Representation Theory, John Berger’s (1972)-‘Ways of seeing’

John berger analyses the manner in which men and women are culturally represented. in "Ways of Seeing" Berger claims that the representations of men and women in visual culture entice different "gazes", different ways in which they are looked at.

He states that ‘men act women appear. Men look at women. Women watch them selves been looked at.’ The woman is usually posed in a way to please the viewer, her gaze is meant to entice the viewer, and this notion is the same in modern day advertisements and photographs. Berger comments that a woman unconsciously acts in a way knowing she is being viewed. Women are constantly being surveyed, not only by men but by other women, and by themselves. 

Berger states that women were ‘depicted in a different way to men-because the “ideal”spectator is always assumed to be male and the image of the woman is designed to flatter him’ and that images are the most powerful communicator we have. There are things we cannot describe in words but that images can illustrate.

 Women and sex are used profusely in advertisement since it appeals to both women and men and it is clear that the men want the women and the sex and the women want to be the women.

This study looks at and compares how women in the media industry are used for the exact purpose that female nudity was used in traditional oil paintings. To be looked at, desired, envied and to be seen as desirable women, not only by men but also by women.



How does the theory link to my music video ?

This theory links in closely with my song because at the start of the song the boy is picturing women to be sexual objects and imagining this great sex scene in his head however once he actually meets a girl and spends a lot of time with her, only then does he realise that they are not just something men use for pleasure and fun, in fact they are people and are equal to men and only then does he realise that she is his 'inspiration' and a lot more than the conventional 'sex object'.

Uses and Gratifications model Blumler and Katz 1974

  The 'Uses and Gratifications' model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of the media from the point of view of audiences.

The model looks at the motives of the people who use the media, asking why we watch the television programmes that we do, why we bother to read newspapers, why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with different media texts.

 The idea behind the model is that people are desired to fulfil or gratify certain needs, so instead of asking how the mass media uses us, it asks how we as people use the media and its broken up into 4 different sections; surveillance, personal identity, personal relationships and diversity.

Surveillance:  is the idea that people feel better when they know what is going on around them and its all about awareness because we as people use the mass media to find out what is going on in and around the world looking for knowledge and security, this is shown in Lily Allens new music video because she is talking about current issues that are taking place within the music industry at the minute.

Personal Ientity: explains how being a subject of the media allows us to posistion ourselves within society and becuase of this many band members often become role models to young people because they aspire to be like that person and thats what gives that person their identity within society.
 

Personal Relationships: we as people can for relationships with the media but aslo use the media to form relationships with other people, for example the television plays many forms of media and becuase of this we form a sort of relationship with is because we will sit there and watch it for endless hours and we dont even have to say anything, if for example one of the characters in a programme dies, we as people can feel emotions although we know nothing is happening and this is a media relationship, the second idea of personal relationships is using the media within relationships, for example if we like soaps and we find someone else who does we can form a sort of relationship because we can talk and discuss certain matterswith that other person.

Diversion: watching or listening to a form of media can be classed as escapism because we are watching it to get away from our own lives however sometimes we watch it to reelate to certain characters because its nice to know and we as humans like to know that people are going through similar things to what we are, examples could include poverty, teenage prenacy, ect.

 How the theory relates to my music video

My music video is a live performance video with a narrative extract, this relates the the uses and gratifications model because I want the viewers to form personal relationships with the video and for it to inspire them not only to find their personal relationship with the video but to inspire them in everyday life, for example when I watch videos like the one I will be creating, it inspires me to go out there and create music and I want to create this link between people and this video not only this but the abstract element forms a story of love that develops through the video.

Two Step Theory Lazarsfeld 1940

In 1940, Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet conducted the first full-scale investigation of the effects of political mass communication and their research focused on the 1940 Presidential election campaign and their findings were published in 1944 in The People's Choice after more research had been conducted.

 

What is it ?

 

the two step theory says that we as people are more likely to follow people we trust known as opinion leaders who pay close attention to the mass media and pass on the information down to other people in their own interpretations, unlike the hypodermic needle theory it suggests that the audience is and 'active audience' which is a big strength for the theory.

 

 

The importance of social influence

 

Their research was originally based on the simplistic hypodermic needle model of media influence, whereby it was assumed that a message would be transmitted from the mass media to a 'mass audience', who would absorb the message in different ways depending on the person and their lifestyle. Lazarsfelds investigations suggested that media effects were minimal, and that audiences did not respond to a campaign as such but were more influenced by a person they knew or an opinion leader such as an idol or a trusted friend or family member for example if a random person told a person to go and by an album by Of Mice And Men, then they would more likely than not ignore that information however if a friend (or opinion leader) told you to buy it you would be more inclined to do so because you know and trust that persons opinion.

Limited success

The study by Lazarsfeld et al concluded that only 5% of people changed their voting behaviour in the campaign as a result of media messages and that audiences exposure to election broadcasts turned out to be a relatively poor predictor of their voting behaviour, particularly when compared with other factors such as their interpersonal communication with friends, union members, business colleagues and the political tradition they had grown up in.

This view of media effects was confirmed in a variety of other investigations demonstrating that as individuals we are more likely to consume something if it is recommended by friends /family or people we know. For example what we are influenced to watch or listen to.

Conclusions of the theory

Lazarsfeld and his colleagues developed the notion of a 'two-step' flow of media messages, a process in which opinion leaders played a vitally important role.
conclusions follow from their research:

• Our responses to media messages will be mediated through our social relationships, the effects of media messages being limited by interpersonal relationships and group membership.
• It is misleading to think of receivers as members of a 'mass audience' since that implies that they are all equal in their reception of media messages, whereas in fact some play a more active role than others

• receiving a message does not imply responding to it; nor does non-reception imply non-response (since we may still receive the message via interpersonal communication)

• there are some people amongst the media audience who act as opinion leaders they see themselves and are seen by others as having an influence on others.

How does it relate to my music video ?

 

The Two Step Flow theory relates to my music video because people who view it and listen to my sort of music are more likely to tell their friends about it and then there is more of a chance that they will listen to or even view the video if there have been positive comments and feedback from it which is a good strength for the video but is also a good example of the theory being put into practice in relation to my music video.

Updated concept

The concept lies on the same base that it did before however after doing more research into the song I have come to the conclusion that it is about a man who initially doesn't see a woman in a way that means they would end up in a relationship together yet by the end of the song he realises that he was completely wrong about her and his whole perception on her has changed, the video I create will use paint and hands to show how two people come together and this will be done by painting two different hands in two different colours to show that they are different and throughout the video there will be a progression on these two hands meeting each other and eventually meeting and their colours mixing to show that two completely different people have come together as one and mixed with each other I will be showing how when you mix two different things together you can create something that is completely unexpected yet unified as one which will represent the relationship that creates and forms throughout the song.

Anamatic

Storyboard