'Skins' - Editing Example: How is Age Represented?

Parallel editing is used to show that the boy and girl are related and have a strong relationship. We can see through the parallel editing that they lead very different teenage lives, showing binary opposite characters. She is coming home; rebelling against house rules and he has been in his own bed. This conforms to Levi Strauss' idea that all narratives have opposites. The two narrative threads come together as she reaches the window and the cutaways show that she relies on him to cover up for her. The parallel editing here then turns into continuity editing in real-time of when the girl is trying to get her brother's attention when she reaches the house, which suggests that this is a 'normal', everyday tendency in the teenagers' lives and that the sequence follows a linear narrative structure.

At the start of the sequence Todorov's theory is conformed as there is a disequilibrium, which is shown through how the protagonist is positioned between the male and female bodies on the quilt and is awake before the alarm actually rings. This suggests that he is unsettled, thus conforming teenage stereotypes of them having their own problematic issues to deal with. The target audience also can relate themselves to this.

Action editing is used to create a montage of the protagonist's work-out through the use of short takes and compressed time. The part where he is using the weights conforms stereotypes of teenagers as it suggests that the routine helps him to keep fit and he is conscious of his physical appearance in order to be able to attract the opposite sex. Also, the montage shows how his life is hectic and quick-paced which contributes to the idea that teenagers' lives are quite busy.  

An eye-line match is used when the protagonist is looking out the window at the woman in the opposite house who is undressed. This indicates that he is sexually charged and conforms teenage stereotypes as the eye-line match portrays how intensely he's watching the naked woman. 

Shot-reverse-shots are used in the conversation between the protagonist and his father with cuts of the protagonist's sister coming in the house, suggesting that there is a neccessity to get her inside without her father noticing. This conforms to teenage stereotypes as the shot-reverse-shots and cuts at this point highlight the characters' rebellious and mischievous side. After these shots, short action shots of the girl getting dressed into her school uniform are used to portray that she is rushing and that there is no time as she's only just got back to the house. The fact that she's getting changed into her school uniform suggests that she is still a young girl who isn't expected to go out all night, so teenage stereotypes are conformed as she is breaking the house rules and is meant to be innocent.

'Skins' - Sound Example: How is Age Represented?

The dialogue between the father and the son shows a reversal in audience expectations. We see the father shouting and swearing at the teenager, which is normally something we would expect to hear from the teenager. The father's aggressive reaction to the diegetic rock music plays to the stereotype that teenagers play loud music and are inconsiderate to older people. His reaction also plays to the stereotype that teenagers frustrate their parents.

Diegetic sound is also used of the digital alarm clock ringing at the start of the sequence. The audience notice that the protagonist is already awake before the alarm actually rings, which suggests that he is troubled and cannot sleep. This conforms stereotypes of teenagers as this age group does usually have their own troubles at this stage in their life.

Once the alarm clock rings, repetitive, non-diegetic sound is communicated to the audience as diegetic sound as the music fits in with the protagonist's routine because of the beat. Therefore, stereotypes of teenagers are challenged because teenagers are usually stereotyped as being unorganised and not having a particular routine.

The music then bridges over to the next scene of the protagonist's sister walking up the street where magnified sound is used as the audience hear the sound of her heels. This suggests that she is trying to be an adult by wearing heels and conforms stereotypes of teenagers as they are stereotyped as wanting to try to act older than their actal age.    

'Skins' - Camera Angles/Movements Example: How is Age Represented?

The idea that teenagers are curious about sex is reinforced through the over-the-shoulder shot used when he is looking at the older woman getting dressed through the window over the road. The shot is hand-held so that the audience can have the same experience as the teenage main character. The following close-up shot shows a lack of expression suggesting that this is routine and he has become disaffected by the image. This conforms to the stereotype that teenagers' lives are surrounded by sex and it plays a big part of their lives.

A track shot out of the driveway is used when the protagonist's sister is walking up the street. This type of shot may have been used to portray how other people in the neighbourhood see her and show that she is conscious of herself. Therefore, the shot draws attention to the fact that she has a secret to hide as her body language shows that she doesn't want to be seen and known for having gone out at night, so stereotypes of teenagers is conformed and her rebellious, mischievous side is brought out again at this point. 

In addition, a high angle shot of the protagonist's sister below looking up to the protogonist is used. This portrays that she is in a vulnerable position as she relies on her brother. The low angle shot of the protagonist suggests that he has power which conforms stereotypes of younger sisters usually relying on their older brothers for support. Another way in which this view is supported is through the use of the close-up shot of the 'OK' signal that the protagonist gives to his sister, showing that he is covering up for her. 

