Representing the world

Sagers, Ingrid. Media Representation for Ethnic Minorities. 11 Oct. 2021.

March 13, 2023

Representation is the constructed and mediated representation of people, things, places, and ideas. The idea and understanding of representation is a very important one in all forms of media. Because the media “re-presents” people, ideas, and events, all media is created and constructed to look exactly like how it was presented. In addition, everything we see in media texts has gone through some process before we see it. This is the process of mediation. In my film, every costume, facial expression, line, and location will be carefully chosen and planned out before it is published. Some specific points of representation I want to include are props in the background that may be a foreshadow. Since the genre of the film opening is going to be a heist, I will make sure to add upbeat and striking music and sound effects that represent the action and suspense of the scenes. It is important to recognize how what we see in the media is a constructed representation rather than an actual reflection of reality. For example, while in my film there are very young female protagonists involved in a heist, this does not mean situations like this are common, or as easy as we might make them seem. It is also important to consider the meaning that the representations create and the reasons why they were created. For example, when seeing a photo of a happy family standing together smiling, facial expressions connote happiness and the framing will reveal unity and physical closeness. Though these are actors who may not be close whatsoever, the picture was professionally taken and meditated to look and have the effect it does. As viewers seeing the photo however, we don't automatically think of how it was created, and instead rely on representation.