1B Representation
Apply the concept of Representation to one of your media productions.
Representation within a media product is a term that refers to how something or someone is portrayed. During the first year of our media A-Level, in AS we produced a film opening that was named "On Track" which focused on the genre of sport. This included two girls competing for a title within a competition and had a moral story that money does not justify how well an athlete is to perform. Our film had various locations, all of which inspired with a sport theme, for example we used a running track, a swimming pool, a long jump pit and a field. These locations corresponded with the actor; the rich used the swimming pool and the poor used the field to train. The film was left with suspense for the audience to guess who was to win the competition being left on a black out of the start of the race with the gun fire for the athlete's to begin.
There are various theorists which we learnt from whose ideas we learnt from and could have included within our film opening such as Levi Strauss. Strauss' idea is focused on binary opposites which highlight the significant difference between two characters; of which we used within our film opening between the two main girl actresses. Both girls were portrayed complete opposites due to the use of location, costume and camera angles. Vladimir Propp is another theorist who added to Strauss' idea by stating that there will always be the certain expected characters within a film which will also portray the idea of binary opposites. Propp has a character theory of eight different character types such as the villain, the hero, the helper and many more. This theory gave us the idea of having the coaches; both determined to help their athlete train to the best of their ability. The villain, in this instance, will straight away look like it is the rich as they are always expected to perform better than those who are less fortunate. This is also portrayed in the last look given by the rich athlete in the last scene.
Comparisons between the two athletes will be made throughout the whole film opening and this will initially entice the audience to route for their favourite, many will wish for the less fortunate to be successful however the original message is shown to be that both will be successful despite however much money either of the athletes hold. Stereotypes is a representation that the rich and poor athletes portrayed within the film opening. The rich athlete conformed to the idea of always having high end clothing as well as being able to train in more beneficial locations. The camera lighting was able to show the difference of each of the characters; both were shown training on the running track or the long jump pit however with the low dull lighting showing the poor girl training in this location is a large comparison to the rich girl having bright blue skies with crisp clothing. Another stereotype that we conformed to was how we used camera angles. By using a low angle and showing one person bigger than the camera this portrays them as powerful, in this instance the rich actor was shown swimming with the camera underneath her, thus showing she is confident and powerful within this sport alongside many others shown in the film opening such as boxing and running.
Moreover the use of counter-types challenged the use of stereotypes as a part of our representation within our film opening. With the poor girl expected to be less successful than that of a higher status, when she performed outstandingly despite the poor location this challenged the traditional idea within sport when there is someone with more money there are expected to do better than the 'underdog' as the stereotypically have a background that enhances their ability to do well. This is the representation of social class and how having more money instantly makes people think that those with less money would be less successful, which in this film opening is not the case.
Gender is another representation portrayed within our film opening with the use of opposite sexes for the coaches. With the rich actor having a male coach and being all powerful and confident within his body language and dialogue almost makes the alternating coach look like they are less experienced as they only train their athlete within a film. In comparison the male coach helps the rich train in various locations and throughout different types of sports. In this aspect, males are also stereotypically known to be better within the sporting industry and are thought to be fitter and stronger than women, therefore with the poorer athlete having a female coach who does not seem as enthusiastic as the male coach makes the audience believe the poor athlete has less of a chance in the competition.
In conclusion, with the use of different representations within our media production this allowed us to either conform or go against the known stereotype of those with our without money in their possession.
Representation within a media product is a term that refers to how something or someone is portrayed. During the first year of our media A-Level, in AS we produced a film opening that was named "On Track" which focused on the genre of sport. This included two girls competing for a title within a competition and had a moral story that money does not justify how well an athlete is to perform. Our film had various locations, all of which inspired with a sport theme, for example we used a running track, a swimming pool, a long jump pit and a field. These locations corresponded with the actor; the rich used the swimming pool and the poor used the field to train. The film was left with suspense for the audience to guess who was to win the competition being left on a black out of the start of the race with the gun fire for the athlete's to begin.
There are various theorists which we learnt from whose ideas we learnt from and could have included within our film opening such as Levi Strauss. Strauss' idea is focused on binary opposites which highlight the significant difference between two characters; of which we used within our film opening between the two main girl actresses. Both girls were portrayed complete opposites due to the use of location, costume and camera angles. Vladimir Propp is another theorist who added to Strauss' idea by stating that there will always be the certain expected characters within a film which will also portray the idea of binary opposites. Propp has a character theory of eight different character types such as the villain, the hero, the helper and many more. This theory gave us the idea of having the coaches; both determined to help their athlete train to the best of their ability. The villain, in this instance, will straight away look like it is the rich as they are always expected to perform better than those who are less fortunate. This is also portrayed in the last look given by the rich athlete in the last scene.
Comparisons between the two athletes will be made throughout the whole film opening and this will initially entice the audience to route for their favourite, many will wish for the less fortunate to be successful however the original message is shown to be that both will be successful despite however much money either of the athletes hold. Stereotypes is a representation that the rich and poor athletes portrayed within the film opening. The rich athlete conformed to the idea of always having high end clothing as well as being able to train in more beneficial locations. The camera lighting was able to show the difference of each of the characters; both were shown training on the running track or the long jump pit however with the low dull lighting showing the poor girl training in this location is a large comparison to the rich girl having bright blue skies with crisp clothing. Another stereotype that we conformed to was how we used camera angles. By using a low angle and showing one person bigger than the camera this portrays them as powerful, in this instance the rich actor was shown swimming with the camera underneath her, thus showing she is confident and powerful within this sport alongside many others shown in the film opening such as boxing and running.
Moreover the use of counter-types challenged the use of stereotypes as a part of our representation within our film opening. With the poor girl expected to be less successful than that of a higher status, when she performed outstandingly despite the poor location this challenged the traditional idea within sport when there is someone with more money there are expected to do better than the 'underdog' as the stereotypically have a background that enhances their ability to do well. This is the representation of social class and how having more money instantly makes people think that those with less money would be less successful, which in this film opening is not the case.
Gender is another representation portrayed within our film opening with the use of opposite sexes for the coaches. With the rich actor having a male coach and being all powerful and confident within his body language and dialogue almost makes the alternating coach look like they are less experienced as they only train their athlete within a film. In comparison the male coach helps the rich train in various locations and throughout different types of sports. In this aspect, males are also stereotypically known to be better within the sporting industry and are thought to be fitter and stronger than women, therefore with the poorer athlete having a female coach who does not seem as enthusiastic as the male coach makes the audience believe the poor athlete has less of a chance in the competition.
In conclusion, with the use of different representations within our media production this allowed us to either conform or go against the known stereotype of those with our without money in their possession.
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