The close-up shot of the protagonist smirking and looking at the door suggests that he enjoys this regular routine of covering up for his sister as it frustrates his father. His father's frustration is portrayed through the use of the zoom as the more angrier he gets, the closer the camera zooms in. Teenage stereotypes are conformed here as the protagonist's mischievous side is shown too as teenagers are stereotyped as being misbehaved and causing unnecessary trouble.

'Skins' - Mise-En-Scene Example: How is Age Represented?

The mise-en-scene of the protagonist's bedroom challenges and conforms to stereotypical views about youth culture. The establishing shot suggests that the series targets a teenage audience and it will follow the life and experiences of a teenager. The duvet cover shown is of a double bed with a naked man and woman, suggesting that this age group is sexually charged. The protagonist is positioned in the middle of the two bodies suggesting that he is sexually inexperienced. It could also be suggesting that he is alone and confused about his sexuality, which conforms to teenage stereotypes. In this shot, natural lighting is used to give a sense of realism so the teenage audience identifies with the life of the protagonist.

A way in which the mise-en-scene challenges the stereotypical view of teenagers is through the protagonist's tidy and simple bedroom, as teenagers are usually stereotyped as being messy. An example that backs up the fact that stereotypes of teenagers is challenged is how the protagonist's draws are organised and neat, portraying that he likes a sense of order. This makes the audience's view of this age group change as they realise that he is different compared to other teenagers. 

However, teenagers' stereotypical view is conformed as the protagonist is contrasted with another character who is assumed to be his sister. She appears in the sequence not well-groomed as she's dressed in clothes from the night before and her make-up is smudged. In this way, a rebellious side of teenagers is shown as she sneaks in. Therefore, this character acts as a binary opposite against the protagonist.    

TV Drama Revision Booklet

Tv Drama Revision Booklet

How Does the Opening of 'My Boy Jack' Appeal to Audiences?

The opening of 'My Boy Jack' appeals to audiences by having a big, well-known star in the TV drama, which is Daniel Radcliffe from the Harry Potter movies so it appeals to mass audiences of both adolescents and adults. It must have had a high production budget for it to be a high quality film as the performance style is realistic.

However, because it's a war film it could be mainly targeted at males, from a stereotypical perspective, as the sequence shown only depicts men, not women. 

On the other hand, 'My Boy Jack' may appeal to the older generation mostly because the TV drama is set during World War One, making it part of the historical genre, so they are able to relate to it more, which links to personal identity (finding that some aspects of a text reflects yourself) which is part of the audience's uses and gratifications, due to their social demographics. In addition, this links to audience pleasures - genre communities because every genre has their 'own' audience. For 'My Boy Jack' an older audience is more applicable due to the counter-reading of the film being part of the historical genre. The time when the story is set is evident through the mise-en-scene as old-fashioned costumes are worn. There are soldiers in the navy shown wearing a military-style uniform and the close-up shots of the cars indicate the time when the story is set too. A famous writer, Rudyard Kipling, is presented in the TV drama which is another reason why the TV drama relates to the older generation, as Kipling was a well-known and an important person during the time of the war.      

Audience

'My Boy Jack' Notes

The TV Drama Genre

• Set during World War One.
• Historical genre.
• Music, costumes, and props are old-fashioned so it's clear that the TV drama is part of the historical genre.
• Suitable for adults as well as adolescents as the star of the show is Daniel Radcliffe so it appeals to a wide audience.
• However, because it's a war film, it could be mainly targeted at males (stereotypical view).

Characters and Performance

• Realistic style of performance.
• Assume that the people are posh, educated, well-behaved, and that they are all mainly upper-class young adults who are British.
• In the particular sequence shown there are only men, but no women.  

Editing

• Time is important to context - against them - fade to close-up of the watch suggests this idea.
• To highlight the father's rush, fast cuts are used.
• A tense, slow mood is portrayed through long cuts of the main character.
• Clear conversation is shown through the use of the shot reverse shot in the room.
• Continuity editing portrays a chronological order, showing that time is passing.
• Experience protagonist's view through the eyeline match when he's reading the letters.
• Superimpose is used when the main character is looking at the letters - experience his view and the audience are informed of his weak eyesight and at the start in the credits as well to set the scene (1914).
• Two different events are shown through parallel editing.
• Cutaway shot of the watch again - isn't really necessary but highlights that time is still important. 
• Ellipsis - father isn't portrayed walking around - action is sped up. 
• Parallel editing of the father in the car and his son in the medical room portrays their relationship.  
• Close-up shots of the cars indicate the time when the story is set.  

