Think: Does film reflect the world we live in or shape the way we view the world?
Task:
Consider the ideas and messages communicated by these two versions of the same character. Use this document to analyse one of the two characters.
Key questions to ask about film / media representations:
- Who, or what, is being represented?
- How are they, or it, being represented?
- Using what film language?
- Within which genre?
- How does the narrative resolve for the character?
- What ideas, values, attitudes and opinions seem to be reflected in the representation?
The film + the ideas & messages communicated in it are collectively called ‘representation‘, put more simply:
Representation = an image + an idea.
So, when you’re asked to analyse representation, you are being asked to ‘read’ what films, through the way they show the world, tell you about the values attitudes & beliefs of society.
Think: ‘Why might the concept of representation in films be problematic?’
