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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.
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.
Sound- The sound in this scene makes Renton’s leaving more powerful. The sound fades it the actions of him leaving. For example, when first taking the bag, you can faintly hear the music. However, in the moment where he is left, it is loud, and the lyrics are heard. This builds suspense in the scene, for me as a viewer the music added to the scene creating a powerful moment.
Editing– The montage shows Mutiple aspects of London, showing famous monuments and iconic buildings. For me as a viewer this shows what Renton expects from London but it also works as an establishing shot showing the viewer the area, he will be working in.
cinematography- this scene shows the perceptive of Renton, and the facial features of over people. For me this conveyed the judgment of the state that mark was in well. But it also showed the viewer that he was still conscious
Mise en scene- The overall mise en scene for this scene really stands out to me. The camera remains at a low level for the toilet scene meaning that we can see the actions unfold. The whole set design of the bathroom and water represents how disgusting it was, creating an effect on the viewer. The actors’ outfit appears to be normal and so does his expression, which makes the scene more whimsical.
| 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.