Mise-En-Scene

• Setting - countryside, medical room, and mansion.
• Formal clothes - upper-class.
• Soldiers in the navy - military-style uniform.
• Body language - father is speed-walking which shows that he's in a rush.
• Lighting outdoors - sunny, bright.
• Lighting in medical room - dimly lit.
• Mansion - light gets darker as the camera goes inwards - spotlight.
• Colours - bright and vibrant outside which contrasts with the dull colours used in the medical room.
• Old-fashioned costumes.
• Fingers on the steering wheel show that the character is nervous and anxious.
• The first thing noticed about the main character is that he's wearing spectacles.

Sound

• Diegetic sound is used when the clock is ticking.
• Noise of the car - asynchronous sound, sound which is indigenous to the action but not precisely synchronized with the action (foreshadowing).
• Jolly music is used which relates to the sunny weather.
• String instruments are used to portray that the characters are nervous and anxious.
• Non-diegetic sound is used too.
• When there is more dialogue the music goes quieter. 
• Sound bridge - whoever clock belongs to - waiting for person in next scene.
• Adventurous music - rich.

Narrative Sequence

• Real-time is used when the clock at the start appears again.
• Long corridor = long wait.

Background Information

• One-off production drama.
• Daniel Radcliffe stars in it so the drama must have had a high budget.
• Set in 1914 - World War One.
• The father in the drama is a writer which suggests that he's well-known and famous.

Audience

• Mostly for the older generation as it's a war film.
• Daniel Radcliffe stars in the drama so appeals to a mass audience - pulls in a younger audience because of the big star - higher budget = better quality.
• The message conveyed is that if you're not born into the correct family with good physical conditions it's hard to get a high-rank job. 

Camera Angles and Shots

• Close-ups of the clock ticking.
• High angle shot of the whole room - high authority.
• Close-up of letters.
• Mid angle shots - realism.
• Point-of-view shots.
• Low angle shots - importance of characters and authority.
• Over-the-shoulder shots - conversation, point-of-view.
• Extreme close-up of the second-hand on the watch - time is going.
• Close-up of wheels turning on car - speed and time.
• Close-up of facial expression of the character in the car portrays their emotions - he also has glasses on like Daniel Radcliffe.
• Low angle shot - speed of car - determination - not going to let things get in the way.
• High angle shot of the three boys looking down on the papers.
• Hand-held shot of when the man is collecting the forms - we are further down - our eyeline is in line with Daniel Radcliffe's eyeline so we are empathising with him. Daniel Radcliffe's form is folded - opposition - meticulous (particular).
• Close-up of Radcliffe - wearing glasses too - links to the shot before of his father and his glasses.
• Unsteady camera = uncertainty.

Dialogue

• Not much conversation.
• Poshly spoken - matches characters' personalities.
• Authentic (realistic), old-fashioned.
• Rehersed - realistic.
• "Sir" - not a strong relationship.

Representation of Social Class

• Formal language and accent - posh.
• Formal dress.
• Dialogue - father is a writer - lower-class? An over-the-shoulder shot is used to see the other character's reaction to Racliffe's character's job - snobbery.
• Fade-up on expensive, golden-crusted watch - time is against them - late. Watch belongs to the King who is waiting for a visit from Rudyard Kipling.
• Aristocracy - King doesn't like to be kept waiting.
• Wealthy - polished Rolls Royce car.
• Open green fields - freedom, space.
• Costumes of the three boys don't show a difference in class as they are dressed similarly - equality.
• Low panning shot - wealth, power. 
• Title screen portrays the grand estate - class. 

Essays on Representation - What They Should Include

Mise-En-Scene (everything in the scene)

• Stereotypes - Tessa Perkins.
• Props.
• Costume.
• Lighting (backlighting, key light, fill - colours, filters).
• Character.
• Body language.
• Setting.
• Colour.
• Denotation/connotation.
• Iconography (the visual images, symbols, or styles of representation collectively associated with a person, cult, or movement).

Camera

• Angles.
• Movement.
• Framing - where things are positioned.
• Focus.

