All aspects of film form including narrative contribute to the representations of cultures and societies (gender, ethnicity and age) including the ideological nature of those representations, meaning that films create meaning and generates response through cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance of actors.

performance – age, ethnicity, costume, facial expressions, body language/gestures

ideology – the beliefs which an individual holds about something or someone (could also refer to groups of people)

stereotype – a widely and strictly held view, image or idea of a particular type of person or groups of people

countertype – the opposite type of a certain something or someone, usually goes against a stereotype

example: Sarah Connor (Terminator 1 & 2)

In Terminator 1, the character of Sarah Connor is presented to the audience as a clumsy, young American waitress working at a diner where is seems as everyone is trying to hive her a hard time.

In Terminator 2, is like the audience gets introduced to a completely new character even though it is the same one. This is due to the significant change not only in physical appearance (looking stronger due to muscle definition, having her hair up instead of up, wearing manlier clothes etc.) but also her mindset and personality has taken a turn causing her to seem “crazy”.

Representations in Trainspotting

1. Who is doing the representations? (Danny Boyle – the director)
2. Who is being represented? (younger generation of drug users, middle/lower class)
3. Which social groups are being omitted from the representations? (elderly and very young children)
4. What messages about particular social groups are being conveyed? (younger people can very easily get addicted to drugs and getting out of the addiction is very difficult to stop unless you have a support system)
5. Which characters or social groups have power within the representations? (The mother superior and the parents of the characters but also Renton at the end of the movie)
6. Do the characters adhere to or challenge stereotypes? (when we were first introduced to the characters, they all met the “young drug users” stereotypes apart from Tommy however by the end of the movie, he became like the rest of them)
7. Are the characters typical of films in that genre? (yes because the characters help represent the youth in Scotland at the time)
8. What do representations tell audiences about society at the time was being filmed or set in? (the characters show what the normal experience of young drug users at the time and how easily people can start doing drugs but how it can also change your life drastically)
9. How are elements of film form?