Tuesday 15 February 2011

 White Girl


The snippet from White Girl uses some types of representation of age in it's programme. For example, at the beginning, the bike portrays the youngness of the girl riding her bike - the bike is pink with streamers on and she is wearing trainers which light up. This shows that she is still in her childhood - probably a girl of 12 or 13. The different angles used when she is riding her bike also portrays the pace at which she is going and the youthness of her. The cuts are quick and short between the places she rides throw to show her speed. The camera is jerky with no static movement whilst she is moving, also, to portray her speed and age.  The weather shown also can be associated with the age of the young girl as it is a sort of idealistic view of a child in their childhood. The outfit of the girl is very plain, with hardly any make-up. This can portray the idea that she isn't quite a teenager yet (who stereotypically wear a lot of make up and try to be fashionable) and can show the vulnerability of her as she is just wearing a long, plain, grey dress and trainers. 


The scene is then cut to a high angle to look at the mother throwing things out of the window. White feathers are falling from the pillows thrown down and the camera switches to the young girl looking at the feathers falling. The feathers can show a type of innocence in the girl and have connotations of youth. It is though she is in a fairytale. There is a contrast with the dark grotty building and the white feathers which shows the innocence of the girl even more as the colours represent vulnerability and innocence. 
A low angle is used to look up at the mother to show the young girl looking up at her and her age. The music doesn't change at this moment when you look up to see the mother throwing things out of the window, maybe emphasizing that this is the norm. The feathers are then thrown down in the air and the camera goes to a mid-shot and then close up of the young girl to emphasize her innocence through the white feathers and maybe the idea of wanting to be in a fairytale. The feathers are also a contrast to the dark grotty buildings in the background which also can even more emphasize the idea of her wanting to be in a fairytale.


The next scene shows the older adults and the younger children escaping from their flat with the father(?). The little boy is carrying an xbox which portrays his youthfulness as you associate a young boy playing on an xbox. The little girl is carrying teddies and is being carried out to the car as though she is incapable of walking at a fast pace due to her age. A range of mid shots and full shots are used to show the pace at which they are trying to run away. 


Lastly, once the family get away in the car, it shows a close up of the little girl in the back of the car cuddling the dog looking back at her bike which is left behind. The bike in a way symbolizes the idea that the girl doesn't have to cling on to her youth anymore and is free from having to act as a child. In contrast, the mother is at the front looking forwards to signify her looking into the future and all the possibilities that could range.


To conclude, I think that there are a lot of portrayals of the young generation in this clip and the youth is shown in a variety of ways through camera shots, editing, mis en scene and camera angles.

Thursday 10 February 2011

Representation of Age

After gender and ethnicity, age is the most obvious category under which we file people, and there are a whole range of instant judgements which go along with that categorisation. Age is the easiest way to categorise someone as "other" than yourself —everyone you meet will be, to some extent, older or younger, a different age than you. And with difference comes... a tendency to stereotype.

Children are often portrayed in the media or films in negative or stereotypical ways. For example, based on an analysis by British 18-year-olds of British newspapers, students identified what they perceived to be seven stereotypes of children in the media:
  • Kids as victims.
  • Cute kids sell newspapers.
  • Little devils.
  • Kids are brilliant.
  • Kids as accessories.
  • “Kids these days.”
  • Brave little angels.



Thursday 3 February 2011

Waterloo Road


In this specific clip, gender is represented in a lot of ways. It shows females as quiet, mature and willing to work whereas it shows boys as noisy, non-disciplined and disobedient. 

Within the clip there are lots of shot reverse shots and over the shoulder shots The over the shoulder shots incinuate that the watcher is in the same surroundings as the characters and is part of the conversation. There are clear graphic matches (more smooth shot) to portray the calmness in the classroom and the distinction between being inside of the girls' classrom and looking inside the boys' classroom through the blinds is suppose to be make the watcher, again, feel like they are in the girls' classroom and are part of the matureness.

The first scene shows the boys' classroom with the boys throwing food and being portrayed as genuinely immature. The classroom has ambient sounds of noise and fast paced music to show the immaturity and speed of boys. The teacher is wearing a feminine, flowery style apron to portray her femininity and she says during the scene that the food 'is all measured out' to signify that they are incapable of measuring the food needed in home ec. An over the shoulder shot and head shot is used when the teacher tells off the boy student for not doing his work showing the authority she has over him.

When the headteacher comes to drop off George Sampson to the female teacher's classroom, it portrays a sort of male dominance on how the man is in charge of all the women who are lower in the heirachy to him. The conversation is shown in three shot and mid shots. The man then walks away from the female teacher's sly comments about the silly system they are using to symbolise him almost washing the hands of the matter.

In the female classroom, there is a slow dolly movement from a high angle to introduce to us the classroom and the slow-pacedness and traditional values of girls. The girls are sitting in ordered rows to signify their maturity and dominance in the classroom. The females use good, expanded language to answer the teacher's questions showing the sort of betterness of the girls. The teacher is female, and rewards the girls with 'well-dones' and willing comments when they get things right. The teacher is focused on them being right showing the enthusiam for the girls to learn. Whilst closing the door, you can hear the non-diegetic sound being closed on to show a close to the immaturity and loudness of boys.

In a way, there is a contrast in gender by the classes which they are shown in. The boys are seen in a food tech class which is predominantly and traditionally a female subject and the girls are seen in, what seems to be, an english class, debating, which would probably be seen more as a masculine subject. 

To conclude, I think gender is portrayed a lot throughout this extract and is shown in a variety of ways through camera shots, editing, sound and mis en scene.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/ybz7s/