media studies

1. Brontë Vickery

2. Who is represented in the music video and what representational
concepts are highlighted? (Age? Gender? Race? Sexuality?)
The type of people being represented in this video are young heterosexual
males, aged between 18 and 20. The band represents a range of races, as
band members Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson are
English, whilst Zayn Malik is of mixed race, as his parents are Pakistani and
English, and Niall Horan is from Ireland.
How are they represented?
They are represented in the music video as being very carefree and fun. They
are also represented as being trendy and attractive, in order to appeal to the
predominantly female fan base, whilst at the same time maintaining the
appearance of a “normal” teenage boy, making them relatable to the fairly
young target audience.

3. What does their representation say? Any issues being ‘discussed’?
The representation of the band seems to present the members as being role
models for the young audience. They are presented as very happy and
successful, which could also work as a tactic to increase their success- if the
band is seen to be successful and popular, the audience may be motivated to
“jump on the bandwagon”. The issue being discussed and presented in the video
is the message to enjoy one’s youth. This would be a relevant and appealing
message to the young target audience.
Who do you think the representation is made by?
The choices regarding representation in the video were likely made by the
record label, Syco. The band are known to be very “manufactured” and are
deliberately represented in a way which will generate maximum sales. The Band
themselves, whilst very successful, would be unlikely to have much say
themselves in the video and the way in which they are represented as they are
still fairly new to the industry – this lack of experience and fully established
status, coupled with their youth, would make them reliant on the support of the
company. This would especially be the case for One Direction as the owner of
their record company, Simon Cowell, was also at least in part responsible for the
bands formation and rise to fame through his television program “The X-Factor”.