Wednesday 16 March 2011

How is Age represented in BBC Bugs Girl Power



Throughout Bugs Girl Power, age is represented through camera shots/angles, editing, sound and mise en scene. At the beginning of the clip, we see a group of men and women walking through a corridor discussing a break in. The man is well dressed and talks with a posh accent. This conveys his age and therefore his superiority over the other employees. He refers to the blonde woman as a 'clark' when she is actually a member of the team that is investigating the break in, he looks down on her as though she is not capable of that position as she is younger than him.
The camera cuts to the young girl when when the adults are discussing the break in, and the woman laughs as it she thinks it's ridiculous that a teenager could do something to outsmart adults a lot older. The girl is sitting in a blue and green room on the floor with her knees tucked under her chin. This gives her a very childish persona and portrays her as young and scared, making it seem even more unrealistic that someone that young could break into a high security building.
The music as the woman is approaching the young girl is very tense and dramatic, it makes the audience feel as though the girl is under pressure as she is about to be interrogated. The girl's attitude when talking the the woman investigating the break in is very rude and moody, this emphasises the stereotypical image of teenagers.
During the conversation, we see shot reverse shots and the camera is at a high angle, looking down on Carly, making her seem superior to the woman and expressing that she has very little power due to her age.
Mise en scene is used to show that adults have a superiority over teenagers and children as the woman is well dressed, wearing a suit in contrast to the young girl who is wearing a hoody. There is also a close up shot of the device she presumably used to break in. When it is lifted you see a magazine the girl could have been reading called "PC Genius", it gives the impression of a children's magazine, putting further emphasis on her young age. The adults begin to talk about adopting Carly, without her consent, making the decision of a child seem insignificant to that of an older man or woman.








Monday 7 March 2011

Representations of terrorism and ethnicity in SPOOKS

Fiona is represented as being very loving and caring, as earlier in the clip we see her with her husband. Ahmed on the other hand is portrayed as very violent - threats to injure and kill the hostages - and unsympathetic - ignores pleas to let them go - towards the hostages. He can usually be seen throughout the clip holding a weapon of some sort, or being accompanied by someone baring a weapon. Although he states that he has lost his family, he shows no remorse for Fiona or Danny. He is portrayed as being cruel when he murders Danny and to add to this, forces Fiona to look at the corpse, the music in the background has a foreign feel to it to out an emphasis on his accent and his ethnicity. In addition, although the female that is asked to keep watch over Adam is on the side of the terrorists, she later in the clip backs out of the plan and asks Ahmed to spare Fiona. He denies her request ensuring he is still seen in a negative light, but the audience can then see the female is a more positive way. Subtitles are used so the audience can understand when the terrorists are speaking Arabic. This allows the audience to know what is happening when some of the characters do not. It puts the in a position of an on looker rather than making them feel like they are in the scene. Although this gives the audience a more objective view of the characters through the subtitles, during scenes in which Ahmed is violent towards hostages, a handheld camera is used. This gives the scene a rapid and choppy effect and makes the audience feel like they are witnessing the scene first hand. It allows them to strongly empathise with characters such as Fiona as they were witnessing what she has to, from her point of view.

Islam and Muslim are religions, typically based in Middle-Eastern countries such as Iran, Iraq and Syria. 
British people are Western-Europeans, typically of Catholic or Christian faiths, although the diverse nature of the country in recent years has seen a rise in other ethnicities. 
Al Qaeda is a muslim extremist group, who have attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, most notably September 11th attack in the USA.