Welcome to the World of Media Re-presentation!
Ever looked at a photo of yourself and thought, "That’s not really what I look like!"? Maybe the lighting was weird, or you were making a funny face. In Media Studies, we call that re-presentation. In this chapter, we’re going to explore why the media never shows us the "real" world exactly as it is, but instead gives us a version of it that has been carefully built by producers.
Understanding this is like having a "superpower" for your brain—it helps you see through the tricks that TV shows, news sites, and adverts use to influence how you think!
1. Presenting vs. Re-presenting
It sounds like a small difference, but the hyphen in re-presentation is super important. Here is the simple breakdown:
• Presentation: Showing something exactly as it happens, like looking through a clear window.
• Re-presentation: Taking a "slice" of reality and "presenting it again" after it has been edited or changed.
The Big Secret: Media products are constructions. They are built just like a Lego set. A producer chooses which "bricks" to use and which ones to leave in the box. Because of this, the media doesn't show us "reality"—it shows us a version of reality.
Quick Review: The "Mirror" Mistake
Don't worry if this seems tricky at first! A common mistake is thinking the media is like a mirror reflecting the world. It’s actually more like a painting. The artist (the producer) chooses what to paint, what colors to use, and what to leave out of the frame.
2. The Three Steps of Re-presentation (S.C.M.)
Producers follow a three-step process to create a representation. You can remember this with the mnemonic: "Super Cats Meow" (Selection, Construction, Mediation).
Selection (and Exclusion)
Producers have to choose what to show you. If a news crew films a protest for three hours, they might only show 30 seconds on TV.
• Selection: Choosing the "juicy" bits (like a small argument).
• Exclusion: Leaving out the "boring" bits (like the two hours where everyone was just standing around peacefully).
Example: An Instagram influencer selects the one photo where they look amazing and excludes the 50 "bad" photos they took before it.
Construction
This is how the selected parts are put together using media language. Producers use:
• Camera angles (e.g., a low angle to make someone look powerful).
• Editing (e.g., cutting quickly between shots to make a scene feel exciting).
• Sound (e.g., adding scary music to a scene of someone walking down a street).
Example: In a reality TV show, the editors might construct a "villain" by putting together clips of a person frowning, even if they were actually just reacting to a bad smell!
Mediation
Mediation is the "middle man" process. It’s the way the media stands between us and reality. Every media product is mediated because it has been filtered through the technology and the ideas of the people who made it.
Key Takeaway: Nothing you see in the media is "accidental." Everything is selected, constructed, and mediated to create a specific meaning.
3. Realism: Why do we believe it?
Some media products feel more "real" than others. This is called Realism.
Example: A documentary feels more "truthful" than a cartoon like The Simpsons.
But be careful! Even a "realistic" documentary is still a construction. Producers use certain techniques to make us trust them, such as:
• Using "handheld" shaky cameras to make it look like "real life."
• Having an expert talk directly to the camera (Direct Address).
• Using "on-location" filming instead of a studio.
Did you know?
The famous media theorist Marshall McLuhan once said, "The medium is the message." He meant that the way we receive information (like via a smartphone vs. a printed book) is often more important than the information itself! A news story on TikTok feels very different from the same story in a heavy newspaper.
4. Choice of Media Producers
Why do producers represent things in certain ways? It’s usually for a reason! They make choices based on:
• Audience Positioning: They want you to see the world from a certain point of view.
• Purpose: Are they trying to sell you a product (Advertising), make you vote for someone (Politics), or just entertain you?
• Bias: Sometimes, a producer might have a one-sided view of a group or an event. This is called biased representation.
Step-by-Step Explanation of Producer Choice:
1. Goal: A charity wants to raise money for animals.
2. Selection: They choose footage of a sad-looking dog in a cage (excluding footage of the dog playing happily later).
3. Construction: They add slow, sad piano music and use close-up shots of the dog's eyes.
4. Result: You feel sad and donate money. The re-presentation worked!
5. Important Theories to Know
In your exam, you might need to discuss these two different ways of looking at the media:
View A: The Media is a "Window on the World"
This is the idea that the media shows us a 100% accurate, unbiased view of what is happening. Most media students argue that this is NOT true because of the selection and construction we talked about earlier.
View B: The Media "Constructs Reality"
This is the idea that the media actually creates our version of reality. If we’ve never been to a certain country, we only know what it's like because of how the media re-presents it to us. Our "reality" is built by the TV shows and news we watch.
Summary Checklist - Can you explain these?
• The difference between presenting and re-presenting.
• The "Super Cats Meow" process: Selection, Construction, Mediation.
• Why exclusion (leaving things out) is just as important as selection.
• How media language (shots, sound, editing) is used to build a representation.
• Why a producer might want to position the audience to think a certain way.
Remember: Whenever you watch a video or see an advert, ask yourself: "Who built this, and what did they leave out?" You're now thinking like a Media Studies expert!