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Pan’s Labyrinth

Pans Labyrinth Del Toro 2006Critical score 7/10   I enjoyed the plot being that a princess was lost in the human world and had to venture through un-human things to return home. I also like the cinematics of the unworldly creatures and how realistic they looked for unrealistic characters. I didn’t like certain parts like the in the tree scene since it felt off and didn’t match the pace of the movie    Memorable scene   My favourite scene was when Ophelia first goes down the labyrinth and meets the faun, this is my favourite scene because it’s an impressive way of using CGI to create unrealistic models. It also sets the scene for the rest of the movie.

Your notes:

  • 10 things that the viewer knows in the 1st 10 mins. 

Theres another world not like earth 

A princess ran away into the human world  

The ran away princess died  

The main characters name is Ophelia 

The mother is pregnant  

They’re apart of the captain’s family  

Ophelia isn’t the biological child of the captain 

They’re traveling through the woods to get to a mill 

Theres a labyrinth next to the mill  

Spain is in a War and opheilas dad died in the war 

  • Cinematic breakdown of the 1st 3 mins. 

The camera starts by pushing in towards Ophelia lying of the floor then it tilts which leads to a canted angle and zooms into her face and into her eyes. This leads to a zoomed out shot of the other kingdom and a pan right tracking the princess running up the stairs into the human world. The camera then looks up directly into the sun where it transitions into an abandoned ancient building, this is where the camera pans right revealing the skeleton of the lost princess. After that there’s a fade transition into the captain cars where Ophelia and her mum are. This is all done very smoothly and no noticeable cuts. 

Micro-elements:  

  • Sound 

The Sound Design of the effects that accompany the violence is very realistic. This is most likely enhanced in post-production by Foley artists. As parts of this film fit a horror genre this adds to the horror and emotional impact of those violent actions on the viewer. There is also a music motif in the Lullaby that is sung to Ofelia. It can be diegetic when sung by an on-screen characters (the Mother or Mercedes) but it becomes the theme tune for the film taking on a number of different musical forms (orchestral) adding to the suspense in places or the emotional state of Ofelia (rather like the ‘Time Goes By’ tune is manipulated in ‘Casablanca’.) 

  • Cinematography 

The Cinematography in Pan’s Labyrinth is very smooth and intricate. Theres a lot of different uses of camera angle which adds to the confusing and complicated nature of te film.  For example, when we first see the Faun in the labyrinth it’s a close up shot of his fac which highlights how superhuman creatures are. Theres also a use of a long shot at the end of the movie when Ophelia has returned to being the princess. The long shot shows the room she is in and adds to the supernatural atmosphere 

  • Mise-en-scene 

The use of costuming plays a big role in the movie. All the soldiers at the captain are often seen in their uniforms, although we don’t know most of the characters’ names, we still know roughly who they are based on their appearance. This is also the same for the soldiers on the communist side that hide in the woods; they all wear similar clothing, much poorer than the captain and has an army. In the tree scene the set design showcases how Del toro was known for his Cgi. The toad in the tree looked realistic in proportion to a typical frog but still had a supernatural vibe to it. 

  • Editing 

I think the editing in this movie added a lot to the supernatural aspect. For example, I think the transitions and the cuts between each scene made the film feel almost real especially since it was natural editing for the most part.  

Representation (Gender) 

How are men and women represented differently and how does this position the viewer? 

Ofelia – daughter of Carmen: Starts of by being mistreated by the captain when she offers to shake his hands and instead, he grabs her wrist and tells her she wrong. Shes often neglected by everyone including her mum (other than Mercedes) and isn’t seen as much of a help of concern since she’s a woman. Shes also only acknowledged by people when she is wearing a pretty dress which only adds to the women are too be seen and not heard. 

Carmen – heavily pregnant ‘new’ wife of the captain: she is only seen as a baby maker for the captain and other than the baby (son) Carmen herself has no real use to the men. She is also not listened too; this is shown when she says she doesn’t need a wheelchair but is forced to anyways since a man told her too. 

Captain Vidal – Soldier in Franco’s Army: he is stereotypically hyper masculine with a power complex because he is the head man. He has no care or respect for women and this is shown wen he says ‘what will she do she’s just a woman’ to Mercedes after he’s taken her captive. He also treats woman like baby makers or cleaners which is why he has no women working under him as soldiers or anything other than cooks or cleaners. 

