TASK 1: 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.
^ This means that film creates meaning and generates response through cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and performance.
Performance:
-age, ethnicity, costume, facial expressions, body language/gestures.
Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.
TASK 2:
Stereotype – a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
Countertype – an opposite image/idea which actively aims to subvert negative notions previously enforced by media/society.
e.g. White president of America (Scandal; Tony Goldwyn) and a black president of America (Morgan Freeman).
Sarah Connor Representation:
She is the female protagonist of the Terminator franchise, directed by James Cameron.
She is a good example of a film heroine turning from a small-town, girl-next-door, waitress stereotype in the first film; to being a badass heroine, undergoing an intense transformation (physically) to steer away from the stereotypes, embracing the countertype of the character, making her more in charge of her life in the second Terminator film.
Representation in Trainspotting
- WHO IS DOING THE REPRESENTATION? (DIRECTOR’S VIEWPOINT) Danny Boyle
- WHO IS BEING REPRESENTED? (Identify social groups) Heroin addicts in Edinburgh, the parents of addicts, partners of addicts, authority figures, children and regular people.
- WHAT SOCIAL GROUPS ARE OMITTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIONS? People of colour, leading female characters, LGBTQ+ characters.
- WHAT MESSAGES ABOUT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ARE BEING CONVEYED? It’s shown that heroin addicts/addiction isn’t glamorous, that drug abuse does have its highs of euphoria as well as dark and grimy lows.
- WHICH CHARACTERS OR SOCIAL GROUPS HAVE POWER WITHIN THE REPRESENTATIONS? White men, specifically Begbie – he’s aggressive, violent and controlling to whoever is nearby.
- DO THE CHARACTERS ADHERE TO OR CHALLENGE STEREOTYPES? They challenge the stereotype that Edinburgh is the nicer region of Scotland, unlike Glasgow which has been deemed “rougher”. Showing the underbelly of the city and its people.
- ARE THE CHARACTERS TYPICAL OF FILMS IN THAT GENRE? No, they’re all unique characters for the black-comedy/drama genre. For example, Creep (2014, Patrick Brice) is considered a black-comedy, and its characters are very different to the ones in Trainspotting.
- WHAT DO REPRESENTATIONS TELL AUDIENCES ABOUT SOCIETY AT THE TIME THE FILM WAS MADE AND/OR SET? The representations shown in Trainspotting tell the audiences around the world that Edinburgh in the late 90s wasn’t always light and friendly – revealing the darker sides of the city and population, how drug abuse flies under the radar for the most part, as well as the destruction that heroin addiction can cause for the user and the people around them.
- HOW ARE ELEMENTS OF FILM FORM BEING USED TO CONSTRUCT THE REPRESENTATIONS? A good example of mise en scene being used in this film is when Renton dives into the toilet, searching for his drugs, however it is depicted in a surreal way; transitioning from the disgusting reality of the toilet, into a bottomless body of blue, clear water, this is probably used to visualise the sense of euphoria that heroin can give you. This constructs the representation of desperate, young addicts in Edinburgh. In this same scene, the music used changes when Renton dives into the toilet, going from fanfare to a tranquil ambience, synchronising with the split between reality and euphoria.