Editing

• Transitions.
• Effects.
• Speed of transition/pace.
• Length of frames.
• Continuity.
• Shot reverse shot, e.g. in conversation.
• 180 degree rule.
• Narrative time - the main types used are: screen time (how long the story is - amount of time it actually takes), subjective time (feel the same emotions at the same time as the character does), compressed time (doesn't show the irrelevant bits), long take (shot which continues through), simultaneous time (things happening at the same time), slow motion, and flashback.
• Narrative theories (are any of them challenged?).
• Codes (enigma codes, etc).  

Sound

• Diegetic (in scene) and non-diegetic (not in scene).
• Contrapuntal - doesn't match action.
• Parallel - matches action.
• Bridges - link scenes together.

Other Things to Consider

• Audience.
• Describing - analysis (why).
• Intentions.
• Ideas/concepts.
• Institution.
• Genre. 

Mark Scheme

Level 4 = Excellent (A/B)

Level 3 = Proficient (C/D)
Level 2 = Basic (E)
Level 1 = Minimal (U) 

'After Thomas' Notes

After Thomas is a TV drama which was aired in December, 2006 by ITV - reliable institution so know that the drama is a true story based on a mother who has a child with autism. 

Mise-En-Scene

• Mother - angry, protective, and angry at other people's ignorance and how they are judging her.
• Change of setting from the town scene to the office scene - character is portrayed as a person who is committed to their work as they don't rush out when the firebell is heard. 
• Props in office scene - desk, desk light, computer, etc - items which are found in a standard office workplace. 
• Lighting - very dull at the start. 
• Characters are dressed in normal, everyday clothing.
• Colours - quite dark. Black - depressing, death, low mood. White - heaven, death. Red - danger. 
• Black writing, to say the story is true, stands out well on the white background - see the 'light' in the truth. 

Camera Angles

• Close-ups of the mother and child's face - see expressions and features - scratches on mother's face - child lashed out - emotional difficulties and distress.
• Long shots of the shops at the beginning - shows where the characters are. 
• Over-the-shoulder shot from shop assistant - see the action from her point of view, audience are asked to judge the mother and the mother reinforces this by telling the child not to look. Going through the child's tantrums is an everyday routine.

Camera Movements

• Arc.
• Hand-held shots.
• Zoom - used when child falls. 
• Pan shot - used whilst mother and child are walking to the shop. 

Sound

• Traffic.
• Screams.
• Violin - portrays relationship between mother and child which is contrasted with the child's screams.
• Edited sound - disorientated - blurred and stretched out.
• Sound is quite negative - communicating emotion.
• Diegetic sound doesn't match the non-diegetic sound.
• Sound is magnified - background noise - dangerous situation emphasised.
• Sound sucked back out - different time.
• Contrapuntal sound - the use of the violin doesn't match the dramatic action going on in the scenes at the beginning.

Narratives

• Enigma code (Barthes) produced through the non-matching diegetic sound and non-diegetic sound at the beginning - audience doesn't know what's happened.
• Subjective time - time experienced/felt by the characters is shown through the editing and camera movements - audience experience the event at the same time. 
• Semantic code (Barthes) - the cars going past connote life going by.
• Semantic code - red bus - connotes danger.
• Set in 1993 - allows audience to contextualise.
• Enigma code of red bus, which goes past a second time, foreshadows that something is going to happen. 
• Mother - protagonist (Propp).
• Ideology - 'normal' mother trying to teach her son 'normal' things.
• Slow motion at the beginning - emphasise dramatic action.
• Red bus - real-time - feel emotions that the mother is feeling. 
• Representation of disability and how the mother copes with it. 
• Todorov's theory is challenged - no equilibrium, the story doesn't start straight away - it starts a little into the T.V drama. 
• Action codes (Barthes) - action involving another narrative action. 
• Ideology - show disability through parent's perspective and how difficult it is to cope with ignorance of other people.
• Black and white - binary opposition (Levi-Strauss).
• Main family and 'normal' family - binary opposition.
• Boy (usually worst behaved) - autistic child - and girl - binary opposition.

Editing

• Change of background colour - the transition to a white background - being taken to a different place and time.
• Fast pace editing when mother and child are in the middle of the road - action editing - creates tension for audience - they're sharing the action.

Success Criteria For TV Drama: Representation

Total of 50 marks.