Mercedes – housekeeper: Alpough she has some stereotypical woman traits such as being a mother figure to Ophelia Shes also much stronger than the stereotypical woman. This is shown when she runs away from the captain and his army to save her rother and kills the captain at the end showing how she’s not going to be a victim to his sexism. 

The King and Queen of the Underworld – In the final scene where we see them, the queen of the underworld is seen as sitting lower down that the king, this shows that even in the underworld  

Aesthetics 

What is the ‘look of the film’? How has this been achieved? 

Consider colour palette / music, realism v fantasy, magic realism (find out what this means in literature), Lighting. 

The film has creatures that are being generated by artists a costume designer. Del Toro was very specific by saying he doesn’t want any seen before creatures he wants pure originality. Thye use animatronics and puppets to create different forms of movements in the charterers. For example, the ears of the faun are animatronic, and the Root had metal rods controlling it. Alot of the effects were added or some thigs were removed postproduction in editing such as the frog that couldn’t move in real life but was made livelier postproduction. 

History and Social Contexts 

During when the film is set, it’s during the remanence of the Spanish civil war between the communists and nationalists. The nationalists won the war in 1939.

The way society was represented in the movie was accurate, this is shown during the take scene when the captain invited over guests and the persist of the church while talking about how poor the people of Spain were because of the war. The irony here is that they were eating a feast while everyone else was starving.  

Watch video embedded into last slide on powerpoint (in RED) 

Instiutional context 

This movie is a Spanish film even though del toro is Mexican. Del Toro put most of the money into himself which makes this a passion project. When bigger investors / studios get involved, they get more of a say over Del which he didn’t want.  

BUDGET $19M 

BOX OFFICE TAKE $83M 

Won 3 Oscars in cinematography  

This is England – representations

young people

In ‘This is England’, the youth is represented in different ways. The main character Shaun who is a child, is introduced as a lonely child who often seems to get picked on by other people. The ‘Skinheads’ is the gang Shaun makes friends with at the beginning of the film but they also represent the youth in Britan at the time as Woody and his friends ae in their teens or early twenties, implying that they could’ve also gone through similar experiences to Shaun such as getting picked on. This further explains why Woody was very keen to take Shaun under his wing. The main character representation of young people in this film is much nicer and kinder than the school kids we are shown at the beginning picking on Shaun because of his father.

older people

Older people are represented quite negatively throughout most of the film. Prior to the introduction of Combo and Banjo, older people did not make much of an appearance due to the fact that Combo and Banjo were the “first generation” of skinheads therefore they are presented as entitled and powerful although Combo just got out of prison meaning his past activities were rather negative and dangerous. Other older characters we get introduced to are most males such as the ones in the picture above, showing the nationalists wanting Britain to be for the British making them the antagonists in the film due to them taking advantage of the younger generation such as Shaun and modelling their minds to become prejudiced towards anyone not British. Not all older figured are represented this way however. For example Shaun’s mother who is presented as a sweet and caring woman wishing for her child to get treated right even though Shaun is at an age where he might not yet be able to appreciate her efforts fully. After Shaun changes his appearance, she doesn’t seem too be too angry and she even thanks the skinheads for making Shaun feel included and happy, further implying that she has his best interest at heart.

English people

The cast for this movie mostly contains English people therefore they create the main plot of the film based on pride and love for their country. Characters such as Woody and Lol do not seem to be as impacted by their British identity compared to characters such as Combo and Banjo, therefore representing Woody’s group as more comfortable with who they are in society. Combo on the other hand utilises his identity in order to persuade Shaun and the others to join his group by twisting the idea of patriotism and suggesting to people like Milky for example that his British identify is superior to his Jamaican identity. This represents the British people in the film to be patronising and forcing their beliefs and standards onto everyone else.

foreign people (people of colour)

