OCR G322 Monarch of the Glen Extract - Representation of Age

In this analysis, i will be looking at the Monarch of the Glen extract and commenting on how age is presented in the extract through four different sectors of creating a film, these are listed below:


Camera shots, angles and movements 

At 2:31 the Amy Character faces up at Paul when she is talking to him to show to show that Paul has the power in the house and it is highly unlikely for the younger person to have more power than the older people within a family in a home.

At 1:30, Amy looks scared, while the younger boy and Paul are sort of surrounding her to make sure that she is okay after the car crash and they are sort of like protecting her, which shows that she is younger as a mature female or male wouldn't start panicking if they involved in a similar minor crash. In this scene the camera angle represents age because it is a high angle shot and the angle makes Amy looks the smallest out of all three characters also making her look the youngest as she is the only one that seems to be scared in the scene.

Also at 0:34, when Paul throws the keys at Amy she reacts quickly to catch them and her movement is sort of quick which shows that she is young as you wouldn't expect an elderly woman to be able to move that quick and the movement of her body is also quite flexible as she stretches out to get the keys which is quite rare with elderly people as their bodies would be quite stiff, therefore slower movements/reactions would be expected of them.

The scene between 2:54 - 2:58 could also be used to represent age because an mature female wouldn't react that way and they would have a more mature attitude. Also the way Amy runs off shows that she is quite immature as young girls normally run off crying when they feel that their point is being ignored and the way she run off shows a high level of fitness which shows that she is young as i said before that elderly people's movements are normally quite slow.

Lastly the scene between 4:01 to 4:15 shows that the female character is elderly as her movements are quite slow and the close up shot to her face shows that she is quite worried, and she wouldn't be if Amy was old enough to look after herself.

Editing

At 0:29 - 0:31Amy speaks faster, which is good editing as it shows that she is hiding something, as she quickly answers the question without even taking some breathing space. This then represents age because the way she reacts and the way the editor made her voice fast paced makes her look younger as young people tend to quickly answer the question when they don't want their secret unveiled.

Also the editor has used good continuity skills, when the woman is running from 4:15to 4:53, as the woman is already tired from running just outside to the field, which shows that she is elderly and she lacks fitness.

Sound 

Sound is also used to represent age in this extract. For example at 0:44 - 0:49, Amy is sort of questioning herself in a low tone, which shows sort of confusion of lack of knowledge as she is trying to figure out how to drive a car.

Also at 2:55 when Amy shouts 'I hate you!'  she uses a brittle voice which shows that she is about to cry and there's nothing to cry about when you're being told to go back to school unless your still young as she wants to enjoy her childhood and wants to be treated as an elderly female.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene is clearly described in this extract as the younger female (Amy is wearing) modern clothing which is more revealing such as tight jeans, top and trainers, where as the two older females are wearing baggy trousers, coats and scarfs, boots which is what most elderly people would wear to cover up from the cold and to avoid revealing their bodies to males as they are quite old.

Not only the females clothing describes age in this film but also the way the old man (headmaster) is dressing up compared to the younger male, the young male is wearing jeans a t-shirt and a jacket where as the older man is wearing a full suit, tie and shoes which is quite common with older people as they prefer to dress formal at most times.

Also the teddy bear at 3:43 could suggest that Amy is still a young girl because it is very rare to find an elderly woman with a teddy bear, where as you could find thousands if not millions of teenage girls with teddy bears.

The bedroom decorations are pink which for example the mirror at 3:49 which is a colour that  is quite common with younger females as they are interested in bright colours.  To back this up, Amy has also left a card shown at 3:39 which is also written in pink, where as a mature female would probably go for a more formal colour such as black.