Monarch of the Glen, Jan 2009, Age: Own Response

Opens with old man wearing hat carrying wood

Cuts to a girl in jeans, white top – binary opposition

Men toold box

Girl whispers to herself in the car – reassures her self – still needs support

Guy looks after her – longer time – worried

Diaget sound of car crash

Runs into young boy’s arms

Tilt from small her to bigger man

Old man – well dressed – neutral colurs – wealth 0 beard – posh voice

‘So sorry’ gets angry really quickly – looks immiutre ‘i hatye you’

Binary oppoistioj to what’s just happened and group of adults working to gether calmly – sensible

BO – girl in pink and red room – teddy bear with note on – pink lights – safe place for children

Woman gets worried that she’s gone

Paraalel editing Contasts with the grweat outside – symbolises the adult world – greater freedom than childhood

High camera angle on youngboy and girl – vulnerable – eye line match – see she’s physiocally smaller than the man

Blue car – boy colour, boy machine

‘when a 16 year old girl runs away can’t help but worry’

Shot reverse shot – see the conversation – see hoe angry he gets

Grabs her arm

Srs, 180, over the sholder shot – see she’s physically shorter than him – younger and vulnerable

Tilt and pans hot – room – show her room

Oler people wear nautral colours – girl bright and ‘trendy’

Jump cut – school – times’s passed

Handles alcohol – she can’t

‘dad’s never got any time for me and you’re just the sae’ runs out

Fiddle music with old people – hard at work

Strings – incidental – when she’s backing up and running away – creates sympathy

Continues when the old lady looks for her

The extract portrayals age in a stereotypical way, where the young children are seen as immature and the adults are seen as mature; this is shown through the use of mise-en-scene, camera angles, sound and editing.

Firstly, the use of mise-en-secene portrays the young girl in a stereotypical way through the use of binary opposition, where he’s wearing a bright yellow top and jeans, which has connotations of youth,  while the rest of the characters are wearing darker working clothes, such as the old professor who is dressed smartly in a tweed jacket, thus making her stand out straight away to the audience. There is also binary opposition between her and the farm setting, as the farm itself is dirty and from the viewers own knowledge (Recepetion Theory, Hall) is somewhere that involves hard work, so her bright clothes aren’t suitable for the setting, causing her to look a bit stupid, which is a stereotypical view of the young.

Also, the use of setting follows the stereotypical view that children are seen as immature, as the audience are shown her room through a series of tilt and pan shots that follow her movement around the room which is red and pink – a colour typically associated with young girls, creating verisimilitude within the diagesis and thus following a stereotypical view. The audience can also see two teddy bears and magazines on her bed, which further highlights her immaturity as she’s sixteen and has a teddy bear. This also follows the stereotypical view of women being seen as vulnerable and therefore inferior. However, the use of parallel editing, which then cuts to the establishing shot of the outside and thus creates contrast as the countryside symbolises the adult world where there is greater freedom than childhood, which is symbolised by her bed room.

As well as this, the use of shots, such as a low angle shot and eye line match used on the girl when she is arguing with the older man in his house, suggest that she’s vulnerable as she’s firstly physically shorter than him, while he’s seen to be the most powerful of the two as he has a high angle shot, which is shot over the girls shoulder. Also, the use of shot reverse shot here uses a graphically discontinuous edit as you’re cutting from someone who is small and someone who is tall and therefore not the same hight or settings, which further emphasises her young age.

Additionally, the use of sound follows the stereotypical view as incidental music is used when the older men and women are working in the field. The music is quite upbeat and happy, suggesting that they like the work that they’re doing and this contrasts with the diagetic sounds used in the young girls shots, such as when she’s arguing with the man, where you can only hear what they are saying. This creates verisimilitude within the diagesis and emphasises the serious situation. Also, the dialogue itself makes the girl appear immature as she exclaims ‘I hate you’ to the older man when she can’t get her way, inferring that she’s quite emotional and therefore not mature. Her dialogue contrasts (binary opposition) with the dialogue of her school master who has a posh accent and speaks well, connoting that he’s well educated and mannered and thus more mature than the girl.

Finally, the editing makes the girl look like she needs to be looked after, while the grown ups appear to have more power, such as when the young guy  is looking at the car, which she is in. This elonged period suggests to the viewer that he’s worried or that he’s wondering why she is taking a while, inferring that she needs to be looked after – another stereotypical view of children. Then, the camera cuts to her in a blue car, which infers masculinity and power, where she’s muttering to herself aboput the ‘clutch’ and ‘exhaust’. The mutterings suggest that she doesn’t appear to be as comfortable in the car as she said she was earlier, creating suspicion. The camera then jumps back to the guy who is still looking after the car and it is only a second lter that we hear a crash, which would have been made by Foley technique to emphasise that he was right to worry about her.

So, in conclusion the extract supports the stereotypical view that young people are seen as immature and so they need to be looked after and watched closely, compared to adults who are free to do whatever they like.


Explanation/analysis/argument 10/20  - very little at the beginning, but improves as it goes on
Use of examples 14/20 - could be some more and they need to be more specific - less rambling
Use of terminology 7/10

31/50
62% C