Woody’s group consisted of mostly white people, Milky however was the only person of colour we get introduced to whilst also being part of the group. Not only does this show Woody’s kindness for not segregating Milky and for treating him like anyone else but it also shows that Milky has not done anything wrong and that he is a positively represented character. However with Combo back, the segregation and hatred towards Milky begins and further becomes more obvious with the way Combo almost kills Milky at the end of the film though Milky actually did Combo a favour when he asked him for some weed. Combo also uses Milky as a main topic when trying to break up Woody’s gang in the first place by bringing attention to the fact that no one in the group stood up for him when racist jokes and comments were being made, further supporting Combo’s argument that English people do not stick up for each other anymore. However Combo’s actions quickly get overseen by the way he treats Milky at the end. Besides from Milky who represented black people in ‘This is England’, the shopkeeper represented the Asian community and in my opinion he was a very important character. He is presented as a simple man trying to make a living but is then given trouble by Shaun at the beginning of the film as he was being irritating and at that time it seemed like he was the one in control. Further along in the film, we are presented with the shopkeeper again when Shaun comes in with Combo and his group trying to threaten the shopkeeper for being a different ethnicity to them. His shop gets robbed by them and racist slurs are being thrown at him, showing that now he is not the one in charge anymore but now he is rather helpless.

men

The men in the film make up the majority of the cast, implying that back in the late 90s men were seen a the dominant gender and the ones who are “in charge”. The representations of men in the film vary widely. We firstly get introduced to Shaun who represents the younger group of Englishmen, he idolises first Woody then Combo as they are older and he wants the masculinity they have. Woody is then introduced to us as a caring and outgoing person who wants to tach Shaun how to be confident but in the other hand, we then get introduced to Combo who only seems to project is nationalist ideas onto everyone especially Shaun as he is young and vulnerable. The rest of the male characters present their strength in one way or another however they also express extreme emotions at times, making it hard to see them in a positive light.

women

In ‘This is England’, the female characters aren’t initially presented as very important however they do become more apparent as the film goes on. The main female character Lol (Woody’s girlfriend) is given her own story and character development as she is just seen as one of the other girls in the group however she turns out to be a very caring character. We then find out that she was essentially raped by Combo while she was drunk before he went to prison, showing not only her hatred for him and what he stands for but also her strength and bravery especially when she accepts his request to talk to her alone in his car. Smell is a character who becomes Shaun’s girlfriend and serves no other real purpose in the story as we don’t get to learn much about her or her background. Shaun’s mother is a character who truly shows the contrast between the men and the women in the film. She is caring and supportive even though she was recently widowed and shows her strength by having to look after Shaun by herself which makes the audience respect and like her.

This Is England: Representation

Young people in This Is England play a big part in representing this time period in England, the youngest being Shaun who’s 12, along with Woody’s group who are all young adults. For the most part, they’re depicted to the spectator as being reckless, carefree, and unified by style.

Older people in the film have a range of roles, there’s Cynthia who is Shaun’s mother, she is caring and down to earth, and then there is Combo who has an authoritarian approach to keeping people close to him, instilling fear and nationalist propaganda onto others. The audience is shown that this heavily impacts Shaun, since Combo hones in on Shaun’s grief, weaponizing it so that Shaun becomes an asset to Combo’s gang.

The working class is the prominent class in This Is England, this is important to the spectator because it signifies how Margaret Thatcher’s time in parliament wasn’t taken lightly by those in the working class, as shown multiple times with graffiti.

English people are only represented by those from the North of England, in depth, the only time we ever see Southern citizens is on news broadcasts about those in power, like Margaret Thatcher and the Royal Family. This indicates to the audience that it is a common occurrence that the South have an overpowering hold on the North, along with classism against northern England.

Asian and Black people are depicted in a bad light whenever Combo has something to say about it, casual racism is a common occurrence throughout the film, for example, when Combo first visits Woody and the others to tell them a story about his time in prison, openly discriminating a black inmate whilst Milky is in the room (a Jamaican man). Asian people are portrayed as “job stealers”, according to Combo, as well as being verbally abused and taken advantage of in the scene where Shaun and Combo’s gang raid Sandhu’s shop.

Representation in This Is England

Young People

Shaun, as a young person is represented in this film as being a vulnerable and impressionable boy that can easily adapt to what others say to him. He is easily influenced by Combo’s ideologies which is a real representation of how so many real young people in the real world start to fall into far-right ideas. But at the end he shows that it is still possible for young people to change. Shaun is also seen as a victim of circumstance, of the social and political problems happening around him as he is rightly clueless.