20 marks – Explanation/analysis/argument:

o  Explanation – Description of what is seen in the clip and reasons for the use of certain ideas and what they mean.

o  Analysis – Detailed exploration and a breakdown of the elements within the clip and what the aim for the use of particular techniques was, such as why certain camera movements/angles, sound, editing techniques, etc, were used.

o Argument – Challenging particular theories/concepts and arguing about how certain aspects of theories/concepts are significant, such as the use of stereotypes or Todorov’s, Propp’s, Levi-Strauss’s, and Barthes’s theories.

o  Excellent understanding of the task.

o  Excellent knowledge and understanding of the way that technical aspects are used to construct the clip’s representations.

o  Clearly relevant to the set question.

20 marks – Use of examples:

o   A range from each technical area.

o   Frequent textual analysis from the clip.

o   Relevant/appropriate examples must be used.

o   Focus on set question (representation).

10 marks – Use of terminology:

o   Accurately and relevantly used.

o   Paragraphs and sentences must always be relevant.

o   Spelling, punctuation, and grammar must be accurate.

o   Appropriate, well-structured, and frequent terminology must be used.  

o   Complex issues must be expressed fluently and clearly.   

Tessa Perkins

Stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be challenged. Tessa Perkins (1979) identifies five such assumptions:

·         Stereotypes are not always negative (e.g. “the French are good cooks”).

·         They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful (e.g. “upper class twits”).

·         They can be held about one’s own group.

·         They are not rigid or unchanging (e.g. “the cloth cap worker of the 1950s became the 1980s’ consumerist home-owner who holidays in Spain”).

·         They are not always false.

Stereotyping has tended to suggest that it is wrong to see people in categories. Yet in the field of social psychology it has long been recognised that categorisation is a fundamental process necessary for humans to make sense of the world. Humans need to impose structure on events, experience, and people.  

To What Extent Do You Agree With Tessa Perkins’ Five Assumptions?

To some extent I do agree with the assumption that stereotypes aren’t always negative because several stereotypes do look at the good in others. For example, “all Asians are smart”. However, I don’t entirely agree with the assumption that stereotypes aren’t always negative because most of the time people tend to look at the negative side of situations, especially within the media. For instance, in The Simpsons Apu is discriminated highly as a South Asian immigrant with a noticeably different accent compared to all the other characters in the show, and during his first few episodes of the show he was known to be an illegal immigrant. This goes against the statement that “all Asians are smart” because then people would expect Asians to not live in a country illegally, so would expect them to have sense to take action to move into a country lawfully by going through the necessary immigration procedures.

I agree to a certain extent that stereotypes are not always about minority groups or the less powerful because upper class people can be seen as stuck-up, such as some of the characters in Downton Abbey. Their body language and speech portrays that they have a strong sense of pride. On the other hand, I don’t agree fully with the assumption that stereotypes aren’t always about minority groups or the less powerful, as stereotypes that are heard about today are mostly to do with minority groups due to ethnicity and race. For example, “black people are thugs” so are more likely to commit crimes and violent actions.

I completely agree with the assumption that stereotypes can be held about one’s own group because they are usually related to a particular race, ethnicity, social group, age, or gender. For instance, teenagers are thought as being rebellious, badly behaved, unappreciative, and not hard-working, such as Lucy Beale who was in Eastenders. She didn’t show an appreciation to her parents and was very argumentative. Also, Lucy didn’t revise well for her GCSEs and consumed alcohol with the wrong crowd of people. Furthermore, many people (mostly students as they are in the kind of environment where there are different social groups) use labels such as ‘chav’, ‘emo’ ‘goth’, etc.

I totally agree that stereotypes aren’t rigid or unchanging because as times have moved on, people’s views of others have changed. For example, women aren’t seen as being weaker than men – today men and women are seen as equal because they have equal rights, such as the right for women to vote. Whereas in the olden days, the society was patriarchal and women didn’t have a say in hardly anything.

To a certain extent I believe that not all stereotypes are false because it depends on whether if the stereotype is positive or negative. A positive stereotype of African Americans is that a lot of them can sing or dance quite well and I believe that this is true in most cases. For instance, Mercedes Jones in Glee, which is a musical drama series, has a very strong singing voice and can also dance. However, negative stereotypes for some people aren’t true, such as “all Middle-Eastern people are terrorists” because a lot of Middle-Eastern people are disgusted with terrorism from people of their ethnicity.   

  

Summer Homework - Representation of Age

Representation of Age in Eastenders

Summer Homework - New Narrative

New Narrative for Eastenders Starring Lauren Branning

Summer Homework - Representation

Representation - Lauren Branning Eastenders