2. WHAT IS IT?
Media representation refers to how an audience responds to
specific representations encoded within a product. The focus of
the representation encourages the audience to focus on a
particular aspect of the product so that they make assumptions.
The product, which in our situation is the characters in our film,
becomes the opinion leader and offers a constructed view of an
issue/ event.
Stuart hall proposed that representation is the way in which
meanings are proposed through the signs and codes that are
part of media language. He also said that stereotypes reduces
people to a few simple recognisable characters, which they can
relate to.
3. WOMEN REPRESENTATION
Females are commonly represented in three ways with the queer
theory, feminism, and post feminism. The Queer theory, which Judith
talks about, states that identity is performativity constructed by the
‘expressions’ that are said to be its results. Bell Hooks states that
feminism is a struggle to end sexist/ patriarchal oppression, it is a
political commitment not a choice, and race/ class as well as sex
determine the extent of exploitation/ oppression. This relates to our
production as our production is female heavy as we only have female
characters who represent something as a whole. For example,
feminism is portrayed in our product as we are using our female
characters to reach out to our unisex audience not with their bodies,
but with their intellectual skills and easily relatable problems and
issues.
4. CLAIRE WILLIAMS
Our main protagonist is a cancer patient who is going through her
last stages of her life, which is exemplified through our mise-en-
scene (props e.g. an oxygen mask). Claire wears dull clothing
throughout the majority of the film when she’s writing a letter on her
bed. The dull clothing and a black bandana represents her loss of
energy and how she is emotionally and physically drained, especially
as her days become limited.
This is ironic as her name is Claire, which means light, although she
is outwardly exhausted she is inwardly still positive and hopeful just
as her name implies. The colour black is commonly associated with
death, which helps to foreshadow that Claire is going to die, or that
she could possibly die sooner than expected.
The theme of death is also conveyed by her skin colour which is pale
and almost ghostly, which helps the audience to identify that there
could be a possible death. Claire conforms to a stereotypical
representation of a cancer patient as they are usually very selfless and
try to put on a bold face for people around them to try and be
positive. Tessa Perkins states that stereotypes are effectively used to
communicate messages quickly. In this case, our audience is able to
identify with Claire being a cancer patient and also being a stubborn
teenage girl.
5. HELEN WILLIAMS
Claire’s older sister is represented to be a supporting
character who tries her best to make Claire’s remaining
days as positive as they can be. Helen is her adoptive
sister, therefore she is a different race to her (black).
Black women are typically represented as quite loud and
vocal, which tends to be quite negative. Stuart Hall say that
stereotyping like this tends to occur where there are
inequalities of power in society. We decided to go against
this stereotype and make Claire's sister a countertype as
she has a submissive and quiet nature. She remains
positive and optimistic for her sister so that Claire doesn’t
see her how her condition is affecting Helen.
Claire’ sister’s personality is manifested through her
costume (mise-en-scene) as she wears brightly coloured
clothes which has a connotation of cheerfulness and hope.
6. ISABEL THOMAS
Isabel is a young black female who is one of Claire’s
best friends who stuck with her through thick and
thin. Usually, black characters are portrayed to be the
sidekick friend who helps and supports the main
character of a different race. This is because
stereotypes work by exaggerating certain shared
features of a group as Tessa Perkins states. Even
though in this case it is true, our character Isabel is
still a countertype as she is not presented as loud or
angry as most black females are presented. In fact,
she is more extroverted and more lively than Claire.
Isabel wears bright coloured clothing to mirror her
personality. Bright colours, such as blue, connote a
feeling of happiness and joy which is exactly what we
wanted her character to be like.
7. RACHEL ADAMS
Rachel is a young black female who is Claire’s
other closest friend who goes to her grave. She is
presented positively compared to how most black
best friends are seen in films.
Most black teenage girls are seen as sassy with
some type of attitude however, Rachel is shown to
be caring and compassionate in both flashbacks
Claire shows, one being before the treatment and
one being at her grave.
Just like Isabel, Rachel is a countertype as she is a
calm and collected character and in the scenes
she’s in she mostly wears black. Although black is
usually associated with negativity and evil, she is
the complete opposite of this stereotype.