Older People

Shaun’s mum throughout the film is the only parental figure seen that doesn’t manipulate Shaun’s vulnerability and constantly supports him. She can be seen as a positive light for Shaun, especially when she talks with Shaun about his dead father and offers help. She is seen as a responsible, caring mother.

This differs to Combo who, for Shaun, seems to fill in the void that Shaun’s biological father left when he passed away. Combo is represented as an adult who is angry and very outspoken- he doesn’t sway in his ideas and wants to spread them around. He may think of himself as a hero for Shaun, but actually he is a manipulative figure that used his authority due to his age to pick on Shaun’s insecurities and lack of a parent. He is not responsible, and is not a good representative for what an adult should be and do.

Class

All of the characters in This is England represent the lower working class. We see them navigate their childhoods while in this class and this is reflective of the director’s own experiences. For Shaun, we see the drawbacks of his own poverty reflected in the mise en scène in his bedroom- the chair as a bedside table, the dim lights and the décor in bad condition.

Black People

Milky is the victim of racism in This is England. He represents the views held by many English people in the 1980s, and when he is brutally beat up by Combo, we see the extent of the deep hatred. However, he explains how he has a good and big family around him, and him and Combo even find a point to relate on when they discuss music, but Combo’s racist views eventually prevails.

Aesthetics

aesthetics definition – The overall style of a film and the visual appearance. This can include the costumes and the set design throughout the movie

Aesthetics term 1-realism

definitions

Realism – a way to represent real life issues / characters through film

verisimilitude – The appearance of being true or real; believability

Example– Selma is an example of verisimilitude since its based on real events that happens (the fight to pass the voting act right)

social realism – Effects on the environment and the factors of the development of characters throughout

Example – This is England is an example of social realism since in the movie represents real life England and its issues, including the racist development of Shaun.

magic realism – a literary or artistic genre in which realistic narrative and naturalistic technique are combined with surreal elements of dream or fantasy

example – Encanto (2021) is a magic realist film since the movie has surreal elementals like magical powers the a realistic feal from the community and village

hyperreality definition – over dramatic version of reality or reality that is emphasized / too real to be real

Example – The Barbie (2023) movie is over emphasized and a dramatic look of reality

aesthetic term 2Visual style

Visual style – the look and the feel of a film / language

iconography – the visual images and symbols used in a work of art or the study or interpretation of these

example – The boy in the stripped pajamas (2008). The reoccurring pajamas symbolize the holocaust and the people who suffered throughout

intertextual referencing – when films and other arts/literatures collide in a movie

Example – In Monsters inc other Disney movies are referenced like in the scene where they are trading plushies of nemo

visual / sound motifs –  a recurring sound element that is associated with a particular character, theme, or idea within a film or audio-visual work

Example – The movie jaws has the memorable sound track whenever the shark is nearby

colour grading – digital tools used to make videos or films look better or change the colour tone and mood

Example – In the movie corpse bride, the colour grading waw a cool toned blue throughout adding the the eerie feeling

auteur trademark – something used by directors to make sure no one else steals their work

Example – Stanly Kubrick has a signature style of symmetry throughout all of his movies e.g. the shining

Aesthetics terms 3 – Tone

Tone – The overall mood/ atmosphere

Pathos – capture audience through emotion

Example – In the movie Frozen when Anna freezes , the emotion displayed on Elsa can be captured to the audience

bathos – an anti-climax, when the audience is expecting bigger and better and the outcome is not what expected

Example – Spiderman across the spider verse. This movie ends on a part 2 right before the action part is about to begin

suspense – holding something back form the audience and increasingly adding to the tension building

Example – Zodiac is a great example of suspense especially since we never find out who is the zodiac killer in the end

comedy – a humor themed movie with jokes and the aim is to make the audience laugh, sometimes comedy is mixed with other dark genres to create a more textured movie theme

Example – A great comedy movie was sherk 2 since the main characters were alraedy established making more room for jokes

dramatic irony – when the audience understands more of the situation than the characters

Example – In Romeo and Juliet the audience is aware that Juliet is only pretending to be dead when Romeo finds her

distancing effect – a sense of distance between the characters and the audience

Representation

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.

