows us to associate great hair with

her. Young girls might then look up to her

as a role model, and this brings up theissue of how a young girl feels she should

look.

Lead story: One of the mainstorys on the front cover is about

Back to school fashion blitz

. This

is important to our portrayal of the

magazine because we can see that

its main focus is on fashion,

although other sub headings are

included. I will use this on my

magazine cover because I want to

include aspects of lifestyle and

health and beauty magazines,

although my main subject of

contents is fashion.


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Forms &

Conventions

In XXL editions of magazines they will always use the large, bold and thick title

XXL. This is also used in other music magazines such as NME and VIBEwhich clearly demonstrates that a large title must be more appealing to theaudience. The masthead, XXL, also denotes the meaning extra, extra large,and emphasize how this magazine is massive as are the rappers featured

in it. The text is on a large red box which helps contrast the colours and showthe magazines brand and image more clearly, the colour connotations of the

red box also represent power and the energy of the rappers.

A feature added above the masthead is Hip Hop On A Higher Level, which is themagazines slogan to attract the readers to the magazine, it also imposes the

image they are trying to create about how the rappers are at the peak oftheir game.

XXL will also have one or more famous artists on the front of their cover, and they

generally use hip-hop, and rap . This immediately shows to the reader whattype of magazine it is just from its front cover, making it very clear from thefront that the magazine is based on music, specifically in the Hip-Hop, and

rap area. XXL always make the front image very large to make it clear to thereader what the magazine will specify in for its best and main story. It also

shows dominance of rap and hip-hop music.

XXL use a few other forms & conventions for example they put to good use asmall amount of text of what artists are included in the magazine, mostly

famous and very successful artists in their own genre. Information on suchsuccessful artists is always something that XXLs target audience will want to

read about.


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This issue of XXL features a shot of def jam as this is

clearly advertises in the main cover line def jam

25. This is the central image with the other

elements of the cover surrounding it which is a

generic convention employed by many magazines to

focus the attention upon the image. The rappers

appear intimidating and the poses are showcasing

their different styles.


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Audience

This type of magazine is not aimed at an older age

band, and I feel this magazine would be aimed at the

16-27 age group. My reason for this is because the

artists usually represented on the front cover are

usually from a more recent era, which instantly shows

us that the magazine is formed around that genre of

music, and everybody knows what genre of music

these artists perform. With the audience I also feel

that this edition is portrayed towards a male market as

we can see this from the intimidating poses that are

represented here. I highly doubt that many females

would be interested in the intimidating glare towards

the camera and because they have put all males on the

front cover, this makes the magazine look as if its

aimed towards a male market.

Clearly the magazine offers inside information for fans

interested in the hip-hop / rap genre. I feel that XXL

have portrayed themselves in an outstanding way to

capture the eye of their target audience.

Examples of Representation Work

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