1B - Representation Essay Question UPDATED

Apply the concept of representation to one of your media productions

Representation refers to the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. Within our coursework we product a film opening for a film called ‘traffic light’ and it is what I will be analysing throughout this essay. We included themes such as rich and poor, damaged youth and poor neighbourhoods. Our film opening was set in Melbourne, Essex, a dodgy area where lots of petty crime and drug dealing takes place. The story line follows a young boy who has taken the wrong path, the path of drugs. The film then follows on to show how he tries to turn his life around and shows the struggles he faces along the way.

We learnt from theorist such as Levi Strauss and Propp, who both has useful ideas that we could include in our film opening. Strauss focused on including binary opposites to heighten the difference between two characters, we showed Antonio to be poor and struggling with life as well as including well respected police officers who have worked hard to be where they are. Propp then added to this and stated that there will always be stock characters in every film; the damsel, the hero, the evil one etc. again we added Ale, the evil one, to bring Antonio to the dark side of dealing drugs. This then helped add to the narrative and also helped represent to the audience the purpose of each character.

‘Traffic light’ included both of these ideas, especially around the concept of age. Our main character ‘Antonio’ was a young man, around the age of 18, who had followed the life style of an older leader of a drug cartel. The comparison between the two, young and old, allows the audience to see where the older character started off. In addition to this, the young character struggling represents how hard it is for the younger generation to become successful. Society has made it so hard for the younger generation to find jobs, stay healthy, socialise whilst also achieving a high standard when it comes to their education: there are too many pressures it’s not surprising that young men like Antonio take the wrong path. We intensified the age gap by showing Antonio riding a bike – like a child riding in the street, his only way of transport – and the older drug leader dressed in a suit – professional and successful like most adults appear. This also incorporated Propps idea of a stock character as Antonio conformed to the idea that teenagers are a waste of space and a burden on society, a stereotypical stock representation. We used this stereotype to show to the audience that teenagers can change and become better people due to him being a completely different person at the end of the film, it makes the audience want to find out his story.

Class what’s another factor we chose to represent as it assimilated how the lower-class struggles do effect the next generation and it influences their future life decisions. We showed his rough up bringing by showing his house as run down (alcohol everywhere, cigarette butts) so that it was clear that his parents didn’t care about his actions or whereabouts. The lack of male role models in his life have lead him to be unstable and unclear of his future plans and aspirations, hence he is wasting his life away. We even included a sped-up head camera shot so that the audience could see how his mind worked. The fast pace hinted how he was used to making quick rational decisions which usually got him in trouble – i.e. he had no help or guidance in his troubled life, he was all alone. The use of his bike also expresses how he is unable to afford a car, he is not part of the middle-class stereotype who drive cars, he has to take less economical uses of transport. This representation of lower class emphasises the help that all of the troubled youths in society need in their upbringing and to express to people that should take more care into these kids. If Antonio’s family had given him more moral guidance would he be down this road? It is important that people with influences in a child’s life make sure they are making that influence positive. Making parents and other people with an influence over a child think about who they can help that child grow into a good person, helping future generations to come.

Simply the use of harsh drugs within the film opening again divides the gap between law abiding citizens as the typical family home wouldn’t have drugs and alcohol spread all over their living room table. Although Antonio comes across as a strong confident teen, his confidence is portrayed in all the wrong areas – crime. Sadly, this stereotype is becoming more and more of a reality therefore publicising the problem now will hopefully help children in the same situation as Antonio be able to escape. The urban environment Antonio is surrounded by presents to the audience how he is used to living in such raw situations and trouble will always be around the corner. He is brought up seeing crime in his everyday life therefore he notoriously is going to become a part of it in his teenage years.

As it was just the opening of the film that we produced we chose not to subvert stereotypes as it ensured the audience had a clear understanding of the roles each character played and what they represented. Overall, we have represented our characters and other factors very well as it is clear to the audience the troubles these characters are going to have, indicating specific enigma codes which makes them want to continue watching the film.