The document discusses how age is represented through costumes and behaviors in the TV show Waterloo Road. Stereotypes of teenagers are shown through their scruffy school uniforms and rebellious attitudes. Adults are portrayed as older and more rigid through their formal clothing and use of authority. Camera shots, music, and dialogue are also used to distinguish the ages of characters and highlight typical traits associated with each age group. Overall, the show relies on common stereotypes to immediately identify a character's age through their appearance and conduct.

1. How is age represented in
Waterloo Road
Done by Eman Shah

2. • Waterloo Road shows the stereotypes of youth very well, representing them as
rebellious and attracting disapproval. The uniform symbolises their rebellious
nature by not wearing it properly and not looking smart and sophisticated, quite
the opposite in fact.
• Within TV drama age is often very stereotyped, with teenagers often being
portrayed as disrespectful people who walk around wearing hoodies, causing
problems. A conformation of the young people’s age is the fact they are dressed in
school uniform with short ties and short skirts representing teenagers as being
rebellious and disobedient. A typical action of the young desperate to stand out as
individuals whilst breaking the rules, and contrasting with the appearance of the
adults dressed smartly and boringly. For example Grantly in his brown suit shows
his old age through the stereotypical use of the dull colours and the symbolism that
he is now dull and stubborn and boring. In contrast one of the younger female
teachers, Miss Chaudery presents youth with the contrast of smart formal trousers
and then a vibrant pink top.

3. https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=YHj9aavgpvQ

4. In the first scene we see a mid shot of the two teenage school boys.
Costume is used well here to show us that they are in a secondary school
uniform and secondly, they are wearing it very scruffy and untidily, showing
us that they are not wanting to be there. This reflects the age of teenage
society. This scene also contains some diegetic sound that is the dialogue
between the two characters, One of the pieces of speech is ‘chill out man’
said with a stereotypical ‘cool boy’ tone and another simple ‘yep’. This slang
helps the audience establish the boys age(s) immediately as it is associated
commonly with that age group. In the first scene we see that the boys are
attempting to hide the fact that they have broken the schools video camera.
The audience is shown a mid shot of one of the boys putting the camera
inside his top so that a teacher does not see it.
This is the mid shot of the boys talking
to each other.

5. In this scene the audience also sees an older looking teacher. Costume is used once
again to represent his age. We notice he is wearing what looks like a very old brown
suit. This suit is not generally have been worn by a younger man but someone of an
older generation. He also uses a very demanding tone when he says "give it"
regarding the video camera that the boys have broken, showing the audience that
he is the one who is in control in the situation, as the audience would expect as he
is the teacher. We are then shown a mid shot of the camera that has been broken
very badly.

6. • However in the scene we are also shown another teacher (Miss
Chaudery) who looks younger, we can tell she is young because she is
wearing modern clothes.
• Firstly the use of editing, after Grantly says to her ‘you did take out
insurance’ we cut to the reaction of Miss Chauderys face. This is done to
suggest that she has not taken out insurance for the video camera that
the two teenagers boys have broken. This shows her as a irresponsible
person. When we see this in the clip we also see the two teenagers faces
when they were being told off. The mise en scene is used to represent
stereotypes of age. The teenage boys are both very unpreventable with
their uniform not done properly which makes them appear immature.
The director also used camera work to represent age. As we see the shot
of Miss Chaudery’s reaction when being asked about insurance shoes a
bit of the side of Grantly’s face as he is laughing at her. This shows the
stereotype that are old people are mean and harsh, taking pleasure in
making the younger people feel bad about themselves.
This is a close up of Miss Chaudery’s face,
when Grantly says to her ‘you did take
out insurance’. Her facial expression
indicates that she did not take out
insurance, as she is looking worried.

7. In a later scene the audience is shown another mid shot of a typical
teenage boy leaning against a door. His costume is important as it shows
him wearing his hoodie over his uniform and shirt undone showing he has
no pride for it. The constant showing of the boy (Kyle) showing off his
buttons undone shows very normal behaviour shown by the rebellious
students in schools throughout the UK. Part of this is that they are
challenging the rules of the school uniforms by trying to show their identity.
We also see another teacher with a pen behind his ear, this use of prop is
good because it associates an age range around mid thirties to early forties
with the teacher as no teacher would be see with a pen behind their ear as
it is ‘uncool’.

8. • In another scene we see a long shot which shows the whole costume of two
more characters as they are walking towards the character. We hear some
ambient sound of other random conversations and students walking around
the corridors, as you would do in any school. The volume of the ambient
sound is very loud giving another good representation of age as
stereotypically we imagine teenagers are very loud. We hear some dialogue
between the two characters and we soon find out they are talking about
someone's family, (Amy’s family). When Amy hears her friends talking about
her family she gets upset and says ‘more people chatting about my family’.
This use of dialogue is effective because in this clip it allows the audience to
understand what the children at Waterloo road are like. The statement
suggests that young people are highly effected by others talking about their
lives where adults may be less affected. The word ‘chatting’ is a slang word
which is stereotypical for young people. This language may not be used by
an older character and therefore portrays young people not to care about
how they speak and their education.

9. • In the end scene we hear non diegetic music playing quietly in the
background. This music is very fast paced and accompanies the
confrontation well. The music and action that the girl has chosen to
take once again aid in representing the age of the characters. We also
see a tilt long shot showing an older looking teacher dressed in what
his age group stereotypically think is fashionable. This represents his
age in a comedic way as it highlights that many adults don't know what
is in fashion, stereotypically anyway. Another stereotype is the rap
music also played in the background as this too is seen as what
teenagers listen to. The use of this shot highlights how out of place the
teacher is in his outfit, simply because of his age, and suggest there are
socially acceptable differences between age groups.

10. • Waterloo Road is a TV drama which is based
around teenagers in secondary schools. It is
shown on BBC one which suggests that the
representation of teenagers are going to be
negative since BBC one is the main television
channels which represents the views and
beliefs of the dominant ideology in the UK.