Representation

Representation is the way something is shown and suggests that the subject has already been presented in a way. In media, this could be a news story that has been recalled on news channels or stereotypes being exaggerated by films and television programmes.

There are different ways subjects can be represented is through different social elements such as audience positioning, interactions between other social groups and cultural ideology.

Audience positioning refers to where an audience is geographically. For example, a person in the east of the world may interpret a film differently to some one in the west of the world. This would be because people living in different places and country are more likely to live differently to each other. Therefore there views on certain situations and stereotypes may vary.

Interactions with other groups’ links to this as it refer to how some people view different groups in society. For example, if there is a news report about a war in an eastern country, people living in that country may see the event as a fight for freedom but people living in the west might see it as a terrorist attack. Depending on whom you are and what you believe, a representation may seem different to you than to someone totally different to you.

Culture could also affect how someone sees a representation. For example, if there was a film about liberal women, a feminist may enjoy the film more than someone who believes in the stereotypical roles a woman. People with different religions and traditions will also affect how a representation is seen.


In our film

In our film there will be two main characters that will be presented; this will be the protagonist and the villain. As our film is about a doppelganger, the two characters will be similar physically in order to represent the doppelganger but the character’s personalities will be recognisably different.

The protagonist will be represented as a very professional person by the way he dresses and act. We have made him to have OCD which represents him as being a person who pays attention to detail; this could either help or hinder him in the story. His costume is business wear which represents him as having a good job and professional manner.
The villain will be very different to this. The villain will be portrayed to be a more chaotic type of character. His actions will be more chaotic and unorganised than the protagonists and his costume will mirror this. He will have psychotic behaviour which commonly represents a villain in horror films. His costume will be dark and torn which also connotes villains.