Media Magazines Task

Key Concepts of Representation

MM50

1. The article is about female audiences who view the media often are 'dominated' by heterosexual Caucasian of 0-2 models. People complain stating that women in advertising are 'too white' and under size 6. Yet there is still advertising both men and women are suffering issues with body image due to media imagery. The introduction of the plus size model helps advertisers in projecting an image of what people actually look like. 
2. The name of the film that has sparked fused this debate is known as 'A Perfect 14'. 
3. The female gaze is somewhat different from the male gave judging from this article as both versions of the female gaze have a similar view point however this article focuses not from a women being 'looked at' but rather how women feel by the narrow use of different sized women. This article is showing how advitisors want to project the image of women too look a certain way whereas Mulvery's theory is that women are often there to be looks at by men.
4. I think that the media shouldn't keep portraying women like this as this can really have a major impact on many women's lives. The media is trying to project women in a certain way and therefore,some women would feel uncomfortable knowing that they do not fit in with that category and can rally have an effect on many women's lives and the way they see themselves. 
5. The film is about a divide in females representation in the media. Women in the trailer believe that 95% of the women portrayed in the media are skinny and beautiful and they believe that consumers aren't buying the product but instead they are buying the portrayal of the Caucasian women. Women feel depressed about the way they look because of other peoples portrayal of 'normal' women are different to other woman who don't fit that category. 

MM51

1. The introduction to this article is about how the media is re-presented after the media object has been captured. The article states that the producer behind the media object will in some shape or form 'mediate' the image in a way that it will perceive more value and thought than the original object did for example, a famous celebrity has a photo taken, and the media will discuss the clothing or the setting of where the photo is being taken place. This isn't what the image previously was to state but the image has been mediated. 

The representation of the mass media in the article is portrayed to show how the 'mediator' behind the media object is presented. In this case, the location in a film is determined by the Film Director of how this location is going to be portrayed and this is often from both the institutions and directors point of view. Another example, is the new paper. The company running the news paper will decide what type of story to cover and how to portray it whether its positive or negative. 

The how, who and why representations in this article is to show how each media text or object is used to portray a certain way of thinking and the steps taken by the mediator to get this representation as effective as possible. The mediator will need to go through various requirements and steps before publishing a media object to the consumers. This is because the producer of that media text/object wants it to be presented and seen in the same way he/she wants it to be. For example, a new war film has been released and the poster of that film is designed to promote it. The producer would place explosion images as well as planes or even weaponry within that media object in order to convey the genre and the visuals of that film.

Stuart Hall's approach to ideology in this article was to show how the mediators/producers way of making the consumer think or even react to a certain media text will not always have the same impact that the producer intended. This was known as ‘Encoding/Decoding' which basically told how consumers would add their own thoughts and beliefs on the media text and this would change the entire message that the media text is trying to convey.

The new media and representations statement is about how consumers now days often create their own media and this is often through social media. Moreover, consumers and people now days are more into user generated content and distribute their thoughts and opinions on to their friends or even followers (depending on the type of platform). The use of social media allow us to construct our own media and identity and for our consumers to take that media text or object in. Furthermore, the article states that due to the many generated content being produced by various users around the world, they are not only created new and original content but also they are constructing their personalities and characteristics to the world. 

3) Overall, I do become aware of the things that I do post online as the content that is published through the world wide web can be seen by millions of people using the internet and this can be very vital with the type of content wanting to be produced. However, I am to a large extent aware of how I present my self online. This is because the way you construct yourself online can or cannot (up to the user) be an exact representation of your life and can be altered. This can be dangerous as people want to see themselves as being different to who they actually are and this can give off the wrong impression to people of they type of person you actually are due to the way you construct yourself. People now days often portray themselves (through social media) as being completely different to who they are in real life and their friends can notice that. This can be very damaging as people confidence may be more lenient into the side of your virtual self rather than you actual self and this confusion can affect peoples day-to-day activities and social interactions as they have lost their personality. Overall, I am very aware of the way I present myself online as I don't just see the  information that I post from my point of view but from others point of view and this is a clear indication of being aware of the data and information that is posted via the internet.