Performance – age, ethnicity, costume, facial expressions, body language + gestures, etc.

Stereotype – A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Countertype – challenging stereotypes of certain beliefs. Example: having a black president of America.

Sarah Connor:

Sarah Connor looks like an average stereotypical American diner waitress in Terminator 1. She seems to be fed up with her job, as she shows up late and has to deal with demanding and annoying customers – whether that be a boy putting ice cream in her pocket or people forgetting which orders are theirs. She looks like she is in her early-mid 20s, and has stereotypically feminine traits.

Sarah Connor in Terminator 2 is far more built and muscular, which makes her a countertype of the stereotypical nurturing and caring female character. She looks like she is the heroine in an action film, as she seems comfortable with guns and ready to fight.

Representation in Trainspotting:

1.) Who is doing the representation?
Danny Boyle, the director of Trainspotting.

2.) Who is being represented?
Drug (specifically heroin) addicts, young, white Scottish men, parents.

3.) What social groups are omitted from the representations?
People of colour, wealthy people

4.) What messages about about particular social groups are being conveyed?
They seem to be trying to convey that drugs are not only bad for a person’s health, but also their general lifestyle by showing the very un-glamorous life they live.

5.) Which characters or social groups have power within the representations?
People such as the people who interviewed Spud made it clear that they have the power in that situation, which I think shows how more middle-upper classes look down on the lower classes and people who are struggling with addiction.

6.) Do the characters adhere to or challenge stereotypes?
I think that the main characters stray away from the previously glamorised lifestyle that is mostly associated with rich rockstars and musicians. However, it does adhere to the stereotype of what heroin-addicted people are like.

7.) Are the characters typical of films in that genre?
The characters reflect some traits of characters in a drama, but this type of explicit representation of heroin addicts was very atypical.

8.) What do representations tell audiences about society at the time the film was made and/or set?
Representations are good to show underrepresented or common types of attitudes/people of the time period.

9.) How are elements of film form (mise en scene/performance/sound/editing/cinematography) being used to construct the representations?
Different elements of film form help to contribute to the verisimilitude of the film, which constructs representations. For example, the performance of Ewan McGregor is very effective in presenting what an addict would act like in real life. As well as the performance, costuming in Trainspotting reflects clothing of the time.

Trainspotting Representations:

Older people:

Elderly people in homes are represented in this film briefly as the main group of characters steal their television and drugs. They are shown as a bit of a stereotype as they sit around, sleep and don’t do anything as their TV is stolen. As well as this, there are other older people such as the people that interview Spud, who seem very above him and seem to think that they are superior.

Addicts:

Addicts are represented a lot throughout Trainspotting whether it be when they are taking drugs with the Mother Superior, taking speed before going to an interview, or even just when they are smoking consistently throughout the film.

Scottish people:

Scottish people are shown a lot in pubs in general, for example the beginning of the film when Begbie is being introduced they are in a very busy pub, with people drinking and chatting all around, which is a staple of Sottish and British culture in general. There are other parts of Trainspotting that represent the general Scottish population such as the nightclub scene and in the second pub scene towards the end of the film.

Women:

Women are represented scarcely in Trainspotting; the only woman that is part of the ‘main group’ being an addict as well. Other than that, Tommy and Spud’s girlfriends are presented to be fed up with their boyfriends, especially Tommy’s, who breaks up with him after he becomes addicted to heroin, suggesting that a lot of the women in their lives won’t put up with their addictions. Finally, the only other woman that is in the film is rather coercive and doesn’t tell Renton that she is underage before he sleeps with her, which is a very negative depiction of her.

Representation in ‘Trainspotting’

Young People

Throughout the film, the young people, known as Generation X, are portrayed as nihilistic and unknowing of what they want to do with their lives, shown by the fact that the vast majority of the main cast are heroin addicts and that the characters of Sick Boy and Allison unsuccessfully being able to care for a new life and maybe even this could be seen as them being unable to care for the next generation. A contrasting representation is portrayed to the audience by the character of the school girl, Dianne. She, unlike most of the characters in the film, knows what she wants to do with her life and sexual, whilst also being knowledgeable about the way in which the new generation is heading.

