Representation

Generally all media is a form of representation and those involved in creating representations are influenced by their own beliefs, values and attidtidues.

Laura Mulvey suggested that females are represented as images with a 'visual and erotic impact' as classical Hollywood films presumed the audience as male. Mulvey said that woman are viewed as 'voyeuristic' or 'fetishtic'.
However in my music video females are represented as individuals faced with decisions, the audience take notice of my female because of what she's going through rather than image being the sole purpose.

Development's of the Gaze: There are several different types of gaze which take place around media products. The spectators gaze is the audience view of the subject on screen, the male gaze involves the male view of females (it relates to Laura Mulvey's theory) and the female gaze exists when a female accepts that females also gain voyeuristic pleausure from looking at a subject which can sometimes be enhance by film techniques. Also the inter-diegetic gaze, the look between characters or subjects within a media product and the extra-diegetic gaze which exists when the character or subject breaks the fourth wall by looking at the camera/audience.

Typical Representations

Gender Is the character male or female? Which gender holds the power?

Age Does the character follow stereotypical behaviour of their age? Does role reversal exist?

Disability Is the character limited by their disabilites? How do they behave in relation to able characters?

Ethnicity Do characters of different ethnicities behave differently? Are they treated differently because of their ethnicity?

Breaking Representations

A popular music video: Christina Aguilera - Dirty

Females are typically displayed in music videos as a visual object beside the dominant male figure. However Christina Aguilera presents herself in her music video as the predominant character as all attention and power is focused on her whilst playing the role of a voyeuristic and fetishtic object. Christina voiced her opinion to critics 'I'm in the power position, in complete command of everything and everybody around me. To be totally balls-out like that is, for me, the measure of a true artist'