1. What is a British film? List as many films you consider British as possible, justifying why (five min).

2. Key Theory 1 Foundation Theory As a class read through Representation in the media highlighting important sentences. 3. Key points to remember All media texts are re-presentations of reality Representation is a fluid two-way process; Producers place text somewhere in relation to reality. Audiences assess the text on its relationship to reality. Media texts extend an audiences experience of reality. Producers restrict this experience by selecting the information we receive. The influence the media exerts has a major impact on the way we view the world. Most audiences accept that media texts are fictional with elements of truth. We have come a long way from mass manipulation of the 1920s and 1930s. 4. Always ask yourself Who produced it? What/who is represented in the text? How is that thing represented? Why was this particular representation (this shot, framed from this angle, this story phrased in these terms, etc) selected, and what might the alternatives have been? What frame of reference does the audience use when understanding the representation? 5. Task Find examples of media mass manipulation in the 1920s and 1930s. Can you find any examples of media mass manipulation being used in the 21st century You have 10 minutes Discuss findings as a class. 6. Society, the individual and representation: MEDIATING The reflective view The Intentional view The Constructionist view The one to use! Any representation is a mixture of: 1. The object/subject itself. 2. The opinions of the people doing the representation. 3. The reaction of the individual to the representation. 4. The context of the society in which the representation is taking place. 7. Here is an example of how this works If you've seen the film Independence Day, you may have been amused or annoyed at the way that British people were represented as a stereotypes; upper class idiots. If you consider the different parts of the Constructionist approach to representation, they would work like this: 1. There must be some British people whom the producers encountered either in reality or in other media texts. 2. They formed an opinion of them that they were stuck up idiots which they used as the basis of their representation. 3. As an individual watching this, you chose whether to believe the representation was valid or not. 4. In doing this, you were influenced by the fact that you are yourself British - an American watching the film would probably have come to a different conclusion, a person from somewhere more remote would have, again, a different conclusion. 8. Society and DOMINANT IDEOLOGY Some kind of ideas dominate and are shared by the majority of people. The group that makes up the dominant ideology are not static. The constructionist process can be seen as a negotiation 9. Constructionism applied to Youth Culture in British film and Television. As stated on the previous slide representation is a mixture of: 1. The object/subject itself. 2. The opinions of the people doing the representation. 3. The reaction of the individual to the representation. 4. The context of the society in which the representation is taking place. Thus your reading of the characters, actions, plots and narratives of The Inbetweeners is different to mine, to each other, to someone in another country, to someone of a different social class, background, era, etc. There is no single reading, interpretation or representation. No such thing as a single media truth, though theres no credibility in suggesting that everything in the media is an absolute lie. 10. Quiz time Make a five question Quiz on todays lesson The questions must have definite right and wrong answers. (multiple choice, true/false etc). You can also include extra bonus questions on film in general (no more than 10 Qs in total). Print out or email your quiz to kstark@bluecoat.uk.com 11. Task -Analyse how British youth are represented in The Inbetweeners. Season 1 episode 2 Can be view on Channel 4oD Use the theories we have looked at today, make sure you can answer: Who produced it? What/who is represented in the text? How is that thing represented? Why was this particular representation (this shot, framed from this angle, this story phrased in these terms, etc) selected, and what might the alternatives have been? What frame of reference does the audience use when understanding the representation? Use the Constructionist view. To be completed as homework for next week