Older People

The main depiction of older people in the film ‘Trainspotting’ is that of Renton’s parents, who are depicted sympathetically as a caring loving couple, deeply concerned for their son. However, I also think there is a bit of hypocriticalness in their behaviour, as through Renton’s dialogue and the visual depiction of the mother and father, the audience knows that they too are drug addicts constantly drinking and smoking. The difference they are socially acceptable drug addicts and this depiction may be the director socially commentating that these people too should be shunned for their unhealthy habits.

Working class people

Working class people are depicted as something for the main protagonists/drug addicts to take advantage of, for the their own beneficial gain, evidenced in the airsoft gun scene, where Renton and Sick Boy shoot a pit-bull and get it to maul it’s master and the scenes of Bigbe’s irrational outbursts, such as the multiple bar fights throughout the film, cause we know thanks to Renton that Bigbe finds pleasure in other people’s pain. A major sequence which echoes this message of working class people being taken advantage of is when Bigbe and Sick Boy move into Renton’s new flat without asking and turn it into a dump.

Scottish People

The key representation of Scottish people that comes to mind for me and most likely many viewers is when the character of Tommy tries to make the group go on a hike through the Scottish hillsides, which they then reject, resulting in Renton’s infamous ‘it’s shite being Scottish’ monologue/speech towards the rest of the group. Though it is fuelled by his realisation that his lover is a school girl, it stills represents the key representation of Scottish people in this film that being they don’t have a very view of themselves and, even though they hate England, they realise its probably a better place to live. This thought is thrown to the curb when Renton moves to England and he realises its just a big of a dump as Scotland is.

Addicts

In ‘Trainspotting’, the obvious portrayal of addicts is that of the main cast of protagonists, who are addicted to heroin. Their addiction is shown to be something that hurts all those around them, key examples being Renton’s parents constantly being disappointed in him throughout the film and the death of Sick Boy and Allison’s baby. Other addicts in the film are Renton’s parents, who are seen throughout the film constantly smoking and drinking. As Renton says, they are ‘socially acceptable addicts’ and perhaps Boyle’s inclusion of these characters carrying out these actions may be him critiquing society and saying that all drug addicts, socially acceptable or not, should seek help.

Men and Women

The entirety of the film is told from the white male perspective of Renton, meaning the views expressed throughout the film are that of a white male. Men in the film of ‘Trainspotting’ are pictured as being careless, not thinking about if their actions are hurting anyone, as shown through the heroin addiction of the main protagonists and the robbing montage, where the main protagonists rob all types of different people, including old people. The women in the film are pretty much in there for love interests for the main protagonists. However, the character of Dianne does give some insight to how the next generation will get on with life. Renton saying ‘one thousand years from now there will be no guys and no girls’, does show that he thinks there will be gender equality down the years, whilst also suggesting his views on sexual fluidity.

This Is England Representation Task

Masculinity

Masculinity is a key theme of the film ‘This is England’, as obviously a lot of the characters in the film are men. There are two main characters, in my opinion, which not only exhibit masculinity to the characters in the film, but also represent two types of masculinity in the eyes of the viewer. On one hand, you have Woody, who embodies the male in Britain at the time who was accepting of everyone, no matter of their appearance, age, gender or ethnicity, which is shown by him inviting Shaun in to his group despite being such a young age. Then you have Combo, who embodies the males who had very right wing views and who believed that through Britain caring for minorities that the white working class male had become a minority themselves.

Women

Women throughout the film of ‘This is England’ are shown to be caring towards the male characters in the film, such as Shaun’s Mum to Shaun, the girls in the gang to Shaun and Smell to Shaun. They’re also used in the film to portray some of the horrible that happened to women during that time period and still happen today. This is shown through the interchange between Combo and Lol in which Combo claims that the thought of their ‘love’ got him through prison. Lol then implies that Combo raped her whilst drunk, as she says that she’s been trying to forget about that night ever since it happened. They’re also portrayed as the more sensible characters in the film and soceity at the time, as shown by the second montage in the film where the boys are messing about and walking solemnly towards the camera, and also when Shaun’s mum takes him to the shoe shop and insists he gets a certain pair of shoes.

