Thursday, 10 March 2011

"Bugs" Girl Power - Representation of Age



In episode "Girl Power" of the 90s TV Show "Bugs" we are shown a young orphaned girl who hacked into a computer mainframe of a very secretive company. In the scene, over the shoulder shots, looking up to the older man, emphasise that he has higher footing during the conversation, he is superior to the others involved in the conversation. Later on, a POV shot from the woman looks into the room, seeing her reflection and the girl on the floor. This gives a dramatic contrast between the girl in the cell and the older woman looking over her as a spectator. A close up of the girl panning over to the woman as a mid shot is presented as the woman enters the room, showing the difference in age and characteristics. These characteristics are shown through two close ups of both the woman (smiling) and the teenager (showing no emotion), a strong contrast between the different ages. We are then shown a close up of the electronic contraption invented by the girl, this emphasises her childish behaviour; creating and experimenting with different objects to make the contraption. We also see a low Angle, looking up to the woman and teenager, the woman is higher up, showing that the woman is superior in the conversation. Throughout the scene, Reverse Shots are used in conversation to help the viewer feel more part of the scene, it helps to display the different relationships between the ages.


Mise en scène is also used to help show the different ages of the characters. The older man wears posh clothing and speaks with a higher register, this shows that he is more experienced and more superior to the others in the scene. The younger women  wear more "fashionable" clothing for that era that is smart casual. They speak with a slightly less formal tone. The women meet the target audience, therefore they are designed to appeal more to the viewer in their characteristics. the teenager, is dressed casually and speaks with an informal tone, she is completely opposite to the older man, emphasising her as the criminal of the incident.


The sound in the scene creates a picture  of how the different ages are represented. Diegetic sound; for example footprints in the corridor, help to show the superiority of the older characters in the scene, through showing that they wear expensive clothing. The soundtrack is eery, dark and disturbing music as the woman enters the teenager's room emphasising the bad behaviour of the teenager.

Monday, 7 March 2011

Spooks - Representations of terrorism and ethnicity



  • Ahmed (The terrorist) is represented in a negative way through mostly mise en scène. He is always shown carrying a weapon or with sidekicks also carrying weapons creating a sense of "evil" to the character. He's character traits are also cruel, especially when murdering Danny and then turning Fiona to face his corpse. The soundtrack in his presence will also turn into a solem-foreign sounding music, along with his foreign accent. In the torture scene, handheld close-up shots create a quick-paced scene that shows the cruelty of Ahmed, and his merciless behaviour.
  • Britain today has many arab, islamic, muslim and middle-eastern people living in the country. A british person is usually described as "White-British".
  • Al Qaeda is a terrorist group that have extreme muslim views, with a purpose to destroy the economy of the western world. Terrorist acts have occurred around the world through Al Qaeda, including the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks.