Representation of Age in 'White Girl'

Thorughout the clip we follow a young girl around the age of 13. It begins with an establishing shot of a sunny, grassy area creating an emphasis on the innocence of the girl riding her bike that she is far too old for, as though she is clinging onto her childhood. The camera is close up to elements of the bike, putting an emphasis on the fact that it is pink and too small for her. The cuts are quick and jumpy as the camera is not static, making it seem as though the audience are riding along with her. When the girl stops at the chip shop, editing is used to creat quick cuts, putting emphasis on the fact that although she is dealing drugs at a young age, it is nothing out of the norm for her and she just continues on as if it didn't matter, which makes her appear less innocent. The camera is positioned in a way that only allows the top of her head to be seen, making the audience to see how short she is, which would connote innocence however, this is followed by her dealing drugs and so contrasts the previous innocent and childlike image. When she arrives at the block of flats, and a feathered pillow is thrown out of the window, the camera looks up at the white feathers as they float around her signifying her youth and contrasting the dark and dingy building in which she lives. Her brother and sister are represented as typical children of their age, through mise en scene. The boy carries an 'x box' and the girl carries her toys, these are stereotypical items that a child would have in their possession and they highlight the ages of the characters. When the girl hands the money over to her dad, he says "good girl", this contrasts the drug deal she has just made as the condescending nature of the phrase makes her seem young and innocent. When the family are running away from the father, sound is used to create confusion as it is distorted and echoed, it also creates a sense of panic and the audience empathise with the girl and her family as anticipation is created as we await the father to realise they have left. The girl's older sister is laughing as they drive away from their father however, she is more apprehensive about their leaving, this is shown as she is hugging her dog and crying which makes her seem more vulnerable and as though she is leaving against her own will and as though her mother made the decision for her and her siblings as she is not old enough to decide for herself.

Gender Representation in Waterloo Road

In the clip we see a high school that has introduced a scheme to split male and female students during lessons, this essay will show how camera, editing, sound and mise en scene represent gender throughout. The clip begins with male students in a food technology lesson, this contrasts the stereotypical view that women usually cook and men do more manual or academic work. Sound is used to represent gender as the music during the scene is fast paced and the ambient sound reflects the behaviour of the boys as they throw the ingredients for their food around and generally misbehave. The female teacher is an authority figure, which again contrasts the stereotypical role of men and women. Mise en scene highlights the gender representation as the teacher is wearing a blue, floral apron emphasising the fact that her character is feminine but still in control whereas the boys are wearing darker, more masculine colours. She states that the boys' food is already measured out for them, as if to say that they are incapable of cooking and therefore need a woman's help to prevent them from making any mistakes. The camera is filming from outside the classroom, through the blinds which makes it hard for the audience to relate to the characters. A shot reverse shot is used throughout the conversation the teacher has with the deputy head and shows her reaction in response to his comments about the new student. The editing during the scene makes the situation feel more chaotic around the boys as the cuts are quick and short. This is in contrast the the classroom of girls as the cuts are slow and calm, as though the audience were in the classroom with the girls. The camera pans around the room and allows the back of students' heads to be in the shot, making the audience feel like they are in the lesson amongst the girls. The camera angles throughout the clip are low angle, looking down onto the classroom to enable the audience to see that the girls are sitting in an ordered fashion, not standing and throwing things like the boys had previously been doing. This, and the lack of music and background noise denote that the girls are calmer and more mature than the boys as they can follow instructions and sit civilly. In addition, the girls suggest that not only can women cook, like the teacher in the previous scene, but they can carry out academic discussions and work intelligently. However the rules are being reinforced by a male deputy head teacher, giving him a rol of higher authority and making both the female teachers and the female students seem inferior to him.

Key Vocabulary for TV Drama

Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition

• Shots: Establishing shot, Master shot, Close-up; a certain feature or the subject that takes up the hole frame. Mid-shot; showing some of the subject in detail, but giving an impression of the whole subject Long shot; shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to it's surrounding. Wide shot; the subject takes up the full frame, or as much as possible. Two-shot; shot of two characters engaged in conversation, establishing a relationship. Aerial shot; taken from an overhead position. Point of view shot; showing something from the subject's perspective. Over the shoulder shot; looking from behind a person looking at the subject.  and variations of these.

• Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle.

•  Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.

• Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depth of field – deep and shallow focus, focus pulls.

Editing

Includes transition of image and sound – continuity and non-continuity systems.

• Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut, crosscutting, parallel editing, cutaway; insert.

• Other transitions: dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, ellipsis and expansion of time, post-production, visual effects.

Sound

• Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects; added to the clip during post-production. sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing, sound perspective.

• Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.

Mise-en-Scène

• Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.

• Lighting; colour design.

Areas of representation

• Gender

• Age

• Ethnicity

• Sexuality

• Class and status

• Physical ability/disability

• Regional identity

Looking at camera, sound, editing and mis-en-scene, consider how CLASS is represented in the clip

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After watching the above clip, it can be said that class is represented in many ways through camera angles, editing, sound and mis en scene. At the beginning of the clip, the music featured is very sombre which makes the audience sympathetic towards the boy, as due to him dirty and shabby clothing, it is obvious he is quite poor. His father has a Northern accent juxtaposed to the posh accent of the wealthy characters featured later in the clip. Their accent is a dominating tone of address which established the control they have. In addition, the boy claims that he can read the name on the newspaper given to him, his father states "learning is not for everyone, we do alright without it" showing that he is uneducated himself, and thinks that it is only for people of the upper class. There are point of view shots when the young boy enters the wealthy man's manor home, allowing the audience to see form his point of view as someone of a lower class. When the young boy is found in the wealthy man's house, the camera looks down on the young boy asleep on the floor (implying he had nowhere else to stay), establishing that he is of a lower class and also allows the audience to sympathise for the boy. This is followed by a shot reverse shot between the boy and the man, defining the relationship between the upper class and poor people. The man hires the young boy to work for him, however even though the man is rich, he offers the boy a six pence, when he really wants a shilling, implying that wealthy people are not generous with their money and also puts the man in a position of power. When the man is taking the boy to his office, their is a visible contrast in their clothing, for example his boots look a lot more expensive than the 'new' boots the poor boy got for his birthday. When we see people of the upper class working, the music changes to a happy, folk song, which reflects their wealth. The wealthy families in the clip get driven by horse drawn carriages, which contrasts the young boy having to walk anywhere he went earlier in the clip.

Life on Mars: discuss how ethnicity is represented in this clip

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After watching the above clip, it can be said that ethnicity is represented in many ways in the programme. Firstly, the camera angles identify that the white men are racists and should be looked down upon as it is a low angle shot, form the police man's point of view, looking down on the two men. This makes him an authoritative figure and the audience immediately relates with him in thinking the men are inferior. The two white men attack an Indian couple, and they are wearing are typically 'skinhead' who were famously racist in the 70's, even though they think they are a superior race, they have extremely bad appearances (bad teeth). There is a swastika painted on the wall which represents a racist divide, also, in different cultures there are different meanings of the swastika again showing there is a great difference in cultures. In addition, there are many Indian murals and religious paintings and artwork around the homes and community centre, showing a pleasant environment that is ruined my racist skinheads throwing a brick through the window. The policeman paints the skinheads white which makes a mockery of them. Later in the clip, the white policemen are looking down on what the Indians are doing in the warehouse, highlighting the racist divide in England in the 70's. When the policeman enters  the office in the back of the warehouse, there is 70's music playing, but with Indian instruments such as a sitar, again emphasising a divide in the cultures in the 1970's.

