The Constructionist Theory

Misjudged: AS Level Media Piece

The TheoryThe constructionist theory is a way of

understanding how representations are put together.

This theory is put together in three parts and these three parts are; the truth, what the producer wants us to see and the context of time.

A representation often has an element of the truth in it otherwise people would just dismiss it if it didn't sound true. In addition as it is the producer who is putting the image onto the film he will have his own spin on what is going to be said. He will impact on the final outcome of the product.

Theory In ContextIf there is very racist a report on how British

troops killed thousands of terrorist Taliban members it would be reported by saying the troops stopped terrorism from occurring later on in life. This therefore makes the British Army look good.

There are three parts to the constructionist theory and they are as follows:

The truth- Representations in media products are made up of aspects of the truth. This means that an element of real life, which is true, has to be present in the media product for this theory to be true. There must also be a sense of reality as if there isn’t it won’t be believable meaning that it then won’t be true.

As the producer is in charge of exactly what gets put onto the screen he will make decision which will mean that what we view off the screen will be exactly what he wants us to view. So part of this theory is the producer showing us exactly what he wants us to see.

What the producer wants us to see -

The time period in which the product was filmed in will have a major effect on representations of particular social groups as a particular social group may be viewed to be extremely bad in one particular time period therefore they will receive a negative viewing whereas in another time period they may receive a different type of opinion. It is all based around different people’s beliefs in different time periods.

Context Of Time-

Theory Applied ‘Misjudged’

If we use the constructionist ideas of representations we can clearly see that representations are made up of the truth, opinions of the producer and the context of time and this has all been shown throughout the MISJUDGED production. An example of how we the producers have used our own beliefs and the context of the time period to show this theory would be through our choice of a making the white protagonist to become a terrorist. We wanted to portray the factor that terrorism isn’t just an act committed by one racial group, it can be committed by white males. We hoped to make the audience question this racial stereotype.

We believe that we have shown our representations based on an understanding of the constructionist theory as we have shown elements of the truth, our own beliefs and context of the time period which we live in.