All aspects of film form including narrative contribute to the representations of cultures and societies (gender, ethnicity and age) including ideology nature of those representations.

An ideology is a set of beliefs.

Performance:

Age

Ethnicity

Costume

Facial Expression

Body Language

A stereotype is a fixed general image or set of characteristics that a lot of people believe represent a particular type of person or thing.

Countertype: The opposite to a stereotype. The ideas of breaking away from a stereotype. Like when we think of an American president we think of a white man. You could think of a black man instead. Think of a different angle.

A stereotype within Terminator 1 is how Sarah Connor is seen to be a waitress with no passion within her life. She is stereotyped as a weak character within the first movie.

In Terminator 2 Sarah Connor is a countertype to herself within Terminator 1 as she is depicted to be fully in control of herself and went from a waitress to be comfortable around guns. She is countertypeed to her original self.

Representation in Trainspotting

1.WHO IS DOING THE REPRESENTATION? The main Characters – Renton, Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy and Robert.

1.WHO IS BEING REPRESENTED ? The Scottish poor and minority who live within the worst parts of Scotland. Also people who are addicted to drugs and their life depends on the next hit.

2.WHAT SOCIAL GROUPS ARE OMITTED FROM THE REPRESENTATIONS? Low class people addicted to drugs and have no aspiration in life.

3.WHAT MESSAGES ABOUT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS ARE BEING CONVEYED? The message of the movie is almost an advert on why you should not do drugs and the consequences of these drugs.

4.WHICH CHARACTERS OR SOCIAL GROUPS HAVE POWER WITHIN THE REPRESENTATIONS? The “Mother Superio” who supplies the drugs has power because everyone on heroin comes to him.

Young People

In Trainspotting young people are presented as being trapped in a dull and hopeless society. Not once do you see a cheery young person. They are always depicted as trying to escape the area. Danny Boyle makes young people to be low as they are drinking, taking drugs and running from the law in this movie.

Older People

Older people are seen in the movie as either loving couples with out of control children or drug addicts who are seen to only be looking for trouble.

Addicts

The whole film is almost an advert on not to do drugs. It shows the most horrible scenes which are based on real events. The drugs dens are scummy and disgusting and the addicts are presented as not caring, only caring on the next hit of the drug.

​	What went well?​	What Went Wrong​	What do I need to do next time to ensure things go better?​
Group Communication/ Role Allocation​	Everything went well, all members knew what they where doing and what their roles where.​	People were doing more than others.​	Give everyone an equal role​
Timing/​Task Completion​	We got most of the filming finished. We could of film more but overall we got a good handful.​	Did not film as much as we wanted because of the time frame.​	-Have some more time. ​-Be quicker on certain shots.​
Understanding the Task​	We understood the task well and pulled off shots we had planned.​	We had to many ideas and couldn’t pull them all together.​	​
Controlling Task Conditions (location etc.)​	I think we had the best location in the school for the mirrors and dark lighting.​	Because of the mirror the camera man was sometimes in shot so we had to redo certain shots.​	​
Skills Required​(Technical)​	The communication between us was clear.​	Confidence​	​

Cinematography was use well in the scene, one of the camera angles used was a birds-eye- view. This camera angle allowed the audience to get a direct view of the characters facial expressions which made the scene feel more horrific. It was also a long shot which made the whole character of Renton visible in the center of the screen, this made him unavoidable which added to the fact that Renton had to get through the challenging part of withdrawals to become sober and move on in life.

Editing is used in this scene in the form of a J cut. the audio from the next scene where Renton breaks into a car is heard in the scene before it. The j cut adds an extra layer of interest t the audience and also shows how badly drugs can effect you since the scene transitions from doing heroin to committing crimes.

Non-diegetic sound was used in this scene with the song ‘perfect day’ in the background. The song added irony too the scene since Renton was overdosing and sent to the hospital, the use of the non-diegetic sound added humor to a disturbing scene which could make the audience feel less tense about what’s happening and also feel more horrified .

Coloring i this scene shows the romance and lust that Renton has for Diane since the red can symbolize romance. The intense red on the walls and Diane’s jacket makes it her stand out in the dress which shows how she’s the focus of attention.

Critical Score: 5.5/10

This film does a good job at capturing audiences attention through its subtly introduced depiction of being under the influence of drugs, and the rather fantastical aspects of this depiction really engaged me through otherwise boring scenes (Spuds job interview, Renton visiting the mother superior whilst on probation, etc). My only gripe with the film is that I felt as if Renton was poorly written, and as he is the main character, this disconnected me from sympathising with his situation, which is the driving force of the film.

