Ideology

We share common values, judgements and beliefs depending on what culture we are part of. These are a system of meanings that help us define the world, and the expectations of individuals and groups of people within it. For example, some common ideologies include:


'A Woman's place is in the home'

'Education is important'

'Boys will be boys'

There are ideologies within media texts, which lead to 'norms' - these idea are not questioned, they are simply accepted as being correct. This could be problematic, as when a media text challenges these 'normal' conventions they may be criticised as they will unsettle the reader.

Social interactions and institutions are resresented within the media on a daily basis, and because they are repeated so regularly they help to shape the norms of society.

We need to consider the concept of ideology throughout the filming and editing stages of our music video; we need to be aware of how males and females are represented, the range of lifestyles and behaviours we are portraying, and ensure we are not conveying judgements about anything which is not appropriate for the target audience (for example smoking, alcohol, drug use etc).