Seven areas of representation

There are seven areas of representation... Gender, sexuality, class and status, age, ethnicity, regional identity, and physical ability.

Shameless

We watched a clip of a series called Shameless. We had to analyse different characters to see how they were represented in series one and how Mise en scene is used.















Many binary opposites occur within Shameless as Fiona is a shy girl, who doesn't speak much and likes to do things herself. Her best friend is very loud, obnoxious, very forward and dresses very differently to Fiona. This is contrasting the two characters. Fiona and Veronica have a night in the town, Fiona is wearing a red dress which symbolises romance. Fiona dances on her own and the clip is slowed down to show Steve watching her, this is using the male gaze theory again as she is focused on to give her the attention from the male (Steve) who is watching her. Veronica is very different as she dresses in a shiny black dress and she has bleach blonde hair. She likes to dance with the boys and she speaks her mind. She calls the bouncer a 'fat twat' showing she is very outspoken and forward. This again contrasts the two characters as binary opposites. There is also Lip and Ian who are two brothers. They are very different to each other as Ian comes across as very insecure and innocent. He also hides the fact that he is gay from his family so he is shown as very secretive. However his brother Lip is very intelligent when it comes to physics, he is also very resourceful and is capable of looking after himself. He is very out spoken and doesn't hesitate to speak his mind. Again this is contrasting the two characters as Ian keeps himself to himself yet Lip speaks out.



The 39 steps




We watched a clip from the film The 39 steps. We analysed the two main characters from what we could see being represented. Josh Hannay is the main character. He is very well dressed as he wears a suit which we generally associate with upper class people. He is very well spoken and is seen as a bit posh as he has clear pronunciation of all his words. He comes across as a very 'manly man' as he is running away from spies and the police. He also comes across as unfazed that the spies are shooting him. The camera work used when filming this scene is clever as it uses a point of view shot which enables us to see the action from how the character would see it. This is effective as it involves us in the film more. He is shown to be a city boy but as it is shot in the country side we are left with the question as to why he is there. As he is alone he comes victimised and vunerable which lowers that 'alpha male' aspect. Victoria Sinclair is also another main character, she is one of the only women seen in the clip we watched. This highlights the time when the film was set, as women were very inferior. Victoria is a very strong minded, stuborn character as she likes to speak her mind. She believes very strongly in women rights as she is seen arguing for women rights in voting. She uses her feminity a lot throughout the film to get her way, however she shows masculine trates. For example she lifts her dress up to climb over a wall.