Favourite Scene: Spud’s Interview

I’ve chosen Spud’s interview as my favourite scene in Trainspotting as I love it’s use of Mise-En-Scene, shot distances, and Ewen Bremner’s performance to illustrate the effects of drugs on the characters in the movie. In this scene, Spud is at a job interview for a leisure centre, and has just taken drugs to calm his nerves. This scene is set in an office, that is extremely long, so that Spud and the interviewers are on separate sides of the room. This subtle set design mimics the effect that the drugs Spud took will have had on his perception, as the unnatural room size matched with the erratic zooming in and out of the different camera shots used in Spud’s speech create a sense of discomfort and slipping control commonly associated with the side effects of drugs. Ewan Bremner’s performance in this scene is stellar, creating a truly memorable and comedic display of character for Spud, and solidifying his personality in this early stage in the movie.

critical score 6/10

Danny Boyle (1996)

i gave the movie a 6 out of ten because i believe the movie did a impressive job at depicting the use of drugs and the issues that heroin causes. I also thought that the cinematography added to the intense scenes, For example when Renton was overdosing, the close up of the needle made the scene feel much more grave and disturbing. It also showed how just one needle can ruin someone’s life. The cinematography in the swimming scene made the scene feel unreal , especially when he started to swim towards the camera with his hand reached out. However I didn’t like how vulgar the film was and some scenes were difficult to watch.

My most memorable scene is when Renton was having withdrawals and hallucination in his room. This was because the birds-eye-view added a different perspective from the hallucinations and it also let us see the fear in the main characters eyes when the different people and the baby were approaching him

8/10

I thought that the film Trainspotting was about people who have to live everyday life with an addiction. The film follows the life Mark Renton, when he sees not only himself also his friends be wrapped around the idea of drugs and thinking that the only way to be happy was by consuming them. The film is seen as black comedy which is the contrast of humour and tragic scenes.

The scene that stuck with me most was most likely the bar brawl. This was when a man bumped into Franco and spilt his drink and with Franco being a light fuse he blew and beat some guys up. You see Sick boy and Spud going to defend him but Renton just sits there trying not to get involved. That was so important to the movie as you can see Renton doesn’t want to be part of this type of life ever again.

Rating- 9/10 

I think that Trainspotting was a great movie. I really enjoyed the aesthetics of it, the lighting was a standout aspect to me. I think the movie felt very real, and the scenes including the drug usage are very tense. I enjoyed the grungy feel of the lighting in most of the scenes. 

Stand out scene: 

I feel that this scene was very powerful in its representation of Renton’s overdose. The way that most of the camera is covered by the carpet when looking from Renton’s point of view really disorientates the viewer, which adds to the effect of this scene. The camera cutting from how Renton is perceiving the situation to how others around him are is a very unique way of showing his move to the hospital. The use of the carpet falling down into the floor is a great use of foreshadowing to the death of Tommy and the later shot that parallels this, the lowering of his coffin. By doing this, immediately the viewer knows that Renton has overdosed, and this scene becomes a lot more tense. The tense feeling of the scene is starkly contrasted with the music playing in the background.  

Cinematography- I feel that this scene is very effective at showing Renton’s thought process in this scene. the way that the camera lingers on this close up shot of the needle, showing how Renton waits for the blood to leak into the syringe. The way I have interpreted this is him having slight hesitation, knowing that doing this could send him to prison, as he said that he would stop using and go to rehab on court order. The camera being this close to the needle also helps in un-nerving the audience, as seeing it be injected so close up may unsettle a large amount of viewers.

Mise En Scene- I feel the space in this frame is able to show how the three in this frame feel insignificant to their situation. by having the characters against the vast hills behind them, it creates a contrast to the rising tensions between tommy and the others.

Editing – The editing for the whole bedroom scene helps to create a tense atmosphere, the sharp cuts from each shot of Renton’s hallucinations to the next help to get the viewer on edge. It disorientates the viewer by cutting from things that are inside Renton’s mind (Spud sat on his cupboard, the baby) and things that are real (himself and the tv).

Sound- during Renton’s overdose scene, sound is used in an effective way by the use of an already existing song. Perfect Day by Lou Reed is played in the background of this scene underneath other sounds, such as ambulances, cars and the doctors shouting at him. this is a very effective way to show the audience how disconnected Renton is in this moment, as the music stops when he is given the adrenalin shot in his arm.