The document discusses representations of race and gender in 1920s film. During this era, racism and segregation were common, and blackface imagery was frequently used in early sound films. The document notes that blacks struggled to tell their own stories due to white control of the industry. However, the film aimed to challenge conventions by casting a mixed race boy in a leading role with substantial power. It also wanted to portray a strong, independent female protagonist to challenge typical gender roles of the time.

2. In early 1920’s America racism an segregation were
rife and this is very apparent when looking at 1920’s
film, racial jokes and innuendo were persistent in
early sound film, blackface imagery in The Jazz
Singer is at the core of the film's central theme and
one of the more than seventy examples of blackface
in early sound film. During the early years of film and
television, blacks struggled to be able to tell their own
stories because whites controlled the entertainment
industry and chose what images of blacks to portray,
and tended to be no more than supporting roles. As
our opening sequence is a 1920’s period piece we
had to seriously consider whether we wanted to stay
true to the representations of the time. After long
discussion we decided that we wanted to challenge
conventions of the time by having Solomon a mixed
race boy act as one of the lead roles in a position of
substantial power as constable detective. However
we did stick to some conventions of race by having
the party scene feature all white people due to the
segregation that would’ve been occurring at the time.

3. Women have been central to the film industry
since the early 20th centuries. From silent films
to talkies, as writers, directors, actors, and
audience members, women have influenced the
trajectory of the film industry. Female stardom
was an essential component of the rise of the
industry, though many of these women were
celebrated more for their appearances than for
their acting ability and the kinds of roles they
were asked to play often reinforced traditional
gender roles. It was very important for us to
challenge this representation, because whilst
things have come a long way from women in
1920’s film there are sill problems which need to
be addressed and as a group we wanted to play
an active role in advocating change, which is
why our protagonist is a strong independent
woman. Richard Dyer argues that
representations are usually limited as a result of
the same messages being conveyed time and
time again by the media, which make these mis
representations feel natural.

4. Our ability to accurately represent age was
restricted by access to actors and extras.
One way we addressed this was to create
the party scene as it’s associated with
activities such as drinking and smoking
which are generally linked to adults and
young adults and helped in the creation of
verisimilitude.
We are well aware that the detectives are
a little young but this is because we had
arranged for some older actors to play the
part but on the day of filming they could
not attend. We have tried to make Jessie
and Solomon look older through our use of
costume.
In terms of class our link with the board
game Cluedo accurately represents the
type of class we would expect to watch
and be involved in our film. Cluedo is a
very middle class board game this is
easily highlighted through the names of
characters in the board game such as
Professor Plum.