Post 6: Representation Theory

Representation is another key concept which has been largely debated and discussed. Some critcis highly rate how media representation affects our world and say 'Representational values in the media shape our understanding of the world we live in and shape ourselves as individuals'. Representation looks at the four main social groups, gender, age, class and race. The genre, technical codes, the insitution and the audience all affect the representation.  

All media texts are created in a particular institutional context, this context will modify the representation. The target audience will have expectations which are influenced by inscription in the texts. The target audience will find representations aspirational or it may link to the values of the target audience. The generic conventions provide a framework that we expect and the representations that we would expect. Genre has a big impact on representation. The micro-elements of a text, such as camera, lighting or editing, create larger meanings and values which construct representations.

One short film we watched in class was 'Tender'. The representation was quite clear in this film. The boy's mother was a single parent and she was represented to be quite a bad mother. When we first see his house, it is not well looked after, there is quite a lot of darkness used in the shots and the mother is shown to not really care about her son. The mother has a boyfriend who is quite young and is shown to be quite aggressive both towards the mother and the son. The film uses silence which makes us feel sorry for him, also representing the boy to be quite isolated and alone from others. We see that he has quite a distant relationship from his mother and he hasn't got any friends at school. We are however shown him becoming friends with a girl, who at the end he goes to meet but he is carrying a baseball bat which he had taken from his mothers boyfriend, and we do not know whether he will hit the girl or not. This shows representation of coming from poor or aggressive backgrounds.

A second short film we watched was 'Jade'. The film opened with her in a swimming pool and the water looked very blue, it stuck out to the audience. She is then in the toilet taking a pregnancy test, which comes back positive and showing a blue line. This we wouldn't really expect from looking at her as she doesn't see like the kind of girl to get pregnant at a young age. The 'blue' theme seems to represent the whole feel of the film as it seems quite down and depressing, the girl is never shown to smile or look happy she always looks sad. She has a job as a cleaner in a caravan park, and we soon see she has a romantic relationship with a much older man. She also seems to have a boyfriend of her own age and so we are left wondering who the father could be. At the end of the film she is sat with her boyfriend in the car and it was pouring with rain, this also links into the 'blue' theme and shows her to be quite sad.

A third film we looked at was 'Whore'. It opened with a teenage boy and girl sat on a bench outside a school. The boy seemed to be quite aggressive and told the girl to take her knickers off and she did so and gave them to him. This represents in a way what we would associate with the title of the film, however we are not sure if this boy is her boyfriend or not. The place in which we see them isn't a very nice place, the school looks quite dull and not very nice. Most of the pupils seem to be quite aggressive. They also go to a park and at the end the boy gets beaten up, showing the area and people are not that nice.

From watching these films, I have been able to think more in depth about where we will be shooting our short film and what type of background our character is from. We want out representations to help portray our storyline and character and so we have been able to develop our ideas on locations and characters through what we have learned from these short films.

Post 5: Narrative Theory

Narrative is an element of genre and is essential to the experience of the viewing. Narratives provide a framework which, like genre, lends a structure and provides key signposts that we can understand and then respond to. The narratives help us to understand how the characters we see exist within the narrative and how they react as the action takes place. The narratives, along with the genre, help us make expectations of how the story may unfold and from this we try to predict the outcome. At the end of a film we usually find the narrative closes, providing satisfaction and pleasure.

Many critics have looked at narrative and have analysed how it works in various texts. Todorov wrote about the equilibrium and disequilibrium model that he pointed out could be seen in the majority of mainstream Hollywood films.He said the pattern of most films is equilibrium, disequilibrium and equilibrium-restored. This then gives the audience a sense of adventure and then restores the film at the end, creating satisfaction for the audience. Christopher Vogler then took this idea from Todorov and developed it. Vogler claimed there was 'a universal story form- a mythic structure, in all stories across all cultures, throughout human history'. He expanded this in his work and suggested that story elements that were repeated through narratives were based on a series of actions and situations. Vogler then developed twelve stages of the typical hero's journey. Barthes also looked into narrative and developed five action codes. These were the Hermeneutic code, Proairetic code, Semantic code, Symbolic code and the Cultural code

In class we watched various short films and looked at the narratives to see how they compared. One short film we watched was called 'Pop Art', this was about a blow-up boy and how difficult life was for him. We found that this short film fitted into Vogler's twelve steps of action and it also fitted in to Barthes five action codes. From watching the film we found that the hermeneutic code was why was he a blow-up boy and not a normal human. The proairetic code was the pin falling on the blow-up boy's chair. The semantic code was what the blow up boy was being used to represent. The symbolic code was someone who is different from others. And finally the cultural code was bullying and child deprivation.

Another short film we watched was called 'Tender'. Tender doesn't really follow Todorov's equilibrium, disequilibrium model, there is ambigious closure and there is no resolution rather the implication of further disruption. The film shows the boy as quite lonely and isolated from others as there's lots of silence and we are made to feel sorry for him. Although at the end of the film we are not satisfied with an equilibrium restored as we normally would be in mainstream hollywood films. The ending is more dark and we are left questioning what will happen next, rather than being satisfied with a happy ending.

The third short film that we watched was called 'Jade'. The storyline seemed to be quite unclear and was quite difficult to read from an audience perspective. We see that she has a job as a cleaner at a caravan park, where she is also romantically linked to an older man. We are also shown her to be romantically linked to a younger boy more of her own age, this becomes quite confusing as we are not sure what is happening with either of the men. Jade is also pregnant and so where we would usually be made to feel quite sorry for her, we can't as much in this film. Like Tender, it doesn't have an equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium-restored pattern and so at the end of the film we are not taken back to where we started and we are not satisfied with a happy ending, we are left questioning what is going on and what will happen next.  

From watching these three short films it has helped me to come up with ways to make our short film different to others and different to mainstream Hollywood style films. They have helped me discover new ideas of film making, for instance we don't have to always have a happy ending and necessarily follow Todorov's model. For our own short film we have decided that we are going to follow our main character through just one day of his life and instead of having a typical happy reolution ending, we want to have a more unconventional ending and leave the audience asking questions.