Question 1b: Representation and Stereotypes

Using dominant representations isn't strong enough to stand by itself without the use of stereotypes. So I have looked at representations synoptically and used stereotypes in my media text. The main and what I believe is the most important stereotype for my media product is the idea of "Generalizations about people that are based on limited, sometimes inaccurate, information".

I used this stereotype in my media product in many different ways. The whole idea of animation is that it isn't real and cant be taken to seriously as It is inaccurate information. This is the main reason I used Lego animation as I didn't want my text to be taken to seriously as most Children's TV Dramas aren't. Also the idea of a person changing forms and worlds especially from something that is unreal (animation) to something that is real is very false, but there is a important reason I chose to do this.

Research shows that Children's TV Dramas aimed at an audience between 3-12 are mostly all false information following the same major stereotype I have. I believe this is because children see the world different to us and accept this false information and interpret it into something real. As I have a young target audience and wanting to attract a large audience I decided to follow the same representations and stereotypes like most Children's TV Dramas so I can be mainstream and give the audience a similar effect like other media texts aimed at 5-11 year olds.

I would class my media text to be under many sub genres. Two of the main being Drama and Fantasy. The idea of fantasy is that it isn't real and is "make believe". You don't see much texts aimed at an audience 0ver 12 as they don't want to accept something that isn't real.
However younger children's will and that's how fantasy genre texts make their money, that's why I think using the stereotypes of people being based on false information is appropriate with the genre my media text is under.

The stereotypes I used didn't express dominant values and ideology as my media text isn't trying to be serious and "real" . I challenged other stereotypes by creating a media text that isn't trying to give out strong messages and put "tags" on people and ideas. The idea of mixing totally different genres like fantasy, animation and drama is a creative and original way to overcome certain representations and stereotypes.