Representation

Stuart Hall - Encoding and Decoding 

 Stuart Hall came up with the theory that there are three ways in which an audience can decipher a media text whether it be a music video, picture, song etc.
His theory included three readings which view a media text at a different light. The three readings are:

Dominant Reading (also known as the preferred reading) - This reading is when the audience reciprocates the media text the way media producers envisioned them too. Having their original views shown through the media text and the audience agreeing and understanding what they are trying to get across.

Negotiated Reading - This reading is when the audience partially agrees with what the product is trying to show although they may disagree with some parts due to their own personal opinions/thoughts or past views on whatever is trying to be shown.

Oppostional Reading - This reading is when the audience absolutely disagree with the products message. This reading is also influence by ones personal views on certain things. 

Representation - The process whereby media the construct versions of people, places and events in images , words and sounds for transmission through media texts on the audience.

Dominant Reading: In the video “Wrecking ball” Miley Cyrus is portrayed to us as a promiscuous yet vulnerable female. Certain shots in the music video allows us to believe that she is acting in a very unchaste way exposing her body on camera also having shots where we can tell she is fully naked it allows the audience to believe she is trying to be promiscuous. The vulnerable side comes from the close up shots we see when she is directly staring into the lens we see deep emotion in her facial expressions which makes her look quite sad but also her surrounding being all white helps add pureness causing it to be more vulnerable. Also by just seeing her face and shoulders shown in those shots helps add to the vulnerability and makes her look weak in a way. 


Negotiated Reading: The negotiated reading of this music video would be we see her acting more adult like in a seductive way, trying to break away from the Disney girl stereotype. People are so used to seeing her typical good girl role, which in the first place was Hannah Montana so when they see her now trying to break free from those stereotypes we start to get either a negative reaction from the audience or a positive one. This all depends if you are a huge fan of her to start off with or not. A dedicated fan would understand that she’s growing up and can’t stay the little girl that they first saw on television and others would view it as why is she acting like this? Is it necessary for you to present yourself to the public like this downgrading yourself just to prove a point that you’re growing up.


Oppositional reading: The oppositional reading of this music video would be if looked at in detail would be firstly the avid use of the colour white in this video helps represent innocence and purity because usually white is associated with those things, although people could say that the use of this colour and the effect it is suppose to have doesn't work due to other things that happen in the video which do not give off the same effect. The scenes which include nudity could be intercepted as vulnerability because herself being bare back and some positions she put it gives us the feeling that shes helpless. Although that could be read as her being very wild and not vulnerable at all, being seen as her showing of her body degrading herself and women in general. And lastly the re-occurring hammer could represent the pain element of the video, because the song is about a relationship and a break-up which brings pain and to show pain in the video we see her in a few close ups with a hammer. We see her licking the hammer which could mean she likes pain, which gives mixed signals to the audience.

Andrew Goodwins Theory (1992) 'Voyeurism'

Andrew Goodwin believed that there are 5 parts of a music video which and audience look at which are:
- "Thought Beats - Seeing the sound"
- "Narrative and Performance"
- "The Star Image"
- "Relation of Visuals to Song"
- Technical Aspects of Music Video"

Star image is key in Goodwins theory because he believed that mainly in the music industry the way in which someone was presented to the public would receive sensual gratification.
In class to show this theory my partner and I had to put together a person using famous singers body parts who are idolised.

As you can see here what we did where we picked different parts from different females and made them all into one. We used people such as Naya Rivera, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian and Ciara, to show voyeurism.

Laura Mulvey - The Male Gaze

The Male Gaze concept was invented by Laura Mulvey. She believed that it was something that deals with how an audience views people.

Laura Mulvey originated the phrase "Male Gaze" in 1975 and believed that within a male audience people have to view the the main characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. Feminists can view it in three ways which are:
-  The way men view women
- How women view themselves
- How women view other women

The male gaze includes when the camera lingers around a females attractive areas such as their curves, legs, and other feminine body parts. By doing so you cause the "Male Gaze" when women are presented like this they get a mans reaction. 
This causes women to be objectified and looked at no more than just for pleasurable experience, where as when women see things like this they either want to be just like it or react completely opposite to the "Male Gaze" being degraded and not impressed.

A theorist Jonathan Schroeder (1998) believed : "to gaze implies more than to look at - it signifies a physiological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze"

The power point below shows different music videos empowering and objectifying women: