Heaven - Representation

 

Heaven - Representation


Recap

Answer the following questions:
  • How is Emeli Sande's 'Heaven' naturalistic? Social realist?
  • What genre is this video? Performance, Narrative or Experimental? Why?



A Video of Contrasts

It is important to recognise the ways in which Heaven is a video of contrasts:
  • Lyrics contrast the desire to be a better person ('Oh heaven!'), with the lure of temptation which leads the character always letting people down.
  • The downbeat message of the lyrics contrasts with the upbeat nature of the music.
  • Use of ML contrasts the gritty realism (downbeat lyrics) with images of transcendence ('Heaven' and upbeat music)
  • Narrative is disrupted and obfuscated by the vague, conceptual nature of the music video.
  • The viewpoints and ideologies encoded signify the desire to be better (possible religious message) while the naturalistic use of media language encodes social realism. The denotations signify sorrow caused by temptation YET also suggests the power of redemption.

Which theorist would we use to explain the relevance of these contrast?




Task 1 - Representational Analysis

The video denotes a positive stereotype established within popular culture of the authenticity of 'the street', a notion linked to a positive view of ethnic and racial diversity. It represents the negative consequences of giving in to temptation and at the same time celebrates street life.

The video is deliberately diverse in terms of ethnicity and gender.
  • What events are shown?
    • Street Life
    • Giving in to temptation
  • What issues or topics are referred to?
    • The lure of temptation
    • Power of redemption
    • Religious belief
    • Sexual ambiguity
    • Everyday life as a struggle
  • Which social groups are denoted?
    • working class
    • youth as norm - predominance of young adults & children
    • multi-cultural - no dominant race or ethnicity
  • Which individuals are in the product?
    • Emeli Sande
    • Woman in red dress
    • Innocent children playing
    • Mothers caring for children
    • Carefree young woman in white dress

Place each of these representational elements written in pink into the corresponding row in the table below. Identify denotations that represent these different elements and note down their connotations as well.



Consider the following:
  • How are the consequences of temptation represented?
  • How is the video inclusive?
  • How is street life represented?
  • How is temptation represented?
  • How is sexuality represented?
  • How is class represented?
  • How is 'everyday life' represented?







Task 2 - Audience Positioning

Now we need to consider how an audience is encouraged to respond to various representations within Heaven.
  • What is the preferred reading of Heaven? How is Sande encouraging us to respond?
  • What might a negotiated or oppositional reading of this music video look like?

I also want us to consider some of our theories in relation to Heaven
  • Apply Gilroy's theory of post-colonialism to Heaven. Is this representation of the Black experience a criticism (highlighting racial difference, segregation, inequality) or simply realistic?
  • Apply Butler's theory of Gender Performativity to Heaven. In what ways are representations of women both stereotypical and unconventional?




Task 3 - Complete the table below

Make notes on how these various viewpoints and ideologies are constructed using media language, noting down the time of your analysis e.g. 1min 22secs

Please also add Christianity to the first column.





Homework: Key Terms

1. Define these terms

2. Apply them in a sentence with reference to either 'Heaven' or 'Titanium'
  1. representation
  2. construction 
  3. selection
  4. context
  5. stereotype
  6. ideology
  7. naturalism
  8. mis-representation
  9. under-representation
  10. positive stereotype
  11. negative stereotype
  12. dominant ideology
  13. reality
  14. realism
  15. constructed realism

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Theory Drop: Semiotics

Image
  Theory Drop: Semiotics Semiotics is the science of signs that allowed the rapid increase of a number of perspectives and paved the way to other cultural phenomena that raised the study of signs through its denotative and connotative meanings.  When decoding a media text, it is important to remember that they are 'constructs', never 'real'.  Some media texts have the ability to appear entirely believable and realistic, but they are never the same as 'reality'.  This appearance of being believable is called  verisimilitude  and a realistic media text can be said to possess a ‘high degree of verisimilitude’. STARTER: The Treachery of Images is a 1929 painting by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. The painting shows an image of a pipe. Below it, he painted, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe", French for "This is not a pipe". Magritte painted it when he was 30 years old. It is on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art....
Read more

Intersectionality and Gender Performance

Image
    Intersectionality and Gender Performance RECAP What were Gauntlett's 4 concepts of identity? What did van Zoonen say about representations of women in the media? Intersectionality Previously we discussed broad representations of women in the media through time, but bell hooks developed feminism even further. bell hooks and Intersectional Feminism An Oppositional Gaze Questions What did hooks mean by intersectional feminism? What is the dominant hegemonic ideology that intersectional feminism wishes to disrupt and how does it seek to do this? What did hooks by an oppositional gaze? Can we apply this to some of the images from last lesson?   TASK - Intersectional Media Find a media text that you feel provides evidence of individuals fighting for equality and that disrupts patriarchal norms, thus fulfilling hooks' desires for  intersectional media .  Analyse your media text in relation to  media language  (how meaning is created through image, text, c...
Read more

Ideologies

Image
  Ideologies  Social and Cultural Contexts Recap Who believed  that audiences acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new styles of conduct through  modelling (copycat behaviour)? Describe the process through which ideologies are communicated by media producers to their audience. Ideology Ideologies are systems of beliefs, values, and ideas that shape how individuals and groups understand, interpret, and interact with the world. Ideologies are usually seen as reinforcing the position of power in society. They often provide a framework for political, social, economic, or cultural thinking, guiding people's views on issues such as government, society, justice, and individual rights. Beliefs   = consciously held sets of ideas about the world Values   = whatever the individual person thinks and feels are important Attitudes   = individual's ideas and feelings about something, which will ultimately affect their behaviour Question :  Do we ...
Read more