Young People

Young people throughout the film are shown to be quite impressionable to their surroundings, such as when Combo convinces a handful of Woody’s gang, including an extremely young Shaun, to join him in committing these heinous, racist acts that we see them do throughout the film. They are also actually shown to be more sensible than adults that we see throughout the film, and even though they do destroy an old abandoned house, that has a nice, friendly tone to it, as they aren’t hurting anyone and they’re bonding with one another over something. On the other hand, the adults throughout the film do horrible, disgusting things, such as prank Woody’s party with a machete. It is only once the young people find themselves under the adult’s tutelage that start to do horrible things, such as racially berate children and men and sexistly taunt women. This film maker showing the audience how impressionable the youth of that time was.

Older People

In terms of older people in the film ‘This is England’, some of them shown to be the caring parental figures in Shaun’s life, such as his mum and Combo, even though Combo does have malicious intent, he is shown to be caring towards Shaun at certain points throughout the film. Politicians, such as Margaret Thatcher, are shown to be, just like in real life, uncaring fools, shown by the graffiti on the side of the church, which is constantly shown throughout the film. Her lack of caring for the working class is the reason for the emergence of these subcultures, such as the ska movement that Woody’s gang follows and the right wing liberalism that Combo believes in.

English People

English people in the film ‘This Is England’ are portrayed in a majority of ways, one being the way in which they are portrayed as violent through the characters that support the political views of the far right, such as Combo. This portrayal is also shown through the opening compilation, in which there is quite a lot of footage that shows British people rioting. Another in which British people are portrayed are quite accepting other people no matter their age or ethnicity. This shown through Woody’s gang and how he invites Shaun, a child, into the gang/friend group as well as being friends with Milky, who is black. This representation though is contradicted later on by the far right characters who berate and abuse people of other ethnicities, such as the man who owns the corner store.

Asian/Black People

Asians and Black people are represented through the characters of Milky, the only black skinhead, and the Asian man who owns the corner shop and the group of Asian boys playing football. Throughout the film, these characters are constantly discriminated against, the most memorable examples for me being when Shaun calls the shop owner a paki and when Combo beats Milky nearly to death whilst berating him with racial slurs. This representation in the film shows to the audience the discrimination people of different ethnicities faced during this time period.

Place (the Midlands where it is set)

The setting of the midlands in the film feels like its own sort of character and as a way for the director to show to the audience the feelings that people had at the time towards those in power, evident from the mise-en-scene which portrays a run-down northern town, telling the audience that the government don’t really care about these people, which is why they’re angry at them. Another element which portrays this anger towards government officials is the ‘Maggie is a twat’ graffiti shown throughout the film.

Class

From the very beginning of the film, directly after the montage, the audience is presented with a clear image of a working class home, which is the opening scene of Shaun’s bedroom and the basic furnishings that it has. The audience is then shown the negative effects that poverty can have upon a person mentally, besides from the obvious effects such as lack of food, as Shaun is bullied for his outdated and ill-fitting clothes. Other images of class presented throughout the film are Combo and his defiant stance on society that the working class male has now become a minority, due to too much immigration, which even those is wrong, could be viewed as right in the case of Combo, as he has clearly had a poor education and where he lives isn’t the nicest of places.

Representation in This Is England

Young people:

Young people are mainly represented in the beginning of This Is England, not only by showing the school that Shaun goes to, but also in the form of Woody and his friends, who are quiet young. It is revealed that Gadget goes to the same school as Shaun, as well as Smell. They are mainly represented as a rowdy sort of bunch, who are easily influenced which is evident by how quickly Shaun joins Combo. However, it is also shown that a lot of them don’t hold the same views as the typical skinhead does, as Woody is far more left-wing than Combo.

Older people (parents/authority figures/politicians):

There are multiple clips of Margaret Thatcher, as well as radio broadcasts of her, throughout This Is England. However, she is not presented in a good light; from the very beginning of the film, there is lots of anti-Thatcher graffiti, and then later on, Combo reveals his criticisms of her. Conservative politicians, especially Thatcher are represented in a very negative way, though it was mainly because of Combo’s white supremacist views.