Monarch of the Glen: discuss how age is represented in this clip

After watching a clip of Monarch in the Glen in the lesson, it is clear that age is represented in many ways throughout the programme via camera angles, editing, sound and mis en scene. Throughout the clip, the camera looks down on the character Amy as she is lying about her age and make her seem like a minority because she is only sixteen. This gives the elder people in the clip authority and so they can tell her off of give her instructions. During arguments in the clip, the camera shots allow the audience to identify with Amy's emotions and age by using over the shoulder and eyeline shots. When the car crashed, Amy hides behind someone, showing that she is of a younger age, and there are many shot reverse shots during the argument that established the ages differences between, Amy, her headmaster and the family she has been living with. A master shot establishes Amy in her room and people working outside, these two scenarios contrast each other as she is a young teenager in her bedroom, and they are older men, working in the field. As Amy enters her room, before she runs away, the music changes from cheery country music (accompanying the men working in the field) to slow, sad music, which changes the mood and tone of the scene. The  head teacher addresses Amy by her full name, this gives him authority over her, in addition, he has a strict, posh accent, highlighting the difference in their age and also the difference in the ages of him and the middle aged man she has been staying with.
She is wearing jeans and a t shirt/sweatshirt that are brightly coloured and feminine, her teacher is wearing a tweed suit and the men surrounding her are dressed the same, typical rural setting clothes, these connote masculinity and hard work and sets her apart form them. Amy is proved to be uneducated as she hasn't taken any of her exams and she has not passed her driving test, this makes her seem less qualified and less mature. The things in her room back this idea up, as she has a bear, photos and magazines, these connote innocence and youth. Amy's behaviour makes her seem immature as she states "I hate you", which is expected of teenagers, and highlights the age difference between her and the men surrounding her. Not all the men are clean shaven, they have grey hair and beards, this juxtaposes Amy as she is wearing make up and has a flower in her hair (connotating blossoming and growth). The setting of the clip is in the rural, Scottish highlands, the archaic buildings could be said to attract an older generation. The car she drives is a 4 by 4, which is a powerful machine that she lost control of, it could be said that this makes her seem weak, in addition, the car is navy which is a masculine colour. The head teacher drinks brandy, which is said to be a very sophisticated drink. In addition it highlights the fact that you have to be a certain age to drink alcohol, making him seem older. The head teacher also talks down to the middle aged man, giving him a position of authority as he is older and establishes a hierarchy or age (head teacher being 50-60, the man being in his 30s and Amy being 16). Amy is very out of place, this makes her seem weak and vulnerable. Also one of the only females there, and so she has no other female counter parts, the only other female there being an elderly woman. There is however, a boy of a similar age to her, who appears to be the only person she can open up to, showing that there are limited people in the area that are of her age and makes her seem more out of place and uncomfortable.

Skins: discuss how youth is represented in this clip

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After watching the above clip of Skins, it can be said that youth is represented in many ways throughout the clip, through camera angles, editing, sound and mis en scene. The clip begins with an establishing shot of the manor where a party is being held, the viewer may think that the people that live there will be wealthy adults living there, but it is juxtaposed with litter and mess made by teenagers having a party. This makes the youths in the clip seem irresponsible as they are drinking excess alcohol and talking about taking drugs. When Cassie and Sid are on the trampoline outside, they are away from the chaotic party in quite a childlike situation, the shots are close up of their faces and them holding hands which makes them seem innocent, in contrast to the opening of that scene, a tracking shot through the bushes, making the audience jump to a conclusion of what 'typical teenagers' do at parties. The clip cuts backwards and forwards from hectic party to peaceful trampoline contrasting between immature and innocent. Music from the party can be heard outside, along with crashing, screaming from the youths. Bob Marley/Reggae music is played at the party when Chris, Maxxie and Anwar enter, the song references drug taking and alcohol. Chris calls himself the 'monkey man' fitting with the lyrics of the song. Rock music changes atmosphere as people start to fight making the scene darker, but the fighting makes the youths seem reckless and immature. The dialogue throughout the clip draws attention to teenage problems such as eating disorder and drug use and the audience can notice that although Cassie is the quietest character there, she has the most problems. When Chris enters he has very dirty trainers and clothing, like a young boy. The camera shot is a close up of his shoes which highlights the lack of respect and responsibility some teenagers have. A fight breaks out between the more mature characters that want the house kept clean and the more immature teenagers that have been drinking alcohol and taking drugs, and also, the helium balloons featured at the party clash with the alcohol and stealing that takes place, again establishing a lack of control and role models.