Essays

Representational Issues surrounding race and gangs;

After watching the clip from Eastenders about Tamwar getting mugged we assume lots of things without being told.

First off we assume that they are trouble makers, we see them vandalizing the market but even before that we assumed they were trouble makers. This is because there was a gang of them, we automatically believe they are trouble and out to disturb people and cause havoc.  We normally associate gangs with violence and this is the case sometimes but in many cases gangs mind their own business and are not dangerous.

The next thing which would make us as an audience think that this group are trouble makers is the clothes they are wearing. If you look they wearing hoodies, as soon as we see that we can’t see their faces we immediately categorise them as dangerous.  The hoodies make them mysterious and people who can’t see their identity feel intimated. Hoodies are used in robberies and anti social behaviour a lot of the time so clothing such as hoodies are big connotations of violence and are very threatening to some people.

Another representational issue is skin colour, in this clip there is a mix of skin tones mainly brown/black and white. Without being racist the media always portrays black people as bad, this has been done so much everyone stereotypes black people as bad without knowing. Also on the internet it says that black is a mysterious colour and people automatically transfer that knowledge into skin colour. Skin colour is a big factor but there were some white people there but due to the clothes they were wearing they do look threatening. We also see Tamwar as quite innocent due to his skin colour.

Another thing which made this group of boys in particular look intimidating was the age. They were all teens which suggest to us that they are immature. We later find out this is the case as they are destroying the market. We generally don’t see people older than 23/24 hanging out in gangs, the fact this group are young show us automatically they may cause trouble just due to age.

Gender is the last stereotype i will talk about. In this group it is mostly males with just one girl. If you saw a group of teenage girls you wouldn’t be scared as in general we assume boys cause more trouble. With this exception of one girl this group is mainly dominated by boys. If there was a group of girls in the market we would have a completely different perception. Maybe Kat would not have asked Tamwar to get rid of him because they would not see the group of girls a threat. Gender means quite a lot, all the time we see boys a bigger threat than girls and that is kind of true as in real life you see more anti social events caused by boys more than girls.

To conclude in this clip a lot of things we automatically do set the scene, directors do this on purpose to save time. It saves time by letting us know things without being told, for example in this clip we know the gang are troublemakers by just seeing age, gender and what they are wearing. 

 
 
Media Essay – Monarch of the Glen 
 
The scene starts off in a rural area surrounded by trees; we know the area is cold due to the clothing the workers are wearing. The first thing I personally noticed was the music being played, it was a gentle plucking of a guitar and the first connotations that sprung to mind was “nature”, this is a fitting suggestion as it kind of relates to the rural area. We are first introduced to the main character Amy around 20 seconds into the clip, when she is presented the music immediately changes. From the calm plucking of the guitar strings suddenly a kind of eerie and quite mysterious melody begins to play. I believe this change suggests that something bad involving Amy may happen. Shortly after she is introduced she is asked to drive a 4 by 4 vehicle, Amy hesitates but then states she’s “passed first time”. We can see as soon as she enters the vehicle she looks a bit worried/scared, after we know she is lying as Amy is confused between basic controls of the car. Straight after, the music stops completely foreboding something bad will happen. Afterwards Amy’s world comes crashing down, literally... She crashes into another driver which is subsequently her headmaster; this is strange as she is in a working class environment “working” with grownups so she shouldn’t be at school still. After an exchange of words between the teacher and we find out Amy is actually only sixteen years old, this is bad for her as she is forced to go back to school. Sad music starts to play as Amy storms off and we know she isn’t happy as gentle guitar plucking turns into upsetting music once again setting the scene. Also later on in the clip Amy is missing and once again when the other workers find out the music changes from happy to sad implying something bad has happened. The next thing I would like to discuss is the use of camera angles. Throughout the clip certain shots are used to represent dominance and age. To start off when she enters the car a close up shot is used which allows us as a audience to see her confusion as a teen. This may not seem like evidence to represent her actual age but it lets us see that she really is young, she’s lied about her age and her driving capability which is a immature thing to do and she isn’t old enough to drive as well. Also when Amy and her boss are arguing clever positioning is used to represent dominance in that particular relationship. Both standing next to each other but her boss is significantly taller and bigger than her, while that may be the case this is a clever representation. This symbolises who the more “powerful” person is, normally younger people have less authority and power and this is exactly the case. This also presents Amy as a child, or a young adult. She obviously has more time to grow and when your growth spurt has finished you are an “adult” which Amy isn’t. Camera editing is a vital part of telling a secret story within a clip such as the one we are studying. In this case when Amy is packing her items to run away from “home” the camera focuses on her bed and the items on the bed are not the stereotypical items you would expect. The main thing we see is a teddy bear, in my eyes this reflects Amy’s actual age, no “grownups” usually have a teddy bear lying on the bed. Also the last thing I will discuss in this certain sector of my essay is when she is leaving her room. The camera pans around her room and focuses on her mirror with her reflection in it. I believe this is done on purpose as it shows a “reflection” of Amy. The way she is acting at the moment isn’t really her it’s just one side of her which has been unleashed due to the face she is going back to school. Mis-en-scene is the last thing i would like to talk about in this essay. Some things are used on purpose but other everyday objects show us how unconfident Amy is. For example the car keys is a prime example, as soon as she gets them the look of confusion is there and this represents how young she is. Also a thing i have already spoken about (teddy bear) is also vital as it represents her young age as teddies are associated with younger people.