There are other people of an older generation that are also represented in the film. For example, the National Front that are giving a presentation are all older men, who seem to be of a higher status and class due to their much nicer clothes. Combo and his friends are also of a generation older than Woody, which emphasises the fact that the older people in the film (apart from Shaun’s mother) are represented with far more right-wing views.

English people:

A lot of the English people in the film -despite whether they are white supremacists or not- seem to be somewhat proud of the country. However, a majority are represented as racist nationalists, which include Combo’s violent group, as well as the politicians that are introducing the National Front to Shaun for the first time.

Masculinity:

There is a bit of a theme in This Is England of masculinity, even though it is quiet subtle. There are no women at the National Front meeting, and none of the women in Woody’s group decide to join Combo, which suggests that the nationalist skinhead stereotype is very much associated with men. As well as this, when Shaun comes back in after Combo assaults Milky, Combo stops sobbing and notices that Shaun is crying a lot, which prompts him to shove a finger in his face to tell him to stop crying and say that ‘men don’t cry’.

People of colour:

The representation of people of colour in the film shows them as being a villain in Combo’s eyes. In his ‘This Is England’ speech he describes them using racist slurs, and talks about how they are ‘taking jobs’ from the unemployed in England. While they are represented in a negative way, they are clearly not shown to be the actual villains of the story, and the audience is seemingly supposed to sympathise with them. Rather, Combo and his group are presented as the villains.

Setting:

The setting of the film really seems to give an insight into what England was like in 1983. It is filmed on site, which gives it a sense of verisimilitude and in general, it just feels grimy, gritty and grey which represents the English weather very well.

Representation

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

Performance

Age, ethnicity, wardrobe, facial expression, body language, and gestures are all examples of representation through performance.

Stereotype

A stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example, an expectation about the group’s personality, preferences, appearance or ability. Stereotypes are often overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information. A stereotype does not necessarily need to be a negative assumption. They may be positive, neutral, or negative.

Countertype

A representation that actively seeks to subvert and challenge negative stereotypes usually of a person, group or place.

Sarah Connor Examples

Countertype

Although Sarah Connor was shown as a submissive female character in the first movie, in the second she is shown a lot more masculine, donning more utilitarian costuming and displaying tight muscles and shorter hair. These all hint towards Sarah fitting a much stronger character type in the second movie, one commonly assumed to be fit with men.

Stereotype

In the first movie, Sarah is shown to be a lot more ditzy and feminine, wearing light colours and having large styled hair, whilst working in a service job, we get the idea that this is the “damsel in distress” type character

Representations In Trainspotting

  1. WHO IS DOING THE REPRESENTATION? (DIRECTOR’S VIEWPOINT)

Danny Boyle

2. WHO IS BEING REPRESENTED ? (Identify specific social groups)

Heroin addicts, Scottish people

3. WHAT SOCIAL GROUPS ARE OMITTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIONS?

POC, women

4. WHAT MESSAGES ABOUT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ARE BEING CONVEYED?

People who do drugs are generally less intelligent than clean people

5. WHICH CHARACTERS OR SOCIAL GROUPS HAVE POWER WITHIN THE REPRESENTATIONS?

White men have power, and older people are given the most

6. DO THE CHARACTERS ADHERE TO OR CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES?

Begby adheres to the stereotype of Scottish men being very aggressive and angry

7. ARE THE CHARACTERS TYPICAL OF FILMS IN THAT GENRE?

They don’t fit the typical character types of dark comedies like itself, but the ensemble matches casting of similarly “British” films

8. WHAT DO REPRESENTATIONS TELL AUDIENCES ABOUT SOCIETY AT THE TIME THE FILM WAS MADE AND/OR SET?

As this film is set in Edinburgh, Scotland, the main theme being about drug addiction tells us that Scotland has an issue with drugs

9. HOW ARE ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM (MISE EN SCENE/PERFORMANCE/SOUND/EDITING/CINEMATOGRAPHY) BEING USED TO CONSTRUCT THE REPRESENTATIONS?

The grimy setting of “Mother Superiors” den conveys the idea that drug addicts usually dont pay much attention to taking care of their surroundings, and end up living in nasty conditions